Foal Play : Foalcon Text-based RPG Collaborative Project · 8:02pm Feb 21st, 2014

As I posted previously, I'm working on a collaborative text-based foalcon RPG. We're still accepting new volunteers. Now is a good time to join us if you'd like to write foalcon (either romantic or otherwise) for the game. After you READ EVERYTHING, just shoot me a PM or say you're interested in a comment. Also, please check near the bottom here for updates. Since it's collaborative and text-based any content you contribute must conform to the following guidelines (also posted in the project forum which we'll ask you to join):

Player Roles
We've opened writing for all the player generate-able character types per the forum poll, specifically:
- Mare
- Stallion
- Filly
- Colt
And for each we'll ask that you include race variations for
- unicorn
- pegasus
- earth pony

This makes 12 possible character types technically, so, in order to cover them all I'd like to encourage (not require) writers to keep the premises of some of their stories flexible for one or more of the key player attributes: race, age, and sex.

Player Back Story
Please avoid assuming any player character back story. Let the user define it through story choices if you decide you want or need a back story. This is so that we can later mesh multiple stories together into the game.

Player Point of View
After watching posts closely it seems that 1st person ("I," "me," "myself") is the most accepted among writers so we're going to use that.

Story Format
Please make your stories similar to:
Having Your Cake and Eating Her Out Too
in a choose your own adventure style.

You can have as many branches as you like from your original story until further notice, but keeping it simple will be easiest for everybody while we start out.

Story Setting
Please write within the setting of everyday canon Ponyville except slightly more liberal (not too much). This currently excludes any other city. Special locations near the edge of Ponyville like the Everfree Forest are debatable. If you want to use one of those locations then post about it here and we'll probably be able to make it happen.
See the forum for details on setting.

Non-player Characters
Right now there are few restrictions on non-player character (NPC) targets and side characters:
At least one individual in the ship, whether the player and/or the NPC, must be underage.
For now, canon characters are highly recommended, and sticking to their canon/show personalities if they have one is important.
You could have your player characters seduce Dinky, double time Rainbow Dash and Twilight as a foal, or lure Spike into a basement with gems.. whatever. You're welcome to make special requests for OC character NPCs, but if they don't fit into the canon Ponyville they'll almost definitely be rejected.

Summary
Recommendations:
- flexible age, race, and/or sex (to cover more story)
- keep it simple
- stick to canon NPCs

Requirements:
- include written variations for any other race, age, or sex you'd like to include in the code (eg. player descriptions)
- from the perspective of a generic user generated character
- assume no player back story
- written in 1st person ("I," "me," "myself")
- choose your own adventure format
- canon Ponyville except slightly more liberal
- at least one underage character in the ship
- personalities follow the show (background ponies will be easier to write for)
- requests must be made for OC non-player character targets
- HAVE FUN

Examples

Different races:

Feb 15, 2014 10:25:40 GMT -7 Trikdom said:
I myself am trying to write out my piece like a normal foalcon short story. When it's done I'll make some copies and change them to suit the other possible player characters (different age/gender/race). The situations should be mostly the same, but how characters/players react may be different and/or limited (by limited I mean something like this: Dinky gets her favorite kite stuck in a tree. If the player is a pegasus or unicorn they would have a much easier time getting it down than an earth pony).

Example 1: Let's say the player is an earth stallion who thinks fondly of Sweetie Belle. They both get caught out in a bad storm. The player may have the choice of helping her back to his place (good), helping her back to her sister's/parents' place (good), or ditching her in the storm because the rain is ruining his gift to a different pony(bad). Let's say he took her to Rarity's place. She would dry them both off, thank him for helping her sister, and probably offer the guest room for the night while the storm rages outside. The event ends and the player gains points with Sweetie Belle and Rarity. In this case it would probably play out the same regardless of the player character's age/gender/race and would need little more than changing a few key words, although in this example it should probably have an undertone of control for the player, being older and all that.

Example 2: A slightly more complex situation. The CMC build, uh, something (irrelevant to the example), and the player happens upon them. Something happens (the CMC are startled, spontaneous loss of structural integrity, sudden earthquake, Derpy fleeing a swarm of bees, a bird poops on it, etc.) and one of the crusaders falls from the top of the thing. It's not high enough to be outright fatal, but smacking into the ground from up there would certainly cause damage. The player would have some limitations to their choice of handling the situation. A pegasus could fly and try to catch them, a unicorn could try magic (slow the fall with levitation, summon a giant pillow, teleport underneath to catch them, etc.), and an earth pony would have to settle for becoming a living cushion (although the others could do this as well). The writer would have to write out each of these as well as for their younger counterparts. A young unicorn may have weak magic, so trying that may waste time. A young pegasus may have poor wings, and relying on them alone may not work. A young earth pony is a smaller cushion with smaller legs, and they may miss the crusader or receive damage themselves. In this case the writer would have to write different takes on the same situation concerning age and race, but gender wouldn't matter much in this example.

But yeah, anyway, when all of that is done, it should probably get looked at by the editors (mostly for plot holes (The story kind!) and such) before going into the game, and from there we'll work together to figure out how all the individual stories interact with each other (changes and additions will be inevitable).

(Formatting added by Flutterpony)

Player back story:

Again keep in mind that the player's character should ideally have no back story or history in the world, or, if they do, try to let the player decide what that history is (eg. "I came to Ponyville from..." choice 1: "Manehattan," choice 2: "Cloudsdale" (if a pegasus or very talented unicorn maybe), choice 3: "parts unknown," etc.) if that's relevant to your story. If it doesn't matter then you could just let the player think whatever they want about their origins or other backstory including family, friends, and so forth.

Updates/News
Our current focus is on universal location descriptions which all writers can use in the game world.

Feb 2, 2014 18:37:10 GMT -7 Daiosharune said:
Alright everyone, I've got a passable layout for the game system, but I seem to have run into a major problem... None of the places "look" like they should!
I need descriptions of the buildings and areas of Ponyville, and while I would enjoy writing out every single one, that would take me ages! So, I'm looking to the writers for their first contribution to the project, other than ideas.
Here's what I need:
- Detailed descriptions of the different buildings of Ponyville, such as the library, Carousel Boutique, Sugarcube Corner, Town Hall, etc. These outdoor descriptions should include viewpoints from the ground and air, including different ways of getting into the buildings (windows, doors, other methods of entry such as Dash crashing through the wall... *facehoof*).
- Detailed descriptions of the rooms inside the buildings, including exits/entrances and where they go. A list of items that the player can use/look at in the room, and descriptions for those items.
Note: keep the item and room descriptions separate, the way Quest works, the item descriptions will be attached to the end of the room description if the player can see the item out in the open, ie. the bookshelves in the library would be separate from the main room description, but the bookshelf description would appear after the room description when the player enters because he can see them easily.
- Descriptions of several areas in the town, such as the marketplace, Town Square, the Everfree, and the Sweet Apple Acres orchard. These don't necessarily have to be detailed, although if you want to it couldn't hurt.
It may be a lot, and I'm going to start writing a few of my own, but the faster we get the world built, the sooner we can start tossing actual stories into it.
...
Thanks in advance to everyone who can help! Also note, with these detailed descriptions out of the way, you won't have to worry about them when writing your stories, so you can focus on the character interactions.