Western Themed Games
by fendory · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 08/15/2005 (12:48 am) · 67 replies
Why don't we see many Western themed games?
I've been pondering this idea for a while now. I like RPGs and was thinking that there aren't really any that have a western theme to them. So then I started thinking that, that can be an edge to making one. Then again there are games out there, and they aren't too popular. Why aren't they popular?
It is different, when you look at all the popular MMOs and RPGs out today. I've heard people say they want some thing different than midevil/fantasy MMOs, but are we ready for that change?
I rented one of these games yesterday, and was bored of it after just a few hours. I know it wasn't the theme to the game, it was just how it played, but it got boring fast.
I don't know, I'm just rambling, but what do you think of Western themed games?
I've been pondering this idea for a while now. I like RPGs and was thinking that there aren't really any that have a western theme to them. So then I started thinking that, that can be an edge to making one. Then again there are games out there, and they aren't too popular. Why aren't they popular?
It is different, when you look at all the popular MMOs and RPGs out today. I've heard people say they want some thing different than midevil/fantasy MMOs, but are we ready for that change?
I rented one of these games yesterday, and was bored of it after just a few hours. I know it wasn't the theme to the game, it was just how it played, but it got boring fast.
I don't know, I'm just rambling, but what do you think of Western themed games?
About the author
#22
12/02/2005 (11:50 pm)
Plus someone was supposed to ship a horse pack? What happend with that?? 
#23
12/03/2005 (12:13 am)
According to a recent plan update the horse pack is still coming and should (hopefully) be soon. I could use it in a project myself soon.
#24
12/03/2005 (12:53 am)
Here is an old stable house on the family ranch out in west Texas. Anyway food for thought...
#25
[Edit] I managed to get a typo into a sentence with six words.
12/04/2005 (6:12 am)
Eric Johnson has some cool plans.[Edit] I managed to get a typo into a sentence with six words.
#26
@Dirk Thanks for the pimpage:)
12/04/2005 (7:50 am)
OMG! GUS! Hey this is Esop your old Badlands partner:) Glad your still at it. Source is an excellent choice and I wish you all the luck! Oh and tell Blueberry (Wow where did you find him?!) that I said hello.@Dirk Thanks for the pimpage:)
#27
12/04/2005 (8:14 am)
Gusher-;):Blueberry is one cool cat, I was sad to see him go; & glad to see his return to developing! Now he could come up with some nice cowboys for ya'...prolly some horses too. I'd bookmarked the LD site and it's linkage to the Source project awhile ago,:). Those were the days...out in the Badlands, eh! I still think that mod captures those old movie style shootouts 'pruty well...
#28
Rex@ BlueBerry is with us part-time.......he's mingling with animation and modeling.....we already have a horse and those things. We're getting all weapons animated, coded, all the stuff that goes with it....I posted some screens of our spaghetti western maps at http://lawdogs.planetunreal.gamespy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15
In matter of fact, we have former Badlands players on the team....one of the mappers always mentions Badlands...hehe ;P
P.S. Am ready for UT2007.......the ultimate, yahoo!!
12/04/2005 (3:34 pm)
Esop@ Hahah, wow Esop! You alive and well to!......you guys really have it in the heart......BlueBerry came in, he's been keeping track of my footsteps...:P ..he's with us part-time.....btw, nice plan you have there......looking great! Anyway, will tell Blueberry about it...Rex@ BlueBerry is with us part-time.......he's mingling with animation and modeling.....we already have a horse and those things. We're getting all weapons animated, coded, all the stuff that goes with it....I posted some screens of our spaghetti western maps at http://lawdogs.planetunreal.gamespy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15
In matter of fact, we have former Badlands players on the team....one of the mappers always mentions Badlands...hehe ;P
P.S. Am ready for UT2007.......the ultimate, yahoo!!
#29
12/04/2005 (5:13 pm)
Wow those cliffs are amazing, its that actual terrain or added to the existing one. Either way they blend so nicely. :)
#30
I was absolutely addicted to Gun a few weeks ago, played it through in the weekend loved every second of it. It's definetly my favorite more recent game, and I usually have a lot of trouble sitting down and playing single player games through and through. This one I was very disappointed seeing it come to an end, as I enjoyed it more and more as I went through it.
@Johnny Hill
I believe those are more than likely seperate DIFs or DTSs judging by the way they run into the terraign at a near 90 degree angle in the bottom right area, though it would be amazing to see Torque sculpt cliffs that well;).
12/04/2005 (5:41 pm)
@Michael Cozzolino I was absolutely addicted to Gun a few weeks ago, played it through in the weekend loved every second of it. It's definetly my favorite more recent game, and I usually have a lot of trouble sitting down and playing single player games through and through. This one I was very disappointed seeing it come to an end, as I enjoyed it more and more as I went through it.
@Johnny Hill
I believe those are more than likely seperate DIFs or DTSs judging by the way they run into the terraign at a near 90 degree angle in the bottom right area, though it would be amazing to see Torque sculpt cliffs that well;).
#32
12/04/2005 (6:36 pm)
The cliff's are all done in DIF's. I'm going build copies as dts and then use the dif as collision only. This is how I can lose the faceted lighting problem and avoid heavy collision performance hit.
#33
Would be cool. Maybe it's a like 2 families and 1 indian team. (3 teams)
The zones are like CTF but it's CTZ .. or Capture the Ranch :0
Then you have a master map up 24x7 showing the "wild west world"..
Hum.. WWW Wild West World... probably get sued by the wild wild west folks.
12/04/2005 (9:02 pm)
@Josh - you could make a great Western with your server / middleware tech from MoM.Would be cool. Maybe it's a like 2 families and 1 indian team. (3 teams)
The zones are like CTF but it's CTZ .. or Capture the Ranch :0
Then you have a master map up 24x7 showing the "wild west world"..
Hum.. WWW Wild West World... probably get sued by the wild wild west folks.
#34
If you are serious, let me know. I would love to make a Western, specially a western themed MMORPG. I have been bouncing the idea around with a few friends for an alternate history old west history.
Also, here is a pic and link for a budget RTS I did a couple years ago that was based on the Alamo. It had a little bit of a cartoony style, but was a lot of fun to make.
And the link for a bunch of shot in case anyone is interested.
[url]www.shapesandlines.com/SLAlamo02.htm[/ur/]
We had a unit function where you could select a group of riflemen and hold down the space bar, then release it and they would volley fire.
The pacing of the game was never quite right for the best use of that feature, but it was a fun element just the same.
12/04/2005 (9:17 pm)
@Josh,If you are serious, let me know. I would love to make a Western, specially a western themed MMORPG. I have been bouncing the idea around with a few friends for an alternate history old west history.
Also, here is a pic and link for a budget RTS I did a couple years ago that was based on the Alamo. It had a little bit of a cartoony style, but was a lot of fun to make.
And the link for a bunch of shot in case anyone is interested.
[url]www.shapesandlines.com/SLAlamo02.htm[/ur/]
We had a unit function where you could select a group of riflemen and hold down the space bar, then release it and they would volley fire.
The pacing of the game was never quite right for the best use of that feature, but it was a fun element just the same.
#35
A Ladder board for Duels and other things.
Don't know about an Alamo game. It could be a great idea. I don't think they could sue (Daughters of the Republic).
I had kicked around the idea of fantasy town "Dirtwood" .... home of the low down dirty... well you get the drift.
Also to make it in Spanish.
12/05/2005 (12:49 am)
Have a Saloon where you can play poker online against other players.A Ladder board for Duels and other things.
Don't know about an Alamo game. It could be a great idea. I don't think they could sue (Daughters of the Republic).
I had kicked around the idea of fantasy town "Dirtwood" .... home of the low down dirty... well you get the drift.
Also to make it in Spanish.
#36
12/05/2005 (6:59 am)
I think some sort of Western would work very well; as to 'families': the Railroad tycoons, the Cattle/Land barons, then there's the Native American tribes, and of course the Settlement establishment moving into the territory...there's plenty of raw materials about for exploitation....;), it goes on and on, :). I feel that the type of genre is well suited for the terrain mapping done with the TGE engine...horses definitely needed to cover the beautifully rendered terrain; not as quick as 'vehicles', just enough to balance the physical space, imho/
#37
I wasn't suggesting an Alamo based game, just sharing some pics.
@ Rex,
I couldn't agree more, the wide open spaces of the west could be well represented in the Torques engine. I have not yet played Minion of Mirth, but I am assuming that Josh nailed down some sort of zone functionality that would support stringing areas together for a real sense of the vast west/south west regions.
Horses should complement the game, not provide a bypass to the space. Hell, the fact that the space is so large should be planned into the design so that it acts as a balancing feature, controlling access and availability to places and things by the time/effort/danger it takes to cross it.
@ Randy,
If I made pre established families it would only be for the sake of quest generation. Ideally... I would make things like cattle rancher, saloon owner, miner, etc. all trade skills.
Everyone who went was more or less looking for the same thing, a way to stake their claim and get rich. There were a lot of ways to do that.
Don't make it a class based character system, make it skill based. What you do is what you are. If you spend most of your time trapping and hunting, your a trapper/hunter. If you spend most of you time robbing folks...and manage not to get shot, your a bandit and will end up with a bounty on your head.
On the other hand, If you say, manage to knock over a bank for a big load of cash and split to another territory without being identified (perhaps the bandit mask removes/changes player name ala the text that usually floats above your head in these sort of games), maybe you can set up a legitimate business and retire from your villainy.
..I so want to make a western MMORPG now :O)
12/05/2005 (9:34 am)
@Randy,I wasn't suggesting an Alamo based game, just sharing some pics.
@ Rex,
I couldn't agree more, the wide open spaces of the west could be well represented in the Torques engine. I have not yet played Minion of Mirth, but I am assuming that Josh nailed down some sort of zone functionality that would support stringing areas together for a real sense of the vast west/south west regions.
Horses should complement the game, not provide a bypass to the space. Hell, the fact that the space is so large should be planned into the design so that it acts as a balancing feature, controlling access and availability to places and things by the time/effort/danger it takes to cross it.
@ Randy,
If I made pre established families it would only be for the sake of quest generation. Ideally... I would make things like cattle rancher, saloon owner, miner, etc. all trade skills.
Everyone who went was more or less looking for the same thing, a way to stake their claim and get rich. There were a lot of ways to do that.
Don't make it a class based character system, make it skill based. What you do is what you are. If you spend most of your time trapping and hunting, your a trapper/hunter. If you spend most of you time robbing folks...and manage not to get shot, your a bandit and will end up with a bounty on your head.
On the other hand, If you say, manage to knock over a bank for a big load of cash and split to another territory without being identified (perhaps the bandit mask removes/changes player name ala the text that usually floats above your head in these sort of games), maybe you can set up a legitimate business and retire from your villainy.
..I so want to make a western MMORPG now :O)
#38
We're less than 2 weeks out from Minions of Mirth 1.0 ... and then we'll have a pile of support work. We'll also very likely start an expansion pack for MoM almost immediately. I'm leaning towards expanding the Monster Realm, though we'll see...
Anyway, I am a huge fan of Sergio Leone... and would love to do a western game. We do have to consider what we are going to do after MoM. Though, this is a ways out.
-Josh Ritter
Prairie Games
12/05/2005 (10:01 am)
I firmly believe that indies could make some very cool role-playing games with TGE + our RPG technology. That's not to say it wouldn't still be a alot of work; it would.We're less than 2 weeks out from Minions of Mirth 1.0 ... and then we'll have a pile of support work. We'll also very likely start an expansion pack for MoM almost immediately. I'm leaning towards expanding the Monster Realm, though we'll see...
Anyway, I am a huge fan of Sergio Leone... and would love to do a western game. We do have to consider what we are going to do after MoM. Though, this is a ways out.
-Josh Ritter
Prairie Games
#39
I just got over a bad case of EQ2 addiction.. it was eating into all my development time.
@Todd yea but I DO want to make an Alamo game :)
They can't sue me I was born a block away from the battleground.
Ok but no one liked my in game "mini game" of online Poker? You sit down at the table and poof the GUI
pops up for Poker :)
12/05/2005 (12:31 pm)
OOT - Yea @Josh Btw I apologize I have to stay away from MoM.... or else I would get so addicted I would never finish my own games... :)I just got over a bad case of EQ2 addiction.. it was eating into all my development time.
@Todd yea but I DO want to make an Alamo game :)
They can't sue me I was born a block away from the battleground.
Ok but no one liked my in game "mini game" of online Poker? You sit down at the table and poof the GUI
pops up for Poker :)
#40
Seriously, a good western MMORPG is a project I would be willing to dedicate some serious effort to make happen. I have worked on a number of published games, but I don't think any of them have excited me as much as this idea.
@ Randy, Sorry missed the poker thing, good idea. That would be very cool, it would be one of the things you can do in a saloon.
12/05/2005 (12:43 pm)
@ Josh ...MAKE IT SO! If you (..we all) Build it, they will come!Seriously, a good western MMORPG is a project I would be willing to dedicate some serious effort to make happen. I have worked on a number of published games, but I don't think any of them have excited me as much as this idea.
@ Randy, Sorry missed the poker thing, good idea. That would be very cool, it would be one of the things you can do in a saloon.
Gus