Plot originality?

[Jim1958]

I would really like to see a game with a steampunk setting. Hopefully you will be able to do that at some point in the next 20 years or so. I quite like external combustion engines and the artwork would be so neat.

Best Regards
Jim

[pysali]

While Loren may be riddled with cliches I think it still works as a compelling world. One you made the story about the sidekick, not the heroine and that's interesting. Two you added demons into your fantasy world and are working in a sympathetic angle to explain how they become more accepted (if still suspicious) in the society. That's pretty original. You and Aleema did a good job in fleshing out the world you've created and make compelling interesting characters even within the cliches. Also a plus on subverting a lot of the romances or fleshing them out more than their original plots. A lot of the templates that were worked on can be downright eye rolling if done badly.

I think a lot of the complaint comes from the idea that Tolkien codified a certain way that elves and dwarves work and everyone still works off that template. Elves are always tree hugger sharp shooters, dwarves are always surly mountain dwellers. Human's are always, always the dominant species that have pushed the other older races into nooks and crannies because they breed like bunnies and are more warlike. Everyone always mistrusts each other. There's just been so much fantasy in recent years (due in large part to World of Warcraft and people wanting to duplicate it in the MMO market to the near exclusion of all other genres notable exception being space marines or 'realistic' modern warfare type shooters) that it just feels old in general.


As for your other rpg/game bunnies maybe you can blend more than one together, or add an extra twist to make a basic plot sound cooler. It's totally okay to work with formulas and cliches and then add the twists to make them uniquely yours. Here off the top of my head:

- you're a captured slave who is forced to fight in an Arena against other ones. One day you organize a rebellion and kill everyone. Not evil, but not that good either. Sort of Spartacus. But who would like this plot? (maybe people would like it, who knows)

There's nothing wrong with Spartacus. Historically he's fascinating. Near myth level retellings are also interesting. Though if the above was the entire game it would feel incomplete. Like what happens after he organizes the rebellion? Does he/she (there were female gladiators too woo) fight their way out of the city? Is there a manhunt? Do they manage to rescue whoever they romanced and escape with them?

- you were born twin and separated at young age, and your goal would simply be to reunite with your brother/sister. in this case, no world to save, just lots of enemies to kill (but isn't cooler to have a world to save!?)

Add a twist. Perhaps you're sisters and both mermaids. Someone steals your sister accidentally by catching her in a fishing net and then putting her in a traveling display. The other sister (controlled by the players) is completely distraught because they're the one that dared their sibling to swim too close to the fishing vessels and so they make a pact with a dark sea witch to grow legs in order to follow the thieves and rescue their sister. Along the way they pick up various companions (including romance options) while searching for clues as to where the caravan/circus has gone next. The player learns about the world with the mermaid as she's unfamiliar with the society around her. Action, adventure, drama! Hot seashells!

- a steampunk setting. You must escape from a futuristic town, which is a sort of labyrinth. The town is divided into districts and you'll stumble into different people that you can recruit on the way. The goal is not to save the world, but save yourself from evil monsters or machines. (hmm well I admit this one would be cool maybe!)

That does sound like Hunger Games. Or Battle Royale or of course Theseus and the Minotaur. You could make it more like Theseus and the Minotaur and sprinkle in other mythology. For instance Daedalus made the labyrinth and then escaped Minos kingdom with his son Icarus and their wax wings. The player could need to visit Daedalus and help gather the material to make the wings (which are of course partially clockwork or steam powered). Get enough and you can fly to another district. Make the Minotaurs partially (or fully mechanical). Minos also had multiple children. Ariadne helped Theseus by offering the ball of twine (quest) and was 'rescued' only to be abandoned on an island and then rescued by Dionysus. Then he had the guts to go back and run off with Phaedra (which also didn't end well) or stop the sacrifice of Deucalion. You could introduce puzzles people have to work out with multiple possible correct answers (fight your way through, use cunning, use seduction). People might be interested in playing a Steampunk Laybrinth based partially on Greek mythology. People just seem interested in Steampunk in general at the moment. It's all over the indy scene.

[jack1974]

Thanks lots of interesting ideas. I like the fact that in the Spartacus game the story wouldn't end with the beginning of the rebellion, but should explore what happens next. Freeing characters romanced during the enslavement would be neat. I could take the "promise" game mechanic of Fable 3, so that if you promised character X that once you had the power you would save him/her or change the law (or something else) you would need to either mantain or break the promise (I liked that gameplay idea).

The twin mermaids is quite cool too It could work both as sexy characters or as cute one (a more family friendly game).

As for Steampunk I love it! It's quite fascinating because is not excessively hi-tech so melee weapons still matter, but at same time offers more than simple bow/crossbows and mechanical monsters / accessory. I think definitely, no matter what plot I choose, I'd like to have the next RPG have steampunk setting

[Themobboss]

I wouldn't worry too much about the whole cliche label. In the end which is more important, the story being told or how the story is being told? Several years ago I was sitting around with some friends and one, who is an avid reader, had asked me for some suggested titles to read. One of my favorite books then, and still is now, is John Grisham's "A Painted House". I told the friend that it was the story of the summer in the life of a nine year old boy growing up on a cotton farm in the American south during the 1950's. His response was "that doesn't sound very interesting" and my other friend agreed. For me it was how the story was told that made it special, far more than where it was set and what constituted the major action. It was the characters and the universal themes that made it resonate even though it was pretty far removed from my own life experiences.

Stories have been a part of the human experience probably as far back as language itself and it's pure ego to think the major plot threads haven't been covered thousands and thousands of times already. Even though the plots have been recycled it's the presentation that makes them stand out; setting, characters, language, and tone. Go with what's going to infuse you with the passion to make the game great. The games market is too flooded with far too many assembly line "me to's" that have no heart in them and far too bare of games crafted from desire.

[paladinjedi]

pysali;

I think a lot of the complaint comes from the idea that Tolkien codified a certain way that elves and dwarves work and everyone still works off that template. Elves are always tree hugger sharp shooters...

There are exceptions. Anyone here played the game Zanzarah, made in 2002 by Funatics? What a great game with top notch graphics (for its year) drawing on very few system resources, which was amazing.
I really, really liked those elves there, who looked like cute little kids, even more than Tolkien's. *sigh* If only a Zanzarah sequel would ever be made...

There's nothing wrong with Spartacus. Historically he's fascinating. Near myth level retellings are also interesting. Though if the above was the entire game it would feel incomplete. Like what happens after he organizes the rebellion? Does he/she (there were female gladiators too woo) fight their way out of the city? Is there a manhunt? Do they manage to rescue whoever they romanced and escape with them?...

Spartacus - yes, brilliant example. Fighting against tyranny, either as a freed slave or...

... or as Leonidas at Thermopylae!! Another great setting, with plenty of possibilities for a similar story...

.....................

Themobboss;

Go with what's going to infuse you with the passion to make the game great. The games market is too flooded with far too many assembly line "me to's" that have no heart in them and far too bare of games crafted from desire...

Exactly. It's not as much about graphics, or visual effects, or open maps, or how many weapons are in the game... It's most of all about the Feelings that can storm a heart, that shake and question the foundations of every social convention, of every... 'secure algorithm'!...

I can cite a character from Jade Empire here: "I want that fire and that passion, that's what I need!..."

[ArgleBargle]

All the plot hooks in the OP sound pretty good!

While Loren was pretty standard as far as setting goes (tree elves, dark elves, smith dwarves, antagonist green goblins, glowing-eye armor dudes black fortress of doom etc) that's really par the course for fantasy, which is a very stagnant genre. The big thing is, though, the big plot is only the framework for the rest, which is where the interesting and fun stuff is.

[tnek89]

Thought Loren was a pretty original game for whats out there actually. The whole Amazon thing.

[RaynaLynn]

i like the steam punk idea ...

i think your Loren the Amazon Princess is a great game with a very original twist ...most games with that type of title would make the player character into the princess not her slave/second in command

[Dizzard]

I like the idea of steampunk....but I'm not sure about escaping from a Labrynth.....it makes it seem like the game would be very small and closed in rather than an epic adventure.

A few ideas of my own:

1. I was thinking the other day it would be interesting to play a character with some kind of magical disease and under very specific circumstance it's contagious. Maybe your character could be a part a cult that believes the disease is the salvation of the world against an evil force. Then you have to decide for yourself over time whether that's really true or if the people you're with are just crazy and there isn't even any evil force. (except maybe your the cult you're in) This would probably be set in a Fantasy setting.

2. A superhero themed rpg, it's not an area people really touch when it comes to games. Unless it's Marvel or DC. I would really like an rpg where you set up you're in Superhero HQ organisation to fight evil. This one would likely have a modern setting.

3. This is a really unusual idea that I had a while back but haven't developed too much. Basically it surrounds the idea that you have been trusted as a beta tester for a super secret device that allows you to create digital worlds. (Sort of like the sims except the people and the world you have created have real intelligence, real problems and real desires) As it's a beta you're not able to create worlds so you have to work with the few available in the beta test. You go into each of these worlds and help them in their conflicts and perhaps eventually you start bringing the characters you meet into each others worlds (like some kind of wannabe Doctor Who)

I haven't developed the idea much beyond this....but I think it would be interesting to play as a character who is in this kind of godly position. It's not something games touch on very much. To play as a character who really has no reason to treat the people he/she meets as more than mere toys. (of course that would be something up to the player)

I'm still in the middle of playing Loren and I'm enjoying it so far. In terms of originality I suppose for the most part nothing jumps out at me...but on the other hand Amazons aren't something you see often in games. So there's that.

[jack1974]

The steampunk idea changed a lot since I posted that. It's not a labyrinth anymore I should announce officially early next year this steampunk RPG with more details. Writer is going to send me more info, all I can anticipate for now is..."the action will take place in an 'alternate' 1930s, a cross between steampunk and the 'retro-future' of Flash Gordon and the American Saturday morning film serials of the '30s, '40s and '50s."
About the other suggestions they're interesting and I actually have a superhero RPG that I put on hiatus called Undead Lily (there's a subforum here with some info about it), I have the characters art all done but I need to think better how to design it since wanted to experiment some things. Also probably the ending scenes aren't of quality high enough, so I'm thinking to redo the CG images for the romances first