Reposting this from the Happy Thread:
I'm in a group of college level video game designers, and we're making a casual flash game. You play as a dwarven entrepreneur who is mining out the most dangerous mountain the world. The mountain is riddled with portals to the elemental planes and guarded by elementals. The player has to mine normal metals and special elemental ores to fund and outfit their way to the portals and shut the portals down. The only problem is we have to figure out a good reason WHY he's doing it, and the player needs something else to do with the resources he mines. Here are a few responses that I liked from the Happy Thread:
Searching for the fabled Heart of the Mountain?
Got roped into it by some evil elven corporation?
Say screw it and just have him be mining for points, ala Dig Dug?
Go the DF way with it. His reason for mining out the most dangerous mountain in the world: Why the hell not?
On a more serious note, maybe there's a magical item down there that he wants or something. Dangerous mountains always have magical items that are useful in some way. Or maybe he's rescuing his sweetheart, who the evil elves kidnapped and locked away in the mountain.
I pictured this dwarf as a rather selfish guy who's out to make a fortune, and this is his only (and most risky) option. Although that's not the best characterization, I don't really like the idea of a straight-laced goody-two-shoes guy either. Sure I guess the player would want a more fulfilling reason, but I'm a bit tired of squeaky clean heros always saving the day. Why can't we have a morally selfish main character who also manages to be endearing?
I do like the evil elven corporation idea, although what if the dwarf's motivation is something more like this: he was an employee at a merchant trading company, and the president of the company is a pompous jerk elf (picture an elf in white silks, gold jewellery, rings on all his fingers). After trying for years to get ahead in the company, the dwarf is fired by the elf. The dwarf, driven by suicidal tendencies, goes to the most dangerous mountain in the world to die, only to discover the mountain is filled with tremendous riches. Reinvigorated by this discovery, and by being in his natural element (i.e. in a mountain) he puts together a mining expedition to mine the mountain out and find a way to slay the monsters.
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Topic: The Open Concept Dump (Read 2418 times)