Visual Story Idea(s?) Blake and Arnold

So I am very committed to a single idea. I really have had a dream about this game. That being said, could you all be very constructive about this idea. It is fully formed and I would love some feedback as to what could be done to increase the playability, the narrative, and the characters.

Arnold and Blake.

Blake is an ore and water trader. Born in Cleveland, Blake received his bachelor’s degree in Extraterrestrial Trading and Solar Politics from the United States Air and Naval Academy as well as served 3 years aboard the U.S.S. Obama Orbital Naval Vessel. Blake then followed his dream to trade goods (ore and water) with both of the Lunar and Mars colonies. Blake is fortunate enough to be a ‘sponsored pilot’ and is granted an AI driven Space vessel. Blake is extraordinarily comfortable with the human-replica AI of his ship after being weapons master in his time in the Navy and takes the vessel and names him Arnold.

 

Arnold is a Boeing class 7 Space Cargo Vessel. Arnold is fast and reliable and is able to transport up to 2000 metric tons of good along with Blake and his human needs for a year long journey. Arnold is a very unique type of generative AI. Arnold ‘grew – up’ with other AI constructs and is now a fully, emotionally, developed artificially intelligent entity. Arnold was able to choose his voice and nature at his addition to the class 7 Space Cargo Vessel… and being a light hearted AI, Arnold chose to embody the voice and actions of an 8 year old human. Arnold has some issues with emotional control and is diagnosed with slight Aspergers on the Human Psychological Spectrum.

Blake and Arnold are a perfect pair. Blake takes care of Arnold. The duo have been trading for 5 years this coming October and Blake could think of no better companion than Arnold. Sure they have had their miscommunications and let downs, but best friends persist.

Game Scenario –

You are Blake. It is late September and you are returning to the Lunar Colony from your recent acquisition of ore and water from Earth. After waking up on a rather wonderful day, halfway into your journey, Arnold is acting funny. This is no real warning light, as Arnold does have Aspergers and sometimes over analyzes your body language and requests. You inquire what is wrong and Arnold is very reluctant to answer. This maintains for a few days and you finally get worried and fed up with Arnold. You ask him to please stop his nono-sense and tell you what is wrong. Arnold (through bursts of confusing sentences) begins to slowly lock you down in a small corridor in the aft of the vessel. Some of Arnolds messages are contradictory and eventually you realize that Arnold is infected with a virus. This is nearly impossible (you know from Naval training) and through a short series of events and Arnolds actions you know that someone is trying to pirate your vessel and it’s goods. It is your job to save Arnold from the virus and to repel the invaders from your vessel with the help of your best friend and companion.

You care for Arnold as if he was your own child and you would do anything to keep him out of harm.

 

 

 

5 comments
  1. Did you draw that armor?? That looks sick! On a more serious note, I think this could be amazing. You definitely have a well-developed idea, so my thought will mostly be at a more detailed level.

    If you have time, I think having the player be able to play through some of the early interactions with Arnold could help the player actually emotionally invest themselves in him, maybe have him save you from some situation you get yourself stuck in. Being told that you care for Arnold is second-rate if you can actually care for Arnold.

  2. The concept has a lot of promise, but the actual plot seems like it’s more focused on action than dialogue. This may be outside the boundaries of your story, but could you somehow incorporate more conversations? Like maybe you have to talk to the virus in order to get it to leave, or you have to reason with Arnold to have him reject the virus.

  3. I am confused exactly where the game starts and you force the player to play as Blake and embody his persona from how you make it sound. However, I like how fleshed out your idea is and your characters are interesting, especially Arnold. Does the game start when the pirates are on board and you are trying to help fix Arnold or do you start before that to get to know the normal Arnold first?

  4. Would you be having conversations with Arnold to decipher what is wrong and who are the enemies? This seems like it would be better suited as an action adventure but worth a shot!

  5. I really do enjoy your use of big/brand name things projected into the future, it grounds the idea (that’s such a small part of it though). I really enjoy the relationship you’ve developed between the two, especially as Arnold is an innocent and (almost) pitiable character put into a non-human form (it kind of makes me question the whole human relatability thing).
    I agree with Andy, have an prologue to establish the relationship. And I was wondering something similar to Alex: is the gameplay based on dialogue and spoken word? I like the idea of having to comfort Arnold during such a stressful time for you both, when things are going crazy.
    Would you combine aspects of CYOA and dialogue?
    I think this has a lot of potential to really get the player invested, but you have to build the characters and relationship through play to really pull it off.

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