Difference between revisions of "Themes"
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Possible themes for a roguelike, presented in an orderly way: | Possible themes for a roguelike, presented in an orderly way:--[[User:Rdanhenry|Rdanhenry]] 22:15, 8 May 2005 (CEST) | ||
Please feel free to adopt one of these for your own roguelike project, | Please feel free to adopt one of these for your own roguelike project, | ||
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE | MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE | ||
African mythology | African mythology | ||
American Folklore (Tall Tales, Historical Legends, etc.) | American Folklore (Tall Tales, Historical Legends, etc.) | ||
Arabian (e.g. Arabian Nights) | Arabian (e.g. Arabian Nights) | ||
Arthurian legend | Arthurian legend | ||
Asian Blend (Chinese, Japanese, maybe Korean, Indian, SE Asian) | Asian Blend (Chinese, Japanese, maybe Korean, Indian, SE Asian) | ||
Australian (Aboriginal myth, more recent folklore, and/or the pop | Australian (Aboriginal myth, more recent folklore, and/or the pop myth of Aussie-land) | ||
Aztec Mythology | |||
Aztec Mythology | Celtic Mythology | ||
Celtic Mythology | Chinese Mythology and Folklore | ||
Chinese Mythology and Folklore | Egyptian Mythology | ||
Egyptian Mythology | European Fairy Tale Setting (could be more Disney, could be more Brothers Grimm) | ||
European Fairy Tale Setting (could be more Disney, could be more | Greek Mythology (or the Romanized version) | ||
Indian Mythology | |||
Greek Mythology (or the Romanized version) | Japanese Mythology | ||
Indian Mythology | Norse Myth | ||
Japanese Mythology | North American Indian Myths | ||
Norse Myth | Traditional English folklore | ||
North American Indian Myths | Russo-Finnish Mythology (esp. the Kalevala) | ||
Traditional English folklore | |||
Russo-Finnish Mythology (esp. the Kalevala) | |||
HISTORICAL AND PSEUDO-HISTORICAL | HISTORICAL AND PSEUDO-HISTORICAL | ||
Aerial Warfare (First World War might be ideal) | Aerial Warfare (First World War might be ideal) | ||
Alternative History: we've discussed an alternative Middle Ages, where | Alternative History: we've discussed an alternative Middle Ages, where Egypt ruled the Mediterranean instead of Rome, leaving behind a rather different cultural heritage when it fell | ||
Ancient Egypt | |||
Ancient Rome | |||
Ancient Egypt | Dinosaurs (semi-realistic) | ||
Ancient Rome | Gladiator (simple setting, combat intensive, time for the highly detailed and lethal "realistic" combat model) | ||
Dinosaurs (semi-realistic) | Gold Rush! | ||
Gladiator (simple setting, combat intensive, time for the highly | Heian-Era Japan | ||
Medieval Setting | |||
Gold Rush! | Organized Crime action, probably in the Prohibition Era USA | ||
Heian-Era Japan | Pirates | ||
Medieval Setting | Pre-Columbian North America, with whatever borrowing from native mythologies | ||
Organized Crime action, probably in the Prohibition Era USA | Renaissance | ||
Pirates | Solo infiltration mission into a Nazi held castle (I think some game may have used this premise before :-) | ||
Pre-Columbian North America, with whatever borrowing from native | Stone Age (hunter-gatherer) | ||
Stone Age (primitive agricultural) | |||
Renaissance | Stone Age (Mesoamerican level) | ||
Solo infiltration mission into a Nazi held castle (I think some game | Wild West | ||
Stone Age (hunter-gatherer) | |||
Stone Age (primitive agricultural) | |||
Stone Age (Mesoamerican level) | |||
Wild West | |||
FANTASY | FANTASY | ||
*D&Dish stock fantasy world | *D&Dish stock fantasy world | ||
Children's Fantasy (Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, etc.) | Children's Fantasy (Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, etc.) | ||
Conan-style world (mighty swordsmen, relatively rare (but powerful) | Conan-style world (mighty swordsmen, relatively rare (but powerful) supernaturalities, very human dominated) | ||
Dinosaur Sword and Sorcery (with semi-humanoid hero dinos) | |||
Dinosaur Sword and Sorcery (with semi-humanoid hero dinos) | Fantasy, but PC is a monster (dragon, gryphon, demon) who must grow from the weakness of childhood by rampaging across the countryside, terrorizing the peoples, defeating or avoiding the bold knights and cunning wizards and sneaky elves, gathering a hoard of treasure, and establishing oneself as Monster Supreme | ||
Fantasy, but PC is a monster (dragon, gryphon, demon) who must grow | Fantasy in modern high school (ala many Japanese/Korean fantasies) | ||
Fantasy, non-cliche, centered on exploration rather than combat | |||
Fantasy with small animals as protagonists | |||
Gothic | |||
Lovecraftian Horror | |||
Fantasy in modern high school (ala many Japanese/Korean fantasies) | Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories | ||
Fantasy, non-cliche, centered on exploration rather than combat | Middle-Earth | ||
Fantasy with small animals as protagonists | Modern + supernatural (e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer) | ||
Gothic | Narnia (can take talking animals, human children, and mythological creatures and make a new "Narnian" world) | ||
Lovecraftian Horror | Oz | ||
Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories | Underwater: fantasy (sea elves, merpeople, no fire elementals) | ||
Middle-Earth | Vampire Gothic (modern "gothic") | ||
Modern + supernatural (e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer) | Wild West + supernatural | ||
Narnia (can take talking animals, human children, and mythological | World without spells | ||
World without magic items | |||
Oz | Wuxia (Chinese kung fu action fantasy) | ||
Underwater: fantasy (sea elves, merpeople, no fire elementals) | |||
Vampire Gothic (modern "gothic") | |||
Wild West + supernatural | |||
World without spells | |||
World without magic items | |||
Wuxia (Chinese kung fu action fantasy) | |||
SCIENCE FICTION | SCIENCE FICTION | ||
A universe of giant bug theme races. No humans. | A universe of giant bug theme races. No humans. | ||
Alien invasion of Earth | Alien invasion of Earth | ||
Aliens ripoff: fight alien monsters in underground passages | Aliens ripoff: fight alien monsters in underground passages | ||
Barsoom ripoff | Barsoom ripoff | ||
Cyberpunk | Cyberpunk | ||
Fantastic Voyage ripoff (get shrunk and travel the human body) | Fantastic Voyage ripoff (get shrunk and travel the human body) | ||
Fugitive on an alien planet | Fugitive on an alien planet | ||
Fusion of Mad Max and Cyberpunk | Fusion of Mad Max and Cyberpunk | ||
Futuristic dystopia | Futuristic dystopia | ||
Gamma World style post-appocalypse | Gamma World style post-appocalypse | ||
Huge "generation ship" sci-fi setting | Huge "generation ship" sci-fi setting | ||
isolated interstellar colony (no FTL) | isolated interstellar colony (no FTL) | ||
Jack L. Chalker's Well of Souls, specifically the mix of many | Jack L. Chalker's Well of Souls, specifically the mix of many "worlds" into a single world, multiple races, technologies, etc. | ||
Mad Max style post-appocalypse | |||
Mad Max style post-appocalypse | Martian colony | ||
Martian colony | Mecha | ||
Mecha | Paranoia RPG's Alpha Complex | ||
Paranoia RPG's Alpha Complex | Play a sentient starship | ||
Play a sentient starship | Robot World | ||
Robot World | Salvage mission into alien base/starship | ||
Salvage mission into alien base/starship | Space exploration and commercial exploitation | ||
Space exploration and commercial exploitation | Space Opera | ||
Space Opera | Starship Troopers ripoff: fight alien monsters in a very powerful and cool powered battlesuit | ||
Starship Troopers ripoff: fight alien monsters in a very powerful and | Steampunk | ||
The AIs have turned on humanity! (or for bonus originality points, the AIs have turned on some alien species!) | |||
Steampunk | Time Travel | ||
The AIs have turned on humanity! (or for bonus originality points, | Ultratech Sci-Fi (advanced biotech, nanotechnology) | ||
Underwater: science fiction (bioengineered or just properly equipped) | |||
Time Travel | Virtual Reality setting | ||
Ultratech Sci-Fi (advanced biotech, nanotechnology) | |||
Underwater: science fiction (bioengineered or just properly equipped) | |||
Virtual Reality setting | |||
OTHER (THE UNUSUAL, THE CROSSOVERS, THE HARD TO CLASSIFY) | OTHER (THE UNUSUAL, THE CROSSOVERS, THE HARD TO CLASSIFY) | ||
Alien planet where battle is sex to submission by orgasm | Alien planet where battle is sex to submission by orgasm | ||
Anime themes | Anime themes | ||
Antarctica (penguin based?) | Antarctica (penguin based?) | ||
Atlantis has resurfaced. Explore. | Atlantis has resurfaced. Explore. | ||
Cartoon based | Cartoon based | ||
Completely new world "as little related to ours as possible" | Completely new world "as little related to ours as possible" | ||
Dimensional crossover (mixing themes) | Dimensional crossover (mixing themes) | ||
Dream world: may be used as a solo idea or in conjunction with another | Dream world: may be used as a solo idea or in conjunction with another world concept | ||
Escape from Hell (after arriving via clerical error) | |||
Escape from Hell (after arriving via clerical error) | Furry (any other theme, but races are anthropomorphic animals) | ||
Furry (any other theme, but races are anthropomorphic animals) | Highlander (set in present day or progressing through a series of temporal settings) [note: would not be hard to change the premise a little to create a new semi-immortals battle across history background] | ||
Highlander (set in present day or progressing through a series of | Indiana Jones style archeological digs | ||
James Bondesque (or Austin Powersesque) "spy" adventures | |||
Jungle Adventure | |||
Lost Valley (PC explorer from modern times, Victorian, 1920's etc.) | |||
Indiana Jones style archeological digs | Pimp roguelike (and yes, that's pimp in the literal sense) | ||
James Bondesque (or Austin Powersesque) "spy" adventures | Pulp Adventure | ||
Jungle Adventure | Rescue Worker: could be fantasy or sci-fi setting, but your job is to deal with crisis situations and rescue people, animals, and property | ||
Lost Valley (PC explorer from modern times, Victorian, 1920's etc.) | Shakespearean Roguelike | ||
Pimp roguelike (and yes, that's pimp in the literal sense) | Sports (including futuristic or fantasy): try a career as a jockey, a charioteer, a stock car driver,zero-gee soccer/football note: this would be a difficult theme to pull off, IMO, but doable | ||
Pulp Adventure | Superheroes | ||
Rescue Worker: could be fantasy or sci-fi setting, but your job is to | The Quest to Get Laid: Probably modern, seek out and explore strange new sex partners; requires parental warning label (sex could work, romance elements could be used in a roguelike, but can't be central because sex is the mechanics, romance is too intangible for the RL world to adequately handle) | ||
Underwater: alien (create your own exotic realm of the deep) | |||
Shakespearean Roguelike | |||
Sports (including futuristic or fantasy) | |||
Superheroes | |||
The Quest to Get Laid: Probably modern, seek out and explore strange | |||
Underwater: alien (create your own exotic realm of the deep) | |||
Some of these ideas can be combined, others are obviously | Some of these ideas can be combined, others are obviously | ||
incompatible. | incompatible. | ||
Revision as of 20:15, 8 May 2005
Possible themes for a roguelike, presented in an orderly way:--Rdanhenry 22:15, 8 May 2005 (CEST)
Please feel free to adopt one of these for your own roguelike project, select one of the zillion worlds described on a world construction hobbyist's website, or come up with your own ideas. I hope on the wiki, this list will finally grow.
MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE
African mythology American Folklore (Tall Tales, Historical Legends, etc.) Arabian (e.g. Arabian Nights) Arthurian legend Asian Blend (Chinese, Japanese, maybe Korean, Indian, SE Asian) Australian (Aboriginal myth, more recent folklore, and/or the pop myth of Aussie-land) Aztec Mythology Celtic Mythology Chinese Mythology and Folklore Egyptian Mythology European Fairy Tale Setting (could be more Disney, could be more Brothers Grimm) Greek Mythology (or the Romanized version) Indian Mythology Japanese Mythology Norse Myth North American Indian Myths Traditional English folklore Russo-Finnish Mythology (esp. the Kalevala)
HISTORICAL AND PSEUDO-HISTORICAL
Aerial Warfare (First World War might be ideal) Alternative History: we've discussed an alternative Middle Ages, where Egypt ruled the Mediterranean instead of Rome, leaving behind a rather different cultural heritage when it fell Ancient Egypt Ancient Rome Dinosaurs (semi-realistic) Gladiator (simple setting, combat intensive, time for the highly detailed and lethal "realistic" combat model) Gold Rush! Heian-Era Japan Medieval Setting Organized Crime action, probably in the Prohibition Era USA Pirates Pre-Columbian North America, with whatever borrowing from native mythologies Renaissance Solo infiltration mission into a Nazi held castle (I think some game may have used this premise before :-) Stone Age (hunter-gatherer) Stone Age (primitive agricultural) Stone Age (Mesoamerican level) Wild West
FANTASY
*D&Dish stock fantasy world Children's Fantasy (Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, etc.) Conan-style world (mighty swordsmen, relatively rare (but powerful) supernaturalities, very human dominated) Dinosaur Sword and Sorcery (with semi-humanoid hero dinos) Fantasy, but PC is a monster (dragon, gryphon, demon) who must grow from the weakness of childhood by rampaging across the countryside, terrorizing the peoples, defeating or avoiding the bold knights and cunning wizards and sneaky elves, gathering a hoard of treasure, and establishing oneself as Monster Supreme Fantasy in modern high school (ala many Japanese/Korean fantasies) Fantasy, non-cliche, centered on exploration rather than combat Fantasy with small animals as protagonists Gothic Lovecraftian Horror Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories Middle-Earth Modern + supernatural (e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Narnia (can take talking animals, human children, and mythological creatures and make a new "Narnian" world) Oz Underwater: fantasy (sea elves, merpeople, no fire elementals) Vampire Gothic (modern "gothic") Wild West + supernatural World without spells World without magic items Wuxia (Chinese kung fu action fantasy)
SCIENCE FICTION
A universe of giant bug theme races. No humans. Alien invasion of Earth Aliens ripoff: fight alien monsters in underground passages Barsoom ripoff Cyberpunk Fantastic Voyage ripoff (get shrunk and travel the human body) Fugitive on an alien planet Fusion of Mad Max and Cyberpunk Futuristic dystopia Gamma World style post-appocalypse Huge "generation ship" sci-fi setting isolated interstellar colony (no FTL) Jack L. Chalker's Well of Souls, specifically the mix of many "worlds" into a single world, multiple races, technologies, etc. Mad Max style post-appocalypse Martian colony Mecha Paranoia RPG's Alpha Complex Play a sentient starship Robot World Salvage mission into alien base/starship Space exploration and commercial exploitation Space Opera Starship Troopers ripoff: fight alien monsters in a very powerful and cool powered battlesuit Steampunk The AIs have turned on humanity! (or for bonus originality points, the AIs have turned on some alien species!) Time Travel Ultratech Sci-Fi (advanced biotech, nanotechnology) Underwater: science fiction (bioengineered or just properly equipped) Virtual Reality setting
OTHER (THE UNUSUAL, THE CROSSOVERS, THE HARD TO CLASSIFY)
Alien planet where battle is sex to submission by orgasm Anime themes Antarctica (penguin based?) Atlantis has resurfaced. Explore. Cartoon based Completely new world "as little related to ours as possible" Dimensional crossover (mixing themes) Dream world: may be used as a solo idea or in conjunction with another world concept Escape from Hell (after arriving via clerical error) Furry (any other theme, but races are anthropomorphic animals) Highlander (set in present day or progressing through a series of temporal settings) [note: would not be hard to change the premise a little to create a new semi-immortals battle across history background] Indiana Jones style archeological digs James Bondesque (or Austin Powersesque) "spy" adventures Jungle Adventure Lost Valley (PC explorer from modern times, Victorian, 1920's etc.) Pimp roguelike (and yes, that's pimp in the literal sense) Pulp Adventure Rescue Worker: could be fantasy or sci-fi setting, but your job is to deal with crisis situations and rescue people, animals, and property Shakespearean Roguelike Sports (including futuristic or fantasy): try a career as a jockey, a charioteer, a stock car driver,zero-gee soccer/football note: this would be a difficult theme to pull off, IMO, but doable Superheroes The Quest to Get Laid: Probably modern, seek out and explore strange new sex partners; requires parental warning label (sex could work, romance elements could be used in a roguelike, but can't be central because sex is the mechanics, romance is too intangible for the RL world to adequately handle) Underwater: alien (create your own exotic realm of the deep)
Some of these ideas can be combined, others are obviously incompatible.