TheGatewayOfRealities
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Fantasy of our Game
🕑 Added 2020-03-30 02:01:38 +0000 UTCAuthor: Salireths
According to a recent conversation in our Discord, some people are still unsure what the game is about... Honestly, I don't blame them even though I made a lot of posts about it. Gameplay design is a complex topic after all!
So, in this post, I'll approach this question again and try to explain it from a new angle.
Plus, of course, many things have changed since the original simple "dinosaur life sim with adult features" premise, the theme of the game kept evolving and being iterated on over time.
Fantasy
Let me give you an example, what is Doom about? Shooting, yes, but in my opinion, the fantasy it puts you in is much more important to talk about.
What's the Doom's fantasy? Being a strong dude ripping and tearing hell demons, of course!
A completely unrelated sketch of a parody game idea called COOM, I just had to put it here, sorry xD uncensored version here: https://i.imgur.com/lHqaSH4.png
Now, what fantasy do we put players in with our game? What feeling does it give you?
I always wanted the game to immerse you in a strange world, and intrigue you with its different, alien perspective on life and all it has to offer.
This simple formulaic reflects that rather well:
Live as a creature who explores different kinds of pleasures in a kinky interspecies multiverse.
Now keep this fantasy in mind as you read through gameplay elements described below.
Oh, and keep in mind, all of this is work-in-progress and still subject of change, however we're preparing some of ideas described below for next build. So you will be able to try some of it yourself relatively soon!
Home
Old sketch, but shows what is organic technology is like.
We went through many ideas on how and where to start the game, but "you hatch from the egg and go from there" is stuck with me.
We need to make a tutorial for new players that can't be interrupted by other player's actions in multiplayer, so in current iteration, we've decided that you hatch/start at your personal Home Instance.
What's the better place to familiarize yourself with controls and mechanics than the safety of your new Home anyway?
You "hatch" as a fully grown, adult creature of your choice from an artificially-grown Egg.
Work in progress untextured model of the "egg machine"
The home (habitat) systems won't let you go outside until you resupply the organic Egg machine that you've just hatched from, because its unsafe if you don't have a backup clone.
The process of resupplying teaches you the basics of matter recycling and crafting, and then presents the interaction system:
The machine needs to collect your essence (DNA in our words) to start growing a new body: a useful tentacle will gladly help you to donate some of it. Now it's up to you to figure out where to insert that tentacle, you have at least two ways it could go!
But of course, the systemic nature of the game will allow you just spit on it, but it would be boring, would it?
3D-sketch of materializator machine. The table is where item appears, the tubes are for the matter storage. Perhaps I'll move the storage to a separate constructible object, so you can easily extend it by building more.
So, at the end of tutorial,
- You've deposited your essence into the Egg machine.
- Crafted yourself some food rations.
- Geared up with a portable crafting tool.
- And hidden your tentacle dildo.
Time to leave your "apartment" and meet the neighbors!
Interspace
Untextured view of the evolved interspace design
After you leave the Home you get to the Interspace, the hub between Realities.
In there, once NPCs are implemented, you will be able to meet them and inquire information about the world, trade, and perhaps even find your first love affair (Speed runs to get laid, anyone?).
But more importantly, there are interactive billboards with travel destinations, job postings, advertisements, etc.
Billboard sketch, the big crystal will show information and pictures of places to visit.
Using those is a great way to start a new adventure, just take a look at the examples what can be listed there:
- A tester of new experimental exploding sex-toys is required.
- Need help with designing a perfect breakfast for the Vore Nation.
- Looking for experienced explorers to research the ancient Dungeon of Primal Desires.
- Accepting new students at the College of Dragon Pleasures.
Those are just suggestions, not necessarily how its going to be like in the end, it's just so you get the picture and overall tone: humorous, wacky, lewd, kinky, adventurous.
Pleasures/fetishes can be also related to food, combat, games and many other things, not necessarily only sex.
Also, I'm respectful of your own kinks and won't force you to go though things you don't like. You can always choose, even if that means skipping content.
Realities
Top down view of new interspace layout. Its the hub, main "plaza" with spaces for NPCs to make their little stands, walk around, give hints and ask for requests.
To get to those destinations, you will be using Gateway, which is not only responsible for loading new levels (called Realities), but also getting you there and back.
Each Reality is a self-containing story, experience that varies in size and complexity from one to another, but all set in a bizarre post-scarcity multiverse full of furry/scaly/feathery creatures, who are constantly searching for new sexual and other kinds of pleasures, because their life is a total paradise!
Who here wouldn't want that?! Get me to this world, now, please!!!
With a new, more light-hearted tone of the game, there might be somewhat comical "team-misery" villains too, someone who preach against sex, tasty food, and other good stuff.
As of before the "villain" was just an inanimate shadow corruption, that was there to just make your life harder, and I tried to make some dark plot related to it... Which can still happen I guess, if its appropriate for the Reality.
Textured organic-technology props
Further Exploration
Since all those bizarre realities have been already explored by other creatures, instead you explore yourself, your own fantasies and desires.
You're getting new knowledge of the strange alien world, of technology, culture and creatures through your personal experiences.
Life and Interactions
You are living, and we attempt to emulate reality with game's systems: food and hydration needs, toilet needs, all organs and orifices are present on your body and interactable... Everything is yours to use and experiment with.
Living unit, a nest that is grown to satisfy all basic and medical needs of an organic creature. Comes pre-installed with all habitats.
Make your own creature
With collected knowledge you can make yourself look the way you want, and with new improvements to our character customization system, the game will even allow you to make a new species from scratch, using parts unlocked through exploration.
Tools, weapons and combat
Combat is considered to be yet another form of pleasure, here its more akin to a sport or competition. With consciousness easily transferred to another body - no one can truly die.
Each weapon is also a tool that can open up new gameplay possibilities.
Crafting
If you need something you can simply use the materializer to make it (like they do in Star Trek or Orville).
The item formulas, as well as matter for them, you'll have to find through exploration and research!
Research
While exploring places, it might be needed to bring samples to your ever expanding home lab for further study, acquire knowledge to get information about those exquisite ancient pleasures, new creature customizations, clothing, colors, home-improvements, crafting formulas... and much more.
Research, construction, and home control station with Oculare drones. The "crumpled" monitor is made out of many floating crystals, and will work similar to Looking Glass from Prey game, though real-life counterpart under the same name can also be used as an example.
Conclusion
For the sake of keeping the post reasonably short, I simplified everything, but I hope I got the point across.
Do you think that, at the start of the game, even while you are inside the home instance, the game will immediately attempt to immerse you in the fantasy of Living as a creature who explores different kinds of pleasures in a kinky interspecies multiverse?
Notice how many things appear bizarre and lewd, though it's a completely normal occurrence in their world, logically justified through lore.
And please, let's talk about all of this together - I need your feedback and what you think. Perhaps you have some wild ideas of your own, I'd love to hear them!
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you are as excited as I am about everything starting to come together at last!
todo: add a mention that you can still play without sexual things... you can do things, but you're boring, but you can still.
