Once again, Will from Pascal Game Development has organized another game dev challenge. Though it’s more of a game jam due to the lack of any prize and registration requirements the theme of it is pretty interesting. It’s called “at your command” and requires indirect control of some main protagonist (or multiple ones).
While reading through the theme of that competiton, creativity struck and I decided to participate with a rather abstract “game”. I can’t tell if I’ll get it finished for the deadline (September 15th), but I already got most of the game design written down (currently roughly 1,500 words), made the first concepts in Photoshop and already have a simple prototype up and running. And as the ideas keep pouring in I’m really keen on getting something playable done in the given timeframe, and even if I won’t get the whole game done for the compo I plan to continue working on it afterwards.
During the last years I’ve been mostly working on Projekt “W” (Phase 2), and while I’m proud of how far the game has come (which is also reflected by the feedback from all around the web) I think this competition is the perfect time to take a short break on it, giving me the chance to work on something new and fresh.
As for the entry, it has no name yet, but it’ll be a pretty abstract (and mostly dark) “game” about life and death. You’ll guide a newborn human through the different stages of life, from birth to death (and maybe even beyond). The interactive part comes from the “game’s” way of guiding your character by selecting answers to questions that influence your character’s life. Each of these answers will have the character move through a different portal (or corridor), influence different attributes of that character. Depending on how you choose your character may even die or commit suicide. The current game design will probably result in a very dark and negative game, maybe even with a horror influence, but that’s exactly the type of game I always wanted to do.
As for the technical aspect it’ll mostly be basic OpenGL with render-to-texture stuff (using FBOs) and some effect shaders (film grain, glow, distortions, etc.) and will be made with Delphi (or Lazarus, if Delphi is getting on my nerves again). So nothing spectacular here as it’ll mostly be about the “game’s” message and not fancy effects.
I also plan to blog on my progress on a more regular basis (at least once a week), so stay tuned ;)