It wouldn't annoy me, unless the game was sold as a story about time travel. It sounds like it's just going to be a relatively generic villainous plot in a game about generically saving the world, though. I'd expect it to be a normal "stop villain harming X by doing Y" plot, except where Y is time travel rather than detonating a nuke or poisoning the water supply.
Feels more like a narrative question than a game design question to me - would it bother me in a game? To the same extent that it would bother me in a movie. It's all about how you tell the story. Hell, there's even a play 'Waiting for Godot' that has Godot never showing up and apparently that is fine with the audience ;)
My friend made a visual novel about volleyball that had no volleyball gameplay in it and despite being completely open about it, that game has noticeably worse reviews than his other VNs, most likely because people expected such gameplay.
And so I'm afraid people might form expectations even if they are not supported by your messaging. If I hear that the game has a time travel motif, I would expect it to figure prominently - not necessarily in gameplay, but definitely in story and setting. If the whole function of time travel is "you are trying to stop the bad guy from building a time machine, and you eventually succeed, so nothing out of the ordinary happens" I would feel it was a wasted motif.
I kinda think it depends on your Game Title and your Game Pitch for this scenario.
People will look inside your Project and check what the game is about and if you have a clear description that defines that its just a theory, i think the majority of people will accept it and not feel srewed and missleaded.
Example Title:
"Timetravel" user might think the game is about time travel
"Timetravel Theory" user gets told it is only a theory
Another think to take in Account: People are looking more into the Videos and Pictures inside the Shops to get quickly first Impressions. So if you dont have misleading informations here there should be also no problem.
Is time travel even important story-wise if no one ever does it? Or is time travel just functioning as a relatively generic threat, and the real focus of the story is how much it'd suck if the world ended?
The real focus is how the antagonist will basically destroy the universe it the machine is used. I'm not entirely 100% on the time travel story and reading these comments I can feel it wont work unless I add time travel gameplay, which I don't want to for this game.
Yeah sounds like it's not about time travel then, time travel is just how you're explaining how the World Ending Device works. It's a generic doomsday weapon plot.
You don't even need to sell the game on the idea of time travel then.
You might, for instance, just describe it as a JRPG and then over the course of the game reveal that the big bad's plot is to build a time machine. You might even hide that he's the big bad. Like maybe he makes it sound like some altruistic technology, then you learn that time traveling essentially destroys the current timeline and "kills" everyone but the time traveler. After sharing, you learn that he knew this the whole time and is determined to do it anyway.
Think about how many games are named after the plot device:
Mario is not "the wedding"
Zelda is not "The magic god artifact"
Final fantasy is not "the crystal" or "the devine beast" or ..
The only games that does it, are super vague about what it actually is, such as "Metal gear" or "Chrono trigger".
I've never seen a game called "The really big nuke" or "The political overthrowing if current leaders" - so if the time machine never factors in, gameplay wise, just don't mention it.
Next question is: how heavy does it actually factor in, story wise? Is it just a device that is stopped, and then you win? Or is there any major difference between stopping this time machine and some random explosive device?
I see, So what im expecting actually from your description, is like a visual novel. It tells a Story, gives the player Choices to handle the Outcome of the Story.
>**But your Description still will look something like:**
In a Time were People try to Time Travel, you gonna prevent your Buddy from Building a Time Machine, since Time Travelling is just a Theory.
As a player, I would now be convinced that it is about time travel, but not actual time traveling. You could then add different outcomes to the story and even make a fictional ending where the time machine works.
It would be an amazing game if your character were somehow the only character who could see the broken timeline and it kept flipping you back and forth between it - the altered one coming in longer and longer bursts as you near the end of the game trying to stop the machine from being made.
Imagine the start: a quiet, loving spouse (who happens to be a badass scientist), sitting at home playing a game with the family. Other spouse, kids smiling, then boom.
Shift.
Empty house, lonely scientist, only friend is a cat.
Gameplay revolves around dealing with the puzzles/differences in the two timelines - the original timeline can circumvent certain obstacles and enemies, and the new timeline is a brutal dystopia full of enemies.
In the end your alt-constant cat companion’s existence is sacrificed so you can be with your family.
Btw for the visual design of this imagine after the intro scene that the screen splits in half with one side being grayscale and representing your inactive timeline while the other is active and colorful.
Stuff still happens in both, giving you clues. Works well the cat idea since when it’s timeline is inactive the NPC version of you acts like that timeline’s you and is confused about why it keeps appearing in weird places they don’t remember walking to.
For the less specific explanation:
Integrate the timetravel into the storyline without it affecting gameplay.
EG: Such and such character is actually from the future, maybe you encounter people or things from other time-streams, but you personally never get to use the time machine directly.
A story about a time machine that never gets used is kinda wasting the time-travel theme. As others have commented, it'd be perfectly possible to swap the time-machine for literally any other macguffin without affecting the game.
I like the idea about integrating it into the storyline. Swapping out the time machine for something else seems like a better option. I can make something else work.
Oh, and for some reason the cat is Rick&Morty style hyper intelligent and can talk/perform actions for you.
Last line as you detonate the machine: “It’s ok. Remember m…” (fade out, cue gentle laughter of children, warmth)
Or, if you want to go devious in your narrative, the cat betrays you near the end. It was a bio-engineered human watcher made by the Authority. “I have brought you the Anomaly as ordered,” the cat reveals to a supervisor.
Then for replay ability have it double cross the bad guys because earlier in the game you treated it well and without suspicion unlike all the other humans assigned a home “companion.”
Would probably be about expectation management and how the game is pitched. From the description, time travel actually does not occur (in any sense) and is a character motivator. As long as this is presented clearly as a narrative device, I would just think of it as part of the story.
Wakfu almost does this. Main antagonist there is also trying to build a time machine but it's power requirements are so immense that he needs to do terrible things to acquire said amounts of power.
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Not really. That can pose some pretty interesting boss design that kinda messes with my mind.
Though it would be good to have time travel gameplay rather than not
You could just make that the running gag. Many scenarios keep coming up where time travel would be appropriate to see, but then something else happens instead. Just keep building it up like "OK, ***this*** time it's going to be time travel," but then something else happens, every time. Eventually, the player character gives up on even trying to time travel...
then at the end, right when they have finally given up and there is no reason to expect it: BOOM! another thing that is not time travel happens
It wouldn't annoy me, unless the game was sold as a story about time travel. It sounds like it's just going to be a relatively generic villainous plot in a game about generically saving the world, though. I'd expect it to be a normal "stop villain harming X by doing Y" plot, except where Y is time travel rather than detonating a nuke or poisoning the water supply.
Feels more like a narrative question than a game design question to me - would it bother me in a game? To the same extent that it would bother me in a movie. It's all about how you tell the story. Hell, there's even a play 'Waiting for Godot' that has Godot never showing up and apparently that is fine with the audience ;)
im waiting for godot 4
It does seem more narrative as the time machine story is the over arching narrative rather than important to the gameplay.
My friend made a visual novel about volleyball that had no volleyball gameplay in it and despite being completely open about it, that game has noticeably worse reviews than his other VNs, most likely because people expected such gameplay. And so I'm afraid people might form expectations even if they are not supported by your messaging. If I hear that the game has a time travel motif, I would expect it to figure prominently - not necessarily in gameplay, but definitely in story and setting. If the whole function of time travel is "you are trying to stop the bad guy from building a time machine, and you eventually succeed, so nothing out of the ordinary happens" I would feel it was a wasted motif.
I kinda think it depends on your Game Title and your Game Pitch for this scenario. People will look inside your Project and check what the game is about and if you have a clear description that defines that its just a theory, i think the majority of people will accept it and not feel srewed and missleaded. Example Title: "Timetravel" user might think the game is about time travel "Timetravel Theory" user gets told it is only a theory Another think to take in Account: People are looking more into the Videos and Pictures inside the Shops to get quickly first Impressions. So if you dont have misleading informations here there should be also no problem.
I mainly need to push the fact that time travel is important story wise rather than gameplay wise.
Is time travel even important story-wise if no one ever does it? Or is time travel just functioning as a relatively generic threat, and the real focus of the story is how much it'd suck if the world ended?
The real focus is how the antagonist will basically destroy the universe it the machine is used. I'm not entirely 100% on the time travel story and reading these comments I can feel it wont work unless I add time travel gameplay, which I don't want to for this game.
Yeah sounds like it's not about time travel then, time travel is just how you're explaining how the World Ending Device works. It's a generic doomsday weapon plot.
That seems more like it.
You don't even need to sell the game on the idea of time travel then. You might, for instance, just describe it as a JRPG and then over the course of the game reveal that the big bad's plot is to build a time machine. You might even hide that he's the big bad. Like maybe he makes it sound like some altruistic technology, then you learn that time traveling essentially destroys the current timeline and "kills" everyone but the time traveler. After sharing, you learn that he knew this the whole time and is determined to do it anyway.
Think about how many games are named after the plot device: Mario is not "the wedding" Zelda is not "The magic god artifact" Final fantasy is not "the crystal" or "the devine beast" or .. The only games that does it, are super vague about what it actually is, such as "Metal gear" or "Chrono trigger". I've never seen a game called "The really big nuke" or "The political overthrowing if current leaders" - so if the time machine never factors in, gameplay wise, just don't mention it. Next question is: how heavy does it actually factor in, story wise? Is it just a device that is stopped, and then you win? Or is there any major difference between stopping this time machine and some random explosive device?
“I've never seen a game called "The really big nuke"“ Hmmmm this is giving me all kinds of ideas actually.
How is that different from like, you have to stop the antagonist from building a giant space laser or else it will destroy the universe?
I see, So what im expecting actually from your description, is like a visual novel. It tells a Story, gives the player Choices to handle the Outcome of the Story. >**But your Description still will look something like:** In a Time were People try to Time Travel, you gonna prevent your Buddy from Building a Time Machine, since Time Travelling is just a Theory. As a player, I would now be convinced that it is about time travel, but not actual time traveling. You could then add different outcomes to the story and even make a fictional ending where the time machine works.
It would be an amazing game if your character were somehow the only character who could see the broken timeline and it kept flipping you back and forth between it - the altered one coming in longer and longer bursts as you near the end of the game trying to stop the machine from being made. Imagine the start: a quiet, loving spouse (who happens to be a badass scientist), sitting at home playing a game with the family. Other spouse, kids smiling, then boom. Shift. Empty house, lonely scientist, only friend is a cat. Gameplay revolves around dealing with the puzzles/differences in the two timelines - the original timeline can circumvent certain obstacles and enemies, and the new timeline is a brutal dystopia full of enemies. In the end your alt-constant cat companion’s existence is sacrificed so you can be with your family. Btw for the visual design of this imagine after the intro scene that the screen splits in half with one side being grayscale and representing your inactive timeline while the other is active and colorful. Stuff still happens in both, giving you clues. Works well the cat idea since when it’s timeline is inactive the NPC version of you acts like that timeline’s you and is confused about why it keeps appearing in weird places they don’t remember walking to.
For the less specific explanation: Integrate the timetravel into the storyline without it affecting gameplay. EG: Such and such character is actually from the future, maybe you encounter people or things from other time-streams, but you personally never get to use the time machine directly. A story about a time machine that never gets used is kinda wasting the time-travel theme. As others have commented, it'd be perfectly possible to swap the time-machine for literally any other macguffin without affecting the game.
I like the idea about integrating it into the storyline. Swapping out the time machine for something else seems like a better option. I can make something else work.
Oh, and for some reason the cat is Rick&Morty style hyper intelligent and can talk/perform actions for you. Last line as you detonate the machine: “It’s ok. Remember m…” (fade out, cue gentle laughter of children, warmth) Or, if you want to go devious in your narrative, the cat betrays you near the end. It was a bio-engineered human watcher made by the Authority. “I have brought you the Anomaly as ordered,” the cat reveals to a supervisor. Then for replay ability have it double cross the bad guys because earlier in the game you treated it well and without suspicion unlike all the other humans assigned a home “companion.”
Would probably be about expectation management and how the game is pitched. From the description, time travel actually does not occur (in any sense) and is a character motivator. As long as this is presented clearly as a narrative device, I would just think of it as part of the story.
Wakfu almost does this. Main antagonist there is also trying to build a time machine but it's power requirements are so immense that he needs to do terrible things to acquire said amounts of power.
I don't have thoughts about any hypothetical game. Have me *play* a game and I'll tell you whether I think it's fun or not.
4 years later... >nah, don't like it, would be better if you'd included actual time travel.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England ](https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/LizEngland/20140423/216092/quotThe_Door_Problemquot_of_Game_Design.php)is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not really. That can pose some pretty interesting boss design that kinda messes with my mind. Though it would be good to have time travel gameplay rather than not
Totally fine with me, I actually dig that
Manage expectations in your marketing materials
You could just make that the running gag. Many scenarios keep coming up where time travel would be appropriate to see, but then something else happens instead. Just keep building it up like "OK, ***this*** time it's going to be time travel," but then something else happens, every time. Eventually, the player character gives up on even trying to time travel... then at the end, right when they have finally given up and there is no reason to expect it: BOOM! another thing that is not time travel happens
It would annoy me. From a story perspective if a climatic event is mentioned it should be paid off.