Different Dialogue Concept

In most games conversations between the main character and other characters happens in one of two ways. Either it is a line-by-line conversation with the player picking each response from a list (or equivalent choice) or the interaction plays out in a pre-rendered cutscene that the player has no control over at all. Either one of these can work well for specific situations, but both also have their downsides. The fact that these are the only two options to be used tweaks my desire to see video games try different things and explore variety. First I want to take a slightly more in-depth look at both currently used common options for this. I will be using the term designer to indicate the people who make the game. I am fully aware that it is an entire team of people that is influenced and pressured by outside forces, but I want to keep it simple for the vague outlines I am working with.

 

Monster AI

This is probably the very first long-form idea for video game design I wrote down. It is several years old at this point, but still a good concept. The point is that making monster behavior in video games emergent rather then scripted means you get much more interesting interactions with them. Even the designer may not know if a certain group of monsters will attack, flee, or try to talk. See below for full description of the idea.

 

Pixel Princess – Introduction

Pixel princess is the project title of a video game I’ve been half-designing. It is really more of a theoretical framework for thinking about video game mechanics and design rather then game to be produced. It might get made if I ever get the energy and resources to do so, but for the moment I plan to keep it fairly theoretical.