Sunday, September 30, 2012

Brainstorming Games Revisited / Tempest Style Game


.     Maybe the easiest, and probably most practical for a beginner like me, is the Tempest style game. It is not really something that drives me crazy, but it might be a good and realistic approach to developing my first game. I can think of maybe adding some personalized features that would make it more fun for me. Also, if I can develop it and have success, then I am sure I will feel that I am making a step in the right direction. After building the tutorial game from the Construct 2 software, I think it might be possible to develop this game from Construct 2.

Original 5 Game Ideas With Comments (Brainstorming)


A.      The first game idea I have is a simulator for lego blocks. If it does not already exist, it should. So the idea here is that you have all the lego blocks that lego makes at your disposal. You can build whatever the blocks allow, and then you can buy those blocks from an online source to actually build your creation. Sort of like making your own lego boxes in your home. I often go to the store and see the legos in boxes with pre designed things (trucks, schools, spaceships, ect..) This way you can build something of your choice and have all the required pieces mailed directly to your door.  Nice idea - have you seen Lego Digital Designer? http://ldd.lego.com/
The lego digital designer is exactly what I was imagining. I am glad it is already developed, it would have seemed strange to me if it was not.

B.      My next game idea is a chess game that has a sort of Dragon’s Lair feel. If you remember in Dragon’s Lair, there was a cinematic that played and you chose from different arenas within the cinematic. Or rather you were given the choice to choose and if you did not choose, one would be chosen for you. I know that there are games like Battle Chess that play a cine when you make a move to fight, I am not interested in that. What I want is the cinematic playing before you choose the chess piece movement. During the cinematic, you then make your selection of what piece to move and whether or not it will attack. The chess game can be varied settings, Roman wars, American Civil war, WWII, Naval Sea Battles, ect.. Interesting idea.  Given that moves are interleaved how does playing the scene before or after the move make a difference?
I think the play scene is constructed based on the move itself. So I was not thinking that the ,for example, pawn is taken by the knight:
1 prior to the action the battle scene is a cine showing of the combat scenario
2. the action is selected, a small insignificant scene is displayed of the pawn being taken
3. the new cine is based on the action.
so to answer you question, both play scenes make a difference because both are descriptions of the current battle. The only cine that does not really make a difference is the capture/kill scene. I want it like this because I am trying to find a way to make chess appeal to a more broad crowd. It is sort of a slow and can be a drab game. Maybe with ongoing battle cinematics, it will be more interesting for people.

C.      My third game idea is similar is a revamp of Tempest. I suppose it is only because I spent so much time as a youth. I do not think much really needs to be changes except some killer tunes to go along with gameplay. I also think that the basic sharp electric lines of the original game should stay. I am not a big fan of super puffy feeling graphics. I guess that I am in the minority based on the popularity of games like Farmville, but it just annoys me. I like the electric knife look of Tempest. In writing this I did a search and found that a google chrome remake was made a couple years ago. I suppose they beat me to it. Cool - makes me think of a driving game from last year ... http://nitronic-rush.com/

Yes, Nitronicrush has the same feel I am looking for. Electronic lights and dodging obstacles.

D.      Next, I would like to create a game for designing aircraft with the goal of achieving efficiency/ cost/ performance. So in this game you can literally design your own plane. All the factors that decide what plane to build are structured in different levels. For example, build a plane for an Alaskan hunting outfit. Here the plane is for commercial use on a small scale in a rugged environment. With that said you should build accordingly. How about, build a plane for Nasa that has the capability to go sub-orbital and hypersonic speed and also have short take-off and landing capabilities. Anyway, you get the idea. Great original idea - sounds very cool - the only existing thing I know of is more of a kiddie gamehttp://www.kibagames.com/Game/Aircraft_Design  a serious adult version could be way cool

This is really the one that I like. You can go anywhere with this, and it can have limitless options. From engineering the plane to suite all the required needs, to building an interior for a Saudi Prince. You could maybe redesign a cockpit for a handicap person (if needed), or have a plane that is specifically designed to transport nuclear material (shielding, and special cautions incorporated). I would love to build a game like this. Also, everybody likes aircraft. I think the mass appeal is waiting for this game.


E.       Finally, I think a game that is adult related would be fun. A sort of Sims on a more personal scale. So you are an office worker married with two kids, you go out with the guys for some beers, the hot bar girl wants to have a good time with you in the backroom, you do it. The game now incorporates how you handle the situations that come about from the fallout of this. Divorce? What you say in court? How you bargain for possessions with your ex-wife? Who gets the kids, or how often you get to see them if you did not win them? The possibilities are endless. The starting situation can be different than the cheating scenario. It could be that you told your boos to go fxxk himself. What is the fallout from that and how do you handle the situations. LOL - I think some of the SIMs extension packs include some of these things.  SIMs like games are complicated to handle, but you could think of modding the existing gamehttp://www.modthesims.info/

I did not know of this site, I guess I was imagining more of a GTA3 feel for this game, But Sims does seem like a more practical platform. Actually, this is the game that I would work on last of the five. But maybe there is a crowd for it.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

How My Dream Game is Like Civilization


         So in thinking about a non-linear game that employed the ideas of the dream of the book, I think that the one that comes to mind for me is Civilization. The reasoning here is that the game allows the player to choose between several different ways of having success. In addition, the rewards for certain types of success differ from others. So if you were playing at one moment and had an idea of what to do, but suddenly. had to leave, when you came back if you forgot your idea, its ok. There are still several other things you can do to achieve success. As you move thru the game to different levels, you can employ proven techniques from previous levels, or you can try new ideas to continue to move ahead. Will all of this put together, it also makes for a personalized gaming experience. As far as your structures and methods for victory might be completely different from another person playing the same game who also has achieved success.
 I am not a devoted gamer, so I am sorry for using such an outdated game, but from the description in the chapter, and from what my thoughts are on civilization, I think it might be close to the "goal of gameplay."

Pic from Civilization: