Legendre

I was wondering if anyone know good examples of competitive 1v1 games that makes fantastic use of hidden information without it becoming too "luck based" like Poker?

 

As far as I know, the only good example is Netrunner CCG (or its recenty reboot, Android: Netrunner). In Netrunner, one player is "the Corporation" that tries to advance hidden agendas (faced down cards) guarded by hidden defenses. The other player tries to hack into these agendas and is sometimes able to flip them up to reveal what they actually are.

 

I got interested in this topic when thinking about redesigning the classic Battleship guessing game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_(game) What if each player controls just 1 battleship and 2 smaller vessels, which are allowed to move around? Once discovered, a ship stays discovered until it does something to hide again. Firing your cannons reveal your position. So there is some interesting trade-offs between taking out a discovered ship and hiding all of yours etc.

I am making a PBBG (persistant browser based game) which is a small multiplayer RPG. I am facing a small dichotomy:

1) I want to have a singleplayer storyline that explores the human condition, like for example "30 flights of loving". This would require fixed characters and events.

2) At the same time, this is going to be a multiplayer game where players get to customize their character, and have to player with many others like them.

How would I reconcile this? Are there examples of this being done? While a singleplayer mode is one solution, I am hoping not to integrate the story itself into the multiplayer. Perhaps the player can discover pieces/remains of the story through notes and diaries while going through the multiplayer map?

What do you guys think about having perpetual night in a survival horror multi-player RPG?

 

My game uses 2D illustrations and not 3D graphics. I realize it would cut the art costs by half if I didn't have to commission art for when it is Day and for when it is Night.

 

Although I would have to come up with some excuse to explain why it is always night (survival horror game). Or alternatively, I can just ignore this and don't come up with any excuses.

Multiplayer zombie survival horror: Players can work together to barricade and secure areas or buildings. However, this is a one man project on very limited budget. I can't afford to create new areas/buildings all the time as old areas/buildings get secured.

Possible solution: instead of securing the entire area/building, players only get to secure a few rooms or a small part of the entire area. The rest of the area/building is still a danger zone and zombies spawn as usual.

What do you guys think of this, and do you guys have any other ideas?

A working alpha for my browser based game is almost done. I am now planning to hire freelance artists (have a few thousand dollars in budget for the art), and I am not sure how to go about developing the art aspects of the game.

There isn't any animations, the art should be 2D drawings like those in this game: http://www.zombiepandemic.com/. Should I start by commissioning sketch concept art, put together a "style guide" then use that to hire artists for the actual art? Should I give artists access to the game so they can understand where the commissioned piece will be used?

Do you guys have any articles, books or tutorials on this topic to recommend? (Googled but can't seem to find much on this topic) Also, I will be extremely thankful if someone shares their experience on how they put together the art for their game.