AltSci Cell

Hi,

I thought I'd update this blog with some actual AltSci Cell information. It's been over a month since my last post. But actually, I've only gotten a few days of work done on AltSci Cell, so it hasn't been very long.

Today, I implemented a conversation system and was able to get the graphics for it done in the same day. The conversation system is quite complex and would boggle many minds. I was able to get my head around it and it's pretty wild. You can see on the bottom left the talk menu. It identifies four groups of talking points. In each group is 2-5 greetings, statements, or questions. You can see the pickup submenu to the right has 4 pickup lines. Don't laugh, I actually expect these to work.


You probably aren't very impressed. But allow me to say that intelligent conversations in Cell will actually be the meaning of the game. Unlike most love sims, AltSci Cell will focus on winning a person over with a variety of conversations. Also, a complex plot will be conveyed through the conversations and will eventually lead to the conclusion of the game. Conflict, interest, and resolution will all be programmed into the conversation system. Not only will the conversations be complex and convey the ultimate meaning of the game, but also the conversations are not linear. Asking one person about something will not give you the same answer as another person. The AI will take into account the personal identity of the character to decide their answer. Yes, this is terrifically complicated. Yet the learning curve should be very short and the game will be weighted in the advantage of the player so that any conversation should end up being rather interesting.

Does the average gamer want story? There are many opinions on this. The fact that many gamers dislike story altogether cannot be disputed. However, it's not my aim to please this category of gamers. Does any gamer want conversation? Most games lack intelligent conversation that isn't totally scripted and linear. Often, players are frustrated by the length of time required to start playing a game that has story. I recently saw Zelda Twilight on the Wii and everyone was so anxious to see the sword swinging that an uproar was created and everyone gave up after trying for half an hour. Love sims often have scripted story with very small bits of interactive conversation, usually to test whether the user is smart enough to understand the objective (actually not trivial if it's in Japanese). So that means that we have no data on whether gamers like conversations. AltSci Cell will be a conversation driven game, so we may see whether gamers like conversations. What makes me think that AltSci Cell will be a success? It will have depth, it will be easy to play, it will be moddable (and open source), and it will give people a good feeling. Not that warm and fuzzy feeling when you watch a Pixar film, no... The feeling you get when write response a good blog. (hint hint)