The Game Design Thread of Epicness!

[raspberry jam]

I'm working on a pet project that I like to think of as a mix between GTA, Freelancer, and Dwarf Fortress. Most of the content is procedurally generated, and you'll be flying around in space doing pretty much whatever you want. You'll be able to find derelict ships to board, you'll be able to ambush peaceful traders to rob them (or, of course, trade peacefully yourself, either by buying/selling goods or by mining raw materials and selling that, and there will be some sort of crafting as well), you'll be able to investigate ruins of lost alien civilizations (there will also be living alien civilizations in the game), you'll be able to build your own space station (or city, if you land on a planet) and if you place it well, people will come there to trade/interact/live there, so basically you'll be able to set up a little space kingdom of your own if you want.

I like procedural generation. If you get it right, you not only get a lot of variety, you get something that often seems more realistic than it would if it was hand-made.

[Tru Reptile]

I'd love to design an MMO, and even though I could do concept art and maybe texture work, I realize it's just a dream. Basically my MMO would have:

No levels. let me repeat that: NO ****ING LEVELS. At all.

Event system. Yeah, just like in GW2. It would be cool to have a few large scale events that would have a permanent outcome, but I'm not sure how this would work if people can change servers.

No classes. No Warriors, Rangers, Paladins, Bards or anything like that. Instead, people get more control over their character's development rather than choosing a preset class.

Free respecs.

A deep aggro system. Each mob family will aggro differently. Some will aggro by sight, others by sound, or perhaps even by smell. (FF11's aggro system) And FFS not every mob would aggro the player and attack.

Crafting. maybe it's the artist in me, but I love the idea of crafting. Especially if the gear is signed by the crafter. I had an idea where players would have more control over what they create by choosing from a set of 'crafting patterns'. So if you wanted to create a breastplate, for example, you would first choose the basic shape, then design pattern and finally any ornamental details like trim or horns, etc. The problem is that I really can't think of a fun method for the actual crafting. So maybe players can find those crafting patterns and give them to an NPC to learn and craft instead.

Player progression (skill) would be the only deciding factor of how well a player does. For the people who'd want gear to matter, they can kindly gtfo.

No silly **** like ways to generate and hold threat. No dedicated healers. In other words: to continue destroying the holy trinity.

I have more ideas but I think that's enough for now, lol.

[Giggles]

Most of the content is procedurally generated

I remember talking to a friend of mine ages ago about the idea of using this to create the game world using (at the time) esoteric languages like forth to do it. Put in parameters like what a chair is, how large it should be, where the legs and backrest are and let fractals generate variations on that. so in theory you could with only limiting design, create bucket loads of the game world without having to manually generate it. we never got around to trying it though.

[Alaris]

Ok wait guys...

*taking notes*

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

What a surprise to see such an awesome thread. I just so happen to be working on a game in my spare time. It is a classic point and click adventure game in the style of old. But with a lot of twists in the game design, which I cannot reveal for fear of those ideas being stolen. Lets just say that the game breaks every single adventure game rule and convention at some point, making for a very trippy experience.

A little background info though:

I started on this adventure game called Charlotte's Dream when I was about 12. This was during the era of the Commodore Amiga, the golden age of adventure games like Monkey Island. Of course this was way too ambitious for a 12 year old to ever finish. Yet some ideas tend to become restless when left to decay for too long. So I had a briljant idea. What if I gather all the graphics I made back then, and make it into a retro adventure game with a bizarre twist today?




For the backgrounds I'm sticking to the 32 color palette, with a resolution of 320 x 256, but I'm updating a lot of them to make them look more interesting. The game already looked bizarre before, but now it REALLY looks weird. In the pictures you can see the old background, and the retouched version.

Just like with Monkey Island Special Edition, you'll be able to switch between this classic look, and the much more detailed, full color 1680 x 1050 backgrounds that I am still working on (not shown for now). But completely NOT like Monkey Island Special Edition, switching between the two will actually be a part of the puzzles!

I can't reveal too much about the puzzles, because thats what makes the game unique. But there is a weird blend between an RPG and a point and click adventure game in this, with a story that constantly toys with your expectations. Nothing is what it seems in the bizarre world of Charlotte's Dream. And for the fans of old adventure games, YES YOU CAN DIE IN THIS GAME! There will be many, glorious, awful and gory, fully animated deaths for you to enjoy. Maybe I should add an achievement for finding them all. :P

The classic point and click interface of old will be back for the classic version, and an updated more smooth interface for the new version. Having a more clean interface with less buttons, also restricts the player. And you can bet that will a part of a few puzzles. Because there will be some things you can do with the classic interface, that you can't with the new. Yes, the puzzles will be devious. This is not a game that revolves around dumb item combination puzzles, and endlessly trying every item in your inventory on another object. In Charlotte's Dream, most of those puzzles will be flexible, allowing several different objects that make sense to be used to overcome the same obstacle. No, the actual puzzles do not rely on items at all, they will be much more clever and complex. But I aim to always make the goal perfectly clear. I think that is the golden rule of adventure games, and something Monkey Island always did very well: Give the player a clear short term and long term goal and a clear antagonist to battle. Puzzles are allowed to be hard, as long as the objective is clear.

On the other hand, games like Legend of Kyrandia and Simon the Sorcerer chose to also include a great deal of exploration. I like the idea of not being told exactly what to do, but being given the freedom to explore the world without hand holding, and solving puzzles in the order you like. So there will be some direction given, but also a lot of freedom. I'm still figuring out the right balance for that, because I feel the first section of the game should be a bit like a tutorial. I basically first have to explain how a normal adventure game works to the player, and then explain how Charlotte's Dream is different. You can't explain that all at once. So the game should gradually allow the player to discover how it works, and explaning where and when needed. Perhaps some restrictions should be put into place until the goals are clear, before giving total freedom to the player to go just about anywhere.

I'd love to design an MMO, and even though I could do concept art and maybe texture work, I realize it's just a dream. Basically my MMO would have:

No levels. let me repeat that: NO ****ING LEVELS. At all.

Event system. Yeah, just like in GW2. It would be cool to have a few large scale events that would have a permanent outcome, but I'm not sure how this would work if people can change servers.

No classes. No Warriors, Rangers, Paladins, Bards or anything like that. Instead, people get more control over their character's development rather than choosing a preset class.

Free respecs.

A deep aggro system. Each mob family will aggro differently. Some will aggro by sight, others by sound, or perhaps even by smell. (FF11's aggro system) And FFS not every mob would aggro the player and attack.

Crafting. maybe it's the artist in me, but I love the idea of crafting. Especially if the gear is signed by the crafter. I had an idea where players would have more control over what they create by choosing from a set of 'crafting patterns'. So if you wanted to create a breastplate, for example, you would first choose the basic shape, then design pattern and finally any ornamental details like trim or horns, etc. The problem is that I really can't think of a fun method for the actual crafting. So maybe players can find those crafting patterns and give them to an NPC to learn and craft instead.

Player progression (skill) would be the only deciding factor of how well a player does. For the people who'd want gear to matter, they can kindly gtfo.

No silly **** like ways to generate and hold threat. No dedicated healers. In other words: to continue destroying the holy trinity.

I have more ideas but I think that's enough for now, lol.

Why not go all the way and dump all of those ideas? I'd like to see an MMO RPG that is not about combat, stat grinding, crafting and holding aggro. How about one that is actually about roleplaying? If you want to mix up the genre a bit, might as well go all the way and get rid of all the staples of MMO's.

[Alaris]

(...)

I heard the advice that you shouldn't start defining your idea by that which it is not.

That being said, GW2 is a pretty close fit to your needs ;)

I'd like to see an MMO RPG that is not about combat, stat grinding, crafting and holding aggro. How about one that is actually about roleplaying?

I do like my combat, I do hate the rest though (crafting is good if it's not necessary or grindy).

But how would you go about roleplaying? I think there was a vampire game that tried that, I don't know how successful it was. But it's not clear how roleplay gameplay would be like to me.

[Guided Daggers]

You do know how to pixel, Rob. Awesome art!

I finally found some time to write down some stuff.

The following are usually ideas I got when watching gameplay/playing a game. I will never make them, because they require either way to much budget or manpower, or aren't just feasible for some other reason. The one idea I will not write down is the one I'm planning to make a game of (and I'm probably going to start development on Tuesday, if I find some good tutorials on Java2D (I only have experience with Unity3D and C# + XNA so far)).

So, here we go!

Idea 1: A futuristic tactical squad-based first person shooter (or FTSBFPS, whew!)
I got this idea by watching BF3 footage. The gameplay looks really great, but just like it's predecessors, it doesn't force you to work as a team. That's why I got this idea:

In this first person shooter, you would be forced to enter a squad of 4. When you are near your squad leader^{Note 1}, you gain extra experience (this is so to reward cooperative play). There are three classes: Medic, Assault, Recon. Medic and Assault are rather obvious. Recon is a class that can cloak and has silenced weapons (and an instant-kill backstab, much like the spy in TF2). Recon is especially useful for sneaking behind enemy lines and sabotaging an enemy squad.

As I said, the game would take place in the future, so you can expect portable shields and futuristic weaponry. Game modes would be 2v2 (1 = a squad of 4 players) or 1v1v1v1.

---

Idea 2: A Cooperative First Person Shooter
I'll need to specify on the type of game here, I think.

What I mean by CFPS is a game in which 2 players have to solve missions together. There would be a few missions where they would be together on the field of battle, but in other missions, there could be the following situations:

• One player in the field, one providing sniper support
• One player on the field, one providing air support
• One person behind enemy lines, sabotaging defenses; one person assaulting
• ... (endless possibilities)

Also, most importantly, the game would reward sneaking and in certain situations, hacking. Disabling an alarm without being noticed, could for example yield extra points.

The setting could be anything, from a fantasy game with sticks and stones, to a mechwarrior game.

---

Note 1: Or near a "beacon" he can mark on the map. This way the squad can split up but still be rewarded for tactical and cooperative play.

---

I didn't really go into detail here, since I'm running out of time, but that's two of the more recent 'ideas' I had. Most of my 'ideas' are about shooters, though the game I hope to start developing soon is not. It's more of a hack & slash game (but hopefully unique and never-before-seen!)

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

You do know how to pixel, Rob. Awesome art!

Haha thanks! I'm glad you like it. But I realise pixel art is not to everyone's liking. Minecraft is a good example. Everything in Minecraft is intentionally pixelated. Some people love it for that style (even the sun and moon are square), and some hate it. Personally, I think pixel art has a charm of its own. But the new backgrounds will be high res. It will make for a weird combination.

But how would you go about roleplaying? I think there was a vampire game that tried that, I don't know how successful it was. But it's not clear how roleplay gameplay would be like to me.

Nor is it to a lot of people. It is one of those things few game designers have tried. But I think Endless Forest might be a rough idea of what it might look like. In order to make a true roleplaying game, you'd first have to define what roleplaying is exactly. I would define it as: "Players interacting with each other, while taking on the persona of someone else" Now thats still pretty vague, but I think an MMO RPG would be a lot more about story and character development. There could be some sort of power curve, but it could be defined not by statistics such as health and strength and such, but by personality traits and character. It would be very interesting to see a game that focusses simply on the way players interact with each other. That is something Endless Forest tried to do. Another funny example is this silly mod: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2xQL...ure=plpp_video



What happens when players are locked in an elevator for hours on end? What do they do? How do they interact? Do they make their own adventure? I think there really is a lot of unexplored potential for greatness there.

[Alaris]

I'm not a fan of pixel art either, but your idea of contrasting pixel art with high def sounds really cool. Also, I do like weird stuff, so please keep up informed.

My idea of roleplaying would be to put people in a mansion, say of someone who has recently been killed, and give them each some piece of information and some competing objectives. One might play a thief who has to find a safe and steal its contents. Another would play an undercover cop who might have to catch anyone who tries to steal the contents of the safe. An architect might know the location of the safe, and the friend might know it's number. So the thief would have to ask around for that info, perhaps offering something he knows in return, but in a way not to get the suspicion of the undercover cop. Others still would have objectives and info to trade. It would be a fairly social game, but you could also try to find the safe yourself instead of asking for directions, or say grab someone and interrogate him. There would be incentives and risks involved in anything you do, but a generally good strategy would be to first figure out who's your potential allies and who are against you (objective-wise), and then work with allies to get to your objectives.

If anyone wants to steal the idea, go ahead, there's no way I can feasibly put that into my game anyway.

[Guided Daggers]

Great, I just watched people play a game in which they watch themselves play a game. That mod looks like a cool concept, but I doubt my friends would have enough patience to try it.