[project1dev] Re: first things first
- From: figarus@xxxxxxxxx
- To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 10:33:09 +0000
We can probably worry about it later
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 22:42:07
To: <project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [project1dev] Re: first things first
comments back!
1) it's way different than i thought it was gonna be
2) that's a good thing, wow what a bunch of cool stuff!
technical design question for you...
you talk about using telekenesis in the overworld and that made me wonder
what the controls of that would be.
Would you use the mouse?
If so, question about the possible porting to XBLA, should we plan as if we
are going to do that and try to make the controls not PC specific so that
they would also work with a 360 controller?
Or... do we make a strictly PC game and worry about possibly porting and
changing control schemes later?
(:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 9:58 PM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> <3<3<3<3x infinity (:
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 9:48 PM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I understand your vision for the game a lot more. It sounds like it will
>> be a pretty sweet
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 9:26 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> Game objective: to provide an amazing experience to gamers by fusing
>>> action adventure elements and traditional rpg gameplay - with the extra
>>> twist that only WE can provide.
>>>
>>> Theme: the overall theme of the game is a new mythology. I picture more
>>> like greek myths, old folklore, etc rather than modern fantasy like lord of
>>> the rings. It is really important we establish our own creatures, stories,
>>> myths, monsters etc. Obviously we can be inspired by things we think are
>>> great (zelda, oldschool ff's, modern rpg's) but we want it to be in the
>>> universe we define and design. In my head, the characters, npc's, etc. are
>>> mostly real down to earth ppl with real problems, but they live in subtly
>>> surreal world with all sorts of wonders and dangers that don't exist irl. I
>>> think a major key here is to remember-less is more. If you have one
>>> magician, he's unique and interesting, if you have 100 (like harry potter)
>>> magic becomes common place and loses its *ahem* magic. If we want stuff to
>>> have an impact, it is smart to keep it's mystery and rareness. Supply and
>>> demand, etc. You all took economics.
>>>
>>> Setting: this game is set in a yet unnamed world. In the beginning, there
>>> are the pocket "worlds" - each representing its own self contained little
>>> world of various size, including town/towns, landscape settings, etc. A
>>> world might be an island or a dessert world. These worlds are connected by
>>> doors that progress forward towards an unknown 'final world' in a linear
>>> fashion. there are two doors hidden in each world - one forward to the next
>>> world and one back towards the beginning. When NPC's go through the doors
>>> they turn into crazed demonic creatures called karzi. For an unknown
>>> reason, the main character can freely transverse through the doors - the
>>> first half of the game will mostly involve the quest forward to the final
>>> world. The second half of the game is after the main character reaches the
>>> final world, something happens that causes the borders between the worlds to
>>> crumble creating one large interconnected worlds made up of the lands that
>>> the character went through and some he didn't. While to the character it
>>> was only mere moments between the event in the final world and his arrival
>>> in the new one, it is 10 years later in the now combined world. New empires
>>> have formed, aliances made, and new adventures to be had.
>>>
>>> Character skill/stats:
>>> The stat system is going to be deep and interconnected with other systems
>>> and stats in the game. Things like speed will affect both overworld
>>> movement and combat speed. Besides the standard stats like strength,
>>> quickness, speed, constition, etc. there will also be auxillary stats
>>> involving the character's will power. These stats are aggression and
>>> discipline - these stats affect things like going berserk, getting scared,
>>> etc. which will have influences on combat.
>>>
>>> Stats:
>>> Strength: influences damage, lifting ability, critical hits.
>>> Quickness: influences dodging, rt, speed running
>>> Constitution: affects HP, stamina, lifting ability
>>> Will: influences discipline/agression system, magic abilty
>>> Charisma: influences ppl's reaction towards you, ability to recruit, some
>>> magic, also influences faction stuff. (Maybe there's order charisma and
>>> chaos charisma and some ppl are attracted to either or neutrality)
>>> Perception: influences dodging, also makes things like traps, secret
>>> doors, hidden treasure, etc glow.
>>>
>>> Skill intro:
>>> There are basic skills, master skills, and perks. Basic skills are the
>>> skills everyone has.. Things like parrying, swinging a weapon, dodging,
>>> swimming, jumping, etc (all affected by stats) and then there are master
>>> skills which basically is how classes are defined. Master skills are skills
>>> that "level up" and give bonus perks and abilities in combat. An example of
>>> this would be like final fantasy skills like swordtech for cyan or blitz for
>>> saban. Another example of a master skill is magic. Perks are things that
>>> can affect overworld or combat, like a quickdraw perk that gives you first
>>> strike more often, lockpicking, an ability to sense if certain
>>> creatures/characters have magic ability... There can be a ton.
>>>
>>> Ahhh magic:
>>> Yes there will be magic. It will not be like magic in normal games.
>>> Magic. in this game is all about imposing your will on the world around you.
>>> Instead of using the elements, etc. Magic will be used to do telekenisis,
>>> mind control, mentally destroying the enemies, and bend physical reality
>>> etc. Now that's not to say we can't have crazy bad ass spells, as mages can
>>> warp reality and the world around them using the power of their will...
>>> Causing rock spikes to burst from a boulder, etc. Also telekenisis can be
>>> used in the overworld, its range and strength varying on will power and
>>> magic skill. Perhaps further power in magic would allow time manipulation,
>>> etc. Very very few ppl in the world can use magic, and it is secretive and
>>> looked at as evil.
>>>
>>> Movement in the world:
>>> The main character can run, jump, climb, etc. Exploring is going to be
>>> an adventure, with things like ropes to swing across, places to jump, things
>>> to dodge, etc. I am picturing indiana jones type of things with giant
>>> boulders, darts shooting from the wlals, spike rooms, places to swim, etc.
>>> Just a lot of cool actiony things to challenge the gamer.
>>>
>>> Combat:
>>> Combat is initiated by bumping into or being ambushed by an enemy. It
>>> will change screens to a combat screen like a traditional rpg but it will
>>> not be standard turn based action once in. What it will be is something I
>>> have termed the "slip strike" system. Basically combat will be like a
>>> bizarre chimera of mike tyson's punchout, gemstone and final fantasy.
>>> Basically you control your character by selecting a command and then
>>> deciding when to execute it - while waiting you will actively control a
>>> block/parry/dodge defense and when you see an opening you'd execute. I can
>>> see this system being awesome, but perhaps overwelming. Maybe the beginning
>>> will be standard atb combat and only at the end is this... We'll have to
>>> play with it and find what is fun. Status effects like being maimed, etc
>>> will affect dodging and can either be made via critical hits or damage
>>> inflicted by overworld obstacles/etc.
>>>
>>> Important notes, re: combat -
>>> To grind or not to grind, that is the question... Basically, there are
>>> going to be two kinds of areas in this game, explore areas and grind areas,
>>> now grind areas can have adventuring and explore areas can have combat and
>>> enemies, but we want to keep in mind the theme of the area. Basically it is
>>> my belief that every battle should be dangerous and challenging and pose an
>>> actual threat to the player. Rather than make the game a war of attrition as
>>> the main character plows through an endless horde of weak enemies, all the
>>> fights in an adventure area should be meaningful. Less enemies, more epic
>>> fights basically. There will, of course, be grind areas too where you can
>>> do battle for the hell of it.
>>>
>>> Party member:
>>> Two quick things here... This is subject to change depending on how the
>>> combat system plays out but basically you'd either control your group
>>> actively like ff or dq or issue them general commands. This will need
>>> tweaking once we get in. The other aspect of party members that is
>>> important is this... I want death to be meaningful - losing a party member
>>> is easy to ignore if you can just ressurect them in battle or right
>>> afterwards, there is no concequence. My solution is this: if a party member
>>> dies, they go to a node and you have to go to the node to jail break them
>>> out and have them rejoin your party. We could have these nodes in various
>>> places and it could add an element to gameplay. Obviously, this will need
>>> to be balanced out, etc.
>>>
>>> Character creation, the first level:
>>> Basically you pick your face and general looks and the screen fades and
>>> your character appears in a black void. An NPC (character in hat/cloak)
>>> explains that its time to test you and you are put through (I like 3
>>> randomly ordered with a secret 4th one that pops up occasionally and maybe
>>> imbues special powers or only 4th test ppl can learn magic). How the player
>>> plays out the tests gives them a general starting point for their stats,
>>> skills and perks.
>>>
>>> THE TRIALS:
>>>
>>> Test 1 - cave - you are shoved through a door, tumble down 1000 steps and
>>> arrive at the foot of a cave. The cave has treasure and a warning not to
>>> touch it. There will be various ways through the cave (like going through a
>>> trapped tunnel, dodging the traps gives appropriate bonuses, also just being
>>> a crazy mofo and walking through does too. There is no way to lose - its a
>>> test of character). I also like barriers you could smash down or try to
>>> pick. Also I think there could be an avarice/generousity system which would
>>> balance by ppl liking you or finding more loot. At the end of the cave
>>> there is a door leading to the next quest. There is a lot of neat stuff we
>>> could do here.
>>>
>>> Test 2 - you come out the door and are on a ship. The ship is a warship.
>>> You make choices depending on information you find by talking to crew
>>> members, items you find, and talking to the prisoners. The outcomes could
>>> be things like... You free the prisoners, there's a mutiny, you escape via
>>> lifeboat, you join the crew of the warship. We can flesh this out but what
>>> I have in mind is that there's conflicting stories which makes the outcome
>>> seem morally ambiguous and maybe the best solution is only revealed if
>>> you're super perceptive and find the right clue.
>>>
>>> Test 3 - the tower - the tower is basically a spiral tower upwards with
>>> traps, monsters and treasure but no real storyline. This will just help
>>> flesh out the character stats.
>>>
>>> Remember, these tests are random so no specific order...
>>>
>>> Test 4 - you go through a door and end up in the cloaked man's room. He
>>> asks how you got there, you answer some questions and he decides whether to
>>> teach you magic and maybe what kind (physical magic that helps enhance
>>> physical skills ... Maybe an example would be double jump or jedi like
>>> stuff, mental magic which was discussed above, or a hybrid) magic probably
>>> comes at a prohibitive cost so that it balances w/ non magic players (I.e.
>>> The path of magic is harder but had awesome rewards ... It isn't for
>>> everyone). Maybe the cloaked man asks you what you sacrifice from a list we
>>> can develop. Afterwards, he pushes you out the door and end up in either one
>>> of the untaken tests or the exit .
>>>
>>> The first world: we'll need a town and storyline for this, and include
>>> the cave we are making now... The rest of the storya nd environments need to
>>> be developed but I figure by the time we get to the first town, we'll be
>>> rolling along pretty good.
>>>
>>> This is basically just an overview... Obviously many things need to be
>>> fleshed out, decided, tested, perfected...but I figure this would give a
>>> nice starting platform to work off of.
>>> Things like the mechanics of skills, stats and the perk system will need
>>> to be laid out in more detail but I think this is a nice start.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Eric
>>>
>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>
>>
>>
>
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