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Writing amnesia for open-ended main characters
Author
I've been working on a combat flight/trading-sim with a small team. As far as the writing goes, I'm stood at the edge of a quagmire and don't know how to proceed.
The game is open-ended, the plot can be picked up and put down at regular intervals; it's not linear. But also, the team wants an open-ended main character, with no background - like having amnesia. I don't know how to write a script / plot for amnesiac characters and then have the player come in and do virtually anything... whatever they want and then tell a story at the same time.
1. I want a history for all my characters - that's something many novels utilise.
2. The only game I can think of which has pulled off amnesia is Planescape: Torment simply because it was so carefully woven into the game.
3. There seem to be no interaction with other characters with a 'combat flight/trading-sim if the main character is an amnesiac and if they're stuck in a cockpit.
4. Surely there must be some need to explain amnesia and who/what that person was before...? Alternatively the player could go about creating their own character according to the acts they perform and choose a history.
How'd you *write* for something where the plot and character are open-ended?!
[edited by - c-thru on January 21, 2004 4:21:59 PM]
quote: Original post by c-thru
3. There seem to be no interaction with other characters with a ''combat flight/trading-sim if the main character is an amnesiac and if they''re stuck in a cockpit.
Are you saying that in the game, the main character wont be interacting with other characters? I suppose this isnt unreasonable in a flight sim game anyway...
Off the top of my head, maybe the character was orphened as a young child, or left on his own in some way, and ended up at a flight academy school. Maybe either being sent there by a guardian type figure just to be someone elses problem for a change.. where the character learned to fly and has now just graduated, and finally entering the world idependently for the first time..Any reasons why that wouldnt work? I was just trying to avoid having to explain amnesia like you suggested above.
There are certain things that must be true of the character. He/she must be a pilot, he/she must be old enough to be a viable character (although some games have had very young protagonists), he/she must have access to a craft, and the resources to outfit and operate it. Anything else?
Amnesia will work okay, but not too terribly well. Is it essential that the character be an amnesiac? It might be preferable to give him/her a very generic background. Nahoopii''s suggestion of the random orphan with appropriate skills would work nicely. Maybe throw in a dead rich uncle for a little inherited capital, and you''re on your way.
You could go the Futurama route, and have your main character be cryogenically preserved, and unfrozen in a world where his/her past is of no consequence. Heck, make them a bio-engineered "pilot" clone that is much like an indentured servant: You get engineered, you put in ten years (age 15-25) as a pilot for some government agency, and then they give you a few bucks and a decommisioned craft and cut you loose, unless you want to stay on. Survival rate for pilots is low, so not many "retirees" are around. But they are the best pilots around, and so many freelance opportunities can be had. Your character is a blank slate, with no characteristics other than those that are mandatory for his/her role in the game, and the world is filled with opportunity.
After all, with amnesia you always have that drive to find out what your past was, and that''s less conducive to open-ended play. I''m sure there are plenty of other mysteries to solve, and making one integral to your character would bias the game toward self-discovery. With the clone idea, you can have all the files a matter of public record, and so if you DO decide to look into your own past, it amounts to five minutes of reading, and then you can get back to making money.
Amnesia will work okay, but not too terribly well. Is it essential that the character be an amnesiac? It might be preferable to give him/her a very generic background. Nahoopii''s suggestion of the random orphan with appropriate skills would work nicely. Maybe throw in a dead rich uncle for a little inherited capital, and you''re on your way.
You could go the Futurama route, and have your main character be cryogenically preserved, and unfrozen in a world where his/her past is of no consequence. Heck, make them a bio-engineered "pilot" clone that is much like an indentured servant: You get engineered, you put in ten years (age 15-25) as a pilot for some government agency, and then they give you a few bucks and a decommisioned craft and cut you loose, unless you want to stay on. Survival rate for pilots is low, so not many "retirees" are around. But they are the best pilots around, and so many freelance opportunities can be had. Your character is a blank slate, with no characteristics other than those that are mandatory for his/her role in the game, and the world is filled with opportunity.
After all, with amnesia you always have that drive to find out what your past was, and that''s less conducive to open-ended play. I''m sure there are plenty of other mysteries to solve, and making one integral to your character would bias the game toward self-discovery. With the clone idea, you can have all the files a matter of public record, and so if you DO decide to look into your own past, it amounts to five minutes of reading, and then you can get back to making money.
Good call chef- I like the clone idea..
How about a more comedic route? We still dont really know anything about the gameplay right!
A stable mid-aged pilot comes home from work and catches his wife cheating on him.. again.. And this time, its the last straw.. He decides the last place he wants to go, is home.. so hes off to start his new life, away from that whech, living as he sees fit...
(theres no personal reservations there, honestly an idea off the top of my head)
How about a more comedic route? We still dont really know anything about the gameplay right!
A stable mid-aged pilot comes home from work and catches his wife cheating on him.. again.. And this time, its the last straw.. He decides the last place he wants to go, is home.. so hes off to start his new life, away from that whech, living as he sees fit...
(theres no personal reservations there, honestly an idea off the top of my head)
How about a variation of The Count of Monte Cristo route?
Character is floating in the sea with no recollection of his
past life, wearing tattered clothes and is found by a pirate
trading company. They teach him skills in return for his hand
in helping the ''business''.
After some time, he decides he wants to try life on his own,
maybe finding out about his past. He has enough money to buy
his own plane or whatnot. And the rest is up to the player.
-Hyatus
"da da da"
Character is floating in the sea with no recollection of his
past life, wearing tattered clothes and is found by a pirate
trading company. They teach him skills in return for his hand
in helping the ''business''.
After some time, he decides he wants to try life on his own,
maybe finding out about his past. He has enough money to buy
his own plane or whatnot. And the rest is up to the player.
-Hyatus
"da da da"
Often the Amnesiac character is reacting to the characters and objects he encounters rather than actively trying to accomplish something. So perhaps you could do modular plot chunks where the contents of a given place or mission are a puzzle for the amnesiac to solve or a gauntlet for you to run through.
The Weapon X model is cool if discovering his own past is going to be one of the character''s chief motivation.
Alternatively, if all you want is an open-ended character, you could make his background -so- generic that he effectively -has no background-. Then, the players could build themselves a new background based on their game choices.
Like a pilot who went to the academy, blah, blah, nothing special about him until the game events happen.
If you have a guy with amnesia, then there''s not much of a reason for him to do anything except discovering his past. Y''know?
Alternatively, if all you want is an open-ended character, you could make his background -so- generic that he effectively -has no background-. Then, the players could build themselves a new background based on their game choices.
Like a pilot who went to the academy, blah, blah, nothing special about him until the game events happen.
If you have a guy with amnesia, then there''s not much of a reason for him to do anything except discovering his past. Y''know?
From the sounds of it, you're asking how to write a story with an amnesiac character, correct?
If that's the case, I would do it by writing the story of what's happening in the universe first. What kind of situations are out there already? Who's fighting who, who's under trade embargo, what do most pilots try to accomplish in this universe? Power, ownership of a company, head of a smuggling group, mercenary company, etc. If your character has no past and no game-specific goals, don't try to give him any. Give him a playground and let him do what he wants. In this case you aren't writing a plot, you're designing a setting in which a player can create a plot of his own.
If you were asking a different question, my apologies.
Frank the Avenger
[edited by - Frank the Avenger on January 24, 2004 4:45:50 PM]
If that's the case, I would do it by writing the story of what's happening in the universe first. What kind of situations are out there already? Who's fighting who, who's under trade embargo, what do most pilots try to accomplish in this universe? Power, ownership of a company, head of a smuggling group, mercenary company, etc. If your character has no past and no game-specific goals, don't try to give him any. Give him a playground and let him do what he wants. In this case you aren't writing a plot, you're designing a setting in which a player can create a plot of his own.
If you were asking a different question, my apologies.
Frank the Avenger
[edited by - Frank the Avenger on January 24, 2004 4:45:50 PM]
Does your main character have amnesia at intervals in the game where he forgets? Or is it only before the story began?
The second option could work by having him involved with a kind of super-power that used him and din''t need him to know what happened to him. But if he died (presuming the character is he) then an investigation woudl follow?
Good lcuk with your game!
The second option could work by having him involved with a kind of super-power that used him and din''t need him to know what happened to him. But if he died (presuming the character is he) then an investigation woudl follow?
Good lcuk with your game!
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