Yay! In it for the cookie! Let's raise the bar! I've pulled out an old contest entry and spiced it up a bit. Here's my entry:
Video-game front cover:
Video-game back cover:
Screenshots:
Strange dream
Diary snippet
Name of game: Time Travellers Diary
Platform:2DS/3DS/3DS XL/N3DS/N3DS XL
Genre:Mystery/RPG/Puzzle/Action
Summary:
It is a game about time travel and finding out deeper truths. It is about exploring a seemingly normal an know world. After all, nothing is ever what it seems. The game revolves about collecting clues about the different time-lines you travel trough. The clues are seemingly unrelated pieces from all sort of diaries (are they all yours? Or are they written by others? What do they mean?) which can give you hints about what is actually going on in the game. You will also find answers in graffiti, conversations and newspapers. Keep your eyes open.
With time travel the past changes so your character will have amnesia, double fake memories, and visions of futures that may or may not happen. His or her personality slowly develops as you play and your choices will influence what they'll become. Will you become the all-time hero? Will you go insane? There is no real bad guy-good guy set up in this game, because it will soon become clear how people can change completely depending on their surroundings or whether they meet the right person.
The game would be both puzzle and action. Which one you encounter more depends on your playstyle. If you choose to evade the action the first couple of times the game will make a puzzle out of itself, if you go blindly killing everything you will end up in a spiral of violence.
The game has multiple endings depending on your playstyle and character development. Each ending will also function as the beginning of the new story arc. (Since with time travel, what is really the start of the story? Does it lay in past or can the future influence the past too?) With multiple playthroughs you could get all ending/beginnings.
Plot:
One day you have a very strange nightmarish dream. You wake up only to find out about a terrible secret. Something awful will happen but it is not unstoppable. Quickly extra-ordinary events pile up and in a chase to catch "the badg uy" you soon find out you can, in fact, travel time. As you travel to parallel worlds with slightly different timelines you'll find that good and evil are not as black and white as it seems, and soon reality starts to dissolve into a blur. Those who wronged might become your allies, those you always loved will leave you estranged. With the time travelling, altering your past, your memories begin to fade. Scattered throughout the worlds will be hints to what is true and what lies ahead, the most important being diary pages. There are multiple writers from different perspectives, fellow travellers and madmen alike. It is up to you to find out who, or perhaps what, to trust.
After you unlock a certain amount of endings/beginnings you might eventually meet other travellers. (Or are they?) Some might be stuck, whether you are willing and able to help them will change the story. If you help them out, will you partner up? Will this person answer your questions? Or deceive you? What happens if they leave you behind? Will you forgive? Will you seek revenge? And what if you leave them behind?
In spite of the above, this is not a game about good and evil nor about time-travel, the main focus will be on finding out what really happened and what is true. Since your main character will be an amnesiac with a constantly changing past it will slowly get harder to figure out what is reality. At first you might feel like it is just the story of someone who discovers he can jump between timelines, but as you progress things will get more questionable. Is this actually happening? Is this just a dream? Is he even sane? And if he is insane then what are you doing really? You would have to figure that out for yourself.
Controls:
Change for some worlds and scenes, most of the time:
Touchscreen: Tap/slide to walk, double tap to examine/pick up item
a/b/y/x buttons: A talk/pick up item/eat drink B cancel/jump Y menu X open up bag/read diary
Circle pad/ Plus button: shift view
L/R buttons: Different combinations with the other buttons give different (fighting) moves
Microphone: Chat function with NPCs/ basic commands
Features:
- Your characters personality will change with your choices. Will you slowly grow dark and evil? Will you be able to hold on to your ideals in a shifting world? You are not limited to being the hero or the villain in a world in the grey.
- The game will adapt to your playstyle. If you want to go headfirst into combat and fight yourself out, you might just find a quick solution or end up in and endless spiral of violence. If you are a puzzler who likes seeking clues, prepare for the challenge of your life.
- It features a non-linear timeline, each part of the game can be accessed at any time but it might get you to lose your memory.
- The game will have multiple "endings" which will in their turn also be "beginnings" after you played your first round.
- No fussing over the gamer, your choices and paths you take are yours, so you will never be asked: "Are you sure you want to do that?". The game will not protect you from your mistakes, it should feel more lifelike that way.
- Lots of dialogue and details to build the story
- Each world features it's own unique artstyle, from really colourful worlds with little 3D details to oldschool 8-bit graphics.
- 6 save slots so you can try different ways of playing
Extras/Details:
The story would start with the main having a strange, nightmarish dream. This dream would not involve any text or explanation to ensure that as a player you will immediately feel the estrangement and confusion your main is going through after the dream. When he gets scared, you will. When he laughs, I hope you will too.
In the game you will never be able to see the protagonists entire face, you'll get to see a glimpse at best. This is to ensure you can let your own creativity go wild. The protagonist will be male and while his normal looks will be a brown suit with hat, his clothing will change with the story, and if you're lucky enough to find a world of prosperity you can even buy him new clothing! Or even more important; a few more watches? After all, those who travel without a watch are lost...
What inspired you to make this: A lot of things gave me inspiration, but a major inspiration would the game Virtues Last Reward. As you might guess there's also a good amount of interest in Physics and Philosophy thrown into this idea.
I had some time to think about that.
English isn't my native language.
