A game set in prison

[gtamann123]

If any of you who have played Mafia 2 you know that there is a chapter of the game that takes place in prison. Well I was wondering if it would be possible for there to be a game that takes place completely within prison where your goal is to escape. But you wont spend the whole time in your cell as you will be able to go to the mess hall, Yard and take on jobs (Cleaning, Laundry like in Mafia 2 etc.) And the time you spend in your cell at the end of each day would be a time for you to check on your progress for your escape plan (I will explain below) you can also make weapons and tools and when you are ready you can go to sleep and advance to the next day.

 

More in depth description.

 

The basic structure of the game is that when you leave your cell you go to the mess hall, the yard and then the mess hall for lunch and then you are given the opportunity to do something. You can get a prison job in one of the factories or you could be a laundry man. Or you could go to the weight room and participate in prison activities like going to school or joining a sports team. And at the end of the day you get sent back to your cell where you can do what I said before. During the times you spend at each area you can interact with other prisoners and this determines how your story will play out. You could join a gang and get involved with gang wars or you could just be generally like by all the gangs. Or you could also get on the prison staff and the warden's good side. This would give you more opportunities. The overall goal of the game is to escape from the prison and there are a bunch of way of doing this. When you are in your cell you can access a "drawing board" where you can see the progress of your plan. Every plan requires you to gather a certain amount of items, perform certain actions or become allies with certain people. There are many ways you can escape. You can just get a spoon (by stealing one from the mess hall) plans of the prison, and a poster. Then you can dig a hole through the wall and escape the prison via a sewage pipe you knew was there from the prison plans. Or you could gain entry into a gang and then gather the necessary supplies to stage a full on prison break where you and your gang storm the prison armory and then escape the prison violently. There would be a lot of options like this and the time you spend outside of your cell is where you prepare for escape. And the story would be different each time you play because it depends on who you interact with and who you befriend. You could get involved in a gang war where you can help your gang fight other gangs and then you can use them to escape. Or you could become a prison hitman where you perform hits on other inmates for payment in items (Cigarettes (which would be the currency of the game), Tools you need for your escape) and the whole time you play you are steadily gathering items to make your escape.

 

 

Potential problems.

 

Some potential problems i could see would be.

 

1. Repetitiveness. Going from Cell, Mess hall, Yard, Mess hall, Job or activity and back to cell could get kind of repetitive and since its in a prison there isn't much opportunity for free roam. So the game could get repetitive if you choose a long and complicated escape plan. But if i made it i would add enough missions and activities you can do to where there would be alot of game play but the overall structure would get kind of boring.

 

2. There would have to be a step back in realism. In prison it is hard to get away from a fight without getting thrown in the hole. If you get caught by the guards doing something bad you would be thrown in the hole and time would just fast forward until you are put. But it would be funner if you could get into a fight and kill someone and still be able to get away with it. So there would have to be some parts of realism taken away to make the game fun.

 

I might add more when i get more ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2011 by gtamann123

[fireguy109]

I'd say it would be a good flash game, but it's just not interesting enough to play for more than a little while. Unless you work your way up through the ranks and become some kind of prison big-shot, there's not much interesting stuff to do. I enjoyed the variation that Mafia 2 chapter provided, but I was happier when it ended than while playing it. It's just not interesting enough to be a full-blown game.

[vertical limit]

Spoilers won't kill you. Directed at OT.

 

 

[MrcTOtheJ]

I had an idea once for a game set in prison, the economy would basically be trading cigarettes for Shanks or what not, you'd got money at higher levels, there'd be ways to get things like knifes from corrupt guards/contacts on the outside. Pick your way out of your cell at night and kill someone sneaking around guards, cause riots for distractions while you and your gang do something.

 

The escaping part I never got around to but I was thinking of it so it'd be so there's a good chunk of the story in prison at first, but later on you get on the outside and continue your life of crime. Also to keep the prison element in if you commit enough crimes on the out side you might get sent back for a certain amount of time, in which you can wait it out and have fun on the inside of escape, your choice.

 

I think it’d be oddly entertaining.

[fireguy109]

Do you know what a shank is? Or what it means to "shank"?

 

E: @ OP, school in prison? Like a trade school? That's be cool, they could do a classic torture scene with a bandsaw. Or you could repair a truck and then use it to smash the prison gates.

Edited September 8, 2011 by fireguy109

[blitz]

It could work depending on how it was made, it could turn out to be an amazing game if the story is well thought and gameplay is good enough.

[OchyGTA]

I had an idea once for a game set in prison, the economy would basically be trading cigarettes for Shanks or what not, you'd got money at higher levels, there'd be ways to get things like knifes from corrupt guards/contacts on the outside. Pick your way out of your cell at night and kill someone sneaking around guards, cause riots for distractions while you and your gang do something.

 

The escaping part I never got around to but I was thinking of it so it'd be so there's a good chunk of the story in prison at first, but later on you get on the outside and continue your life of crime. Also to keep the prison element in if you commit enough crimes on the out side you might get sent back for a certain amount of time, in which you can wait it out and have fun on the inside of escape, your choice.

 

I think it’d be oddly entertaining.

Dude, you make shanks, you don't buy them. Tend to be made from razor blades or a sharpened piece of metal wrapped to something in cloth.

[Tycek]

There were two games (I can be wrong here) set in prison of war camp during WWII. It was The Great Escape and Prisoner of War, which more or less fit your idea of player being held in some prison trying to escape. Both weren't welcomed very warm by the public. Notes on metacritic are around 54 for TGE and 64 for PoW. There was also Prison Break the game, but that was total crap, basing only on tv series licence.

[OchyGTA]

There were two games (I can be wrong here) set in prison of war camp during WWII. It was The Great Escape and Prisoner of War, which more or less fit your idea of player being held in some prison trying to escape. Both weren't welcomed very warm by the public. Notes on metacritic are around 54 for TGE and 64 for PoW. There was also Prison Break the game, but that was total crap, basing only on tv series licence.

Prisoner of War was a great game, in my opinion they made it really well. I think I still have it around some where actually

[gtamann123]

I accidently posted it unfinished before. So i added the other stuff i wanted to add now. So if it might have seemed a little confusing before that is why.

[gtamann123]

Do you know what a shank is? Or what it means to "shank"?

 

E: @ OP, school in prison? Like a trade school? That's be cool, they could do a classic torture scene with a bandsaw. Or you could repair a truck and then use it to smash the prison gates.

Yes i was talking about trade school. I originally thought of it as a place where you could steal things you needed to escape and build some weapons and try to sneak them out. But i never thought of the truck part. Thats a good idea and could probably be an escape plane

[baptiste]

I think its ridiculous to say, "there will be mess hall, X, Y and Z". I think that for a game like this to work, you need a massive open world prison with alot of different areas and alot of varierty.

 

Batman: Arkham Asylum meets Escape from Butcher bay? Could be cool.

[gtamann123]

I think its ridiculous to say, "there will be mess hall, X, Y and Z". I think that for a game like this to work, you need a massive open world prison with alot of different areas and alot of varierty.

 

Batman: Arkham Asylum meets Escape from Butcher bay? Could be cool.

When I first came up with the idea that's what I had thought about. But as I thought of it more I realized it would be incredibly unrealistic. In prison you can't just wander around. The prison would technically be "open world" but you would get in trouble if you tried to leave the area your allowed to be in. But you could certainly try to sneak around. And I thought of having all if these areas be huge and have alot of content (side missions, people, games to play, tv to watch) So they wouldn't be tiny areas.

[Padmasana]

Batman: Arkham Asylum meets Escape from Butcher bay? Could be cool.

That's actually pretty much how I've always imagined my ideal prison based game. Absolutely one of my favorite parts ever from any video game is the whole prison area from Escape From Butcher Bay.

[MrcTOtheJ]

Do you know what a shank is? Or what it means to "shank"?

 

 

I know what a shank is, a knife made of ordinary house hold items, or razor blades/sharpened metal as ochy said, I've heard of sharpened toothbrushes and even plastic forks being used to make them. I was trying getting that there could be a trading system on top of the fact you can make one if you want.

 

Well I officially feel like a n00b, for how I worded my post.

[baptiste]

 

I think its ridiculous to say, "there will be mess hall, X, Y and Z". I think that for a game like this to work, you need a massive open world prison with alot of different areas and alot of varierty.

 

Batman: Arkham Asylum meets Escape from Butcher bay? Could be cool.

When I first came up with the idea that's what I had thought about. But as I thought of it more I realized it would be incredibly unrealistic. In prison you can't just wander around. The prison would technically be "open world" but you would get in trouble if you tried to leave the area your allowed to be in. But you could certainly try to sneak around. And I thought of having all if these areas be huge and have alot of content (side missions, people, games to play, tv to watch) So they wouldn't be tiny areas.

Well, you should always sacrifice realism/story for raw fun gameplay in the first place, having a few defined places with specific roles of what you can do and etc would be incredibly tedious. But even assuming you didnt want too, you'd just have to justify it somehow, perhaps its a particularly old prison or an understaffed one where the guards are forced to contain convicts in a massive area of the prison where cells are simply rooms and prisoners have to manage themselves.

 

The sneaking around bit you mentionned isnt a bad idea, continuing on my basic idea, maybe you have a secure zone where convicts cant normally go but the game includes stealth mechanics so that the player is capable of going in these areas, scavenging supplies, finding things, getting missions and etc. On the other hand you'd have another massive zone which is just a convict free for all where they shoved all the convicts. You could trade, talk to people etc.

 

Maybe have a HUB>mission format like Deux Ex where you'd get main missions, do side missions and explore in the main HUB (convict area) and then a handfull of separate "mission" areas where the player completes main objectives to advance in the main storyline.

 

You could also have a Fallout 3: The pitt type deal, have a "safe" zone which would comprise of any trade/rest areas/possible minigame/sidequest, and then a massive "unsafe" zone where its kinda a mini warzone where the player can kinda do whatever he wants, and where he can complete main quests. For those that dont remember, I'm making a contrast between the main slave area and the area where you'd collect those bars.

 

Anything is possible in a game, you cant limit yourself because it couldnt happen in a prison we know. The more open you make it, as long as its guided within the main focus of the game, the better it can be.

 

You mentionned Mafia II, the prison area wasnt open world per say, because it was a relatively small zone/area of the game, but it was deffinitly open-ended, it was quite linear and there was nothing to do but the zone itself was somewhat open-ended, you'd just have to expand on that and simply make it bigger, and fill it up with sh*t.

 

Brainstorm that sh*t, do it here if you want, come up with general ideas, game mechanics, interesting things the game can include which fit in a prison style environnement.

 

 

@Padmasana, Yeah EFBB was a freeking epic game for sure, the prison sequence is great.

[Stoatz]

[G The Generous]

^that sh*t is one of the worst game ever

 

the prison level in Splinter Cell Double Agent and Mafia 2 were great imo.

[LittleBlueTroll]

Yeah i enjoyed the prison level in Mafia 2 aswell, at first i thought that would really slow the story down, but it didnt atall, man that games good

 

And as for the Prison Break game, i have never played it but it looks so sh*t.

[cactus.]

I still think that incorporating a prison system in GTA would work. Come at me, bro. Ideally, you start off in prison and that's where you complete the tutorial missions, and soon break out. Imagine seeing the glistening city from within the prison walls, yearning to discover it, and soon breaking out into it. It could become one of those timeless video gaming moments.

 

Anyways, like in RDR, John's bounty was relative to the severity of his crimes. His prison sentence was merely reduced to a cut scene, but imagine if you could opt to not pay the fine, save what money you have, and serve time instead. It would be important that prison is a dynamic environment in its own right or else there would be no incentive (besides keeping your money) to go in. This prison yard could be full of different mini-games: basketball, gambling, weight-lifting to improve your character's stats (assuming some features from SA are to return), performing hits on other inmates to boost your respect level, and even meeting contacts on the inside that lead to jobs/side missions on the outside.

 

 

 

 

[sivispacem]

 

I still think that incorporating a prison system in GTA would work. Come at me, bro. Ideally, you start off in prison and that's where you complete the tutorial missions, and soon break out. Imagine seeing the glistening city from within the prison walls, yearning to discover it, and soon breaking out into it. It could become one of those timeless video gaming moments.

Isn't that basically how Saints Row 2 starts? But, you know, sh*tter?

[cactus.]

I still think that incorporating a prison system in GTA would work. Come at me, bro. Ideally, you start off in prison and that's where you complete the tutorial missions, and soon break out. Imagine seeing the glistening city from within the prison walls, yearning to discover it, and soon breaking out into it. It could become one of those timeless video gaming moments.

Isn't that basically how Saints Row 2 starts? But, you know, sh*tter?

Never played SR, but I believe I saw a youtube video of the first mission where the dude wakes up in prison and proceeds to shoot his way out, or something like that (not sure if I'm really spoiling SR for anyone, but better safe than sorry I suppose)

 

How would it be sh*ttier, sivis?

[gtamann123]

I still think that incorporating a prison system in GTA would work. Come at me, bro. Ideally, you start off in prison and that's where you complete the tutorial missions, and soon break out. Imagine seeing the glistening city from within the prison walls, yearning to discover it, and soon breaking out into it. It could become one of those timeless video gaming moments.

 

Anyways, like in RDR, John's bounty was relative to the severity of his crimes. His prison sentence was merely reduced to a cut scene, but imagine if you could opt to not pay the fine, save what money you have, and serve time instead. It would be important that prison is a dynamic environment in its own right or else there would be no incentive (besides keeping your money) to go in. This prison yard could be full of different mini-games: basketball, gambling, weight-lifting to improve your character's stats (assuming some features from SA are to return), performing hits on other inmates to boost your respect level, and even meeting contacts on the inside that lead to jobs/side missions on the outside.

Wasnt that exactly what happened in saints row 2?

[sivispacem]

 

Wasnt that exactly what happened in saints row 2?

Yeah, as I said over an hour before you.

[cactus.]

"Saints Row did it!"

 

So I haven't played the same video games as y'all. Point still stands. Just because an idea has been done, doesn't mean it can't be innovated upon and done differently, ideally better.

[gtamann123]

Wasnt that exactly what happened in saints row 2?

Yeah, as I said over an hour before you.

Sorry i was on my ipod and I just quickly skimmed through the replies and only read the longer ones. So i missed yours.

[Sombra]

If you go look in writers discussion TonyZimmzy did a few GTA Fanfic Scripts and one of them had a large prison section iirc.

[gtamann123]

"Saints Row did it!"

 

So I haven't played the same video games as y'all. Point still stands. Just because an idea has been done, doesn't mean it can't be innovated upon and done differently, ideally better.

Yeah that's true. And GTA could probably do it better than Saints Row did also. So it would be cool to see.