Design feedback wanted... Let's brainstorm!
Author
I have a dream...
I''m working on the design for an action/adventure game and I want to make sure I don''t forget anything in the design process. Plus, I want feedback as I''ve never designed a game completely from scratch before.
I''d like the game to be from a third-person, top-down perspective - like Zelda, but I''m thinking about using a 3D graphics engine so that the user can rotate his perspective around the hero. Has this been done before? Is it practical? Would any advantage be gained by this?
Also, I''m going to design the game to be violence-free! I know, I know... "what? no blood? no gore? no fun!" but I believe I can provide enough challenging, enjoyable gameplay without having the hero kill anything. Thoughts? Suggestions?
I''d like to eventually include multiplayer capability (or maybe do that first so I don''t have to write AIs - I''m a lazy jerk). I don''t know the first thing about AI, so any help in that area would be great.
Finally, if you''re reading this and thinking to yourself, "Self, there''s no way in hell this guy is ever going to finish that game! He needs to try something a bit less ambitious first." To that I say, BITE ME! I don''t want to hear people telling me what I can and can''t accomplish. I just want feedback on my ideas. I know they''re ambitious, but I''m an ambitious kind of guy and that''s why I''m going to succeed.
You heard me...PLAY!
What EXACTLY is it you want us to reply to?
Michael Heilemann
---------------------------
Designer on Singularity - Sysop at Nerve Impulse
Let us never allow ourselves the sin of forgetting our dreams!
Michael Heilemann
---------------------------
Designer on Singularity - Sysop at Nerve Impulse
Let us never allow ourselves the sin of forgetting our dreams!
Furthermore, what exactly have you done thus far that makes you think you''ll manage the first two bits of 3D programming?
George D. Filiotis
George D. Filiotis
heh heh, hopefully i won''t get as big of a "BITE ME" as the last two guys most certainly did...
if your game is zelda-like, but with no violence, what exactly is the player supposed to do? i don''t mean to imply that a game must have killing to be fun, but in zelda, you spent quite a good deal of time killing things. if the game were just the dungeon mazes and item-finding without stuff to fight, it would not have been interesting at all; the challenge was to find the stuff by surviving the hoardes of enemies that stood in the way.
i think that''d be a cool perspective to play from (3rd person from above, 3D) though. you just need to explain the gameplay.
--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)
if your game is zelda-like, but with no violence, what exactly is the player supposed to do? i don''t mean to imply that a game must have killing to be fun, but in zelda, you spent quite a good deal of time killing things. if the game were just the dungeon mazes and item-finding without stuff to fight, it would not have been interesting at all; the challenge was to find the stuff by surviving the hoardes of enemies that stood in the way.
i think that''d be a cool perspective to play from (3rd person from above, 3D) though. you just need to explain the gameplay.
--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)
Okay, now that you''re in the Game Design forum, you need to provide the central concept of your game, the gameplay elements and your planned control/combat/scoring systems etc. Then we can provide constructive criticisms.
Here''s some help though (pause to watch DMX''s They don''t know - "I am DMX"); a game story has to propell the participants to action. What propels the gamer to do anything in your game? What does the story propel the game to do? How does the gamer do it? (These are very "high" objectives that you''ll need to subdivide to little, atomic elements).
Here''s some help though (pause to watch DMX''s They don''t know - "I am DMX"); a game story has to propell the participants to action. What propels the gamer to do anything in your game? What does the story propel the game to do? How does the gamer do it? (These are very "high" objectives that you''ll need to subdivide to little, atomic elements).
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I have a dream...
We all have dreams.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I'd like the game to be from a third-person, top-down perspective - like Zelda, but I'm thinking about using a 3D graphics engine so that the user can rotate his perspective around the hero.
Ok.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Has this been done before?
Does it matter?
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Is it practical?
It doesn't sound that impractical.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Would any advantage be gained by this?
I don't know. You tell us.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Also, I'm going to design the game to be violence-free!
Good.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I know, I know... "what? no blood? no gore? no fun!"
That's not what I was thinking.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
but I believe I can provide enough challenging, enjoyable gameplay without having the hero kill anything.
Ok, so you've got some ideas.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Thoughts?
No.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Suggestions?
None at the moment.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I'd like to eventually include multiplayer capability (or maybe do that first so I don't have to write AIs - I'm a lazy jerk).
If your reason for not doing AI is because you are lazy, then you probably won't finish your project. On the other hand, consider the real reason for not doing AI: it's an undertaking that is rarely ever good enough nor ever truly finished or perfect.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I don't know the first thing about AI, so any help in that area would be great.
Don't ask me. I'll point you in the direction of stuff which will consume all of your mind's resources and march you onto a road of philosophical musing that has no end.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
Finally, if you're reading this and thinking to yourself, "Self, there's no way in hell this guy is ever going to finish that game! He needs to try something a bit less ambitious first." To that I say, BITE ME!
No comment.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I don't want to hear people telling me what I can and can't accomplish.
You can accomplish whatever you ultimately accomplish.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I just want feedback on my ideas.
You came to the right place.
quote:Original post by punkphreak
I know they're ambitious, but I'm an ambitious kind of guy and that's why I'm going to succeed.
Fine.
Edited by - bishop_pass on October 29, 2001 10:53:39 PM
I thought I´d reply without continuing the dominating mood here... but they have a point. You ask a lot, while giving only very little information.
I´ll reply on what i can:
3d-graphics with a fixed camera position with rotation: I don´t see what the rotation would be used for, which gain the player has from it, apart from some fuzzy "wow-rotation!"-feelings and a general increase in confusion.
Dunno if its been done, do some research.
Violence free? Then what should the player do?
too lazy for AI? can´t help you there.
yeah.. and thanks for the "BITE ME", its always nice to feel appreciated for the feedback you give.
btw: why so cynical today bishop?
I´ll reply on what i can:
3d-graphics with a fixed camera position with rotation: I don´t see what the rotation would be used for, which gain the player has from it, apart from some fuzzy "wow-rotation!"-feelings and a general increase in confusion.
Dunno if its been done, do some research.
Violence free? Then what should the player do?
too lazy for AI? can´t help you there.
yeah.. and thanks for the "BITE ME", its always nice to feel appreciated for the feedback you give.
btw: why so cynical today bishop?
sorry about my previous post... don''t know what came over me.
Look at two really old PC gemes, made by Adeline (french dudes), Little Big Adventure 1 + 2.
They aren''t really non-violent, but they come close, and there is not blood guts or gore involved. Both were excelent engaging games, and both should be on budget offer right now.
Puzzles.
Save puzzles, there''s little you can do. Of course, there are those people who consider figuring out how to kill someone something of a puzzle, so that kills the approach.
I think you should seriously reconsider removing physical combat from the world. It''s an engaging way to carry out conflicts and it carries alot of emotional tension if it''s coupled with drama well.
Oh, and I''ll repeat what has been said thus far, Give us more info, don''t blarb about yourself so much.
George D. Filiotis
Look at two really old PC gemes, made by Adeline (french dudes), Little Big Adventure 1 + 2.
They aren''t really non-violent, but they come close, and there is not blood guts or gore involved. Both were excelent engaging games, and both should be on budget offer right now.
Puzzles.
Save puzzles, there''s little you can do. Of course, there are those people who consider figuring out how to kill someone something of a puzzle, so that kills the approach.
I think you should seriously reconsider removing physical combat from the world. It''s an engaging way to carry out conflicts and it carries alot of emotional tension if it''s coupled with drama well.
Oh, and I''ll repeat what has been said thus far, Give us more info, don''t blarb about yourself so much.
George D. Filiotis
I don''t know what you are trying to accomplish with the third person top-down persepctive camera angle, but if it is top down like Zelda (I''m assuming you mean A Link to the Past or the original Zelda), a rotating camera is rather pointless because you''re not revealing anything that the player couldn''t see by the rotation - in fact, it eventually becomes a hinderance because after a while of spinning the camera around, the player will get disoriented and mixes up the north, east, south, and west.
As for the violence-free aspect, I don''t have any ideas for you, but remember that some of the greatest games are violence-free. Sim City is a perfect example. The goal of the game is to create, not destroy, perhaps you can draw some concepts from there and apply it to an action-adventure.
Artificial intelligence is a very complex subject, but to sum it up in one sentence - artificial intelligence describes what you (the human) would do under the given condition(s). So programming AI would be just that - telling your program what to do when certain events happen.
I agree with you, just like most ideas I read in this forum, this will be an ambitious project; however, just because it is ambitious, it doesn''t mean it can''t be accomplished. If your design is so cleverly done and shows promise, you have a good chance of enlisting help on areas that you may not be the best at. Just stay determined and resourceful and it will happen.
With that, I wish you best of luck.
As for the violence-free aspect, I don''t have any ideas for you, but remember that some of the greatest games are violence-free. Sim City is a perfect example. The goal of the game is to create, not destroy, perhaps you can draw some concepts from there and apply it to an action-adventure.
Artificial intelligence is a very complex subject, but to sum it up in one sentence - artificial intelligence describes what you (the human) would do under the given condition(s). So programming AI would be just that - telling your program what to do when certain events happen.
I agree with you, just like most ideas I read in this forum, this will be an ambitious project; however, just because it is ambitious, it doesn''t mean it can''t be accomplished. If your design is so cleverly done and shows promise, you have a good chance of enlisting help on areas that you may not be the best at. Just stay determined and resourceful and it will happen.
With that, I wish you best of luck.
This topic is closed to new replies.
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