Hi,

I have this idea of making a game combining role playing and exercising into a role playing exercise game...The idea is simple. Just like a normal RPG, you train your hero, go on quest, gain experience and kill stuff. The only difference is that to train your hero you have to do exercises yourself. My game will track how much exercise you do to assign EXP to your hero.

If you are thinking about the gamification craps,... no, this is not it. It will be a game with stories, awesome artwork, real battles, and exercises, of course.

Most of my friends say it's a cool idea, but then to put down the time and money to work on a project like this, it's a lot. So I want to hear some honest comment from people I don't know before committing to it. I already have some artwork and story done. PM me if you want to see more of what i have so far.


Thanks!

I cant think of easy ways to cheat other than riding a horse or jumping up and down in a human-run-speed-advancing public transport vehicle...

There are a variety of ways to cheat pedometer systems though, including riding the subway, suspending it on a string while driving at high speeds, and even leaving it atop a washer or box fan. It has to be broad enough to cover a wide spectrum of human mobility, which means a lot of room for abuse.

I do think it's a neat idea if there was some way to enforce it, perhaps using the Kinect, but you're going to have to rely on the honor system otherwise. People who are playing the game to cheat are playing for the wrong reasons anyways.

You do have to worry about making it too good a game, where people will cheat simply because they want to do more in their session but won't tolerate exercising further. "Just one more level" has destroyed lazier gamers than this.

Guys, thank you so much for the comments!

I understand that if this game comes to life, people will want to cheat to see what’s gonna happen next. But I don’t think many people will do it because it will take away the fun of playing this game. Even if they do, I think I should focus on the people who seriously enjoy this game and exercises that come with it, and create such a good game for them. So honor system for now.

@Ashaman: your comment touched on one of my concern: I do want to have as many people enjoy this game as possible, but for anything to be good, it cannot please everyone. I guess I will need to do a lot more research, asking around to see who would like to play this game. Possibly I will survey more people, ask them to sign up to beta test and things like that, to get a real sense of who are really going to play this.

Does anyone know how to find people to beta test? And look for feedback as well

@Dave: Man, gamers have lots of determination; so if my game can attrack them enough, your vision will come true I will indeed work with real certified personal trainers to come up with exercises and then provide advice on how to do things properly, customer support type of thing.

I was thinking about making it an iphone or android game. But then 1) development cost for iphone/android game is so high, I will be eating ramen for 10 years before I can afford it, 2) this is indeed a hybrid game that requires developers with not only game development knowledge but also other types of application as well. So now I’m hoping someone can suggest some engine or language that could achieve something like this, is well-known and relatively cheap to get a hold of. The game will have of course some turn-based battles, videos, and then for the exercises, some achievement tracking ability.

@Dave: I will indeed work with real certified personal trainers to come up with exercises and then provide advice on how to do things properly, customer support type of thing

One problem with providing direct exercise advice is the potential liability for injuries. Google any fitness site and take a look at their ToS agreements to see how quickly they disavow responsibility for their own information. This is why most tracking systems are self-reported, or pedometers, as they only measure someone's natural movement and don't force you to a particular action or rate. But, your game might put them in a position where they have to follow your instructions to advance. You'll definitely need a certified, experienced trainer to draft the exercises, and likely a lawyer to protect you as well.

If you find the cost of Android development high, you really won't like what it takes to pay these guys.