The Future Of Hampton

Hi everyone! This is my first post here, so let me introduce myself first.

I'm Kinsman, and I make Flash games as a hobby. I've created a few, and put them up on Kongregate; and I have my own blog where I put them, kinsmangames.com.

I just got my latest project to a point where I can start showing it off. I haven't really been in the habit of previewing my games before they're done; but, the last ones I made just sort of landed with a thud and disappeared - and I was kind of proud of them, too Shrug

, so I guess I better start letting people know about what I'm doing..

The city of Hampton is an ordinary medium-sized city in North America; it has its uptown and downtown, its suburbs and inner city, its local news and events – the same as any other city.

But unique to Hampton is its own Hampton Federation. It started decades ago, during a time when street gangs and crime were a lot more wild than they are now. In order to keep relative peace, they agreed to fight each other in sport combat, settling their disputes with dueling rather than fighting directly.

Decades later, the Hampton Federation is now a gentrified and mainstreamed tourist attraction. Every day, there are matches booked, and the fights occur all over the city, in front of Hampton’s appreciative public. Fighters come not only from Hampton but all over the world, to seek honor and glory in the Federation’s rankings.

But what most people don’t realize; is that behind it all, the Hampton Federation still matters. When the Federation became so central to Hampton life, it became important to its politics as well; what originally started as a way to keep street gangs in check now keeps in check the entire city in check.

Organized crime know that their own power is tied to the success of their fighters in the Federation; the police now that they must honor the results of Federation matches to keep the respect of, and keep a lid on, the city’s underworld.

Not only that, but forces around the world have come to Hampton – to stake their own power and honor on the matches as well. Though nobody says it out loud, the Hampton Federation is one of the biggest movers and shakers in the entire world.

It’s madness to stake so much on what was originally mere street fighting. But one thing’s for sure, Hampton and the world live in exciting times – and the future of Hampton is fought for every day.

The Future Of Hampton is my latest game project. It’s a card battle game based on either one-on-one, or team-based street fighting.

Not only do players fight matches, though – they determine the plot arcs and events which happen in Hampton. They pick what matches will be fought, who they want to root for, and whether things go well or badly for the heroes and villains of the game.

Think of it as a “solitaire RPG” – where the computer acts as an easy-going Game Master who throws out lots of suggestions on what you and your characters might like to do, and is willing to take your own suggestions for the game as well.

The project is about 25% done right now. I’ve gotten a lot of basics down – the fighting engine, which had several major changes as it evolved, and how the UI works, giving players an ever-present menu with which they can break from planning or working through each week’s current events to look up encyclopedia entries about Hampton, or read up on the federation’s history.

The other 75% of the game is going to be a lot of content – writing up characters, plot arcs, skits, and other details of the game and its world.

My goal is to create a game that offers two years’ worth of events; letting players choose their own matches from week to week, letting them set up small feuds and small plot arcs and plugging in their choice of characters into those small arcs, while also being offered larger and more dramatic plot arcs, tied to major villains, which loom over the whole federation until the player resolves them (or, I suppose, dismisses them if they’re not actually interested.)

The game would record the history of the federation as it happens, and also keep track of statistics for matches and titles.

The game will mostly be text-based. However, I wanted to take the idea of an old-school 80s computer text-based game and modernize it with Future Of Hampton; so, I’ll be including text formatting, graphical design in some places, and inline illustrations.

I’ve got a lot of work ahead, I’m pleased with how things are going so far.