 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Rasbelin
|
 |
Tampere (Tammerfors), Finland
Nov 1999
time: 07:25
|
|
Okay, after thinking a little bit, I voted at the following options. Reasoning after the choice.
- Hybrid; makes the game more interesting as you get more options and the game will suit more different tastes (i.e. MoO fans and civers alike can find it challenging).
- Parital multiplayer; as DBTS also said, it allows better to keep focus on the SP concept and in general I'm more comfortable with this type of MP strategy gaming.
- Allow custom factions; I agree with Vovansim that we should of course of have pre-made factions that you could choose from, but the ability to make custom ones is of course important. 30 open slots and 2 special slots for aliens and natives (1 faction = 1 slot).
- Lot of attention on techs; I have always been into research, but it's also the key to the management of your faction as you get more abilities, so as it's a strategy game, it's just good to pay attention to them.
- Type I; I had first some trouble to make up my mind, but I decided to choose this one as it's more interesting to research if you don't have that much in the beginning (sounds very civish, but maybe that's why research is so captivating in Civ) and it's once again abit more challenging as you don't get all military techs at once (or almost immidiately).
- Allow talents; this sounds interesting, despite I have no other thoughts about it now. At least it would be something new, rather than seen before.
- Allow leaders/heroes; I have to admit that the leader concept of Civ III and heroes in HoMM3 have influenced my choice now.  Even more nice is to have some short background stories for the leaders/heroes (type HoMM3  ).
- Dynamic weather; of course. Vultur's weather model is IMO nice, so why not utilise it then.  Plus it makes the game more interesting as the climate changes.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Gateway103
|
|
After doing some thinking, here are my votes and some thoughts (WARNING! Another long post).
Hybrid (to be designed)
Although we are likely to begin the game with Type I societies (judging from others' votes so far), eventually, a planet may seem to be "crowded" or too "small scaled" as we move up the technology tree. Moreover, even if we can come up with a lot of interesting and distinctively useful technologies that befits on a planetary scale alone, and that's not an easy task, I believe the game's replayability and the potential for fun may be enhanced by taking the game one level higher.
On a galactic-scale (or a portion of it), we can have a wide range and large number of "habitable" systems (not all of which are necessary "habitable" to humans mind you), as well as various alien life forms. Also, we can introduce a myriad "specials/anomalies" and other quirks to make the game more interesting, and each solar system different in their own ways. On a solar system or planet scale, however, the size of game map is more restricted, as well as the possible flavors of "specials/anomalies".
Originally I was leaning towards Space Oriented, because I am not very confident that a galactic-scale game with detailed planetary-scale features can be successful. Nonetheless, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, and see what we can come up with.
I know there are numerous possible objections to the lack of "Realism" for a galactic-scale game. However, consider the reason as to why we play "games." It is because it is fun and entertaining to do so, not because it is realistic. The same motivation drives people to read fantasies and sci-fi novels, where many great pieces of work are "un-realistic." In the end, it is not about if the story "can happen", but whether you are entertained, inspired, or challenge by the stories that mattered. If realism is what one is after, isn't there enough already in "real life" already?
Allow only Partial Multiplayer (like normal Civ-Games)
There are many people that enjoys (even exclusively) the solitary fun that is Single Player. The fact that I am one of those people surely biased my opinion. But anyway, it is not the easiest task in the world to organize a strategy game among several people, playing over the course of several weekends (doable, but not everyone is capable or willing to do so). So why deprive these poor people the joy that this game may offer?
Allow Custom Factions (sort of)
Now this part of voting is somewhat confusing. Of my best guesstimate, I take it "faction" here stands to something akin to SMAC/X's "faction", i.e. a group of people bounded by single main ideological thoughts. I take it that it does not mean just any "group of people" such as "civilzations" in civs series, since that would make the choice "don't allow factions" somewhat mysterious.
With my guesstimates, I prefer the ability to customize factions. Of course, I also agree there should be pre-made factions for story purposes. A possibility here is that instead of "pre-made" factions, we can have "stock" factions. Each "stock" faction will have one single main ideological thought, and some faction-specific hardwired attributes/restrictions. However, when actually playing, the player will select any of the "stock" factions, and tweak other non-hardwired attributes via some sort of barter or points system. This will not ruin the game story, but will increase replayability, and give players a more "personal attachment" to their factions.
Allow Lot of attention on Techs
Civilization Type I (few sci-fi techs at the start of game)
Technology are often associated with progress, and progress is believed to be a driving force for society. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect a lot of them. Choosing Type I seems appropriate not only so that the tech tree can be larger, but also seemed adequate for a hybrid version. Yet perhaps player can choose some sort of "Accelerated Start" option to get on the galactic-scale of things quicker than just spending quiet some time on planet and solar system scale of things.
I have some interesting ideas on technology tree and research model, but this post is long enough as it is, perhaps I'll postpone them when someone opened an appropriate thread for it.
Allow Talents
Allow Leaders/Heroes
Now I am not too sure about the differences between the two here. My guess is that "Talents" are the intellectual class of a society, and "Leaders/Heroes" are specially gifted individuals.
I may object to immortal Leaders/Herores or if their presence may make the game unbalancing (sometimes Wonders or Secret Projects gives me the latter feeling), but in general I am in favor of game features that while it is not too difficult to make, but can enhance players' experience.
Static Wheather
The last item is on weather. Dynamic Weather (as I understand it from Vultur's posts) would be an interesting feature to have if the game was on a Planet or maybe a solar system scale. However, having weather may be too much detail if the game was on a galactic scale. But since I voted for a hybrid system to begin with, I will compromise by choosing a Static Wheather. Yet, if there is a simplified version of Dynamic Wheather, maybe that would be more appropriate for the Hybrid design.
Just another long post 
-Gateway103
Last edited by Gateway103 on 22-01-2003 at 05:34
|
|
| |
|
|
|
targon
|
|
Dolgoprudny, Moscow region
Nov 2002
time: 08:25
|
|
OK, I really disregard thing like privacy concerning vital design features, so here are my votes
Hybrid . Because there are a lot of space games, and also a lot of planetary games. We need something new, something different.
Partial MP. Because this is more fits strategic game, IMHO.
Allow custom factions. Because it's fun. Remember time spent in so-called "race designers" in famous space games like Stars!, Pax Emperia and so on.
Lots of Tech. It's of great empire- and game-building value.
Civ I. I simply can't grok how Types II and III would look like.
Allow talents. Why not?
Allow heroes. We can't simply ignore the nature of personality in history-making.
Dynamic weather. It's fun; while not unique (see Xconq) but rare and interesing feature.
And one more sidenote. IMHO, we need working alpha and some player feedback ASAP!
|
|
| |
|
|
|
targon
|
|
Dolgoprudny, Moscow region
Nov 2002
time: 08:25
|
|
I think that our approach must be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Rapid-prototype something working first, and get its going. Play-test, pin down bugs and collate feature requests. Implement desired parts, then again play-test etc. This is exact working scheme for any successful Internet project I'm aware of.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
targon
|
|
Dolgoprudny, Moscow region
Nov 2002
time: 08:25
|
|
1. I'll try to find; this type of map graphics was used, say, in Remote Assault, Dark Reign 2, Z2 and many others; while these examples are RTS, rendered approach grows in strength as 3D hardware becomes more and more fast and feature-rich, so why we need to use old approach for a new game?
2. ??? What kind of code, exactly? I know of couple dozen of open-source rendering engines, and most of them may render terrain somehow.
3. Yes, of course. Earth surfece is 100% 3D thing while it's possible to draw its map with paper and pencil . All we need is so-called "heightfield", 2D array of height values, or something comparable. This array may be filled using well-known generation algo. Peek at Terraform, opensource heightfield generator, it includes even river and erosion simulation (somewhere at sourceforge).
4. Yes, while you keep z-buffer clean or otherwise fool 3D hardware. In fact, most of 3D game engines include some 2D stuff, like sprites, for speeding up things like explosions, clouds and other "heavy" objects.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Michiel
|
|
Here's what I voted:
Hybrid:
Because it'll be a sci-fi-type game it should definately have space-exploration and space-battle, but I think the planets are important too. Maybe when you find a new planet you will have to take some time exploring it before you can colonize it. There should also be battles on the planet's surface too. With suborbital air units, land units, and maybe from 'spaceships' too.
Partial MP:
I allways play the single-player version of a game before going online. It not only prepares players for online play, but if you want to play alone, an SP mode will make the game faster. No point using MP when you're alone. Why not also make a LAN-mode.
Allow Custom Factions:
I didn't vote on this one, I don't understand. Please explain. I know I can't vote anymore, but still.
Lot of attention on techs:
Tech-research is just the best part of this kind of game. How else will species advance? Research a tech, which gives you the ability to build something, which can train troops/build ships, etc. I love it.
Heroes/Talents:
I like the idea, but they belong in a fixed storyline, which is not a good idea for this kind of game. Maybe after a certain research you can 'train/make' a certain hero before other factions. Maybe you can further explain this hero/talent-thing.
Dynamic weather:
I prefer dynamic weather, but if it's too complicated...
Suggestion:
What about 'world wonders', like in civ? Maybe some sci-fi version of it? Just tell me what you think.
|
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:25.
Apolyton Time is 00:25. |
top of page
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
21-01-2003 00:38
|