If you were handed the development reins to make a Christian Videogame...

MeridianFlight

MeridianFlight

New Member
What would you make?

What would the game concept be?

What genre would it be in?

What would be the focal point of the game?

What kind of presence would "Christian themes" have in the game? Would you be subtle in an event to reach the unbelieving? Would you be unashamed with the gospel and be conspicuous about Christ?

Who would be your target audience?

Well, what would it be like?
 
Ohh! One time I actually sat down and wrote out something similar to this, but I cannot remember where I put it. :(
 
Pilgrim said:
Ohh! One time I actually sat down and wrote out something similar to this, but I cannot remember where I put it. :(
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That's OK, if you don't find it, would you be willing to talk about it again?
 
michaelpi said:
you could always make a game over the left behind books
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That's currently being done. It's an RTS and it comes out early (I think) next year. Looks pretty interesting, but not sure how different an RTS can really be as far as gameplay is concerned.

I think some kind of spiritual warfare RPG would be awesome. Hell is always used in video games, but we never see champions of Heaven or Heaven itself. I think the problem with this or any idea is that most video games are based on a character battling other characters in some way. Accomplishing this in a Christian manner would be very tough, or the game would just look like everything else on the market today. In other words, an RPG featuring a team of God's angels clearing the Earth of demons would most likely still be as violent as any Final Fantasy game.

Hey! How about Church Tycoon!? ;)
 
Alternate world (i.e. not Earth) RPG:
  • Include the ability for characters to switch from friend to foe and in between depending on decisions made by characters in the party.
  • Target the 17-25 age range with complex and dynamic characters, a conspicuous lack of RPG game cliches, and strong dialogue writing. Avoid material that would bump the game from a T to a M rating to ensure the game is accessible to the 13-17 crowd.
  • Focus on characters, not plot, to help players develop an emotional involvement in the game.
  • Introduce innovations to ensure notice from the game industry and keep gameplay fresh. For example, focus on advanced A.I. for NPCs (non-player characters) to help immerse the player into the story.
  • Do not use a random battle system (Final Fantasy); instead, use a battle system similar to Chrono Trigger's, where enemies are often visible and it is possible to avoid them in most situations. The game should provide an alternative to violence as often as possible.
  • Throw away or heavily modify the "experience treadmill" popular in most RPGs. Allow the player to develop a character by other means (exploring, negotiating treaties, training in martial arts) than violence.
  • Introduce Biblical principles covertly and overtly, including characters who live according to such principles but do not function as priests or religious leaders. Also include characters with strong religious affiliations, such as monks, who join the party.
  • Avoid oversimplified "us good, them bad" character profiles. In other words, not all Christians in the story should be flawless characters. Remember that the Pharisees and Saducees (religious leaders), not the Roman government, were Christ's most violent and vocal opponents.

In short:
  • Don't dumb the game down. Introduce complicated characters and plots. Show respect for your intended audience; give them some credit.
  • Favor open-ended, not linear, gameplay.
  • Don't use the "angels fighting demons" or "Christians fighting non-Christians" scenario. Both have been overdone.

If it sounds like I've given this a great deal of thought, I have. I sketched out several pages of notes for a "Christian" RPG a few years back after I realized that Squaresoft had pushed Eastern religion on Western gamers with Final Fantasy VII and IX. There's no reason that Christians couldn't use similar tactics to present Biblical principles and glorify God.
 
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IceBladePOD said:
What would you make?

What would the game concept be?

What genre would it be in?

What would be the focal point of the game?

What kind of presence would "Christian themes" have in the game? Would you be subtle in an event to reach the unbelieving? Would you be unashamed with the gospel and be conspicuous about Christ?

Who would be your target audience?

Well, what would it be like?
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Ok, I would make a first-person shooter specifically designed for competition. Movement would function in a similar manner to UT2004. Brightskins, forced model support, latency compensation, pitch-adjustable hitsounds, and other standard competitive features would be built in to the game. All this sounds pretty much like CPMA or UTComp, right? Well, there would be two things that make mine different:

1. There would be a special "newbie mode" in which an ESPN-like announcer, that everybody could hear, would interject things like "Double Damage spawns in ten seconds!" or "100 Shield is up." Newbie mode would introduce the concept of powerup timing to the Counter-Strike masses, and make free-for-all deathmatch a more focused, viable gametype for competition. Of course, you could still play on servers with newbie mode off, but it would give the game some mass appeal while still catering primarily to the competitive player.

2. The tactics of games like UT2004 are all about getting weapon-switching down, and using the right weapon for the right situation. My idea is to have a system where you can hold one gun in your right hand, and one in your left, and shoot either one with no delay or weapon switching.

If you wanted to use a gun that you weren't holding in either of your hands, though, you would hit one button to indicate which hand you wanted to switch guns, and another button to indicate which gun you wanted to put in that hand. Also, there would be maybe a 2-second delay during which you could still fire the gun in whichever hand wasn't switching weapons. These two factors--the delay and the need to push two buttons--would make switching weapons take longer, but you would still get the immediate use of a weapon at all times.

To apply this concept with UT2004 weapons:

Let's say you're using standard WASD movement keys. Your Q key is your left hand swap and your E key is right hand swap. You're holding a lightning gun in your left hand and rockets in your right. You're fighting this guy and you right-click to fire your rocket, and it hits his feet and throws him into the air. So now you shoot him with your lightning on the juggle and you know he's pretty low on health now. You hit Q, then C (your minigun selection button), and the 2-second delay counts down as your left hand switches weapons. You don't want to let the guy get away, though, so while your left hand is switching, your right hand is shooting rockets at the door where your retreating opponent is running to. Your mini comes out just in time, and you give him a nice spray with the left-click to mini and you score a frag.

As for putting Christian themes in it, I really don't think it's necessary or even possible. If I was making a single-player game, then of course there would be Christian themes, but whereas single-player games tend to be more along the lines of movies as far as art is concerned, multi-player games tend to be more like sports. If I made a movie it would have Christian themes simply as a result of who I am, but you don't see any Christian themes in basketball simply because James Naismith was a Christian.
 
One could then ask, "What makes a game 'Christian'?" An interesting question indeed. Perhaps one for a separate thread?
 
The Left Behind RPG should be interesting.

Mr. Slice, would the player take on the role of an angel then? Would it be similar to Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness?

Tek, would it be similar to The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia in that you utilize allegory for Christian elements? While focus on character development is paramount, what happens if the player isn't fond of or doesn't connect with the character they are controlling? Do you think focusing on narrative and allowing the player to shape his or her own character as they pleased provide greater immersion?

Kraniac, your multiplayer mode sounds cool, but what if the situation called for you to focus on single player with Christian themes? What would your single player be like?
 
Well, I wouldn't be afraid to make it have blood. The Bible had TONS of warfare, including blood and gore. I'd head for realism, not this "Banish the demon with no blood or sense of realism" kind of thing.
 
OK, I must've missed the Christian part. Forgive me, as I have actually put a lot of thought into how I would make a multiplayer videogame, so it seemed like a perfect thing to comment with. As for a Christian game, that's tougher...

There was a "Gang War" turn-based strategy game I used to play on Windows 95. I can't remember the name of it, but it might be interesting to do a similar sort of thing, except that you're managing an underground church in a country where Christianity is outlawed, and you have to gain converts and fight or bribe authorities to keep your church running.
 
IceBladePOD said:
Tek, would it be similar to The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia in that you utilize allegory for Christian elements?
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Not likely. While I respect authors who use allegory, I favor realistic characters. When I say "realistic," I don't necessarily mean realism in terms of "Would you see this person walking down the street?" but rather realism in terms of creating characters within the bounds of human nature. That's likely why I identify with Sam Gamgee moreso than with Aragorn.

IceBladePOD said:
While focus on character development is paramount, what happens if the player isn't fond of or doesn't connect with the character they are controlling?
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Then you name the character Cloud or Squall and get ready to rake in millions of dollars. :p (Sorry, my bias against the characters in FFVII and FFVIII is showing.)

A serious answer: I would allow the player to shape the character, to a certain extent. It's a common misconception that audiences only enjoy film and literature when the main characters are likeable. I can recall several series where I dislike key characters in the series but love the series overall. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't make any effort to form an emotional attachment between player and character; it just means that I wouldn't develop a framework for the character based on popular opinion. Besides, just because you don't like the lead character doesn't mean that you won't develop an attachment to another character (i.e. Aeris).

IceBladePOD said:
Do you think focusing on narrative and allowing the player to shape his or her own character as they pleased provide greater immersion?
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If you limit the range of options for that character. Even if the player makes decisions that leads the main character to forsake the mission, it doesn't necessarily mean that the main character has left the realm of possibility according to their experience, faith, and personality. The lead character would be designed with the potential to, if enough things went wrong, abandon the group and perhaps even oppose the party later in the game.

Giving the player choices helps establish a sympathy with the character and, in turn, an emotional attachment. For those saying, "It's just a story" or "It's just a game," I believe you say that because no game (that I know of) has dared to step out and focus on character development more than "teh 1337357 battel syst3m EVAR!"

The suspenseful plot carefully woven throughout Starcraft has led more than one gamer to turn on the cheat codes just to see what happens next in the story. If the plot-driven characters can draw players in, how much more would character-driven plots?

I realize I'm venturing into literary territory here, but I believe that game developers have not yet realized the potential video and computer games hold as storytelling vehicles. Eventually, someone's going to wise up, realize the impact of rich and dynamic characters in an RPG, and make that their focus. One could use the analogy of Valve's shift in focus from graphics to physics in developing Half-Life 2, and the resulting success.
 
Tek7 said:
Not likely. While I respect authors who use allegory, I favor realistic characters. When I say "realistic," I don't necessarily mean realism in terms of "Would you see this person walking down the street?" but rather realism in terms of creating characters within the bounds of human nature. That's likely why I identify with Sam Gamgee moreso than with Aragorn.

Then you name the character Cloud or Squall and get ready to rake in millions of dollars. :p (Sorry, my bias against the characters in FFVII and FFVIII is showing.)

A serious answer: I would allow the player to shape the character, to a certain extent. It's a common misconception that audiences only enjoy film and literature when the main characters are likeable. I can recall several series where I dislike key characters in the series but love the series overall.
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Yes, but videogames are different. There is a level of vocariousness (I had voyeurism here originally, talk about crossing up definitions in a painful way) in videogames that doesn't occurr in other mediums, because instead of being passive, you actively control the character's actions. If the player disagrees with the uncontrollable elements of the character, a disconnect or disdain will develop between the player and their character.

Tek7 said:
If you limit the range of options for that character. Even if the player makes decisions that leads the main character to forsake the mission, it doesn't necessarily mean that the main character has left the realm of possibility according to their experience, faith, and personality. The lead character would be designed with the potential to, if enough things went wrong, abandon the group and perhaps even oppose the party later in the game.

Giving the player choices helps establish a sympathy with the character and, in turn, an emotional attachment. For those saying, "It's just a story" or "It's just a game," I believe you say that because no game (that I know of) has dared to step out and focus on character development more than "teh 1337357 battel syst3m EVAR!"

The suspenseful plot carefully woven throughout Starcraft has led more than one gamer to turn on the cheat codes just to see what happens next in the story. If the plot-driven characters can draw players in, how much more would character-driven plots?
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I haven't played StarCraft, so I can't comment on it. However, I believe Deus Ex and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic are solid examples of excellently blending character development autonomy and compelling narrative.
 
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