mutant cat laboratory game

Efimero Schrödinger · 2014-09-01T14:28:32

Hello. I was designing a new game just for fun and I got a bit stuck when looking at the mechanics involved. I am writing it as a text adventure in javascript. I have most of the basics done, but to continue I need to straight out and define some mechanics. The theme of the game is you're a scientist gone rogue in a futuristic lab, working undercover on your own after the lab has been closed on a dangerous project involving mutant cats. The main mechanic I wanted to include in the game (and this is already coded in a fairly solid way) is the cat breeding you do (via machines) to get new species of cats with different traits. This includes from normal cats to ridiculous fantasy cats that are barely cats 8but I still call them cats because I find it fun that way). So you can make hybrids and get new ones that way or you can risk it and edit the genetic code manually aminoacid by aminoacid (or with shortcuts like full gene swapping, etc), but you risk messing up and creating a horrible mutant though data corruption (like if you type in an extra aminoacid). The objective of the game is, in theory, to discover a kind of cat that was supposed to be very powerful in some way, but also was the cause for the oppressive government to close the lab. Effectively, though, no player will reach that discovery, because bad things will happen. You could look at it like a roguelike. You play with the hope that you will get the amulet of Yendor, but you will most likely fail in the way, and that's still fun. The problem, though, is that the main mechanic of the game, breeding clonic cats until you get something new, is pretty dull on itself, even with whatever help you get from the game in the form of tools or data. I would like to ask of you what would you consider could be a good way of improving the fun while dealing with this mechanic as a central point. If you have questions about the game, I'll gladly take them, since it's the best way I find to improve. Questions will make me think about the things I wouldn't have thought by myself. Thanks.

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Efimero August 31, 2014 08:10 PM

10 comments, last by Efimero 10 years, 5 months ago

Efimero

Author

120

September 01, 2014 03:37 AM

I'm a newbie to the forums, so it's fine. =D

Re-purposing mutant bones for profit? Man, that's dark. XD If I include that, I'm sure it will lead to a whole different path. =3

And the protagonist is of unknown gender. The player fills that variable. I believe I can write genderless in English, even though it's not my first language. Hopefully I can pull that off. =)

Efimero

Author

120

September 01, 2014 02:28 PM

I had forgotten about this, but I uploaded a prototype to my domain before the summer. It doesn't work right anymore and it stops at the "print a test cat" instruction, but it has the intro to the story. Maybe you find it interesting if nothing else, to see what the writing style is. =3

http://puramaldad.com/CAT/CAT.html

mutant cat laboratory game

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mutant cat laboratory game

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