cairnswm
02-10-2007, 07:51 PM
Hi All
As I have been asked by a number of people to document my idea for rAge's Game.Dev idols competition - here it is!
Introduction about the game, including Genre, Theme and how it plays! (Background story?)
I am thinking of a game thats a cross between Minesweeper and an RPG. Basically you explore a map in the same way as you do in Minesweeper. If you click on an area that is open it opens a larger area. As minesweeper has bombs that need to be found, in MRPG instead of mines you have a collection of other items and events that can be triggered. The blocks around the item/event will contain clues to what is in the block in the same way the numbers around the bombs show where bombs will be.
The clues will give an indication of what may be found in the neighbouring blocks. So for example the bloks around a small village may contain small fiels, while the area around a goblin village would contain scarred trees, and skeletons, and around a dragon would contain burnt tree stumps and large skeletons.
What in your game would make it special and make people want to play it?
Most people open up mindsweeper from time to time just to waste a bit of time (while waiting for your grandmother to finish in the bathroom maybe?) and people just never seem to get enough of RPGs out in the Market, Diablo II is still a very popular game. People seem to really like the exploration mechanic that these games provide. By combining these in a simple turn based point and click interface it should get people playing it.
How possible would it be to develop? (Time vs Resources)
In most cases static images could work. Some animation would be nice for when dragons eat the player, or Orcs wipe out the local village. I think the resource requirements are pretty small.
What would make people play it more than once?
The exploration part of the game :)
What aspect of your game would you concentrate on to make the game amazing?
Making fun adventures.
Based on questions from the judges the following was also discussed:
How will combat work? Like the old point and click adventure games worked. To beat a goblin you first need to go and find a sword. To beat a dragon you need three knights, a magic sword, a full suit of armour, a magic horse (and a big shot gun!) etc.
The combat bit might need some rework as this system sort of prevents leveling up etc that RPGs typically use.
Some toher guides on movement. Only open plains etc open up large areas. Some terrain cannot be clicked on - such as deep forest or Mountinas 9unless you are an elf or dwarf respectivly). but these areas can have paths to traverse the area. Paths are clicked on square by square.
Adventures consist of a number of turns to finish. So each click is a turn. Planned adventures could contain clues etc.
Triggers on certian squares/time can make things happen (like start a village of orcs moving) - if the event happens in an open area the player would be informed of the event.
People felt that the option of random adventures was very important. This allows people to sit down and play a quick game without having to play the various scenarios. (Though I think Scenarios might be cool as tutorials or as expansion packs that can be player developed and shared on the internet - maybe even with their own graphics etc).
I would love more feedback on this game idea. I have been approached by one of the forum members to turn this into a proper project. More feedback later...... :)
As I have been asked by a number of people to document my idea for rAge's Game.Dev idols competition - here it is!
Introduction about the game, including Genre, Theme and how it plays! (Background story?)
I am thinking of a game thats a cross between Minesweeper and an RPG. Basically you explore a map in the same way as you do in Minesweeper. If you click on an area that is open it opens a larger area. As minesweeper has bombs that need to be found, in MRPG instead of mines you have a collection of other items and events that can be triggered. The blocks around the item/event will contain clues to what is in the block in the same way the numbers around the bombs show where bombs will be.
The clues will give an indication of what may be found in the neighbouring blocks. So for example the bloks around a small village may contain small fiels, while the area around a goblin village would contain scarred trees, and skeletons, and around a dragon would contain burnt tree stumps and large skeletons.
What in your game would make it special and make people want to play it?
Most people open up mindsweeper from time to time just to waste a bit of time (while waiting for your grandmother to finish in the bathroom maybe?) and people just never seem to get enough of RPGs out in the Market, Diablo II is still a very popular game. People seem to really like the exploration mechanic that these games provide. By combining these in a simple turn based point and click interface it should get people playing it.
How possible would it be to develop? (Time vs Resources)
In most cases static images could work. Some animation would be nice for when dragons eat the player, or Orcs wipe out the local village. I think the resource requirements are pretty small.
What would make people play it more than once?
The exploration part of the game :)
What aspect of your game would you concentrate on to make the game amazing?
Making fun adventures.
Based on questions from the judges the following was also discussed:
How will combat work? Like the old point and click adventure games worked. To beat a goblin you first need to go and find a sword. To beat a dragon you need three knights, a magic sword, a full suit of armour, a magic horse (and a big shot gun!) etc.
The combat bit might need some rework as this system sort of prevents leveling up etc that RPGs typically use.
Some toher guides on movement. Only open plains etc open up large areas. Some terrain cannot be clicked on - such as deep forest or Mountinas 9unless you are an elf or dwarf respectivly). but these areas can have paths to traverse the area. Paths are clicked on square by square.
Adventures consist of a number of turns to finish. So each click is a turn. Planned adventures could contain clues etc.
Triggers on certian squares/time can make things happen (like start a village of orcs moving) - if the event happens in an open area the player would be informed of the event.
People felt that the option of random adventures was very important. This allows people to sit down and play a quick game without having to play the various scenarios. (Though I think Scenarios might be cool as tutorials or as expansion packs that can be player developed and shared on the internet - maybe even with their own graphics etc).
I would love more feedback on this game idea. I have been approached by one of the forum members to turn this into a proper project. More feedback later...... :)