The Initial Escape

In an earlier post, I pointed out that the girl is obviously imprisoned here against her will. Yet, there aren't any signs of imprisonment. In fact, the drawbridge that keeps the girl locked in the room was left down. How could a guard forget to keep the prisoner locked in her cell? Leaving the cell door open lessens the excitement of escape. Here's roughly how I picture the game play should begin.

The girl wakes up in her cell room. After moving around she notices a loose tile on the floor, By shifting it, she discovers the floor has crumbled beneath. A passage opens downwards. Following the passage, the girl crawls into a hidden chamber full of strange artifacts. The only way out is a barred door, but in the center of the room, there is a statue wearing a strange necklace. The girl picks up the necklace with curiosity, and tries it on. Suddenly she glows red, and a short cut scene whisks the player through a series of doors and rooms to an abandoned storage area. Lying in a heap on the floor is an unused robot, strewn with cobwebs. As we watch him, he lights up (with the same red color as the girl), and then begins to slowly move. The player discovers that he/she can control the robot, and works their way back to the girl's room On the way, we encounter an evil guard robot and must defeat it before finally reaching the barred door. The robot smashes through the door revealing the girl standing on the other side. We are then treated with a very short cut scene of the girl examining her new metal friend. From here, the real adventure can begin.

The initial escape should not be easy for the girl. It should be harder for her to find a way out. Note that I said the GIRL must work harder. I don't mean make the puzzles harder fro the player. There is just so little preventing the girl from breaking out, that the audience is left wondering why she hasn't already. Also PLEASE give the girl (and the player) a chance to be amazed that this magical necklace can control a robot. There's no sense of surprise on the part of the girl, almost as if this is a normal occurrence.

That's a cool idea; very cinematic. And I think you're right that there should be a greater air of mystery and wonder around the pendant and the robot. Still, I definitely think Salim should be free to tell the story the way he has it in his mind.

Oh absolutely. I would never presume to outright tell Salim (or any other game developer) that his idea/story was told wrong. Maybe the unlocked door was intentional and meant to be metaphorical. I spent a lot of time guessing at the girl's back story and motivations too. Perhaps that's what Salim wants. Maybe he wants us to draw our own conclusions. Who knows? All I can do, is give suggestions based upon my perspective of the game. Also, the narrative I wrote, was meant to be an example for demonstrating my point. I certainly don't expect to see such a scenario happen in the final game.

But remember that our suggestions are important for more than just The Girl and the Robot. If Salim likes any ideas we mention, then maybe the next game he creates will incorporate it. That way, the next game I buy from him will be even better than the last. That's how we improve.

Ericius11 wrote:Oh absolutely.  I would never presume to outright tell Salim (or any other game developer) that his idea/story was told wrong. Maybe the unlocked door was intentional and meant to be metaphorical.  I spent a lot of time guessing at the girl's back story and motivations too.  Perhaps that's what Salim wants.  Maybe he wants us to draw our own conclusions.  Who knows?  All I can do, is give suggestions based upon my perspective of the game.  Also, the narrative I wrote, was meant to be an example for demonstrating my point.  I certainly don't expect to see such a scenario happen in the final game.

But remember that our suggestions are important for more than just The Girl and the Robot.  If Salim likes any ideas we mention, then maybe the next game he creates will incorporate it.  That way, the next game I buy from him will be even better than the last.  That's how we improve.

I've been reading all your posts and I definitely like your view of things. I would just remind that all we've seen on the pre-Alpha version is nothing but early footage of the final game. An introduction scene may be added during the next few months and the starting gameplay may differ once the game has been polished. If not, let's guess all questions will be answered relating the girl's captivity (or the lack of security at the beginning, for instance).

I agree with you that any small details that we may comment can help the experience become even greater. I'm sure that making a game can have so many different aspects to focus on, that sometimes it may end up being difficult to see the small things that are being left behind. Yours is a very nice introduction. Let's see what Salim has in mind! ;-)

Thanks guys for the ideas! Right now, this early version mainly focus on the basic gameplay so it's hard to see the big picture of the story, but stay tuned for more story element in the future (cutscenes, setting)

It is very comforting to have the game developer pop on the forum and acknowledge our comments. It really helps to make me feel like I'm not just a mindless drone running bug-testing. Thank you for taking out the time to do so.