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Old 29-10-14, 10:56   #1
matrix54
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Default F40 - In a state of crisis, who is most important?






"In a state of crisis, who is most important?"

It's late in the holiday season, and the President is scheduled to give a special year-end broadcast for the masses in the garden terrace of one of the city's many high rises. Citizens from all walks of life gather to listen to the President give his final year-end speech, relishing in the cheer of holidays and the upcoming new year. Amidst the excitement of event, a group of unknown terrorists managed to plant bombs in the tower, sending the civilians, and the higher ups, into a panic and injuring many. With the stairs having collapsed from the bombs, the only means of immediate rescue from the top floor, F40, is the elevator.

It's a balancing act between weight, capacity, biography, and prejudice as the player determines who deserves to make it to safety, and who has to meet their untimely end - all to answer one simple question: who's more important?

-~-
  • Choose Between 5 weight levels, each of which requires you to prioritize different resources.
  • Deal with a struggle of ethics-vs-mechanics, as you struggle to determine if you have enough resources to save as many as possible, or prioritize a select few of the game's 101 titles.
  • Sort through randomly generated characters and make each decision count, or avoid the hassle and just save yourself. Or, sacrifice yourself for the greater good.

-~-

Tell me what you think and leave comments and questions below.




Here's a WIP shot of the game, in all its "glory."
http://s30.postimg.org/hknun7qwh/prototype_photo.png

Last edited by matrix54; 29-10-14 at 11:02.
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Old 29-10-14, 10:59   #2
jackali
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Well this seems fairly morbid.

Interesting concept.

Enjoyed your last game and would like to see how this one turns out.
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Old 29-10-14, 11:04   #3
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It's only morbid in theory.

I don't think this is going to be something people smile while playing, but the game did generate a 60 year old stripper, so there's some comic relief here.
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Old 29-10-14, 12:05   #4
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Deciding who lives and who dies is only morbid in theory?

60? Well I can only assume she has the body of Helen Mirren!
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Old 29-10-14, 13:07   #5
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I guess I don't see it as entirely morbid because I'm making the game and it's just numbers to me, though I do see how it's morbid. I'm just viewing it from all sides. Code doesn't help much.

"Do I keep slot #6, or the slot #3? "

And yes, 60 year old strippers happen when your random generator has no control over anything. I'm expecting a 250 lb, 18 year old senator.


However, this game has a shorter run time than checkout. It took me about 20 minutes / half an hour to play. It'll probably be a little long once all the mechanics for scoring are made and actual choices have to be formed. At the moment, it's just careers, so I was just seeing which careers had more value than others.

Last edited by matrix54; 29-10-14 at 13:09.
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Old 29-10-14, 23:31   #6
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I haven't played Checkout, but I'm definitely interested in this. Although I do need to try Checkout one of these days...

I really like that it is about meaningful decisions, and it is kinda morbid. At the same time, these are decisions that somebody would have to make. I also do like that randomly generated characters means some funny combinations. I'd let a 60 year old stripper in.

Also, does weight capacity make a difference? Will a heavier person make it so less people fit on an elevator?
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Old 30-10-14, 00:08   #7
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The concept is all kinds of jolly. Imagine it with graphics, with all those randomly generated individuals actually visible, perhaps they'd even toss around a few one-liners (which could also be randomly generated depending on the individual's attributes themselves). Oh this could be grand! Was it on Kickstarter, I'd donate handsomely!

In either case, I'm deffo checking this out once you provide a playable prototype.
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Old 30-10-14, 01:06   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domino92 View Post
I haven't played Checkout, but I'm definitely interested in this. Although I do need to try Checkout one of these days...

I really like that it is about meaningful decisions, and it is kinda morbid. At the same time, these are decisions that somebody would have to make. I also do like that randomly generated characters means some funny combinations. I'd let a 60 year old stripper in.

Also, does weight capacity make a difference? Will a heavier person make it so less people fit on an elevator?
Checkout's currently struggling to move past 5% on steam, do I don't think anyone will play it unless I make it free lol

As for weight types, I seriously considered that, but with the way the game it set up, that's not feasable. Heavier people simply deprive the player of more weight available, not space.

While the difference between someone who's 170 and 180 aren't too bad, 230 is pushing it. 50/60 pounds can make a big difference.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jarekhanzelka View Post
The concept is all kinds of jolly. Imagine it with graphics, with all those randomly generated individuals actually visible, perhaps they'd even toss around a few one-liners (which could also be randomly generated depending on the individual's attributes themselves). Oh this could be grand! Was it on Kickstarter, I'd donate handsomely!

In either case, I'm deffo checking this out once you provide a playable prototype.
I only started last week. My goal was to make this free, but it appears to be more desirable than Checkout, which I wanted to sell.

I only wanted this free because the play time for each round is quite short, unlike checkout, which last a few hours.

For graphics, I'm still deciding on what's best. I don't know if it'll be 2D or 3D. I just had an idea and I wanted to run with it.
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Old 30-10-14, 02:00   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matrix54 View Post
I'm expecting a 250 lb, 18 year old senator.
You have to be at least 30 years old to be a senator Unless this takes place in an alternate reality

It's a weirdly interesting concept...but what happens after you pick those you want to save? What are the consequences?
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Old 30-10-14, 02:19   #10
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There are no severe consequences in place come end game. The consequences stem from your actions on the ride down, not once you get off.

I decided to look at scoring the way the media would: Your job, your outward appearance, who you are as a person, etc. since the media would be all over this attack. How the media favors citizens, generally, is how the game will rank your overall success - like a news story. Since most American people are middle/working class folk, that's most of the jobs in game, and that's where most of your points come from. You'll want to go for people with high social worth, but you'll be naturally obligated to follow your instincts.

I'm not going to tell you explicitly how scoring is laid out specifically.

You, as a player, are a nobody. You have absolute 0 value, therefore, you're worth no points. For the game to persist, you must occupy space on the elevator. However, your position gives you no score, but you deprive the game of it's main resources - weight and space. Should you choose to leave the elevator yourself, the game is over (a sacrifice).

In contrast, you start with the president on the elevator, the highest rank, worth maximum points. On easier difficulties, you'll find it easy to make it to the bottom with the president, but when it comes end game, you'll have a hard time deciding if it's best to actually keep him. Can you get more points with a combination of more people if you throw him off? Will that decision hurt you down the line later? Once you leave a floor, you can't go back up.

It's a balance between weight, space and value. Later, the severity of a person's history will count against them. Like, it's quite possible that you'll come across a drug dealer who gives his earnings to charity vs a priest with sexual assault charges.

It wont be as black and white as "Save the priest, duh!" and your choices with effect your score, and often counter act your own morals, as well as others.

Last edited by matrix54; 30-10-14 at 02:37.
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