I wanted to share a few ideas with the community, and see if others have had similar ones. If you could create or play any style of game set in the Neath, what would it look like? What genre or style is best suited to exploring the mysteries of Failbetter’s intriguing setting? The browser game and Sunless Sea are excellent of course, but I can’t help but imagine new possibilities. Here are some of my ideas-
A rogue-like dungeon-crawling RPG set in the tunnels and caverns beneath Fallen London. You as the player would control a party of explorers, monster-hunters, scientists, etc. I think gameplay could be similar to Darkest Dungeon, which already has an interactive fiction feel to it. You could have a new system for combat and exploration, while maintaining the fun and unique Storynexus mechanics. Rather than explore specific dungeons, it could be more of an open-world kind if thing, where the player plans out a long-term expedition. There could also be discoverable towns or outposts that would serve the function of ports from Sunless Sea. You could uncover a camp of lost explorers, an outpost of Hell, or a certain fate-locked place from FL that players of that game would know of. For character types, you could use FL’s stats for defining the basic roles (Dangerous, Shadowy, Watchful), maybe replacing Persuasive with something like Eldritch or Weird. I imagine character classes having classic Failbetter titles like the Daring Cryptospelunker, the Unstoppable Clay Man, or the Rubbery Connoisseur. You could also play to unlock even weirder characters, like devils or Fourth City Warriors lost in time. Possible titles include: Downside, The Roads Below, or Beneath the Neath.
A grand strategy game in the style of Paradox’s Victoria Series, Crusader Kings, or Europa Universalis. Here you could play as one of the great powers of the Neath, including London, the New Khanate, or the Presbyterate. You could also create your own kingdom (like in Aestival from SS). Play in the Great Game, expand across the Unterzee, mess with trade and economics, the possibilities are endless. Part of the fun of the Victoria series is the detailed mechanics for trade and making use of specific goods. You could have a similar system in this game, but using the bizarre trade goods of the Neath for different effects. I think it would be fun to have different mechanics for different nations as well. London has to keep it’s many factions under control, not to mention keeping the Bazaar and the Masters happy. The Khanate is unstable in it’s own way, with the noble clans plotting against each other. The Presbyterate has it’s own bizarre system of governance, not too dissimilar to the Fallen cities, perhaps playing them could center around changing that? Possible titles: The Great Game, The Great and the Good
A game about expeditions in the Elder Continent. This could also have rogue-like elements, but rather than control a party of adventurers, you are managing a whole expedition or army. It could play more like Sunless Sea, with the player needing to manage food, supplies, and morale. Storynexus mechanics could be used to explore specific locations, and maybe you could include a system for mass combat between your expedition and the natives. Now that I think about it, this could even work as a Sunless Sea expansion. Possible titles: In the Mountain’s Glow, The Bright Continent
An economy game, The Settlers/SimCity/The Guild style. Start your own trading company, align with various Neathy powers and watch as either your pockets fill with Echoes or your company falls.
An isometric RPG. Could be similar to Shadowrun or Wasteland 2 in terms of mechanics.
A first person RPG, akin to Deus Ex or Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I think I’d be most excited for this one. If FBG ever gets a Kickstarter for this type of game going, count me in as a backer.
I think simplicity, and subtlety suits the franchise, a point and click, a text adventure, something like that.
But another like sunless sea set in another time before London or even in the future would be pretty baller.
A table top rpg would be awesome, but I mentioned that in a thread I made.
Inspired by someone else’s idea, a long time ago… a strategy/management game, running an outcast gang in the urban jungle of Fallen London. Recruiting ne’er-do-wells; establishing profitable lines of larceny; building up defences against rivals, constables and sundry monsters; expanding across the city. Sunless Sea meets Dungeon Keeper.
There was a bit of joking a while back that the next game should be Sunless See: Diocesian Intrigue, but in all seriousness I would love a game that focused on the various religions, cults, myths, and rituals of the Fallen London universe.
Fallen London themed games like Monopoly and Risk and Clue would also be nifty. or, haha, a Fallen London Life game. that’d be great. edited by Marianne Anders on 9/15/2015
With any games that Failbetter makes, I want to see them maintain the excellent quality of writing, and so I think some kind of presentation that uses text is important. Sunless Sea would not have been nearly as good if they had abandoned the interactive fiction elements.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of people post about a tabletop role-playing game set in Fallen London, and I agree that would be cool. A while back I wrote up some simple rules that basically translated the Storynexus mechanics in a much-simplified form. Then I never got around to testing it because my friends get immediately turned off when I talk about Fallen London. But perhaps I should take another look at it.
As someone who’s a big fan of the Palace threesome content (and that one storylet in the Flute Street expedition that is very circumspect about you and your Drownie guide), I’d be exceptionally keen on playing a Persuasive dating sim with all the libertinism of FL intact. That means ALL the non-binary identities, the pansexuality… and I’d be sorely disappointed if it lacked Drownie and Rubbery content.
And I’d be interested in a short HPL Engine (Penumbra/Amnesia/SOMA) game set in the Palace cellars. Basically a much expanded (and certainly more horrific) version of the Nocturnal Visitor content, and some of The Gift.
EDIT: And I almost forgot. With "theme park" video games being a thing these days (Disneyland Kinect, Nintendo Land, Wii Sports Resort, blah de blah de blah…), I would squeal with delight were I to walk into GameStop one day and see "MRS PLENTY’S most DIVERTING and ENTERTAINING CARNIVAL – GAMES and SHOWS to DELIGHT and STUPEFY" on the shelf. edited by Jeremy Avalon on 9/16/2015
Blemmigan dating sim. Something like hatoful boyfriend or benthic love with carnivorous mushroom creatures. Fungal literature is a thing in Fallen London, after all.
A roguelike that takes place after Liberation of Night would be nice. The game starts in a complete darkness which leaves the player to walk around blindly before they learn to ‘click like bats’ to navigate and mark the map with colors of neathbow. When they are comfortable with navigation, the player can begin exploring the post-apocalyptic London where spiders and human wolves prowl, looking for helpless preys. They can choose to seek a goal, such as seeking the Captivating Princess or an exit to the Surface, or creating a safe haven for survivors. I think it’d be interesting to see this game realized as a minimalistic dungeon crawler which makes use of narrative texts to describe the surrounding, sort of like A Dark Room. But anything ranging from a platformer to a first-person exploration could work, too.
[quote=Guy Scrum]Assassin’s Creed: Fallen London[/quote]Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is set within London in 1868, which happens to be the year our London fell. I think it’s worth checking out if you haven’t already. edited by Polariche on 9/17/2015
Due to the fact that FL’s stronges feature is lore and atmosphere, I gues that a stealth-action game ala "Thief" or "Dishonoured" (but without all that fancy street magic) would be a deadly combo.
As an alternative - a classic party RPG like baldur’s gate, Neverwinter 2 or Pillars of Eternity. But that is something unrealistic, considering the complexity of such task.
Oh I just thought of a good one, based on the war between hell and London, you could be a soldier in the London army, they could probably do that in a lot of different ways. ex: ship combat, point and click, rpg, first person,etc…
A city-simulator in the same feel as Tropico. Make your mark as a mayor in the Unterzee. Build buildings, maintain infrastructure, set up trade routes with the other cities. Just make sure to monitor all your subjects, in case they turn out to be cultists, murderers or worse possessing two ships. edited by A Man In Particular Not To Be Trifled With on 9/26/2015
Playing as a Monster Hunter, hunting dangerous and exotic creatures while using bizarre weapons and tools. You could also work along equally dangerous, exotic and bizarre companions to bring down the Neath’s most fearsome creatures. Gameplay could be something akin to Monster Hunter. I’d love to see things like the Unclear Device in action or shiny Apocyanic coral monsters reflecting the light as they move.