Idea: Voregon trail, let's discuss (now with Demo))

[Bright]

This is an idea I got in my head that I need to write down, it is by no means original, but maybe we can have some fun discussing it.

Name:
Voracious Road
Voregon trail

Inspired by:
Banner Saga, Oregon Trail, FTL, Sunless Sea, Organ trail

Premise:
Lead a caravan to safety through a wilderness filled with voracious creatures that sees your caravan as meals on wheels.

Story:
Your village has been under raids by monsters for a while now, but that is nothing compared to what is coming. A horde of monsters devouring everything in its way. You take up whatever you can, grab your family and stuff them into a wagon and begin travelling towards safety.


Mechanics:
You travel in one direction and then get to choose between forks in the road.
If you have an encounter, you can choose how to approach them.

The resources in the game could be:
People: Can't have a caravan without them.
Food: Used to feed people, or bribe monsters.
Gold: Used to buy food, or buy weapons.
Morale: If you keep doing bad decisions, people might leave your caravan.
Weapons: Can be used to defend against monsters.

You meet gameover when:
You run out of people in the caravan, when alone in the wilderness you suddenly find yourself surrounded by monsters.

Program:
Probably many things you can do with this as even the original Oregan trail wasn't particularly advanced, but the only program I know how to do is RPGmaker VX Ace.

Demo here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?5srmcj44ggqjn6f

[hexcorsist]

I've actually toyed with doing this in java

[AMCJavelin]

Could be fun this could

[CakePisces]

Do you have plans on adding art,model animations or such for the eyes?

[darkevilme]

Do you have plans on adding art,model animations or such for the eyes?

this seems to be purely discussing the game idea. not a serious statement of intent to actually make it.

that being said the idea certainly does have potential. Though I'd ask for more fleshing out of the mechanics to be done.

[CakePisces]

Do you have plans on adding art,model animations or such for the eyes?

this seems to be purely discussing the game idea. not a serious statement of intent to actually make it.

that being said the idea certainly does have potential. Though I'd ask for more fleshing out of the mechanics to be done.

I know that its an idea that should be discussed with us but I just thought if he were to make a game with the idea on mind, I'd ask if he has any PLANS on making art or model animations or such for the eyes.

[Randomman29]

Well I don't have any skills in programming but would be up for being a part of this it it's made into a Patreon or other crowdfunder.

[Squidpad]

I could make something like this in Python, but graphics and writing are beyond me

[Jeschke]

This would be a fun idea, yeah, haha. If it was a game already I'd probably be modding in all sorts of other things. Maybe I could help with writing, some? If this becomes a thing.

[DarkPinkie]

This does sound like a fun little idea you got here Bright. The thing about the games in the list you wrote as inspirations for the discussion is the RNG and Roguelike elements.

As of a note, I doubt I would be of much help besides brainstorming ideas for events, possibly even write up a few lines of text. But besides that I am kind of bad at everything.

P.S: Being able to select gender of your lead character would be nice.

[Thagrahn]

... I don't like the idea of always being stuck on the prey side, so maybe adapt the hunting to a mix of fighting and vorish treats.

What creatures are pulling the wagons, too. Something to large for most predators to handle, or something the predators think tastes bad?

What is the destination, and why was it chosen? Are they just going to a larger settlement, or a place that suggests a better terrain for defense?

Since it's not true history, Wil the villager/player be something other than human?

[Jeschke]

In terms of what's pulling the wagon, I almost imagine that could be one more resource. Like, the amount of things you have pulling the wagon determines how fast you're getting to the destination and all. But they could get eaten by a predator, stolen away, or demand one of your troupe to keep them fed, that sort of thing.

And along those lines I'd suggest horses just cause I like horses. :B

Anyway besides that...final destination, probably some sort of fortress that solitary preds don't want to bother dealing with. Like some protected place way out in the wilderness (aka away from the more fruitful hunting grounds like cities or towns + tough to assault). Or there could be some sort of predatory sickness that turns people into predators (which would play into sickness events that always spell doom for people in the original game) and you're seeking a safe haven.

This makes me want to just find the original game and see all of what can happen so vorish twists can happen, haha

[VixieMoondew]

If we want to keep the original survivability rate, rather than being a trail, it should be a digestive tract. This is a joke suggestion, btw, I love your idea!

[SoSayWeAll]

... I don't like the idea of always being stuck on the prey side, so maybe adapt the hunting to a mix of fighting and vorish treats.

Could have a choice at the start of being an undercover predator who's joined the caravan incognito? Then whittling down the rest of the crew/people while trying to avoid raising suspicion/getting caught, while also avoiding other predators?

[Randomman29]

There should be an option to play as preds on the trail.
Also some of the one's pulling the wagon could be in the centaur class.

[forumlurker]

I think it could work very nicely in RPG maker as well. It's literally a moving plotline for a setup and story which is usually a problem eventually. It sounds like it could be a big project and usually big projects take ages if it is supposed to look decent as well in something other than RPG maker.

Some elements that could be interesting in such a setup:
- A night watch element. Members of the group are expected to stand guard at night to not get overrun by predators.
- All members might have to be assigned or take on a role within the caravan. A captain of the guard that trains people. Foragers. Scouts. Smiths. Cooks. Woodworkers. etc. As the group keeps growing, perhaps later the caravan would be large enough to build temporary fortifications. People could gain experience in their profession which unlocks new bonusses. Depending on your skill as a leader, you can add more people to your group.
- Have an "end game" where you could eventually possibly gain a permanent settlement from where you'll be able to fight back from. Or make it a mystery where people keep disappearing and you're suspecting there is a traitor/predator amongst the group.

Lots of possibilities and all possible in RPG maker I think (and hope). By all means, do not include all ideas in the game or it will become such a complicated game the maker(s) are bound to burn out.

[darkevilme]

I would caution those who want to make this game all things to all people that such is a goal that will make it much harder to make. I'm all for players playing as pred in games, obviously. But I suggest that for this game if putting the player in the prey spot will make the scope of the game tighter and therefore the thing more likely to get made then focus on that. An expansive gameplay range is nice, except when you accidentally drop the game design document and it leaves someone with a concussion.

Make it tight, make it focused, make it simple. If you manage to make a version that can represent the prey side then you can start worrying about making the flip of the coin update.

[forumlurker]

I would actually recommend doing this in a team. I think a lot of people are psyched about the idea and would like to work on it. Obviously, the team would need to be able to reach consensus on what the focus of the game should be, how the general story will go and more. But I think if people would be willing to cooperate here, the game would have a much smaller chance of failing.

edit: the game sort of reminds me of Bright's game as well. You started by running away from your castle that was being overrun and slowly rebuild your forces. The base started really small, but eventually a lot of new monsters joined and the camp became rather big soon. This time, the camp map "simply" has to be moved to a different location each time you progress the story.

[Bright]

Here's kinda how I imagined an encounter:

"Before you the road splits into two, one leading to the north into the mountains and one leading south and around. Sitting by the post is an old crone."

Spoiler: show

Old crone.png (8.81 KiB) Viewed 7454 times

"The Crone asks for a measly coin or a piece of food."
1. Deny her anything.
-> The Crone casts a curse upon you. The effect is unknown, but the morale drops a little in the caravan.
2. Give her 1 food.
-> The Crone warns you about the mountains. There be birdpeople there.
3. Giver her 1 coin.
-> The Crone tells you of a bridge crossing the river to the south.
4. Ask the Crone to join your caravan.
->Rather spry for her age, she jumps into the caravan before you can regret your decision.
->Gained one Crone.


I kinda imagined a setup like that in Sunless Sea that you can choose your crew from a set of characters, but the captain itself is a genderless entity. (Or you just choose at the beginning of the game how you would like to be adressed.)

[Jeschke]

I would caution those who want to make this game all things to all people that such is a goal that will make it much harder to make. I'm all for players playing as pred in games, obviously. But I suggest that for this game if putting the player in the prey spot will make the scope of the game tighter and therefore the thing more likely to get made then focus on that. An expansive gameplay range is nice, except when you accidentally drop the game design document and it leaves someone with a concussion.

Make it tight, make it focused, make it simple. If you manage to make a version that can represent the prey side then you can start worrying about making the flip of the coin update.

This, yeah.

Along those same lines, I'd imagine having just a random group of people (maybe you could set gender and species, just as a cosmetic thing?) without a captain might work best. Because then if the "captain" player is eaten, then the game just continues on, and it's assumed that someone else takes lead? It might work better than having one special character and then the rest all being different, or some sort of game over besides "everyone was eaten". But maybe I just want the possibility of this "captain" being eaten as opposed to them being safe, haha