Endeavors

Wow, I've been slacking on tags lately.

Just like I've been slacking on a few other things. The next few weeks will decide how volatile the end result is, and I'm hoping for as few burns as possible. Worst-case scenario is everything going up in smoke, because smart people make the stupidest mistakes.

To that end, I'm taking on a new project called Millie. It's a horror game, done in the medium of a google presentation.

The original idea was a choose-your-own adventure, where the players took turns making decisions regarding the character; without informing anyone else. Originally I wanted to use a paper binder (flip to page X), but I think electronic is the way to go.

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The players will take on the roles of the voices in Millie's head. Their job isn't so much to control her, but to interact with her- and to decide what happens to her in the end.

The mechanics will be designed in such a way that more players makes it harder. As the number of players increases, they all see fewer things less frequently. Each one is given a "snapshot" into the action being created by all the others, and a limited input into Millie's posture.

Along the way, the equivalent of HP is "red marks." These represent damage to Millie's childhood psychology, which will shape her as an adult. Seeing a dog die, falling through old floorboards (which gives her a fear of heights later on), etc, will all give her a "Red Mark." At the end of the game, all the marks are added up.

A perfect game- 0 red marks- results in amnesia. She forgets about the events of the story, and goes on to live a normal adult life, unaware of her week-long adventure when she was ten.

None of the endings involve Millie's death. I am not going to kill a child.

The gameplay is relatively simple. Choose-your-own adventure, and Millie can find items along the way. Flashlight, radio, candles, crayons, dog food, etc. These will make new options available.

The setting is going to pose a hard challenge. I'm thinking of going for a 1960s alien/paranormal shindig, but I'm still a little bit undecided. For now, that's what I'm running with.

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The "message" of the game is that the players are ruining Millie's life. By having her do "gamey" things, they're having very serious consequences on her.

The beginning of every slide will describe Millie's current position, in the most dangerous and precarious language possible- describing her doubt about the voices in her head.

I still have to pen out a rough script, but I'm confident the gameplay to follow will be relatively simple.

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Karate test is still on. I'm making it a goal to work on both projects, erryday. We'll see how things are in a week. Thanks for sticking around so far.