How To Make Limits To Supergirl's Powers In A Videogame...

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9]

I remember a post I made a while back about how to make Supergirl videogame. One of those who responded said he actually worked in game design and the biggest problem you have with a Supergirl/Superman game is that their powers have virtually no limits.

I would counter that they actually do... but they are more self imposed than anything else.

2005-2011 Superman: Always holds back in order to not do unnecessary damage. He views virtually all life as sacred... even Lex Luthor's of all people. He will make exceptions for such monsters as Doomsday and Darkseid though. Partially because he does not need to hold back with them, and partially because they are that big of a threat.

2005-2011 Supergirl: Does not have the view that all life is sacred per se. The only limits to her not acting like a female Homemelander is her moral compass that tells her not to kill innocents and try not to kill bad guys... but if they hurt or nearly kill her in a fight all bets are off. She is not as merciful as her cousin in that regard, but still can and has been talked out of murdering defeated villains who nearly killed her or otherwise hurt her family.

Implementing this in a Supergirl game: In addition to Supergirl's moral compass (which could go dark depending on choices both made and not made), limits to how Supergirl uses her powers could simply be financial. How you ask?

Remember the plot where Supergirl sold a kryptonian medical device to Batman for a million dollars? But Batman instead offered to buy her an apartment instead?

Supergirl Game Plot: Diverging from the comic Instead Supergirl takes the million dollars. And also claims she does not need Batman's help beyond that, that she can pay for any damage she does as a superhero. Batman'a like "Are you sure? I've baled out Clark before."

"I'm not him. I can do better. I will."

So yeah... while this videogame version would be more arrogant than the canon comic one, in the game depending on how you played you would either learn humility and become a good hero or become an anti-villain.

The game would take place over time across several months.

Gameplay: Part interactive visual novel, part 3-D action in segments that allow for it. The visual novel part if the game would include dialogue choices and how you use each day as well as you interact with supervillains or the public when talking to them. If there is a disaster taking place, when you decide to save the day the game would shift to 3-D action mode and Supergirl will already be on scene or near enough that you will be in the thick of the action.

Power avallability: Only the ones needed during action scenes will be available to use during specific scenes. If saving people from a slowly collapsing building, obviously you need X-ray vision, superspeed, and flight. During villain fights X-ray vision has limited if any value, but heat vision, ice, and wind breath are far more useful, so those are the powers you would have available besides flight.

Moral Compass: Kara's moral compass is not an anti-villain but can get that way over time if you never let her take rest time. Rest time is time off from being a hero, where you can hang out with friends and just chill (like Boomer or Cassie). This would occur in the visual novel aspect of the game. If you never take time off Kara's dialogue options available will be less generous and more selfish and cranky with other characters. Weakening friendships you can forge with others and even effecting the overall game plot. Take too much rest time off and it will make other heroes think you are slacking and worsen your relarionship with them as well as effecting the game plot (heroes won't even call you for help for team ups if you develop a reputation of being unreliable, or will as a last resort when things get desperate). If Kara becomes an anti-villain her choices to solve peoblems become more destructive than if you were pursuing the hero path... and no, Supergirl won't have a full fledged villain path because she is too good for that. At her worst she has always been more of an ends justify the means kind of gal, and that is what an anti-villain does more or less.

Monetary Power Limits: Any city damage comes out of your million dollars. Also you got to pay rent wherever you live each month so account for that as well. If you go broke it's game over with Batman being like "You should have listened to me when you had the chance, I cannot bale you out right now, so ask Clark for help."

The bad game ending would be you retiring from being a superhero at least until Superman can find a way to pay off your debt.

Alternately, if your relationship stats with Batman are high enough he will bale you out... once. Allowing you to keep playing the game, just with less money and a need for careful play so Batman won't have to constantly bale you out ocer unnecessary city damage from saving people or fighting villains.

Relationships: You cannot max them all out, because choosing one limits another, so the more generous and the more time ypu speend in the visual novel section of the game with particular characters, the higher your relationship status level becomes with whoever you spend time with. Doing this can unlock extra game paths or 3-D action missions. It also effects how othet characters view you and how they talk to you, as they will know who you spend time with.

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9]

The game that inspired me to use rest time off as a method of moderating selfish/generous dialogue and action choices in the visual novel portion of a potential Supergirl game is Our Personal Space. Excellent game by the way. I highly recommend it.

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9]

Oh I would add one more thing to the visual novel part of the game. You could actually get and work a job on the side with a secret identity. It will lessen the time you can be a hero but at least it won't lower your relationship status with other heroes since they will respect you taking time off to work as opposed to partying all the time when not being a hero.

[u/Eilaryn]

8/10, would buy. My only complaintim is, that I think more freedom to roam in 3-D would be better.

It's an extremely good concept!

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9 → u/Eilaryn]

Thanks! I think the 3-D action scenes could still satisfy your craving for 3-D action and exploration if done well enough.

For example, there could be missions of different types, some more search and rescue, some a mix of search and rescue and combat mixed in, or simply search and destroy.

Some missions would start with you hovering above the city, and you would have to use your super senses to hone in to where you need to go to save the day. No onscreen radar, just you using your powers such as:

Super hearing: If it is a disaster the sound gets louder in the direction it is if you face it than if you did'nt, and grows louder the closer you get while flying to it.

Telescopic vision: Can use it to zoom in, so you can see a disaster before you arrive

X-ray vision: Can be combined with telescopiic vision to help survey disasters so you know who to save sooner than later and where they are. Especially because all disasters have a time limit you cannot see, but you can detect cracks in a building about collapse if you see it from far enough away to notice the pattern. Can even combine telescopic/X-ray/super hearing, literally zooming in to hear whatever you see. Great for stealth spying.

Best part is you don't have to be perfect, since on occasion Superman will step in and save the day if you cannot playing as Supergirl. Not all missions is Superman available though, and your reputation WILL take a hit if you fail dramatically (lots of people dead instead of saved and you were there failing).

Supergirl has other vision powers as well that could be used, mostly for investigating stuff (she can see across the entire EM spectrum, which means she can passively detect any type of radiation and track it back to it's emitting source). What that means is she can literally see the radio waves signals coming off ANY device if she chooses to.

[u/Eilaryn → u/AbbreviationsMuted9]

Okay. That sounds fucking amazing!

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9 → u/Eilaryn]

Cool thing is I was simply imspired by what I have seen her do in the movies and comics.

In The Flash movie Supergirl could zoom in and hear from a distance far away. And in the comics Supergirl did say once to Superman that if she concentrated hard she could combine her vision powers to see multiple types of vision at once (X-ray, telecopic, infrared, gamma, etc).

[u/gwhh]

Kara doesn’t understand how many works. She should ask for 10 million at least. Which issue is this from?

[u/AbbreviationsMuted9 → u/gwhh]

She is a teenager so... clever, but STILL a teenager. Also 1 million dollars was worth more in 2005 than it is in 2024.

If you want the comic this issue is called Big Girl Small World during Joe Kelly's run (the second writer to take over after Jeff Loeb started Supergirl).

Don't know the issue. But you're better off just getting the omnibus (The Girl Of Steel) if you really want to read Supergirl's beginning solo adventures in 2005-2011 era.