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From: Ben C. <cro...@ne...> - 2000-02-10 01:04:13
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Comrades (for lack of a better term that's inclusive of both genders), I wrote up my ideas for the gameplay on Project X. This is pure theory -- it doesn't discuss any implementation details (i.e. it's *what* to do, not how to do it). Please read it over, give it some thought, and reply to this message with any ideas you have. This is completely open to any comments, suggestions or criticism. To make this game the best it can be, we need to make sure this document (and the stuff described therein) is what we want. So rip it to shreds and give everyone your input. Also, on a side note, I'll be gone on Friday, so if there's any free time, read over this in class (somebody want to print it up?) and pick it apart there. Group discussions are good. ;) Send all ideas and revisions to the list. Also, if Royce doesn't already know, somebody please tell him that I'll be at the Model UN conference then (which is why I'll be gone). Without further ado, then, here it is: --- Design doc --- Project X will be a multiplayer action game, highly extensible (through the Lua script engine), using a top-down view. The basic game will be a battlefield clash -- in dozens of scenarios such as an outdoor field, a futuristic building, the rooftops of a metropolis, and a government warehouse. Each player starts out with the basic weapon, a sword. There are, however, weapons scattered throughout the playing field -- bazookas, flame throwers, bombs, and so on -- that the player can pick up. Some weapons -- guns, for example -- require ammunition. By default the player gets a limited amount, and to restock, he has to find weapon-specific ammo deposits (which are also scattered throughout the playing field). Once all the players but one are killed -- i.e. we have a winner -- the round is over. The game may continue here, with options for staying with the current map, having the computer choose a random map, or manually selecting a particular map. The winner is the only one who retains his status (and weapons) from the previous round. Each player gets a score which is simply how many opponents he killed. The winner takes that score and gets twice that much (i.e. if both he and another player kill 3 players, the winner gets 6 points while the second player only gets 3). The objectives are to a) get points and b) accumulate weapons. To get points, you have to kill everything you can, and to keep weapons, you have to win rounds. The players aren't alone on the battlefield, however. There are stupid little grunts that just walk around getting in the way (and if you touch them, you lose health). There are ghost clouds, nearly invisible, that float around and grab hold of players for random amounts of time, draining the player's health in the process. Parasites walk around aimlessly until players get within a certain distance of them; then they follow them closely. Some are harmless, but others can hurt you (not very much, though). Carriers also walk around aimlessly, occasionally dropping weapons or power-ups or ammo. There are a few basic types of weapons: swords (hand-held weapons that you slash or hit with, such as swords and clubs), projectiles (anything that flies away from the play, such as bullets (guns) and arrows), and bombs (weapons that sit and wait for a stimulus to detonate, which may be either players being nearby or a time limit -- bombs and mines). Each player can carry an unlimited amount of weapons. However, ammo is limited, to 50 units per weapon type (i.e. 50 bullets, 50 arrows, etc.). Each character (player or computer-controlled) has characteristics such as health (usually 0-100 for normal characters, but this varies, and power-ups can increase the limit), type (human, whatever), and so on. There are certain "magic" tiles which add to the gameplay -- teleports, which either have set or random destinations; stairs for changing floors; bushes which can be burned away by certain weapons; fire tiles, which hurt players and are caused by either certain weapons or random events (like disasters in Sim City); bouncy blocks which rebound players; pits that players can fall into (which result in death); blocks that can be pushed around (and can crush players); ice areas where players can slip and slide; and motion tiles (flat escalators). Obviously not all of these tiles would fit on certain levels (i.e. bouncy blocks wouldn't quite be appropriate on a woodsy, outdoor level). --- Design doc end --- Later, Ben -- "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. |