I know I'm getting a little away from the demands here, but...

Would it be possible to have the medic actually perform something to heal the wounded? Like a mini-game in Flash or something?

Has any of you ever played "puzzle pirates"? It is a sort of free mmorpg, where you build your competences by playing repeatedly flash games. You have to play a sort of tangram to play "carpenter", and block holes in the hull, you have to move some wheels around to create constellations and head your ship, you have to play a clone of Dr. MARIO to swordfight... It is very symbolic, but the idea can be taken from there.

Imagine having to perform TWO duties at once just to stop a flesh wound? Like having to do one puzzle for a while to remove the blood from the wound, and another to stitch the wound? If you don't stitch fast enough, you have to go back to puzzle one to be able to stitch again? Imagine playing something like Old board game Dr Craze, or something, where you have to remove some funny looking objects from the belly of a patient without the elements touching the shape of the hole? Adapt that to your situation,a nd you have a game! Imagine having to spot something in a hole, twist it and turn it in order to align it with the hole, and then hook it and move it with the scrolling wheel on your mouse, in order to remove the bullet from the hole? Then we get back to previous "mop and stitch" mini game.

And you can add as many other type of games you want! Change the principle of Dr Mario and make do with some pills you have in your backpack: Imagine having to face viruses springing in the body of a patient. You take some blood and put it in a petri box, and play the game: You are trying to mix and match some pills that will remove groups of three identical viruses, or maybe you have to single them out, because they are multiplying over time, or, I don't know...

What do you say? Do you think it would make medicare funnier, or what? More boring over time? I do like to play Puzzle pirates. But not for eight hours straight, mind you...

This is definitely the direction Im thinking of going in actually.
Surely it would make being a medic a little more fun as a whole. You'd get people to play medics who liked puzzles :)

Feel free to email me links to stuff you think would be good: anorris1@charter.net

I like the idea of medics having to be active to heal wounds.

On the note of drugs etc. perhaps it would be a good idea to have a trade in drugs (contraband) both in PCs and in NPCs. Did you ever play Freelancer? You could buy Cardamine (the freelancer contraband) from selected merchants (beyond the eyes of the law). Freelancer had a few issues but the basis is a good idea. Here is what I think would be better:

Anyone could be a drug dealer. Medics can sell drugs to dealers is they want (or simply to players), or anyone can buy from dealers. Drugs aer illigal, so you cannot just go around asking NPCs if they want to buy/sell drugs. Places with less police presence have cheaper drug prices compared to places with hig police presence (capital cities etc.). It would be worthwhile trade buying drugs in a city with cheap drugs and selling them in places with expensive drugs. However, there to be an element of danger to make it fun. Perhaps policepeople will randomly choose to search you (freelancer had them scanning the cargo hold of your ship). You can choose to resist arrest (with the usual concequeses) or surrender you goods (and some cash) and lose a little bit of faction.

I have just assumed a few things about your game - factions, police, etc. but I honsetly think that a system like that could add to the post-apocalyptic cyber-punk feel you are going for. I am implementing a similar system in my MMO, but it is fantasy, so the specifics are different.

[EDIT: I just remembered. Everquest had a really cool effect when you got drunk, all the world looked blured and your walking was no longer in a straight line (i still remember trying to cross the footbridge, I have never been killed by priranahs before). If your engine has post-process effects, you could probably make lots of really cool effects, depending on what drugs have been taken (and how much).

"Anyone could be a drug dealer. Medics can sell drugs to dealers is they want (or simply to players), or anyone can buy from dealers. Drugs aer illigal, so you cannot just go around asking NPCs if they want to buy/sell drugs. Places with less police presence have cheaper drug prices compared to places with hig police presence (capital cities etc.). It would be worthwhile trade buying drugs in a city with cheap drugs and selling them in places with expensive drugs. However, there to be an element of danger to make it fun. Perhaps policepeople will randomly choose to search you (freelancer had them scanning the cargo hold of your ship). You can choose to resist arrest (with the usual concequeses) or surrender you goods (and some cash) and lose a little bit of faction."

Did I give you my design doc? :D

Thats part of the vision. If someone merely wants to up their drug-making skills and sell drugs...then they can definitely do that.

Police NPCs will definitely be patroling areas and checking your inventory (along with id badge and such). Not only that, but there will be roving gangs that dont like you sellling drugs on their turf! The idea also is that NPCs may seek you out if you get a reputation for selling drugs...and that would be a way to make money in-game.

Glad to see someone thinks this kind of thing will be fun! The whole idea is for some of the darker cybercities to be seedy black market areas..in contrast to some of the glitzier or work-minded corporate environments.

Im going to keep digging and try to find some mini-games or an existing interface that would make a fun medical interaction.

Let me know if anyone finds one!

Quote:Original post by Vanquish
Did I give you my design doc? :D

nope, but I want to play your game, let me know when you have a beta =)

Definitely. Im working up a big list of games to play all at once so I can get an idea of what works and what doesnt.

Thanks.

Here's a question...at what point does a mini-game get to be a chore instead of challenging?

It could become a chore if you had to play a difficult mini-game to do something simple everytime, like solving pandora's box to put on a bandaid. Or if the mini-game becomes to easy over time (either the difficulty degrades or the player just knows how to solve the puzzle easily), then doing it is nothing but a formality that takes up time (although everyone may not consider it that way).

A mini game gets boring when you have played it so many times it isn't fun. To have minigames for everyday tasks, you need to make them always fresh, otherwise they will get boring.

Well, in fact, if doing your job consists in accomplishing the same mini-game, over and over, it explains WHY your skill is raising, because, as a player, you are learning too. Therefore, you can do it faster, and maybe, better.

I remember long ago, when I bought my first game-boy, i used to race against time while making the most points on the first level of Super Mario land. It wasn't challenging anymore, since I knew it by heart, but the challenge laid in something else...

WHat if you had to make a jigsaw puzzle again and again? Wouldn't you learn it after a while? Then, what if there was three, or five, or any low number of different jigsaws? Wouldn't you learn, but on a longer while? Wouldn't you progress? Wouldn't you be able to do it without even thinking, at one point?
Isn't this the very AIM of such a thing? Just to be a trick, in order to attract the attention of the player while he plays? this way, the delay doesn't come from a routine in the machine, but from the player himself. And THIS would add to the roleplaying, since you cold brag about being able to mend a broken arm (understand do the stupid puzzle) faster than anybody around, therefore, you would find a team suiting your needs faster than the others... Maybe you can adapt the level of difficulty of the puzzle to suit the level of competence of the medic? like, maybe, when you are a beginning medic, brain surgery becomes a VERY difficult puzzle, during which you may fail, but after becoming a skilled surgeon, putting a bandage becomes a very simple one? Maybe having to position ONE piece of a tetris in order to complete a line?