RMMV Include a Troll item?

[Zreine]

So I'm working on my game, but sometimes I get a random idea. When that happen, I take note of it and see later if it fits into my game or not. So here is the one I got:

An unique item called "Mysterious fruit" with the description :"Don't eat it!". I plan having this item very well hidden, so not everybody will find it. Now I know what usually happen when you tell the player to not do something, they do it to see what will happen.

That item when consumed would turn the main character into a talking chicken and the player would have to play the rest of the game as a chicken, with nobody (NPCs, Ennemies, bosses) in the game taking the main character seriously. This would change the overall story of the game and lead to a Hidden Joke ending.

I would change the main character skills to make sure the player could still beat the game. Maybe, include some abilities like: if the player get hit to many times a swarm of chicken would come to attack the ennemies (reference to what happen in Zelda when you hit a chicken too many times.)

Now I'm not sure about this for three reasons:
-I'm afraid it would be too much of a **** move, if the player eat the fruit without saving first.
-My game is mostly serious even tho there's humor here and there. I scared this will be to much of a switch in the mood kind of thing.
-The game already have 3 endings, a good one, a bittersweet one and a bad one. I wonder if that 4th ending will be worth the extra work, especially if most players end up hating it.

As a player how would you react to such a troll item? Would you like it or not?

 

[DiaperDad]

I like the idea but I would make it a side quest where the player can be restored to their normal self. Or maybe give them the ability to change back and forth from chicken to human and human to chicken. If they play the ending as chicken, then they get the hidden joke ending.

 

[Zreine]

I like the idea but I would make it a side quest where the player can be restored to their normal self. Or maybe give them the ability to change back and forth from chicken to human and human to chicken. If they play the ending as chicken, then they get the hidden joke ending.

Yeah, I like the side quest idea. One of the main character is an enchanteresse so I could see her getting useful for that side quest. It would also work with my other side quests, since some of them are giving easteregg items and all of them are not linear, so the player is completely free to complete them (or not) whenever they want. So the chicken side quest would not seem out of place.

 

[TSR]

It’s a cool idea, it would make me smile to see the character turn into a chicken after he ate the fruit...
But, I would not play as a chicken for long. I would try to find a way to turn back to normal and if I don’t I would load the game. No way I would play the entire game to the end as a chicken...
...chicken or not I dont have patience to finish a game more then once anyway... (even if its a really good game)

 

[empresskiova]

I did a similar thing in an XP project. The MC could get turned into a Pig by a Lich at the beginning of the game. One of the NPCs would heal you back, but if you left before getting the curse reverted you would get to enjoy the game as a pig. You could talk to pigs as a pig, and the first one would teach you a spell to transform to and fro. You’ll get some different dialogue too.

 

[Finnuval]

I like the idea bit either make it a side quest like suggested or a much shorter time to the joke ending and have it autosave before changing so the player can get the joke ending then reload to continue normal play from Just before changing into a chicken.

My two cents anyway

 

[DiaperDad]

I did a similar thing in an XP project. The MC could get turned into a Pig by a Lich at the beginning of the game. One of the NPCs would heal you back, but if you left before getting the curse reverted you would get to enjoy the game as a pig. You could talk to pigs as a pig, and the first one would teach you a spell to transform to and fro. You’ll get some different dialogue too.

I like the talking to pigs as a pig. What a neat idea.

 

[Wavelength]

Forget the ending; the real load of work is going to be in branching (and testing) the hundreds of different dialogue events throughout your game. If you're worried about the extra work to do the ending, don't even think about adding something that will change the entire game.

If you are willing to do the work, though, it sounds like a fun idea. I'd recommend creating a second item that can be obtained significantly later in the game, so that the player can transform back if they're tired of "playing chicken".

 

[Zreine]

Forget the ending; the real load of work is going to be in branching (and testing) the hundreds of different dialogue events throughout your game. If you're worried about the extra work to do the ending, don't even think about adding something that will change the entire game.

You're right. I said the "ending" because I want to put cinematic cut scenes in the game. Which means I would have to redraw, re-animate and redo the voices of all of the cinematic cut scenes to fit the chicken thing. Add the branching and stuff and I'm not sure it is worth the extra work. One thing I thought was to put that Mysterious Fruit near the end of the game, that way it would lower the amount of work a little bit.

If you are willing to do the work, though, it sounds like a fun idea. I'd recommend creating a second item that can be obtained significantly later in the game, so that the player can transform back if they're tired of "playing chicken".

Judging by the comments so far, it seems like everybody agrees on that. So if I do it, I'll add a side quest to reverse the process and probably warn the player to save before eating the fruit.

I think the way I'll go is do the main story and the branching for the 3 main endings (basically finish the game), and then see if I'm willing to add the chicken event to the game. I don't want to spend time on it, just to end up not finishing the game because I gave myself too much work.

 

[J-G]

I would play the whole thing as a chicken tbh, so why not just add a second warning before using, letting the player know that the item effects are permanent and provide a "still want to use", yes or no option.

 

[TheoAllen]

It reminds me of a certain RPG that I forgot the title. Although the MC is not necessarily turned into an animal, they can actually talk to an animal but unable to speak to human NPC. Which is funny, the dog that usually barks in the park actually has something to say and maybe could give you an actual quest.

Although personally I would prefer this to be an actual plot and not just a hidden joke. While you could actually have a lot of jokes by playing as an animal, but at some point, it can actually be a serious story branch.

 

[TSR]

I think that if you suggest players to save the game before eating the fruit, you'll loose a bit of the surprise/funny effect. What you could do is having an event that run following the transformation, maybe some sorcerer appearing saying: "So, you eat that fruit, now you're a chicken, too bad for you... Well, I could transform you back now, but there is maybe more to do as c chicken." Then, pop a choice: continue playing as a chicken or turn back to human form.
If the player choose to get back to human, he would still have the possibility to eat another fruit and get back to chicken form.
That way, it would be clear to players that there is probably some kind of side quest to achieve as a chicken, but can choose if thay want to do it and when they want to do it.
That's how I would handle it, but that's up to you
Good luck!

 

[lianderson]

Yes.

(For the record, I have not looked at a single comment in this thread.)

 

[CraneSoft]

The "Playing the whole game as a chicken" part is abit overdoing it IMO as that's no longer considered as a "troll" but rather a whole different way to experience the game. The question is, are you willing to go THAT far (making variations for every scene that can feature the chicken) for a joke?

With that said I actually like the humor that joke items tend to provide, even in "serious" games. While they generally serve no real purpose in general other than trying to be funny, they don't require much effort to create anyway so...why not?

There is also another variant of troll items - the lethal joke items, that also have some very specific niche uses despite looking funny/worthless at first glance - eg. a Rotten Egg that kills you if you eat it but can also be used to instantly defeat any non-boss enemy or solve some obscure puzzle (what the player is NOT told) Done correctly, it could be a nicely added spice.

 

[Failivrin]

Personally, I would want to change back eventually. But in any case, I think you should throw out some hints before the player encounters a game-changing mechanic. For example, somewhere near the fruit's hiding place, the player walks into a cottage and meets an old woman with a chicken. The old woman claims her husband was cursed: He went out to pick fruit one day and came back as a chicken! She took him to a village wizard, but the wizard said there was no cure...
The player might assume the old woman is senile and crazy, but when they get the mysterious fruit, they'll be grateful for the hint.

 

[CrowStorm]

I always include silly crap like this in my games (sometimes they dick the player over, sometimes they give the player an unreasonable power boost early on). As long as it's an easter egg or a few easter eggs and not something the game is swarming with, I wouldn't worry about it.