You're the game designer. Tell me about your (computer/console) game.

Cafe Society
1

Let’s talk about the ideas we’ve had for a computer or console game.

I just finished watching season four of Alias on DVD and was thinking about how good a well done Alias game could be. (There was a poorly done one a couple of years ago, so we’ll call mine Alias: Authorized Personnel Only to indicate it’s a sequel.)

(Please, I beg you, don’t spoil season five. Despite a general WTF feeling through most of the season, I still want to finish the show unspoiled.)

Here’s my idea for an Alias computer game.

Each mission would be divided into two parts. In part one (which is similar to Rainbow Six/SWAT), you get the mission briefing and all the intel APO has on the mission.

Then you enter a screen to select the team mates who will go on the mission and assign them their specific jobs (surveillance, disabling the power, subterfuge, etc). Each team mate has good strengths and bad strengths (like Marshall’s strong tech skills but poor charisma skills.)

Each mission has a perfect team, a wrong team, but mostly just shades in between. After selecting the team, you pick up gear and/or select the gear you want then head to the field.

Part two is the execution of the mission. This takes on a more Splinter Cell approach. You would take over the point man’s job (Sydney in most cases) and execute the job. If you assigned the right people to the right jobs, they would perform their parts flawlessly on their own. Alternatively, it would be cool to be able to switch to different characters.

Some of the missions would include having Sydney in disguise talking to someone to get information. A dialogue tree would give her options. Saying the wrong thing could tip off the person she’s questioning. That might blow the mission, or she might be able to fight her way out.

Scripted events would screw up your carefully laid plans and force you to improvise. The game would include an over-arching storyline but also plenty of smaller, side quests.

2

I remember having this incredibly complicated idea for an ASCII-art type game some years back… (like Hack or Rogue,) and mucked around for a little while trying to see if I could program any of it before giving up.

It was based on some material from old AD&D stuff, but not like a typical AD&D campaign. (Might have had, now that I think of it, some ideas taken from the first year or two of ‘buffy’ as well, decide for yourselves.) The setting was a small town on the frontier of a world where magic had faded to the point of being nearly legendary… priests no longer cast spells, wizards were just crazy old men rambling about the works of sorcery they had wrought in their glory days, and most of the noticeably magical creatures were dismissed as rumor or myth.

In the intro sequence to the game, your main character, (who’s a baker’s apprentice who studies swordfighting as a hobby/means of self defense,) has a strange dream, full of scary imagery, and is told by a wise-looking woman surrounded by a halo of light that he/she is the only remaining hope. The dream ends, game starts with your character in town, and as you explore it won’t take long to find someone who’ll tell you about this strange cave complex that just appeared during the night, not far out of town.

The game play was supposed to have multiple ascii art ‘maps’ on different scales… for instance, if you walked out of the town gates on the town map, you’d find yourself in the town square of the countryside map, and could walk over to the scary caves, where it would ask you if you wanted to explore the caves. (or maybe just put you there automatically, I’m not sure.) It would keep track of time in some fashion, allow your character to explore other locations on the countryside map, and recruit allies who would have different abilities than you. Every week or every few days, you’d have a dream that would involve a strange battle, and if you survived the dream you’d wake up as a better sword fighter and with increased psionic powers, but the main dungeon complex would have grown larger and more dangerous. I think at one point I even pondered exploring other dimensions via the astral plane.

Eventually… (spoilering for the heck of it.)

if you survive long enough, you can discover that Orcus, the prince of the undead, is launching a determined effort to capture an invasion foothold into your world, and has managed to cut it off almost entirely from the white gods that normally protect it. One of those gods, though, was able to send you the dreams that warned you of the danger, and to trigger the increases in your power every time Orcus sends in more minions. Because of this, undead and demons would figure prominently among the nasties in the caves, including numbered demons who would be represented by their numbers on the map… demons type 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9… and demon type 0 would be Orcus himself. :slight_smile:

So, is that game idea lame or cool? :slight_smile:

3

I want a conquer the world game.

Something like the Civ games, wherein you develop a society and culture, but with more military action.

I would love for it to allow you to develop military tech and hardware, like the Hearts of Iron games (I haven’t played 2).

Basically I want the world conquering game described in some Sci Fi book I read a while back with a massively complex economic and military and social background.

I want to be able to take Mexico, and build it into a Fascist military machine and invade EVERYBODY. I want to be able to balkanize the US, I want to be able to launch a massive nuclear war and then rebuild the world like I want it.

I am SUCH a meglomaniac.

4

Iain Banks’sDespot?

5

I would merge Ico and I am Legend.

Leaving your house only during the day, attempt to scavenge as much from the ruined city as possible. Better stuff is further away, running the risk of not making it back on time. At night, the vampires arrive. Use whatever you have at hand to drive them away.

Protect your dog from the vampires!

C’mon people! This is a license to print money!

6

All I’ve ever wanetd, as far back as I can remember, is a GOOD Dungeons and Dragons RTS strategy game.

AFAIK, they have made two. The first was the horrendeous Blood and Magic, which I only ever played a demo of because it came packaged with the Forgotten Realsm Archive collection (which was a great set of games. Several of the old “Gold Box” SSI games, the Eye of the Beholder series, and Dungeon Hack. Great collection.) The game was shit. Bad interface, and not really a D&D feel.

The second one is brand new, but no one plays it. I don’t know the details, but it seems like basically the developer/publisher just decided to give up on it, or something. I checked the website for it about amotnh ago, and I think it’s been released, but the website’s info is still about the beta. I managed to “secure” a copy, just to evaluate it, mind you, and it was no good. Bad interface again, clunky, and added “features” that don’t have anything to do with D&D. I think a big problem is that it is set in “Eberron”, the new campaign setting that I know nothing about, and want nothing to do with.

I want a strategy game set in the Realms or Krynn, because I am most familiar with them. A great way to do it would be all the “factions” are the different alignment choices. That’s not to say that there wold be nine completly different sets of buildings and units, there would be substantial overlap. I’m thinking that each of the “core” alignment choices (good, neutral, evil) has their own set of buildings and units, and the “law” portion basically adds a few special things. For instance, only LG players can make paladins, but only someone with at least one part of their alignment as neutral can make rogues or bards.

I also imagine several “Hero” units. Each alignment has certain heroes it can build, and once one is make, no one else can have him/her. Also, each player is limited to a certain number of heroes, jsut so they don’t monopolize them. Once they are killed, they can be “ressurected” by any other player of that alignment after a grace period. Of course, this would require a priest unit to be built. In addition, units would have levels. To simplify things, though, they would probably be level ranges. So you build a level one guy, after a few battles, he goes to level 5, then 10, 15, 20, etc…

Units would have skills, but not so many that it bogs down the play and requires players to do a lot of micro-managing. It’s an RTS, not Baldur’s Gate.

7

These are all terrific ideas. Keep 'em coming people! Maybe someone will give a budding developer an idea.

bouv, the game you’re thinking of is Dragonshard.

8

My brain is always pitching interesting video game ideas in my sleep, but unfortunately they never seem nearly as awesome after I wake up.

Read them for yourself to see what I mean.

9

Realms:Total War
Similar to Bouv’s idea but both turn based and set-piece real time battles. It would be so cool to be able to play as, for example, the shades of anauroch or even the drow and set about conquering the dozens of little kingdoms that make up the campaign setting.

Or an MMORPG set in the golden age of sailing. You would be part of a crew on a pirate frigate or English ship-of-the-line and duke it out with other players on the high seas or raid and pillage NPC ports and towns.

10

Shadowrun (a Cyberpunk Fantasy game)

At the start of the game you create your character. This involves very little more than typing in a name and designing your character’s face and body type. That’s about it. You can then select some background. For each one, there’s a brief little cutscene, all of which ends with you getting the snot beat out of you b some overgrown orks with bad tempers. They leave you for dead.

Fortunately, an old Jamaican Dog Shaman heals your wounds and brings you back from the brink of death. If you had an official identity (A System Identification Number, or SIN), it’s been deleted - you’re officially dead, and attempts to prove otherwise are futile. Even the gene records have been altered. Somebody not only wants you dead - they want you erased! Your apartment, car, and stuff? It’s all been sold.

You need money to find out who did this to you, and if they’re coming back. Heck, you need money just to get a taxi of the wretched slums and into a decent part of town. The only way to get the cash, however, is running illegal jobs. From the start, you can move illegal merchandise, help out gangs, escort people through the dangerous parts of town. You may get jobs to rob stores, help out little old ladies, or break the legs of a deadbeat. You pick the jobs. You pick the solution. Do you sneak in the back and

By the way, if there’re any developers out there, I can produce a Design Document to your specifications. It would be an awesome game.

11

Shadowrun (a Cyberpunk Fantasy game)

At the start of the game you create your character. This involves very little more than typing in a name and designing your character’s face and body type. That’s about it. You can then select some background. For each one, there’s a brief little cutscene, all of which ends with you getting the snot beat out of you b some overgrown orks with bad tempers. They leave you for dead.

Fortunately, an old Jamaican Dog Shaman heals your wounds and brings you back from the brink of death. If you had an official identity (A System Identification Number, or SIN), it’s been deleted - you’re officially dead, and attempts to prove otherwise are futile. Even the gene records have been altered. Somebody not only wants you dead - they want you erased! Your apartment, car, and stuff? It’s all been sold.

You need money to find out who did this to you, and if they’re coming back. Heck, you need money just to get a taxi of the wretched slums and into a decent part of town. The only way to get the cash, however, is running illegal jobs. From the start, you can move illegal merchandise, help out gangs, escort people through the dangerous parts of town. You may get jobs to rob stores, help out little old ladies, or break the legs of a deadbeat.

You pick the jobs. You pick the solution. Do you sneak in the back and steal some goods from that Stuffer Shack? Do you walk in the front and start smashing the place?

What do you do in-between jobs? You could work on making some contacts, hanging out in a bar or club. You could find a new apartment, and move in. You could set up a safe house, or buy better weaponry. You can customize your gear. You can even get nice furniture and hang out at home, listening to music or catching the news (and who knows what you might find there…)

But someone isn’t leaving you alone in your nice cozy little world. Someone is after you, and they’re not giving up easy. Do you move from pad to pad to evade them? Do you stick it out and build good relationships with people nearby so they’ll wanr you. Are you just bad@$$ enough to beat up everyone they send to get you?

Ad with all these people after you, it’s time to move up in the world. There are new friends ot make, new areas to explore, new “Mr. Johnson’s” to hand out illegal goodies, new fixers to buy from, new missions to take, new gear to buy. Do you become a decker and ride the Matrix cutting your way into computers? Do you build top-flight gear to compensate for other skills? Do you get potent cyberware to give you that edge? Do you seek out masters of magic to learn from?

As you work your way closer to the heart fo the mystery, the challenges and rewards are greater. Do you take on cruel tasks to get better pay? Does your conscience tell you to help out people in need? The money is nice chummer - but remember that friends are worth their weight in nuyen. And you’ll need all the help you can get, because someone is stalking you. A nameless, remorseless killer.

So what do you do, chum? Who is at the heart of the mystery, do you think? A megacorporate division greedy for profit? A government agency out for power? Ecoterrorists out for blood? All of the above? Do you have any goals beyond survival? Advancement, power, friendship, wealth, or romance? Are you evil or good, naughty or nice?

By the way, if there’re any developers out there, I can produce a Design Document to your specifications. I say it would be an awesome game.

12

My great idea is one of mechanics rather than setting.

MMORPGs (and many online games in general) always have the problem of balance. Games need to be fair to be fun. It’s no fun if the particular power/class/race etc is weak compared to others. Game designers thus spend a lot of effort trying to keep the playing field level. This is very hard in complex games with many interacting sub-systems.

My solution is this: an open market. Let players put “points” (or some limited resource of which everyone has the same number) into the different abilities (or other choices affecting gameplay). At regular intervals (once a day or so) the game will calibrate the effectiveness of every ability of every player based on the points paid.

Players are selfish and will put their points into whatever benefits them the most. Different players may value different abilities differently, and they have the choice to do so. The more points a player puts into a particular ability the more useful it should be to that player.

The game can then adjust the overall usefulness of different abilities based on how much the players collectively value them. Abilities with few points in them should be increased in effectiveness (because the players have decided it’s not worth their points) with respect to the other abilities (buffed), while abilities with many points will be reduced (nerfed).

This system requires continual feedback. Players must be able to change how their points are allocated, probably with some limits. The game must be able to change the underlying usefulness, but not too quickly. Within certain limits, the game will be self-balancing.

13

Crud. Sorry about that.

14

I like your idea smiling bandit.. What genre/type of game would it be? FPS/RPG (like Vampire), 3rd-person RPG (like Neverwinter Nights?), something else?

15

Actually, the more I think about a game based on I am Legend, the more I think that it’s a great idea, and that I’m a genius.

First, you have to fortify your house. Build a greenhouse to grow garlic, plus fruit and vegetables for yourself. This lends the game a strategic, Sims-like aspect; grow your food, remembering to go out during the day to find fertilizer etc. Now you need to risk going further into the city for provisions. You also need to keep gasoline to the generator, so that you have electricity.

Your character will have a sleep meter, so that he just can’t stay awake forever like in GTA. After several hours of work, you grow tired. If you don’t sleep properly, you won’t be 100% the next day, and your abilities will be lessened. You need a proper Rota of sleep, farm management, and vampire killing.

The journeys into the city can be bleak as hell: out in the open is safe enough, but enter any building to loot for supplies and you will encounter vampires; in their weakened state, they will move and act like Silent Hill creatures, all shuffle and moan. If you remember, your character is immune to bites, but will be slowed down by injury, meaning he might not get home on time.

Not getting home on time is bad news; vampires attack in strength, and more crucially, when they see you’re not at home, they will wreck your house. All that Harvest-Moon farming gone to loss!

This game can even be played online, as a multiplayer RPG. With one twist; you will rarely meet other people. Player houses will be scattered across the vast map. This will cement the feeling of isolation that was rife in the novel. If you do happen to meet someone, will you go to their house, leaving your own to be destroyed? Or will they abandon their homes, to join you? Two vampire killers are better than one. You could even build a small community, if you meet enough people.

Over weeks and months, you could try and win back the city from the vampires, killing them one at a time.

So, it’s a MMORPG, with shades of Harvest Moon, Resident Evil, the Sims, Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, Ico, and countless others.

Make this game!! What are you, ignorant?

16

An FPS/RPG (with more than a dash of Morrowind thrown in). Switchable on the fly. In addition, randomly-generated areas (most buildings are random!) allow the game to save on space. of course, the downside is that a given building may not have the same layout between visits. There would be enough buildings that it shouldn’t be a problem. Man, it’d be BIG.

For the randomization, I was thinking of selecting random challenges from a list. The Player then has to think, fight, or sneak past the challenge. Challenges might be anything from a large squad of guards to a thick security door.

Heavier on the conversational elements; there would be standard dialogue packages for fixers and contacts of different types. Thus, the designers need only plug in two attributes from a list:

Persona (U^2C [Upright, Uptight Citizen], 'Runner, Gang Member, Mr. Johnson, Bartender, Clerk, Doctor, Company Man, Police Officer etc.)

Culture Group (Squatter, Lower Class, Middle Class, Upper Class)

And certain options present themselves.

17

If I had the skills to create games:

  1. a game which mixes Crusade in Europe with Panzer General, covering the European conflict from 1939 - 1945 and beyond. You control the units, production etc for any of the countries. Game stretches from the Atlantic to the Urals. It has been tried before but I’ve not found a good game covering this.

  2. An online first person shooter which covers a solar system engulfed in a war. You can either join a squad and participate with them on missions or be a mercenary and hire yourself out to whichever group needs your specialty. The system has an overall government which tries to control things but is weak and usually offers contracts to squads when some group gets too out of control. Squads will either raid other groups, mainly attacking their planetary stronghold to gain money and weapons, raid government fortresses for the same thing or raid towns for money, food or to set up a new stronghold.

Gameplay has three mainc components: space flight, ground combat and non-combat interaction. During space flight, pilots move groups and cargo/contraband around the system for pay while trying to avoid government ships, pirate and other squads. You hire yourself out to groups to earn money/skills till you can buy your own small ship and eventually work your way up. At some point players will have fleets of ships. Combat involves raids and stronghold defense. Non-combat interaction involves certain areas where players mingle looking for work or trying to track down info on good targets for raids or finding out who needs payback for a raid.

Specialities include Sniper(you can make long range shots much better than others especially using sniper rifles), machine gunner(you can control a large machine gun more accurately than other characters), medics(you can heal those in need), pilot(you are the only ones who can fly ships between planets), mechanic/driver(for the ground combat vehicles in the game which need driving or fixing), officer(you use a radar scope to direct squad movement on the ground), plus some others I’ve not worked through yet. Nothing magical or anything in the game. No one has awesome abilities which throw the game out of kilter.

Information would be a very valuable commodity in the game. A player who participated in a raid might turn around and sell out the group to the raided for large sum. Eventually as fortunes are amassed, players with enough funds would hire out new or smaller groups to perform their dirty work for a fee or cut of the take. Older groups would have the valuable information new groups would need but might consider some jobs too minor to bother with so cooperation would benefit both groups.

Players can participate in a training academy which teaches them everything needed to be a decent player before going out to do battle with other members. As squads get older and more powerfull, they will be the target of more raids by other squads and government intervention, tending to keep groups smaller. Skills are earned by completing combat training or completing missions.

ok, I’d love this damn game and would pay a monthly fee to play it. There are plenty of other features I have in mind but it’s getting late.

18

My ideal game would be sort of a cross between Jazz Jackrabbit and Megaman. You’d play as some cute furry animal with a laser gun, and…a light saber! Yeah, that’s the ticket. You could choose which level you wanted to go to from a world map, and after each level you’d get a weapon powerup when you defeat the boss; once you beat every level the final level would unlock, in which you could jump around in outer space with low gravity. It would have a cute animated intro, too.

Basically, it would look exactly like this. :smiley:

19

If I were a game designer I would probably be working on something like this. :wink:

20

I would do a really good Command and Conquer Renegade. It would have the atmosphere and openness of GTA: San Andreas and you would be able to pick the missions you wanted to do like NFS Underground 2. I imagine the GTA engine (plus a few choice improvements) would be sufficient to the task as there’s already quite a lot of pre-made military hardware in the game. I would also include an awesome story. I’m imagining a 2 DVD set, one disk for GDI commando campaigns and one for NOD. The GDI campaign would be along the lines of “kill NOD with a commando” while NOD’s would be “kill the GDI commando with NOD.” I’d also make the game much more adult. No more silly jokes or cheesy cutscenes. This would be a revenge story like Season 3 of Angel. Renegade was an awesome concept but ultimately couldn’t live up to the rest of the franchise. My idea would usher in a new era of RTS and FPS gaming, if I may be so arrogant. Yes indeed, it is that awesome in my mind.