Fractured Universe - Game Design

After many years of simply sitting back on my laurels and letting someone else do game design for me, I finally bit the bullet and decided to learn how to do it myself. I knew there was a whole lot more to it than just throwing together a bunch of "game ideas" and then programming it, but I didn't realize the huge wealth of information available on the subject.

Originally I had intended on punting and just copying most other MMORPG's... possibly make a NeverWinter Nights or Sims 2 + RPG type clone, but the further I dove into the realm of game design, the more I wanted to follow my own design.

I keep reading as much as I can from Richard Bartle... mainly because he was the inspiration for much of what I've been doing for the past three years. If you're making an MMO game and you're not following his blogs and haven't read all of his writing, you should.

A recent post, The Hunter and the Hunted really inspired me to look further and put a lot more thought into level / map design.

If you've ever played WoW and spent any time in Stranglethorn Vale, you'll know exactly what he's talking about... but did you notice the beauty of the design before you read his article? I sure didn't, but now I have a completely new-found respect for the thought that is (or at least should be) put into game design.

Another great article by Raph Koster adds to it by pointing out some lessons on Zone Design.

I have taken these articles to heart and focused on completely re-designing Primera, the first world that introduces you to Fractured Universe and I've also started redesigning the game-play.

Sometimes I can't decide how much of game design I should disclose vs hold back, but I seriously doubt anyone would steal any of my game design ideas... and if they do, I'd be flattered :P

So here goes... some of the game design that I've finished so far:

Unlike other typical RPG games, you play families in FracU in much the same way you might control multiple avatars in an RTS game (although not micro-managed). You can directly control an individual character, much in the same way as a classic RPG. The further you progress in the game, the more of these family members you'll be able to directly control, either one at a time or as a master / pet style game where the pets are semi-autonomous.

Playing a "Farmer" class family, you start in an area that has been carved out for your family farm.

A key part of playing the game well is to keep things balanced. If you follow along the "Dorothy" path, you're presented with a series of tasks and hurdles, with the primary goal being to grow your "farm business".

You can also play a "Wendy" path where you keep the farm as-is. The farm will produce enough income to allow you to buy upgrades for the farm and play it much the same way as you might play a Sims game.

In the "Dorothy" path, depending on the type of plants you grow and livestock you raise, you can have deer that raid the corn or rabbits that infest the cabbage patch, or wolves that eat the chickens, etc. As you control the main character, the rest of the family (as partially computer controlled NPC's) give the main character ideas on how he can handle each of these challenges... essentially these turn into optional "quests" of sorts.

I think I'll have the family sit down for an evening meal every day and they'll have have suggestions and ideas (i.e. "player guidance") for the main character with things he could or should do the next day and problems that need to be solved and suggestions on how to solve them. The player is free to choose the best course of action, or simply ignore it all.

Your choices as a player have permanent results. For example, if you handle a "lack of enough land" problem by chopping down some trees, those trees don't grow back unless you replant them. If you go to the town to purchase a bow and arrow and return to the farm and clear off some of those pesky animals raiding your crops, you have to be careful and take care of the resulting bodies, or disease will take root in the crops, nearby animals, and even possibly harm your character / family. You also have to be careful and not kill off too many animals of one type or another, as each of these "mistakes" will result in permanent, albeit less than disastrous repercussions. Your family will be sure to complain about your choices if you make the wrong one's and suggest how to rectify the situation.

(Will this make the family become annoying? Possibly... I'll have to balance being informative vs being obnoxiously annoying).

Parts of these "quests" that your family sends you on will take the player into a nearby town, where the player realizes he has more choices than simply playing the part of a simple farmer's son (or daughter as the case may be). The further along the player progresses, the further away I hope to push him from the farm, but always with the intention of sending him back with some sort of "treasure".

A good example would be a "recipe" that allows the player to learn how to craft larger and larger houses, to the point where a seasoned player would be able to create a castle complete with mote and serfs for working the farm land. I've thought that serfs generally will be newer player characters, but that will have to be play-tested.

Each family will be restricted to the types of things they can craft or do during adventures. As a result, players needing certain ingredients or crafted items will request them from other players, making a method by which players can send other players on quests. Player merchants and "transport" family will play a huge role in this I think, and I'm hoping to have as few NPC's as possible (although "family" members will continue doing the task which they were assigned before the player logs off so as to continue running the family business).

A lot of this is still being designed and will definitely be play tested, but my hope is that I can balance it and make it fun for a large variety of people and player types.

As I continue with the design, other family types may include merchants, hospitality, crafting, mining, mercenary, etc, but I have only just begun to decide how these family types will work.

Main characters will have roles, starting with just a simple "farmer boy" (or whatever each family starts with), and can progress through a myriad of roles including Guild Master, Regional Governor, Hero, Legendary Hero (or villain), etc. Players can also play the role of Game Master and Scribe, which take a more active role in player generated content.

And, for now, I leave you with just text and no pictures... maybe next time :P