Science Fiction Text Sim

[Danny]

Hello all, I posted a little while ago about my changing direction in college and my interest in starting to program.

I have decided I would like to make a Science Fiction management game in the mold of Storm Cloud's coliseum. I am looking to start my design document in the coming days/weeks and would like any and all ideas you guys can think of for this game, no mater how general or specific they may be.

Also, any feedback or encouragement for this idea is welcome as well :).

[Chief Rum]

Could you expand on exactly what you mean by a "science fiction text sim"? I haven't read or heard of the reference you put up. Just curious.

CR

[Danny]

Basically a sim that will be set in a fictional future universe. You will manage a team of fighters against other teams of fighters. Similiar to the coliseum game if you've played it. Basically, instead of managing a baseball team, in this universe, the owners manage a team of fighters.

[Danny]

Alright, here are a few questions to get started. Eventually I will set up a separate forum for this.

In how big of a world should this take place? Whole universe, one system of stars, one planet?

How many races of beings is a good amount? There needs to be enough to make it interesting, but not so many that it overwhelms.

What should be the identifier for each team of fighters. A city, planet, race, solar system?

Would you like to see RPG elements where you can customize fighters weapons and armor?

What kind of media coverage should there be? This could be too corny, but perhaps a local newspaper style from some smaller planet for reporting certain things.

Should there be any deaths or should the game be kept clean?

What kind of side games or quests as coliseum calls them should be included?

Should there be transfers between squads?

How about a financial system where fighters are paid a wage?

How many fighters per squad? Active and reserve?

Perhaps weather which effects the terrain and gives some fighters who come from a planet with similiar terrain an advantage?

At what pace should the game progress?

Should there be seasons?

[Mac Howard]

Sounds to me like a great idea. I would have thought there are many different games based on this with different scenarios.

[sachmo71]

Earth in the future? Sort of a Thunderdome sort of thing?
Or I also like the idea of a galactic games, with many different races fighting. It's sort of an old plotline, but if done well it could be interesting.

I would love RPG elements, but the game needs to be about the fighters I think, so if the RPG is too intense, it could limit player freedom. So I think making the fighters have individual personalitites would be best.
How about a random back story for each fighter, as Ancient Domains of Mystery does with each new character? Maybe make the back story modable?

I think there should be deaths, and maybe an option between gruesome deaths and non-descript deaths. It seems like that was a big draw to Derek's game! :)

I'm thinking that the fighters would be in it for the glory and the wealth, but maybe once you are in the circuit, you can't get out until you've fought a certain number of fights?

Another important aspect would be rival owners. If you can't make it hotseat or multiplayer, you could make the computer owners such complete and utter bastards that the player would NEED to take his fighters out with extreme prejudice. Maybe add blood feuds?

Cheating should be possible in a match.

Futureistic melee weapons are a must, or even updated low-tech weapons, like self closing nets or force tridents.

A black market might be nice?

[condors]

Most important thing i believe is give the game life:make it different than just a text sim

Make Bad Guys with personalities
1-a group known for cheating and have the win some lose some but always cheat!(throw dirt in the eyes)

2-Noble group-opposite of the first if you drop your weapon they offer you the chance to pick it up

3-Rival Group-same as the player but routinely goes out of their way to give the player a hard time

Everything should be important and effect the game, training, equipment,

also may want to consider 4 vs 4 battles to allow multiple players tactics

maybe have 8 man teams with 4 types of warriors

shooters-kinda self explanatory could have long range bombs to work with scouts

melee-guys who get close and then its game over

medic-every team should have one and need to protect him

scout-could be stealth or speed types just something to a team heads up

all "warriors" could have varying degrees of these skills/abilites

have them get better and earn experience.

[Marc Vaughan]

Take a look at martialcombat.com (and its relative 'futurecombat') ... they're quite fun little online combat sims (my manager is marcv2 in case you're interested - the team is called 'Crash Damage' ...).

[nfg22]

For finances I think it would be kool to have the option to give a cut of what you make at each show to the fighters that fight for you...that way if they dont draw the crowd they dont get paid

[Danny]

Definitely some good suggestions here. Keep em coming :).

[Marc Vaughan]

(presuming you're keeping relatively similar to Colliseum)

I'd suggest the following:

* Kidnapping rival team fighters as part of the (cough) recruitment options available
* Security setup for fighters
* Body Guard (to protect you as 'manager' from rival teams hits and your fighters when they're not happy with you)
* Lots of training options
* Random option to purchase special weapons
* RPG style player progression (ie. increasing skills & abilities according to player decisions)
* Various fight types (i'd suggest there being a 'league' system for the fighting - with the 'home' team deciding the fight type from various available, eg. 1 vs 1, team vs team, first blood, duel to the death etc.).
* Media speculation and hype - which can lead to 'player ego' problems
* As its a sci-fi genre consider allowing research and development for weapons, armour - but be careful not to let this unbalance the gameplay.

Thats off the top of my head (and should keep you occupied for a fair while ;) ).

[The_herd]

Alright, here are a few questions to get started. Eventually I will set up a separate forum for this.

In how big of a world should this take place? Whole universe, one system of stars, one planet?

How many races of beings is a good amount? There needs to be enough to make it interesting, but not so many that it overwhelms.

What should be the identifier for each team of fighters. A city, planet, race, solar system?

Would you like to see RPG elements where you can customize fighters weapons and armor?

What kind of media coverage should there be? This could be too corny, but perhaps a local newspaper style from some smaller planet for reporting certain things.

Should there be any deaths or should the game be kept clean?

What kind of side games or quests as coliseum calls them should be included?

Should there be transfers between squads?

How about a financial system where fighters are paid a wage?

How many fighters per squad? Active and reserve?

Perhaps weather which effects the terrain and gives some fighters who come from a planet with similiar terrain an advantage?

At what pace should the game progress?

Should there be seasons?

This is probably going to overly optimistic.

1) I would like to see one system of stars with the sport having varying degrees of popularty on different planets within the system. The planets compete against one another, with owners trying to lure fighters from one planet to their own. Moving your base of operations to a different planet and into another league means more money from bigger crowds, but also means the competition in tougher and your fighters are going to want a bigger cut. Possible rules variations (such as allowing death and access to different fight types) from planet to planet.

2) Races - as many as possible. This is going to be a really big source of replay value IMO. Many different races, race specific weapons and armor. Certain fighters not wanting to fight for you because of your race. Certain fighters not wanting to fight a member of a the same race.

3) I think it should be owner. Owner A is outspoken,has a lot of money, and dumps his resources into getting the best fighters he can. Owner B is resourceful, he gets the best from his fighters and is known for landing cheap fighters that perform well (the Billy Beane of the game ;) ). Owner C has a lot of money, but really doesn't know how to use it well. Owner D is all about a profit and doesn't care about the welfare of his fighters. This shouldn't mean fighters don't have distict personalities, just that if you are the owner, other owners are probably going to be what you focus on as competition.

4) A must. Some planets have bans on certain weapons, others ban weapons altogether, others allow anything.

5)This is where popularity on the planet can play a major role. Maybe just local newspaper coverage on a really small planet, while a large planet has a major newspaper or 2 and internet coverage. The larger newspapers may have a world ranking.

6) As above. Varies planet to planet based on the rules.

7) No opinion on this to be quite honest.

8) See next question

9) Should be a contract system. Owner has the option of signing a fighter to a number of matches or a number of years.

10) I would allow as many as a players finances can handle.

11) Good idea. Certain races could be unable to fight in certain conditions.

12) I just come up with ideas. Pace is up to you. :D

13) Year-round. With match stats kept from year to year to see your fighters progress.

Fighter popularity. Like wrestling, fighters can be popular for being good, hero-types. Others could be popular for being heels. A certain fighter may only be an ok fighter, but his personality, outspokeness, and style of fighting are sure to bring big crowds to see him.

[Zippo]

good idea for a game since there definitely wont be any complains if the game is unrealistic or if the stats are out of wack. :) Good luck!

[Danny]

I am looking for at least one person (preferably a couple) to help aid me in creation of the game world for the design document. This includes the galaxy the game will take place in, races, weapons, and back story for this galaxy.

Please send me a private message if you're interested in helping out with this. In 2008 when the game is released, you will be in the design credits :)

[nfg22]

Depends on how much commitment you need. I can help with Ideas but I dont have too much programming experience.

[Danny]

Ideas and opinions on the world in which the game will take place is what I'm looking for. No programming knowledge needed. I'm not even going to start coding the game until I have the design document finished.

[nfg22]

Yeah....Im up...I have alot of fantasy world knowledge and a great imagination...

[sabotai]

When you get to that stage, I could help with the programming/design of the game.

As for just general ideas, I was once in the not too distant past designing a futuristic gladiator game. Here is a short list of things I was planning for it.

Breeding: Take you best fighters and, well, breed them. You could auction them off for money, or raise and train them.

Genetic Engineering: Part of the breeding process was a chance to genetic engineer the offspring. You could manipulate the attributes of the offspring, but there was a small chance, depending on the quality of the corperation you paid to do it, of total failure. AN example would be giving the offspring a +3 bonus to strength. There could have been a 7% chance of faliure, at which point the offspring would be born with a the genes that determined its strength damaged, and thus it would always have a 1 for strength.

At one point in the design, I also had traits. Such being able to spit venom, have claws or fangs, tenticles, gills, wings, etc. etc. For a very expensive price, and a high chance of failure, you could try to splice one of these trait into the offspring. Imagine a human with wings and claws. It'd destroy a normal human in a fight. :)

Weapons and armor: Different types that took advantage of different traits. Like you would give a rapier to your STR 25, DEX 9 fighter. He wouldn't have the dexterity to really use it for it's full potential, and his strength advantage is completely wasted. You'd give him a BFA (Big Fucking Axe). The same is true for a STR 9, DEX 25 fighter. He has the dexterity to use the rapier, and since his strength is low, no wasted strength. Basically, make the weapons and armor have something to do with the attributes. Have a weak guy weild a giant sword, and wearing tons of armor makes no sense, nor does having a giant wearing just clothes and weilding a sling.

[Danny]

Breeding and genetic engineering would be pretty cool, but my guess is that would be for version 2 in 2011 :)

[Sharpieman]

Earth in the future? Sort of a Thunderdome?

Thunderdome...lol

[Taur]

Earth in the future? Sort of a Thunderdome sort of thing?
I thought he was going for more of an "Arena" type feel.

Anyone remember the SciFi movie Arena (http://imdb.com/title/tt0101366/) with B5's Claudia Christian.

[StormcloudCreations]

I don't know if my assistance would be the kiss of death as far as critics go (based on Coliseum's reaction in those circles) but i'd be willing to pitch in a bit possibly too. I wish you guys were around when I was making Coliseum...great ideas here! :)

Derek
Stormcloud Creations
www.stormcloudcreations.com
Voyager - the 10-minute epic adventure!
Try the Demo: http://home.comcast.net/~stormbackup/voydemo.exe

[sachmo71]

I don't know if my assistance would be the kiss of death as far as critics go (based on Coliseum's reaction in those circles) but i'd be willing to pitch in a bit possibly too. I wish you guys were around when I was making Coliseum...great ideas here! :)

Derek
Stormcloud Creations
www.stormcloudcreations.com
Voyager - the 10-minute epic adventure!
Try the Demo: http://home.comcast.net/~stormbackup/voydemo.exe

I was hoping this would happen... :D

[Bee]

I thought he was going for more of an "Arena" type feel.

Anyone remember the SciFi movie Arena (http://imdb.com/title/tt0101366/) with B5's Claudia Christian.

I was getting ready to mention this movie when I saw your post. Not a great movie, but it had an interesting premise that might be worth checking out for those developing the game.

[Danny]

Storm, Sabotai, I definitely appreciate the offers and will be happy yo get your guy's help. I have summer finals coming up and will be pretty busy until the end of July. After that point, I will start a forum on my server for ideas and help and get started on development. I did start on my design document, or at least what I think is one :).

[Danny]

Bump,

Im going to start start working on the design document some more and I start my VB course next Monday, so wanted to see if anyone else had any new ideas.

[Marc Vaughan]

Cool - good luck, if you want to post the design doc here when you've done it I for one will definitely give it a read through :D

[StormcloudCreations]

Cool - good luck, if you want to post the design doc here when you've done it I for one will definitely give it a read through :D

I will too...and just as am incentive to your VB class, Coliseum was developed with 95% VB code. So it is possible to do it. :) If you need tips getting started, let me know.

[Surtt]

If you are still looking for Ideas check out, Trullion: Alastor 2262, by Jack Vance.

He describes a game called hussade. It is a team sport kinda like football with quarter staves. The object is to make it to the other teams end and pull a ring that disrobes the other team's virgin.

Space Opera at it's finest.
It would be perfect for this type of project.

[Danny]

My plan is to allow a great deal of optional customization to the user in the game world (planets, races, etc), so a user could actually create a star wars mod for example. The game core would be focused on handling many different types of universes and not just the default one. However, the game still needs a strong default storyline and game world.

Is there anyone that is willing to write a science fiction story to be used for the game?
If multiple people are interested, the game could come with multiple universes and the user would select what universe they would like to use. Ideally, I would be able to get a few different ones.

The aspects that are required in the creation of the universe will be ready pretty soon.

[Danny]

Planets
• Name

• Terrain
o Mountain
o Water
o Snow
o Volcanic
o Grass
o Dirt
o swamp

• Planet Size
o Tiny
o Small
o Medium
o Large
o Huge

• Founding Race

• Economic Standing
o Poor
o Fair
o Average
o Good
o Great

Races
• Culture
o High
o Medium
o Low

• Preferred Terrain
o Mountain
o Water
o Snow
o Volcanic
o Grass
o Dirt
o Swamp

• Knowledge
o High
o Medium
o Low

• Physiology

• Preferred Weapon Type
o Melee
o Range

• Description

Weapons
• Saber
• Blaster
• Lance
• Sword
• Axe
• Poison Blade
• Quarterstaff
• Battle Wand
• Bow
• Spear

Protection
• Fiber Armor
• Exoskeleton
• Combat Suit
• Assault Armor
• Stealth Armor
• Buckler
• Energy Shield
• Power Shield


P.S. Anybody who created a universe for the game would be thanked in the credits along with thanks from me personally several times :)

[Godzilla Blitz]

EagleEye: Good luck with this! I've started working on a similar project (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?t=29081). If you are interested in problem solving together, let me know. We might be able to help each other.

I found this site (http://markbutler.8m.com/vb-tutorial.htm) helpful, by the way, for a newbie like myself.

[Danny]

Excellent. The format for your journal is great :). I am going to start up a forum for ideas and you're welcome to post over there regarding things for your game as well.