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Author Topic: "Zybourne Clock Redux": A Time Modification Game  (Read 13823 times)

Servant Corps

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Re: "Zybourne Clock Project" Worldbuilding (SAGameDev VII)
« Reply #15 on: May 23, 2015, 11:05:07 am »

If anyone is reading this, write "meep", or maybe post with advice.
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I have just finished a prototype of Zybourne Clock Redux for a school project. The school project asked me to make a "simple game", and didn't give me any limitations other than it had to be in JavaScript, so I took it as a license to take my original source-code from ChoiceScript and rewrite it in JavaScript. Even that annoying bug that stopped the project development in 2013 was fixed in the process.

I am waiting for the school project to be graded while deciding if I want to release it as open-source or keep it closed-source for the time being. The game is playable, and the mechanics are interesting, but it's not "fun" yet (all the events behave rather "samey", in regard to their effects on the broader timeline). I have to fiddle around with the mechanics some more.

But the main problem that all the events so far seem disconnected from each other. There doesn't appear to be any real "world" yet, just a bunch of events that appear to tie together only loosely within the mechanics and are more focused on "cheap, one-off jokes" than any real attempt to build a coherent world. Maybe that's the point of Zybourne Clock mythos, but it doesn't bode well for the immersion that players would expect in most games.

So it seems that further worldbuilding may be necessary if the project is to expand. I do not know whether I should try to dig deeper into the canon material (although I believe I exhausted most of it already in this thread), or if I have to start leaning on the parody material (although doing so would violate one of the core principals of the project, which was to stay true to canon). I also have to present the world in a manner that the players actually believe it to be a world (even if it's not a deep or logical one). This is going to be difficult. I don't even know where to start.

So...for those of you who just clicked on this thread, what are your suggestions?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2015, 11:09:02 am by Servant Corps »
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I have left Bay12Games to pursue a life of non-Bay12Games. If you need to talk to me, please email at me at igorhorst at gmail dot com.

Servant Corps

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Re: "Zybourne Clock Project" Worldbuilding (SAGameDev VII)
« Reply #16 on: August 03, 2015, 08:42:43 pm »

And it's over. I have finally finished Zybourne Clock Redux. It's a game playable in your browser, and only requires JavaScript. The game will work fine on modern web browsers. There's a quick tutorial that I would suggest reading.

I'm not entirely happy with the final product, but I have met my requirements, and the game is indeed playable. I would like feedback, if any, so that I can improve myself in the future.

It was exhausting trying to produce a game with unique mechanics. I think these mechanics did what they were supposed to do, and playtesters were excited about playing it. They however did not play it a lot though, suggesting that I may have inadvertently created a "casual" time-traveling game. Oh well.
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I have left Bay12Games to pursue a life of non-Bay12Games. If you need to talk to me, please email at me at igorhorst at gmail dot com.

Iituem

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Re: "Zybourne Clock Redux": A Time Modification Game
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2015, 07:45:08 pm »

Have played, enjoyed how some events seemed to have different weights on timelines (e.g. when I had Child Soldiers in some timelines, Nanobots had a much bigger effect than Vandermouse).
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