Each NPC in the game has a brain. This brain contains memory of everything they have done up to that point. However, it’s not a perfect memory. If you asked the character what it did at 3pm on Sunday it may not be able to recall all the details. They may roughly recall that they were at home. Perhaps jogging their memory with a possibility of what they may have done, could make them realize that they were in fact watching T.V.

Another example is a potential witness who remembers hearing a scream when walking through the park, but they can’t remember anything else. What would happen if they retraced their steps? Maybe this would jog their memory. Perhaps they would then remember other details about what they heard.

The memory of a particular event is not related to objects. It can be related to any of our senses. Sometimes prompting a NPC with one sense can reveal a piece of memory about something related. An example of this would be smelling coffee in the morning and remembering that donut you had yesterday.

NPC’s will store almost everything, but access to that memory may be conditional. It’s your job to discover the best ways to get the information you need.

The world of population 55 (or 56 if you count the victim) is made up of “real characters”. Imagine the extremes of human personality give them all different roles in this small coastal community and you may start to get an idea of what it will be like.

Each character has multiple relationships which would make sense. There are the typical family relationships, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles. There are bad relationships and good ones, the jealous husband, the spoilt child, the happy family person.

There are also friends and enemies. Who likes who, who has a grudge? Did some kid pick on some neighbors kid at school? Is the local butcher jealous of the young man who ogles his wife? The list is endless.

At the start of every new game, these relationships are tested and a likely murder victim is chosen. Depending on game difficultly level a complex murder mystery will be generated. As stated before, each experience with Pop 55 will have a different victim.

By using your detective skills and natural understand of human relationships you can investigate until you discover the murderer. Talk to anyone you want. Did anyone have problems with the deceased? Did anyone have anything to gain? The blind man heard screams and the murderer flee from the crime scene – but he didn’t see anything. A woman was walking through the park and may have seen something important but she can’t remember. Perhaps going with and retracing her steps will jog her memory?

All of these scenario’s can be played out.

The goals of the project are straightforward albeit difficult to achieve…

- Fun, exciting & easy to play
- Each game experience is unique and personally tailored to the player
- Every game has a different victim and different murderer

Do you want to be the good cop? Or, the bad one that beats confessions out of people?

(oops, meant to post this last week but unfortunately due to a cold didn’t get around to it.)

It’s the dead of night and you’re driving down a winding road. In the distance you can make out a small coastal town. As you drive, your headlights flash upon a sign that reads ‘Cove – Pop. 56′. Scored out with red blood, written next to that is 55…

This is the beginning of Population 55. You come upon a small coastal town where someone in the town has been murdered. It is your job to discover who did it.

This is just a quick post to mention that I have begun developing my next game. It’s called Population 55.

Over the next few days I’ll be outlining the concept and general direction of the game.

As previously stated I’ll be tweeting each step in the development process. As a practical matter I’ll very likely have links back to this blog for posts that need more than 140 characters…