Billy’s Bombshelter

STORY

The apocalypse is coming (2012) and Billy is paranoid, he is trying to do everything he can to prepare. He needs shelter, food, medical supplies, and other necessary items to help him survive. The only problem is he has no marketable skills and no one is willing to hire him at a company, and everyone else thinks he is crazy. Is he just crazy or will he survive the apocalypse when no one else will?

OBJECTIVE

The player starts out the game as Billy, and paranoid doomsdayer who has alienated the entire town. He starts off with nothing just a roof over his head and a drive to survive. In order for him to gathers everything he will need for his shelter, that isn’t built yet; he needs money and lots of it. He will need to beg the town folk into giving him small jobs that don’t pay well, collect junk, and steal. Earning money is going to be a challenge and time consuming, so time should be wisely. Once some money is earned he should go purchase items from the various stores from around town. These stores range from the grocery store, hardware store, pharmacy, appliance store, and a few others. These stores will have items that range in price from the very cheap to very expensive, the more items costs the longer it will help him survive. It is up to the player to figure out what Billy will need to gather to survive; Billy’s survival is in the player’s hand. Work as hard as he can as quickly as he can and don’t forget to build his shelter, because when time runs out and he not prepared Billy is going to be the one who suffers.

• Fairness: Do any players get an unfair advantage when they buy certain items or is there an unfair way to earn things?
• There will be a way for the play to steal what he/she needs during the game which will give the play an unfair advantage. The advantage that someone will gain by stealing a majority of the items will be more money to buy rarer and more expensive items due to having more money. If a non-player character has caught or is suspicious of you stealing then there will be price gouging and all NPC will begin to price gouge making the game that much harder.

• Challenge: Can a player buy an item that will then make the game too easy for them? Is the challenge to earn money too easy or too hard?
• No the items in the game will not give the player an advantage over another character, this game is about figuring out what someone will need to survive the end of the world. The challenge of making money will be hard, the NPC don’t like you and the only way to make money is by selling items that you find or waiting for a day job.

• Choices: How many ways can a player earn money? How can they spend it? How many options should be available?
• The two ways a play can make money are by working odd jobs that appear randomly throughout the game, the second way is by selling items that are collected. They can spend the money on whatever they feel is needed to survive; the amount of items that one should be able to spend their money on will be massive. The items should range from canned foods to generators, appliances to spices and everything in-between.

• Cooperation: Can players combine their funds? Can they steal? Would doing either of these help or hurt the game economy?
• No a play cannot combine their funds; the design of this game is to force the player to survive on his/her own. Stealing is optional, but it is allowed in the game. Stealing will allow the player to save money, however if the player is caught stealing or steals from the same person too many times then the NPC will increase their prices to recover what was stolen from them. The actions will have more impact of the player than it will on the economy of the game.

• Time: How long does it take to earn money? Is this too time consuming or not consuming enough to the game itself?
• Earning money will be a time consuming process; it will involve collecting items and selling them, checking for jobs, and completing those jobs. It will be very time consuming, but it fits with the object of the game.

• Rewards: Is there some reward to earning or spending money?
• The reward for earning money will be to be able to buy more expensive items; those items will allow you to survive longer than less expensive items. So the reward would be longer survival.

• Punishment: Is there some type of punishment that would hinder a player’s ability to earn or spend money?
• If the player is caught stealing then the NPC would make it harder for the player to be able to spend the money that was made.

• Freedom: Are the players able to earn and spend what they want, how they want, and when they want?
• The freedom is there to make however much money you want and to spend that money however you want. There is always going to be someone who is willing to sell you something, so there are going to be no time restraints on when items can be bought. There is going to be a doomsday clock and when that runs out the game will end. There are going to be items that are more important to survival such as generators, food, water, clothing, and tools. These items are going to cost a little more and be harder to come by, but other less important items like toys, electronics, and entertainment are going to be more abundant and easier to come by.