Game Design Idea

[Dru Lee Parsec]

On Gamasutra http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010129/adams_01.htm there is an article with a list of rules for future game design. The list of rules is intended to break us out of our cliche games. I mean, how many first person shooters or side scrolling level jump games do we really need?

So let's take a look at one of the rules:


There shall be no knights, elves, dwarves or dragons. Nor shall there be any wizards, wenches, bards, bartenders, golems, giants, clerics, necromancers, thieves, gods, angels, demons, sorceresses, undead bodies or body parts (mummified or decaying), Nazis, Russians, spies, mercenaries, space marines, stormtroopers, star pilots, humanoid robots, evil geniuses, mad scientists, or carnivorous aliens. And no freakin' vampires.


So what does that leave us? It leaves us with a game that has to rely on an honest to gosh plot. Lets see if we can come up with a plot line for a game that's not a 1st person shooter that doesn't use any of the characters described above.

Put on your game design thinking caps. Let's get creative.

[sincka]

There was once a little worm named Pablo. He was different and everyone made fun of him... he had hair.

That could be a good start. :eek:

P.S. It's a joke... now laugh.

[Gweedo]

It is quite funny that you brought this topic up. In my C/C++ programming class we have a class project that is going to be assigned to us. The project is to make a client/server game. He gave the example of race cars or something of that nature. I will have to post it after were done so you all get a good laugh in. :)

[nanode]

Can the character be a cyber-samurai named Hiro Protagonist? :)

You could also do something based on the old "Leisure Suit Larry" genre of Sierra Quest games. When I was younger, I loved Quest games, but they became lame when you controlled everything with the mouse, as opposed to typing "look room", "get sword", "use sword"...

Games like Zork and Guild of Thieves (both text based adventures) did a whole lot more for the imagination then undead-cyber-nazis-demons flying across the screen @ 60FPS. :)

[Dru Lee Parsec]

A Boy and his dog: Yes, a young boy and his dog go for a walk hand have all kinds of exciting adventures.

Fireman Fred: Fireman Fred goes for a walk with his dog and has all kinds of exciting adventures.

"Here Comes Lucy!" : Lucy Arnez of "I Love Lucy" goes for a walk with her dog and has all kinds of exciting adventures.

OK, maybe those arn't such good ideas.

Surf City USA: Surfing, Volley ball, Dog Frisbee. This could go somewhere. (What? dogs again!?)

[RTFM]

Hmm.... hunt the wumpus ? :D

I dunno. Taking out carnivorous aliens from Alpha Centauri with a big@$$ gun kinda kills almost all the games available today... :D

I know! A SECOND-PERSON shoot-em-up :D :eek: :) ;)

[kmj]

what about omnivorous aliens? angry scientists? misguided geniuses? quadroped robots? jet pilots? naval marines? barbarians? double agents? Kamchatkans? Fascists?

I really think that most games, if they are going to be well received, have to have a plot or at least something moderately revolutionary, regardless of what the protagonists and antagonists are.

[Dru Lee Parsec]

A Second Person Shooter! ? Cool.

A game where you watch other people shooting each other. Hmm. maybe not.

But I think a good game can be created without any of the hackneyed plot devices. What's the best selling game of 2000? Sims. How about the best selling game of 1999? Roller Coaster Tycoon. So it is possible.

[nanode]

A Second Person Shooter! ? Cool.
A game where you watch other people shooting each other. Hmm. maybe not.



If my English lit. skills are intact:
1st person == "I did..."
2nd person == "You did..."
3rd person == "He/She/They/Bill Gates did..."

:)

I'm having a lot of trouble conceptualizing what a 2nd person shooter would be... :(

[kmj]

mmmm... RollerCoaster Tycoon;
::drool:: ::drool::

forever known by me as "the game which was almost as cool as civII" (which, of course, is forever known by me as "the coolest game ever")

[moose]

I think a game that is based more on real live people....most people are more animal or more horrifying than most of the antagonists already mentioned.

you know those..."choose your adventure books"? where at the end of a situation you get to the end of the page and you have to make a decision and the book becomes a new story at each fork in the road? A game like that, it mimics real life...you make a decision...some good, some bad....the realationships you create with people will change the info they give you, whether they will help you....etc. Take that...add a good plot, and good action sequences (like 1st person shooter sections) to the game...and that would make one hell of a game...

Plus, the environments need to be more interactive...

If you happen through a contsturction site during the game, there should be tools...any one of those tools you should be able to pick up and use as a weapon, but then also maybe be able to use it to get a window open...but here's the thing....don't make the hammer....the only tool laying around so it sticks out like a sore thumb, so when you're playing the game...you don't go "oh...I guess I NEED to pick this up" make it one of many options you may come across.

I'm looking for a game that is based on "real" situations or at least real people, an environment extremely interactive, and a story that changes based on decisions you make while playing.

"That's all I have to say about that"
-FG

[TheLinuxDuck]

I've had this game idea since 1st person shooters came onto the scene, but have never had a place to offer it... and with network play, the game will be enhanced quite a bit, I think.

Ok, let me try to explain this as best as I can:

The game will be called something like "Evolution" or "Food Chain" or "Dominate".. or something... the basis of the game is similar to FPS's, in that you must survive.

However, the game will not be people. It will be animals.

The goal of the game is to teach how different animals survive, and how they exist in their native environment. You start out as a flea, or some kind of tiny animal.

Your purpose is to find food, shelter, etc, and survive. You will encounter all the natural elements and predators that are common to each animal.

Each level will be considered a 'life span' of the animal.

And, as you beat each level with each animal, you unlock the next.

It could be set up so that you play against computer controlled predators, or the predators are other people in a network game.

You could start as a flea, then a fly, then a mosquito, then a moth, then a caterpillar, then a butterfly, then a mouse, then a rat, etc..etc.. just getting larger and larger.. the game could even go so far as to have a 'dinosaur' MOD, or 'tropical animals' MOD...

And, the best part is, while playing, you learn about how each animal exists and survives in their natural state..

The environment could incorporate standard weather changes based on seasons, which all affect how the animals should behave.

Some animals can climb trees, some fly, some are slow to run, but good defenses, others quick, but not as tough...

The possibilities with it are endless.

Well, that's my idea. I've had this game idea for years.. just don't have the skill to put it into action.

[Strike]

A second-person shooter would be watching YOU be shot at, I guess ("you shooting" = second person shooter). There already are TPS (third person shooters), Tomb Raider is sort of one.

I like new inventive games a lot. One of my favorite games right now has no real match to speak of - Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. There aren't many other skating games out there, especially not ones that are based on 3D engines. There's not a real PLOT per se, but the concept is pretty fresh. (I'll concede that there have been skating games in the past, but they have been pretty lame and didn't really involve the same thing that THPS2 does).

FPS's, while they are becoming cliche, allow for a lot of things. They don't restrict the player much in terms of plot or gameplay. Some games that are considered FPS's like System Shock 2, really don't rely on the emphasis of shooting as much as the emphasis of interacting - but since it is done from a first-person perspective, it is grouped under "FPS". So, I think there is still some oomph left in the "genre" (as poor a choice of words as that is).

But, Dru Lee, thanks for the article - looks rather interesting, and it is always good to encourage fresh new ideas.

[Dru Lee Parsec]

Years ago when the web pages were a rarity and news groups were cool (This is WAY back in the early 90's) there was a newsgroup I hung out at called alt.shenanigens

As one of our practical jokes we made up a game called "Evolution" and went over to some group like rec.games.strategy and started raving about this game.

We'd post things like:

"My Hamsters have progressed to tool makers, but every time they do the Iguanas raid their camps and eat them all"

"You got your Hamsters to make tools!? I havn't been able to make mine speak yet."

"The problem is in choosing a hamster as your starting animal. Try a lemur."

"Hey guys, I found out how to give communication skills to insect based races. The insect races will never develop actual speach. But if you keep irradiating them with a preference towards 'movement enhancements' they will develop communication via dance. It's hilarious to watch"

"I started with a mouse as my starting group and cross bread them with monkeys. Now I have really ugly monkeys with mouse whiskers and long naked tails."

and so on . .

Of course, there were all kinds of questions on the rec.games.strategy newsgroup asking "Where can I get this game? Who Makes it?" and so on. :)

Yeah, we were cool.

[TheLinuxDuck]

LOL!!! I'd like to get a copy of the game, too!! Who is the manufacturer?? :D

[nanode]

mini-conspiracy:O/T

Dru Lee:

That sort of prank sounds like something I would have done in high school technology/machine shop. A group of us began referring to various tools and materials as heavy metal bands. (don't ask why).

Pantera = CNC lathe
Sepultura = CNC mill
Metallica = aluminum
MegaDeath = steel
Danzig = wax block (used for practice)

"I need to get some more Danzig for my Sepultura, or I will fail my project."

In hindsight that was fairly stupid - sorry for the OT digression. :)

[TheLinuxDuck]

In woodshop in 9th grade, we used to put laquer thinner on our hands and light it on fire.

The sad thing is I'm not making this up.

My hand would smell like burnt hair and thinner for days.

I was pretty dumb.

We used to also sneak up into the loft of the woodshop room and hide behind the stored shelves and smoke cigarettes.

Of course, not with laquer thinner on my hands.. I'm not *that* dumb.

:D

[Super Bakemono]

Originally posted by Dru Lee Parsec:
Years ago when the web pages were a rarity and news groups were cool (This is WAY back in the early 90's) there was a newsgroup I hung out at called alt.shenanigens

As one of our practical jokes we made up a game called "Evolution" and went over to some group like rec.games.strategy and started raving about this game.

We'd post things like:

"My Hamsters have progressed to tool makers, but every time they do the Iguanas raid their camps and eat them all"

"You got your Hamsters to make tools!? I havn't been able to make mine speak yet."

"The problem is in choosing a hamster as your starting animal. Try a lemur."

"Hey guys, I found out how to give communication skills to insect based races. The insect races will never develop actual speach. But if you keep irradiating them with a preference towards 'movement enhancements' they will develop communication via dance. It's hilarious to watch"

"I started with a mouse as my starting group and cross bread them with monkeys. Now I have really ugly monkeys with mouse whiskers and long naked tails."

and so on . .

Of course, there were all kinds of questions on the rec.games.strategy newsgroup asking "Where can I get this game? Who Makes it?" and so on. :)

Yeah, we were cool.

Ok, I'm SOOOOO making that game, anyone wanna help?

[crazyfish]

Seeing this thread brings back some memories. I pulled out an old issue of GamePro and started flipping through it, looking at the kooky old games. Here's one that never should have been released (and I'm glad it wasn't).

The game would have been called Duelin' Firemen, and released on the 3DO (now you can tell how old this issue is, eh?). It's about the weirdest thing ever: Singing firemen. That's right, singing firemen. Your troop of firemen sing in competitions and things like that.

Keep in mind that this was a REAL game (it made it to beta stage but nothing after that). Anybody else remember this game?

Sometimes, maybe a cliched 3D shooter (but don't you diss Deus Ex or Unreal Tournament) isn't so bad.

[sans-hubris]

How about this for a game? It's a fully 3d world online, but you don't fight or shoot anyone, but rather play practical jokes on anyone and everyone, while judging other people's practical jokes. You'd have any tool at your disposal, and at any time it's possible to walk into a booby trapped room. It's whole purpose? Get people laughing and making others laugh.

[kmj]

If you want a good idea for a nice easy game to write that is very fun and can be very extensible, check out (if you have access to a windows machine) "Castles of Adventure"; you can find it at tucows under adventure games, but the latest version can be found at the guy's website (http://beam.to/castles) (which sometimes isn't very reliable).

It's a very simple adventure game with sets of levels. To beat a level, you simply have to find all the gold pieces. There are a few obstacles: walls, trees, water, locked doors, secret doors (walls slightly off-color that you can walk through), rocks which can be pushed sokoban style. (i.e. pushed but not pulled; now there's a game you can write: sokoban; simple, addictive, wonderful.) You can also have signposts with messages to give clues, and teleporters (one-way). The game also has "fog of war", meaning you can't see any tiles until you've been near them (w/in 2 spaces).

All this can add up to some very interesting and fun levels; the game comes with a level designer, which is what makes it so fun. Each game is really only as fun as the levels that were created. For example, some are just poorly thought out mazes with lots of dead-ends. Wandering around aimlessly until you happen upon a gold-piece is obnoxious, and time consuming. Levels with puzzles, though, can be quite fun. For example, pushing a rock in the wrong spot can cause a situation where you're stuck, because you can't pull it back. So you have to figure out which rock to push and where in order to continue.

It can be very fun as is, but there are also a number of ways that it can be extended. One thing to note is that in this version of the game, there are no opponents, no fighting, etc. It's a very simple puzzle game; but having the level editor is the key to success.

[nanode]

Since we're OT of game design, I need some feedback. For a simple arcade-style game that would run in a window on the desktop (ala minesweeper or xBill) is using a mouse as an input device a bad idea?

Aside from personal preference or any sensitivity issues, I have a repeated issue of keeping the mouse cursor inside the window. For a turn based game, like solataire this is not an issue. Consider manuvering a space craft or similar object. It would not work with a mouse, if excessive movement caused the mouse focus to leave the active window.

Any thoughts?

[Mercy]

Originally posted by moose:
interactive, and a story that changes based on decisions you make while playing.


Planescape's Torment... everything you do affects the turn out of the story... you do bad things, people react to you differently than if you do good things etc, etc... I do believe that Baulder's Gate has a similar set up only based on your party's popularity levels... the higher your popularity is, the better your party is treated in town etc.

As for good games without shooting etc... I prefer the puzzle games like Pandora's Box and the 7th Guest. Phantasmagoria was interesting too, but it was gory LOL.