More Atmospheres.
Gerry Kevin Wilson
now where was I?....Ah!
Exciting - It's probably inaccurate to describe exciting as an atmosphere,
but I want to, so nyah. Vocabulary - Lots of active verbs, words that have
connotations of motion, and active, moving sentences. This style would be
great for a James Bond styled game. Lots of leaping off cliffs, moving
trains, airplanes, skyscrapers, etc. :) Keep things moving is rule number
one here. Don't let up except for the odd romantic moment, if then. I
can think of at least as many bad guys as I have plots. Big muscle men,
Chinese plotters with fu manchu 'staches, sinister Russian agents, and of
course, the odd mad genius out to destroy the world. Actually, I'm
just joking. I'd never use any of those hackneyed characters. If you
can't come up with original ideas, then come up with a new hobby.
Originality is something lacking in a lot of games, and that needs to be
rectified as soon as possible. Anyways, I'd probably use the odd spy
gadget or two though. At least if I were writing a spy game. It might
be much more fun to write about a bounty hunter chasing down a mark. In
that case, it would all be standard gear. (Notice that I haven't ruled
out a hanglider anywhere. I hope to use one in a game someday.) You
could have car chases, bombs, gunfights, seduction, skydiving, white water
rafting or a high-speed motorboat chase. Lots of fun stuff to do.
Exotic - (As if the other atmospheres weren't.) I think the closest Infocom
game to come to this was well, actually, none of them. I would consider
exotic to be set in a lush tropical forest, or in Jamaica with a mysterious
houdoo cult, or on an alien planet where you do more than explore an old
station. Instead, I'd want to encounter and study an alien race. How
about a game set in a series of parallel universes, all somewhat different?
Say, they are all heading towards a similar destruction, and only you can
save these multiple worlds. Vocabulary - If it was set in a real place,
I would spend a week or two on researching its most bizarre aspects.
Otherwise I would spend a week making up consistant information on it.
(Someday, when I'm a big rich game writer, I'll just fly there and visit,
heheh.) The action doesn't neccessarily have to keep going at all times in
this atmosphere. It's okay to have rooms that have no purpose other than
interesting descriptions and information. (Although it is better to tie
that info into your puzzles.) Puzzles, ESPECIALLY in this atmosphere,
should reward the player with new areas to explore. Don't let the
commonplace slip into the game, unless it's to contrast it with the
strange local customs. Keep the descriptions full of dreamy words and
use all five senses here. Smells, tastes, feels, everything you can pack
into it to make the player experience being there. Make the Big Nasty (tm)
fit the setting appropriately. A crazed, loa-possessed cultist for the
houdoo game, a strange snake-god in a lost city, the force behind the
imminent destruction of the parallel universes. Just keep the player aware
at all times that he is in unfamiliar lands.
That's it this post, I'll be leaving for home the 15th, and will return
Jan. 12th. Don't worry, I have an XT at home to work on Avalon with. (Sigh)
Later.
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