Hello.
I've started a project a few weeks ago, and I'm wondering if the AGS public (so to speak) would play it...
It's called Mech Gladiators, and, as the title suggests, it's a mech battling game. But that is not all, because space trading will also be a big part of the game. RPG elements will also be present, and the game'll have a storyline as well. So it's a mech battle/rpg/space trading sim/adventure game.
Now, would you play such a game?
Shall I elaborate?
You should't make a game thinking if anyone's gonna play it. You should make a game just for the reason of having fun. It doesn't matter if people are interested in it or not as long as you yourself are enjoying the process of creating it.
But to give you a honest answer to your question: No. I probably wouldn't be interested in it. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
I would play it if it's fun.
Pablo's right. If you're making a freeware game, the only person you need to satisfy is yourself. If you enjoy making the game then it's a game worth making. If you're making a commercial game, then it might be worth it to gauge the gamers' interest. Just make the game you want to make.
On a side note not only directed at this thread but at several recent threads: since when did the "Adventure-related talk and chat" forum become "Pitch your idea for a vaguely adventurish game" forum? If you're looking for feedback on a game idea, you can post it in the Critics lounge. If you're making the game and looking for positive reinforcement, work on it until you're sure that it's something you're going to finish and have a significant amount done, and then make a post in the games in production. The world will be a happier place as a result! :)
I have to say that your post, Dan, is sooo vauge for me, that I can't help you... sorry...
Vince: I sometimes do have trouble on where to post my threads... See, most of my ideas, or things I do, are selp promotion stuff, and maybe off AGS... Kinda turns it difficult... I bet that progz wouldn't be too happy if someone was merely asking "would you play this?" without anything to C&C really... ;)
mech battles on a turn based situation like front mission3 (which i loved) or as a 1st person shooter (i cant remember the game) or as a 3d fighting game (which i also cant remember the game) each of them were rpg style. my favorite though (obviously since i didnt bother remembering the names of the others) was front mission 3 for PS1. kinda because i play D&D and during fight scenes we use the battle grid
This can not qualify as critics lounge material, so please don't move it there...unless you write an entire manuscript and publish it, of course.
This is a question that, simply put, doesn't require a community to answer. As a few people have suggested, you need to ask yourself if it's worth doing or not, and this doesn't go for just underground productions, this goes for everything out there which needs inspiration and a creative, artistic mind; you need to do it for your own sake, and nobody else's. If people choose to play it/buy it, that's a bonus.
Jup. You can start asking yourself whether people will actually play this when you're doing that as a job. Then you can ask that question, and you'll most likely get the answer "Why don't you make (game series you invented years ago and hate by now) XXXIV instead? People want to see (g.s.y.i.y.a.a.h.b.n) XXXIV! And buy the Doom (Year²) engine for it! And add lens flare!" and will be forced to do G.S.Y.I.Y.A.A.H.B.N XXXIV instead.
And for this game idea... well, looks like it's not trying to go out and change the world (gah, something at the back of my head keeps shouting "Adventures In The Mech War World: Beyond The Frontier Quest" ;) Must get rid of these voices... No, Akatosh, don't kill. Killing bad. Don't listen to them. No. BAD thoughts.). But maybe, and just maybe, this will be the opposite to Update Quest: Not original, but great executed. And then, your third game, will both be innovative and well done!
Anyway, as Adven... MECH GLADIATORS will be Freeware, I think I'd play it.
Well, I was just curious to see if people would like such a game, because I believe that games are for other people not just for yourself.
Yes, Mech Gladiators will be freeware, 'cos I'm too young to make comercial games ;).
Er... if it's too vague, I'll let out these little snippets of information:
- There will be 6 major locations, (space stations, colonies etc.) each divided into sublocations.
- There will be 7 mechs. 6 "public" ones, and a secret one.
- There will be about over 30 types of weapons, armour, and aparatuses that can be installed on a mech.
- Combat is turn-based, and first-person (the player looks through the eyes of his character while in the mech).
- The game is divided into two parts: an "adventure" one, where the view is 3rd person and all the puzzles, dialogue and such take place, and a "mech" one, where all the mech battles take place.
- The game'll depend a lot on story, seeing as how there will be side quests and an epic storyline involving all of Humanity, so it's just not "vaguely adventury".
- Space trading! Buy cheap and sell at high prices!
- A solid manual.
- A big-ass extras folder :D.
- Possibly voice acting.
Now, I would've liked to add a poll to this thread, but I didn't see how...
I would really like people's input on this, so if you're not too busy...
I think polls were disabled on the forums, because it was figured that the number of times they'd be used for stupid stuff would outweigh any 'valid' uses. You just have to read all the replies and count the Yes's and No's for yourself, I'm afraid.
I was a 'Yes' from the first post but now you've added more details, I'm leaning towards 'No'. It just sounds like you're trying to cram far too many ideas into it, and I'm worried that means they won't be done very well. (And also that it means you'll get overwhelmed and never actually finish it...) That said, if it gets released I'll almost certainly download it anyway. Which I guess makes me a 'Yes' after all.
Dan, you're young, like you say - and I feel you're letting too many complex plans enter your head. Sure it's a good game, but I know you a little bit and it really doesn't sound like something you'd be capable of. Seriously, you should just write a few short adventures before launching into a mega-game.
Quote
- There will be 6 major locations, (space stations, colonies etc.) each divided into sublocations.
- There will be 7 mechs. 6 "public" ones, and a secret one.
- There will be about over 30 types of weapons, armour, and aparatuses that can be installed on a mech.
- Combat is turn-based, and first-person (the player looks through the eyes of his character while in the mech).
- The game is divided into two parts: an "adventure" one, where the view is 3rd person and all the puzzles, dialogue and such take place, and a "mech" one, where all the mech battles take place.
- The game'll depend a lot on story, seeing as how there will be side quests and an epic storyline involving all of Humanity, so it's just not "vaguely adventury".
- Space trading! Buy cheap and sell at high prices!
- A solid manual.
- A big-ass extras folder .
- Possibly voice acting.
You're listing a disaster. Do you
really feel capable of doing all that? I don't want to put you off, but why make a game with a hundred fancy bits when you could just make an adventure game with a simple storyline... Sure its a good game design, but there's probably a reason why something so complex like this is currently commercial.
Quote- Combat is turn-based, and first-person (the player looks through the eyes of his character while in the mech).
- The game is divided into two parts: an "adventure" one, where the view is 3rd person and all the puzzles, dialogue and such take place, and a "mech" one, where all the mech battles take place.
How do you plan to do that in AGS?
I want you to succeed, but I think you're playing with fire here...meaning...two months down the lineÃ, we'll probably be hearing about you burning the idea :P But, prove me wrong. If you do, I'll play it :)
Yes, I would play a game like this, I like mecha ;D
It does sound like a very ambitious project, with all that you plan on including. You might want to start thinking about which elements are the most important for the story and gameplay experience so that the project dosn't loss focus and never get finished.
The ideas do sound interesting; but as said before, they are REALLY too hard to succeed (especially the mech part).
Indeed, it is an ambitious project, and if I didn't feel capable of doing it, I wouldn't be announcing it, believe me. I've got most of the scripting worked out in my head, and I'm currently working on a tech demo to show that I can do this.
Now, a lot of people (2) have asked how I'm going to do the mech battle part.
Simple, the arena where player shall fight will be a room. The inventory will contain weapons, and a GUI will show where the player can attack (each mech type has certain sweet spots) and another GUI shows statistics. An object will be the enemy mech, and it's only real purpose will be to show the enemy to the player.
Now, how am I going to switch between mech battle mode and adventure mode? There's nothing complex about it, just when the player is moved to the arena room, the player's graphics are hidden, and I remove all the adventure mode GUIs and show the mech battle GUIs.
Hmm... so far, it seems that people would play such a game, but they're skeptic about the completion of it.
Believe me that when I added each feature I thought about how I was going to do it, I wasn't adding stuff just for the sake of grandeur. I want to experiment with AGS.
Now, please, keep inputting, input is good.
Yes, it's amibitous. Yes, it combines different genres into one game. Impossible? No. Look at http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=586, for one well-executed example. Just one thing I'm curious about: Will the mech-battle be real time or turn-based (which I guess)?
Turn-based, Akatosh. It's less of a hassle.
Oh, and I was 99% sure that link would lead me to GFW. Yes, I drew a lot from GFW, and it also inspired me. As I replayed it a few weeks ago, I kept thinking "how was this done? wait a minute... hey, that's not too hard to make... hmm... ok, must rush Update Quest and do that. definetly..." and that's the reason why UQ turned out shite.
I would also like to thank Ahmet (Gord10) because his tutorial showed me how simple it is to make RPGs.
hmm... I've heard about this little project of yours, it sounds interesting and different... but as fellow agsers have said it's too ambitous, I'm not saying don't ever make this project, but I would say perhaps cut some of your ideas down a bit, since most would probably be a little difficult, although if you can do all of this then it would quite an acheivement scripting wise... ;)
but then again YOU'RE A N00B! :D :D :D
only teasing. ;)
GFW was a bit pants IMO.
It was an interesting idea, it did combine a couple different genres, and it did contain a few high points, but overall I felt it was a bit .. bleh.
The 'Adventure Game' was OK but (as a stand alone game without the other bits) a bit generic and nothing majorly special, the 'Space Trading' was fun (I found myself playing that a lot and ignoring the AG side) but a bit basic, and the 'Space Battles' seemed like a crudely tacked on afterthought. It would've been great with about twice as much effort put into it, instead of seeming rushed to finish. (It might even have been far better than it was with the amount of effort that went into the whole game going into a single aspect - like the trading - and calling THAT the game.)
I'm not saying Mech Gladiators can't be made. I'm definitley not saying you can't make it. I think it can be done, and you should certainly go ahead with it. I'll play it.
My fear is just that in trying to include so much, you won't do as good a job on any single element as you could if you focused on one or two (as with GFW). And then, of course, there's the possibility another great idea will strike you, and you'll rush this one to finish it and won't release the best game you can. ;)
Orienting at GFW? That's good, but... please, for everything holy there is, do not use that buying/selling system! I mean, how easy would it have been to at least add "You have: XXX" to the selling dialog instead of having to guess around blindly / making notes? And why did the dialog always stop after guessing wrong and trading?
But this is no 'talk about GFW' thread. I hope you will give Mech Gladiators the time (and different title, oh please) it deserves; it could turn out quite good then.
Believe me, Akatosh, I plan to put in the work the game deserves, and I've got FSi constantly watching my arse so I don't screw up.
Also, there is still skepticism about the completion of the game and I'd like to put it at rest. Believe me, I might be a newbie (although I like to think I'm doing pretty well with scripting) but I'm no fool, I know it's going to take a lot of hard work to make something even acceptable. In two weeks, I'll get some free time and I hope to work every day on the demo, so I'll probably make some major progress during that period.
Oh, and yes, Akatosh, the dialog system was a bit annoying, so I plan to use a simple GUI system which should behave like this (more or less): a GUI will show the avaible merchandise and next to each merchandise two buttons - buy and sell, then another GUI with a textbox will appear where the player can type in the ammount he/she wishes to buy or sell. No hassle, no dialogue. Also, when buying mechs or upgrades, a room will be the "terminal" from which you order or sell what you wish.
No, I would not play it. The genre you are referring to is Space Sim, not adventure game. If you're looking for an audience, you probably won't find it here.
Quote from: TheCheese33 on Sat 27/01/2007 20:49:55
No, I would not play it. The genre you are referring to is Space Sim, not adventure game. If you're looking for an audience, you probably won't find it here.
i wouldnt say thats a fair comment to make. just because you dont like that genre and wont play that game doesnt mean everyone on this forum is here because they love adventure games ONLY. Postmodern boy has already proven your comment wrong by saying he would like to play it.
I don't like the mecha stuff too much so for that apect, no, for the rest- why not.
I'm all for innovative and combinatorial adventure games, and this seems to be the type. I'll play it if you ever complete it, yes.
I would play it without knowing too many details about it because of one simple reason: I always like to see a program used for something it "isn't supposed to do". Technically I think it can be done, possibly very well. And a young gamer with a complex idea is a good thing too; I believe there is a bit more of a "fire" in them (or some of them). So I would play the mech just because it promises to use AGS, an Adventure Game toolkit, for something that's not Adventure. There you are, you've attracted a potential player, Dan.
So for the poll, YES.
Great, not even the demo is done, and we've hit some rocky ground... :(
I need people (or possibly just one person) who can animate, make character art, and also make backgrounds...
I've got Blight3220, but he can only do so much, so he's just sticking to concept art.
So if you can help, pm or e-mail me please.
Please help, don't let this project die...
I recommend using placeholder art and getting the game programmed. At least program as many of the features you plan to add. Then you'll know what is and isn't needed exactly. For a game that requires completely new code I feel that as an artist I would never start making art until the various features are at least functioning.