Bay 12 Games Forum
Finally... => Creative Projects => Topic started by: JoshuaFH on February 17, 2010, 05:28:08 am
-
So I was thinking some more, and I got around to toying with an idea o' mine. It's not a fully formed idea though, but I feel the need to devote it to paper for posterity.
One game that I really liked, and I mean REALLY liked was Shadow of the Colossus. While I never finished the game (due to my copy being damaged), I always felt it captured such an epic feeling that very few games attempt to inspire in their players.
Another oft-forgotten game these days is Panzer Dragoon Orta. I played and LOVED that game. Flying around, shooting stuff, and being awesome was basically the premise of the game. I wish I still had it.
Anyway, I was thinking, and I imagined up (yet another) game using these ideas in cohesion, and I came up with a game I call "Cowboy of the Colossus" for lack of a better naming schema.
This game takes places on a hostile world characterized almost exclusively by scorching deserts, harsh mountains, scenic prairies, and violent oceans. In this world, humanity has lived in peace, slowing expanding to all the corners of the world and forming large pockets of civilization. However, nature isn't going to take mankind's conquest over it lying down, and thus humanity's disturbing the natural order has awakened many colossal creatures.
These creatures take many forms, be it just giant golems to aquatic serpents, but they're all hellbent on Mankind's downfall. However, it should be noted that these creatures aren't creatures at all, but giant tools. The colossi are piloted by millennia old immortal warlocks who, while having magically warped and altered bodies, still seem human in general shape, in that they can speak, they have their own personalities, and are still very much in control of their actions. The warlocks don't pilot the monstrosities from inside the colossi, but more like they ride ontop and guide it's actions.
Your character, a dashing cowboy, rides his stallion into a town that has been recently devastated by an attack of one of the monstrosities. He's confronted by the Mayor, and being one of the only fit able men around that isn't horribly injured, is jobbed into the task of taking down the monstrosities once and for all.
The world that he lives in is not a technologically advanced one. If I had to put a name on it, I'd have to say that this game would take place in a steampunk world with lots and lots of 1800-1900's era devices like trains and boats, occasionally taken to their logical extreme in the form of giant steam ferries and whatnot.
However, your main character isn't alone in this quest, he's given a companion in the form of a woman that has been working on the latest technology, a biplane! This woman will help you by piloting the biplane with you riding on the wings.
Basically, the Cowboy's journey revolves around his modes of transportation. These would include his trusty steed, and the biplane, and then eventually a flotilla of ships which act as a makeshift aircraft carrier, and then a crazy fast steam-powered hydrofoil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil) to tackle seaborne monstrosities.
It'd be best to describe these one at a time. The horse is entirely land-based, of course. Would probably act very much like that in SotC, with the added benefit that it can traverse shallow bodies of water as well. Can run at very fast speeds, turn with much alacrity, and do cool jumps over stuff. The horse, differing from the other modes of transport, is actually controlled by you. You can shoot your revolver (explained later) from the house and swing for melee at close range targets.
The biplane is controlled through partnership with your AI pilot. While leaving her alone will cause her to not make dumb mistakes, she'll just pursue whatever she thinks is best and leave you to focus on aiming. However, if you think that the plane could do better, then you could shout hurried vague orders like "Go up!" or "Back off!" and that would change her AI routine to accomodate.
The flotilla you have no control over, they shuttle you from place to place, operate as your personal entourage and they can line up and put planks down to form an impromptu sea-based airstrip so that you can use your biplane in the middle of the ocean.
The hydrofoil is also operated by the AI, and has you as a passenger manning the guns. It goes very fast and can't turn very quickly.
Alright, about combat. There's two types: on-vehicle combat and on-foot combat. In both, you have your lucky revolver + infinite ammo. From all the vehicles, you need to carefully aim your revolver to hit the monstrosity's weakpoints, stop it from attacking, and to shoot projectiles out of the air so that they don't hit you.
Then there's on-foot combat, which involves running, jumping, rolling, ducking, punching, and, of course, shooting. I'm still working this out in my head as to what would be the ideal 'feel' that I'd want, but I know that I'd want it in the game, most definitely.
It should be mentioned, that in the case of the horse, biplane, and hydrofoil, their hit bars are independant of yours. So that you have your own hit bar and your vehicle has it's own hit bar. You vehicle running out of life will exit the battle for a time and then return, however, this will very likely result in your death depending on what stage of the fight you're in.
Now, by stages of the fights, what I mean is that fighting the monstrosities on the vehicles is just one part of the battle. When you've dealt with the monstrosity's attacks and gained access to the part of the monstrosity that the warlock is riding, then you can jump off onto the monstrosity and do battle with him. I think it would be pretty cool if, upon meeting each Warlock, they give you a small cutscene with a really pompous speech or something.
Now, I should probably elaborate on the 'jumping from your vehicle' mechanic. Fighting the monstrosities would entirely be all shooting from the vehicle, it would also be advantageous to jump from the vehicle and onto the monstrosity in order to gain better access to it's weak points and such. However, when you jump from the vehicle, it becomes autonomous and follows the monstrosity around instead of waiting for you. You'd have a special item, like a really loud whistle, that you could blow into and it would attact the the vehicle to come back to you so you could jump back onto it.
NEW: To aid in the jumping on and off vehicles bit, it might be prudent to have a special feature, where your character can reach out, and stick his arm out and grab a ledge or groove, and then just hold onto it as the vehicle whisks away. This would make departing from the vehicle easier, so that you don't have to risk jumping from dangerous heights at even more dangerous speeds in order to get onto a monstrosity. Of course, your character would be completely immune to silly things like dislocated shoulders and whiplash.
All the fights would be really fast-paced, to make the best use of these vehicles. To give you an idea of what I'm thinking of when I talk about the 'jumping on and off the monstrosity' mechanic, I'll give some examples:
After fighting and arduous battle atop the wings of the biplane, you gain access to the top of a hundred story tall golem that's wondering around a big desert. You jump to the head, and do battle with the warlock. Once you've defeated him, the golem would start crumbling, so you have to act fast! You blow the whistle, and the biplane circles around and flies over you. You have to act quickly, jump up to grab the wing, and then the plane carries you as you watch as the golem collapses, leaving giant plumes of dust and it's hundred thousand tonne body slams into the ground.
Or another example: You're riding your house through some open plains, in pursuit of a 1000 metre long centipede-shaped monstrosity. You jump onto one of it's fast moving legs, progress up it's body, and then hit a vital weak point, and then you work your way over to the other side, blow the whistle, and the horse will respond and approach where you air, where you can then continue to the next part of the battle.
Continued from where I left off:
It should be noted, for the purposes of the comparisons to SotC that not ALL the monstrosities are colossi. The warlocks are the main threat, and they come in more forms than just giant things. For example, one of the monstrosities actually take the form of a giant roving pack of faceless homogeneous horsemen which are all part of a magical hivemind, with the Warlock sitting on his own magic horse in the middle them all, doubly protected by his own forcefield. For a different Warlock, he'd have a flying castle fortress, with giant birds that resemble Zuus (http://spoonybard.org/fanlisting/dawn/zuu.jpg) flying around it as protection. The Warlock is inside manning the operation. So there'd be more variety than just a collection of different giant stone creatures.
At this point, I feel it's important to talk about our hero's weapons. In short, he has a very small and rudimentary lineup of weapons in order to maintain simpicity and ensure that flow between and in battles. In the beginning of the game, you have your revolver and your dagger. The revolver works as you'd think it would, just aim and shoot, and occasionally reload. The revolver is your weapon of choice most of the time, having it's faster rate of fire to shoot at things from whichever vehicle willy-nilly. Then you have your dagger, which is of course your melee weapon of choice. The dagger, while having it's short range, has much higher attack power than the revolver and, ideally, would have the highest DPS in the game by far when used skillfully. The dagger is also special in that it can block and parry melee attacks. Also, the dagger is not limited to on-foot combat, it can also be swung when close to an enemy whilst on a vehicle. Later in the game, you'd obtain a double-barreled shotgun. The advantages of the shotgun would be that it would be very damaging, and have more stopping power than the revolver. Also, the shotgun would require less aiming due to the spread of the pellets, and would be a better choice for enemies which move quickly and haphazardly. However, the downside is that you can only fire it twice (one shot for each barrel) and then you have to reload, which not only damages your DPS, but may be entirely unmanageable in a fast-paced battle. Of course, all weapons have infinite ammo, so managing that won't be an issue.
Rilder was asking about the story, so I guess I'll just divulge what I had in mind. It would be a linear game, with the events and consequences of each monstrosity's defeat sending you hurtling towards the next one.
I'll be explaining the story to the best of my ability, but it's somewhat hard to give the whole picture since ALOT of my game ideas are actually a very small part of a very large story, spanning several games and many, many characters and changes to the world. I'll do my best to describe it so that it atleast makes sense in this case.
The Warlocks, the ones controlling the monstrosities, while astoundingly violent and prodigiously arrogant, are not completely malevolent. They're a sect of warriors from civilizations long fallen that had their souls forcibly adhered to magical power by an Evil God that is intertwined very closely to the physical world.
To give you the gist of the situation, the Dark God is literally trapped in the center of the world by the elemental gods outlined in my original Magic Systems thread (http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=45172.0). The Dark God wants vengeance against these gods, and so bides his time. Humans have discovered his presence however, and the Dark God can't trust them to not bother him, and so he threatens to end the world if they don't obey him. However, humans aren't so quick to bow down, even to a world destroyer. While ending all human life is easily within his ability, he doesn't want to because doing so would expend some of his power that he's been slowly building for millenia, and doing such a rash action might excite the elemental gods into launching a preemptive attack before he's prepared to take them on. So, to get them to leave him alone, he forcefully infuses some humans with insane magical power, and these humans become the Warlocks mentioned earlier. With these magical powers unlike anything anyone has every seen before, the countries of the world clash against eachother furiously until most of humanity is reduced to rubble. The Dark God then contacts those humans and advises them to pick a spot, and go into hibernation until humanity builds itself up again, and then re-awaken to pound it back into the stone age, or else he'll 'punish' the humans for their murderous ways and end the world. It must be noted that humans have NO idea who he is or what his intentions are, so they can't in good coscious call his bluff.
Now, in-game, upon defeating each of the Warlocks, you get a small cutscene with them explaining a little bit of their backstory and how they came to be. With their defeat, you get a small shard which is all that remains of their magical power. Upon collecting all the shards, they combine to form the Heart of Evil, a paragon of magical power. However, it's not nearly enough to rebel against the Dark God.
Due to the amount of time that has elapsed between the Warlock's hibernation and the current time, the Dark God is almost ready to actually wage war against the elemental gods, and so after the last Warlock is killed, he booms his voice to every human in the world, warning them that they have 200 years to surrender the Heart of Evil to him and receive his protection when the Godly War occurs. At this point, the game ends, setting up the story for the sequal, which I've been thinking about for some time and actually already have a thread for, called Action Hero (http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=47727.msg964822#msg964822). I should really dig it up and update the info so all this makes sense atleast.
Gosh, I feel like I'm forgetting to elaborate on something. I'll have to think some more.
-
You keep churning out really awesome game ideas.
Stop it, the rest of us look bad now.
-
I don't know about this one, you can't just toss a cowboy hat on a beloved game and pretend it's a new idea. It wouldn't fly.
-
It's nice to see there are fans of the Panzer Dragoon and Team ICO games.
I sorta envisioned some of the combat with the biplane to be like Crimson Skies though. You know, there's the whole flight aspect inherited from flight sims, but with rail-shooting as an option as well much how Panzer Dragoon works. But when you're ready to hop onto the golem, just fly to a certain point and at a certain speed, and a drop-off sequence can be played, and from there combat can be done. Of course, like with SotC, you need to make sure these golems are entire levels themselves (in scale and difficulty).
Of course, depending on the drop-off point will determine the difficulty of reaching the operator. A sliding scale of difficulty.
Reaching operator = Hard, Entry point = Easy
Reaching operator = Easy, Entry point = Hard
It also helps the more defensive measures you knock off as well on the way.
-
I don't know about this one, you can't just toss a cowboy hat on a beloved game and pretend it's a new idea. It wouldn't fly.
Yes, but can I toss a cowboy on a biplane fighting a warlock and call it a new idea?
My description's only half done anyhow.
And of course the golem's would be entire levels themselves, they'd be huge and stuff. I don't think that cutscene jumps would be acceptable though, since I want to make the player feel powerful, and to do that, you have to encourage him to do totally awesome stuff.
-
Well, it's not really a cutscene cutscene, but more of a mock QT event that you can commit to or not.
So to put it, you can be prompted to jump off or get ready for disembarking, and as you're above your target, you can commit and fall/jump, or cancel and climb back aboard.
Nevermind, just have it similar to hopping on an off Aggro like in SotC, except have it for the other vehicles.
-
Dude, you should sell some of these ideas. Or make a big book of them.
-
Is this a linear storyline game? Or is it like a randomized desert world and you have to hunt across the world killing these Colossus things?
Seems like it'd get boring after awhile if it was just a Colossus hunt, and I don't really like linear storyline games so I wouldn't really want to play it unless it was free or something.. :P
-
Am I mindless in my praise?
I don't know, it's possible.
-
Is this a linear storyline game? Or is it like a randomized desert world and you have to hunt across the world killing these Colossus things?
Seems like it'd get boring after awhile if it was just a Colossus hunt, and I don't really like linear storyline games so I wouldn't really want to play it unless it was free or something.. :P
So wait, let me just get something straight, you don't like nonlinear games, but you also don't like linear games? So what does that leave?
This is a rather mulnourished statement, in need of some meaty info. For census purposes of course.
-
Is this a linear storyline game? Or is it like a randomized desert world and you have to hunt across the world killing these Colossus things?
Seems like it'd get boring after awhile if it was just a Colossus hunt, and I don't really like linear storyline games so I wouldn't really want to play it unless it was free or something.. :P
So wait, let me just get something straight, you don't like nonlinear games, but you also don't like linear games? So what does that leave?
This is a rather mulnourished statement, in need of some meaty info. For census purposes of course.
I meant that I didn't think this game idea would work that well as a nonlinear game.
I would play it if it was a nonlinear game though since I Love nonlinear games.
-
Well, to be perfectly honest, my imagining has it as a linear game, with a story and everything. I personally don't have anything against or for either nonlinear or linear, but I think it would be best for game flow for my specific idea.
I'll elaborate more when I edit the opening post to include more info, which should be in a couple hours, as my head is hurting slightly.
-
Alright, I updated the first post with more info.
Now I feel obligated to go to my other threads and update them as well, so this big ol' story makes sense.
-
That is epic.
Also, while reading the post, I was imagining the cowboy as the dude from the Knights of Cydonia music video.
Just make sure it's not too much like SotC in terms of Colossus design and such.
And go for a semi-linear storyline, where there is a main quest, but you could completely ignore that and do sidequests and hunt some random, smaller, unmanned colossi. Like GTA or something.
Pre-post edit: I have not yet read the update, so what I mentioned may be already stated.
-
Quickly brainstormed suggestions:
- Firstly, I don't really see that knife there. With the infinite ammo and - if you've seen some of the most action-packed western movies - action-y reloading of the revolver, what would be the use for the knife, except for the uber-damage. I imagine the Halo scheme here, and in the kind of game you're talking about, that button for quick melee should already be occupied.
- Secondly, I don't think you should throw in a suggestion of multiple types of Warlocks and their disguises in such an off-hand way. How, all the description before that was implying the close resemblance to SotC, and bah, there are more types, and they are not monstrosities at all! That's either really unbalanced, or misleading. Maybe, if there are a lot of NPCs (steam-armada, various drivers, city inhabitants) and enemies are a hodgepodge of elements and races, then it's not so similar to SotC?
* to be considered completely as well-wishing suggestions.
-
Quickly brainstormed suggestions:
- Firstly, I don't really see that knife there. With the infinite ammo and - if you've seen some of the most action-packed western movies - action-y reloading of the revolver, what would be the use for the knife, except for the uber-damage. I imagine the Halo scheme here, and in the kind of game you're talking about, that button for quick melee should already be occupied.
- Secondly, I don't think you should throw in a suggestion of multiple types of Warlocks and their disguises in such an off-hand way. How, all the description before that was implying the close resemblance to SotC, and bah, there are more types, and they are not monstrosities at all! That's either really unbalanced, or misleading. Maybe, if there are a lot of NPCs (steam-armada, various drivers, city inhabitants) and enemies are a hodgepodge of elements and races, then it's not so similar to SotC?
* to be considered completely as well-wishing suggestions.
Yeah, these need addressing. For the dagger, ideally, it wouldn't be 'uber damage' in the same way that physical attacks in Halo are, but it would allow you to deal damage quickly in the hands of a skilled player, more like an RE4 professional. The dagger, as I mentioned, has the duel purpose of being able to defend and parry attacks, which would be necessary against foes that attack so relentlessly that stopping to reload a gun is hazardous. Also, I think it would be prudent to include enemies which are naturally resistant or immune to gunfire for reasons like forcefields, or just being fast enough to knock the bullets out of the air Afro Samurai-style, thus necessitating the dagger's use.
For the second bit, this is more of a problem with my lack of a suitable diction. When I say "Monstrosities", I'm using it as a general term for the magical vessels which the Warlocks use. I was tempted to refer to them as creatures, but that's inaccurate as they're not living. I was tempted to call them monstrous vessels, but that's misleading. I thought of calling them magic robots, but that's just misleading as well. I thought of golems, but they're not all giant stone creatures, and golem evokes the image of big stone people, which only one is. I was tempted to call them colossi, but I can't reasonably draw parallels between them and my imagined creatures and expect people to understand what I'm talking about when I deviate from that. I settled on using the word "Monstrosity" as a means to conveying the game's general tone towards them, that they're thinks that a definitely unnatural, horrifying, and destructive. While SotC is an inspiration, it's not the only thing that's fueled my imagination to make this idea is what I'm trying to get at.
With that said, I think it should also be noted that when I say "Warlock", I'm also using that as a general term for these magical people. They're not big wizardy-looking Gandalf people, but immortal humans that have modified themselves to be better warriors.
I think the best way to let you know what I'm talking about would be to just try to lay out the progression of the game to the best of my ability, and detail the individual Warlocks and Monstrosities that they control, and their abilities/personalities.
-
In that case you had better copyright your ideas, because such a detailed description of a game comes in my mind very close to a ready to use design document (you know, I'm talking about them, evil people :)).
I had one more point, which I forgot to address: Why is that great power in the shape of shards? I mean, what, do the Warlocks puke them out after they are defeated? You say it's in them, and, it's not like the Evil God came to them and impaled them with shards. You've said he infused them magically, while being inside the Earth, so I would imagine that that power would be more like a fluid or gas, and it would come from inside the Warlocks as globes of light, or something like that.
For the dagger, ideally, it wouldn't be 'uber damage' in the same way that physical attacks in Halo are, but it would allow you to deal damage quickly in the hands of a skilled player, more like an RE4 professional. The dagger, as I mentioned, has the duel purpose of being able to defend and parry attacks, which would be necessary against foes that attack so relentlessly that stopping to reload a gun is hazardous. Also, I think it would be prudent to include enemies which are naturally resistant or immune to gunfire for reasons like forcefields, or just being fast enough to knock the bullets out of the air Afro Samurai-style, thus necessitating the dagger's use.
So, they are fast enough, or forcefielded enough to knock bullets out of the air, yet they can't knock PC's dagger out of the air or even his hand? Am I exposed to another example of game injustice and must withdraw to my cave to rage out in silence my displeasure?
And anyway, doesn't your description look to you suspiciously like a typical QTE?
-
In that case you had better copyright your ideas, because such a detailed description of a game comes in my mind very close to a ready to use design document (you know, I'm talking about them, evil people :)).
But gosh, I don't know the first thing about copyright.
I had one more point, which I forgot to address: Why is that great power in the shape of shards? I mean, what, do the Warlocks puke them out after they are defeated? You say it's in them, and, it's not like the Evil God came to them and impaled them with shards. You've said he infused them magically, while being inside the Earth, so I would imagine that that power would be more like a fluid or gas, and it would come from inside the Warlocks as globes of light, or something like that.
This is actually something I like to call a 'placeholder idea', which is what explains something before I come up with an idea that actually makes sense.
I think I got something more workable within the boundaries of logic, so I guess I'll need to rewrite this part. Rewrite away!
So, they are fast enough, or forcefielded enough to knock bullets out of the air, yet they can't knock PC's dagger out of the air or even his hand? Am I exposed to another example of game injustice and must withdraw to my cave to rage out in silence my displeasure?
And anyway, doesn't your description look to you suspiciously like a typical QTE?
I guess it's unavoidable that I'll have to curb the realism such that enemies can't knock the weapon out of the protagonist's hands. To clarify though on the bolded part, he's not throwing the dagger, just swinging it. It's not like this is Gauntlet where the main character is throwing an endless supply of axes at people. But to address the one point at the very end, I can't see how it'd be a QTE (you do mean Quick time event right?), which I'd say are more like pseudo-cutscenes with timed button presses involved, which this isn't. This is more like the game trying to let the player know that the dagger has it's uses, and shouldn't be ignored.
Of course, I think it'd be best if it'd be 'possible' to do dagger-only or revolver-only runs, which are simply more difficult since you're limiting your options.
-
About that dagger!
So, you're implying, that the player is going to have the reflexes as fast as the guy who can kick bullets out of the air? Because if the melee round isn't a QTE...? Or is there going to be a bullet-time button?
It seems that I still have to visit that cave...
To clarify on QTE'ness: your guy comes towards a stronger enemy, guns a-blazing but he needs to reload (button mashing), he quickly pulls out his knife, while emptying the magazine (I may be wrong with the term) with his other hand, kicks the baddie's but in a knife duel, fills the magazine and shoots the baddie's brains out.
Ehm, maybe that's not the best example I could provide.
But gosh, I don't know the first thing about copyright.
Ask Toady! :)... I mean, me too.
-
Might I suggest one thing; ditch the flotilla idea. If you want the biplane to land on water, make it a seaplane sort of thing. As it stands, you just seem to have a bunch of people following you around with little to no practical purpose. From what I can see, about the only realistic use is as a dock for your speedboat thing, which doesn't really stand out as a vital task.
Furthermore, while you and your pilot love interest are out actually fighting, these guys do nothing, which causes a bit of cognitive dissonance; you can get together the army of sailors necessary to man the thing, but you can't get even one more able bodied helper in actual combat?
-
^ What's more, it reinforces the idea of a lone wanderer (or a kind of special agent against the forces of evil). And it's hard to covey the feeling of the world devastated by war with a busy flotilla behind your back.
-
Man, this just proves I REALLY need to get better at explaining things.
About that dagger!
So, you're implying, that the player is going to have the reflexes as fast as the guy who can kick bullets out of the air? Because if the melee round isn't a QTE...? Or is there going to be a bullet-time button?
It seems that I still have to visit that cave...
To clarify on QTE'ness: your guy comes towards a stronger enemy, guns a-blazing but he needs to reload (button mashing), he quickly pulls out his knife, while emptying the magazine (I may be wrong with the term) with his other hand, kicks the baddie's but in a knife duel, fills the magazine and shoots the baddie's brains out.
Ehm, maybe that's not the best example I could provide.
I suppose I can't just say "Rule of Cool" and be done with it. Tell you what though, when I'm writing up the outline for the game, I'll be putting some serious thought and explainin' into the battle system. Just for you, since you're such an inquisitive guy.
Might I suggest one thing; ditch the flotilla idea. If you want the biplane to land on water, make it a seaplane sort of thing. As it stands, you just seem to have a bunch of people following you around with little to no practical purpose. From what I can see, about the only realistic use is as a dock for your speedboat thing, which doesn't really stand out as a vital task.
Furthermore, while you and your pilot love interest are out actually fighting, these guys do nothing, which causes a bit of cognitive dissonance; you can get together the army of sailors necessary to man the thing, but you can't get even one more able bodied helper in actual combat?
This will easily be cleared up when I write up the outline. The flotilla actually DO help you. Like, just to give a little description of one of the sea-based battles:
You and flotilla head out to sea, to be caught in a terrible storm. The plane can't fly in this weather. There's a forest gump reference with one of the NPC's cussing out heaven and earth. Then, suddenly, a huge suicidal pack of sharks appears, and make huge leaps out of the water onto the boats, and start thrashing around and trying to bite people. Then a giant sea serpent appears and starts wreaking havoc. The flotilla's boats are in need of help, but still fighting off the sharks and the monstrosity with cannons and such. You have to take the hydrofoil out, evade shark attacks, fight off the ones attacking the boats, hop onto the boats and use big ol' harpoon guns (probably should've mentioned those) to lay anchors onto the monstrosity's head to lower it, and once it's lowered enough, you slam your speedboat right into it's lowered head and throw yourself onto the spot where the Warlock is. Then you do the battle there with the winds blowing, the rain pouring, lightning thundering, and all the ships thrashing to and fro.
Though, I do like how when a woman is involved, you automatically assume she's a love interest, when I never mentioned anything to that effect.
^ What's more, it reinforces the idea of a lone wanderer (or a kind of special agent against the forces of evil). And it's hard to covey the feeling of the world devastated by war with a busy flotilla behind your back.
One thing I might not have gotten across fully was that there IS human civilization all over the world. They're not warring with eachother either, that was in the backstory. The theme isn't "Lone soldier against forces of evil" then it is "You inadvertantly rally the combined forces of the world to battle the things which will destroy them otherwise".
-
As a matter of visual inquiry, is this the size of the serpent, and which boat is supposed to be fighting it in the game? (Approximately)
(http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad333/Supermikhail/Seaserpent_and_theboats_sc.jpg)
-
Firstly: I'm astonished that someone would actually take time out of their day to hand sketch a picture for illustrative purposes for my little idea.
Secondly: The serpent is kind've in the background, but I'd suppose that's what I have in mind. Also, I suppose the big ships (They'd be big sail boats though, as opposed to destroyers) would be launching the harpoons and the little ship (the steampowered speedboat, as opposed to a cruiser) would be your ship, going between ship to ship and fighting crazy sharks, and then attacking the serpent for the final battle.
-
So, I thought that this thread was withering out, and decided to bump it.
(http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad333/Supermikhail/Atomic_cowboy_sc.jpg)
This is my idea (if I may) of the ending. The black atomic cloud is the representation and the voice of the Nether God, and the cowboy is the Cowboy, and the crystal is the Great Power incarnated. I thought, wouldn't it be cool if the Evil God spoke with atomic power (how can you get more awesome and more destructive?) + it adds a subliminal message.
-
I haven't abandoned this thread Supermikhail, I've been writing up the rest in a word processor, so that I could add the (fairly large) wall of text all at once instead of a bit at a time.
Also, looking at copyright stuff on the internet, apparently American law says that anything anyone makes is copyright the moment they make it, but you have the possibility of 'registering it' for 35$ to 50$ in order to add more legal weight to your ownership of the work. Atleast, that's how I understood it.
I like your art though, it's very simplistic and to the point.
-
You keep churning out really awesome game ideas.
Stop it, the rest of us look bad now.
No - stop it and make prototypes