The timing of this post lends it to be more of a retrospective than a true Devblog. Instead of a real-time log of thoughts, I instead get to provide a brief history of how this game came to be. Just because I tail-load all the writing doesn't mean I'll spare any development details - so I expect that this will just be the first post of many.
Of the 3 passages provided, we chose Ephesian 4:32 because it gave us a template for an idea (the general process being: "Step 1 - Read the verse. Step 2 - Wait for inspiration."). We were further inspired by an earlier phrase, Ephesians 4:25 - "for we are all members of one body". Compassion and kindness are universal virtues, preached among many faiths. So is the idea that humanity has to be united as one body.
The initial idea was to create a multiplayer game to illustrate both the struggles and rewards of being kind. We had no specific mechanics in mind, but wanted to create a game that rewarded players for betraying other players, yet still rewarding them even more for forgiving those who had betrayed them. However, it seemed inappropriate to try to incentivize players to co-operate for selfish rewards. And after a day of brainstorming, we couldn't find a mechanic that was fun.
So we shifted gears and tried to make a co-op game with the following guidelines:
- It had to be couch co-op, i.e. all the players had to be physically near each other (slightly so we didn't have to deal with networking, and also to make it so real-life interactions were integral to the game)
- Players had to all working towards a common goal (i.e. a true co-op game, not some co-op game where each player has hidden side agendas)
- Each time one player made a mistake, the price would be paid by the other players
- Players had to be occupied enough so that coordinating with other players required trust and efficient communication - we didn't want players to have the time to micromanage their teammates - trust and communication was required.
The final guideline (underlined and bolded) was the most difficult - we had to make something that toed the line between challenging and frustrating.
I didn't expect the final form of the game to have clouds, stars, and the player controlling a sun-like object. I didn't expect it, because the initial design doc had clouds, stars, the sun, and the words "objects are all placheolders until we decide what they are". Perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised that we were too lazy to replace the placeholder objects.
The game's mechanics, though, were changed many times, and the final version's (at least, the version we had at the deadline) mechanics turned out to be very different from the initial design doc.
Next up: Actual iteration and tweaking of the game's mechanics