So I made a game, What happens now? Well other than trying to round up the funds to invest in a good computer (Not even at software yet, great!) I can’t say I’m exactly sure what I should be doing. As everyone knows “Underwear + ? = Profit” but what is “?”? I have given it some thought and my general plan of action is to team up with a friend and try and make something in Unity together (Baby Steps!) hopefully this “Something” will be fairly decent and sell-able (Apps, Steam etc). As for now I guess I just have to clear my head of anxiety and take actions for myself, I am in the process of thinking of ideas for a game as well as doing some side work (DLC) for my recent (only) release (Thing 2). If anyone stumbling across this happens to be in the games industry or has any helpful hints on how someone can get started on the right path I’d appreciate useful comments.
Anyway asides from my deranged ramblings and general pessimism I thought I’d write a few things about the work and ideas I’ve come up with.
Next Project, Goals:
I don’t really wanna say too much but I’ve sort of got this idea in my head that with my friend we will make a horror game. Lately I’ve been playing quite a few horror games and I find that for the most part the majority of them are not scary and too easy. I think its important for a game to keep tension throughout but I know this can be difficult especially with horror games being somewhat predictable, having “set events” and easy retries. Also I find that the survival aspect is watered down a lot too in these modern games. I’m not that old really (I’m not that young either) but I had a Play Station One as a child (PsX) and I remember how horrifying and scary games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill & Alone in the Dark actually were. While I’m sure there are older games on older platforms with probably the same effect those are the games I remember always being unable to play, even my older (late teens, early 20’s) relatives at the time struggled to get to the grips with the sheer horror. In the last 15 years with the advances in film and graphics those horror games have lost a lot of their original effect. I guess the ambition is to bring back that old school horror. (I admit the Silent Hill 2 HD Release was pretty scary, minus the bad voice acting and certain graphics) Its somewhat of a challenge but I’m willing to try and take a crack at it, keeping that tension is the key element without being cheap with over the top gore or jump scares.
The Thing 2 v2.0 Updates & DLC
I’ve been mulling this over in my head for a while. Sometimes I question if it is worth it, I didn’t reach my personal ‘Download’ target and I never actually received that much feedback but I am glad for the somewhat 600+ people who downloaded and played it. Anyway I’m still in the prep stages but I have come up with a bunch of ideas for improvements to the game as well as additional content that explores other parts of the story. For starters the crafting system needs sorting out which is a messy, long and frustrating task (Puts me off a bit) as well as there needs to be some changes to the exp system and new features like enemies bursting out of crates. I did have a lot of fun coming up with Story DLC and Extra Content DLC however and I would like to list some of my ideas.
Story Mode; “Mining Outpost”: I had this idea that there was this old outpost taken over by Gen Inc staff who had defected from the company. In this way they start their own settlement (as the Captain has the FieldBase). Over time various people and misfits would settle into this location and it would offer the player a “community” to interact with and support over the course of the story. It also shows that sense of not being able to survive alone.
Extra Content; “Pierce’s Lost Story”: There are some parts of the story where Pierce goes off on his own and I have written quite a few plot elements that tie together nicely and also effect / crossover with other stories (so everything makes sense).
Extra Content; “Thing Mode”: This would be the mode where you play as the thing entity and have to escape your containment. Once escaped you would be able to grow in mass/strength by assimilating others and be able to hide out among the humans. This story ties into the events of Avery’s, Pierce’s, Charlie Teams, Orton’s and Whitley’s Stories while aiming to create a different experience.
Extra Content; “Alaska Based Story”: I’ve thought about maybe having a shipment or something arrive in Alaska which effects a remote community (of which you are either staying or live there). It would be like a short story based on the story that I read for the Redwood falls video game. I probably overkill it with the tie ins and miscellaneous references sometimes.
Extra Content; “Who Goes There?”: I was thinking about a game where you are human and its sort of like murder mystery/broken sword type game where you have to play detective in order to find out who is human. This would involve you making (potentially wrong) decisions based on random evidence found in your search of the area. I was thinking about US Outpost #31 as a setting as I’m quite familiar with the character personalities. It would be interesting, probably not very action packed though. Cluedo on steroids.
Even if I don’t follow up most of these ideas I had fun working on them at least. If there is much of a demand for certain additions / modes / functions in The Thing 2 RPG then I will be happy to oblige.
Thanks for Reading, it was nice to express my ideas.
Mac Wants The What? 