I'm working on a text-based RPG (seriously, ROLEplaying) based loosely on the story of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", by Lovecraft. The setting is a small, close-knit New England community in the 1920's. And I am also channeling some old-school Alone In The Dark.
Right now I am deciding on whether to actually use the Mythos or not. My options are to Lovecraft's setting and set the game between Innsmouth and Arkham, or I can do a single twisted town of my own creation.
It's probably better to go with original, but these are the Lovecraft stories! Wouldn't it be cool to run in terror and insanity from the clutches of an evil conspiracy?
You get to choose a profession at the start of the game; one of the options is Townfolk, which gives you a greater status in one of the towns (and less in the other). Even with Townfolk, you have to find your way into the society to uncover the truth. I'm planning popularity-based options like becoming town sheriff.
ID:152021
 May 19 2008, 3:48 pm
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May 19 2008, 3:50 pm
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Popisfizzy
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You can take a lot of influence from the the Cthulhu mythos without actually using it in your game. One of the best survival horror games I've ever played, Eternal Darkness, had very obvious influences from Lovecraft, but still used a largely original story.
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You're right.
And, well, if I had to ask... I probably should use my own locale for far less Cthulhu baggage to deal with. | |
Yea, that's the best option. It gives you more freedom (even though the mythos isn't too set-in-stone), and you won't have to deal with any copyright issues if you want to take donations.
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Have you played Call of Cthulhu for the XBox? It's based on various sources from the series and I have to say it really handles the shock factor and excitement well. Especially the chase through the upstairs of the inn and surrounding buildings, that was one of the most intense experiences I've had in a game.
It's a great game to draw inspiration from, especially in your case. I've taken a few things from it for one of my (probably never to see the light of day) projects and it came out really exciting. | |
Plus, that way purists won't cry when you break with Lovecraft canon.
I like the idea alot. Good luck! | |
Jmurph wrote:
Plus, that way purists won't cry when you break with Lovecraft canon. I fear that more than copyrights. And I'm sort of a purist/canonist myself. I didn't want to end up with even the slightest thing out of place, and I can't assure that so I'll do it on my own terms. I'm thinking to make it more woodlands than coastal (based on my small rural-ish town in Connecticut, of all places :D). Lovecraft horrors are squid-like (from the whole ocean environs), so I'm thinking of a twisted druidic/woodland theme to my infernal menaces (Enchanted Forest from the Abyss!). | |
Nope, never played it. But I'm wondering how to give that same feeling in text.
Would background music add to the ambiance, or is it out of place? I might add in some .oggs... | |
You could also have different factions of supernatural evil vying for power. So maybe the Children of Dagon and their fishkin are seeking to summon outer power from the cosmic abyss while the Coterie of the Dead seek to spread their influence over the living, etc. Not all need be malevolent, I suppose (or perhaps they don't appear to be malevolent at first :-), so maybe the Arcanium just seeks to catalog knowledge on all these strange beings (or maybe they are really lead by aliens who keep your brain in a jar as they devour your thoughts!). Of course some creatures may be so wild and ferocious that they are completely unaligned, though thy may be enslaved or manipulated to serve the ends of other groups.
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When I made my first released game, I had (and am very sorry for ever putting it in, but I was naive) a looped scream that would go off randomly. It was loud and it scared the hell out of players. You want them to be scared and they'll be sure to remember the parts that scared them. :D
But, ambient noises are the way to go, especially in the woodlands at night and such. You could also have no noise at parts. Silence is usually a great tension maker, pending the situation. | |
Jmurph wrote:
You could also have different factions of supernatural evil vying for power. So maybe the Children of Dagon and their fishkin are seeking to summon outer power from the cosmic abyss while the Coterie of the Dead seek to spread their influence over the living, etc. Not all need be malevolent, I suppose (or perhaps they don't appear to be malevolent at first :-), so maybe the Arcanium just seeks to catalog knowledge on all these strange beings (or maybe they are really lead by aliens who keep your brain in a jar as they devour your thoughts!). Of course some creatures may be so wild and ferocious that they are completely unaligned, though thy may be enslaved or manipulated to serve the ends of other groups. "Give Peace a Chance... And Destroy/Enslave Humanity Together!" I've been thinking a lot about it and I'm looking to channel Alone in the Dark with some Children of the Corn. But I want to avoid the RE4 evil peasant vibe. I've got the MO of the evil lurking around them there hills and I have multiple endings planned on how you go about business. I have 90% of the framework set and am ready to start making rooms and connecting the plot. So another thing I'll discuss here are the three guiding 'factors' that drive some aspects of the game: Time, Sanity, and Belief. Time: The story starts January 1st, a few hours after midnight. From here, I'm planning to limit the storyline to one year before it hits the fan for you. Plots open and close as time rolls on, and it is one of your most precious resources. Sanity: On the outside, Sanity works sort of like an AP system. You start with 1000 (to be tweaked) and it decreases as you or your adversaries reach more chaotic means and ends. You need to sleep (again with the Time thing), or your sanity will drop even faster until you dare to catch a few Z's. Belief: "EVIL DEMONIC CULT?!?!" Not out of the starting gate, buddy. You start with only a bad taste in your mouth over the unsettling backdrop of the small town of Goodwell. Belief drives the availability of actions and responses. Catching glimpses of what lurks around you will eventually bring you up to 8-year-old-boy-within-ten-miles-of-Neverland-Ranch paranoia. | |