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[Gagege]

I want to make a game that's half lithium mine simulator, part TD, part rougelike.

Let me 'splain.

You start with a small patch of land somewhere in Nevada. You have a simple mining operation and some kind of weak fence with a gate in it. You make money gradually by selling your lithium in the town. You can buy supplies in the town.

Here come the animals. Wolves, big cats, pigs, rodents and more start arriving periodically. They might break your defenses, chew wires, drink from a pool and die in it, or attack you. You have to defend yourself somehow; with weapons, turrets, and better fences.

You might eventually make enough money to buy bigger and better mining equipment, growing your mine and allowing you to make more money. You start to become a real competitor in the area. Mysterious vandals start arriving. Much smarter than the animals that used to attack you. Do you kill them, scare them off, or capture them and interrogate them? They are people after all. Different options have different consequences.

Then the monsters start appearing. Where do they come from? You set up good automated defenses at your mine and venture out into the salt flat. Do you explore the cave systems in the mountains, or go check out your competitors mines?

Basically the game goes until your done playing. There might be a few ways to "win", but overall I'd like it to be more or a sandbox type experience with a lot of little wins throughout a large story arc.

Sound like fun?

[pixhead]

Sound like fun?

Absolutely, is there online capabilities, I would love to pit my mine against my friends. And is there a way to steal resources from competitor mines? That would be pretty cool too.

Ok so here's my idea:

The Concept

    A traditional turn-based RPG. Much like other RPG's, the core mechanic is central to the battle system. The difference, instead of having predefined spells like in most RPGs, the game utilizes a more open approach. It allow for the player to create their spells by combining Macros: Actions, Amplifiers and Properties. It implements a pseudocode approach to compliment the cyberpunk setting.

    My plan for graphics is to have a 2.5D top-down overworld and 3D battle scenes. I'm currently working on the prototype.

The Battle System

    In battle the player only controls one character, the main character. The player has the option of performing one of 4 separate actions: Punch, Execute, Open, Escape. The Punch action is the default attack option. Open uses an item. Escape causes the main character to flee from battle. Execute runs a 'script' which is the name of spells in this game(well get to that in a second). Once the player wins the battle they get the enemies config file, this file allows the player to see the enemies stats and 'scripts'.

    Player stats include HP(Health Point), CP(Charge Points), EXP(Experience Points), CPU(Processor Power), HDD(Hard Drive Space), GMOBO(Genetic Motherboard), and then various basic stats: strength, defense, speed, etc. A quick run down of the less conventional stats, or at least the ones that need explaining:

    CP - each script requires Charge to perform, basically mana
    GMOBO - this is what makes the main character "special" when you level up the motherboard grows allowing for more hardware items to be equipped. More on Hardware later.

    Both HDD and CPU will be discussed with Scripts and Hardware respectively.

Scipts

    So this is the hook, the meat of the game. Scripts are the name of spells in this game. They are composed of: Actions, Amplifiers, and Properties. Scripts can be executed in battle or from the menu. A script is made up of at least one Action and one Property, the cap of a script is dependent on the HDD(Hard Drive) and CP(Charge Power). The bigger a script is, the more CP it takes to perform.

    There is no cap on how many scripts you can make or use in the menu but there is a cap on the amount of active scripts you can use - active scripts are those that can be used in battle. You can active/deactivate scripts as you see fit, but the larger the script the more HDD space it will take to activate.

   So around now, (if you are still reading) you are probably thinking that this sounds awfully complicated. But one of my main goals it to make sure it isn't. This is where the pseudocode approach comes in. Each Macro(Action, Amplifier, Property) is a constant that can and can't be combined with other macros, the game will let you know if certain macros can be paired so you won't be shooting in the dark. Here is an example of how the Macros will work as well as a list of the current Macros(I don't want to get into explaining each Macro because frankly that's too much writing, but the names should make most of them pretty self explanatory.

Actions	Amplifiers	Properties
Punch	Repeat	Heat
Cast Enemy	Pair	Void
Cast Self	Continue	Repair
Open	Multi	Shock
	Increase	Critical

Example:

[CAST_SELF]  [REPAIR]  [REPEAT_2X]
^{this casts the Repair spell on self 2x}

Here's a more complex example:

[CAST_ENEMY]  [PAIR (HEAT + CRITICAL)]  [CONTINUE]
[PUNCH]  [SHOCK]  [INCREASE]
^{first the player casts a pair of heat and critical, they continue onto
performing a shock punch with increased power}

Hardware
    Stats are not increased by leveling up. The only things increased are CPU, HDD, and GMOBO. To increase stats, you install Hardware.

    I haven't really decided which route I want to take with Hardware yet, I have two ideas of what I may do. First is a form of accumulation, once you install a piece of hardware it cannot be removed and it lowers the amount of GMOBO you have. The other idea is you equip hardware to a certain socket(GPU, soundcard, etc), like a more traditional equip system, you can allocate CPU points to a individual sockets and boost the power of that equip. The higher your CPU the more boosts you can apply.


So yeah, that's my Design Doc so far, still very work in progress. Please let me know if you have any critiques or questions. I'm not worried about the ambition of this, I am worried more about the complexity and approachability.

_{sorry for the super long post}

[Udderdude]

Ok so here's my idea

I'm not seeing what the point of the combat system is.  What, if any strategy is supposed to arise when two players use their scripts against eachother?  If it's just hard counters to each-other, it really turns into an overly complex rock-paper-scissors type thing.

[pixhead]

What, if any strategy is supposed to arise when two players use their scripts against eachother?

It's not going to be multiplayer. It's entirely single player, very traditional in those means. Think final fantasy. If you meant enemies, I intend for enemy scripts to be pretty basic, unless it's a boss. Also, there won't be any hard counters to a script seeing as how they won't be used at the same time. Depending on how you build your character they may be weaker to certain Property Macros but that's about it. Does that sound better or did I miss the point?

[Udderdude]

Well, I don't see how it'd be any good to fight enemies with scripts either.  If I recall, one of the Playstation 2 Final Fantasy games had scriptable allies, and the end result was that the game practically played itself.  Not paticuarly interesting.

[pixhead]

Well, I don't see how it'd be any good to fight enemies with scripts either.  If I recall, one of the Playstation 2 Final Fantasy games had scriptable allies, and the end result was that the game practically played itself.  Not paticuarly interesting.

You're referring to Final Fantasy 11, and no my game would not be like that. The difference is that in Final Fantasy 11 you scripted everything an ally did: when to attack an enemy, when to use a spell, which spell to use if the enemy was this or that, blah, blah, blah, etc. I agree that, that was horrible(I stopped playing that game). In my game you ONLY script the spells effect, scripts won't be able to make decisions for you. This leaves all the strategy up to the player of making a well-rounded script set, knowing how to combine the right Macros for more powerful outcomes, and of course deciding what script to use in what situation.

I'm sorry if my initial post was confusing, I realized half way through that it was kind of me just ranting on and on about scripts and macros and GMOBO and such.

[ink.inc]

that's final fantasy 12 actually

[pixhead]

that's final fantasy 12 actually

Oh yeah woops . I didn't even play 11. Or 13. 10 was the last real FF imo.

[ink.inc]

good man

[Player 3]

Well, I don't see how it'd be any good to fight enemies with scripts either.  If I recall, one of the Playstation 2 Final Fantasy games had scriptable allies, and the end result was that the game practically played itself.  Not paticuarly interesting.

You're referring to Final Fantasy 11, and no my game would not be like that. The difference is that in Final Fantasy 11 you scripted everything an ally did: when to attack an enemy, when to use a spell, which spell to use if the enemy was this or that, blah, blah, blah, etc. I agree that, that was horrible(I stopped playing that game). In my game you ONLY script the spells effect, scripts won't be able to make decisions for you. This leaves all the strategy up to the player of making a well-rounded script set, knowing how to combine the right Macros for more powerful outcomes, and of course deciding what script to use in what situation.

I'm sorry if my initial post was confusing, I realized half way through that it was kind of me just ranting on and on about scripts and macros and GMOBO and such.

Similar case with Phantasy Star 4. Why even bother when macros are so situational?

[zalzane]

Pitch a game idea? Ok.

You're the captain of a small airship forging out into the world to make his fortune. You explore a world governed by warring city-states who you can ally, trade with, or betray. These city-states are separated by vast swaths of wilderness hundreds of miles across; infested with  organized pirates, pretenders, and rogue nations. The game world is about the same size as the pacific ocean.

Despite being a 'steampunk' setting, the combat revolves around hard science-fiction (fuck that exposed gear hipster shit), and each part of the airship has a function that will be disabled if it is damaged or destroyed. This can be used to your advantage in a scenario such as destroying an enemy's balloon pumps to restrict their altitude adjustments while battling in a small valley, essentially trapping them.

During your journey you can modify your airship for combat, trade, or even make it into a flying brothel. This game idea comes from my insatiable desire to run a literal mile high club in a video game.

[pixhead]

Similar case with Phantasy Star 4. Why even bother when macros are so situational?

I may be missing the point of your message but here's my response. Scripts are very situational, when you walk into an ice cavern your probably going to set a bunch of scripts with Heat property, so it is dependent on the variety of enemies. Maybe instead of just ice enemies there are also water enemies, which means you also have to equip shock property scripts.

Thanks for this question, I was thinking earlier today of how I could use enemies to deepen the script mechanics, this is getting ball rolling a bit.

[rek]

Pitch a game idea? Ok.

You're the captain of a small airship forging out into the world to make his fortune. You explore a world governed by warring city-states who you can ally, trade with, or betray. These city-states are separated by vast swaths of wilderness hundreds of miles across; infested with  organized pirates, pretenders, and rogue nations. The game world is about the same size as the pacific ocean.

Despite being a 'steampunk' setting, the combat revolves around hard science-fiction (fuck that exposed gear hipster shit), and each part of the airship has a function that will be disabled if it is damaged or destroyed. This can be used to your advantage in a scenario such as destroying an enemy's balloon pumps to restrict their altitude adjustments while battling in a small valley, essentially trapping them.

During your journey you can modify your airship for combat, trade, or even make it into a flying brothel. This game idea comes from my insatiable desire to run a literal mile high club in a video game.

You should called it CRIMSON SKIES.

[zalzane]

Can I run a flying brothel in crimson skies?

[rivon]

Pitch a game idea? Ok.

You're the captain of a small airship forging out into the world to make his fortune. You explore a world governed by warring city-states who you can ally, trade with, or betray. These city-states are separated by vast swaths of wilderness hundreds of miles across; infested with  organized pirates, pretenders, and rogue nations. The game world is about the same size as the pacific ocean.

Despite being a 'steampunk' setting, the combat revolves around hard science-fiction (fuck that exposed gear hipster shit), and each part of the airship has a function that will be disabled if it is damaged or destroyed. This can be used to your advantage in a scenario such as destroying an enemy's balloon pumps to restrict their altitude adjustments while battling in a small valley, essentially trapping them.

During your journey you can modify your airship for combat, trade, or even make it into a flying brothel. This game idea comes from my insatiable desire to run a literal mile high club in a video game.

Nice idea

Can I run a flying brothel in crimson skies?

Unfortunately, no...

[Sir Raptor]

I was playing this online find the difference game, and I noticed that when I moved my mouse over to a particular area to see if it had anything of note, I naturally looked over there as well. And vice versa. So what some guy should do is, code the game to notice when you mouse over a particular area, and bam, a figure appears in a window elsewhere.

Something like that.

[Player 3]

A match-3 involving a crane to move numbered and colored boxes around as forklifts deliver them. No one in the warehouse understands the magic of disappearing boxes and goes bankrupt for terrible business and loss of goods.

Aha, it's an anti-match 3.  Avoid matching them in groups of 3, or you lose! :p

Oh, wow, that's actually brilliant.

I could see this being a huge hit.

Got the design on preventing groups of three.

New job at the harbor!

So you were hired and went through training. Simple. Just load these colored boxes on the truck on the right. The only problem is your bozo co-worker. Despite having worked here for eons longer than you have, he manages to goof up by arranging them in groups of three, rendering them disappeared. Disappeared boxes mean unhappy customers. You have a crane, too. Keep your co-worker from matching three or more.

[Belimoth]

Some boxes contain wolves, some contain goats, and some contain cabbages.

[rek]

You have to find and replace the one burnt bulb on a line of Christmas lights that's stopping it from lighting up. Levels include the (precariously balanced) Christmas tree, a box of tangled lights and extension cords in the attic (watch out for spiders), and a rickety ladder (which you have to move) under the eavestrough. There's an impatient child waiting to be dazzled by the sparkling ornaments, so the longer it takes you the closer it gets to bawling, at which point you lose.

[Udderdude]

You have to find and replace the one burnt bulb on a line of Christmas lights that's stopping it from lighting up. Levels include the (precariously balanced) Christmas tree, a box of tangled lights and extension cords in the attic (watch out for spiders), and a rickety ladder (which you have to move) under the eavestrough. There's an impatient child waiting to be dazzled by the sparkling ornaments, so the longer it takes you the closer it gets to bawling, at which point you lose.

Inspired by recent events, huh? >_>