A Storytelling Game

One thing I've been turning over in my head while I'm on hiatus (we're moving to Austin) is the idea of a storytelling game. To me as a kid growing up, "storytelling game" meant Dungeons and Dragons or a homespun variant thereof. As an adult I've played a variety of pen and paper games in the genre, but I've only played a few computer games that really approach that level of freedom and thematic coherence, Dwarf Fortress, Skyrim and Minecraft come to mind.

Legacy is not those games, but I think we have an opportunity to push storytelling computer games in a new direction. Our focus is going to be on character development rather than a (hugely complicated) modifiable world, or a (massively expensive) open world full of designed content. As an indie game we have to be strategic with our resources. I 'd love to make Dwarf-Skyrim-Craft, but I would never finish.

So that's my riddle: what is the minimum storytelling game I can create that satisfies the vision of Legacy?

Douglas was talking to me about the Yondering Lands being an American mythology. That's another thing I've been chewing on, trying to figure out what it means. I think, for me, it's a reminder to be very careful with what I pull in from other works of fantasy. Swords and magic are probably inevitable, but most everything else should be up for consideration. Take magic -- we're not going to have evocation, conjuration, and illusion, we're going to have something more like Fire magic, Rune magic, and Blood magic.

In particular, calling it an American mythology is a reminder not to get too caught up in cultures and mythologies--particularly English ones-- that I'm not actually that well versed in. The game will feel more honest standing on its own lore instead of on someone else's (I'm looking at you JRR.)

So, when I get back to it, I will wrap up the animation work that I'm in the middle of, and then keep driving towards character advancement and compelling combat.