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Thread: Some ideas for level selection...

  1. #11
    I've remembered another nice game that uses "travel": Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. This video is long but it shows the concept with a lot of different places:

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  2. #12
    Can I asume that multiple star systems would count as multiple locations since theese star systems differ from each other by the number of planets, planets types, etc.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilverWarior View Post
    Can I asume that multiple star systems would count as multiple locations since theese star systems differ from each other by the number of planets, planets types, etc.
    Well see there is somewhat of a challenge with free-roaming 3D space too. You would, just like 2D, have to define that location either visually or by indications (labels, shown on a map and such). You could have a 'warp drive' that allows you to warp or jump from location to location, or auto-pilot, etc, but then there is the challenge of being in one location and decorating it in 3D so that when in another location you decorate that one so they look different from each other.

    That's the main work of the theme depending on how you design your game, make locations that are "visually" different from each other which you can do other things to enhance that already visual difference. Different music alone doesn't count as per the rules, it has to look different.

    Now having different planets does do a little to help define a difference, but I'd go a bit further than that and give more than just the planets as a feature. Maybe an asteroid field, different coloured space dust, a few nebulae and have your 'HUD' tell you you are in ____ system or something. That would do it I think. The scores will somewhat reflect how well you design towards the theme too.
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  4. #14
    Actualy if I'll have enough time I will include planetmaps aswell. This should definitly count as different locations becouse each planet will have its own texture representing its surface. And becouse there wil be various types of planets it would be perfectly clear that those a truly different locations.
    But for now I don't want to get ahead of myself.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilverWarior View Post
    Actualy if I'll have enough time I will include planetmaps aswell. This should definitly count as different locations becouse each planet will have its own texture representing its surface. And becouse there wil be various types of planets it would be perfectly clear that those a truly different locations.
    But for now I don't want to get ahead of myself.
    Yeah, planet maps show a location of where you are at the top of the HUD or screen or something... those types of things help show the players (and the judges) that you are at location X, Y or Z. However the idea is that each must be visually different, hence this part of the rules:

    "LOCATIONS: Each individual location must have it's own visual theme or style. Music can be used to help improve the theme, but will not count if used alone to differentiate from a past location."


    So if you are visiting a planet it's self then yes that would count, but if you are visiting X, Y or Z system then that system must have it's own look, it's self. It must look distinctly different from the other systems, not just have a different number of different coloured planets to really count.

    ie. if it's all plain black with white stars and 3 planets in System X and you travel to System Y and it is all black with white stars and has 5 planets then the judges would not count each of them as having their own visual theme or style. You'd have to add more features like nebulae or space dust, etc so that there is something there that makes it look different, not just the planets.

    Now if it's 1 system and you are traveling from planet to planet then they would have to be big enough and have things around them that make it behave like a location rather than an object in space. It would be even better if you could visit the planet it's self (repair ship, shops, etc) because then you are actually visiting that planet (location).
    Jason McMillen
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  6. #16
    Interesting question, and I like your examples! Indeed, there are a few different ways to connect the world.

    For me, some kind of interconnected world seems natural, a continuous world where you can go anyplace you like. The question is rather how to travel. I first thought about driving/flying from place to place, but there is a risk of the travelling either gets dull, or it is so short distances that it doesn't really count as travelling (can be helped by some accelerated mode or "space warps"), or the transportation is spiced up by combat, which would then have to be so integrated with the game that it controls what the game is really about. Hm...

    Now, I consider some solution more based on "portals", moving instantly from location to location, possibly with some animation between to symbolize the actual travelling.

  7. #17
    In my case there will be different locations with able to warp from one location to another.
    Theory is - when you know everything but nothing works.
    Practice is - when all works, but you don't know why.
    We combine theory and practice - nothing works and nobody knows why

  8. #18
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    Another alternative, if you are looking for a more "seamless" look/feel approach, could be to enter some kind of warp sequence or such. This could provide an opportunity to make the act of traveling it's self a part of the gameplay AND you could add in a set of new gameplay that takes place in between locations should you want to go that way too.

    Games like Ratchet & Clank Future do this and it's quite fun if done well.
    Jason McMillen
    Pascal Game Development
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