this was a great break down of this concept! I never really knew why I didn't like ultra powered characters rather then ones that really seemed flawed and that every aspect of the task was clearly going to be a huge struggle, just that that was my preference. Thanks your videos are very insightful, always look forward to your videos.
Here is an interesting take, a suicidal survival sci fi character can have internal and external conflicts with the entire idea of surviving, which can have lots of opportunity for a non-flat character arc.
Well if you like In Other Waters then you might like a game called Roadwarden. It has a very strong sense of place and what its like to live in a world that really doesn't want you to.
Would you have any advice for writing weak and fragile sentient AI bioroids based on others’ memories like the protagonist in Citizen Sleeper? Currently trying to find the balance of being able to do really cool and weird sci-magic stuff while remaining weak and fragile so that the player always feels like they don’t belong in the world and they know disregarding their weaknesses would be fatal for body mind and soul, just been making these cost a lot of resources or cause telegraphed long lasting debuffs that change the way the player has to play and grapple with the same basic mechanics but am interested in hearing more from ya
Well, you say "writing", but then you talk about game design, and those are two different questions. One thing to keep in mind is that all mechanics have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Citizen Sleeper is an excellent example: the mechanics of that game are not very durable or versatile. They last long enough to help tell the story, and by the time the player has started to master them and notice the weaknesses, the story is over. Another thing to keep in mind is that one kind of strength is not another kind of strength. For example, an expert hacker could bring a sci fi government to its knees, but still struggle to make even a single friend. The question in my mind is: what are you trying to explore? Make sure the characters explore that. If you want to explore the fact that knowing things is different from being strong, remember to not only have the main character explore that, but have other characters explore it from other angles. Citizen Sleeper's story is held aloft by the other characters!
@@CraigPerko ahhh well in my latest attempt at making an indie game that hasn't been discontinued, im trying to explore how bioroids find meaning in a dying, desolate, and meaningless world, so i guess having a bioroid who finds meaning through wandering and discovery and then having them be capable of reverse engineering old transportation machinery and teleportation magic and then framing every conflict with hostiles to be a measure about well and how quickly they can run away somewhere else, and specifically where is that elsewhere they choose to run towards, would possibly work as them grappling with their difficult reality through the game mechanics of choice and navigation? and then having them venture with a different bioroid who finds meaning through knowledge, study, and cataloguing of life, which puts them at difficult decisions because the 2nd wants to analyze the behavior of a cosmic entity of entropy that is grazing on some corpses while the 1st wants to get away and find libraries or archives that depict the cosmic entity instead, making a weird companion dynamic? so many questions and deep conversations i want to explore about an adventuring party of weirdo bioroids refusing to lose purpose in a meaningless world i guess that's my current answer for what i want my characters to explore, just figuring out the specifics. and yea i will make sure they will never be able to communicate with this cosmic entity inhuman agent even tho there are entire advanced fallen civilizations who dedicated superstructures of AI weather factories in attempts to communicate with this cosmic ecosystem through patterns of rain and songs of lightning only to have 90% fail and be destroyed by what seem to be the predators and parasites of the cosmic ecosystem, and then 10% of them randomly received the reaction of a cosmic entity turning their AI weather factories into what seem to be new breeding grounds, the ambitions of life's greatest minds failing against the unfathomable as an ironic backdrop to the world the bioroids are suffering and struggling in i guess hahaha
@@juamibenito2558 Well, make sure to give the plot points and character motivations enough time to sink in. If you move too fast, the players will feel lost.
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this was a great break down of this concept! I never really knew why I didn't like ultra powered characters rather then ones that really seemed flawed and that every aspect of the task was clearly going to be a huge struggle, just that that was my preference. Thanks your videos are very insightful, always look forward to your videos.
4:11 Hello darkness my old friend lol. Always appreciate your talks Craig. Definitely considering this for my sci-fi game.
If you're thinking about it, you're already ahead of the norm.
Here is an interesting take, a suicidal survival sci fi character can have internal and external conflicts with the entire idea of surviving, which can have lots of opportunity for a non-flat character arc.
I think that Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri still might be the game that handled these disparate approaches in a single game the best.
Hey man, I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing your views.
Side note: Would you please consider mirroring your videos to Odysee as well?
I don't know what that is. I'm not a fan of RUclips, but when I investigate other platforms, they tend to not be arranged for my kind of videos.
Well if you like In Other Waters then you might like a game called Roadwarden. It has a very strong sense of place and what its like to live in a world that really doesn't want you to.
Good rec!
Is the movie "The Martian" belongs to the survival sci-fi that starts with "the right person for the job" that you mentioned?
Yes, although it's very different when it's a movie and the player isn't the one doing the activities.
Would you have any advice for writing weak and fragile sentient AI bioroids based on others’ memories like the protagonist in Citizen Sleeper? Currently trying to find the balance of being able to do really cool and weird sci-magic stuff while remaining weak and fragile so that the player always feels like they don’t belong in the world and they know disregarding their weaknesses would be fatal for body mind and soul, just been making these cost a lot of resources or cause telegraphed long lasting debuffs that change the way the player has to play and grapple with the same basic mechanics but am interested in hearing more from ya
Well, you say "writing", but then you talk about game design, and those are two different questions.
One thing to keep in mind is that all mechanics have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Citizen Sleeper is an excellent example: the mechanics of that game are not very durable or versatile. They last long enough to help tell the story, and by the time the player has started to master them and notice the weaknesses, the story is over.
Another thing to keep in mind is that one kind of strength is not another kind of strength. For example, an expert hacker could bring a sci fi government to its knees, but still struggle to make even a single friend.
The question in my mind is: what are you trying to explore? Make sure the characters explore that. If you want to explore the fact that knowing things is different from being strong, remember to not only have the main character explore that, but have other characters explore it from other angles.
Citizen Sleeper's story is held aloft by the other characters!
@@CraigPerko ahhh well in my latest attempt at making an indie game that hasn't been discontinued, im trying to explore how bioroids find meaning in a dying, desolate, and meaningless world, so i guess having a bioroid who finds meaning through wandering and discovery and then having them be capable of reverse engineering old transportation machinery and teleportation magic and then framing every conflict with hostiles to be a measure about well and how quickly they can run away somewhere else, and specifically where is that elsewhere they choose to run towards, would possibly work as them grappling with their difficult reality through the game mechanics of choice and navigation?
and then having them venture with a different bioroid who finds meaning through knowledge, study, and cataloguing of life, which puts them at difficult decisions because the 2nd wants to analyze the behavior of a cosmic entity of entropy that is grazing on some corpses while the 1st wants to get away and find libraries or archives that depict the cosmic entity instead, making a weird companion dynamic?
so many questions and deep conversations i want to explore about an adventuring party of weirdo bioroids refusing to lose purpose in a meaningless world
i guess that's my current answer for what i want my characters to explore, just figuring out the specifics. and yea i will make sure they will never be able to communicate with this cosmic entity inhuman agent even tho there are entire advanced fallen civilizations who dedicated superstructures of AI weather factories in attempts to communicate with this cosmic ecosystem through patterns of rain and songs of lightning only to have 90% fail and be destroyed by what seem to be the predators and parasites of the cosmic ecosystem, and then 10% of them randomly received the reaction of a cosmic entity turning their AI weather factories into what seem to be new breeding grounds, the ambitions of life's greatest minds failing against the unfathomable as an ironic backdrop to the world the bioroids are suffering and struggling in i guess hahaha
@@juamibenito2558 Well, make sure to give the plot points and character motivations enough time to sink in. If you move too fast, the players will feel lost.
@@CraigPerko yeaaa i gotta playtest the pacing a whole bunch hahaha