I figured I’d write down a few of my big ideas, see what you people think about them… I’ve got them pretty much fleshed out on paper, but I’ve got a little more experience to gain before I work on them seriously. Maybe you can help me develop them further? Or tell me what you think?
Here’s my team collab post that prompted me…
(Tho I don’t expect these to happen any time soon. Heh.)
So in case you’re interested, among my ‘dream’ projects are:
(1) a FPS/RTS, where the two aspects are separate but integrated, so you can have as much or little of the skill/strategy side of things as you want; thus it plays to both player markets.
It’s also got a few improvements/changes to the typical fundamentals - i.e. more dynamic/interactive FPS mode, with movement that involves auto centers-of-gravity and balance in the typical WASD/Mouse; also with more grabbability everywhere (weapons, items, vehicles, other players) and an auto close combat mode that works with it (you can grab people and throw them around, melees are a little more dynamic).
RPS mode is based on gathered intel and chain of command rather than ‘shared sight’; the ONLY case you should actually see the whole map is with like a satellite or something. Vehicles and Buildings are V and B, not units. Oh and there are lots of different factions you can play, but basically 2 sides with different combinations available of equipment and such. Oh, and units are in squads.
Storyline is basically post-post-apocalyptic war (yes, sorta cliche), where civilization is rebuilding… again. You have ‘pockets’ of advanced civilization or technology people are holding onto; and people are just starting to try and create a large Alliance of post-modern fiefdoms; but you have the Anarchists wreaking anarchy, led by the Supreme Anarchist (oxymoron) and his posse. Eventually you have interdimensional aliens invade, driven from their home plane, to bring everyone together. And later on a ‘surprise’ faction joining the fray, who come from environmentalists who escaped to the other side of the moon.
(2) a RPG based off of a table game (like D’n’D except cooler) I’ve been running for around 10 years with some friends. I want it to eventually be a MMO, but it will be very untraditional (and don’t worry, it’s not one those newbie things, it’s a ‘dream project’, only for ‘someday’ or ‘That would be cool!’.). It’s two-tiered, so it’s got a Level-based system going underneath a Skill-based system; so you are essentially a ‘Guardian Angel’ of some sort ‘guiding’ different ‘assignments’ (or characters) in the real world. This means your chars spend time developing and using skills, while in the process you gain experience. Experience determines your level and gives you ‘Privelage Points’, used to ‘upgrade’ your characters with access to Magic, Technology, Nobility, Social Status, etc.
The world is sort of an ‘indirect sandbox’; that is, it is player influenced, but character run; the player can log out, but the characters don’t; they just go into an ‘inactive’ mode, where they will act as if on their own and follow out their ‘goals’ as planned by the player. Therefore, the player can be as deeply involved as desired, but this is not required to succeed in the game. While inactive, a character can go more ‘active’ as controlled by the computer in special circumstances - this is basically so some jerk doesn’t kill your high level merchant while you’re offline. For this purpose characters have some sort of character ‘insurance’ that basically means he is more resilient to a certain ‘level’ of spec. circumstances.
Also - generally, since a character is part of and influences the game-world, if he dies, he dies. This can sometimes be counteracted or prevented thru PP spending, etc. to get him back.
I’ve also included a more balanced character role system; It’s not like WOW where the entire populace is a bunch of hack’n’slash adventurers and stationary NPC’s whose purpose in life is to give adventurers quests. There are actually farms and markets; cities have communities and government. This makes the game cater to, and give a role to, many different styles of gameplay - and hopefully, it should give those inevitable socializers something to do, in helping run the world, instead of standing around and taking up bandwidth. (sorry, socializers, but I’m NOT one of you.) No, but seriously, they should have some pretty cool features too…
See this article for a more authoritative view on this. I’ve tried to balance it so different play-styles can be involved; and if you don’t like to play a certain type of character, you don’t have to spend a lot of time on them; however they all help to keep the world running, and to a large extent depend on each other to be a successful community. (Even killers, tho I want to minimize them, will play a role. They will essentially become the bandits and thieves and corrupt politicians; which will give the legitimate characters something more to do.)
Another effect of the two-tier system is that a large player-base is not exactly necessary to keep the world turning, at least from the game-play point of view; the world will keep going even with very few players (Though from a money standpoint that might not be the case… hehe…), and still maintain a very realistic population ratio. (i.e. 95% are normal people, 5% are people with special skills/position, i.e. adventurers, magicians, engineers, nobles, etc.) In fact, the player might not have a clue as to whether a character is player-controlled or not. (Still playing around with this)
EDIT: In case it wasn’t clear: Gameplay is a lot like most RPG’s, except it can be a little more ‘automatic’ than normal; as in, click and move/attack, based on skill; can also ‘help’ aim, guide direction, etc. The usual ‘character select’ screen is where you see your stats as a ‘Guardian’, and do stuff to your characters. Your Chars can’t see magical names above people’s heads, that’s weird. BUT being a ‘Guardian’ affords you ‘spiritual eyes’ which allow you to see most standard GUI elements.
Storyline/Setting involves something simlilar… it’s a planetary ‘exodus’ followed by a ‘generation amnesia’ (as in war kills off most who remember), and remnants of magical, societal, and technical science exist as ‘artifacts’ to be researched and found. You can do pretty much any character you want, as skill sets learned determines your ‘class’ and your profession can end up being anything you want. You also have a very ‘heroic’ narrative - as in the Player Chars are the ‘guided’ or ‘blessed’ ones. The plot is character-driven and non-linear; there are no world-generated, guided ‘quests’, but society builds unique tasks and such instead. So a character can do whatever he wants.
and (3) I’m also working on a simple RPG with a few twists; but it’s basically centric to the fact that you, the player, are a big floating hand in the sky. That means you can and will interact with the environment, and units; and they will interact back (i.e. enemies will attack you, or run away…). Several other elements are added to build on the idea, i.e. a lot of ‘drag and drop’ and picking stuff up; a ‘shelf’ with inventory ‘boxes’ you can put stuff in; buttons, levers, bridges, etc.; a collection of ‘tools’ which serve as alternate cursors with special actions.
Control is a little more dynamic, and less direct. Because you are a hand in the sky, all you can really do is point at things… so you use ‘primary’, then ‘secondary’ selection; gestures (circling units instead of box-selecting, or drawing walls to build); ‘scribbling out’ gestures, and ‘sweep’ movements (using the mouse to swing the sword tool), etc. Units are pretty much one unit per race, and each race has special properties and ‘preferences’ which you can mix and match to a certain extent. This all amounts to more of an indirect, ‘herding’ method of controlling units, and ultimately a different play experience.
Storyline involves a big hand in the sky, and miniature mythical ‘creatures’ - i.e. elves, imps, dwarves, goblins, fairies, etc… - but not the traditional, the original/cartoonized versions. They are all pretty dumb. The setting is a miniaturized nature world - mushrooms for trees, ponds, tree stumps, you name it. Um you just want to get these special ‘gloves’ to improve your abilities; but it’s more designed for quick, simple, intriguing gameplay that you can jump into whenever you want, but still improve if you decide to go it alone for a while.
Oh, and I’m working on a 3d maze game, featuring a ball character, with a ‘club’ at my university for a learning project.
(As you can see, I like trying to integrate seemingly opposite genres to try and create something unique and dynamic.) Tell me what you think; i’m open to ideas. I’m also open to hearing/critiquing yours.
(I know it’s unlikely, and if you did it would be a different game, but… Don’t steal my ideas, thank you. I’m a little paranoid.)
