I've half-convinced myself to build a game that I've been thinking about for a while now (on and off for a couple of years). Right now, I'm looking at game engines and I could use the advice of those who have gone before me. I'm not overly concerned with what languages or environments will be required as long as it's not something obscenely obscure or niche. I'm more concerned with the limitations of each engine with regards to how I may have to alter game play.
This game will target primarily the following kinks: BDSM, breeding/pregnancy, incest, rape, though depending on game actions potentially anything and everything else could show up. Consider that tag list a warning before reading further.
So the premise of the game is this (apologies for the wall of text!):
You're a mage focused on ascending to a higher order of power. To accomplish this, you'll need to achieve immortality (so that you have enough time to do all of the work), you'll need to gain enough power in enough different types of magic in order to build your base magical knowledge and potency in order to make the leap/transformation. In this particular game (I have other games in mind with the same base premise but different twists), you've chosen to perfect your physical form through a magically enhanced breeding program thanks to an artifact you've acquired. Make a daughter/son depending on PC sex (hereon the 'scion'). Modify the scion's genetics through magic/alchemy/supernatural gifts/whatever, prepare their mind to grow their magical power, et cetera. Once they reach physical and magical peak, use the scion to make the next scion and then use the artifact to absorb from the first scion the enhanced life/vitality/mojo that aligns with your own, which will kill them (or possibly leave them a mindbroken drone servant, I haven't decided). Rinse and repeat. Game mechanics will revolve around using the skills you have to locate and acquire other skills, magical abilities and artifacts, managing (conditioning/educating/training) your scion to maximize the benefit when you drain them while trying to avoid letting them escape, becoming a threat, or such. Each generation makes your offspring more powerful (he/she too has magic, which is why this works), more willful, more difficult to control. As cycles progress, scions are more likely to escape, sabotage (either accidentally or intentionally) the end of cycle, setting events overwhelm the PC or disrupt the cycle. The artifact only works once every XX years, so it serves as a cycle time limit.
The setting will start out in the dark ages of an Earth-like fantasy setting and advance over time, introducing new challenges (a major religious or social institution coming after you, a war threatens your mage sanctuary or hampers your ability to obtain a macguffin, your home gets invaded by some supernatural creature, someone you've wronged in a previous cycle becomes a major enemy, your scion develops a magical talent you don't have and you're playing catch up). Each 'cycle' will typically see the magician gaining a new perk of some sort in the form of a new magical ability, a new artifact, or a new skill. I'm strongly considering letting the player choose one perk at the beginning (essentially flavoring what kind of mage they are - alchemist, necromancer, seer, summoner, whatnot), with the rest being either randomized or letting the player choose from a random sample to pursue this cycle. The trick being that every magical ability the player gets, future scions also get. Every artifact you get, the scion also potentially has access to. Every skill you get makes your scion more skilled or talented in a similar way.
So the game play loop goes something like (family time)/(mis?-adventure)/(family time)/(mis?-adventure)/(family time)/(end of cycle). More or less steps per cycle depending on the granularity of events I wind up settling on. Most adventures will see the PC traveling to new locations, following clues toward some hidden power/item/entity. Many adventures will be about dealing with the event selected for this cycle, or troubles created by the scion.
This will not be an action game of any kind (ie, the player will never be physically moving the PC or other sprites around on the screen other than perhaps inventory and resource bars), nor strictly a choose-your-own-adventure with fixed paths. Think rogue-like sandbox-ish. I would like to incorporate some kind of fighting mechanics (likely jrpg style), and have the protagonist frequently deal with human and supernatural enemies. I want the game to have some replayability, so that there will be more powers/artifacts/skills than can be accomplished in one play through, and events will be randomized, with many of them being event chains in the way of story arcs. I'm also a fan of modding communities, and would like to leave the game moddable for people interested in adding new events, powers, items and such.
RenPy jumps to mind as a potentially appropriate engine, but I'm not fond of its tendency toward cookie cutter interfaces. I also don't recall seeing any RenPy games with sizable mods. Any recommendations? I tend to want more control, more options at the expense of handholding. And if this game takes off, I wouldn't mind turning it and the series into my daily earner so license limits have to be considered.
This game will target primarily the following kinks: BDSM, breeding/pregnancy, incest, rape, though depending on game actions potentially anything and everything else could show up. Consider that tag list a warning before reading further.
So the premise of the game is this (apologies for the wall of text!):
You're a mage focused on ascending to a higher order of power. To accomplish this, you'll need to achieve immortality (so that you have enough time to do all of the work), you'll need to gain enough power in enough different types of magic in order to build your base magical knowledge and potency in order to make the leap/transformation. In this particular game (I have other games in mind with the same base premise but different twists), you've chosen to perfect your physical form through a magically enhanced breeding program thanks to an artifact you've acquired. Make a daughter/son depending on PC sex (hereon the 'scion'). Modify the scion's genetics through magic/alchemy/supernatural gifts/whatever, prepare their mind to grow their magical power, et cetera. Once they reach physical and magical peak, use the scion to make the next scion and then use the artifact to absorb from the first scion the enhanced life/vitality/mojo that aligns with your own, which will kill them (or possibly leave them a mindbroken drone servant, I haven't decided). Rinse and repeat. Game mechanics will revolve around using the skills you have to locate and acquire other skills, magical abilities and artifacts, managing (conditioning/educating/training) your scion to maximize the benefit when you drain them while trying to avoid letting them escape, becoming a threat, or such. Each generation makes your offspring more powerful (he/she too has magic, which is why this works), more willful, more difficult to control. As cycles progress, scions are more likely to escape, sabotage (either accidentally or intentionally) the end of cycle, setting events overwhelm the PC or disrupt the cycle. The artifact only works once every XX years, so it serves as a cycle time limit.
The setting will start out in the dark ages of an Earth-like fantasy setting and advance over time, introducing new challenges (a major religious or social institution coming after you, a war threatens your mage sanctuary or hampers your ability to obtain a macguffin, your home gets invaded by some supernatural creature, someone you've wronged in a previous cycle becomes a major enemy, your scion develops a magical talent you don't have and you're playing catch up). Each 'cycle' will typically see the magician gaining a new perk of some sort in the form of a new magical ability, a new artifact, or a new skill. I'm strongly considering letting the player choose one perk at the beginning (essentially flavoring what kind of mage they are - alchemist, necromancer, seer, summoner, whatnot), with the rest being either randomized or letting the player choose from a random sample to pursue this cycle. The trick being that every magical ability the player gets, future scions also get. Every artifact you get, the scion also potentially has access to. Every skill you get makes your scion more skilled or talented in a similar way.
So the game play loop goes something like (family time)/(mis?-adventure)/(family time)/(mis?-adventure)/(family time)/(end of cycle). More or less steps per cycle depending on the granularity of events I wind up settling on. Most adventures will see the PC traveling to new locations, following clues toward some hidden power/item/entity. Many adventures will be about dealing with the event selected for this cycle, or troubles created by the scion.
This will not be an action game of any kind (ie, the player will never be physically moving the PC or other sprites around on the screen other than perhaps inventory and resource bars), nor strictly a choose-your-own-adventure with fixed paths. Think rogue-like sandbox-ish. I would like to incorporate some kind of fighting mechanics (likely jrpg style), and have the protagonist frequently deal with human and supernatural enemies. I want the game to have some replayability, so that there will be more powers/artifacts/skills than can be accomplished in one play through, and events will be randomized, with many of them being event chains in the way of story arcs. I'm also a fan of modding communities, and would like to leave the game moddable for people interested in adding new events, powers, items and such.
RenPy jumps to mind as a potentially appropriate engine, but I'm not fond of its tendency toward cookie cutter interfaces. I also don't recall seeing any RenPy games with sizable mods. Any recommendations? I tend to want more control, more options at the expense of handholding. And if this game takes off, I wouldn't mind turning it and the series into my daily earner so license limits have to be considered.
