Messages

1

Discussion / Re: do explosions travel thorugh walls

« on: June 17, 2010, 08:34:37 am »

maybe i read (or dreamt i read) a long time ago that current engine does not allow for destructable walls. Or at least the devs didnt knew how to. Thinking the quote was similar to "If you can manage to make -this game engine- do that, be my guest"

Besides, You are an eco friendly Phalanx Unit! you recycle, use public transport, and mantain Private Property Walls unharmed. Also, you dont splatter the guts of aliens in front of children.

Speaking of which. The game needs more half sized civilians that run a lot, are a harder-to-hit-target, and will run into your soldier's LOS at every given chance. I mean those little human vermin known as Kids.

2

Discussion / Re: Production for profit

« on: June 17, 2010, 08:17:35 am »

Well in my "thinking of the game's background story" way,  "You" (as in, the commander, the soldiers, and the whole PHALANX operation as a whole) are a set of "the best that mankind could gather" and, is supported in logistics by the UN, BUT in supplies and credits by the nations of such UNs. So, From the point of view of those nations, "Im Paying so we can live. Im NOT paying so the commander of the PHALANX unit gets rich".

So, in an economical point of view, you (the commander) are NOT the CEO of that "company". you are just a middle manager. You are not allowed to set the price of the products you make WITH the funding of others.

Also, You are a unit created to Help Mankind. So its expected you pretty much give away all the technologies and products you achieve. Im surprised you are even allowed to sell back stuff. Anim even more surprised that the nations dont set some production/research quotas to fulfill by the end of moth (nudge to designers)

3

Discussion / Re: UFO:AI Online

« on: June 17, 2010, 07:26:03 am »

Good Evening Vedrit.

I would like to point out that, for the people around here that do the serious work, "Game Concept" is NOT a quick "well i suggest a game where you can fight and defend earth. it will be fun yay!" kind of answer. What they meant (and have pointed out) is that you need to really think WHAT your game is actually going to be.

Starting BEFORE the plot (saving earth etc) you have to decide The genre / Type . Yeah, MMORPG, but what kind? FPS, third person strategy, team control strategy, turn based fighting Final Fantasy style, puzzle solving? will it be PVP based, PVM based, or a mix. if so, how will it work?

Allright, you have a Genre. Now, how are you going to implement it? if FPS, then forget the turn based options, and you will have just a very large Quake 3 arena (bonus points on quake engine i guess? ). if turn based team control, then how will it work with the "massive" player numbers etc. (playing your turn then come back 4 hours later to play again isnt really fun)

Now that you have that, then you decide on the mechanics of your game. RPGs are basically a mix of Story + stats growth. so you have to figure out how will that work on your game in a balanced way (not that everyone is max level after 10 mins of plaing, but neither that you have to grind for years to get ONE level)

Then, what will be the player's options, control scheme, and in general "how the game will be played" ie. imagine yourself actually playing it. where do you click/use the keyboard etc.

Now that you have that, how will the GUI will be? it has to be "simple" enough, intuitive, have a clean and good look etc.

after all of that you can FINALLY worry about the story "you will fight as a soldier to save earth!". Story is OF COURSE important. But you need to actually have an idea of the kind of game before using a story on it. Ever had that feeling "Awesome story!!! the game sucked, but the story was great!!"?

You need to provide with ALL the details possible, so the programmers actually know what to program. Dont know programming yourself? its OK!, this process needs conceptual artists too.

In conclusion. All of this goes for the design of "almost a new game" yes, why? because as ive heard, UFO:AI ALREADY has a multiplayer option.

In order to adapt/create/port it to a MMORPG you need to do some serious thinking. And not rely on vague ideas and hoping thats enough.

Game Creating, is a "serious bussiness" (yes, even our great old school classics had a lot of thinking put in them. a lot more than on the "new" ones, as it was said already.)

Final Note: First, Sorry for the Unholy Wall Of Text of Doom. Second, Ive thought of this concept a looong time ago. so if you need suggestions or so on this MMORPG adaptation, feel free to ask.