The Schrodinger's Cat is a game concept in which players will play as a cat and enter a random universe and explore it. Players can choose not to interrupt anything and watch the default ending and enjoy the area around it, or interact with different characters and change the course of development.
The reason I think this concept has such high potential is due to its replayability through unpredictability and freedom. Firstly, players cannot choose which universe or story they wish to join. Every time they start a new game will make them experience a random universe. (Of course, the percentage will vary based on how many hours they have spent on that universe and how frequent they have play certain types of universe) Players can download contents made by third-party company or developers, but that only means they can enjoy that content at a percentage rate. 529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AFmHSTm0k
Another unpredictability is due to players' limited action. Since the cat cannot speak but can only do certain actions. The A.I. will often "misunderstand" the players' desire. Certain actions in a calculated scenario will have a normal outcome: for example, if your master A.I. forgets to feed you, if you make some noise or "meow" at your owner, he will likely to remember it and feed you. However, in other situations, A.I. will have actions based on your hobbies and their personality etc. so sometimes, they might misunderstand players' motive. As a result, the outcome of the story can be different even with the same actions. It's these unpredictable times that gives this game an amount of replayability and slowly grow a community that uncovers different contents.
Aside from uncertainty, the vast freedom is also a major selling point of this game concept. First and foremost, players can choose how they would like to enjoy the universe – either relaxing and watch a normal ending or frequently react to the A.I.s and create alternative endings. The reason why I choose the player to be a cat is that its' unimportance – you won't normally expect a cat to be a major role, thus enjoying a story in different perspectives is possible, however, you can also play actively and interact with different characters and change the course of the story. Unlike other role-playing games, you can choose to be an observer or a leading role. For example, you can either watch the victim being kidnapped and raped or killed, or you can warn other A.I. so they could potentially save the victim, either ending is up to the player to decide.
Another freedom the player has is their capability of travelling. Cats are very well at going through alleys and cliffs, and thus I want players can travel every corner of a universe. Of course, some contents or universe are unable to do so, but it could be a good feature.
Needless to say, aside from enjoying the universe, the game also requires some surviving skills. The difficulty can be adjusted by the developers and players. Players will usually experience a default difficulty, but players can change that if they wish to. (A text message similar to Celeste before allowing players to change settings is recommended). The developers can also change the difficulty by changing the environment, for example, if the environment is a peaceful society then the difficulty will be very easy, but if it is a warzone then it will be rather difficult.
Here are a few universes I hope will see in the game itself:
Examples
~Modern World
The modern world is a showcase of nowadays' society, people nowadays have Google Map as a mapping assistant and Singapore even has an interactive 3-D called Virtual Singapore. So, it will be interesting to replicate some of the most famous landscape in a modern society like Hong Kong, Paris, London etc. and let the player enjoy it in a rare perspective.
However, replicating a city requires understanding of local culture, language, buildings. So, I think a solution to it is making only a few and inviting other communities to fill in the gaps.
Developers can also fill in some famous "special events" or content to make the universe a bit more interesting for example music festivals or normal couples dating.
~Medieval World
The medieval world could be either a display of how people in the past lives with harsh hygiene conditions and living standards or a fantasy of knights and witches or tales. Either way, I believe there is a large base of players that will enjoy experiencing the medieval world. With horses and cobblestone roads, players will enjoy different contents and scenarios like crusaders, churches and of course, the black plague.
~Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk has always been an interesting universe itself, with the hype of Cyberpunk 2077, this game can benefit from its popularity. Players can not only experience the maximum potential of movability through jumping roofs, aero vehicles and skyscrapers. With the problem of the environment, income inequality, gangster etc.
Aside from that, there are a few interesting topics that can collaborate. These issues can be put into dialogues or protests etc. in order to increase the content in the universe
Collaborating Universe/Content
~SCP Foundation
The SCP foundation features a lot of interesting mysterious subjects or items. However, since the foundation was kept a secret, players can only often play as researchers or Class-D subjects (prisoners). Playing as the cat could allow players to visit "classified" areas without restriction.
~This War of Mine/Siege of Sarajevo
This war of mine or siege of Sarajevo shows one of the most brutal scenes of war, so there are a lot of scenes we can use in here, including some contents of This War of Mine or Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo.
Aside from the siege of Sarajevo, several current civil wars can be included, for example, the battle of Syria, ISIS or battle of Yamen. However, because these wars are supported by either superpower. How to maintain a neutral stance is fundamental, thus I believe the siege of Sarajevo is more suitable.
~Star Wars
Star Wars is one of the most beloved franchise, no matter for young generations or old ones. The gaming market has already several Star Wars games allowing gamers to play as important characters, however, not many have fully dug into the culture and environment of Star Wars, which is why I believe the Schrodinger's Cat could be a potential success as a Star Wars game, or at least a consummate platform for a Star Wars story.
Asking Disney for copyright issues will be one of the biggest issues. However, with the heavy accusation of EA's new Star Wars Battlefront, things might be slightly easier than it should be.
Most of the content should follow Star Wars Canon (as to appeal Disney). Nonetheless, the potential contents are enough for a game. The destruction of Alderaan, Death Stars, battle of Endor, these events if handled carefully, can eventually let players fascinated about the scenes and the emotions and thoughts of both rebels and imperial loyalists, giving back players a "life of an imperial" or rebels in third person view.
Community and Modding
I believe modding should be allowed to allow indie developers and communities to make their own universe and stories so that gamers with different interests can always enjoy this game. It is not my duty or knowledge of telling how to manage the community modding. However, it's utterly important that creativity is one of the most important factors of a good game, without an active community creating more contents, the game could possibility wore out especially if the company is rather small.
As creating a universe will be time-consuming and thus even triple-A studios can appeal to every consumer, however, I truly believe every gamer should experience their desired story in this game, and thus letting other developers to modify or create a script of their own should be fully encouraged, even some will trigger a few groups of players because of several sexual contents, as Valve says, "we shouldn't be choosing for you what content you can or can't buy. If you're a developer, we shouldn't be choosing what content you're allowed to create."
Online Gameplay
First and foremost, the Schrodinger's Cat should be mainly a single-player game, yet, I do not despise allowing an online gameplay in this, every gamer should have an option of how they would like to play the game, in that case, they can play with friends, family or random strangers.
Notice basic functions will not change because it has changed from single player to multiplayer.
Challenges
Even though the whole game concept only changes the perspective of a story and reduce players' actions, I believe this could potentially give a wholly unique experience to every RPG gamers or people that simply wish to enjoy a story.
However, like any other development of a game, it will receive its challenges. Firstly, experiencing a story too chillingly could potentially make gamers lost passion on the story. Quantic Dreams' game although done a fantastic job on the plot, it has been criticized for lacking immersive gameplay wise. Because the player will not play a role in a story if they don't actively interfere with the plot, even if players want to interfere, the lack of actions means they have to put a harder effort. Thus balancing that will be one of the issues.
Another challenge will be its plot, most RPG will be other elements like combat to diverse players' attention or increase the attractiveness of the game, however, Schrodinger's Cat provides little alternative elements (except slight survival) to attract players, so the plot must be rich. Developers can limit players' movement speed (i.e. players can only walk such distance unless taking other transport) to increase the required time for players to fully explore the content.
Conclusion
This game aims to provide players moment of calm and excitement simultaneously, to have a role-playing experience but uninvolved. To create a platform for small and big developers create unique stories and plots.
Sincerely hope someone will turn this concept into reality, before then, this game will be alive and dead.
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