Adventure Forums - View Single Post - Help Wanted making Old Testament adventure game

andygeers · 01-23-2010, 02:04 AM

I've had all the same thoughts myself - it's like you read my mind ;-)

A few quick comments:
1) One of the most common sources of misunderstanding when approaching the Old Testament is precisely the mistake of always reading ourselves into the role of the "hero" - so we read about David & Goliath, and assume that I'm exactly like David and that everything that God does for him God will do for me. And so from a theological standpoint, as well as a gameplay one, I've taken the approach of you playing the role of a bystander (well, not a *mere* bystander, you do affect the story considerably, but I mean someone who is not the hero in the Biblical account). You then have your own story arc that parallels the thrust of the passage.

2) Of all the great point and click adventure games, very few actually let you change the outcome of the story, and in my opinion they don't suffer a jot for that. So I'm not fussed about "choice" in that sense. I can point you in the direction of some great blog posts on the subject if you want to discuss.

3) The idea that you could "derail" the story by being clumsy completely goes against the grain of what I think the Old Testament is trying to show us, that despite completely inept people always doing the wrong thing, God is in control and brings about his purposes in the end. So you as the protagonist *will* make tonnes of stupid mistakes over the course of the game, and are thoroughly clumsy, but far from stopping the story going as intended, these are actually what make it pan out as described in the Old T.

01-23-2010, 02:04 AM	#5
andygeers Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 12	I've had all the same thoughts myself - it's like you read my mind ;-) A few quick comments: 1) One of the most common sources of misunderstanding when approaching the Old Testament is precisely the mistake of always reading ourselves into the role of the "hero" - so we read about David & Goliath, and assume that I'm exactly like David and that everything that God does for him God will do for me. And so from a theological standpoint, as well as a gameplay one, I've taken the approach of you playing the role of a bystander (well, not a mere bystander, you do affect the story considerably, but I mean someone who is not the hero in the Biblical account). You then have your own story arc that parallels the thrust of the passage. 2) Of all the great point and click adventure games, very few actually let you change the outcome of the story, and in my opinion they don't suffer a jot for that. So I'm not fussed about "choice" in that sense. I can point you in the direction of some great blog posts on the subject if you want to discuss. 3) The idea that you could "derail" the story by being clumsy completely goes against the grain of what I think the Old Testament is trying to show us, that despite completely inept people always doing the wrong thing, God is in control and brings about his purposes in the end. So you as the protagonist will make tonnes of stupid mistakes over the course of the game, and are thoroughly clumsy, but far from stopping the story going as intended, these are actually what make it pan out as described in the Old T.