Will it ever get off the ground?

[FutureAndAHope]

I have come here a few times stating that I am working on a Christian game to honor the life and teachings of Jesus. But it has always come to an end, because of difficulties.

But true to form I am going to give it another go. One of the main problems last time was that 3D models were too expensive to produce, so I had to give up. So I thought about Among Us, it has a very basic art style but is still very playable.

So I decided to dumb down the art style, so I can reduce expenses, and more easily build models. Everything in this proposed world will be of a triangular nature, very simple 3D models. I just knocked off some examples in Illustrator, and have included them with this post.

Even I should be able to build these.

So what is the proposed game about? It will follow the book of Luke, Jesus will be in the world and he will teach everything that is in Luke to those around him. He will eventually be crucified, and rise from the dead. The game will end with the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit and being sent into all the world.

The concept of the actual game will be sort of like sims, a lifestyle game, where you need to feed yourself, get a job, etc. You should be able to choose the role of a Roman Soldier assigned to watch Jesus' movements or choose to be one of a few different classes of people, each with reasons and tasks to interface with Jesus' teachings.

Any ideas, thoughts, or prayers would be appreciated.

 

[angelsaroundme]

The style is very interesting. The idea reminds me of a book, The Bronze Bow, except that was more focused on a Jewish character whose life is at the same time of Jesus.

Will it be like mini-games for different kinds of characters or will the gameplay be goal oriented, like building out a city for the community of believers?

 

[FutureAndAHope]

The style is very interesting. The idea reminds me of a book, The Bronze Bow, except that was more focused on a Jewish character whose life is at the same time of Jesus.

Will it be like mini-games for different kinds of characters or will the gameplay be goal oriented, like building out a city for the community of believers?

There will certainly be mini-games for certain types of characters, as an example if you were a Roman Soldier you would be tasked with following Jesus to make sure he was not a zealot, where you would have to accurately report back to your officials on what Jesus actually taught. At the end of the day you would still need to eat and sleep.

The main focus of the game (for the average player) will be survival, living day-to-day, with quests that bring you into contact with Jesus. This will require quite a lot of thought, to make bots good enough to interact with, to buy food, so sell to, to provide a virtual economy.

My son also wants it to be multiplayer, so he can play with friends. I see this as being a needed feature, as families (especially Christian ones) may wish to play it together, and use it as both a fun exercise and even a way to discuss faith.

The aim is to make the virtual world as open, and accurate as possible. Enabling you to steal, resist the Roman occupiers as a Zealot, or do better deeds like helping the poor. However although there may be the ability to fight Romans in the game, that will not be the focus. The focus is to make a fun, but historically sufficient world, where people can learn about Jesus.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

or will the gameplay be goal oriented, like building out a city for the community of believers?

This is an interesting thought, I wonder if one of the classes in the game could be a city planner for the Romans, tasked with expanding settlements, where you are responsible for creating functional buildings.

If you were a disciple maybe you could organize meetings. Have to provide bread and wine for communion, etc (after Jesus Ressurection). Even in late-game sharing faith could be important.

 

[angelsaroundme]

Sounds like you have a lot of good ideas for the game. One other thing I would mention is, if possible, have an achievement system, like "shared the gospel with fifty people", "completed level four town", "heard all of Jesus' messages", "donated money to the poor ten times", etc. Many gamers love getting achievements.