When I first saw this thread I got pretty psyched about an new game idea. Playing a game as an island... could be fun. Then I looked into the posts and realized that the thread discussed a level mod per your standard FPS. So I decided to start this thread. The premise: You are an island. Now how can we make this fun? First you have to grow your size by letting your volcanoes on the island spew more matter. Second you have to evolve or attract a sentient lifeform that will be able to worship you. Unfortunately, toomuch volcano activity kills off the life on the island and frightens the natives. Lets go from here: What would be some things you can control? Location- you need the climate just right to attract those natives, however if you are the lone island in a strategic spot (Bering Straits) you might also attract natives on there passage somewhere else. Volcanic activity- lots to be said but I will let this one go for a bit. Rainfall- Constant rain in the right area will help create streams of fresh water (something that will probably be needed). It will also wear down the island over time. What else? Now I just realized that my game idea falls neatly into the sims category. How else could you being an island be played?

Quote:Original post by DaBono

Quote:Now I just realized that my game idea falls neatly into the sims category.

Maxis even made a game called Sim Isle. [smile] (Although it is more a remake of SimCity)

Other ideas: wildlife, resources (coal, oil etc).

Hehehe I was actually going to mention that game but then what he's making is really different. I'd think more of sim earth but then I never played that game... I *think* it's roughly what he described.

Actually I played Sim Earth long ago (a game that has since made me appreciate downloadable demos) and the game was utter crap. It was as fun as watching paint dry. It may have been an accurate simulation of the earth, but there was no interactivity that had visible results.

What about other game types where you are an island?

Puzzle- you must move around the ocean collecting reefs to completely encircle you.

FPS- Your volcano is your weapon, destroy the heathen islands before they ge too close.

Relation based game-You are a lone isle and want to make friends with the atoll so you have other islands to hang out with.

Go on... Be creative!!

How about:

You are Mother Earth, humans are beyond salvation... Use all your powers to cleanse earth of these wretched fools!

You have to twart technology and the clever pests that are mankind :)

So hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes you name it.

An interesting problem. What does an island want out of life? You need to define the island as a character:

1) What can the island do?

2) What does the island want to accomplish (goals and victory conditions)?

3) What can't the island do/what opposing forces are there which obstruct the island from attaining its goals?

4) How does the player guide the island to use its abilities to defeat the obstructions to attain its goals? Why will this be fun for the player?

Quote:Original post by sunandshadow
An interesting problem. What does an island want out of life? You need to define the island as a character:

1) What can the island do?

2) What does the island want to accomplish (goals and victory conditions)?

3) What can't the island do/what opposing forces are there which obstruct the island from attaining its goals?

4) How does the player guide the island to use its abilities to defeat the obstructions to attain its goals? Why will this be fun for the player?

Excellent! This is exactly what I was looking for.

To answer some questions:
2) To me the island wants what everything else wants. To be happy! Now how it defines happy is the real question. Is it being the biggest island around? Is it supporting the most life? Is it being a part of a larger group? Is it by performing some important fuction in nature? I would say that any one of those might make the island happy (taking into consideration the island's mentality). Any one of those would also make a neat game.

1) To me the island should be able to do anything that would normally be attributed to a Central Pacific Island God. That would include:
Controling forces of nature on the island
-rain
-thunderstorms
-tidal waves
-volcanoes
-hurricanes

Once natives start worshiping you should also be able to control so extra things such as
-bounty of fish
-an occasional whale
-fostering love
-whatever

The island should also be able to move somehow (though this should be slow in terms of people years

3) I think other oslands should either be enemies or at least obstacles. If you are trying to encourage life, your island needs to be more appealing than the others

4) Who said anything about fun?![wink] I have given enough options that this could be taken in any number of ways. I have some ideas of my own but, I am most interested in others ideas.

As for the island not staying in one place, the island can float. A giant turtle would just raise further questions that it's answer. There's porous lava to consider. Imagine an extreme form of this, where the amount of contained air is enough to keep the entire island afloat. Of course then you can't have a volcano on a floating island.

There's also the "weed" type islands which float around in the Amazon. Large amounts of foliage and wood fall down, float, but plants and stuff starts to grow on them, binding them together into a large floating carpet. Not that this could be used for a game, but I just said it in hope to give somebody inspiration for a good idea.

The island god is the one who determine where the island goes. The people on the island worship the island, and pray it shall take them to better places. The island grants the citizens some remarkable abilities, such as ice-walking, which gives them advantages in a certain type of climate. If the god wanted his villagers to get more successful in the warmer regions then he'd grant divine abilities accordingly.