Overview
The main character starts the story dead. The goal is to figure out how/why the character died (much like a detective). The catch is that the detective work will be done as life flashes before his eyes in the last moments of death. However the main characters’ life flashes in segments from the most current events to the farthest event. Another catch, is that the main character has little memory of himself/herself aside from his/her own name, and these life-flashing moments are his/her means to remember. While the user interacts with these flashes the user determines behaviors (chat, action, etc) of the main character how the environment around the main character reacts these said behaviors. More specifics on sub plot soon to come…
Stages of the Narrative
Since the main character begins the narrative dead, the beginning of the game starts with a view of the character dead on the sidewalk of some random street. Through inner thought (scrolling text) the character discusses what he knows (mostly just his own name Derrick Kaine) of himself and his current situation. The character also proposes a few rhetorical questions about death and more questions about why he was in the current situation. Then after the scrolling text the story jumps to the first of the stages.
It can be assumed that the user will know where and when the character had died. This leaves the user in mystery as to “who” was involved in the death, “why” the character had died, and “how” he had died. For the sake of this project, the narrative will handle these issues in stages where the user will be able to determine through interaction the facts of the mystery. Specifically, the user will determine the direction of the narrative in the previous stages. So for example, in the introduction stage of the game the user will have a number of items to interact with that more-or-less present questions to the user that will help determine “who” is the focal point to the main characters death.
Cut Scenes
In between each stage the user will be prompted by an monologue/dialog screen that displays the current thoughts of the character that are also pertinent to the narrative. Some of these involve limited amounts of interactive required of the user.
Stage One - Introduction
(Takes place in a small room with a bed, a desk and a computer, a phone and answering machine, a few reminder notes, and some other random stuff) First and foremost, in this stage the user will first be introduced to the interface and controls of the game, i.e. how to move through the environment (up, down, left, right arrows) and how to interact with items (‘/ ?’ button). Once they have been familiarized with the interface, the user will then have the ability to browse the room. The items that the user may interact with will have “?” above them. At this point the user will be required to search through a number of these items, and thus the detective work begins. Some of the items/reactions will produce points for either Spencer (see characters) or Monica (see characters) as to ‘who’ was involved in the death of the main character, however the who will not be apparent to the story until the next stage. In the intro stage the user will be require to interact to a minimum number of items before leaving the room (the trigger event). If the user fails to meet the minimum number they will be prompted (via the main characters on inner monologue) “I feel like I am missing something… I think I should look around some more.” Otherwise, if the user does meet the minimum then the next stage will ensue.
Cut Scene - The cut scene is mostly a discussion about how the characters life seems to be flashing before his eyes from recent evens back towards birth. But the character as begins the discussion of who was involved with his death.
Stage Two - The Who
Depending on how the user reacted with the intro stage the user will either undergo an investigation of characters with either Spencer or Monica as the pinpointed “who” of the narrative. If Spencer had been selected as “who” was involved in the death, then most of the interaction will be used to determine whether the main character was killed by gun or drugs “the how”. If Monica, then the interaction will determine the why of the mystery for the next stage… cheated or didn’t cheat. In either case the interactions will all involve the who of the story. The cut scene that follows essential breaks down the “who” and then discusses further investigation of the matters at hand.
Stage Three - The What/How (and/or the Why)
Depending on the who as well as the previously determined how/why of the story will determine this phase of the narrative. The interaction in this stage will help determine the last key element to the detective story (details are written down on paper)