Beam Us Some Decent SciFi, Scotty -- Continued

In part one, I touched on two of three obstacles that creators of online text games in the SciFi genre have to overcome. Now, to the third...

This one's a bit more tricky, both to describe and to combat. I'd wager anyone who's ever written with some frequency has experienced writer's block at one time or another. Now, take that writer's block and compound it with the worry that what you write won't make the grade, or meet the expectations of your readers. I've known several developers who've toyed with the idea of creating a Science Fiction game, and ultimately this has been the issue that deterred them all. Where do you go once you have the concept, and the players?

To me, it seems clear that Science Fiction has next to no limitations. But by virtue of the fact that so much of the Science Fiction market is flooded with shows, books, games, and films, there truly is an expectation for what SciFi is and how SciFi games will behave. This is magnified in text games, because it is so difficult to do justice to ideas such as space flight when staring at a two-dimensional block of text, scrolling across your screen. Creators of Science Fiction text games face the desires and expectations of players (who by and large want to fly space ships and fire high-powered weapons; who want to surround themselves with danger, action and high-paced speed), and that seems to be where Science Fiction text games go pear-shaped.

Therefore, mistake number three is in lacking the confidence to run freely with the original ideas, to just bite the bullet and let the game have a life of its own, no matter how weird and unconventional it may end up being. In the end, those who are hooked on the adrenaline-pumping effects of First Person Shooters will stay with graphical-based games, and those who are seeking deeper intellectual stimulation and creative freedom (not to say video game lovers are neither intellectual nor creative, mind you!) will pursue text games. Such people will be forgiving if space flight seems a little "flat," or the blast of a plasma weapon looks a bit unimpressive, because unlike with most video games, they will have a chance to become a character totally and completely unique. They will call the shots for their experience, and they will have a part in shaping the game and its future.

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