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

  • From: Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:49:27 -0700

Is the game going to be broken into zones or is it going to be seamless?

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 11:20 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 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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