Calling on God in a game

So this is a very interesting thread for me, to say the least. I've struggled with this for a long time, and I am definitely not here to say I've found the answers.

I have this problem in life; I'm sure many of you can relate:
1. I want to be a game dev. A lot.
2. Every time I think of making a game, however, I get to this point where I say to myself, "If I'm going to put this much effort into something, it should do good for God." That, or the Holy Spirit is the one giving me the impulse. Some times I'm not sure. But the bottom line is, I can't see myself making a huge successful video game that doesn't give credit to Jesus in some strong way.
3. The problem that comes next is that Christianity doesn't make good video games. There, I said it. This is because Christianity is really real, and most video games are based on stylized fakery. What I mean by that is this: Call of Duty games are based on stylized war which is a lot cooler and more fun than a bunch of desperate guys are killing each other so their families don't die. Or World of Warcraft contains a lot of fun pretty magic which is very different than the way real magic works. Very, very different. So the problem is that stylized fake Christianity is not what you're going for. To make Christianity into a video game, you sort of have to:
Treat faith like magic,
make players, not God, the force behind miracles,
make survival or vengeance, not salvation, the goal of the game,
compromise what makes God holy or compromise what makes games fun.
4. One thing I'm learning is that it seems that while God is not against media, he cares a whole lot more about relationships than about products. That is to say, if you create a game, whether it's The Mighty Gerbil's Saintly non-Racist Crusaders or The Mighty Gerbil's Demon Demon Fireballs, God is more interested in the relationships you made along the way. Were you loving? Did you exploit your artists, marketers, testers? Here's a news flash: your game is not going to be loving when it's made. And God cares that you love people with his love. Ultimately, it's that, and not the end product, that determines if your endeavor is "Christian" or not.
 
You are clearly thinking too much :D

As long as your personal relationship to Jesus is there, why even bother.

Dont loose yourself in technicalities... god is a person, treat him like one... he is not a rule that you need to make stuff up to kind of still stick with XD
 
"Shattered" Game Back Story Concept

I thought up a science based back story below that could still have a reasons for a praying Cleric class. I'd just have to ignore modern ranged weapons existing to have melee combat make sense, but it could still work in a techno-magic medieval style. What are your thoughts both on it's morality and interest as a back story?

In the waning years of the 24th century science had become an arcane art. Clothes that rendered one invisible, towers that stretched to the stars, metals of unprecedented strength and weapons to pierce them had all come to pass. Yet came an advance to end all others, mankind learned to reshape it's world by thought alone. Those chosen for this power used it benignly at first, but as the power spread it became apparent no ones' thoughts are pure. Jealousy, vanity, greed, and above all lust for power overcame them. Falling into madness they proclaimed themselves beholden to none, and brought about an apocalypse. These self appointed dark gods vied amongst themselves for dominance, while normal men were reduced to slaves lest their new masters smite them. Hope for this burning world lay only in a small sect of empowered who, believing in a God not of themselves, rejected the proclamation of their own divinity, and in so doing kept their sanity. Hunted and cursed by "The Fallen" these humble few, along with the last vestiges of mankind, faced annihilation so a last bid to survive was taken. The Godmaker, the machine that empowers, was destroyed. Though with it's destruction the world was ripped asunder. Isolated in separate pockets of space the Fallen contorted into things subhuman remembering only a hatred of humanity. For the next five hundred years the survivors' power diluted among their descendants changing them. Now humanity, seeking ancient treasures, has learned to cross the barrier between this world's Shattered lands...

In this synopsis the power used is scientific and neutral (although dangerous). I could have a "Church of the Humbled" descending from the humble in the back story with a Cleric class. He would pray to God, during gameplay, out of a need to remain humble. Fail to remain humble and the Cleric's power would drive him to madness becoming a "Fallen" I.E. game over.
 
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Initial thought: "Monsters from the Id" (though most won't know what that is from - so you are probably safe there) :D

I think the setup was great with the exception of the motivation to cross the barrier. Might it not be better to provide a more 'pure' motivation for the righteous than treasure hunting? Perhaps instead, the 'Fallen' have breached the barrier and invaded the land to exact their twisted revenge? Then you could have the player venture across the barrier in an attempt to seal the breach.
 
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Patriot said:
Initial thought: "Monsters from the Id" (though most won't know what that is from - so you are probably safe there) :D
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Forbidden Planet?


Patriot said:
I think the setup was great with the exception of the motivation to cross the barrier. Might it not be better to provide a more 'pure' motivation for the righteous than treasure hunting? Perhaps instead, the 'Fallen' have breached the barrier and invaded the land to exact their twisted revenge? Then you could have the player venture across the barrier in an attempt to seal the breach.
Click to expand...

Right. The actual motivations I have in mind will differ between classes. The Rogue type just wants treasure while the Cleric is on a more redemptive quest looking for human survivors and technology that will help them. That feeds into the possible conversations they have. The actual gameplay will be of a Borderlands/L4D loot type though so I said treasure. You complete a labyrinth (map), fight a boss at the end and get a loot chest. Like Borderlands the loot at the end is the replay value. It's basically the raid mmorpg experience in a FPS.

Also I was thinking of having two of the playable classes/races I have in mind be previously fallen having been ministered to by the Clerics and redeemed. A Barbarian type that struggles with blind rage and a Beast master/tamer girl type (I'll come up with more original names later but those give you an idea what they do). I intend to stipulate though that these divergent races had not fallen to the point of being beyond reasoning. The ones you actually fight have been reduced to monsters so intrenched in the madness of sin they kill on sight.
 
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The Mighty Gerbil said:
Forbidden Planet?
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Naturally. I figured you might know, but most gamers of our generation or later would probably have no clue.

The Mighty Gerbil said:
Right. The actual motivations I have in mind will differ between classes. The Rogue type just wants treasure while the Cleric is on a more redemptive quest looking for human survivors and technology that will help them. That feeds into the possible conversations they have. The actual gameplay will be of a Borderlands/L4D loot type though so I said treasure. You complete a labyrinth (map), fight a boss at the end and get a loot chest. Like Borderlands the loot at the end is the replay value. It's basically the raid mmorpg experience in a FPS.

Also I was thinking of having two of the playable classes/races I have in mind be previously fallen having been ministered to by the Clerics and redeemed. A Barbarian type that struggles with blind rage and a Beast master/tamer girl type (I'll come up with more original names later but those give you an idea what they do). I intend to stipulate though that these divergent races had not fallen to the point of being beyond reasoning. The ones you actually fight have been reduced to monsters so intrenched in the madness of sin they kill on sight.
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Sounds to me like a decent framework. A decent story can prop up a lousy game and a terrible story can sink a good game.

Edit: Let me know if this becomes a serious endeavor. I might be willing to assist with modeling game assets.
 
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