Okay, here's my idea for a realism-based rpg based on the sudden occurence of the zombie apocalypse. This is my first time creating a game, so please give constructive criticism if I need it because of something I did incorrectly, but don't just disagree with me on points in the description because you would have done it differently.
Title:
We'll work on a solid one later. Just imagine I have entered a cleverly titled reference to the zombie apocalypse.
Description: Background.
It's current day in Southern Indiana. Much the same time period in the rest of the world I would guess. Everyone who participates starts in their own house. You wake up and make your way into your living room. When you turn on the television, the default channel presents its station id logo, and a warning message advising you to turn to a news station. You switch it to CNN HeadLine News. The excitable news anchor looks to have been crying, and is obviously flustered. It's hard to follow the quickly passing dialogues, but you gather something about an infection, and cannibalism. As far as you can tell, it sounds just like a review of the most recent addition to the "Dead" series. After watching for a few more minutes, you realize that that's exactly what it is. Z-Day has come, and you're on your own. No other background information is given, because this is realism-based, and you would not have any definition as far as the extent of the outbreak, or how or why it happened. At some point, if the game continues for long enough, the setting will become post apocalyptic, but that'll be dealt with as a part of the gameplay. As far as the type of zombies we're dealing with here, it'll be a pretty basic concept. Think "Dawn of the Dead" or the normal infecteds from "Left 4 Dead." Base intelligence, mob mentality, etc. And the only way to kill the mfor good is by removing the head or destroying the brain.
Description: Details.
Your parents are gone to work or running an errand, and any siblings or other family members you have in your house have gone out as well. Your objective is simply this: To survive until the ordeal is over. You may create a set of personal sub-objectives, such as any key points you would like to aim for in your contingency plan. For participation in the game you won't need to create a character sheet, because this is a realism-based game, so you will be you. You will be alotted ten items of your choosing to carry. All of the items on this list MUST be things actually available in your home. And you must be actually capable of carrying/transporting these items. Please don't lie about it, because that takes the realism element out of the game, so it'll be less fun. ONE of these items may be a bag of some sort which will be allowed to contain up to FIVE additional items that would realistically fit in the bag. Inventories can be altered in gameplay as other items become available. Keep in mind that these items would have to become available realistically. You can't just say something like "And I randomly find a rifle in the alley next to my house." Each of the participants will also be allowed two key personality traits that they will have the opportunity to enhance as a result of consistant gameplay. These can be things such as First-Aid/CPR, lock-picking, proficiency with weapons, etc. The catch to that is, these two things must be traits that you ACTUALLY possess. If that means you have to go and study lock picking for an hour or so before posting, then do it. Again, this is all about realism. The only other requirement will be that you have a game-plan. I don't care if this is something you make up on the spot, or something you have pre-planned, like me. [Yes, I really have one. Fully detailed, and written out, complete with measurements and other diagrams.] If this is picked-up, obviously I'll post a demo page so you can see how all of the elements are supposed to be presented. Keep in mind that any reference to the other people involved must be agreed upon in advance, and be realistic. For instance, I live a few blocks away from Sean, so I can make my way to his house, but I have no idea where Bush lives, so I can't just say that I walked to his house. And try to avoid everyone clumping into one group, because the game only has one path, where as there need to be several. If we need to, we'll set a limit on the number of people involved in the group, and that includes secondary characters, for example girlfriends. I live two houses down from Kami, and she would be my first stop. So I would have to add her to my group. Also animals would be included. They would count as a member of your group if they're large, like a guard dog. If they were small, they would count as an item in your inventory.
Time Period: The morning of the day after the game starts. Whatever time you normally wake up. Ending whenever the infection is over, in which case the post-apocalyptic storyline would begin. OR ending when we're all dead...
So, yeah, let the discussion begin. And, honestly, I don't care if the idea for the game has been done before. I haven't done it yet. This will be different. As far as it looks to me right now, the story elements will be presented by whoever ends up moderating, whether it be me or Bush. But whoever that is needs to realize that their part of it is realism-based as well, so nothing ridiculous can happen. And, if the moderator is going to be a participant, then they have to follow all of the rules that everyone else does, and they can't craft the story around themself.
Any suggestions are welcome, but if the game gets picked-up and your suggestion doesn't make it into the storyline or the gameplay, don't b*tch about it. That's annoying, and will make you look very foolish when it come to no fruition. |