Meinong’s Monster
Alexius Meinong reasoned that if you could speak of a subject, or dream of a subject, then it must exist somewhere. That place is called Meinong’s Jungle. In the game, you would wake up in Meinong’s Jungle as a newly imagined concept. The only guide you have is a strange being that speaks in famous quotes and prose, and from it you can attempt to learn more about what you are, and where you have ended up.
Molly
You buy a new house, and eagerly move in, only to find that it’s already occupied. You talk with the spirit of a girl who died there, and she seems fixated on the fact that she can’t remember how she died. By talking with her, you soon discover that she has more than one personality, each with different memories. By talking with each, you can piece together how she died and get her to move on and get the fuck out of your house.
ALSO
I could probably use my older idea, Sundowners, for this project as well…
The first one seems ambitious. You should cut down the scope so that you don’t have to illustrate, write, and invent an entire universe that is meant to contain everything you can think of. You need to either put in a goal or non-goal intention and narrow down your needs from there. The second idea sounds interesting only if you give this girl some real character. There are plenty of hey ghost tell me your problems/how you died and get out. Look at ghost whisperer and all the shows like it. The only way to make it interesting is either make her interesting or make your interaction with her non-trivial. For example, force the player to deliberately manipulate her emotions so that she’ll be condemned to eternally roam the earth somewhere that isn’t my god damn house.
the characters from the first idea remind me of the little shadow guys in kingdom hearts. this idea is really cool and i would love to see how it turns out. I also like the fact that the ear/antenna things add to the character’s emotion
for the second idea, i didn’t expect it to be so interesting. when i first started reading it i was thinking what exorcist movie is this going to be like, or is this supposed to be like the characters from harry potter. But then you added the personality thing which is really interesting! the visual for molly is done really well. maybe have her change different skin shades for each personality so you the reader knows she’s switched? or maybe her hair (kind of how when goku goes super saiyan his hair turns yellow haha)
I agree that the first one might be a little too large in scope for the project, as in this visual novel you are likely only going to be able to talk to one or two people (although you could do more).
The second one has a lot of promise, but finding out how she died seems kind of overdone. You might want to take it in another direction, such as how she developed her multiple personalities.
Both seem really interesting but at the same time both seem pretty tough in scope. I am also interested in what possible outcomes are there for each. When you find out what you are is it game over? Or maybe do your questions change who you are? I like the multiple personalities on the ghost girls i think you could really creep out the player with it that way.
I’m really interested in the dialogue in Meinong’s Monster; being only prompted by notable quotes/prose would be really interesting… would there eventually be a reveal of what/who you are based on your answers?
The story of Molly seems kind of trope-ish (you move into house, there is a ghost, try to get it to leave…), so i’m not sure how much it would bring me in/make me invest in it.
Sundowners seems to fit well with the format of the project (visual novel/adventure), especially when it would come to talking with your dead husband or daughter, opposed by having to go through menial tasks.
Both are definitely doable, but I’m more a fan of the first. A) because I love your character design and B) because it becomes a game of both decision making and a test of your worldly knowledge of quotes and whatnot. It is a very broad scope however, but I think you could pull it off.
I don’t think you are going for this, but you could make the second one HILARIOUS. That said since you obviously want to keep it serious I would go with the first one, it seems like an interesting concept, and I like the art idea you have going. I agree though it is a bit scopey, maybe try outlining a few key points you feel are crucial to your idea before you write anything else.
The first one is a pretty cool idea, and the little dude reminds me kind of of the glass-eyed men from Gunnerkrigg Court, but I think the second one would probably work better within the scope of the assignment.
The first idea intrigues me much more than the second one, however the aesthetics of the second character could be very useful for your first idea. Your first idea however seems like a project that could be done very well if we had the technology to hook up a human mind and see its thoughts come into this jungle instantaneously. So the scope is a bit to far as of now. Could you isolate what mind you were created in? maybe the game is just about explaining this concept without giving the player a formal definition but the exploration of the jungle would have to be limited.
I am more interested in the first one, both visual wise and story wise. I’d also like to know who is dreaming about me.
The second idea seems to be a sad story. And I’m not sure what to do with her after we find out who she is. Should I let her stay?