Studying the rise of horror/science fiction IF games (Slouching Towards Bedlam and Shrapnel), I've decided to create a game using that mold. I'm on the verge of writing some of the terms and characters that will be very important to the plot of "Beckett Hill Manor". This is an idea that I had came upon while completing an IF exercise in class. In fact, I have completed the first floor of the mansion that the game will be based in. The exact details of the plotline I do not want to put in this progress report, for fear that it could can due to the difficult that Inform 7 choose to give me. However, I will give the inspirations that proppeled my to create this horror IF game.
Last semester, I took a class called "Horror and Suspense Writing", I was interesting in the concepts and the stories in that class. I know that writing about a haunted house is a little cliche even in the IF world. Nevertheless, this is a chance for me to take a different approach to this convention. I plan to use intergalatic instead of supernatural forces to push the plot forward and created tension. Think more along the lines of H.P. Lovecraft than Stephen King. The stories that I plan to use as inspirations are similiar to The Call of Cthulhlu, where the reader is taken through a journey to discover a powerful inetergalatic being capable of devouring worlds.
The focus of this story is the house itself. I plan to have the environment be as interactive as I could possibly make it. Similiar to Shrapnel, I will make the environment into a character itself, making decisions on what to do with the player. It may take clever writing to pull it off, be we will see what happens.
I was informed that I should start in a single room to ensure that I'm not biting off more than I can chew. The thinks that I could most likely work on is how to make things happen only once, for I could make characters react to certain things that could advance the plot. It is possible that it could be a issue for me, since this is the first time that I have used Inform 7. That is the reason that I plan to try out an IF game.
I like the fact that you're using a class you previously took, Horror and Suspense Writing (I'm guessing that was with Arnzen =]), to help you along with this project. I also like the idea of making the environment very interactive because I'm not very good at IF games. AT ALL! So I like exploring the setting and what I can see. Good luck and let me know if you need a tester =]
Writing about a haunted house isn't cliche. At least not for me. I'm not very good at scary things, but I liked haunted houses like in the adams family and I wouldn't mind exploring the house you create.
Oooh, aliens...Is it gonna be like the new Indiana Jones movie with mystery and aliens at the top. Oh my! I just hope I don't die fifty times in your game.
It's good that you're starting with a challenge. I'm sticking to a story that I wrote and trying to make it a challenge.