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Vyemm Raider
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If we are on the topic of games we'd like to see get made, I have two.
First is a futuristic strategy game + PVP FPS mash up.
Shit ton of other ideas for utilizing mobile and tablets in order to totally invade the player's life and not let them have a moment of peace or respite from the harsh realities of an imaginary world.
And forget about the second game for now, this post is already a book...
First is a futuristic strategy game + PVP FPS mash up.
The game essentially has two very different modes of play. One mode is a strategy game where the player is trying to build a corporation/ make money/ take over the star system ect. They can build facilities, set up trade networks, barter, negotiate, build defenses, hire security forces. It's like a dystopian cyberpunk version of sim city, except it would take a TON of resources to actually build more than a single city block. Player groups could eventually be running their own starports and have small security armies. The scale of actual construction would be on a tile by tile basis. So placing individual doors and such.
The other mode is an FPS shooter. Here you explore the world that is getting designed in the strategy game.
The balance comes in how quickly does the game world respond to the strategy players. I am thinking a sort of Queue system where building something is not instant. It takes time. So you queue up some improvements, then maybe jump in and screw around with your first person character.
The goal of the FPS is to, make money, look cool, take over the star system, blow shit up, kill people, or just chill. You could join a mercenary squad, check out the civilian sectors, fly a starship, put you feet up on your rich mahogany desk as you sit in a plush leather chair made from the flayed skins of your enemies... you know, typical evil corporation type stuff.
The game world would be a mix of procedural generation + player development. The terrain would follow rules but be different for each new zone that is discovered.
Players would be given modules and components and be able to mash em together to create or redesign new items, buildings and vehicles. These one-offs the player make would be prototypes. The prototypes could then be deconstructed and turned into designs. Designs would require X components or raw materials and could be mass produced through fabrication facilities. The more complex the components and the rarer or more advanced the materials, the better equipped the facility needs to be. A good design could achieve the same results using far fewer materials and components.
Hacking and stealing other players design data would be a thing.
There would be NPC factions that help mitigate some of the chaos and give the people who aren't very good at self organization a place to join up and play with a larger force. Also to prevent total war, the stellar military forces could be called in and marshal law declared. At this point no one gets to queue up more buildings in that sector and any resistance is met with accordingly. The amount of NPC interference would be directly related to how close to an existing NPC faction's territory the carnage is taking place.
Go build a facility on a distant asteroid and you could create a zoo and then nuke it for all anyone else cares... except maybe your investors.
The last big piece of this is to make the game mobile and tablet friendly for the strategy end, and integrate that into the FPS end which will still require more substantial hardware. This way you can check on your facility, make changes, and queue things whenever. Also call in reinforcements/ get alerts as to when your shit is getting wrecked. So you could manually control various aspects of the facility and issue orders to personnel while monitoring enemy activity in real time. Maybe even rig the whole place to blow at the push of a button if it looks like a total loss.
You could, through in game interfaces, attempt to hack other peoples' in game assets and databases. So remote virtual cyber crime or some other ridiculous mash up of buzzwords. The in game markets could be accessed remotely. If you are part of the leadership of a corporation and there is an important vote you need to be a part of, the game could notify you through your account page.
Ordering assassinations, thefts, vandalism and new clothes could all be done through various remote interfaces. You could post money up front and other players could accept the work. If they fail the job their rating goes down and they don't get paid. Giving out important work to total unknowns would not be advised. You could also post open contracts, first one to complete it wins.
The other mode is an FPS shooter. Here you explore the world that is getting designed in the strategy game.
The balance comes in how quickly does the game world respond to the strategy players. I am thinking a sort of Queue system where building something is not instant. It takes time. So you queue up some improvements, then maybe jump in and screw around with your first person character.
The goal of the FPS is to, make money, look cool, take over the star system, blow shit up, kill people, or just chill. You could join a mercenary squad, check out the civilian sectors, fly a starship, put you feet up on your rich mahogany desk as you sit in a plush leather chair made from the flayed skins of your enemies... you know, typical evil corporation type stuff.
The game world would be a mix of procedural generation + player development. The terrain would follow rules but be different for each new zone that is discovered.
Players would be given modules and components and be able to mash em together to create or redesign new items, buildings and vehicles. These one-offs the player make would be prototypes. The prototypes could then be deconstructed and turned into designs. Designs would require X components or raw materials and could be mass produced through fabrication facilities. The more complex the components and the rarer or more advanced the materials, the better equipped the facility needs to be. A good design could achieve the same results using far fewer materials and components.
Hacking and stealing other players design data would be a thing.
There would be NPC factions that help mitigate some of the chaos and give the people who aren't very good at self organization a place to join up and play with a larger force. Also to prevent total war, the stellar military forces could be called in and marshal law declared. At this point no one gets to queue up more buildings in that sector and any resistance is met with accordingly. The amount of NPC interference would be directly related to how close to an existing NPC faction's territory the carnage is taking place.
Go build a facility on a distant asteroid and you could create a zoo and then nuke it for all anyone else cares... except maybe your investors.
The last big piece of this is to make the game mobile and tablet friendly for the strategy end, and integrate that into the FPS end which will still require more substantial hardware. This way you can check on your facility, make changes, and queue things whenever. Also call in reinforcements/ get alerts as to when your shit is getting wrecked. So you could manually control various aspects of the facility and issue orders to personnel while monitoring enemy activity in real time. Maybe even rig the whole place to blow at the push of a button if it looks like a total loss.
You could, through in game interfaces, attempt to hack other peoples' in game assets and databases. So remote virtual cyber crime or some other ridiculous mash up of buzzwords. The in game markets could be accessed remotely. If you are part of the leadership of a corporation and there is an important vote you need to be a part of, the game could notify you through your account page.
Ordering assassinations, thefts, vandalism and new clothes could all be done through various remote interfaces. You could post money up front and other players could accept the work. If they fail the job their rating goes down and they don't get paid. Giving out important work to total unknowns would not be advised. You could also post open contracts, first one to complete it wins.
Shit ton of other ideas for utilizing mobile and tablets in order to totally invade the player's life and not let them have a moment of peace or respite from the harsh realities of an imaginary world.
And forget about the second game for now, this post is already a book...
