I took a course on comparative mythology, as well as lots of personal research first into structural myth analysis and later towards creating the mythological system for my novel. So I could probably recommend something for you - but could you explain a bit more about what you're looking for here?

In general, my favorite mythology book is the _Encyclopedia of Creation Myths_. I also learned a lot from Durkheim's _Elementary Forms of the Religious Life_ and Frazer's _The Golden Bough_, although those are more anthropology of myths than actual myths.

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Original post by sunandshadow I took a course on comparative mythology, as well as lots of personal research first into structural myth analysis and later towards creating the mythological system for my novel. So I could probably recommend something for you - but could you explain a bit more about what you're looking for here?

Good question, but to be honest I'm not really sure; I'll know once I've read it, I guess. The problem is finding an appropriate selection of story elements to use as the basis for my game. I was originally going to base it on a standard set of Japanese console RPG stories, but I've realised that there's some fundamental conflicts between those sets of stories and the design limitations of my game; for example, the game must be set in a single geographical region (both for design purposes and to limit the amount of art assets required), so stories that require many cities or span the world cannot be included.

I guess the games I'm now looking at for inspiration are the Quest for Glory series, which were set in various different cultures (such as Russian, Arabic and a mix of African). Since there's a strong focus on story in my game I'd like an area to provide the setting, and I'm now looking toward fairy-tales, since most of those could be located in a village with an nearby forest and do not have to involve huge journeys to provide the development of the hero. I suppose I might also look at classic stories such as Dracula and werewolf legends as well. I really need to have a good grounding in a whole bunch of different kinds of story types so I can find the ones that would be strongest for the game design.

I also guess there's a secondary question as to which types of fairy-tales and fables people would like to see in a game, but I'll leave that for another forum topic and a later date.

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In general, my favorite mythology book is the _Encyclopedia of Creation Myths_. I also learned a lot from Durkheim's _Elementary Forms of the Religious Life_ and Frazer's _The Golden Bough_, although those are more anthropology of myths than actual myths.

I'll have a look for these in the library, but I'm now I'm not sure whether mythology is the best source for story ideas, since the stories I can think of might be a bit too epic for a small village in the woods.

For a restricted setting I find that mysteries, comedies of manners/situational comedies, and romances/operas work well. You might try Greek plays since the Greeks believed that all plays should take place in a single setting if possible - setting was one of the Aristotelian unities.

Do you have a trickster figure to make trouble in your village? Trickster tales often take place in a single setting.

I've had another think about the setting, and played a bit of Quest for Glory I to remember what it was like, and I think I'll just go with the same sort of thinking behind those games; a mish-mash of sources from all over the place, thrown in with a few made-up fairy-tale-esque additions of my own. This game is really my own take on mythology and fable so I can treat it as such. I would like to include the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, however, because I think they will go extremely well with the setting, but unfortunately I don't have my book of Scottish myths anymore, so I'll have to track down another reference. I'm going for that whole "enchanted forest" type feel, I guess.

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Original post by sunandshadow For a restricted setting I find that mysteries, comedies of manners/situational comedies, and romances/operas work well. You might try Greek plays since the Greeks believed that all plays should take place in a single setting if possible - setting was one of the Aristotelian unities.

I could try, although I remember trying to read through those Greek plays back when I was at school; they were extremely heavy going. Maybe I'll understand them a bit better these days. I'm not sure whether the ancient Greek themes would be appropriate though; weren't the Greeks more fatalistic, as in they believed they were all pawns in the games of the Gods?

Actually, now I come to think about it, that's pretty much what my game is about (at least from the perspective of the little simulated computer characters), so maybe they aren't inappropriate after all!

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Do you have a trickster figure to make trouble in your village? Trickster tales often take place in a single setting.

At the moment, I haven't yet confirmed any specific character types because I'm still brainstorming the setting, and the character types to be included are still just ideas in my head (my first stage of design), but I must admit that I haven't specifically considered included a trickster figure yet. That's a very good idea, and something that I will have to include. A trickster can introduce an element of chaos which would add a lot to the gameplay. The trickster can be used as a catalyst for sparking off other tales too.

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Original post by Trapper Zoid ahw: I'll have a look at that book, although I don't know a lot of French. I suppose it doesn't hurt to have an excuse to learn [smile].

Those books I mentions (_Halloween_, and _A la Recherche de Feerie_) are more portfolios than anything else. The second one _A la recherche..._ is a bit similar in spirit to Brian Froud's _Lady Cottington's_ book, in that it is written in the manner of a XIXth century naturalist. But really, it's all about the pictures. Amazing, amazing stuff. (ha, this site shows one picture...)