SAVEgame

[Anomaly]

What is it? - SAVEgame is a role-playing game set in the world of computer
and videogames. This historical period began in the 1950's, with the creation of a game that became known as Pong. The creation of videogames has become a multi-million dollar industry, with technological advancements improving the videogame experience from a pair of white blobs trying to hit a smaller white blob past each other, to nearly photo-realistic three-dimensional representations of people with imaginary backgrounds armed with fantastic weapons trying to kill other nearly photo-realistic representations.

Players take on the roles of videogame characters in a (mostly) consensual
videogame world. SAVEgame is all about what videogame characters do
when not being possessed by demons, and forced by their to take on all
manner of ridiculous quests, or to be the last, best hope for their
race/planet/whatever. However, often that is exactly what videogame characters do with their free time anyway...

Game Chef Selections - I have (so far) chosen the following options:

Theme - SAVEgame is inspired by the Age of Videogames, and the evolution of their technology.

Ingredients - SAVEgame shall incorporate the following ingredients:

Invincible
Companion
Entomology or Accuser (possibly both)

Limitations - SAVEgame shall probably incorporate hand gestures into the system. Also working on the three separate bits of information from one roll.


Gameplay Requirements - To get the most out of SAVEgame, players should have the following:

1. An interest in computer and/or videogames
2. At least one eight-sided dice (hereafter called a d8)
3. Knowledge of the 2* table. Here's a start - 2*2 equals 4)
4. A sense of humour (see requirement #3, above)


Apologies for the late notice of this entry - I'm going for an authentic old-school feel, writing the game on an old-school computer, and the old-school browser doesn't work properly with this site's forum software.

(I've got around that problem by posting this from work!)

[CodexArcanum]

Sounds like fun. Quite a stretch on the theme, but it could be cool

I like the idea of using binary, that could be really funny.

I'm curious as to how you will make use of the d
Rolling a smiley as awesome and laid back as that one can't be easy.

[PlotDevice]

the d8) is much like the magic 8 ball. Don't mess with it.

[Anomaly]

Drat those smileys!

It was meant to say d8, but of course an 8 followed by a ")" equals an emoticon.

Er, here's some more brain-dumping to distract people from my wackiness:

The primary attributes used to define characters in SAVEgame are Identity, Interface, and Interaction.

Identity (ID) - This attribute is a measure of how well-defined a character
is. This covers both appearance and emotional complexity. For example, Pong is a white rectangle who makes noises occasionally. Pong has an Identity rank of 1.
Game application - Identity is used for Reality Checks, which are fundamental to defining the gameworld at any given moment.
It is also used to guide players in defining their character's background. Rank 1 requires a minimum 1-word description. Rank 8 requires a minimum 256 word description.

Interface (IF) - This attribute defines how the character generally
perceives the SAVEgame world. Interface rank 1 (again, Pong is a good example) is a top-down view of the world. Rank 8 is a 3D perspective, with high-resolution graphics and stereo surround sound.
Game application - Interface is used for noticing things and reacting to
them. It is the primary attribute for combat actions. A character can choose to function at a lower Interface rank than they are capable of, or this can be forced upon them by the results of a Reality Check.

Interaction (IA) - This attribute defines the physical influence a character
can have over the game world. Each rank of Interaction allows a character
one type of interaction with the gameworld, in broad categories like Move,
Collect, Destroy, etc.

Game application - If you don't choose the right type of interaction, you can't act that way. All characters get one free type of interaction (Move is highly recommended!) in addition to their IA rank. It is quite feasible to rely on other characters to cover types of Interactions - the results of a Reality Check may suit some players more than others.

[Selene Tan]

Neato!

BTW, have you read ? Your game made me think of it.

[Anomaly]

[Anomaly]

[Anomaly]

And it said it wanted to create UberPong, a simple white rectangle in a 256-bit gameworld. With 256 points to spend on stats, thought the munchkin, it could have Rank 7 Interaction and Interface (2^7 = 128 points each), so it could interact in just about every conceivable way a videogame character can, and it could perceive the world in just about every conceivable way a videogame character can. But with an Identity score of 1 (2 points), it's just a white rectangle, which doesn't impress other characters much. The munchkin was a couple of points over the 256-point limit, so it took a couple of minor Bugs (Bugs = Flaws/Disads) to get back to 256 points, and then it started working on making up 256 points of Subsystem attributes...

It was then that I realised my error! Allowing characters an amount of Subsystem points equal to the original character cost gets crazy with high level characters. My interim solution (which so far hasn't failed the munchkin test!) is to have Subsystem points derived from leftover character points. I'm also considering some sort of sliding scale for Bugs, so that their impact on character creation is about the same regardless of the power level. More thinking to do...

Michael.

[Anomaly]

Here 'tis:



It's about 160K - no pictures (no time!), just rules + a functional character sheet. Enjoy!

Michael.