First Person Melee (FPM) The player takes on the role of a Gladiator, fighting for fame and fortune... and more importantly, fighting for his (her) life. Players can choose from several different types of gameplay. Single player vs AI: The player is pitted in the arena against one or more wild animals. The animals are controlled by the computer. Single player vs Single player: The player is pitted in a one-on-one fight against another player-controlled gladiator. Multi player vs AI: A group of players team up and fight against groups of animals. The animals are controlled by the computer. Multi player vs Multi player: A group of players team up and fight against another group of player-controlled gladiators. Players can compete in different leagues, ranging from easy to hard. A starting player will usually practice his fighting skill on simple animals, then try to combat bigger animals, and eventually end up battling other players. The money earned can be used to improve equipment, purchase special training or put away into a savings account that can later be used to purchase the gladiator''s freedom (retirement). The life of a gladiator is harsh: short and very cheap. Starting gladiators will combat other players in a special mode: To The First Wound. In this mode, whoever gets to inflict the first serious wound on his opponent wins the fight. The wound can be healed and the beaten gladiator can live to fight another day. The real gladiators though will fight To The Death. In this mode, the crowd will decide if the beaten gladiator should live or not. Once the loser is helpless, the winning gladiator will stand over him, sword hovering over his victims neck and ask the crowd for a judgement. When the cheers for death overpower those for mercy, the defeated gladiator will be killed... There is no coming back from the afterlife (permanent death). No player will want to risk the life of his gladiator. But... the rewards are very high. A winning To The Death gladiator can make up to 50 times the amount of money he''d make in a To The First Wound fight. Also he will gain fame (ranking). Perhaps a skilled veteran will see his worth and provide his services to the winning gladiator, giving him a chance to practice with the best and learn some special moves. The combat engine... Well, I''m no programmer (and I''ve just about given up any hopes of ever becoming a good programmer, I''ll stick with just thinking up lame designs), but I''m sure that in a few years, sword-fighting engines will emerge that will be able to simulate the thrill of a sword fight. Of course for a gladiator game, different weapons have to be used, different armours, different techniques, different tactics. Each gladiator should have its own strengths and weaknesses. If you find that your gladiator is strong, but slow, you should put a lot of armour on him, give him a strong sword and shield and hope he has the endurance to carry the weight of all the metal during a long, hard battle. If your gladiator is fast but weak, you should put only little armour on him. Perhaps just a shoulder protector. Equip him with weapons that make use of his mobility and speed, and let him wear out his heavily armed opponents. Animals should have realistic attacks. They should stalk their prey, react with their instincts. They don''t have to be the main attraction of the game, but they should give a challenge to those players who don''t want to combat real players just yet, and to players who just want to play a quick ten-minute game without having to log on to the internet. I really think the gladiator setting is perfect for online-sword fighting. A lot of the rules can be taken straight from history. Gladiators thousands of years ago were adored by fans like the super-athletes of today. They had fanclubs and even had their own action-figures. Often, they started out as slaves, being forced to fight. But eventually being a gladiator became popular even to the upper class of the society. Some slave-gladiators chose to remain gladiators even when they had made enough money to purchase their freedom. If that can be carried over to the computer, the addiction to the adrenaline rush of the fight that made real people risk their very lives, you can count on me being in the front lines every single day, fighting till I''m bloody, desperately trying to stay alive...

OLUSEYI:

Well, I wanted to make it so players can choose to just watch ongoing games as well. One of the main goals of the gladiators was to prove to the Romans that they were brave. For if a mere slave could be brave, surely a freeborn person could be brave. Surely they would be able to fight at the front line for the glory of Rome.

If a gladiator fights bravely, the crowd will reward him with his life in case he falls victim to defeat.

When two players face off, and both are just running around the entire match, trying to avoid getting injured instead of just fighting, the crowd will not be pleased.

Players watching the fight will not be pleased. They will give their verdict: KILL! No mercy.
(in game terms, they will click the ''no mercy'' button and their vote will be added to the total. Depending on the results the sound of the audience''s screams in the stadium -will be heard by fighter and onlooker alike- will either be ''live'' or ''die'' or something like that)

Of course the gladiator himself has the final say, but displeasing a crowd is not a good idea, because that will probably mean a lower payout. And perhaps the audience will remember your name and not show any mercy for you in your next fight, might you lose...

(Hm, have to find a way to prevent grief players from just entering the ''kill'' verdict every time. Although... I bet a lot of people in ancient Rome just yelled ''kill'', no matter if the gladiator fought bravely or not)

Also... I''ll see if I can watch Princess Bride again

RUBE:

I agree. Melee in first person is hard. But I think it''s easier to come up with a functional First Person Melee system than with a functional computer role playing game. I''ll take my chances with melee...

PS Bullet-time doesn''t work with a multi-player system.
If you need more time to react during melee combat, the entire combat system needs to be slowed down. That''s feasible, but might make it less interesting to watch. Still, it''s something to keep in the back of one''s mind. I wouldn''t mind a bit to watch a slowed down combat, as long as the added tactic and skill it offers provides a boosted entertaining value.

this sounds neat (i would probably play it), but keep in mind that gladiators were slaves who were forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich. so, you might be able to get better weapons and armor if you were good (as your owner would know you are a good money maker in the colleseum(sp?) and want you well equipped), but there are no "great rewards" other than living another day and maybe eventually being freed from slavery.

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)

KREZ:

That's actually not true.

Sure, in the beginning it was the slaves who were forced to fight and entertain their masters.

But, being a gladiator became so populair amongst the freeborn people, that young men (and women!) partook in the gladiator fights. Augustus himself had to at one point put some limits on the rules (he made it so only men older than 20 I think could become a gladiator, and only women older than 25).

It was not uncommon for a gladiator who was rewarded freedom to return to the arena and fight, because they were accustomed to the fame and fortune it brought them.

Even a simple gladiator would PER fight make 10 times more than the average Roman made in an entire year.

Good gladiators made even 5 times more than that (5x10, so fifty times a year's salary).

Also, once a gladiator became good, his chances of dying diminished as the people who ran the show realized all to well that they should let no harm come to those who were populair.

Edited by - Silvermyst on January 15, 2002 1:51:02 PM

quote:Original post by Silvermyst
That''s actually not true.
Sure, in the beginning it was the slaves who were forced to fight and entertain their masters.
But, being a gladiator became so populair amongst the freeborn people, that young men (and women!) partook in the gladiator fights.

really? well, thanks for correcting me; history is not my forte, although i will gladly ramble about it anyways i learn something new every day...

quote:Even a simple gladiator would PER fight make 10 times more than the average Roman made in an entire year.

i bet the guys who ran it still made money off it though, since they only had to pay half the gladiators (the ones who lived)

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)