Conspiracy Theory Video Game

  • Thread starter Thread starter FreeSoul
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I plan on presenting the historic aspects of the game as closely linked to present-day as possible. All of the scenes, characters, and storyline of the past may look like it is set in fantasy, but I will use ancient text (religious and other) to support this presentation. If you are familiar with Michael Tsarion's work, that is kind of what I am going for. Like many alternative historians, I plan to depict these things from a different historical perspective. The game will involve some puzzles to advance the story. These puzzles will require the player to think outside their original belief structure and will depend on them shifting their perspectives in order to advance through the game. It is difficult to explain this without being too specific.

Keeping the audience out of the sleep state is still a concern of mine. And to be honest it is still something that I am working with. It's got to be possible somehow.

You do make a good point about PC, Nathan. I know that it is a popular platform, but I think PC excludes a lot of people that I would like to reach. It is definitely something I could port over from PC though. I have given the 'mod' idea some thought before, but I'm not really a programmer so I don't know what the best method would be. Plus, I'm still learning the business.

I plan on creating a design document with the level design etc. and provide some artwork specs to some programmers. At this point my method is to present my game to a programmer and try to get a short demo made. Then I should be able to present that to a developer. Originally I was thinking of trying to sell my game to a developer who could then work with me in selling it to a publisher or investors. If at some point I could find a programmer/developer that could create this game for less of a cost, then I could see this game being released for free. But as of yet, I think this project is so large that I would have to sell the final product to make up for production costs. I'm not aware of any grant programs that I could apply for with regards to this game, but continue to look for one.

Thanks for your thoughts. I look forward to reading The Wave series so that I can get familiar with some new terminology. I think that you make a good point about using terminology similar to Deus Ex. I want this game to go above and beyond. I think there could be many benefits from 'The Work' standpoint if I were to use terminology from The Wave series. But I really need to read the books before I can say for sure.

:)
 
It seems that you have a sound understanding of the industry. A demo would be a good idea. It would make a good promotional pack for pitching to a developer, although in order to make the demo, you would have to create or modify a game engine -- although you could just use an existing one for now, with intentions to improve it or use another engine later. Usually, the bulk of game development lies in the game engine, whether it is made from scratch or adapted from an existing one. However, this is something you would need to sit down and discuss with a programmer. I'm not a programmer so what I know is limited.

After The Wave series, check out Adventures with Cassiopaea. An enthralling read.

And there are plenty of articles in the site map. All in all, you're up for at least a few months reading. Enjoy!
 
I'm really looking forward to it. This has been a long week waiting for the first book. :) I hope it comes soon.

The more that I can expand my mind the more meaningful this project will become. In so many ways.

I just have to get my design doc together. I keep getting endless pieces of information to add, I just need to get what I can together. I appreciate your input.

Cheers!
 
Check this game out, is being designed by what appears to be an independent effort by a programmer who just wants to make a really cool game with some of his friends:
hXXp://www.fl-tw.com/Infinity/

He could potentially help you out or offer suggestions if you contact him.

You'd need a team of people to help you. It really is rather infeasable at this point for one person to do something like this considering the amount of expertise involved in so many fields from "3d modeling" to art, texturing, music, vocals, understaning the integration of all those components and the development process itself, etc.

Some suggestions you might want to consider:

Consider the PC as your main development platform - you are much MUCH less restricted when developing for PC in technical and legal and other means. Your imagination/skills are the only limits. And you don't have to convince any publishers or any psychpathic corporation to "approve" your game for their platform and to sponsor, advertise, distribute it, etc. Much more creative control this way.

You can achieve the game within a timeframe of perhaps a year or 2 if you use Flash. It will be graphically limited of course, but it is a much MUCH simpler development platform than anything that utilizes the latest powerful hardware and software, it will cost you next to nothing except your own time and effort to learn, won't require any outside help, and you can distribute it freely on the internet and it has the potential to be more popular than any videogame sold in stores. I'm sure you've seen the Pentagon Strike animation which was made using Flash that has been viewed by something like a billion people.

Here's a political video game that is made using flash, but it makes all the points it wanted to make nevertheless so the graphical limitation did not present a limitation on expression and it makes its point very well:

hXXp://www.emogame.com/bushgame.html

There are many flash games and videos/animations online that utilize 3d and pretty impressive graphics, so Flash is very flexible.

If you still choose to go the route of actually making a next-gen platform game, my suggestion to you is to talk to a real development team about what is involved, what you'd need, etc before you spend any money buying any software or hardware for development. Talk to people already involved to get an accurate idea of just the amount of money, effort, time, skill, knowledge, etc that is involved, and what are the best ways for you to go about achieving what you seek to achieve. This might be accomplished with the help of "industry insiders" and others who may not be IN the industry but working closely with it and have connections.

People like "Gaming Steve" at hXXp://www(D)gamingsteve(D)com could really help suggesting who to contact, etc.

For a group of programmers and animators, consider the Demo Scene:

hXXp://www.scene.org/

Someone already mentioned the XNA for XBOX 360 - definitely something to look into also.
 
ScioAgapeOmnis said:
Check this game out, is being designed by what appears to be an independent effort by a programmer who just wants to make a really cool game with some of his friends:
hXXp://www.fl-tw.com/Infinity/

He could potentially help you out or offer suggestions if you contact him.

You'd need a team of people to help you. It really is rather infeasable at this point for one person to do something like this considering the amount of expertise involved in so many fields from "3d modeling" to art, texturing, music, vocals, understaning the integration of all those components and the development process itself, etc.
Click to expand...
fwiw, the guy doing 'Infinity' is a technical genius. How that particular project has developed over the last 12 months is simply breathtaking. (I'd highly recommend you read the site, and look through the forum there - you'll really get a good insight into how he's operating, and see some interesting stuff) It is right in my particular area of coding expertise (non-professionally), so I know what I'm talking about. unfortunately I am not actively 3d-coding right now - the world is going to hell and I'm so busy with other things, I don't have time to indulge. and I do see it as a bit of an indulgence, for me anyway.

If you're only looking to direct the project, and are going to completely outsource the coding, you're not going to get anyone of that calibre except for big bucks.

My personal opinion (based on some experience) is that, for this kind of project, which involves a personal vision to be realised, I think it is only viable if the person with the vision takes a central role in development, as a kind of single-minded 'mission' - I'm talking about really getting their fingers dirty with the central core of the code. the best area for outsourcing is 'contents creation' ie artwork/textures, 3d models, level design, soundtracks, that kind of thing. If you can use a proprietary engine for what you wish to do, so much the better.

I honestly can't see this being a commercially viable product, mainly because of the collossal development costs weighed against the highly speculative nature of the 'investment'. Isn't it amazing how the commercial world in fact makes some projects (especially 'creative' ones) less viable :rolleyes:

The only way I can see this being viable is on a totally different basis - ie coded for free, and given away for free (or shareware, or maybe some online self-distribution model). I suppose it can be done by a group of coders across the web, but needs a very strong central figure to pour in the energy and 'drive' the thing (believe me, it will require a large and continuous supply of energy) who is totally at home with all the technology involved, and has a lot of technical expertise - in this way he/she can instinctively predict where various issues will arise (usually technological ones, but sometimes design ones).

don't take my word for it though. the most important thing is consider all the angles before steaming in on a wrong basis, and wasting lots of energy

let us know how your thoughts on this evolve, freesoul.
 
WOW thanks guys! Really helpful stuff. I do have a background in 3d and Flash animation but not coding really. Maybe I should look into taking a class on programming. I can get additional schooling paid for by the company that I work for now. I have been looking for some kind of group or guild to join for game developers but haven't had much success. This industry has been around for 30 or so years and there still isn't a guild!?

Yeah sleepyvinny, I do think it is interesting how the industry makes some creative projects less viable. I know there is a demand for it, why can't they deliver? From what I've seen, they don't want to make the 'risky' investment. It is more profitable to pump out 15 or more crappy licensed games each year than it is to spend millions of dollars on one project. But if they did invest time and money in some really solid projects, they would make that money back and more. It seems that the smaller the developer, the better quality the product for the most part. I could definitely see how going even smaller (using a select few programmers) could yield an even better product.

I don't want to completely outsource the coding. I want to be able to work closely with the programmer, but also allow them the freedom to 'think outside the box'.

I have a background in testing video games so I think that I could instinctively predict where there could be some issues. Perhaps not from a coding standpoint but definitely from the design level.

Looks like I have some great homework for the weekend! Thanks again. :D

<3
 
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