JUST starting to knock around ideas for

[lamont Sanford]

Ok going to actually ask for some help with something. The map for this game is similar to PIP, the town has gone through some changes since last we visited and those changes you will see when you play. I have 1 section of the map that I keep doing and re-doing and nothing feels right. What I am looking for is a place where you can participate in some daytime activities, a place that you can have a date at. I have started doing a zoo, an amusement park, a town fair and each time kinda was meh about it. It is possible I may come back to one of those unless someone has an idea that clicks better. The only criteria really is that it should def be a daytime activity and something you would find in town. On another topic, the one problem that seemed to be pretty universal in PIP was people did not like the way time was handled...or I should say they felt there was too much dead time. I will try to tighten things up as best I can but my skills at programing are quite minimal. Right now I am leaning on condensing things so there will be more packed into a shorter time frame, do not expect this game to span 5 or 6 days like PIP did, there may be as much action but in a shorter time span.

[tlaero]

How about a park? Picnic. Playing Frisbee. Walk in the woods. People watch. A date doesn't have to be fancy.

Tlaero

[Squeeky]

I am coming in here quite "green behind the ears" on this discussion so this may not be appropriate but I've noted your dating venue problem.

Have you considered something like a shopping mall, simple township, arcade opens into a square (or maybe better, a small 'park' with fixed tables and bench seats). A charity has a fundraising event.

You've arranged to meet at the mall and have a choice of being seated within the "food court" or going outdoor when you know what is out back?


As to temporal issues, do you have real issues there?
You talk about time frame. Do you need to build a time variable into your proposal or is it just a matter of staging the events so that by selection one cannot come before another? (If the later, and again I still haven't been there, but I would think that the tlareo machine might be your solution, assuming of course you are following something like what she offers in that).

[ExLibris]

I would strongly suggest moving away from literal time (ie. 1 turn = 2 minutes, or whatever). It works in certain situations, such as when the PC is supposed to be finding a bomb, for example. But, in general, it has the effect of increasing the 'distance' between the major events in the game, which means that you either have to create new events to fill in the empty space (such as the daydream system in SD3) or the player has to hit 'z' a lot until something happens.

Is the game going to be broken up into separate days? If not, the puzzles you use can establish a narrative structure (ie. you can do that until you've done this; Reunion is a prime example). If it is, I'd suggest breaking the day up into more abstract units such as morning, afternoon and evening. When the PC is in a position where they can't do very much (eg. class or work), you can speed up the passage of time. But if they're supposed to be exploring you can just extend time indefinitely until the player triggers a certain event (such as the date ending or the PC going to sleep). In other words, pretty much what Goblinboy did in SD3 and Meteor.

As for daytime date locations, I'd second the park. Or maybe an outdoor cafe.

[TheBrain]

I strongly agree with ExLibris on the abstract time thing. I can only imagine it also makes things easier to design. Like if you have events A and B, but you don't want the player to be able to experience both, you could just say they are "afternoon" events and both progress time from afternoon to evening. In general I'd say major events (school, dates, storyline stuff, etc.) progress time, while minor events (conversation, exploration, "hidden content", clues, etc.) don't. You could also make events trigger based on the current time, it would be less coincidental than in PIP where, for example, you had to be at the house in woods at exactly the right time.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that I strongly prefer "talk to X" conversation mechanics over "ask X about Y". With the latter there's much more verb guessing, and you never know whether you're missing something...

As for the date, the park is an old favourite of course. Another option that jumps to mind is some outdoorsy stuff: hiking, cycling, kayaking, whatever fits the purpose (and you can always conveniently take a rest at a remote location with nobody around... :P).

[fleet]

Another thing to do in a park, sometimes free concerts are held in public parks (they do that in my area during the spring and fall).

Another date idea is attending a sporting event (soccer, baseball, tennis, golf match) is another idea. You could also have the character participate in a sport (play tennis, golf, miniature golf).

[lamont Sanford]

The park is still there but I am looking to not repeat the dates from last game so the movies and picnic are out. You are older now ( just finished your first year of college so going out to the bar is more your speed. I have 2 dating locations set already. Re: the park I have something else planned there. Time is tricky because the way I code is I break the day into chunks say day 1 morning for example as scenes and there is a lot of time dependencies in which under the hood things happen that are important like moving characters to other places, and events that switch scenes. I will take it under consideration what you said.

[lamont Sanford]

@ Fleet. since we last visited Pleasantville it has undergone a bit of a cleanup. The redlight district has been gutted. In the last game the police shut down the massage parlor which is now a bar. The strip club is also gone and replaced by a concert venue so you will have the opportunity to goto shows now as a dating choice, or just going solo. I toyed with the idea of having a minor league baseball teams stadium and going to a game..that is still one of the options. your tennis idea is not bad though, makes me think maybe miniature golf or go carts or something...hmm.

[LRM]

Is there a body of water? Kayaking might be a good way to access secluded areas.

[tlaero]

Or stand up paddle boarding. All the rage these days (and a lot of fun).

Tlaero

[ExLibris]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that I strongly prefer "talk to X" conversation mechanics over "ask X about Y". With the latter there's much more verb guessing, and you never know whether you're missing something...

I would actually argue against this because I don't find 'cut scene' conversation to be particularly involving as there are no choices involved. Having to guess which topics are implemented is certainly a pain in the ass, but it does have the effect of focusing the player's mind on what's being talked about. Other options include highlighting topics when they appear in conversation, listing conversation topics in the readme, or menu-based conversations.

[ZaphodB]

A boating lake does provide the opportunity for hiding in the reeds possibly getting caught, or an island which is known as a regular make out spot. A fairground could have fondling on the ghost-train or a big wheel getting stuck at the top where no-one can see you as well as opportunities to win money or toys with rifle shoots etc. - it's a good daytime bonding area. Pity you don't have a beach.

[LRM]

Or stand up paddle boarding. All the rage these days (and a lot of fun).

Tlaero

You've got your kayak strapped to your bottom, you're paddling on a smooth surface with little wind and no wake from other boats. Suddenly your boat twists below you. Your heart skips a beat or two as you scramble to keep from going over. You paddle on uneventfully for a while and just about the time you completely relax again, the boat twists once more. After the fourth or fifth time this happens some cute little Harbor Seal surfaces just out of paddle range. You glare at his cute little ass and swear he's grinning from ear to ear. Do you have any idea how cold Puget Sound is? You don't know what shrinkage is until you've been unexpectedly dumped into it.
Lou
It's all worth it. I've seen things you can't imagine sitting at water level. It's made even better when your mate paddles up and basically makes a catamaran so you can get back in your kayak.

[ZaphodB]

And of course your date may abandon you on the island leaving you to survive on an island ...

[ZaphodB]

Actually golf course rather than a pitch and putt you could go out of bounds hunt for your ball and find other things. Plenty could be hidden out there including large things like spaceships. You could dig up a high tech device in a bunker or if you're daring enough get friendly down in the sand. That old cliche of getting behind the girl to help practice her swing could always be used.