Island People On-Line
by Jeff Tunnell · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/19/2001 (9:37 am) · 0 replies
From MA*Snart on old GarageGames forums:
Okay this is a bit like the yet to be released Black and White game...but it has some cool possibilities.
In the game there is a island filled with several types of plants and creatures...includeing people...these little folk run around all day..eating when they are hungry, etc...it's all just a small little perpetual world...the surrounding water creates rain..which feeds the plants allowing them to grow and produce seeds...these seeds then feed the animals and people..or they can be planted to allow new plants to grow...the seed eating animals are in turn hunted to feed other animals, etc...and when a person or animal dies...it "feeds" the ground allowing plants to grow [if they also recieve enough water]...the animals and people can mate [actually sort of "kiss"..and a offspring pops up between them] and some of the foods will increase thier desire to do so...basicly as the computer [er..server] runs the game without players it resembles a miniature "ant farm"...the circle of life, etc...
Now then the players...they get to chose to be either little angels or devils...and as such they cannot do anything but run and fly around talking to each other...the "real" people and animals can't even see them...and in angel or devil form they can't effect anything in the game...however if they are ranked high enough they can "posess" an animal or person in the game [when starting out an angel or devil is only strong enough to enter into the body of small animals]...this is the only way the player can interact with the world...but they are limited to the abilities of the creature they inhabit...the player then can become stronger [and the creature they inhabit will too] by doing "good" or "bad" things to the other creatures and objects around them depending on thier status of angel or devil [example: tigers may be considered "bad" to "people" as they may attack them...As an angel you may posess a person an chase tigers away...or as a devil you may posess the tiger and attack every person you see]...at any time an angel or devil may "jump out" of a body they posess...but if that animal or person were to die while the player is in control of them...the player then must start all over at rank zero again...
People in the game can only carry and equip one item at a time...the equip item acts as a "job description" for when nobody posess the person...the item they carry can be used in a number of ways...a seed for example can be eaten or planted...a rock can be thrown, etc...many items can be combiled into new objects...a stick and a rock...can make a hammer...there are also "magic" items that can allow the players to change the landscape [if there is a bunch of angel posessed people on the other side of the hill...and you play a devil...you can use a magic item that will turn the hill into a mountain, thus blocking the path of rain...eventualy this will kill off the plants on the other side and possibly starve those people to death]...this will allow the game to evolve...
The core idea is to allow players to free form teams...not just angels and devils but also teams within those two groups...the people the players eventually can control can become leaders of thier communitys...and as the angels and devils gain strength they evolve also [as they get more power some of those magic items will be an inherant power of the angel or devil]...
Imagine this senario:..you control a powerful angel...your teammates do also...the creatures you useually posess in the game are a small clan of warriors...you are in control of this clans leader..a very nobel and powerfull figure to his clan...all of a sudden the clan gets attacked by some devil controlled tigers...they arn't ordinary tigers either...the people controling them have made them stronger just like you, and your teammates, have with this clan.....at first the battle seems even...but slowly you realise the tigers are a bit stronger then you are...one of your weakened teammates jumps out of the person he controled...you imeadiantly notice that a devil pops into the person he controlled [while inside a body you cannot see all the angels and devels running around...however you can see if a creature is controlled by them or the game A.I.]...this devil controlled clan member then starts attacking the rest of the clan with the tigers...more weaknd team mates jump out of the bodies they control and devils pop in replaceing them [remember if the body dies with you inside you will have to start all over again]...now your charactor is being attacked and is in danger of dying...do you jump out to save your angel? [and possibly allow a devil to pop in...then the devil controlled clan can walk the charactors off a cliff killing your entire clan and all you have worked for] or do you keep fighting in the hope that your teammates find other nearby creatures to posess and come to your rescue?...awsome possibilities :)
Okay this is a bit like the yet to be released Black and White game...but it has some cool possibilities.
In the game there is a island filled with several types of plants and creatures...includeing people...these little folk run around all day..eating when they are hungry, etc...it's all just a small little perpetual world...the surrounding water creates rain..which feeds the plants allowing them to grow and produce seeds...these seeds then feed the animals and people..or they can be planted to allow new plants to grow...the seed eating animals are in turn hunted to feed other animals, etc...and when a person or animal dies...it "feeds" the ground allowing plants to grow [if they also recieve enough water]...the animals and people can mate [actually sort of "kiss"..and a offspring pops up between them] and some of the foods will increase thier desire to do so...basicly as the computer [er..server] runs the game without players it resembles a miniature "ant farm"...the circle of life, etc...
Now then the players...they get to chose to be either little angels or devils...and as such they cannot do anything but run and fly around talking to each other...the "real" people and animals can't even see them...and in angel or devil form they can't effect anything in the game...however if they are ranked high enough they can "posess" an animal or person in the game [when starting out an angel or devil is only strong enough to enter into the body of small animals]...this is the only way the player can interact with the world...but they are limited to the abilities of the creature they inhabit...the player then can become stronger [and the creature they inhabit will too] by doing "good" or "bad" things to the other creatures and objects around them depending on thier status of angel or devil [example: tigers may be considered "bad" to "people" as they may attack them...As an angel you may posess a person an chase tigers away...or as a devil you may posess the tiger and attack every person you see]...at any time an angel or devil may "jump out" of a body they posess...but if that animal or person were to die while the player is in control of them...the player then must start all over at rank zero again...
People in the game can only carry and equip one item at a time...the equip item acts as a "job description" for when nobody posess the person...the item they carry can be used in a number of ways...a seed for example can be eaten or planted...a rock can be thrown, etc...many items can be combiled into new objects...a stick and a rock...can make a hammer...there are also "magic" items that can allow the players to change the landscape [if there is a bunch of angel posessed people on the other side of the hill...and you play a devil...you can use a magic item that will turn the hill into a mountain, thus blocking the path of rain...eventualy this will kill off the plants on the other side and possibly starve those people to death]...this will allow the game to evolve...
The core idea is to allow players to free form teams...not just angels and devils but also teams within those two groups...the people the players eventually can control can become leaders of thier communitys...and as the angels and devils gain strength they evolve also [as they get more power some of those magic items will be an inherant power of the angel or devil]...
Imagine this senario:..you control a powerful angel...your teammates do also...the creatures you useually posess in the game are a small clan of warriors...you are in control of this clans leader..a very nobel and powerfull figure to his clan...all of a sudden the clan gets attacked by some devil controlled tigers...they arn't ordinary tigers either...the people controling them have made them stronger just like you, and your teammates, have with this clan.....at first the battle seems even...but slowly you realise the tigers are a bit stronger then you are...one of your weakened teammates jumps out of the person he controled...you imeadiantly notice that a devil pops into the person he controlled [while inside a body you cannot see all the angels and devels running around...however you can see if a creature is controlled by them or the game A.I.]...this devil controlled clan member then starts attacking the rest of the clan with the tigers...more weaknd team mates jump out of the bodies they control and devils pop in replaceing them [remember if the body dies with you inside you will have to start all over again]...now your charactor is being attacked and is in danger of dying...do you jump out to save your angel? [and possibly allow a devil to pop in...then the devil controlled clan can walk the charactors off a cliff killing your entire clan and all you have worked for] or do you keep fighting in the hope that your teammates find other nearby creatures to posess and come to your rescue?...awsome possibilities :)
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