[project1dev] Re: Dungeon decoration, feel, and design

  • From: eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:20:09 -0400

just mixing ideas... the mining opperation's purpose maybe is to capture
some sleeping beast that has been dorment in the cave, the miner's goal is
unknown (possibly some crazy villain is going around the world capturing
ancient beasts so he can train (breed?) them and form some bizarre invasion
force.  then theres multiple ways to finish the dungeon, you could play
violent and just hack your way down, slay the beast, etc.  or you could
sneak through and maybe find a recipe for a traquiler dart that works on the
beast or maybe you just foil the miner's plans via sabotage.  maybe you run
into the villain/miner's later and your method of solving the first cave
influences the fight.

I like all of your ideas about what happens in the cave, i really want to
make it interesting and fun and my personal goal is to make it look visually
amazing.  i definitely think we can mix different genre methods, platform
action, standard rpg, etc. to make the cave really cool and challenging and
different...

good stuff

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 1:42 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> That's sorta what I meant when I said let's put the action back in action
> rpg...
> I want to have a ton of action scenes and cool stuff
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>
> ------------------------------
> *From*: Alan Wolfe
> *Date*: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:06:39 -0700
> *To*: <project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> *Subject*: [project1dev] Re: Dungeon decoration, feel, and design
>
>   Hey Eric, since our game is a hybrid of an action game and a
> conventional RPG (ie the player can run and jump)
>
> how "zelda" ish are things going to be?
>
> For instance will you be able to drop bombs on the ground to blow up
> breakable walls?  Or rather, maybe theres a guy that sells TNT somewhere and
> if you buy some and brought it back to the place where the cave collapsed,
> you could use the TNT and bust it open (and find a changed cave inside) -
> where TNT is just one of many world useable items.
>
> Are there going to be jump pad type things? moving platforms?
>
> Just curious (:
> On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 9:32 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> well hey, on that (and maybe just in general) i really like the idea of
>> the player being allowed to discover things for themselves, basically i hate
>> when a game tells me where to go or what to do... i think the trick is to
>> lead (either directly or through misdirection) the player to where you want
>> them to go but do it in a way where the player feels like they are in
>> control (at least of their own character) the whole time...
>>
>> here's just a couple of ideas the popped in my head:
>>
>> 1) maybe we have the player's grandfather give him a task like checking
>> the rabbit traps or something and the cave just happens to be there somewhat
>> hidden behind some leaves near one of the traps... maybe the grandfather
>> explicitely tells the player NOT to go in the cave, or there is a warning
>> sign saying not to go in... let the player decide to go in (nothing forces
>> him)
>>
>> 2) maybe a creature appears and the player follows it into the cave
>>
>> 3) something chases the player in, or the cave provides a hiding place
>>
>> once hes in, the floor collapses and he has to find another way out or
>> whatnot...
>>
>> while i am a huge fan of treasure hunting and treasure hunters and we'll
>> definitely have storylines centered around treasure hunting, i think if we
>> go w/ the treasure hunting route for this opening/tutorial level we should
>> come up with something unconventional just because we want to flex our might
>> and challenge ourselves...
>>
>> i like the idea of the character stumbling upon something like a secret
>> mining operation (like some humanoid creatures digging a long tunnel for
>> some evil purpose) or maybe they are mining a material that is used for
>> nefarious purposes... something so that the character has people/things to
>> interact w/ and run from (and fight) - maybe once he enters the cave he gets
>> captured immediately and the first dungeon is about him escaping and maybe
>> retrieving something important like the plans to whatever they are doing or
>> saves someone... meanwhile while he is escaping he can run into slime
>> creatures or whatnot (but things should have a motivation for attacking if
>> they attack... if you see a wild animal IRL it will likely run away from you
>> or maybe run away and then stalk you to kill you, they dont just attack.
>> also i am cool w/ having combat be optional, i think its rad if the player
>> can talk/run/sneak his way through w/ minimal fighting.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 12:05 PM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> Eric - That sounds awesome. I fully agree with you. I've been saying that
>>> for a while now.
>>>
>>> I guess I will just make my cave level a rectangle for starting. Flesh
>>> out the shape and feel.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any themes for this first dungeon. Theme ideas would
>>> definitely help in the creation of it. What's the players motivation for
>>> going in?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 8:53 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> oh and most importantly, i think we can accomplish all of this while
>>>> still making the game fun...
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 11:52 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Visually, everything can be tweaked, and polished so dont be tooo
>>>>> concerned about that.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> just a note on the general design philosophy of the game:
>>>>>
>>>>> basically, i want everything to make sense in the world that we
>>>>> create.  if there are enemies, etc. somewhere, there should be a reason -
>>>>> not just random creatures that wander around and attack for no reason... i
>>>>> would say a lot less random meaningless encounters with more mini-bosses 
>>>>> or
>>>>> fights/confrontations that make sense.  the idea is more about exploration
>>>>> and adventure as opposed to just grinding (though theres defintely room 
>>>>> for
>>>>> grinding areas) puzzles that make sense are great, i really liked what 
>>>>> chris
>>>>> said re: having the exit being different than the entrance.  Basically i
>>>>> think the more fully fleshed out and sensible the world is, the more
>>>>> immersed the player will be.  in rpg's etc, i feel like there are usually 
>>>>> so
>>>>> many monsters and battles that they become rendered meaningless, theres no
>>>>> sense of danger in random encounters in final fantasy, no sense of loss 
>>>>> when
>>>>> a character dies, no fear.  i want to bring tension and suspense in, i 
>>>>> want
>>>>> there to be concequences to being defeated that dont just involve having 
>>>>> to
>>>>> start the level/dungeon over again.  i think these things will separate 
>>>>> this
>>>>> game from the pack of rpg's... have a sense of meaning and accomplishment
>>>>> that come from the player, not just written in by us as the creators.  i
>>>>> believe games can invoke fear, mystery, wonder, sadness, joy... i actually
>>>>> believe that they have more potential for that than movies because the
>>>>> player is directly tied in, the more we can immerse ppl into the 
>>>>> experience,
>>>>> the better.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

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