Possible Fan Game Idea: FIM Poker Night

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

So, while playing some of this fun little game I know about, I hit upon a great idea: how about a fan game based on Poker Night at the Inventory?

 

For those unfamiliar with the game I speak of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_Night_at_the_Inventory

 

It's basically a Texas Hold 'Em poker game where you play as an anonymous noperson against Tycho from Penny Arcade, The Heavy from Team Fortress 2, Strong Bad from Homestarrunner.com, and Max from Sam and Max. It's actually a lot of fun, not just the poker aspects, but also the real nitty gritty of it: the various conversations the players have with each other. They tell stories, crack jokes, react to hands differently, have all sorts of ways to play off what each other say, and so on and so forth. If you want to get an idea of what I mean, it's easy enough to find clips on Youtube, though be forewarned: Tycho tends to use a lot of adult language.

 

My thinking was that a similar game, only featuring the Mane Six, would be a fantastic idea. Like in PTatI, they'd be playing Texas Hold 'Em with you as an anonymous noperson(nopony?) who would get to sit and bask in all their little jokes and stories and so on...while the content of the various lines would be a bit tamer that PTatI, to fit the feeling of FIM as well as to keep the game family friendly, I think it would be hilarious and wonderful. It'd have to be fully voiced, but with the vocal talent available in the fandom, I don't think that would be a problem.

 

The real issue would be the programming and the graphic art. I am not what you'd call all that great at either, so for now this is mostly just a concept. That said, I would be contributing in a major way to this project, as the main dialog writer. I'm not just an idea person, no sir. I would work hard to make this a reality, if there's enough interest.

 

Of course, there are other little details we could throw in too. PTatI for instance has you earn various decks and tables as you win tournaments, and I don't see why we couldn't do the same with this game. We could have other little secrets too if we wanted.

 

So what do you guys think? Does this concept have enough juice and intrigue to it to be worth developing? If so, I plan on posting around much larger community forums and seeing if I can't grab together a small little team, because the more I think about this idea, the more I really like it. I know I'd be playing the heck out of it myself if it were around.

[Kyreth 193]

Sounds like a great idea. Poker night at the inventory was amazing.

 

I would help if I could but I don't know the slightest thing about any of that stuff.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

Sounds like fun, I can program in Java. I could see what I could do if I could help. But perhaps more with the core systems then with the graphical interface.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Sounds like a great idea. Poker night at the inventory was amazing.

 

I would help if I could but I don't know the slightest thing about any of that stuff.

 

Even if all you do is provide a few ideas for jokes or stories the Mane Six could tell, that sort of thing, it'd be helpful.(Not to mention accredited.) Even though I plan on being the primary writer, I know I wouldn't be the only one...my sense of humor is only so good. I notice that Krall, for instance, has offered to help be a writer, an offer I appreciate.

Sounds like fun, I can program in Java. I could see what I could do if I could help. But perhaps more with the core systems then with the graphical interface.

 

Excellent! Programming will be critical to getting this off the ground. We'll have to program something like this from scratch, since I doubt we could force any existing engine to do what we want. The good news is we don't have to be quite as complicated as PNatI with our coding and presentation...we can be much slicker and compact while still presenting quality gameplay and entertainment.

 

It might be a good idea to take a look at the original inspiration for this idea to get a feel for how you might go about programming the core systems. It's only five bucks and can be bought on Steam or from Telltale directly, so it's easy to get a hold of.

[Krall 263]

I think this is a great idea!

 

I put that I could help with writing, but I'm not sure how much help I could actually be. I could certainly proofread any writing, but I'm not sure I could come up with anything myself.

[Evilshy 5,089]

That game was great, but it really needed multiplayer.

 

I can help write for the characters.

[Kyreth 193]

Even if all you do is provide a few ideas for jokes or stories the Mane Six could tell, that sort of thing, it'd be helpful.(Not to mention accredited.) Even though I plan on being the primary writer, I know I wouldn't be the only one...my sense of humor is only so good. I notice that Krall, for instance, has offered to help be a writer, an offer I appreciate.

 

In that case I'll do all I can! *Salutes*

[Killian Jones 2,653]

I want to point out, I can't do this on my own, and I most likely won't take on just about any project just like that, So I rather have some backup.

[D1st0rtedFate 9]

I'm not sure what I can do to help, but this is a great idea! I can somewhat program in java (Not very good, I'm currently taking a class), and I s'pose I can draw and write if you need a hand. Maybe I'll be able to reel in a few of my programmer or writer friends, too.

Edited January 24, 2012 by D1st0rtedFate

[Tom 890]

Sounds interesting,

 

I know C#, so I could help with the programming. (Haven't used Java, but from what I've heard they are similar)

 

But can't do much for the next few months.

[Captain Marvelous 544]

What kind of jokes/stories are you looking for

 

kind of fourth wall breaking jokes, or just normal

 

(remember, the differences between the mlp version and the Inventory game is that one is a crossover with many characters... meaning the stories told there were with a purpose

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

I guess I could help write

 

love the idea

[Stoner Spike 185]

I do know a bit of programming, but only Lua, sadly. Perhaps I'll study a bit more.

 

I also have a bit of a talent with graphic ideas, though I can only really design anything if someone else programs it and if I have the right software.

 

I can do a little bit of everything but voicing, and what little I can do in those categories probably won't help.

 

I think the only way I'd be able to contribute much is by writing. My grammar is only very rarely off, and I feel I'm a bit skilled at creating dialogue and stories for just about anything, so long as I have the character's personalities correct. But yeah, I'd love to help if this ever goes into development.

[Aureity 3,055]

I only really know java, I'm not too good with Python yet...

I could help if this was programmed in java, else I guess I could help write, I'm not too bad if I actually try.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Great, it sounds like we have a lot of interest. I'm glad to see that. Particularly I'm glad to see we have several programmers interested, since we'll definitely need several. Java would probably be the best platform to program in.

 

I suppose I shall start contacting those of you who have offered to help more directly fairly soon, once I have more of the concept pinned down, so we can start getting this project off the ground and into the air.

 

 

What kind of jokes/stories are you looking for

 

kind of fourth wall breaking jokes, or just normal

 

(remember, the differences between the mlp version and the Inventory game is that one is a crossover with many characters... meaning the stories told there were with a purpose

 

All sorts of things, really. I expect there will be some fourth wall breaking jokes, mostly on the part of Pinkie Pie, but a lot of it would involve more interactions between the Mane Six as a whole...maybe telling older stories about their lives prior to meeting up with each other, or just what some of them did during the events of certain episodes, that sort of thing. Edited January 25, 2012 by Kyronea

[Pinkie Diane Pie 217]

What if....

 

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

That would be the wrong sort of game...I don't think this game will end up having a multiplayer feature, if only because I'm not sure how that could really work, unless some of the players replaced some of the Mane Six at the table or something like that. It might be more difficult to program than it'd be worth.

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

great! can't wait to help however I can

[Mister Jack 565]

Posted this in the desktop thread but it seems appropriate here:

 

 

As for the game itself, I love the idea of it. I can't do much aside from writing, though.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Don't worry, those of you who feel you can't do much other than write. There will be plenty of material to write for, of all sorts of things. I already have a huge massive list that I'm going to write down once I start sending out the PMs, along with massive lists for the other things. (For instance, we have to figure out whether we want the art to be 2-D or 3-D. Both have pros and cons.)

 

I'll be sending those out on Friday, incidentally. Once we have the project started and a baseline engine to work from(thus proving we have some substantial material) I'm thinking of submitting this project to EQD so we can get some more attention from the rest of the fanbase, see how much more help we can get. This will be a hard project to do, but totally worth it.

 

Also, if any of you know of friends on other forums or wherever that might be interested in helping, please, have them contact me. The more help the better.

[Mister Jack 565]

I'm no graphics artist but I get the feeling 2D might be the way to go. The show is in 2D anyway, and animating it as such would help prevent it from falling into the uncanny valley. But that's just my two cents.

[Stoner Spike 185]

Posted this in the desktop thread but it seems appropriate here:

 

 

As for the game itself, I love the idea of it. I can't do much aside from writing, though.

 

And, of course, Dash is winning.

 

Um, as for the multiplayer thing you were talking about, it's really simple if you think it through, or you can choose to make a totally new online game. They can either replace one of the mane six at the table, or you could add a feature which lets you customize a pony and then play online. Of course, you could make some cash off of that, just a suggestion.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

I'm no graphics artist but I get the feeling 2D might be the way to go. The show is in 2D anyway, and animating it as such would help prevent it from falling into the uncanny valley. But that's just my two cents.

 

And you're not wrong about that either. My main reason for thinking about it being in 3-D is picturing the original inspiration game, PTatI, and how that worked in 3-D, and how working in 2-D could have its own issues with things like presentation or graphics interface, or even really just watching the Mane Six's animations during gameplay and so on.

 

But I'll be asking that question more in depth when I send out the PM.

 

And, of course, Dash is winning.

 

Um, as for the multiplayer thing you were talking about, it's really simple if you think it through, or you can choose to make a totally new online game. They can either replace one of the mane six at the table, or you could add a feature which lets you customize a pony and then play online. Of course, you could make some cash off of that, just a suggestion.

 

The reason I question multiplayer is that I'm not sure how much it really adds to it. I'll consider it, but I don't think this is likely to end up being a multiplayer game. I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves in thinking about this aspect anyway. We need a functioning game engine first.

 

There won't be any money made off of this though. Not only would that be illegal, but it would be ethically wrong as well. This would be made for the enjoyment of fans, and so on and so forth.

[Twi Rubix 726]

Sounds like a pretty awesome idea! Not a big fan of poker, but its still a good idea!

 

Well, Im no programmer or grpahic artist, (Im only in high school) but Writing would be like... dialogue?

Edited January 26, 2012 by TwilightRubix

[Mister Jack 565]

Well, I do have some writing experience and a degree in English. Might as well put it toward this game because it sure as hell isn't finding me work.