In preparation for the upcoming thesis presentation, i figured i'd post some of my own musings on my work thus far, and the direction that i intend to take the project in...
As it stands right now, my intention is to study the effects that time has on the player's experience. This will be a two-pronged attack, i hope. One, i intend to examine the speed with which the player interacts with the actual game. Instead of the twitch-based fighting games, where players study the number of frames a move is comprised of, i want a game where the player is compelled to stop and observe the environment. Furthermore, i want time itself to be in flux; as if each and every object in the world operated on its own timeline. I intend time to be a resource, even, something the player must take note of, in order to succeed. So, time would be a tool, necessary for regulating actions, something that would be subject to more complicated rules than the ones we are accustomed.
As it stands, i have come up with several rules for the way that time behaves in this project:
1) Time is a resource. Objects with more time are faster, those with less are slower.
2) Time always moves in a forward direction. There is no reversal or rewinding of time
3) Time moves at different speeds for different individuals. For a mosquito, time might move incredibly quickly, while for a drop of water, it might crawl
4) Time can be shared, like heat. When in an area with faster objects, things with lower time will "heat up," gaining time from the others
5) Time is fleeting. Objects with more time will lose it if they are inactive, or if they radiate it onto slower objects via rule 4.
6) Some objects exert influence over the time of others. Larger objects emit an aura within which other objects are affected by rule 4, and function under the time-rules and time-rate of the larger object.
Mathematically, the concept can be described as the ratio between the subject's time, and the perceived/absolute time of the player, a ratio of game seconds per real second. This provides a multiplier which can be applied to the in-game actions. So, a subject with more time than the player, say 2 seconds compared to the player's real-life constant of one second would lead to the subject moving twice as fast.
I imagine a game-world where inhabitants are perfectly accustomed to living under these rules. In this society, certain monuments, called timeposts are erected to radiate time, in order to allow people to recharge their time, and move faster when they want. Cities are filled with these posts, and the hustle-and-bustle of everyday life is greatly accelerated. Only outside of the city, in nature, does time flow at a reduced rate. This society has just reached its industrial revolution, and as such, its populace is feeling an increased need to achieve more in less time. The variability of the timeline allows for the individual to accomplish more in less time, and still preserve moments of passivity. My leading concept for the main character is a man who has spent his entire life working in a potato factory, and has just retired. For him, the ability to affect the speed of time was simply a way to increase productivity. But, as the needs of society have changed, so have people's relationship to it. Criminal have begun exploiting their control over time in increasingly complex manners.
So far, i have a couple of paper prototypes, as well as a digital playground that exemplifies several of these rules. I have an idea of how nature will function under these rules, a number of elements which i feel are interested, when affected by time. I think that the idea is very interesting, and i have a number of ideas for art, sound and plot that i feel are very intriguing (i'll detail these later)
However, i do have a number of concerns. For one, i don't yet understand what effects these rules of time will have in an urban setting, and in relation to technology. As the technology within the world becomes increasing complex, its reactions to the rate of time become increasingly complicated. For example, a drain, when accelerated, will empty water faster than if it is slower. However, if one gear at the beginning of a chain is accelerated, the others will in turn. Complications arise if the gear is in the middle of a mechanism. To solve this, i will need to create a few example systems before proceeding.
Furthermore, i am concerned about the overall "fun" of the project. i am worried that the interactions provided under these rules will not be as enticing to the user, and that the experience will grow stale. In order to alleviate this, i think i will need to go through careful prototyping and user-testing.
Finally, i worry about the overall plot. As outlined right now, the plot i have envisioned merely places the player's character as a pawn in a grander scheme. I'll need to revise it constantly, keeping in mind the motivations of each and every character. The first step will be to create a short biography of the character.
As it stands, the immediate timeline/tasklise is as follows:
Ongoing) prototyping in flash, migrating to XNA
1) Character development
2) world development
3) puzzle development
4) plot development
5) Evaluate end-case conditions of time flow (lower being zero time, and upper being as-of-yet undetermined)
with the overall goal being expanding the sandbox into a playable tutorial in the near future.