Fallout 3

Some Thoughts on Designing Morality in Games

Intro #

I’m working on a game right now that involves a lot of narrative. That’s lead me to think a lot about moral choice in games, what I like, and what I want to do in the future.

For my game, Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant, I want to have quests and a morality system. But what does that look like, even just from the design perspective?

Well, let’s think about some games that did moral choice well:

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Fallout 3 is the Perfect Survival Horror Game

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Perfecting Survival Horror #

I think the games that have had the most consistent impact on me in the past have been survival horror games. But what makes a survival horror game perfect?

A survival horror game transcends the genre when it uses horror elements to effectively enhance its non-horror message. Here are some examples:

System Shock 2, Half Life and Half Life 2, Portal and Portal 2, Fallout 3, MGS2 & 3. I would consider all these to be games that have themes beyond “escape” or “survival”, and the elements of horror in these games support these non-horror themes.

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