Since I recently discovered the world of independant game development, I have been trying to come up with a new and original game design. I pondered over a many different ideas, but in the end thought that most were stale and un-progressive. -But then this morning, I came up with an idea that I think may have potential... here it is: What about a detective type game? Personally, I have taken interest in the 1930's gangster/mob type era; specifically focusing on California and its essence of asthetic quality during this time period. Ya know what I mean... the fancy cream colored cars, and stucco palaces alongside the California coast, and the classy wiseguys with pinstiped suites. [example1][example2] The game would be structured similarly to the movie Chinatown. If you haven't seen the movie, basically it is presented in such a way that you don't understand what is going on until the main character discovers it on-screen, with the audience. This type of storytelling is compelling because it forces the audience to connect with a character (as well as his or her's feelings/motivations/actions) and to relate to the events occuring. What if I assembled a game that followed a similar structure? Now you may be thinking, "this isn't a new idea! Games have always been about discovery and finding facts/treasures/items etc." -I agree with that. But this idea (I think) is different. It would be different because the entire structure would revolve around a) indentifying with the character and b) discovering exactly WHAT the game is hiding. Let me put it this way; theoretically the gamer would load up the game and have absolutely no idea what the game is about. He wouldn't know the storyline, the characters, or even any idea what to do... Until he discovered it himself. I think this is explanation may be too loose. There obviously a lot of holes in it according to the description I wrote above. Let me explain some things that may help clear it up: 1) The game will be a combination of 2d parrallax side-scrolling and static enviroments (very similar to Paper Mario). 2) The game will be set in 1930's California (perhaps even with a Paper Mario-esque type asthetic quality) 3) The game will feature items such as; a Microscope (to search documents, etc.), Binoculars (to watch certain "hot zones"), a Camera (to take pictures for evidence to show people), Lie-detector tests, Money (to buy hints/bribes/tips from people), and perhaps a good ole' bannana to shove up someone's tailpipe. 4) The game will tread a fine line between Cartoony and Film Noir. 5) The game will feature mini-games. Well, that's about all I have at the moment. Essentially the game would be an RPG, with a twist. Give me the benefit of the doubt and assume that my game idea here will be developed and polished to the highest standards. Would you play this game? Any ideas, thoughts, comments? Thanks in advance. Note: for a sampling of my work please go here. Thanks. [Edited by - redfella on May 7, 2005 11:09:00 AM]

I think your idea is a good one. The great hurdle your game design will face is replay and the online walkthrough. Once one person gets through the game, and tells their friends how it goes, then you may as well have written a short story.

Look at the Alien Planet Thread for a little idea about randomly generated stories that use similar graphics and settings. You could build a modular story system and have it change for every play-through. It wouldn't last forever, but might be worth a few runs to the average gamer.

Any hard-boiled detective story will be terrific. I love them myself, and would enjoy playing a game with a good voice-over and a lot of trenchcoats and fedoras. For reference, you've got movies like Chinatown, The Maltese Falcon (perhaps the best of all time), The Thin Man (hilarious!) and Blade Runner (set in the future, but true to the genre). I'm sure others can direct you to great detective stories.

You'll need quick, witty banter and some stock characters to qualify for the style. I hope this goes someplace, because it's a fabulous idea.

Edit: Bwahaha! Fouled up my own links, and gave bad advice to boot! Lousy advice removed.

Nice post Iron Chef Carnage. And I agree whole-heartedly. It could work, I think. The biggest factors for determining its success ultimately lie in its ability to tell a story, a sharp, witty, funny story. Sounds like I need a good writer.

Have you ever played the old 1992 Dynamix game Rise of the Dragon? It was more futuristic, like Blade Runner (set in 2004, funny enough), but it had a mix of animated 2D scenes and sidescrolling action (which was skippable for the arcade challenged).

The 2D areas had hotspot clues, so the game was a bit of a "hunt for the hotspot" but still fun. You could really miss clues if you didn't observe the environment properly. There were also some very interesting puzzles in the game's various LA-based environments.

While I understand the appeal of the story approach you're thinking about taking, I myself would be a little leery of not having a strong draw or hook that orients you and tells you what to expect. Even the jacket on the back of my VHS copy of Chinatown hints at what the movies is about.

In terms of the arcade sequences: I skipped a few of the end game sequences it RoTD out of frustration and wanting to just get on with the story. This might not be an issue for you if you integrated more of the story into stopping points along the level. Just a thought.

Thanks for the feedback Wavinator. I have not play Rise of the Dragon, but I remember hearing about it back in the day. I'll check it out.

The main thing I am trying to concern myself with now that I know what my premise is all about, is Gameplay. I'm thinking that I want it to be slow and more of an adventure/RPG type. I'm pretty sure that I do not want it to be a platformer/action/dexterity side-scroller, but conversly more of a slower, more deliberate type of game. The funny about this is that I usually tend not to like slower paced adventure games, yet it is what I want to design. -Odd.

Anywho. About gameplay... How should I get started? I have a pretty good idea what my story is going to be about, but I am not sure how it incorperate gameplay elements. I was thinking of using mini-games, or as previously discussed, using modular story sequences... or perhaps a combination of both.

This is really tough. :o

How would you feel about point&click controls? You could use an isometric or drawn-background view, and navigate your character around the screen with clicks. Collecting items, interacting with objects or characters, and using items from your inventory could all be done with a mouse cursor.

You walk into the abandoned apartment, examine the forced door latch, turn on the kitchen light, strike a match, light your cigarette, paw through the garbage, pocket a scrap of paper with a number on it, take out a pencil, do a rubbing of a notepad by the phone, and steal a Coca-Cola on your way out. Then you go down the stairs, hail a cab, click your destination on the minimap (your office), and head back to noodle over the info you've gathered. You get out your magnifying glass and take a close look at the pencil rubbing you did, then call the number on the scrap of paper. It's a laundromat. Dead end. Or is it? You go outside and hail a cab...

And so on. Each area could be randomly generated using a variety of tilesets. Every suspect has a different apartment, every client has a different meeting place, and every surveillance target hangs out in a different park. Gameplay, though, could be almost totally mouse-driven, with a few hotkeys to govern inventory or sub-menu use.

If you're careful about it, you could even make gunfights work, by using basic RTS controls when your gun is out. Pick an enemy to shoot at, move your guy behind a parked car or fire hydrant, and pop out to fire a few rounds from your S&W .38 special.

I'm not sure that you'll be using gunfights in your game, but clumsy surveillance or overly bold questions could lead to the occasional physical confrontation. Let's not be getting our nostrils sliced, here.

Mmm, another nice post by Carnage! Thanks for all of the great ideas and suggestions. The more I mull this over the more this game concept seems to "hold water" sort of speak. I suppose it just comes down to creating a deisgn doc of some sort...

Any "clues" (harhar) on how to go about creating a design doc?

I have given some thought to making this game as accesible and fluid as possible. Therefore, adding to what Carnage described in his post, I think that it would be beneficial to use a system that involved "Items of Potential Interest". The idea behind the system is that the game would immediately reveal all Items of Potential Interest within any given location.... thereby making it easier and more intuitive for the gamer too find items in the game world. The system would also be of help to eliminate any possibiltity of missing clues and would help to prevent deadends.

But here is the kicker... not all Items of Potential Interest would be necessary to solve a puzzle, or the game in whole. In fact, perhaps only 1/2 or a 1/4 of all Items of Potential Interest would lead to somewhere. Therefore, the dectective would have to collect Items of Potential Interest and then bring those items back to his office to examine them (or store them for later use).

Thoughts?

I like it. It's entirely possible that Frank "The Snake" called his brother Ricky "The Hammer" to plan an evening of bowling, and not to plan a despicable crime. You can find out about the call, spend all day tracking down Ricky, all evening questioning him about it, and all night going through his garbage, and find out that there's really nothing to it at all. What's a detective story without a few red herrings?

It would work well with the modular story system, if you decide to go that way. Of the hundred or so possible "clue types" (notes in garbage, cufflinks in a woman's apartment, a particular brand of perfume, suspicious vehicles, etc.) that you have in the database, perhaps twenty will be present in a given play-through. Of those, perhaps ten will actually be relevant, but you can solve it with five. So you don't have to get all the clues (and it would probably be impossible to do so) and collecting every little piece of dirt off the floor won't necessarily make your job easier.

If you do decide to go with the modular stories and different-game-each-time gameplay, you might make it possible to finish a job without actually solving the crime. You go a whole week without turning anything up, and the client loses faith in you and stops paying. The realistic prospect of failure would add a great deal to a game like the one you describe, in my opinion.

There's on online detective game here, but I don't think there getting the members as they would have hoped..no idea why