A Game Experiment

[meatwad]

I've always felt the Friday the 13th game for the NES is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It has a lot of problems but there are some damn good ideas at the core of its gameplay. Maybe with some more polish it would be a bit more well regarded now. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is... a lot more rough around the edges. Don't get me wrong, I love everything that takes place in NYC but that's only about 1/4 of the movie. Everything that leads up to that brief shining sequence is kind of a slog at times. And the ending is a mess. Oh lordy, the ending is a mess. Still, I love the stuff in NYC. The cynicism, the apathy, the rooftop boxing. Everything. It just needed a real budget so they could spend more than 20 minutes in the setting the movie has in its title.

So, I've had some ideas rattling around the ol' mind grapes and decided to try and see if I can take some of the core ideas of the Friday NES game, the setting of Part VIII and use NESmaker to see if I can put together a game that actually works. Basically, I'm thinking of trying to put together an homage to the original NES game with all new characters inspired by those in the Friday movies and all set in an 80's cynical dystopic take on NYC. I'm talking an undead slasher chasing characters at random throughout the city, dirty cops, violent druggies and gang members, and sewer mutants. 'Cause, you gotta have your sewer mutants, baby. What do you think happens to all the bums living underground when NYC dumps toxic waste through the sewer system at midnight every night? Sewer mutants.

Right now I'm thinking of using the Metroidvania module as the starting point and trying to create a sort of open world survival horror game with some elements of a Souls game. I'm wanting it to be methodical, difficult, few chances to heal, and only a few lives/characters to get you through the entire game. Yeah, that sounds like it could be a mess but I'm gonna try and see if this is something worth chasing down.

 

[Logana]

Hmm this project could be interesting, hi nice to meet yah would be glad to do music for this, would be pretty Interesting to compose for this and I feel up to the challenge, rn I’m kinda just looking around an asking people if I can do music but this is one of the more interesting things that I would like really really wanna compose for, can’t wait to see what you make and if you are interested in the music thing just privately message me with like a list of songs you need and maybe some examples :3

 

[meatwad]

Hmm this project could be interesting, hi nice to meet yah would be glad to do music for this, would be pretty Interesting to compose for this and I feel up to the challenge, rn I’m kinda just looking around an asking people if I can do music but this is one of the more interesting things that I would like really really wanna compose for, can’t wait to see what you make and if you are interested in the music thing just privately message me with like a list of songs you need and maybe some examples :3

Good to meet you, as well! I've lurked on and off on the Forums for awhile now but never really bothered to sit down and comb through them or even actually fool around with the program much. I actually hadn't thought about a possible collaboration but I'll admit that I'm still learning and have zero real knowledge on music creation. I love music but I've never had to actually learn how to make it, especially with something like Famitracker. So, yeah, I would definitely be up for seeing what happens and maybe working with someone else on it. I haven't thought too much about even the music style I would want to include in the game and I'm gonna have to think on it some and will reach out to you I figure once I maybe have a better idea. It's all still super early and I'm honestly new to actually using the software (despite being a KS backer... sigh) but I kind of just had this idea few weeks ago and decided yesterday to finally do something with it.

 

[Logana]

Okay, nice hope we get in contact when you got that pinned down, in the meantime I will continue to watch development on this :3

 

[Jonny]

I'm not familiar with that game tbh but a survival horror sounds good. If you could make something scary with the NES limitations, that would be excellent.
Maybe you can call it Saturday 14th haha
Good luck with it all!

 

[meatwad]

I'm not familiar with that game tbh but a survival horror sounds good. If you could make something scary with the NES limitations, that would be excellent.
Maybe you can call it Saturday 14th haha
Good luck with it all!

I don't want Scream Factory coming after me with a lawsuit now!

Thanks, mate. The original has some good ideas but lots of problems. Wonky map, wonky third person segments, bad clues, bad mazes, and around four different types of enemies in the whole game. (yay for variety) However, it has good atmosphere, the ability to pick different types of characters that play differently, a good overall difficulty for a horror game, and some decent adventure game elements once you suss out all the inscrutable bits. (Usually with the help of an FAQ)

Honestly, I'll be happy if I can cobble together something with at least a good creepy atmosphere.

 

[PasseGaming]

That sounds like a awesome idea. I think the NES is in dire need of additional horror based titles. I'll be following your progress closely.