Gaming Development

[MyndFyre]

So....

A friend of mine and I were kicking around the idea of putting together a Starcraft-like MMO.  He's pretty good at story stuff, and his sister is a really good graphics person.  I'm the only one good with programming, and undoubtedly it would be over my head.

Having said that, I found out that Maya Personal Learning Edition is free, and works with the Torque Gaming Engine.

To be honest, I would be glad just to be able to make a world and have my character appear, and be able to run around.  Twice as happy if I could have it work over a network.  I think it would be fun just to be able to say I did that.

An RPG would be fun, but I would prefer something of a hybrid of WoW and KotOR -- where you can grind of quest, but where questing choices affect you *and* your party members and possible choices for later.  WoW is open-ended in that you get to choose whether you participate in quests or not, and KotOR makes you quest (or else you don't level sufficiently) to advance the story -- and the choices you make determines your story.  WoW made this a little late with its attempt at reputation, which I think was a flop.  Reputation does improve the immersion characteristic slightly, but that's not good enough.  I am unsure yet how it can be mixed, but it will be!  YES!

Anyway, any thoughts, comments, volunteers, suggestions?

[Newby]

I like the mixture of WoW/KotOR, but make it a first person shooter. That would totally rule.

[MyndFyre]

I like the mixture of WoW/KotOR, but make it a first person shooter. That would totally rule.

That would be cool, but the thing is, not every unit in would be a *valid* shooter. 

I'm still trying to figure out how a Zerg unit would be player-controlled. 

[Blaze]

Have "sword" like attacks for claws.  I agree with newby, first person would be pretty damn cool.

[MyndFyre]

Have "sword" like attacks for claws.  I agree with newby, first person would be pretty damn cool.

Still, the problem is that melee units like that would always be at a disadvantage when attacking ranged players.  For example, a marine PC is being attacked by a zergling PC.  The zergling had better move his ass quickly because the marine has a lot of opportunity, depending on when he saw the zergling, to pull off a headshot or just to hit up ranged attacks for a long time.

Like I said, it *would* be cool, but probably impractical for a game of such varied potential characters.

[K]

Have "sword" like attacks for claws.  I agree with newby, first person would be pretty damn cool.

Still, the problem is that melee units like that would always be at a disadvantage when attacking ranged players. For example, a marine PC is being attacked by a zergling PC. The zergling had better move his ass quickly because the marine has a lot of opportunity, depending on when he saw the zergling, to pull off a headshot or just to hit up ranged attacks for a long time.

Like I said, it *would* be cool, but probably impractical for a game of such varied potential characters.

Ever played any of the Alien vs. Predator games?  I don't remember if the alien had a ranged attack or not, but being a marine was pretty scary when an alien could run across the ceiling, drop onto you, and rip you to shreds.

I guess my point is that there sure is a balance issue there, but I bet you could work it out.

[R.a.B.B.i.T]

I like the mixture of WoW/KotOR, but make it a first person shooter. That would totally rule.

That would be cool, but the thing is, not every unit in would be a *valid* shooter. 

I'm still trying to figure out how a Zerg unit would be player-controlled. 

The Splinter Cell network multiplayer has first person for gaurds and whatnot (who only use guns), and then the spies have 3rd person (because they use pistols, nades, choke-holds, etc...).  If you wanted you could have a 1st/3rd combo, each unit(class?) having its own setup.

An added bonus to having 3rd person melee unit views is that they can sneak around behind ranged units (1st person) who have limited views.

[Newby]

What K said.

In Alien vs Predator 2, the Alien could run like fuck, and leap too. It was scary as hell seeing an alien across the screen, and suddenly in a flash he's right next to you ripping the shit out of you.

I played the alien class all the time. I fuckin' ruled.

But yeah, give melee classes an advantage. Perhaps a damage reducer versus all ranged attacks, or an incredibly quick speed, or a smaller model so that they're harder to hit.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

make it an adventure puzzle game. none of those are around anymore.

[Blaze]

I don't know how you could make a starcraft related puzzle game, but I know I like puzzles in games.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

Simple. The Xel Naga are gonna release the Zerg. You're a Protoss Dark Templar and go into the Xel Naga lab place, beat the crap out of some guards, and stop it.

But you lose in the end.

[Warrior]

Have good space ship battles :].

[MyndFyre]

So I was thinking about how I could incorporate semi-FPS and have a variety of gameplay styles into an RPG -- one that could also be effective with massive PvP as well.

For Terrans, I was thinking that you could work either as a Special Forces soldier in some way -- someone who could adapt to the environment and situation by equipping a Gauss Rifle (marine), Flamethrower, or C-10 canister rifle (ghost).  You play in first-person mode, and you still have rolls for weapon attacks and whatnot, but weapon attacks do different damage levels (or healing levels if you choose something like a Medic) based on what part of an enemy's body you hit.  Hitting the head has a much higher chance to kill than, say, the foot.  The Terran players would be able to purchase or find upgrade items for their equipment (reminiscent of Star Wars KotOR).  After some amount of time you could be a commander, and have the ability to call in some number of ships for ground support, target a nuclear weapon, or a science vessel for detection of cloaked enemies and EMP attacks.  Guilds would work out very well, IMO, because a guild would be able to create its own base, and by pooling their resources, could create several nuclear weapons.  Attacks could be primarily item-based -- grenades, weaponry and munitions, and the ability to cloak would be helpful.

For Zerg, I thought the story would be interesting if you played the part of a Cerebrate.  Controlling a Cerebrate would allow you to control (in third person) some number of underlings, which would increase as your level did.  For example, at level 1, you might only be able to control one zergling; at level 3, two; at level 5, a hydralisk or 3 zerglings.  You would be able to choose your party of creatures in order to adapt to the situation.  However, it would have to stay as ground units for the time being.  I haven't figured out how this could balance yet.  I also haven't figured out how armor and attack upgrades could be done, as they are part of the DNA of the creatures; maybe after assimilating X amount of DNA strands of people, the being is upgraded.  *shrug* 

For Protoss, I was thinking that you could play the part of a templar (which would have some melee attacks - close to par as that of a zealot - but be primarily a caster) or an outcast Dark Templar (strong melee, no casting, but cloak while not attacking).  A DT would be reminiscent of a rogue class.  Additionally, two players playing templar could merge to become a very strong melee-only class for the course of a mission, or two DT could merge to become a very strong caster class for the course of a mission.  For example, it could be the responsibility of one player to sustain a Maelstrom-like spell while another moves, or to control a Mind Controlled-NPC while the other player moves the archon.  For melee units, perhaps a player could use a joystick to control attacks? 

What's important to me is that the game not become an endless search for better equipment.  I want players' choices to affect their paths through the game -- for example, a Terran player taking out a Protoss camp in one location hinders their abilities to cooperate with Protoss later, but a Zerg player going against the Overmind's orders (perhaps Kerrigan's?) could end up making the Zerg player "go rogue" and be able to ally with Terran or Protoss forces that are fighting the Overmind.  I also want to be able to solo the game if I want -- I mean, parties are of course better for PvP than playing solo, but if I'm the only one running an instance (yes, I would plan to borrow that idea from WoW), I want to be able to complete it.  Maybe the game could be like Diablo II in that you get better rewards (experience and/or items) for completing a mission with a party -- but it gets harder as more people join the party.

Any thoughts on this?

[Warrior]

I like how in Splinter Cell Chaos Theory it switches views ie depending on the mission you will either be in first person or you wont :] it's pretty cool imho

[The-FooL]

Your game ideas sounds really good - I just hope you have a lot of free time on your hands.