On the Mississippi [video game]

This is my Idea, but you can Steal it if you want…

THE GERM: It was late at night and I was on the Staten Island Ferry, headed south. Standing at the front of the ferry, I felt like I was the captain, steering it home.

Coming toward us through the darkness was a northbound replica of the four-story wide-body boat I was on. At that moment, under a dark and moonless sky, the ferry looked so very much like an old-fashioned stern-wheel steam boat.

GERMINATION: My mind flashed on the Flight Sims that have been popular for a couple decades now, and I wondered why there were very few video or computer games designed to simulate the piloting of a boat.

It’s not for lack of difficulty. Just read Mark Twain’s account of his life on the Mississippi and you realize what a hard jobs they were to captain and pilot a steamboat up the river.

It’s not that the time period would be too boring or limited to make a popular game. “Oregon Trail” has been on the market longer than any flight simulation.

I’m sure that with a little more thought, I – or perhaps you? – could create an exciting scenario that a skilled code writer could turn into a marketable property.

WORKING TITLE: “On the Mississippi”
FORMAT: Video Game
GENRE: Simulation
PREMISE: You’re the Pilot of a paddle wheel steamboat heading up the Mississippi
SETTING: Mississippi River, 1850
CHARACTERS: N/A

FOR STARTERS:

It was a challenge to navigate the Mississippi in the days before dams and levees. Men had to study the river for years before they could be trusted with piloting a boat.

There will likely be a fairly steep learning curve for this sim, but a Beginning mode could easily be created to help the process. More so than with flight simulations, the scenery will be gorgeous to behold; you’ll be at waterfront level, not passing overhead at hundreds of miles per hour.

You can add a “River Tycoon” kind of dynamic, with buying and selling cargo along the way. That would force you to make tough decisions:

• What size and class of boat will you own? Bigger boats are more expensive, but bring larger profits?
• Do you want to stop at all the little Podunk towns along the way, or limit yourself to the larger cities?
• Most important of all, there will be a critical moral decision you will have to make: pay for stevedores, or buy slaves? Bonus points for accomplishing your goals without partaking in the ‘peculiar institution.’

FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT: Additional Add-on Scenarios…

• Race another steamboat and try to set a record; but beware of your boiler exploding under the pressure!
• Steam up the Missouri, after the footsteps of Lewis and Clark
• Step in to Abe Lincoln’s shoes as he takes a fully loaded flatboat down the flooded Ohio River and into the raging Mississippi.
• Play the role of tourist and just enjoy the scenario. Flip the Twain toggle, and your trip can be accompanied by Hal Holbrook reading from Life on the Mississippi.

NOTE: If you’d like to develop this Idea further, just leave a Comment and claim it.

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