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Game Design Theory / Things you would like to see in a Sci Fi Game

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Wolf
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 00:25
Hey guys!

I`m currently working on a Scifi Game (Shooter) and I would be really interested if you guys have some ideas what you always wanted or like to see in SciFi Video Games.

If theres anything you always disliked in that kind of game, please let me know.

The Game itself will be a remake of my old FPSC Game "Shavra" with better graphics and the whole game way darker and more athmospheric. Its more one of these "dystopia" "end of the world" styled games, just to let you know.

-Wolf

God Helps the Beast in Me!
Bursar
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 01:38
If it's end of the world, then are a few things I'd like to see.

Depict panic in the streets if the events are just occurring. If the events happened a little while ago and you're one of the few survivors, then there needs to be bodies and debris all over the place.

If the event is caused by some kind of alien invasion, then you need to feel like you're part of an effort to push back the invaders. You should see other squads fighting alongside you, even if you don't/can't directly interact with them.

And please no 'yesterday you were an office worker, today you are the only hope for humanity' story lines
nackidno
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 10:17
Crawling in vents, no doubt. With aliens dwelling inside of them.

Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 17:28
Maybe..

Cleaner Robots like Silent Running.
An indoor Botanical Garden
Talking Holograms
underground floating railway tube
Crane grabber loading bay
Electric Cars
Laser defences
3D Radar map
3D Television

Wolf
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 20:01
Quote: "
And please no 'yesterday you were an office worker, today you are the only hope for humanity' story lines"


Well, its not THAT kind of game. I think we`ve already seen too much of these, so if youre interested, heres the story:



Quote: "Crawling in vents, no doubt. With aliens dwelling inside of them."


I`ve got a whole load of these, since I`m a way better Designer when it comes to smaller areas. I do not have any Aliens, it doesnt fit, therefore I`ve got maintenance Bots.

Quote: "Cleaner Robots like Silent Running."


I loved that movie, I watched it the first time when I was 12 years old and it really touched me. Well, like I`ve written (or wrote?) there are some Robots in the Game.

Quote: "An indoor Botanical Garden "


I had that Idea a while ago too, but it doesn`t fit the story.

Quote: "Talking Holograms"


I`ve got a few hologram panels, but talking ones are a bit too much work, and they do not fit the storyline, but thanks for the idea.
Quote: "
underground floating railway tube
Crane grabber loading bay
Electric Cars"


Too "city" themed.

Quote: "Laser defences"


I`ve got a few laser like blocades and some Bioscanners in Decontamination Chambers.
Quote: "
3D Radar map
3D Television"


That again, is too much work and only semi realisable for me.

Thanks for the nice ideas

-Wolf

God Helps the Beast in Me!
Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 20:22 Edited at: 12th Oct 2009 20:23
3D TV is easy, I made a TV projector in a day, and to make it 3D is barely any different. see my art Gallery in WIP. You also get things in Star Wars like a planet floating in the air.. they look good.

Wolf
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Posted: 12th Oct 2009 20:43
I think I add a big spinning cube in an maintenance area with loads of text on it... that would be cool. And then some shooting there, with enemys running through the hologram.

That would be awesome... I`ll do this tomorrow evening. Thanks for the idea!

-Wolf

God Helps the Beast in Me!
Peter H
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Posted: 13th Oct 2009 19:53
make it dynamic, moving parts or displays whenever you have an excuse.

there is nothing worse than a completely static world, ESPECIALLY in a sci-fi setting. (trees and castles can get away with remaining still)

One man, one lawnmower, plenty of angry groundhogs.
Libervurto
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Posted: 14th Oct 2009 18:01
Quote: "And please no 'yesterday you were an office worker, today you are the only hope for humanity' story lines"

Precisely, since when did games become about massaging the player's ego?
If it's the apocalpye then you should feel insignificant and vulnerable.
Saving the world is such a one-dimensional storyline "the world is broke, fix it please".
It's much better to find a story within the environment you've set up.
"Yesterday you were an office worker, today the office has exploded and there are no jobs because everything has exploded (oops) so better pull yourself together and find a way to survive."
In games and hollywood films there's always a resolution; someone is reunited, the world is saved, blah blah. What if your game didn't offer a resolution what if its endnote was, well you tried your best but humanity is screwed! Now that's dark!

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Wolf
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Posted: 14th Oct 2009 23:13
Quote: "In games and hollywood films there's always a resolution; someone is reunited, the world is saved, blah blah. What if your game didn't offer a resolution what if its endnote was, well you tried your best but humanity is screwed! Now that's dark!"


I`m used (also in Storywriting) to put the player or protagonist in a universe and let him be part of it. Play a story somewhere within it, not to change it. I`m also pretty tired of these "one dimensional" game ideas nowadays.

If you feel like it, you could read my story posted above in the code snippet. i would like to know what you think about the whole concept.

God Helps the Beast in Me!
Libervurto
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Posted: 15th Oct 2009 03:04
The world you have created is good and well thought out, but I'd recommend not going into detail about the war and back story in the game. There's nothing worse than having to sit through a 10 minute film telling you the history of the universe before you can start playing (sorry MGS fans ) apart from anything else it's lazy; films shouldn't do it, and games certainly shouldn't.
The main character seems a bit like Neo from The Matrix, who I actually liked as a character because he felt the burden of being "the one", but it's very difficult to write a character people can connect with if he is seemingly god-like.

My opinion is either stick with your "Indigo Warrior", but if you do flesh him out a bit and make him feel the burden of his power and seem more human and vulnerable at times. Alternatively make the protaganist a normal person with no special abilities.

The best protagonist depends on what sort of game you want to make: if you want more action then the powerful character is best, if you want...

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Libervurto
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Posted: 15th Oct 2009 03:08
if you want more puzzles and strategy involed a weaker protagonist is best because they will naturally be more likely to use stealth and intelligence rather than force.

This "Escape" episode is a really good introduction to the story because it is set in a confined area that doesn't require much explanation, and so it allows you to gradually reveal the storyline to the player as they learn about the protagonist and the world he lives in.

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Dared1111
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Posted: 15th Oct 2009 18:19
Quote: "I`m used (also in Storywriting) to put the player or protagonist in a universe and let him be part of it. Play a story somewhere within it, not to change it. I`m also pretty tired of these "one dimensional" game ideas nowadays."


I'm sold. I'd play anything you made. The only issue is that the story mentions a "firesoul". My concern is that there would be a "chosen" hero plot. Also, a character is not an antihero for pessimism, unless they are depressed/ morbid/ any other evil characteristic. Batman is an Antihero (his motives are good, but he likes to scare people as much as possible), as is Wolverine (he isn't a bad guy, but he doesn't care if he leaves enemies to bleed out in little pieces).

Personally, I'd like weapons to serve more purpose than shooting enemies, like destroying locks, breaking chains (which may be stopping monsters escaping), or signaling.

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Wolf
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Posted: 15th Oct 2009 21:36
First of all: Thanks for reading and commenting my story. I really appreciate it.

Now for the details:

Quote: "The world you have created is good and well thought out, but I'd recommend not going into detail about the war and back story in the game. There's nothing worse than having to sit through a 10 minute film telling you the history of the universe before you can start playing (sorry MGS fans ) apart from anything else it's lazy; films shouldn't do it, and games certainly shouldn't."



I haven`t planned to do that. I hate it myself. The Intro just tells you how you got caught.


Quote: "The main character seems a bit like Neo from The Matrix, who I actually liked as a character because he felt the burden of being "the one", but it's very difficult to write a character people can connect with if he is seemingly god-like."


You don`t have any powers. Its just something I may refer to later. (I believe in spirituality and I like to bring this into my game ideas thats why I added this.) The only power the character has...well its not a power, but anyway is his inner desperation that makes him kinda cold and able to kill all these people in order to escape. I have the thoughts of the maincharacter in loadingscreens, so the player can connect some more with him.


Quote: "This "Escape" episode is a really good introduction to the story because it is set in a confined area that doesn't require much explanation, and so it allows you to gradually reveal the storyline to the player as they learn about the protagonist and the world he lives in."


Thats why I do something with a prison escape and not another great Scifiwar.

Quote: "if you want more puzzles and strategy involed a weaker protagonist is best because they will naturally be more likely to use stealth and intelligence rather than force."


I like to give my protagoniists a bit of my own charackter, thats why they prefer to use force But there are some puzzles and messing around with the prison security systems I`m kinda proud of.


Quote: "Also, a character is not an antihero for pessimism, unless they are depressed/ morbid/ any other evil characteristic"


The character is in fact kinda depressed. Hes been thrown into this world of war and chaos and has killed way too much people for his young age. The only thing he ever really wanted is love, and its the only thing he`ll never get. Most of my storys are basically about a love so I wanted this one to be without any gals. Maybe to get it darker. The Character "Lopreska" is an unstable violence driven person.



Quote: "I'm sold. I'd play anything you made."


Interested in an FPSC Project? I`m releasing the Demo of my Survival Horror Game this Fall: http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=157431&b=25
Its my main project and I`m pretty proud of what I took out of the underpowered FPSC Engine.


Quote: "Batman is an Antihero (his motives are good, but he likes to scare people as much as possible), as is Wolverine (he isn't a bad guy, but he doesn't care if he leaves enemies to bleed out in little pieces)."


Well, I`ve written enough about my shavra character Other Antiheros I like: The Punisher, Kevin Bacon in the Movie "Death Sentence", Riddick.

-Wolf

God Helps the Beast in Me!
entomophobiac
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Posted: 18th Oct 2009 13:16
Personally, I'd like to see actual hard SF. It's almost never the case with games. Usually, SciFi comes down to whatever Aliens or Star Wars references the writers fancied. Or possibly a few grains of Battlestar Galactica.

Way too little Heinlein or Clarke in there.

So I'd say I care little for the details before there's a firm ground in science. For short: I want more science in my science fiction.

Most people tend to go the lazy route and write fantasy fiction with laser pistols and then stamp the SF genre on it with blatant ignorance. Oops... Sorry. That would be the game industry.
Plotinus
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Posted: 19th Oct 2009 22:45
I agree with that last comment, and I'd add, in its spirit, that I'd like to see science fiction games that are set in a vaguely probable or at least vaguely pleasant future, and not some ghastly dystopia - let alone that oldest of cliches, a futuristic "perfect utopia" that is actually a horrible dystopia if only the fascistic government could see it. Unless it's actually a game based on "Brave New World" - otherwise it's just too tired.

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