What the game industry has been waiting for!
by Zach · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/28/2004 (3:56 pm) · 8 replies
Title
Lifetime
Charactors
Balen Cortez
Story
In a future society where the earth has become over crowded and time on earth is bought, like time-share. Belen Cortez, a middle class worker, barely payin his earth rent, gets fired from his job and is given 24hrs to get his things together and vacate the planet. He decides that he doesnt want to leave earth, so he goes into the deep underworld in search of help. He finds inspiration from the other outkasts, with stories of past times, when earth wasnt controlled by a single power, but spread evenly among all people. Balen works his way up to being a well known figure in the underworld, making frequent visits to the overworld to try and take down, "lifetime". Lifetime is the name of the company that controls the way people live. With small openings made in the defence of lifetime, Balen is then able to try the biggest attack on the company. He goes to the Alpha detention planet where all the people who hate lifetime are sent. With lifetimes attention on their main defence, the planet is an easy takeover. With the now huge army, Balen organizes a huge attack on the main part of the company. Will he win though...
Features
Switchable 1st and 3rd person view
Loads of viechles and weapons
End battle multiplayer, with hundreds of people competing against the company
Photo realistic graphics
Seemless AI, makes you feel like you are playing against another human
Endless landscapes with almost unlimited areas to explore
Open ended, so if you dont get some of the early missions perfect, the endings will be different and harder
I dont know what else to say about it, please post suggestions to improve the idea, thank you
-Zach-
Lifetime
Charactors
Balen Cortez
Story
In a future society where the earth has become over crowded and time on earth is bought, like time-share. Belen Cortez, a middle class worker, barely payin his earth rent, gets fired from his job and is given 24hrs to get his things together and vacate the planet. He decides that he doesnt want to leave earth, so he goes into the deep underworld in search of help. He finds inspiration from the other outkasts, with stories of past times, when earth wasnt controlled by a single power, but spread evenly among all people. Balen works his way up to being a well known figure in the underworld, making frequent visits to the overworld to try and take down, "lifetime". Lifetime is the name of the company that controls the way people live. With small openings made in the defence of lifetime, Balen is then able to try the biggest attack on the company. He goes to the Alpha detention planet where all the people who hate lifetime are sent. With lifetimes attention on their main defence, the planet is an easy takeover. With the now huge army, Balen organizes a huge attack on the main part of the company. Will he win though...
Features
Switchable 1st and 3rd person view
Loads of viechles and weapons
End battle multiplayer, with hundreds of people competing against the company
Photo realistic graphics
Seemless AI, makes you feel like you are playing against another human
Endless landscapes with almost unlimited areas to explore
Open ended, so if you dont get some of the early missions perfect, the endings will be different and harder
I dont know what else to say about it, please post suggestions to improve the idea, thank you
-Zach-
About the author
#3
Also it does seem like a lot of work. The one "flaw" I have with it is (or at least a few questions):
So is everyone "Balen" and everyone is the "leader" of the revolt?
Do you have to beat the game to play the end or are you going to allow people to jump to the end of your story for you multiplayer? You might lose some of your audience if you tell them "here is how its going to end". I am one of those who doesn't like to know how a game is to end.
Is this the only multiplayer part? If so it might be hard to get the game to flow correctly between the massive battle and the rest of the game. The decisions on how to implement something single player verses multiplayer are very different.
02/28/2004 (4:37 pm)
I feel the same way as Ben. After reading many a "game idea" on the boards I like the way this one is presented. Also it does seem like a lot of work. The one "flaw" I have with it is (or at least a few questions):
Quote:End battle multiplayer, with hundreds of people competing against the company
So is everyone "Balen" and everyone is the "leader" of the revolt?
Do you have to beat the game to play the end or are you going to allow people to jump to the end of your story for you multiplayer? You might lose some of your audience if you tell them "here is how its going to end". I am one of those who doesn't like to know how a game is to end.
Is this the only multiplayer part? If so it might be hard to get the game to flow correctly between the massive battle and the rest of the game. The decisions on how to implement something single player verses multiplayer are very different.
#4
02/28/2004 (4:43 pm)
No, you will have to beat the game singally, which then unlocks the big end battle again for multiplayer. There will be other multiplayer scenarios, but not todo with the main story. I didnt write it properly sorry.
#5
I can't remember the name of the movie though, but it was interesting.
I like your game idea though.
02/28/2004 (6:29 pm)
Reminds me of a movie where everyone was alotted a certain amount of time. Time was used like money in the movie so like a pack of smokes would cost an hour of your life, etc. So the rich basically lived forever while those who wasted their life/money didn't live long at all.I can't remember the name of the movie though, but it was interesting.
I like your game idea though.
#6
One thing I didn't get at first glance was what exactly the GAME was, as opposed to storyline. I had to deduce it from the features list, and assume it's a first- (or third-) person shooter.
You may also want to think about what sets your game apart from the other FPS / Vehicular FPS games that are out there... aside from story. I can already play Battlefield: 1942 and Operation: Flashpoint, or Planetside, or the demo to Unreal Tournament: 2004... these games sound like they are offering the same kind of gameplay you are talking about here. What sets your game apart from the rest? What does it offer that I can't get anywhere else?
Some bits sound a bit like empty promises, such as "Photorealistic graphics" and "seemless AI that makes you feel like you are playing against another human." These sound like good GOALS, but don't exactly define the technology. What exactly will you be doing to help make the graphics and AI much more "realistic" and believable?
As to "Endless Landscapes"... besides the technological hurdle (not a big one... you can algorithmically generate landscapes forever...), why is this appealing? It sounds like I'm gonna be stuck on one of these "Endless Landscapes" looking for something to do / someone to play with / something to kill. Kinda like being stuck out in the Mojave Desert.
Also... it sounds like what you are trying to mean is that the game is "non-linear" as opposed to "open-ended." Open-ended means, literally, the game never reaches a conclusion... What you seem to be saying is the game changes based upon your level of success / failure. Something to bear in mind, though... you have something here that is sometimes called "negative feedback loop" in this line. If I'm so good that I *CAN* finish every level perfectly, should the game really be getting EASIER for me than for some poor guy who can barely finish them?
Ah, well, here I am going way too deep into DESIGN rather than commenting on your idea... which I think is great, you just need to keep refining it. Good luck!
02/29/2004 (1:44 am)
Sounds a bit like a good start. Good luck as you keep refining your ideas.One thing I didn't get at first glance was what exactly the GAME was, as opposed to storyline. I had to deduce it from the features list, and assume it's a first- (or third-) person shooter.
You may also want to think about what sets your game apart from the other FPS / Vehicular FPS games that are out there... aside from story. I can already play Battlefield: 1942 and Operation: Flashpoint, or Planetside, or the demo to Unreal Tournament: 2004... these games sound like they are offering the same kind of gameplay you are talking about here. What sets your game apart from the rest? What does it offer that I can't get anywhere else?
Some bits sound a bit like empty promises, such as "Photorealistic graphics" and "seemless AI that makes you feel like you are playing against another human." These sound like good GOALS, but don't exactly define the technology. What exactly will you be doing to help make the graphics and AI much more "realistic" and believable?
As to "Endless Landscapes"... besides the technological hurdle (not a big one... you can algorithmically generate landscapes forever...), why is this appealing? It sounds like I'm gonna be stuck on one of these "Endless Landscapes" looking for something to do / someone to play with / something to kill. Kinda like being stuck out in the Mojave Desert.
Also... it sounds like what you are trying to mean is that the game is "non-linear" as opposed to "open-ended." Open-ended means, literally, the game never reaches a conclusion... What you seem to be saying is the game changes based upon your level of success / failure. Something to bear in mind, though... you have something here that is sometimes called "negative feedback loop" in this line. If I'm so good that I *CAN* finish every level perfectly, should the game really be getting EASIER for me than for some poor guy who can barely finish them?
Ah, well, here I am going way too deep into DESIGN rather than commenting on your idea... which I think is great, you just need to keep refining it. Good luck!
#7
-Zach-
02/29/2004 (6:43 am)
Thanks for your thoughts, im not trying to advertise my game, i am merely stating what i would absolutely love to see in this game. Also it would be great if the game was open ended so your previous missions will seriously affect later ones. That would be something different than unreal and bf 1942. I am currently making a cel-shaded soccer game, so this is just a bursting idea i had. I think i will go about writing a proper game doc to organise my ideas properly. Thanks-Zach-
#8
-Zach-
02/29/2004 (6:47 am)
Oh i didnt see the last thing you said sorry. The open-linear bit would be if you dont totally destroy a wall or a defence tower. That would be things that would effect the final battle. Also, there will be "fake" missions, that are later realised to be a mistake, example: you totally destroy a defence wall, that in a later msiion, could let more enemies come at you. So it is up to you where you attack and where not to. Just a few ideas-Zach-
Associate Kyle Carter
There's nothing wrong with the idea you've presented, but it represents a fantastic amount of work to produce. It's a few levels up from saying, "We should make a game where you face against the forces of hell in military bases," which is basically the premise behind Quake and Doom - both excellent games, but there's a lot in the execution.
Anyway, I guess my point is, mega-kudos to you for presenting your idea with readable spelling and formatting. It's not the most original thing under the sun (it reuses the one man against the Corporate Machine idea), but it hasn't been done to death like some plots. And I'll take a solid plot over uniqueness any day...
One thing to consider is (to quote Jay ;) - where is the fun factor? Why will people want to play this? You have a few things here that could be fun, but nothing really grabs me as "I have to play this because of X!" You need to find the X. :)