4/20

1AM- Proofread the AD3 Design Document. It's good. I will be sharing parts of it over the next weeks, to give you guys something to read. As far as the basic level game design goes, it's finished. What's missing are the real specifics, like the exact layout of the space station, or every character's exact story.

Happy 4/20 everybody. I have done pot once. It didn't work, but I hear it's common for that to happen on your first try. My friend was affected by pot and said that he became addicted to it for two years. I know statistically Alcohol is more addictive, and I do drink Alcohol socially. Well, there's a time and a place for pot... guess it's not today. Cause today Diablo 3's going open beta!!

http://kotaku.com/5903645/this-weekend-everyone-can-play-diablo-iii-even-you-and-you

I am selling my car, the "Millennium Falcon". The bucket of bolts didn't pass smog recently. I was asked by a mechanic that I trust to pony up $250. On top of a re-registration of 80$... no thanks. So instead I'm sending it to the DMV trasher, where I'll get $1000 for it!

That money's going towards a used motorcycle in the future. I wonder what I'll name her? Probably a real girl's name. After all, we ride motorcycles, not drive them, so I will be riding "______".

The Millenium Falcon:
Toyota Camry 93
Tape cassette player
Tags are not updated
No air conditioning
Driver side window broken
Windshield damaged
230k miles
Did not pass smog, must pay 250 to get it fixed.
Great leather seats!
Tires are pretty fresh

There's no way I'll be able to sell this thing on Craigslist for over $500. I'll retire the damn car, but the DMV isn't accepting applications till July 1st. Yeesh.


5AM- So here I am pacing back and forth in my room for 15 minutes. OK. Time to write in the blog.

The main issue today is the Main Character. I'm at a crossroads here, and I'm sure I'm writing so much on this blog that I doubt anyone reads this crap anymore. That's okay, I write all the time to myself, it's just that I only recently began to make the writing public to my audience.

The Main Character: Are you the main character, or should the MC be his own character??

The more I debate this, the more I am inclined to say that it must be either or, it cannot be both. At first I wanted it to be both. I don't think MC from AD1/2 had any character at all. He was a flying penis, a genie that made womens' wishes come true. Didn't you feel a disconnect when these girls had sex with the player? Some of them make sense... Sarah wants to have sex with the MC, because she loves sex and wanted to make Teresa jealous. But other characters... they do it because they fall in "love" with the player, but who the fuck is the player? A genie.

So. After I made a rough draft for Elaine, I realized the Player's character wasn't significant enough. He needed flaws. Here's my current description of Player (or Captain):

Captain- The Captain is a highly introspective character. He has STRONG sexual urges that tend to lead him to successful and unsuccessful relationships.

That second sentence stopped me dead in the water. Personally, I can keep it in the pants, but I wanted his urge to be despicable. The player can't control the urge. It does, in a way, reflect the player's true wants. There is a very thin line between unlikable character and character with flaws, however, so I erased the strong sexual urges and now I'm stuck with nothing again.

And that's the issue here: If the player is allowed to control their character completely, the character becomes a Mary-Sue.

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. This character can also be found burrowing her way into the good graces/heart/mind of one of the Big Three [Kirk, Spock, and McCoy], if not all three at once. She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end, being grieved by the entire ship.

This is where video games have a unique edge over other art forms. It empowers the player. Name any game with personal choice. Let's see here, by the end, you are a person of high prestige (king, savior of the universe, savior of the wasteland). The only "flaw" a player ever has to face is when he has to choose from two different outcomes. Save a bus full of children, or this woman? Whatever you choose, that's not a character flaw. That's just a preference.


So it goes to show you that there's different preferences where this is involved. Some people prefer to be Commander Shepard, the ultimate hero that goes to every planet and saves everyone. Some people like challenges and are masochistic about it.

-People are different.
-People will tend to either prefer super flawless characters, or flawful (sp) characters.
-If given a choice, would you give your own character a flaw, with no benefit in return?

I've always been in the camp that there is a "Game Designer versus Gamer" mentality. The gamer feels empowered when he builds his defenses, but this is a reward and is generally not as exciting as destroying his foes. There's no better way to do that than challenging the player and having the player barely survive the encounter. (gosh I sound like the Saw guy)

The Megaman series is like this. You have these 8 bosses. Go figure out how to beat them. Done that? Okay. Now the final stage is that you have to beat them all in one sitting. It's possible, because You, Megaman, have defeated them all before. Now you just have to do it all at the same time. See how much you've progressed since the beginning of the game? It's Actual Player Skill that's much more empowering than Character Skill.

But not everyone plays Megaman, or games in which player skill is dependent. People also play MMOs, where the game is designed to cater to a more casual audience and time=skill. I know you raiders are out there, but let's be honest- level 1 to level max is a grind, and if you try to challenge yourself by taking on something too high level, you're penalized for powergaming.

Player Skill. That's how I prefer games, so that's how I'll make em. And for you easy players out there, I'll throw in cheats or an easy mode. Done deal, but the game is designed with player skill first and foremost.

So we've established that I prefer Player Skill, and I'm trying to see how this helps me choose between having a "perfect" player character versus a defined character with flaws.

Currently, the game has 4 backgrounds you can choose from-
Doctor, Soldier, Survivor, Noble.

Would it make sense if I started giving these backgrounds flaws? Should I make these 4 characters into actual characters? Dr. Madman, Sergeant Haywire, Grimjaw, and Prince Bieber? Or would you rather play as "Doctor Perfectly Me", who is self tailored?

Let's outline the choices

Captain A- Captain is a defined character with defined flaws, eg: Arrogance, Sexual Urges. The choices you make are strictly choices that the Captain's defined character considers, so he'll never even consider choices that the player solely wishes.
Captain B- Captain is the Player. He has zero flaws.
Captain C- Captain is one of four defined characters (like Prince Bieber). These characters have unique flaws and cannot avoid them when the situation arises, but the player is free to make his own choices (While C sounds like it's the perfect form of both worlds, it's also extremely time consuming to implement)

Yep, it all comes down to this-
"Why can't you make games that everyone likes?"
versus
"Why can't you make games that people will love, at the risk of having people that hate?"

Captain 1A- The Captain has strong sexual urges. His wiles do not always work, and in fact, drive women away. It’s when he learns to suppress his urge and master his flaw that women start to accept him. (So for looking past sex, you are rewarded with sex. Ironic.)
Captain 1B- The Captain is Lawfully Good. He does not rape women… but the player can force him to. Essentially, the player is the Captain’s character flaw. If the Captain ends up raping a woman, he starts trying to console himself, or even her. (hmm this game just took the wrong direction, however logical)


Captain 1C- The Captain is arrogant, impatient, rude, controlling, realist. He’s also optimistic, has a commanding presence, and is respected for his ideologies and blunt honesty. He has somewhat strong sexual urges, but the player is allowed to keep this in check. The Captain gets pass these character flaws at the end of each character story. Maybe just a little.

Yup. Captain's character decided- Captain 1C.