Bounty Hunter RPG
by Christhoper Taylor · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 11/26/2003 (8:55 pm) · 0 replies
I find it strange that this idea has not been tackled before - LucasArts did a bounty hunter game, sure, but thats just another third person shooter. A filthy cash in game.
In this you create the story - you pick your race and so forth. Some basic attributes for your character - you start on your planet as a teenager with little money - your step-father (who you live with) encourages you to get a job.
One day you're walking in the street, handing out resumes when you see his step-father coming the other way - just as he passes you a man with a gun grabs him and drags him away, holding a gun to his neck. The guy is a bounty hunter, obviously, and he his job is to take this criminal to some law enforcement agency on another planet.
Your character, a bit curious and somewhat dim, follows the progress of the bounty hunter and his hostage through the streets. He sneaks aboard the bounty hunters ship and when they take off, he assures the step-father (he doesn't realise his step-father is a criminal) that he will help him - he takes a knife from a table and goes to the cockpit. Theres a short knife fight that ends with the bounty hunter holding the kid against the bulkhead of the ship with the knife at his throat - the hunter.
The hunter explains that the step-father is a wicked man and suggests that the boy go to the bounty hunter academy because of his skill with a knife. Once at the academy, you do training - this cannot be skipped because rather than telling you that "W is forward", it gives you skill in various areas (i.e. heavy firearms) and can be a source of missions if you decide to join the guild (which gives you jobs often, but these aren't always high-paying jobs, you often end up with a partner and you have to give some money to the guild).
You are taken back to your home planet after your education is complete (you only play his "exam"). Now, in this you're not forced into any jobs - you can take them from whoever you want. If you take them from one gang, you might piss off another and so on. To obtain weapons and vehicles (ranging from fighters to jet bikes and so forth) you can pay people to make them for you, steal them, buy them, hire them or even use public bus-type services.
I'm not sure about perspectives - a traditional RPG perspective might be good for some parts - that would work well for combat. If you see lots of guards or soldiers standing around, you might get on a machine gun and use that - you could tick a box that allows your character to fire automatically at his targets.
When it came to space flight I'm not really sure - perhaps you could be presented with a map of the galaxy and just click on wherever you want to go - if you encounter enemies (pirates, military, enemy gangs, other hunters, etc) it would switch to either a turret view or maybe a third person view controlled by the keyboard and mouse - not as good as Freespace, but the focus shouldn't be on that stuff.
Now, to missions - not all missions are the same, and to keep stuff interesting there is an unlimited supply (just don't expect all of them to be really exciting) - some might see you lead a small group of mercenaries in the defence or assault of a location, some might see you kid nap someone, there are assassinations, theft of priceless artifacts and so on - as you complete them you become skilled in that area, so you should really focus on just one type of mission. Assassinations might pay well, but they also draw the attention of the law and are difficult to complete, while mercenary missions might have an average pay but allow you to access many weapons (find them on fallen enemies or you get given some).
In this you create the story - you pick your race and so forth. Some basic attributes for your character - you start on your planet as a teenager with little money - your step-father (who you live with) encourages you to get a job.
One day you're walking in the street, handing out resumes when you see his step-father coming the other way - just as he passes you a man with a gun grabs him and drags him away, holding a gun to his neck. The guy is a bounty hunter, obviously, and he his job is to take this criminal to some law enforcement agency on another planet.
Your character, a bit curious and somewhat dim, follows the progress of the bounty hunter and his hostage through the streets. He sneaks aboard the bounty hunters ship and when they take off, he assures the step-father (he doesn't realise his step-father is a criminal) that he will help him - he takes a knife from a table and goes to the cockpit. Theres a short knife fight that ends with the bounty hunter holding the kid against the bulkhead of the ship with the knife at his throat - the hunter.
The hunter explains that the step-father is a wicked man and suggests that the boy go to the bounty hunter academy because of his skill with a knife. Once at the academy, you do training - this cannot be skipped because rather than telling you that "W is forward", it gives you skill in various areas (i.e. heavy firearms) and can be a source of missions if you decide to join the guild (which gives you jobs often, but these aren't always high-paying jobs, you often end up with a partner and you have to give some money to the guild).
You are taken back to your home planet after your education is complete (you only play his "exam"). Now, in this you're not forced into any jobs - you can take them from whoever you want. If you take them from one gang, you might piss off another and so on. To obtain weapons and vehicles (ranging from fighters to jet bikes and so forth) you can pay people to make them for you, steal them, buy them, hire them or even use public bus-type services.
I'm not sure about perspectives - a traditional RPG perspective might be good for some parts - that would work well for combat. If you see lots of guards or soldiers standing around, you might get on a machine gun and use that - you could tick a box that allows your character to fire automatically at his targets.
When it came to space flight I'm not really sure - perhaps you could be presented with a map of the galaxy and just click on wherever you want to go - if you encounter enemies (pirates, military, enemy gangs, other hunters, etc) it would switch to either a turret view or maybe a third person view controlled by the keyboard and mouse - not as good as Freespace, but the focus shouldn't be on that stuff.
Now, to missions - not all missions are the same, and to keep stuff interesting there is an unlimited supply (just don't expect all of them to be really exciting) - some might see you lead a small group of mercenaries in the defence or assault of a location, some might see you kid nap someone, there are assassinations, theft of priceless artifacts and so on - as you complete them you become skilled in that area, so you should really focus on just one type of mission. Assassinations might pay well, but they also draw the attention of the law and are difficult to complete, while mercenary missions might have an average pay but allow you to access many weapons (find them on fallen enemies or you get given some).
