Long term KF project

[Holy_Diver]

From what I have heard, stories usually change quite a bit during the development process so I'm not sure it's wise to plot out minute details before a game goes into serious production. The reason for that is that ultimately the story has to get "bent" as needed to support interesting gameplay.

Yes. But I think the game play in this case will be firmly established. And completely consistent in every game except for parts that might be unique to games like riding animals. As for the story these are just my best attempts. The project is an invitation for everyone to join the fray. If someone comes up with a better concept, even mid development of a game, then the direction will change. Better is better.

As far as whether the stories are worthy successors to KF, so much depends on how it is fleshed out in the final game.

My concern is what seems befitting KF. Everyone probably has their own ideas about what is KF and what isn't. In other words, what is the essence? Both in terms of setting and mood, and of course game play.

The outline for 4 sounds intriguing, but I don't think the name Solomon is ideal. It brings to mind pictures of an old, bearded man or maybe a fat, short, Jewish jeweler wearing a loop and a yarmulke. I think a fantasy name that only hints at an English word is better. Actually, just plain "Solo" seems like a nice name.

Well the best game is KF2. And the hero of that game is named Aleph. That's a Hebrew word. It's the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet no less. Solomon also comes from people descended from Aleph, who was a prince of Granitiki. I often hear this criticism of names. I don't think they are that important or much less the story should be compromised because a particular name might stir specific notions in someones head, or be mocked. Just as an example I was told once that a character could not be called Maxi, short of Maximilian, because it would make people think about tampons. It's the job of the game to change the way people think about words. Apple has made a bundle off its iPads. When people say iPad now, I doubt tampon is the first thing that springs to mind even though for a little while Apple did have to weather that verbal disagreement. Bottom line if a story can't have primacy for the people who enjoy it, its probably not worth whatever its printed on.

In 5, swimming between islands seems like a neat gaming convention to explore. I'm not crazy about the main character being a royal. I think playing an "underdog" is always more interesting. Like in ICO where you start as a discarded cursed child who struggles to find his path. If he had started as a prince with a royal guard retinue, it would have changed the game's feel considerably.

Well you will use boats to cross from island to island. Swimming doesn't seem super practical. It's going to be difficult to structure that one, or to figure out a plausible reason for island hopping. The game will focus a lot on swimming. Right now my working concept is when Melanat is flooded it opens access to some odd caverns. And while exploring in there a weakened Dark Slayer is discovered. Then somehow it leads the player to the four corners of Melanat where 4 magical crystals were sealed away long ago at the highest peaks. Each crystal recharges the Dark Slayer until it is fully restored. And in the next game the two swords are brought together and somehow that allows Seath and Guyra to be resurrected in the last instant. The princess will be a tom boy, the queen is a tom boy too, and the king is an unlikely hero, they are only aspirational royalty because the numbers of the human race at this time are next to non-existent and the world itself is just recovering from a variable apocalypse. She might not even accept the title of princess, and will never become queen either way. In V she'd be an explorer and concerned for the well being of the peoples of the the highlands plain and simple.

If the falcon from V would appear in VI it would mean that not too much time could pass, just a decade or so or less between each game, like in the trilogy. Solomon probably would be a bearded man by the time of the 3rd game. He could even reappear in the next trilogy if Guyra took over his body or something to walk among men as a mystery immortal. Like Jean in KF3.

In 6, the "ability to venture far and wide across time and space" seems too abstract and powerful. Again, a flawed and weak character who struggles against all odds seems more interesting than a time traveling teleporter. Having an animal companion is nice.

He can't move across time and space literally. It just feels that way because normally his people cannot venture far from the poison waters, like in KF2. He moves far and wide by riding animals like horses. So he is like the Paul Revere pony express more or less, which in a medieval setting (and even a contemporary RPG) really does feel like flying. And he can fly by seeing what his falcon sees and guiding it were to go more or less telepathically.

Each game is setup as an incremental challenge. By this third game we have a lot to cope with. Moving across the entire continent basically. But I think still there will be content zones and once you move too far away the view will zoom out to an overworld map, kind of blending things along the way. From there you pick your destination and are probably subject to a time limit.

If you're intrigued with exploring a fully fleshed out story, maybe writing novels would be a good way to go? It might also be hard to find other game developers to jump onboard with your story visions. I once saw a post on a game-maker's forum where a person was suggesting a plotline for the developer's next game. The developer replied "stories are like nostrils, everyone has at least two and no one wants to pick someone else's".

It's true. I am the programmer. I won't be writing a damn thing. There will have to writers for that. Anyone who wants to can do a basic prototype. But at some point someone with writing chops will have to jump on the bandwagon.

I am really not impressed by people making a game all by themselves. I think eventually making a game will be mostly like writing books. In other words there will come a time where corporations will no longer be in that business. Corporations will look for good games like good books to option for big budget adaptations (which may or may not be worthy of the source material just like with movies)

But it will be a long time before we get there, and I am not convinced that all you need to be is a writer to make a good game given the game making equivalent of pencil and paper. You have a lot more things to deal with. And games are not as personal as books. Plus they are interactive. If there is only two people involved its still the writer and the player pulling an equal load ‎ 

EDITED: And even still I think part of the weakness in the corporate/retail model is it is inherently exclusive. People don't get to have a say in the process and feel left out of it, passive. Like I say games are not so personal as books often are. And every player plays it differently. So that's all the more reason to make it an inclusive collaborative process.

PS: As for Solo vs. Solomon. That seems like a Nintendo like move to me. Like I say I don't know what is and isn't KF for everyone. But part of it to me is KF is more mature. Something that looks like Legend of Zelda is not likely going to fly even if its otherwise a good idea. If you read the thread linked too in the first post, there is a basis for using Solomon. Part of it is it sounds like solo-man, and part of it is the legendary Solomon is the quintessential sorcerer King. And there is a magic field system. So built into a rebirth of KF you can literally read that into King's Field. Either way its a good name.

The real king is the player of course. But starting the first game out with an explicit reference just helps to lay that bare. I didn't search for a justification or what King's Field means. It just came out that way totally coincidentally on both counts. Just read the forums, everything is there.