Legend of Krystal Forums

For quite a few weeks, I've been mulling about an idea for a Shadowrun type ordeal that could have a family see the effects of certain systems on society. The hard part of making this into a "smut game" is that you would have to explore some pretty dark recesses of humanity and have no idea what you have to turn up.

Thinking about it, it shouldn't sound too hard, but if you ever noticed CoC and TiTs among other games like FUBS (Fucked Up Burger Shack) it can be hard as hell just getting these little details right.

What I want to create is a system that allows for some sort of societal consequences to you gaining power. A corruption meter ain't gonna cut it. Seriously, it seems that's far more limiting to behavior than an exploration of it. What does it mean to have a 100 corruption and not be a dick? You can't really tell in those games among other games that just use it as a disguised health bar for your morality.

What really makes this type of theory and idea really limiting is that so many ideas have to go by the wayside simply because of the limitations of the engine you have to build from scratch. I just thought about how I would want you to have a brother and sister who randomly have higher and lower status than you depending on what you create (as the game is Shadowrun, I was thinking of having a class system where you can pick between high, middle, and low class with benefits to any of them depending what you pick) and that would require a LOT of processing to do over deciding to be a lone ranger in this world that would go the same route as other games.

Then there's the actual programming... How do you make NPCs that are believable? What do you put into it? What do you leave out? Do you explore just one city or go on to make different worlds with different types of systems?

*sigh* So frustrating...

But these are just things I'm mulling over. What do you all think about if you're making games?

From this description, it's hard to tell what you intend for your societal system to be like. Maybe just because I'm not very familiar with Shadowrun.

As far as, what do I think about when making games, I like to jump to the end. How will a player feel when they've finished? Do I want to give them a balls busting challenge that is frustrating to play but feels amazing to beat? Do I want to give them a quick little game that doesn't waste too much of their time? Do I want a game that feels fresh every time they replay it (i.e. randomized) or do I want to make something that rewards you for knowing every little secret (i.e. scripted)? Are they finished after playing the game once, or is there more to explore by playing a different way? When you build your game, always build your game with the end goal in mind. And you can break this down to little pieces of the game. How are they supposed to feel after level 1, or how are they supposed to feel after Aerith dies? If you're supposed to feel enticed to explore after level 1, then there should be some sort of hint of the game to come. If you're supposed to feel sad when Aerith dies, then there needs to be some sort of emotional connection between her and the player. (and not between her and the main character, her and the player)

And always keep in mind the feelings that the game creates are most important, not the mechanics of the game itself. For example, the mechanic of a game might be that you jump on a goomba's head to KO it. But what is the feeling you get from doing that? If they are supposed to feel satisfaction for destroying enemies, then there should be some challenge to landing precisely on the head, there should be some sort of celebration for doing it. If they are supposed to feel smart for figuring out that a goomba's head is its weak spot, then you should arrange the goombas so that there's some chance to land on their head by accident or give the player some sort of clue, and you should arrange goomba formations so that the game gets easier if you know their weak spot. For a lot of game designers, they start thinking too much about making mechanics that are realistic or efficient or whatever, and not about what feelings the game mechanic is supposed to transmit. This is how games become clunky. Always make the game from the player's perspective, not the characters, not the designers, the players.

So to bring this around, I don't play porn games because I want to explore the dark recesses of humanity. I play porn games because I want to relax and forget about my hum-drum tedious life and the various ass-holes that conspire to worsen it. For me, the concepts of sex and darkness don't go well together. Though I do recognize that people seem to go for dark porn. My guess is that they have a "hee-hee-hee, I'm being bad!" feeling from porn, and this gets heightened by adding drugs and violence and so on. Personally, I don't feel at all "naughty" about watching porn, rather, it's an important part of my mental health. And I mean, I used to feel anxious or guilty about it when I was younger, and now that I've gotten over that, I feel even better when I watch porn, so why would I want to feel bad about it again?

Then there's the actual programming... How do you make NPCs that are believable? What do you put into it? What do you leave out? Do you explore just one city or go on to make different worlds with different types of systems?

Besides all that above, try doing some research into writing, acting and animating. Games obviously have their own special needs, but those exact questions, how to make believable characters, what to put in, what to leave out, are all things that writers, actors and animators need to answer too. Writing and acting have been done for thousands of years worth of experience out there. (So has sequential art, if you count that as primitive animation)

You've never played Shadowrun? Why live man?

Come on, you've played DnD at least, right? If so, then just think of a setting just like Blade Runner. I know, it's the old bones in me, but try at least...

I've played D&D with someone who has played Shadowrun, he told us about it. I get the basic premise, I just don't know what sort of societal implications they write into the campaign settings. Like if it's quasi-racist D&D stuff or who-the-hell cares GURPS or fantasy pulp Pathfinder or what.