Now and then as new ideas for games pop into my head, I come up with some really strange ones, like games with absolutely screwed-up physics, pyschedelic visuals, mind-bending perspectives, and so on. Sort of like, playing a game inside an abstract painting. Have any of you put any thought into games like this before? How do you think the industry and the public would react to games like this? What new ideas come to mind, and how would you implement them? **************************************** Brian Lacy ForeverDream Studios Comments? Questions? Curious? "I create. Therefore I am."

Definitely.
^
Edit: This was in reply to the post immediately following my first...



[edited by - irbrian on April 5, 2004 8:40:59 PM]

quote:Original post by Palidine
there was an older FPS game i played for a while that i''ve forgotten the name of.

Rise Of The Triad, from 3D Realms.

“Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.” — Brian W. Kernighan

quote:Original post by Oluseyi
What is the purpose? How does it make for a richer gameplay experience? Are you merely doing this as a form of psychedelic drug advocacy?

heh, No, I certainly don''t advocate drug abuse, and I don''t think that anyone should run out and experiment with LSD as "research." The point is to challenge the players'' (and particularly the designers'') preconceptions of what a game "ought to be."

Here''s an example off the top of my head. Say I design a basic Platformer where Color is not merely visual perception, but in fact is directly related to the physical nature of the game world. Say, anytime the player character enters a blue zone, the physics are such that it seems like he''s swimming through water. If he enters an orange zone, the player character (not the camera ) finds himself spinning in space, and all movement is relative to his current orientation at any given moment. Then he enters a green zone and can only move straight up or straight down. Now, if later levels begin to combine all these colors in very small increments, it would be quite a challenge of trying to get from point A to point B, i.e. while still trying to dodge or attack the platform-hopping monsters that invariably would accompany such a game.

It sounds quaint, and pretty weird. Well, it is, but that''s the point. Its a unique challenge, and hopefully one that SOME (certainly not all) would find refreshing.

quote:I''ve never understood the preoccupation with "trippiness." Ingesting mushrooms and altered states of perception are, IMO, escapist activities and signs of weakness or an inability to continuously cope with reality. Playing games are already an escape from daily tedium; why do we need a second layer of escapism - escape within escape, or escape upon escape?

My answer, friend, is a resounding "Well, why the heck not!?" :D People play games for all kinds of different reasons, escapism being among the most well-established.. and why not offer a new flavor of escapist experience?

One of the major reasons I design games in the first place is just that: To (safely, without the use of dangerous chemicals) create unique experiences that no one has ever visualized before.

****************************************

Brian Lacy
ForeverDream Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?


"I create. Therefore I am."

quote:Original post by Iron Chef Carnage
Oluseyi, don''t be such a square, man. We don''t need you telling us how to live our lives, you know? I mean, whoa. What if I told you that you couldn''t do whatever you want to do, man? What do you think that would feel like, man? I bet it wouldn''t be too groovy, man.

In all honesty, this can play into the recent discussions on sanity. Changing the appearance of the game world can play right into that. Misperception is something that never really makes its way into games. In fact, I''d like to see things like fatigue and nerves start to play tricks on you. Sounds, sights and even slight control twitches can be put in, to make you feel a little less in control, a little less like you''re controlling an on-screen puppet.

Yeah, I LOVE the idea misperception in games. Never did play Call of Cthulu but that was one thing I was really looking forward to.