GameDev.Net contest

[cairnswm]

Starts Tomorrow.

http://www.gamedev.net/community/contest/4e5/

[Traveler]

Has it been one year already since 4e4??!

Omg, time is passing by so fast these days... :?

They'll be annoucing the 4 elements tomorrow. Lets wait and see whats in store for us this time.
It really can't be any worse than the robots, pirates, zombies and ninjas, they choose for last year.

[JSoftware]

hehe they seem constantly owned by 500's :P

Unlike PGD! :D

Now if only we could have a lounge to distract all us pascal coders from actually coding we could probably be the full pascal equivalent of gdnet :P

[WILL]

500s? You mean 500+ Forum posters? :)

[JSoftware]

"HTTP Error 500.13 - Server error: Web server is too busy." :wink:

[WILL]

Ah... ok. Well lets not hope for that here. :P

I like the traffic flow of the site just as it is now. Busy, but not too crazy. Ok well I always welcome more visitors. ;)

So is anyone actually thinking of doing ANOTHER competition? :lol: From the feedback of this year's PGD Annual it sounds to me like there aren't a ton of developers here with a lot of energy left for another one.

[aidave]

The prizes of Gamedev pale in comparison to PGD

[Traveler]

So is anyone actually thinking of doing ANOTHER competition?

You bet! Question is, is it going to be the one on retroremakes.com or the 4E5 competition. :)


The prizes of Gamedev pale in comparison to PGD
They do now, but I wouldn't be surprised if the list is going to be a whole lot bigger near the end of the competition.

[WILL]

Well hopefully we'll be able to maintain future sponsorship with the NEW DevCo company after the dust settles there.

[idee_fixe]

I'm up for another contest (though I hope it's IGF... ;)). Then again, I wasn't up to the wee hours of the morning chasing down bugs, so I'm not exactly burnt out. But maybe if the 4 elements are "wizards, blocks, strange robots and a dynamic 3rd person perspective camera" I might have an idea or two...

[Traveler]

Well, the elements are known: Economics, Emotion, Emblem and Europe.

I think I'd better correct myself when I said in my previous post that it couldn't be any worse than the elements used last year.
Its definitely a whole lot harder :(

Any thoughts on game ideas?

[cairnswm]

My idea is an Economic Third World war. Europe comes under pressure from private investors on the stock exchanges and war starts flowing through the markets. (Emblems would be the various factions) - emotions used would be greed and fear as the populace tries to get their share of the market boom but with the massive control of the markets they could be bankrupted = fear.

Ok so I havn't thought about it enough yet.

[idee_fixe]

Funny how the first suggestion is all about war. There is already a game that would be perfect: Command and Conquer: Red Alert.

I wonder what else would make an interesting idea, something with a little less war in it. and not a stock market simulator (I've played one of those before - ugh).

Having recently watched the Da Vinci Code, I'm thinking of some kind of mystery where you go around following clues and uncovering a conspiracy of some kind regarding a secret society or maybe a more contemporary spin would be like a terrorist cell.

Oh, how about something like Munich (the movie) - you play an assassin hunting down members of a society/terror group/government, whatever, and you have to track them down and kill them.

This group that you are tracking down could have strong ties to a local economy (like mobsters or politicians), and also you can be paid in cash that you have to spend on weapons and gear.

Emotion could play a large role in the story and gameplay, especially greed and anger, but other elements can be thrown in to force emotional decisions (or perhaps ethical) decisions on the players behalf (I can bomb them, that's easy, but what about bystanders).

Emblems could be featured promimently as symbols of this group you are tracking - it could tattoos of members, spray painted on walls, badges on uniforms, et cetera.

Europe - well, pick a town in europe, or lots of towns, preferrably small, perhaps even made up. One single location would be interesting because first it's easier, second you can make it more richly detailed, and thirdly the impact of your actions has a longer effect. If you set of a bomb and leave the city, who cares? If you have spent the last week there and got to know the pub owner, chatted with his kids, and had some pints with the wino at the table over there, you are less likely to decide to leave a bomb under the table (emotion).

This game could be in full 3-d, 3rd person perspective (ideally, like GTA3, but perhaps less overtly evil), but it would work as 3-d from a fixed top-down/iso perspective (like our very own tanx), or even as 2-d with sprites.

Okay, now that I've given away an idea I am actually quite pleased with, please don't use it without me! (or at least my consent!).

[aidave]

A game set in the 2005 French Riots could fit (District 13 - the game!)

[jdarling]

Having recently watched the Da Vinci Code, I'm thinking of some kind of mystery where you go around following clues and uncovering a conspiracy of some kind regarding a secret society or maybe a more contemporary spin would be like a terrorist cell.

Carmen Sandiego (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Sandiago) in Europe (Where in Europe?)

[Traveler]

Funny how the first suggestion is all about war. There is already a game that would be perfect: Command and Conquer: Red Alert.

You should have a quick look see in the 4E5 Technology thread, and count the number of rts games people are planning on making. ;)

[WILL]

Funny how the first suggestion is all about war.

Well all games have conflict in them. Something to solve or work through. Thats what creates the personal intrigue and accomplishing feeling at the end that brings them back. And whats a greater conflict than a war? :)


Having recently watched the Da Vinci Code, I'm thinking of some kind of mystery where you go around following clues and uncovering a conspiracy of some kind regarding a secret society or maybe a more contemporary spin would be like a terrorist cell.

That would require detailed story telling so be prepared for some serious writting if you go that route. ;)


Oh, how about something like Munich (the movie) - you play an assassin hunting down members of a society/terror group/government, whatever, and you have to track them down and kill them.

This group that you are tracking down could have strong ties to a local economy (like mobsters or politicians), and also you can be paid in cash that you have to spend on weapons and gear.

I know it might be a bit faupa to bring MMO into this conversation, but I'd love to play a nice open-ended version of a game like Hitman. That game was fun. You had to be so exact and detailed taking down your targets. Made you really feel like a ...hitman! :D

I put together an 'idea' for a game myself once where you would have specific trade skills and you would go from bar/club/etc taking 'contracts' (not just on people, but sometimes delivering a package, retriving an object or some kind of mercinary, bounty hunter, hitman or professional theif jobs). And as you grew in skills you would take on harder jobs. And if you player online you'd eventually be able to take contracts on other real live players and you yourself would have to avoid getting notice by athorities or there would be contracts out on you too!

Sort of like a cloak and dagger MMO that takes on a Second Life type reality to it. :) The game world would go through different country leaders, chiefs of police & mayors in cities and goviners in states, special agents and agency top brass, etc, etc... Of course noone should actually try to take anyone down in real life. :? Thats just disturbing...

Well don't mind all my ideas. :) I'm a big fan of games like Beneth A Steel Sky, Shadowrun (for Sega Genesis!), Deus Ex... you know all those cyberpunk type games. ;)

[cairnswm]

What about a city building game. Like Zeus/Ceasar?

It can be based in Europe, you need to build up a small european village.
Economy is the trading between your village and other towns, as well as the markets internal to your village, getting grain etc to granaries etc.
You need to keep your citizens happy (Emotion)
Emblems can be used to represent the country you are in, or even different churches you can build in your village.

I've always wanted to build a city building game (Theres even a thread on this site somewhere about Fairy Town).

[cairnswm]

Or Defender of the Crown using the complete map of Europe. For fun add in some commodoties that need to be controlled and/or traded.

[WILL]

You know if you wanted to make a play off other great projects of interest in the world today, you could go with the theme or building colonies in space. :) On the moon or Mars... You can make it just in the near future.

Have all the same city bulding concepts, just base it off minerals and resources that would exist in that enviroment. You could make the game also follow the path of us all moving out beyond the solar system. Terraforming planets eventually, etc...

[savage]

How about a remake of Syndicate?

[Huehnerschaender]

Syndicate was sooooooooooooooooo cool!!!

I loved this games and played it 12 hours without a pause sometimes.

I took a look at some screenshots of Syndicate recently and was wondering, why I was so "stunned" by the graphics a few years ago :lol:

Nowadays it looks so "crappy" ^^

[Traveler]

Thats actually not such a bad idea.
And it does fit most of the required elements too :)

[WILL]

How about a remake of Syndicate?

You're stuck on that one aren't ya? ;)

Well it did seem like a fun game. I've never played it back in the DOS days and nowadays I can't seem to get a working copy on WinXP. :? Maybe I missed the boat on this one...

But yeah, it's cyberpunk(-ish) so I'd be routing for ya! ;) Perhaps it's time to update an old genre?

[McCLaw]

How about a proper game about s.e.x of some sort.

It would most definately be a stunner ;) and has all the "elements" that is required.

You could be a pimp needing to make money to buy drugs for prozzies so that can make more money.

[savage]

You're stuck on that one aren't ya? ;?

It's one of my all time favourite games. Up there with Metal Gear Solid 3 and Half Life 2 and Moon Patrol :).

Though the graphics are indeed dated by today's standards it was one of the first 640x480 DOS games I had played at the time, which also incorporated an isometric view. The game play was simple yet excellent! Apparently they tested some multiplayer gameplay way back then, but never got it working properly/stably, so it never shipped. It would have wiped Wolf 3D and Doom off the map if they had got that working ( I can but dream ).

I think we should bring it back to modern times by using GPS systems and stickers. You have one commander who co-ordinates 4 operatives. They have to find and target other Syndicates and wipe them out and take over their turf. Only the commanders have access to the GPS information so each syndicate would be a team of 5.

So it goes something like this...
1. During November/December teams register with the server and nominate a Commander. ( all members must supply photo or similar for unique identification ). Photos are only seen by fellow team members and never by the enemy. Also personal information is never shared outside the server. They will also need to supply a logo for their team.
2. Each operative from the team must have GPS system accurate to within 10 meters which will be registered with the server.
3. Teams should be from a similar geographic area ( or maybe not / needs to be discussed ). If the game is international, then this is moot point.
4. January : Once all teams are registered around the world they will be allocated "turf" to protect.
5. Commanders will have logins that will allow them to see where all operatives are around the globe ( both theirs and enemies ).
6. Using their login, Commanders can send messages to their operatives to tell them where "enemy" operatives are in real-time.
7. Operatives can speak with people on the same team and co-ordinate a strike on one or more enemy operatives.
8. Competition ends when one Syndicate has wiped out ( basically stickered the enemy operatives and sent in a picture ) all others or who has the most territory at the end of October.
9. November/December See point 1.
10. Any team who kills someone for real ( on purpose or accidentally ) are automatically disqualified from the competition.

Prizes will need to be sought.

Athena can write the server code ;-).

PS. There's probably already a reality game like this out there. If there is no such game out there, I'll have to speak to a lawyer :).