   Game Concept  Life on Rails (theoretical)
  This is a theoretical game design. I am looking for feedback on the overall gameplay idea... whether or not you personally would be interested in playing it, what kind of changes you would suggest or any points which might need clarification.Project title: Movement in Still-LifeGenre: Abstract - "On Rails" simulation.The simulation in question is the life of an imaginary person. What is emphasized in the game are what you might consider "life's little moments"... those times in your life when the universe reminds you that it's a lot bigger than you are; meeting a getting teased in school, overcoming anxieties, meeting a girl, getting married, having a child and all the seemingly random things that happen in between. I guess you might consider it similar to Wright's "The Sims" except you play as only one character and they do the living for you.. you don't spend every day for eternity watching them... you just guide them through each new crisis as it comes up.What I'm trying to do with this concept is to tell a story about life using different mediums... cinema is the primary medium used however in the design theory I am currently writing the stories are also told through stylized artwork, visual effects, song and dance. A simple description of the core gameplay mechanic is that as the character lives his life, he will be presented with a continuous series of choices which must be made by the player. This creates a huge number of branching pathways so that each time a player goes through the scenario, making even one different choice could drastically alter the outcome of the level and in some instances the outcome of the person's life.This description may sound simple, however it is not simply a matter of saying yes or no when the game prompts you. While the character moves along his rail, the camera will be moving along with him, changing view points in order to give the game a cinematic feel. The player themselves will be in controle of a small circular reticule which follows the mouse. In order to activate certain branches players will need to highlight one object on the screen and holding down the mouse button will lock the reticule onto the object and create a line between the locked reticule and the mouse cursor. The player then draws a line to a second (or third, so on...) object to create a que of actions which the character will carry out automatically once he gets within range of the trigger object.This will be made difficult by the games camera work, as you will only be able to lock-on to certain items while they are shown on the screen and some members of a sequence may only get a few seconds of camera time. The player will have to think ahead about what he wants to happen and how to make it happen.Once the player gets within range of a trigger object, the game would switch from "rail" mode to a brief minigame which would test the players skill and reflexes to see if they can correctly perform the action they defined.Take for example this scenario: The character is going for a walk with a beautiful young woman he earlier befriended. This walk takes the character from the outside of a coffee shop, down a city street, through a park and to the woman's front step. As the couple enters the park, the player spies a bush beside the path with beautiful flowers on it. While the camera pans past the player, he puts the reticule over the bush and sees that an outline surrounds the object, which means it can be used. The player then clicks on the bush and drags the cursor to the character's hand in order to pick a flower. If the player misses this step, than he will continue to observe and identify items as the characters move right past the bush and onwards into the park. However, if the player correctly identifies and performs this action the game switches briefly from rail mode to a minigame where you take control of the main character's arm and attempt to grab a flower while walking past the bush. There are many outcomes to this minigame which effect the outcome of the level. The player could grab the flower effortlessly, which would be a max score for that particular minigame... on the other hand, the player could have to stop in order to get the flower which would interrupt the walking. This would still result in points for getting the flower and giving it to the woman, however there would be slightly less points than if you didn't have to stop. Or the player could miss the flower entirely and no progress with the woman would be made until the next action sequence comes up. This is a very simple example of a minigame which would just break out from the rail mode without any interruption in the gameplay. However, other minigames would be much more complicated and include things like driving on a freeway, caring for a new child... these longer minigames which are scenarios in and of themselves are designed to be set to music... the gameplay is a rhythm style which plays off of the games musical-like nature.I apologize if this description is unclear... essentially what the game would be when it's done is a musical about life that the player has authorial control over. The emphasis rather than being on beating enemies and bosses is to try and reveal all the possible scenarios (via a collection mode which will record and let you re-play any scenario you've already unlocked by playing) and get the best score and outcome for each scenario.This is the last time I try to write a post past my bed time XD I'm getting too old for this. Thanks in advance for your cries of confusion and feedback.   
  Personally, I would not be interested in a game like that. The gameplay mechanics (clicking objects at the right time) are a bit overly simplistic for my tastes, and the storyline is not my kind of thing. I like something with more an epic struggle kind of theme. I expect it might appeal to the sims crowd.   ;  It would most certainly be interesting; I'm not sure if it really falls under the category of "game"; more like "interactive movie" or something, but that's not nessescarily bad. Take a look at games like Indigo Prophecy, etc. (which has COMPLETLEY different subject matter, but whatever). It could be done, but more as an interactive piece of art, because I'm not entirley sure many peoplewouldfind that "fun" in the traditional sense of the word.   ;  Thanks for the replies :)It looks like the biggest thing I need to work on with my game model is conveying the level of interaction with the game. I can understand from re-reading my own post why both of you would be concerned about the level of actual play involved.One thing I really hate doing when writing out concepts is trying to draw comparisons between the idea itself and pre-existing games, but I suppose in this case where I don't have very good words to go along with my idea a comparison wouldn't be uncalled for. For those of you familliar with the PS2 or Dreamcast, there is an on-rails shooter called Rez which is similar in concept. In Rez, the character of the game moves on a defined path and you as the player are in control of a targetting reticule. Each time you target an enemy and destroy one, it mixes new sounds into the level's background beat so once you become very good at the game you are no longer just trying to destroy enemies, you are defining the music of the level with your actions.The gameplay in this model is different only in that instead of targeting enemies, the player would be targeting objects moving by in the game world. The music, instead of becoming more complicated as the player destroys targets, changes depending on the situations made. Rather than being a story told through the medium of trance music, the music in this theoretical model is much more diverse and the game's levels take on a feeling of elaborate musical numbers. Musical numbers which are witty and sometimes raunchy like the songs found in musicals such as the 2005 Reefer Madness musical or Broadway's "Avenue Q"Thank you again. I will continue to address these problems as the game model develops-Jess   ;  Hmm.. The idea itself sounds similar to Alter Ego: Male/Female, where you make the decisions and choices of a persons entire life through various situations. Though your gameplay approach seems much more "hands on", i could see it being quite fun if the player could choose a specific Life Situation like in Alter Ego and then see if he can actually pull it off with a favorable outcome using your aforementioned gameplay, could be quite interesting.   ;  although it might be interesting, it would probably end up with a series of "correct" actions.  which isnt how life really works.   