Epic Space Battles!

The X-Wing games series still remains my favorite space combat series ever. Back in the day, it was one of the fastest and most realistic games you had on the PC, and the sheer scale of its space battles were sometimes vertiginous.

Mission types were also very varied; it went from intercepting fighters to patrolling areas of space to escorting rescue missions on space stations. There were dozens of unique ships available to fly and, in X-Wing Alliance, you actually took the instrumental role of piloting the Millennium Falcon in the second Death Star battle at Endor.

There was something, however, which would have been awesome: How great would have it been if they had merged the space battle simulation with a first-person shooter? So many times I flied cover for some commando transport, fending off fighters and having to wait a few minutes for them to capture a platform or a space station, all the while thinking "wouldn't it be great if those commandos, with which I'm in constant communication, were actual players?"

This idea is basically Eve Online, where you fly spaceships in an online world, with an added element of being able to switch into a first-person perspective inside the spaceship. Instead of docking a ship onto a space platform and having access to its services through an interface, you would have to switch over to your human avatar and physically walk into the platform and interact with the people there. In short, each spaceship, space station and whole worlds would be MMO worlds within another MMO world.


Each object would be owned by various players and groups of players, which would determine who has access to what. If you were part of a group of pirate, you wouldn't be able to enter an imperial space station. Each object in the gaming world would have a limit of how many people could enter it, which would make it possible for extremely fast-paced, peer-to-peer gameplay similar to games like the Battlefield series.


Each object would be accessible through gates, or entry points, which would be used by players to enter it on foot as their human avatar when two ships docked with each other. This is also how ships and space stations would be captured, as armies of players would penetrate through these gates to fight whatever resistance contained therein. As the players infiltrate the ships, they would need to reach the command centers in order to take control of them, making them switch faction.


As players fought to capture their objectives, they would fill in many roles:

• Commandos - These are the people responsible for charging in first and fight the players defending the ships. They are heavily armed and armored and carry various types of weapons such as assault rifles, explosives, sniper rifles and trip mines. They remain in constant communication with a squad leader, which in turns relays orders to and from a command ship.
• Pilots - These players see the action from space, as they fly around with freighters, starfighters and various types of war ships. They are responsible for bringing the commandos through open space to their objectives.
• Hackers - Commandos need the logistic support to hack open doorways, steal valuable information from command consoles and operate various types of combat machinery. The hackers fill in that important role.
• Commanders - Commanders see the action from space also, with the added element of being able to see everything from a different point of view and having access to the most information. They act as nodes between the commandos, the pilots and the hackers.

I would make such a game in a way that resources would be non-renewable. Therefore, destroying a ship would mean that the debris would need to be scavenged and refined in order to build another ship, which would be a long and expensive process. Instead, it would be much more profitable to capture ships, therefore making the fighting worth the trouble.

WoW class: the Warden

World of Warcraft is coming up with an expansion in the coming months. It will feature the new continent of Northrend, a new level 80 cap and a new class: the Death Knight. The class will feature spells like Raise the Dead, an dark version of the Paladin's auras and the ability to wear heavy armor for tanking.


But what about other possible classes which could exist in WoW? Here's an idea for an additional class for World of Warcraft: the Warden. Based on Warcraft 3's Night Elf hero, the Warden is a melee/caster hybrid which specializes in vicious attacks, sneaking, self-preservation and a whole realm of magical abilities based on the idea of crippling and incapacitating his enemies, as Wardens are known within the Elf communities as peace keepers and bounty hunters. Only Blood Elves and Night Elves can become Wardens.

The Warden wears cloth armor, uses a new type of weapon called Glaives, which are double-edged circular weapons which can be thrown and summoned back. It has three talent trees: Conservation, Wrath and Skirmish. Conservation boosts the Warden's protective spells and abilities; Wrath boosts his offensive spells and Skirmish boosts his melée and ranged combat abilities.

Here's a short list of spells, talents and abilities of the Warden:

Spell: Fan of Knives
By equipping a thrown weapon, the caster can create magical duplicates of it and throw it in all directions, hitting their enemies. The strength, range and cooldown improve as the Warden becomes stronger.


Tracking: Infravision
Similar to the Hunter's various tracking spells, Infravision enables the Warden to see his enemies on the minimap. It also heightens his eyesight during the night and underwater, and surround his enemies with a reddish aura.


Spell: Spirit of Vengeance
This powerful spell summons a lumbering Spirit of Vengeance which will fight along side the Warden which summons invincible sprites for each of the Warden's fallen allies. The Warden controls only the Spirit of Vengeance as a pet, which in turns orders its sprites around.

Buff: Nature's Constitution
This is the Warden's Strength and Stamina buff which lasts 30 minutes. It also has an enhanced Thorns effect similar to the Druid's, but it is self-only.



Talent: Leather Armor
By putting a point into this talent, the Warden can switch to wearing leather armor. In addition to the Warden's multiple armor and HP regen buffs, this ability greatly enhances the Warden's ability to sustain physical attacks.


Spell: Phase
Similar to the Mage's Blink spell, the Warden's Phase spell will teleport the caster within a 20 yard range to a random location. If this random location is situated behind the Warden's enemies' field of view, the Warden's aggro is reset as they lose sight of him. If, however, this random location is within the field of view, his enemies simply relocate and resume their attack.

Buff: Moss Armor
This buff spell can be cast on self and allies and enhances Armor and health regeneration.




Combat style: Crippling Blow
With a vicious backstab attack, the Warden poisons, slows and snares his target, rendering it useless in battle for a short time.



Spell: Spoil Magic
For a few seconds, the Warden's weapons have a chance of absorbing incoming magical spells. This magical energy can be stored, converted back into mana, thrown back onto the Warden's enemies or used to enchant the weapon temporarily.


Combat style: Backlash
The Warden surprises his enemies with a spinning backward attack which hits all of his enemies currently placed behind him. A low blade swipe, this attack also snares and temporarily incapacitates his enemies.


Ability: Bust Lock
Similar to the Rogue's Lockpick ability, the Warden's Bust Lock is instantaneous and unlocks a door or a chest for everyone else without having to open it. The Bust Lock ability also deals instant damage to any mechanical foe. Its drawback is a 5-minute cooldown.


Talent: Enhanced Evade
By putting points into this talent, the Warden significantly boosts his evade ability. Five points into the talent will boost the Warden's evade by an additional 10%.



Combat style: Hurl
The Warden throws his currently equipped weapon at his enemies, and is therefore disarmed for a short period of time. The weapon will deal maximum damage to the selected enemy, but hit every other enemy in the weapon's path for decreasingly less damage.


Spell: Bloodfang
The Warden earns the temporary ability to absorb his enemy's Health with each weapon hit. Only works on beasts and humanoids. The attack is however negated, even harmful against undead creatures as it will drain the Warden's life and heal them.


Spell: Enhanced Hiding
Using their unique ability to use their clothes and layers of cloaks and robes as camouflage, the Warden can completely vanish from sight. It is similar to the Rogue's ability to sneak but can be used while in combat. It is however less effective, as higher level monsters might see through the ruse.

More MMO Class Ideas

The Grappler

Basically a wrestler, the Grappler uses his body as a weapon. Using nothing but brute strength and light body armor, he tosses and neutralizes his enemies with submission holds. His combat styles range from charging, toppling over his enemies, to targeting specific body parts, to cracking his opponents' necks with deadly submission holds. Grapplers are also the toughest and most enduring warriors since they don't carry heavy equipment.

Grapplers live a harduous life of endless fighting and drunken bar fights, and can therefore sometimes intimidate their enemies into submission or cheer up and encourage their allies, driving them sometimes into a battle frenzy. They have a whole spectrum of battle shouts, charisma and constitution buffs and survival skills. They make great battle leaders as they will often clash with an enemy party fearlessly.

The Mystic


Scattered throughout the world are remains of a long lost civilization, and the Mystics are what's left of it, as they worship their technologically advanced ancestors. In return, these abandoned ruins will come alive whenever the Mystic approaches them. They actually are of a robotic nature and will detect whenever the Mystic is near.

Through hundreds of generations, the Mystics have remembered how to operate these machines and use them to defend themselves, teleport from one place to another, uncover ancient treasures and caches, spy on their enemies, learn ancient knowledge and exclusive magic spells or summon help when in time of need. Naturally, Mystics will usually regroup around these long abandoned ruins and engage in worship rituals; they will defend them with their lives.

The Cronus Knight


The Cronus Knights have such a deep understanding of time and its various principles and manifestations that they can actually control it. On the battlefield, they are able to not only see future events but actually roll back time. The amount of time recovered, the area of effect and the effect itself are related to the Knight's level of experience. Some Cronus Knights are even capable of bringing a fallen comrade back to life.

The Cronus Knights can also increase his allies' attack and movement speeds, slow down or stop their enemies dead in their tracks, or appear to teleport themselves as they freeze time and move around the battlefield. The Cronus Knights can also cast a time bubble on magic spells; in other words, they can delay a spell's effect, moving out of the way of ground targeted spell or incoming projectile spell such as a fireball.

The Scavenger


Each battle fought is likely to leave bodies, broken weaponry and sometimes forgotten loot. This is where Scavengers come in to reap whatever's left of these ferocious encounters, as they salvage these remains for usable material. Scavengers are also known to be excellent survivalists, as they often have explored most of the world in search of treasure, lore or just a good story to tell over a campfire.

Scavengers can specialize in lore, crafts or exploration. A Scavenger specialized in lore can actually collect quest items before being given the quest - sometimes very useful as they can simply venture into an unexplored area without having to be given any quests. A Scavenger specialized in crafts can gather broken weaponry, animal-derived goods such as pelts, ivory or chitin and building material and can recondition them for the trade market. A Scavenger specialized in exploration earns attack bonuses against the types of monsters he's slain the most, exploration bonuses in new, yet-unexplored areas, and a bigger, more detailed world map. These bonuses also apply to their allies, as they temporarily share their knowledge with them.

Games Begging for a Remake

Here's a short list of games begging for remakes or sequels. Although I ain't really familiar with the most recent gaming trends and brands (read: Rock Band), I'm sure some of the kids out there would appreciate some of the earlier Nintendo classics such as Bionic Commando, but aged graphics and controls sometimes make it hard to get involved into a game, no matter how amazing the game originally seemed.

I'd really love it if more game companies did exact remakes of older games, but with enhanced graphics and sounds. In other words, the exact same controls, gameplay and physics but with the high definition experience - the way they did it with Bionic Commando: Rearmed.

Carmageddon


One of my favorite gaming brands, the Carmageddon games had a ton of character. From awarding the player extra points for slamming sideways into pedestrians, to pitting dune buggeys against mine sweeping tanks in multiplayer mode, to leaving trails of blood, Carmageddon was a no-holds-barred gaming experience and a definite influence on the Grand Theft Auto series, among others. It was even banned in certain countries, where pedestrians were replaced by mutants, zombies and aliens bleeding green.

If a remake was done, it would be a sick, demented cross between GTA4, Burnout Paradise and Death Race 2,000 where, in addition to being able to squash pedestrians and other lifeforms repetitively for extra bonus combo points, the whole thing would happen at blinding speeds and you'd be allowed to get out of your vehicle with a rocket launcher to blow up a building, which would collapse and crush your opponents' cars and innocent, harmless pedestrians.

Chrono Trigger


After almost 15 years, Chrono Trigger for the SNES is still remembered as one of the most innovative RPG's and one of the most respected and influential SquareSoft games. The storyline was out of this world and, similar to Final Fantasy 4, started as a relatively traditional RPG but went onto various sci-fi themes such as time travel, space aliens and a futuristic apocalypse. There was a sequel called Chrono Cross on the PlayStation.

With today's graphics, sound and online multiplayer possibilities, a remake of Chrono Trigger would be breath-taking. One could play the single-player storyline (the original on the SNES took at least 20 to 30 hours to complete) but could also go online with a customized avatar and play with other players in team vs. team combat where, similarly to the single-player gameplay, the key to winning matches would be by performing offensive or defensive combos with your teammates, combining melee and range combat with elemental magic spells.

Mutant League Hockey


A poorly known brand, Electronic Arts' Mutant League sports games used their Madden Football and NHL Hockey engines but replaced the players with various robots, zombies and monsters. The field or ice rink was also littered with chasms and booby traps, reminescent of Games Workshop's old Blood Bowl board game.

One can only imagine what kind of mayhem a game like Mutant League Hockey would bring to Xbox Live today. Imagine being able to design your own monstrous mutant hockey players, using a tool similar to the recently-released Spore Creature Creator. Add a tentacle here, a spiked tail there, give your player a spiked flail or a double-edged battle axe, create your own team jersey, colors and logo, then head online with your team of goons to play against other players.

MMO Class Ideas

Here's a bunch of ideas for classes for an MMO. Inspiration comes from everywhere and anywhere as I try to create original classes which could be fun to play. The reason I'm posting this one is MMOs seem to be stuck in a loop when it comes to class types and are generally unwilling to take chances or to denigrate types of players. After all, it is easier to get into a game if the classes available are similar to the ones we've played before in other games.

So, no healer, no tank, no rogue class, no pure caster. Welcome to Hybrid Land. :)

The Runeblade

Not a magic user per se but capable of storing magical energies in a special runic blade, the Runeblade are dreadful to pure casters. By placing the blade into the path of an incoming fire ball, ice shard or lightning bolt, the Runeblade then stores the magical energy to add magical damage to their blows or throws it back to their enemies. The elemental magic stored into the blade can also be used to nullify additional incoming attacks of an opposing element (i.e. Fire cancels Ice).

Used mostly as secondary tank, the Runeblade wears heavy armor and is capable of withstanding more magical damage than other classes. Some Runeblades even develop the capacity of wielding their own magics, as residual magical energies from their blade eventually accumulates into their bodies.

The Sagittarian

Capable of extraordinary telekinetic powers, the Sagittarian archers use a single arrow which they throw at the enemy, then recall back like a boomerang. They can control the arrow in mid-flight to hit their targets, or hit their targets many times in one shot. Some Sagittarian archers are even known to teleport their magic arrow through walls or across vast distances back to them.

Each Sagittarian archer crafts his magical arrow and uses it for several years until broken or lost. It is even believed that the Sagittarian and his arrow develop an unbreakable bond, as the magically infused arrow develops a personality. After death, Sagittarians are buried with their trusty magical arrow, as any other way would be a great dishonor.

The Stargazer

Stargazers utilize the alignments of celestial spheres, stars and weather patterns against their enemies. By fetching and channelling the magical energies of a star or planet and re-directing it to their enemies, they act as a sort of reflecting mirror. Their spells are usually more potent if their enemies are placed between the desired celestial phenomenon and the casting Stargazer.

Different stars and planets have different powers. Ares, the planet associated with war, inflicts wounds to the enemy and boost the caster's bloodlust. Turan, the star associated with love and compassion, will revive a fallen ally or otherwise boost their morale and vitality. Stargazers can also predict the future to a certain extent, therefore giving them an edge in battle. They thus make excellent commanders.

The Naturalist

Naturalists have an innate bond with Nature. As they protect the woods, the fauna and the cycles of nature, they are also protected by the woods and the elements. Most MMOs have featured classes such as Druids, Foresters and Shamans which were based on the concept, but the Naturalist would play based on a Karmic equilibrium of helping nature and getting helped equally in return.

By planting trees and seeds, healing injured animals or cleaning the waters of a stream, the Naturalist's natural Karma would increase, thus ensuring that, in times of desperate need, Nature would return the favor. Naturalists would have a full range of healing spells, buffs and offensive spells, but in addition, as their Karma increased, they could summon swarms of animals, charm a pet wolf or animate a flesh-eating tree to defend them. Naturalists would fare much better in wooded areas, as there would more surrounding Nature to fend off their enemies and protect them.

Cyclopean: an MMO with depth, Part 2

A key element to make this game work is unpredictability. As an MMO player, I always thought it shocking that players could go on a website and know exactly what to do and where to go to complete a quest, level faster and get the best gear. The goal of any MMORPG should be adventure, and these adventures should be highly entertaining and fun. And yet, it's extremely frustrating sometimes to search for hours to complete a quest. Some MMO addons even offer full ingame support to search, complete and turn in quests.


One solution is to allow players to generate their own content. Games like Neverwinter Nights allowed the players to build dungeons, keeps and even entire areas for other players to explore. One problem that would sometimes arise, such as in Ultima Online or Shadowbane, is the time and effort involved in building stuff that could be destroyed overnight. Those were hardcore games.

Cyclopean is a game which would allow players to build whatever they liked without fearing the sudden destruction of their creations. And of course, their creations would become things of adventure and exploration for other players. Building things would be extremely easy:

• Choosing a spot - Before building, players would have to choose a spot. These spots would be totally free but of course only available to one player, on a first-come-first-serve basis. These spots can be any surface in the outside world, underwater or underground. An abandoned spot can also be claimed by a player (more on this below).
  
• Basic layout - Once a spot has been chosen by the player, they would use an editor to create a dungeon, a mineshaft, a cave or whatever they wanted using easy to use tilesets. The basic layout, such as walls, stairways and tunnels would be indestructible.
  
• Populating - Once the basic layout of their hideout has been designed, players could then populate it with monsters, booby traps, interactive elements such as doors and switches, and of course treasure. These elements would be destructible.
  
• Introduction - Finally, once the player's hideout - or property, or castle, or snake pit - is ready, it is opened up to the player community. Since it is visible to them while being under construction (it may take many days or weeks until it is ready), it might get stormed if a formal date and time had been announced beforehand.

Maintaining, Upgrading, Repairing

Using a modular engine for dungeon-building, every cubic module in a player-built structure would be made of various materials - some salvageable, some available from merchants - of various quality and would require various time frames to build. Sometimes, building something would require the participation of dozens of players - crafters, gatherers, monster herders, archeologists, advisors, etc.

Players would need to maintain their property, as adventurers, monsters, the elements and time would damage it. After a week or two, creatures would inflitrate and damage walls and spread their waste around. Players would break in, loot treasures and kill the assigned NPC guards and monsters.

Repairing and upgrading is done using the building editor. For any action, NPCs would be dispatched to actually do the work in real time. Therefore, if players were actually visiting the property, they would have to deal with these NPCs, peacefully or otherwise. The player could also visit the property as an adventurer and do the work himself, surrounded by hired NPC guards, player mercenaries or guildies.

Cyclopean: an MMO with depth, Part 1

Here's an idea for an MMO in which the game world is actually interactive and dynamic. To anyone who's played an MMO, you'll know that rare are the ones which allow players to directly interact with it. You'll be able to build a house or a castle on a hill, but won't be able to carve a trench into that hill or grow crops on it.

This could be possible by adding layers upon an underlying, unmoveable game world on a gigantic, worldwide grid. On the X and Y axis tiles, the players can move along as in any other, traditional MMO. But on the Z axis, the players can actually dig their way down to the lower layers.


The top-most layer offers the classic MMO experience - questing, exploring, killing mobs - but, along with the usual crafting skills, they are offered an original one: archeology. The higher the archeology skill, the faster a player can "dig" shafts and tunnels into the underground. And, as archeologists dig their way down, they discover many different things:

• Treasures - As time goes by, many adventurers and creatures bury their treasures and often die or forget about them.
• Caverns - Underground networks of caves and faults filled with monsters, rare minerals and other salvageable things.
• Abandoned mines - A vast network of underground mines, long abandoned, can be discovered. Monsters have long since established bases there.
• Cyclopean ruins - And finally, within the bowels of the world are scattered ancient ruins of a long vanished advanced civilization. The best and rarest items can be found there, along with priceless records and relics, providing the adventurer can survive exploring the ruins and bring them back.

Sometimes, archeologic "hot spots" will require expert archeologists to bring along a host of mercenary bodyguards.

Exploring a new world, again and again

To ensure that the game stays exciting, the game world changes dynamically over time and from one server to the next:

• Cities, towns and monsters - Their locations change from one server to the next. Also, if they are "popular" - i.e. if a city is visited by lots of players, or if a specific monster camp is being farmer by lots of players - they grow stronger. Cities will grow, NPC merchants selling better goods and guards becoming more powerful, and monster will defend themselves more desperately.
  
• Underground features - Caves, mines and underground ruins are also placed at different spots from one server to the next and have completely different layouts, being modular; one expert explorer on one server becomes a novice on another.
• Regrowth - As holes are dug by the players and abandoned, they eventually fill up again over time and vegetation grows back to assume their original state.
• Player-generated features - And of course, players are able to build their own cities, mines and dungeons. This will be the subject of my next post, in a few days...

Stay tuned... :)

Invader from Zorch!

A few months ago I had an interview at a game company in Montreal. One of the things I had to do for that interview was to come up with a two-pager presentation for an original game idea, with a description of the gameplay, the storyline, the main characters, main inspirations and a complete level designed. The concept had to be original, and I could do anything I wanted. Fun times, indeed. Here's what came out:

Name of the game: Invader from Zorch

Inspirations: Rampage, Mars Attacks, Carmageddon, psychobilly band The Meteors

Description: The Zorch invader has arrived! Part the Hulk, part Juggernaut, the Zorch invader is all about destruction and chaos. Pummelling buildings, smashing cars, surviving wave after wave of military strikes, the Zorch invader appears to be invulnerable.

Main Character: Scientists have studied the scrambled footage of the rampaging Zorch invader and are unable to explain its motives, origins and why it’s wearing what appear to be a black leather jacket, blue jeans and combat boots, even though it apparently came from interstellar space. One thing they do know, however, is that nothing appears to stop the 20 feet high, green-skinned, ape-faced creature from reaching its unknown goals.



Storyline: The creature, which hails from the alien world of Zorch, has come to Earth crashing in what appears to be a hollowed-out meteor which was likely used as transportation. Scientists have been studying the crash site for evidence concerning its origins and motives. All they found was a license plate that reads “ZORCH” and some molecularly indestructible pocket lint. The license plate itself is made of an unkown and indestructible alloy, which might explain why the Zorch invader is itself unstoppable.

Since the day the creature has arrived on Earth, it has leveled entire cities, caused trillions of dollars in damages, and survived an entire spectrum of earthly warfare – from napalm to guided missiles to nuclear bombs – none of which have caused it to even flinch! Scientists have worked double shifts in trying to figure out a weakness, but to no avail.

Amidst all the destruction and chaos, however, there have been no casualties. The Zorch invader seems to be utterly uninterested in our species. Scientists are awaiting more data…

Unknown to mankind, the Zorch invader’s true objective is to simply collect stuff he left on Earth when he was last here, 65 million years ago (he is also immortal and billions of years old). These artifacts are: his collection of 8-track tapes, his coffin-shaped double-bass, his axe-guitar, and his many weapons and gear such as his Jump Boots, Spiked Shoulderpads and Brass Knuckles. His final artifact is an escape pod which will fly him all the way back to Zorch to get to the concert on time. These artifacts can be found in various places such as in Top Secret military bases, in holy temples and shrines, or deep within the Earth’s strata.


This level was designed for the test but a ton of fun levels would be designed, in such places as the bottom of the ocean (gotta get across, somehow!), hopping across the Himalayas or in the center of a nuclear explosion.

The point of the game was to experience what it is to play an indestructible character, and the challenge was to figure out a way to keep it fun throughout. Mechanisms such as time limits are interesting but annoying. I was thinking of opting more for combo bonuses, hidden areas, achievements and tons of humorous feedback.

The game was to be highly humorous and graphic, but with no gratuitous violence. No blood, no injuries, no casualties; just massive destruction of inanimate things. The tongue-in-cheek tone of the game would even be accompanied by a wicked rockabilly soundtrack from the Meteors, the Stray Cats and the Cramps.

Robot Grinder

We've all watched those fighting robots television shows, years ago. Usually, these fights pitted teams of engineers from different universities in arena matches against each other to see whose robot was the fiercest. The most popular shows were Battlebots and Robot Wars.

Here's an idea I pitched to my old employer, Airborne Mobile, for a fun, online cell phone game. The idea is to let the user create and customize his own robots and challenge other players asynchronously. The game has 3 easy steps:

• Build, Repair & Upgrade: Using an assortment of spare parts ranging from wheels, chassis, treads, arms, and weapons such as chainsaws, spikes and hammers, build, the player repairs and upgrades his army of robots. To ensure maximum replayability, all the different parts also exist in various different materials, from maleable copper to iron to durable titanium. Alternatively, robots could come in a limited amount of pre-designed templates, and the player could upgrade them individually, as shown below.
  

• Organize: Everytime the player builds, repairs, upgrades or buys a robot, he organizes them into squads. The typical squad has its strongest robots in front and weakest robots in the back. Each robot operates automatically and can be scripted by the player. An example for a script could be, everytime a robot is near an enemy robot, he smacks it with its hammer; if not, he moves in a random direction in search of an enemy robot. To avoid having a never-ending fight, there could be a turn limit.
  

• Challenge: Using an online match-making engine, the player is then offered a list of potential candidates to challenge. Once an opponent is chosen by the player, a challenge can be issued.
  

The fights do not take place in real time but rather asynchronously. The player who issues the challenge receives the fight's results immediately, whereas the other player only receives the results whenever he logs into the game. The result of the fight could also be sent via SMS message or email for an immediate response or a rematch. Whenever a player leaves the application, he can flag himself up for incoming challenges.

Each fight is crunched by a server, which sends the results to both players. The fights can also be replayed by the players so that they can tweak their robot setups accordingly for future challenges. Each fight is fought on a grid and each robot's actions logged, so the fights can be replayed using a standard, DVD-style interface (Rewind, Pause, Play, Fast-Forward).


These fights can be organized in tournaments and daily rankings, with the weekly winners receiving special prizes. The player can also practice against NPC robot armies to tweak his robot armies to perfection before challenging real players. The end result would be a highly addictive game, since players would have to log often to manage, maintain and upgrade their robots and issue challenges for a chance to win big prices and have their names in the weekly winners lists.

Welcome to Frosty's Bits!

Welcome everyone to my blog. This is my first blog and I rarely read other people's so keep that in mind while reading these lines. The point of this blog, which I'll be hopefully updating on a weekly basis, is to serve as a depository of various game ideas and game-related anecdotes to inspire you, the readers, and myself. I already have a backlog of things to talk about so keep yourself posted and come back often.

Now for introductions: my name's Maxime Doucet and I'm currently working in Montreal as a game designer for mobile platforms, including cellphones, the iPhone and Facebook. It's the best job I've ever had and it's been long overdue. Games have been my passion for as long as I can remember; ever since I was playing Lunar Lander on a computer as a kid. Throughout the years, the most significant games for me have been Final Fantasy 4, Carmageddon 2, Diablo 2, Quake 3 Arena, Dark Age of Camelot and, more recently, online games such as World of Warcraft.


The possibilities for the future are endless and the point of this blog is to discuss these possibilities from a gameplay perspective. So go ahead and leave comments.


Making Things Bleed

So on to my first post! Someone at work sent me this article on Kotaku this week and I really enjoyed this part:

[The game] promises brutal, combo-infused combat, a new leaping technique that adds a whole new element of explorations, and a regeneration mechanic that uses visible cues rather than a health meter to display Rick's status.

I've been a fan of the series, even though I've never actually finished any of the old arcade games. I was way too young and they were way too hard. But I enjoyed and admired the game's gore and Lovecraftian lore. Back at the arcades in the late 80's, there was nothing like grabbing a 2x4 and batting those lagoon monsters and watch them splatter into the back wall. Fun anecdote: I used to go eat smoked meat sandwiches before heading to the arcades and Splatterhouse was the only game that made me nauseous.

But the article reminded me of an idea I've had for a couple years. I've played way too many MMO's and there's something that's always got on my nerves: people's obsession over their characters' stats. Granted, stats are extremely easy to get addicted to and since most combat-oriented MMO's are stats-heavy, people have a tendency to obsess over them and endlessly look to improve them. After all, what better way to gauge your character's strength by simply comparing numbers? But how well you do on a battlefield often has less to do with stats but with which buttons you're mashing, and when.

A solution to this problem would be to totally get rid of any on-screen HUD. No health points, no mana, no spell icons, nothing. The new Splatterhouse seems to aim for that. You gauge your health points by the amount of damage visible on your character and your enemies. Hit a zombie in the ribs and the texture of a gash is applied to where your hit struck. And, as the zombie's hit points are decreasing, its animation is also affected, as it starts to limp, its arms or legs breaking or falling off. This would also mean getting rid of health points - those damn health points - altogether, replacing them with some kind of damage table instead:

• Hit a monster on an arm and its attacks are weakened
• Hit a monster on a leg and its movement is impaired
• Hit a monster on the torso area and it bleeds, its health gradually decreasing
• Hit a monster in the face and it is knocked out or decapitated
  

All the while, your damage - and the damage done to you - and other actions are expressed with visual cues, rather than meters. Of course, this has existed for years in the FPS genre but the MMO genre remains stats-heavy.

Other Actions

Spell casting is also done using visual cues: an interesting interface could be by right-clicking the mouse which would call up a star-shaped menu of buttons, then clicking the spell would cast it. As there would be no mana shown on screen, it would be expressed by animating your character properly:

• 100% mana: Your character is standing upright, chest puffed out, ready for battle
• 50% mana: Your character is visually exhausted and is slumping, breathing heavily
• 0% mana: Your character is on the verge of collapse, as he is covered in sweat with veins covering his arms and face
  

Since there would be no visible stats per se, inventory management could be ultimately simplified to a 5-slot system, which would be called up with a mouse click or hotkey:

• Upper Body Armor: Armored protection to either block or glance off attacks
• Lower Body Armor: Armored protection to protect against immobilizing attacks
  
• Boots: Footwear which improves mobility
• Headwear: Armored protection against head attacks (Dungeons & Dragons Online had a great system to manage armor, whereby any class was able to equip any kind of gear but with penalties to spell casting, mana regeneration and mobility)
  
• Backpack: A varying-sized but limited container used to store various goods (Diablo and Dungeon Siege had good systems for representing the physical space used by each item, I would also add a weight limit)
  
• Back: A graphical cue would also be used to show things hanging on your character's back, such as a bow, a staff, a banner or a cloak

A lot of games have already opted for a minimal interface and heavy graphical cues, such as the Black & White and Grand Theft Auto series.