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bite-sized game design ideas. |
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This is where I'll post some snippets from
my ideas about games. Generally just a starting
point or simply a record of an idea. I will
still be keeping the top-drawer ones to
myself though (for now!).
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'The Professionals'
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| The concept: |
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The gameplay: |
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Laurie Johnson and the London Studio
Orchestra explode into the main theme.
You already know where I'm going with
this one. The opening FMV, Bodie and
Doyle with George Cowley in the background.
The cars, the girls, the gadgets and
the guns. This is a retro licensed
title with tons of attitude and huge
gameplay potential, just waiting to
be made.
| Remember this? |
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| bursting
onto the TV screens
of the 1970's! How
else could the game
possibly start ? |
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| Weapons,
communication
and tracksuits |
Three
strong leading
characters |
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The appeal of
'Die Profis'
extended far
beyond the UK
and Ireland
it was extremely
popular with
wider European
audiences too.
As a game concept
it has all the
potential elements
for a nostalgic
romp with cult
cache and great
gameplay.
(Have you had
your Ready Brek
this morning?)
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Here are some initial
suggestions:
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Genre: Tactical Driving-
FPS combo.
Platform: Console / PC
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Car bonnet-roll. Before we go
any further, bodie can do his
bonnet-roll-move? agreed? agreed.
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Missions:
The game centres on two members
of CI5, a branch of the Secret
Service set up by the British
Government to apply military intelligence-gathering
and combat techniques to tackle
anarchy, terrorism and crimes
against the public.
The game begins while the one
of the duo is still an east end
detective constable and the other
a member of the SAS and Para regiment,
can you remember which one?
This early part of the game provides
a training ground for the player.
Your goal is to be selected by
George Cowley, Former MI5 controller
and now the head of CI5 as he
hand picks his elite squad of
40 agents, through your performance
in 3 initial training missions.
(The results of this could set
the player difficulty level during
the game proper. This test may
also be taken again at any time
during the remainder of the game.)
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Advanced tactical driving
training (for use in later
missions:)
Use professional avoidance tactics,
vehicle dynamics & technical
driving, evasive maneuvers, barricade
breaching, tactical ramming &
night driving. (involving smashing
through lots of glass windows
of course!)
Parachuting: as part of
para training, missions can be
based on actual episodes or maybe
the entire game can run in an
episodic mode.
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Vehicles: The cars of
the time: Capri, Escort RS200,
Granada, TR-7, Cortina etc. also
there's good potential for the
use of motorbikes and motorbike
based missions (Included in the
A.T.D. Training) Dampening certainly
being the key factor in recreating
the handling physics.
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Choose your character: Playing
as either the Bodie or Doyle,
become a member of CI-5.
Maybe using a combination of playing
as one character separately and
duo missions. In some missions
bodie for example teams up with
his AI colleague. All off-screen
communications by walkie-talkie.
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Cheesy dialogue, bad haircuts
and tons of attitude!
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| Character ageing: |
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| How about using an integral in-game
character ageing system that impacts
heavily on gameplay and storyline as
they both unfold? Begin as a child,
end as an old man, between is a game
and a life. A story.
'Jedi Knight 2- Jedi Outcast' uses
a version of it, with the lead Kyle
developing greater force powers as
the game progressed. 'Soul Reaver'
uses this technique incorporating
a concept of a vast expanse of time,
mainly within its lush FMV sequences.
So too will Fable from the one and only
Peter Molyneux at Lionhead.
But can this concept be taken further?
OK. So what am I banging on about?
I am suggesting: playing the game
through the eyes of a lead characters
younger or older self (A prequel in
the games world). Perhaps the character
is a teenager and then gradually working
up to the present day (or later in
the game) to an 'age' when the characters
abilities and movements are honed
and perfected (or maybe that is the
object of the levels in between these
two ages.) 'The Old folks shopping
adventure' is not quite what I have
in mind, even though that's still
a good idea.
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The concept is to entirely build a
game around the characters age and
use it to generate the gameplay. I
think it has potential... Imagine
the opening of a game with the glorious
birth of our hero! (More Kubrick than
Mimi Ledder) and what about the possibilities
for an ending sequence? Could you
start a game as a toddler? Could the
player end the game as an old man
with terrific powers? Where is the
Stanley Kubrick of game design? As
usual I digress but I think you get
the point.
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| Shell-shocked |
Immediately after a large
explosion in close proximity to your
character, there is no game sound for
a minute or so, except for maybe a dim
ringing or silence. (Remember the gasmask
level in MOH - Allied Assault and the
impact of sound? or the key hole-peeping
'deep breathing' sound feature in Hitman
2?) When player hearing returns, it
does so gradually. Hearing can be immediately
restored by the assistance of a medic
or medi-pack perhaps?
This point touches on a much deeper
first-person game issue, which I will
explore later, here's the general idea:
There is a good opportunity to design
experience enhancing effects for the
FPS genre using some simple tricks,
for example:
1. Camera-shake during explosions,
car crashes etc.
2. Player reactions to sudden temperature
changes, such as sweating or shivering
(Also good for the affects of shock)
3. Nervous shaking - depending on
the circumstances.
4. Partial loss of sight caused by
injury. (The drunk-driving level in
Vice City)
Obviously such features should not
detract from the enjoyment of the
game, more leave little surprises
for the player. Simple audio plants
or camera moves, features that do
not require a huge amount of development
resources. The industry standard is
a red flash as you are being hit,
I understand the need for 'player
injury confirmation' but there is
still much room for concept development
in this area, while remaining within
established standards. Operation Flashpoint
- cold war crisis is an example of
extremely good game design in this
respect. Crammed with innovative features,
three alternative weapon views, and
even illuminating speed dials for
night driving, nice touches!
O.F. also deserves a big mention
for its flexibility and freedom during
gamepaly, most definitely there are
weaknesses concerning complexity with
this title, but having recently played
it again for the first time in nearly
a year it still looks great and I
was not disappointed, there's a huge
amount going on: extensive A.I. player
control, variety of vehicles, first
and third person modes, the list goes
on. This was a game a ahead of its
time.
As I mentioned earlier I will expand
on these design issues in more detail,
at a later date. (Check back soon)
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Regular, Fat & Free
Discs!
This has nothing to do with weight-loss,
more of a games-related marketing idea
but please read on...
The Problem: One of the biggest
challenges faced by the publishers of
console games is getting gamers
to ever try their games in the first
place. Not to mention getting consumers
to decide they like a particular game
and hand over the asking price.
A certain strain of depraved and iniquitous
gamer is damaging the sales of some
potentially great titles:
· Gamers that are not prepared
to pay the asking price without knowing
more.
· Gamers who refuse to rent games
before they buy.
· Gamers who don't read reviews
or find them misleading.
Gasp, shock! Who is this heathen
that thwarts our glorious business?
This is everyman. This is the majority
of the games market.
But don't demo discs do this job? Yes
but not very well - Currently it is
only the types of demo disc stuck to
the front of relatively expensive console
magazines that are widely available,
and only then if your demo disc happens
to be stuck to the right magazine and
only if your potential consumer decides
to purchase that exact magazine. Some
great games may never even be played.
One could argue 'with the growth of
online console gaming downloadable demos
could be made more widely available
right from the console itself' and you
would be right, but download time is
still a big factor and will remain so
for some time to come.
PC games have used the download model
successfully for quite some time. File
Planet is a great example: http://www.fileplanet.com
Free Demo discs! Nothing new there I
hear you say! Correct! However, what
would help is to change the way they
are compiled, produced and distributed:
The Solution: A regular
stream of widely available, FREE
console demo discs! Strategically
deployed through point of sale devices
in retail outlets such as video rental
stores, music mega-stores, toy stores,
gaming arcades, wherever the demographic
can be reached.
Groups of smaller publishers and developers
could combine forces and contribute
to the content and cost of a widely
available jam-packed demo disc. Available
say every month, each disc could contain
a large amount of demos, (Of a similar
genre or not) with the simple aim of
having their games played by gamers
and generating exposure for the product.
These discs could even contain amateur
mod's for already successful titles
or PC-based editing software for console
titles, thus providing a platform for
a console-based mod community.
The interesting point here is the growing
trend of big budget titles dominating
the market space, the similarities between
the genres and marketing of successful
games and the reasons for it. My theory
is this: This issue is more about consumer
awareness and access to the product
rather than muscle. Consumers are generally
lazy, except for hardcore gamers, but
hardcore gamers are only a small segment
of a publishers market! As a result,
gamers tend to drift from similar title
to similar title within their same old
reliable genre. Much more so than with
movies, cost is a prohibitive factor.
(Even a DVD only costs roughly £10-20)
So how I ask are gamers going to take
a risk & broaden their taste in
games if there's not enough free accessible
content out there for them to experiment
with.
Some of the best games I have ever experienced
have been those I sought out or happened
upon as opposed to those that were the
obvious choice. It's all about distribution!
Viva the cheap and cheerful bumper demo
disc.
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I will be continually uploading ideas.
If you would like to comment on or add
to any of the above, please drop
me a line. Don't forget, come back
soon! |
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