Official Game Concept

By Dustin Hyrel Lim

  Folk beliefs, otherwise known as "superstitious beliefs", form part of a people's value system and culture. They basically reflect the customs, traditions, and mores of a group, which may be based on religious beliefs, opinions, old or popular practices.  They also tell of how a people view the unknown and the means to appease deities that control fate.  

Filipinos, by nature, have always been fascinated by the unknown. This fascination is what inspires the stories that fuel our rich culture that has developed throughout history. Culture that has given Philippine Literature a unique feel with customs handed down from one generation to the next. Such customs have earned distinction from other cultures in Asia. The curiosity of foreigners, enticed. Drawing them deep into the heart of the country in search of adventure, hoping to encounter the many mysteries that make up the colorful and majestic nature of the Philippines.

But with the advancement of technology at its peak, people’s attention has been redirected to trends in gadgets, and the latest applications. And with the many effects one can create with the various graphic and animation applications around, just about anyone, through their imagination, can create the illusion of monsters and fairytales. The outcome makes it difficult for anyone to decipher what’s real and what’s not. But one thing is certain: It’s all just special effects.

Anyone can see a horror movie and feel scared all throughout the flick but in the end, you'll find that nothing's scary about an epileptic ghost girl, walking crawling out of a television set, bent on eating your face.

Point is, movies today have erased the magic of the many mysteries that surround our culture. We live in a day where you are afraid of power outs because you wouldn't be able to charge your gadgets and not because the dark assailants of the night might swing by to feed on your intestines. The thrill of it all, barely remembered.

Our character is one such person whose belief in the supernatural has wavered due to the technological advancements that have taken place in our time. Unable to perceive the rich and majestic stories from which most of our cultural literature is based on.

The concept of this game is to reintroduce the old and dying beliefs of the Filipino culture that are now being slowly replaced by western influence. Content involves old superstitions, beliefs, mythical creatures and the character will have to learn customs in dealing with many of the wonders of the unknown in Filipino culture.

The setting: The concept's setting is not thoroughly discussed yet. The proposed setting which the character will be navigating through is an environment in which the latter is free to roam around unlocking new areas once a goal is achieved. For this setting, there are two possible types to consider: Persistent and Instanced.

• Persistent -This form of environment, which mostly takes form of a town or settlement in most games, is a permanent map and exist solely as a rally point for characters to gather, interact with NPC's, manage their items, and do other necessary changes to enhance a character. These areas are normally  where the plot develops and stand as the save point of the game.  Reference: Persistent Maps

• Instanced - This type  of environment is a special area which is created or generated by a player. This space, where the gameplay or most of it happens, is exclusively created for the player to accomplish a goal and once that goal is accomplished, the instanced area is destroyed and the character is returned to a persistent area. These areas serve as "mission" areas. (e.g Dungeons)
  Reference: Instanced Maps

 The Perspective:  The game, as decided form our initial discussions, will be in 2D. How this is viewed or how the character sees or can be seen is now the question. After some discussions we decided to go with:

• Third Person(Bird's-Eye View): This is a familiar perspective for most people who have played on handheld platforms such as the gameboy with rpg games like Pokemon(c) and the The Legend of Zelda(c). The display shows an overlooking view at the top of the setting with the character at the center.

Game Details:

The game will be an Adventure RPG. We found it more effective if the player was immersed in a storyline where he/she played a direct role in.

The Character – The character can be male or female depending on the player’s preferences. Same goes for naming the character. The character’s health will be indicated by HP(Health Points). The character can gain damage and will die if HP reaches 0. Can attack enemies, can walk/run both in persistent and instanced areas, and trade/talk with NPC’s.

*Stat system is still under debate. (e.g. STR increases Attack Power, VIT increases HP)

*The character will be a normal city dweller whose would-be vacation turns into a life changing experience. A skeptic of the supernatural, he/she must learn to deal with the many trials that lie ahead by learning the customs of Filipino Folklore. Goal is to find a way back into the city by navigating through small secluded towns surrounded by acres of woods that house creatures of unknown origins.

NPC’s – NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS. Characters that are AI controlled. Their primary role is to dictate the flow of the story. They will ask the player questions, and depending on the player’s choice of answering they will unlock different areas of the game.  Second, some NPC’s serve as merchants whose services, the player will avail in exchange for a few incentives like currency or tokens.

Enemies – NPC’s that have aggressive AI. These critters are based from mythical creatures encountered in Philippine Folklore. They can cause damage to HP. Can be attacked, and can be seen in instanced dungeons. (e.g. Manananggal, Tikbalang, Tiyanak)

*Presence of enemies can be indicated by signs like a black cat crossing your path, signaling the coming of something. A Raven, meaning something is lurking in the shadows and screeches from afar to denote the presence of Viscera Suckers.

Dungeons – Instanced maps outside of towns/settlements. Player has to navigate through this in order to progress. Puzzles and traps can be encountered. Enemies can be encountered. This is where battles commence. Player has the option to either fight or run from enemies encountered in the dungeon. A Boss can be fought at every end of the dungeon. Boss must be defeated in order to progress.

*Puzzles and traps can be avoided using Filipino customs (e.g. You strike a dead end, putting your shirt on backwards will show the true way. )

Scoring – The game does not rely on standard scoring, instead, the game makes use of tokens which can be gained from both persistent map NPC’s, Instanced Maps, and Minigames. These tokens can then be used in exchange for items that can be useful to the player. The higher the item’s quality the more tokens are needed in exchange.

Items – The player can make use of various items that can be used to either restore HP, Attack, or use to access key areas. (e.g. Sugar Cane restores HP, Bolo for attacking, Agimat unlocks a dungeon ).

* Items will be placed in a bag. Bag’s capacity can be increased through an NPC provided you pay the right amount of tokens.

Minigames – Small puzzle games that allow a person to gain more tokens or receive items that can be useful. (Will be based on Pinoy games and other recreational activities.) These stages can be optional and does not affect overall gameplay of not taken.

Though Optional, rewards can be useful.

Possible minigames:

                        -Harvesting

                        -Laro ng lahi

                        -Assisting in chores

                        -Others

Other details:

The game can be saved should the player decide to continue another time.

The game can be only saved in persistent areas.

Death will result in the character spawning in his/her last savepoint.

Single Player *Under debate

*Other details will be added if identified/specified.

Comparison to other games:

So far, this concept is rather unique. We’ve searched for games with similar concepts but came across  with only few results. 

The first being ANITO, a purely Philippine made game that is set in 16^th century Asia, our concept is set in modern time. The game focuses on war and mostly Muslim Traditions and feature little to no superstitions that we used in our concept. 

The second and the last was a specific patch in the MMORPG Ragnarok Online. The name of the Patch was Port Malaya, a Philippine based map. The NPC’s featured in the game had the Pinoy theme. The way they dressed, the way they welcome visitors and the beliefs they firmly believed in.

In a sense, this was the closest to our concept, but what made them very different is that Port Malaya was just a place where you can see Philippine inspired structures and creatures, the quests only revolved around the needs of the local townsfolk, whereas our concept centered more on the character learning the customs and beliefs and the story focused on the applications of such customs in his/her endeavors to find a way home whilst relearning the old ways of Philippine culture.

From this standing point, we think it’s pretty much safe to pursue this concept for a project. However, we leave that decision to our professor. Good luck, Team Oz!