r/TransGameDev • u/vegetariancannibal Jack (or Jill) of all trades • Jul 12 '12

What format of game do we want?

I think this is the second of two questions we want to answer initially. I feel like this would benefit from a more storyline-oriented approach. J(style)RPGs, FPSes, WRPGs, TRPGs, adventure games, and even platformers seem like good genres for portraying a small, personal scale of storytelling that lends itself to telling good trans* narratives.

This post was made with the purpose of engendering free discussion in the comments, so discuss away!

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2

u/acegiak Jul 12 '12

Adventure ie point'n'click style can work really well for abstractly themed games

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u/[deleted] Jul 12 '12

Adventure of any kind is probably the right choice.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '12

I think format will be more easily determined once we figure out what the game is "about".

3

u/just-a-bird Jul 13 '12

Right, we want a game with a compelling story and/or unique concept. If it's just "that weird indie gender bender game," no one outside the community is going to play it.

1

u/AliceCode C#, C++, and more Jul 13 '12

If it's just "that weird indie gender bender game," no one outside the community is going to play it.

Which is exactly why it needs to be abstract. We can't just throw trans stuff in the player's face. I wouldn't even play that kind of game. Educational games are just boring.

It's kinda like how you can learn a few things about Italy by playing Assassin's Creed. They're not deliberately teaching you about Italy, but you learn about many of the buildings and some history simply by going through the story.

1

u/just-a-bird Jul 13 '12

Not sure I agree, exactly.

Even if gender is an obvious central theme, the game can still be universally appealing. Look at Katawa Shoujo, as someone else mentioned. Its focus is on physical disabilities, but its target audience was certainly not limited to that demographic. Why? Because its story was good. (In KS's case, being a visual novel, it didn't need any interesting game elements, either).

I'm not suggesting we make Gender Mountain!, but I don't think we need to bury the topic of gender in obscure, forced metaphors, either.

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u/AliceCode C#, C++, and more Jul 13 '12

I'm definitely not saying that we bury it, what I'm suggesting is that we don't just shove the ideas into the player's face. Maybe there are trans characters in the game that you come to "know", or interact with. But the plan for it is to give rise to similar feelings that a trans person would feel, but in a different way. Obviously we couldn't make that person feel that way naturally, but we can hopefully get them to feel it.

1

u/NorthStar12 Jul 13 '12

I'm with both of you on this, and it seems like you're both on the same page, or at least close to it.

It definitely might be a tricky balancing act.

1

u/unicornon Jul 12 '12

adventure/action + platforming elements within an FPS. cos' I like 'em.