I'm just wondering...

[teh Schala]

Silent, I guess the simplest way to put it (at least in the case of the game I'm talking about) is:
Drakengard (flying battles) meets Chrono Trigger (time travel, in a way) meets Spider-Man (free exploration and ground battles) meets the events of the Bible.  Does that sound like Ned Flanders to you?

[Hadriel]

Silent, I guess the simplest way to put it (at least in the case of the game I'm talking about) is:
Drakengard (flying battles) meets Chrono Trigger (time travel, in a way) meets Spider-Man (free exploration and ground battles) meets the events of the Bible.  Does that sound like Ned Flanders to you?

Now that sounds hella awesome.

All of the things that you name possess elements of the paranormal; I got to wondering about that, but then remembered that elements of ghosts and the paranormal would not be hard to accomplish in a Biblical game, because they are actually provided for in the Bible.  If you'll remember, there was an incident with the Witch of Endor, which I mainly remember because of its name and all the memories of cute fuzzy Ewoks and teraton-level death rays it evokes.  In this incident, King Saul went to see the witch, to find a solution to his failing administration; this is a sin twice over, because 1) it showed his lack of faith, and 2) he was consulting with evil powers.  It's hard to determine whether the Witch of Endor was a fraud or not; she did end up summoning an "old man in a brown robe" but was actually more surprised at his appearance than Saul was.  Because of the Endor name, I instantly think "OMFG OBI WAN LOALZ" but then remember that it's Samuel.  Samuel warned Saul of his sins, and I think either told him his reign was through or to turn back to God before it was too late, but either way he got a scolding from a dead guy.  One could also consider prophetic visions a form of telepathy, since the mind is registering things outside of the directly observable world; events from other times and places, which require contact from a higher force to observe.  But in order to do this, God must have created the human mind to have the capacity to observe these extrasensory phenomena.

[V_Translanka]

Maybe we're just in territory I'm unfamiliar with, but it's kind of just sounding less like "Christian" and more like "Religion"...which, is already prevelent in many RPGs, take the BoF series for example...I'm sure you could throw a dart at an RPG board and hit at least religious connotation...

[Hadriel]

I would ask what the hell you're doing up, but I'm doing the exact same thing.  And yeah, nearly every RPG has some religious influence on it.  Even Mega Man X Command Mission does, because the series as a whole is based on a person's concept of how to analyze stuff; specifically, how to analyze a life-form, and what life actually means.  There's quite a lot more to it than the Turing test.  In fact, I can't think of a single RPG without religion in it.

[teh Schala]

*tries to remember* Maybe FF8?

[teh Schala]

Chrono Trigger doesn't exactly walk all over Christianity; simply extolling the virtue of free will isn't enough to say that of it.

Somehow I *JUST* saw that post, Hadriel. =P  Actually the free will thing isn't what i was referring to.  I believe God extols the virtue of free will...  It's why He gave us one!  As my old pastor would say, "Love is borne out of choice, and it's meant to be given, not taken."  God desires the love of His creations, but what good is it if they're not loving Him out of choice?

What I meant by CT walking on Christianity was actually more in the age of the earth, along with the evolution concepts.  Many Christians (though not all) believe that there never was a meteor that hit the earth in 65M BC and killed all the dinosaurs.  And the ones who REALLY do their homework and study the Bible very closely can just about pinpoint the earth's time of creation, plus or minus about 200 years.  (If my figures were correct, the current age is only 5,862 years.)  That's not exactly a major thing; but it just bugs me that they approach evolution as fact and not theory.  Conversely, I suppose it would bug them about the same if I made a game approaching Christianity as fact and not theory, eh?  (Which of course I believe I have the right to do, as it IS fact to me.)

And since I have a feeling either Hadriel or Daniel will ask, the number comes from using the various genealogies found throughout the Bible to create a timeline...  One genealogy traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to Adam, so we know how many generations there were.  Another genealogy traces the lineage of some people in the 12 tribes of Israel, but also conveniently includes people's ages at the time they had children, and the children's ages at the time they had children.  There are some estimates involved, however, as for some people we must figure the average age when people had kids during that era.  See how it goes there?  Anyway, it's by no means precise, but it's a pretty good indicator.  

By the way, I also read that when the Apollo missions landed on the moon, they had figured the rate at which moon-dust accumulates.  They expected 65M years worth of dust on the moon, which is why they had those huge footpads put on the lunar module (to keep the vehicle from sinking into the dust and just disappearing)...then when Apollo 11 landed, of course we know it was a pretty rocky landing.  They took dust samples and compared it with the rate at which dust accumulates, and I am told they came up with a number around 6000 years.  Can anyone confirm that finding?  It sure does match close with my figures from the Bible...and is even within the 200-year margin of error.

[AuraTwilight]

POKEMON! Pokemon has no religious themes. And if it does, then Digimon Card Ba-oh wait, Angemon. Damn. SILENT HILL PLAY NOVEL! YES! YES! That works!

By the way. Go to Addictinggames.com, and play Holy Cow. Christian game that's fun. Score!

[Hadriel]

Jesus' lineage isn't the best gauge of accuracy; "the father of" can also be translated to mean "the ancestor of."  I would also daresay most Christians of the present day believe that the six days of creation were metaphors for geological periods; you can't very well have literal days and nights without the sun.  The age of the Earth is also never mentioned in the Bible, and cannot be derived from it.  I honestly don't see the point of having a 6,000-10,000 year old Earth when all the provable evidence says otherwise.  One must recognize that in science, simply because something is called a "theory" does not mean that it is unproven.  The theory of relativity is called such; does this mean it's wrong?  Contradictions do not exist in nature.  If you find one, check your premises; one of them is either wrong outright or in need of adjustment.  Evolution isn't so much of a process as a framework formulated to explain the diversity of life.  It also doesn't prove against a God; the evolutionary paradigm is in no way a threat to any religion.

As far as how fast dust accumulates, that is entirely due to gravity.  As mass collapses inward, the gravity field it creates is increased in strength as an inverse of the square of the distance to its center of gravity.  After millions of years, immense amounts of pressure and heat will have accumulated near the mass's center, much like in the core of the Earth.  This ends up creating rocks of all kinds.

Even Pokemon has limited religious themes in it; there exist ghosts in its world, as well as resurrection from the dead.  Many of the legendary Pokemon also have a semi-religious tale attached to them.

[teh Schala]

I got the gist of your post but refrained from reading all of it because I don't want to get upset with you and start going into a debate.  This isn't meant to be a debate thread.  I could do my research and disprove a few things you said, but that's not really my point.  By the way, I would also daresay that most Christians DON'T believe the "six days" of Creation were metaphors for geological periods.  Most Christians (though not all) would actually side with the concept that they were six literal 24-hour periods.

But back on topic...  It would be a controversial game, to say the least...but I have no problems with controversy.  Still, I just gotta wonder if I could actually assemble a team of crackpot developers crazy enough to make this game.

[Hadriel]

Heh, you pay 'em enough and they'll believe anything you tell them to.

[teh Schala]

*hires an entire team and starts paying them out of parents' retirement fund*

*runs out immediately*

Crap. >_<

[AuraTwilight]

There's still Silent Hill Play Novel, Autumn Scenario. Ba-zing.

[V_Translanka]

Uh, one obscure RPG out of a million...go figure...?

[Sentenal]

I'm not sure how the could do a game thats Christian, and it be a fun game for non-believers to play.  As had been said before, Christianity is peaceful, turning the other check.  Basically, its not Christian to fight other people in the name of Christianity.  Even if the game was made fighting demons, what person can physically fight a demon?  There are storys of demons being cast out of people, but no fighting.  God and his angels do the fighting.

However, gameplay wise, it would be possible to have an angels vs demon type game, although the plot wouldn't be very good, as angels have no choice but to believe and worship God.  Stories of mortals are much more enjoyable.

I just don't think it could work.

[teh Schala]

Sentenal, the game I'm talking about IS angels vs demons fighting each other...  And actually, the story is pretty good, I think.  Angels do have a choice...  (If they didn't have the ability to use free will and make their own decisions, how else would Satan have chosen to rebel against God?)  Some people see angels as having almost robotic minds in that way, but it's more that they made their choice long ago.  After thousands of years, they're pretty solid in what they've chosen and what they believe.  They won't budge.

Anyway, I think I've probably kicked this horse enough...  Oh, by the way, CuteLucca is doing a painting of the main character, Jullinar...  She's supposed to email a rough sketch to me tonight.  I'll post it when it comes.