All-Ages Themes / Topics

[DaFool]

I'm at the point near completion, where I'm considering my next project. After doing adult titles, I would like to make a family-friendly title for once, before going into hiatus.

What I don't want are the following:

* Violence -- no RPG combats, not even pounding marshmallow goblins.
* Sex -- even ecchi themes will not be present.

* Managing some shop -- it's been done already by several Ren'Py projects.

Given these considerations, even Naruto and One Piece won't cut it.

Since ideas are cheap and easy (it's the execution that's hard!), may I request the floor to open to suggestions for what an all-ages game can be all about. Even one or two sentences can set the stage for something greater (characters can be formulated later to fit the theme.)

Right now the things I'm considering are:

* a mystery game in the style of Phoenix Wright (downside: it will be all to easy to get the mechanics of PW down but not its charm)

* a magical adventure where the character goes around doing errands or collecting stuff (just one task less than setting up shop and selling them!)

* a competition where the protagonist has to master a physical skill or an intellectual puzzle. (This requires knowledge of some external game, such as boardgames, and could easily spiral into a tacky hybrid).

Thanks!

[magi]

I have been thinking for a long time, about a game mainly about exploration and meeting different people. The theme is, if you look carefully, normal life is pretty extraordinary, once you learn where to look, you will never stop exploring, inward and outward.

[monele]

Play the role of place-name-here, a wandering enchanter/magician/whatever who goes around places with the goal of exploring, gathering knowledge and meeting interesting people. The "conflict" is that people would need your help to solve problems. To avoid any violence, even mental, no conflict should be inter-personal : no war, jealousy, etc... It's fine to help a shy guy and a shy girl to get together... it's okay to help remove the rockslide preventing merchants to reach a town.
I like the idea of magic because it allows for more extraordinary things and more fantasy but the same concept could be applied in a contemporary setting.

[risingbamboobanana]

i've had this little wisp of an idea in the back of my mind for the longest time, but i don't intend to use it so here it is:

the Protagonist wakes up late for school (not necessarily *le groan* high school, this could easily be an elementary school student or whatev). Ok, I know what you're thinking, but bear with me. And so they skip breakfast, run along and get mugged of their lunch money (haha sucker). Later on during school, they're starving. so what do they do? they swipe a fistful of coins from the fountain at the public park (you know how people always make wishes and throw coins into fountains and such?) and buy lunch. few days later, they're hunted down by the Fountain Fairy Foundation for stealing their livelihood, and forced to cooperate with a rookie fairy to grant X number of wishes.

^and that's how it all begins. nothing grand, where the story goes really depends on the execution. i mean, it could be mostly silly comedy, or it can be one of those heartfelt melodramatic stories. lots of possibilities. i initially pictured a female protag, but either gender works i guess.

[chronoluminaire]

I love the "Fountain Fairy tracks you down and forces you to help a novice fairy grant wishes" idea!

But otherwise, I think the classic all-ages title is an adventure, particularly an exploration one. You find a map to El Dorado, Treasure Island, or the secret magical bookshop, and have an adventure finding it and doing stuff there. Okay, Treasure Island might lead to piratical themes, which have a certain amount of inherent violence, but the others might do.

Although I do like magi's comment that if you look at it right, everyday life is extraordinary, and full of things to explore. (Hmm, exploration, everyday life... Perhaps someone who's particularly good at climbing, and starts looking over all the walls he passes in his daily life in a city?)

[Kaihaku]

I read some time ago in the Elven Relations thread someone commenting on how nice it was to have a game where you could live in the world without the story being centered on some violent climax. This made me ponder making at some point a game in the vein of Kiki's Delivery Service...not the same plot nor characters, of course, just the idea as has been stated of running around exploring a new town. It's different from Mag Boq, which was excellent, in that such a concept wouldn't be centered on a shop but rather on exploring the town. The downside is that it would be a lot of work to really do exploring a city justice. The amount of art alone to truly populate even a small town. Then...you were the one to do that Troll game, correct? I almost downloaded it as I love the concept of just living in a town but the adult theme warded me away.

But yes, all the above thoughts sound good to me.

[Showsni]

i've had this little wisp of an idea in the back of my mind for the longest time, but i don't intend to use it so here it is:

the Protagonist wakes up late for school (not necessarily *le groan* high school, this could easily be an elementary school student or whatev). Ok, I know what you're thinking, but bear with me. And so they skip breakfast, run along and get mugged of their lunch money (haha sucker). Later on during school, they're starving. so what do they do? they swipe a fistful of coins from the fountain at the public park (you know how people always make wishes and throw coins into fountains and such?) and buy lunch. few days later, they're hunted down by the Fountain Fairy Foundation for stealing their livelihood, and forced to cooperate with a rookie fairy to grant X number of wishes.

^and that's how it all begins. nothing grand, where the story goes really depends on the execution. i mean, it could be mostly silly comedy, or it can be one of those heartfelt melodramatic stories. lots of possibilities. i initially pictured a female protag, but either gender works i guess.

Have you ever read the novel "Verdigris Deep" by Frances Hardinge? Because that's got pretty much exactly the same plot; three friends need money for a bus, so they take some from a wishing well. Then the spirit of the well makes them complete the wishes of the coins they took for her, giving them each a magical power to help them.

It's not as family friendly as DaFool wants, though, because people don't always make wishes that are good from them, like the teenage mother who wishes her baby would just go away, or the woman who wishes her enemy were dead... So the main theme of the novel is about how you make a wish on the outside, but it's just a cover up for the real wishes you feel inside, and stuff.

EDIT:
Oh, some ideas... Hmm...

* A game where you have to look after a pet/animal, caring for it, maybe taking it to pet shows, etc. Though this kind of thing is pretty rampant in commercial games.
* A sports game, VN style? I'm not sure how that would work, but they rarely have violence (unless it's boxing or something).

[risingbamboobanana]

^dang, here i thought i was being original. no i haven't read it D: but i guess i'll have to now, eh? but i'm glad you mentioned it or i would have gone on thinking it was a wonderful idea for me to use/share.

anyway, another idea (based off an old RP character i had in middle school):

kid gets superpower, and learns to deal with it. they go through the regular troubles all superheroes do, powers going berserk, with great power comes great responsibility, et cetera.

but it's not just any superpower...it's really lame.

this kid can turn into a chair.

[Fawkes - Feathered Melody]

Some kind of Animal Crossing-like game maybe? It would take "Nonlinear storytelling" to a whole new level, even if you don't really have a plot. You'd just encounter things day by day as you live your life.

[papillon]

Sport or any sort of competition... you could have American Idol The VN!

Okay, maybe not American Idol, but some sort of big competition is a good reason to throw a lot of characters together and give them goals to strive for. You can steal ideas from modern reality television to see how they manipulate characters, give them reasons to work together and then work against each other, all of which supposedly makes for great drama (With real people, it often doesn't or comes out fake, but with characters you're writing anyway, it could.)

[Samu-kun]

How about something like Manabi Straight where you have to run the studen council board for a school? I've always wanted to make a game like that. ^_^

[yummy]

How about something like Manabi Straight where you have to run the student council board for a school? I've always wanted to make a game like that. ^_^

Waah I just love the idea. If the character design is cute then I'd fall in love with that game!
Imagine you'd have to manage clubs, school events, security, public relations...
And your cute avatar navigates in the school
And... School uniforms! Gya~ *faints*

[Samu-kun]

Yes... Gah... If only I weren't working on Raidaa now, I would so want to make soemthing like that...

*Fuku happy squeal*

[monele]

How about something like Manabi Straight where you have to run the studen council board for a school? I've always wanted to make a game like that. ^_^

Omeegod *_*... While it would be very boring IRL, we know how cool it would get in an anime-like setting! But it does beg for some very visual moving around, RPG-like, though ^^;
And cute charas, definitely (Mikaaan~!)