Project "FPS Party"

[Koenig]

The following thread is a collaborative mock design document for a first person shooter that would meet our ridiculous standards. While this is only a mock design document, anyone is welcome to contribute to the thread and bounce their own idea's or thoughts on the current design.

"FPS Party"

First Person Family Friendly F%$!about Fun

Overview:
"FPS party" is a game meant combine the game-play of action heavy competitive FPS, exploration based adventures, tactical survival, and a collectible initiative to encourage play. The game employs a stylized aesthetic reminiscent of action figures in order to appeal to a broader audience and reduce development costs while also allowing for several creative liberties with its tools, weapons, and overall design.

The game is divided into three primary modes that each focus on different styles of gameplay and are respectively named: Battle, Adventure, and Defender.

-Battle mode is a competitive mode akin to most traditional FPS multiplayer in which players can fight against each other or bots to win a variety of match-types.

- Adventure mode is a series of objective based missions that takes place within randomized dungeons that players can plunder while completing various side-quests or missions.

-Defender mode is a cross between tower defense and horde mode genres in which players fend of waves enemies while defending various key locations.


(Updated 8/19/14)

 

[Koenig]

Collective initiative and in-game Currency(s):

One of the primary design aspects of the game is its collectible assets. Every game mode makes use of collectible content that is tied to various cards that are awarded to the player for playing the game. These cards are given to the player for a number of different actions; ranging from winning matches, completing awards, looting them from from dungeons, buying them from the in game shop, and participating in special events.

There are several different types of cards, each of which dictates how they can be used the three primary gameplay modes. The card types range from weapons and equipment to cosmetic content for the players model. Some unlockable cards are used to unlock special content such as mirrored maps and bonus game modes.

All cards that the player earns are placed in his or her "Book"; a graphical menu that holds a slot for every card in the game and the various awards that can be given to the player. Players can have multiple of the same cards and subsequently withdraw them to use in any of the three primary game modes provided that its type is accepted in it. Most cards are given a physical number rather than being a permanent unlock in order to promote collecting as many cards as possible and to encourage trading between players or the computer run shop. As a result of this, removing a card from the book to use in one game mode will prevent you from using it in another mode unless you have another copy of the same card in your collection.

Many of these cards have augmented duplicates that have altered stats compared to the originals, making them better in some ways but worse in others. All cards have some degree of rarity factors associated with them, however rarity is often determined by aesthetic appearance rather than just raw power in order to prevent weapon imbalances. This means that for every type of weapon and their variants, there are also multiple skinned versions of them available for collecting. Having a "Golden Gun" in this game is a sign of true dedication and a dash of luck rather than just using the same piece of equipment excessively.


Currencies and uses

The in-game currency during standard play and in all three game modes are "Coins"
Coins are classified into three types: Bronze, Silver, and Gold; each worth a different amount. Bronze coins are worth one point, Silver coins are worth five points, and Gold coins are worth ten points. These points stack together in the players wallet until reaching the equivalent price of a larger coin type. (For example, imagine a player who has collected 17 bronze coins; these coins would be converted into 1 gold coin, 1 silver coin, and two bronze coins. Even though the coins are counted separately from each other their individual value is cumulative and as a whole they still retain the same original value of the 17 bronze coins)

In every game mode players will earn coins by killing enemies, picking them up off the map, completing objectives, and winning bonus's. The number of coins players earn depends on how they perform and what game mode they are in. For example: Killing an enemy player in Battle mode would be worth 3 bronze coins, but getting a headshot kill would provide an additional 1-2 coins to the player. Completing objectives designated by the game mode or special missions would also reward the player a greater number of coins depending on there intended difficulty. For instance, killing a specific enemy who has a bounty on them would reward the player with a number of coins; the amount depending on the size of the bounty in question. Likewise killing the same low rank enemies or poorly performing players over and over would eventually result in a reduced coin bonus with each kill (This would prevent players from exploiting it) Maps and dungeons in every game mode would also have coins scattered about them in order to encourage reward exploration and encouraging the player to roam the maps rather than stay in one place.

Players will lose a fraction of their coins whenever they are killed or incapacitated, however the amount they lose depends on what game mode they are playing, how they died and how many coins they currently had in their wallet; this fraction is then rounded to the largest coin the player has and subtracted from them and any coins subtracted would then be split into a smaller fraction and scattered around the player allowing team mates (or enemies) to gather them. Getting killed by weaker enemies, joke weapons, or self inflicted damage will result in a larger penalty than normal; on the flip being killed by a powerful enemy, weapon, or hazard would result in a smaller penalty. Coins are reset to 0 at the end of each round, adventure, or mission.

Coins can be spent in a variety of ways, however the most common uses would be on bonus cards, map items, hazards, and power-ups. (More on those later) Because coins are manually spent rather the being automated, players can choose how they want to spend their money and can use it to their advantage. "Do I spend my money now on a useful power up, or do I save it for later?" "Should I buy the cheap power up or should I save up for the powerful one?" These are the questions player would have to ask themselves during the game. Depending on what the player spends their money on, they might be able to spend it at any location or they may be have to be at specific spots. Vending Machines, Hazzard Meters, and Upgrades would be available in every mode, as would be Special Equipment that could be ordered and called in.

Bonus Roulette: The Bonus Roulette (Though it is really more of a slot machine) is a secondary game mechanic present in all three game modes. Whenever a player does something relevant respective to the game mode they are playing in, the Bonus Roulette will activate and will role its slots; players will be rewarded depending on what the slots on and their order. The rewards vary from various coin boosts, bonus equipment, and power-ups, though in competitive modes the Bonus Roulette will be curved to help players who are falling behind.

Tickets:

(Another generic example)

Tickets are the currency used to buy various cards or unlockable content and are meant supplement a players collection by providing an alternative way to get cards outside of regular gameplay. Unlike coins, tickets reamain with the player permanently until spent. There are fice different types of tickets:
-Red
-Green
-Blue
-Yellow
-Gold.

Red, Green, and Blue tickets are rewarded to the player while playing each of the three main game modes (Battle, Adventure, and Defender respectively) while Yellow tickets are a generic reward available from all three. Golden Tickets are rewarded to the player for completing difficult achievements or on rare occasions for performing extremely well. Each color of tickets stack separately from one another. Players may spend tickets at the Armory.

The Armory is a menu driven shop that players can buy and trade with in order to augment their collection. It is available to the player in all three game modes and the main menu. The selection of cards available is determined by the player progress in each respective game mode the size of their current collection. The type and number of a tickets needed to buy cards and equipment from the armory varies depending on the cards in question, though in some cases tickets of two or more different types are needed to purchase the card or content in question. The armory has a selection of mini-games available that players can spend tickets on to play, many of these mini games can reward the player cards.

 

[Koenig]

Aesthetic Design and Context:
Currently the style for Project FPS Party is been based on a cross between robotic crash-test dummies with an almost toy-like design.

(Possible examples for the style mentioned above)


Context:

These Robots exist for the sole purpose of being smashed, crashed, crushed, shot, sliced, diced, and all around blown apart; effectively negating any moral concerns some players may have about rationalizing their actions. The organization responsible for creating them is also the one who hosts and sets up the various maps, dungeons, situations that pit these robots against insurmountable odds and each other. Their Goal? Well that's for the player to find out. Could be to improve safety features and technology? Or could be to create militarized robots of mass destruction? Could be for the betterment of mankind? or it could be for our own selfish entertainment? Regardless of the reason, it is the job these robots were built for and they will follow it to the letter, whether they want to or not.

To reduce development costs and retain its own identity, the game will employ lightly cel-shaded textures and models; (Similar to that of Team Fortress 2 and The Wind Waker) However black lines around models may be omitted to prevent character models from contrasting the environment that they are in.

(Example)

The games menu screens and layout is based on simplistic shapes and artistic design rather than pure text; this is to help prevent confusion on the part of new players and make it easier to control outside of First Person Gameplay. For lack of a better description, use Super Smash Bros Brawl as an example.

 

[Koenig]

Battle Mode Overview:

Battle Mode is a series of organized match types that players can choose from to play against each other in a number of both standard and less common game-types. The categorization is as follows:
-Featured
-Standard
-Special
-Custom

The Featured playlist contains a number of game modes that are taken from the later the lists and can be updated at any time the developers to add or remove match-types. Any game mode in the featured playlist will offer additional rewards as compared to those in other playlists; combined with the previously mentioned ability to add or remove match types from this list, this will enable developers to encourage players to try different modes more often and keep less popular modes active for the players who want to play them.

The Standard playlist appropriately contains generic match types common to the FPS genre such as Team Death Match, Capture the Flag, Free For All, and the like. This playlist exists to appeal to players who know exactly what they want to play and want to jump right in, however Standard mode does not offer any additional bonus's for playing its game-types.

The Special playlist features unique or less common game modes that are not standard in most FPS; Additionally it also contains limited time "event" modes during certain times of the year. The majority of modes listed in the Special playlist act as free DLC; being added and removed according to popularity and content. The Special playlist does offer additional bonus's in select modes such as the event matches.

The Custom playlist is essentially an open menu for user's hosting their own custom games. The rules for these matches are dictated entirely by the players who set them up. Because of the variable nature of these games, they will offer few collectibles than the previous three playlists, at least until exploits can be properly anticipated and subsequently prevented.



Map Design and Features:

The basic design for the maps in Battle mode is to follow a medium size template so that players can still reach each other quickly while still giving players an amount of space to operate freely (To my CoD friends, this means it is the antithesis of the abomination known as Free Fall) The goal is create maps where all weapons and play-styles are possible without forcing the player to go out of their way to do so. For every choke point on the map their must also be two back doors, for every long range kill-zone there should also be a close range cluster'f**k (and vice verse) For every dark corner their must also be a nearby window or hazard to counter it, Et Cetera.

Every map will also contain a number of interactive objects, items, and bonus's that players can capture, trigger, activate, or buy from. This would allow players to change the flow of the match by either altering parts of the map, setting up traps, or triggering specific events. Many of these features will require the player to spend coins in order to activate them in order to prevent exploits.

One of the most important features that the game's map's will boast is the randomized "shuffling" of certain assets in each round. Every map would have a number of assets such as doors, walls, windows, ladders, cover and the like which will be swapped with other assets at the start of each round while the base design of the maps will remain the same. The goal of shuffling these assets is to force the player to re-learn the map on each play-through rather than relying on the eventual muscle memory that most people eventually rely on while playing multi-player games and subsequently reduce camping without harming the overall design of the map; This will encourage map exploration in each round and reward players who are quick to adapt while penalizing players who rely on the same strategies (after all, how can someone abuse the map if they can rely on it being exactly the same each time?)


NPC Characters:

Every match in Battle mode is overseen by NPC characters that guide and interact with the player and each other in various ways over the radio and com chat. The activation of NPC guidance is determined by player performance, and non useful information is triggered on rare occasions to reduce repetition. There are three tiers of NPC's:
-Judge
-Team Leader
-Partner

The Judge NPC is a neutral AI that acts as referee and announcer during the matches. It's words are law and subsequently alters the flow of the game accordingly and can subsequently reward or penalize players for their actions during the round. The Judge can be one of three AI characters, the selection of which is determined by the game mode, map, and players present.

The Team Leader NPC is an actual character who is aligned with one team or another and subsequently provides objectives or advice to the team that he or she commands; either creating secondary goals to assist the team, calling out enemy positions to provide intelligence, or placing bounties on specific enemy players. Team Leaders can interact with other NPC's such as the Judge or Partner and will provide context and exposition during the match; often arguing with the former or laid back conversation with the latter. In some cases they will even argue with NPC's from the other team providing further characterization for each NPC. The Team Leader can be one of the twelve different NPC's, the selection of which is determined by the team the player is on and the players present.

Partner NPC's act as the players personal assistant and provide specific advice for them during each round. They can interact with both the Judge and Team Leaders but not other Partners. A Partner NPC is selected by the player and must be unlocked prior to doing so.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

I wore my Top Hat because this thread is fancy.....

 

[Koenig]

Adventure Mode Overview:

There we go. Adventure mode is a mission based feature that borrows heavily from dungeon crawlers and rouge-likes. Players may choose from a number of differently themed dungeons to play in along with the size and difficulty. New dungeons will become available as more dungeons are completed. Each dungeon will have a primary mission and a number of optional secondary objectives to complete.

Every dungeon and their missions are randomly generated and reset upon being completed. Each time a dungeon is generated it is designed to match the a randomly selected primary objective and then constructed out of a number of pre-built rooms and assets; the rooms are either directly connected to each-other or by an extended hallway to meet size limitations, while assets are randomized and set based on a template in each room and dungeon. After the primary dungeon is generated, secondary objectives are selected and set in place along pre existing parts of the dungeon while addition segments and dead ends are also added.

Each dungeon has at least one boss room and a number of puzzles rooms scattered through-out. Every room in the dungeon is sealed by a door connecting to those adjacent to it, however some doors will require the player (or players) to complete an objective, find a key, or break the seal before progressing further. (Long time Metroid and Zelda players may recognize the inspiration) In addition to to the various locked doors, most rooms will contain a number of NPC's or enemies that will either try hinder the players progression or kill them out right. Not all NPC's are hostile however, and some may be willing to help the player in exchange for completing tasks or trading items. Scattered throughout each dungeon are various locations where players can spend coins to buy power-ups ,upgrades, and equipment. Similarly several items are also scattered around the dungeon for players to find and use on their own; some of these items may include the keys or power-ups needed to complete the dungeon while others include journal logs and audio tapes that provide further back-story behind the whole operation or the NPC's who are caught up in it. Chests are also scattered throughout the dungeon, but are much rarer than other items; they often contain a large number of coins, powerful upgrade, or a rarer unlockable card that can be used during the next play session.

Primary NPC's such as those found in Battle mode also make an appearance in Adventure mode, albeit in varying positions. NPC's in adventure mode can interact with any other NPC in the mode, providing characterization and back story for each other and the dungeon they are in. The nature of there interactions depends on the role they play. There are five different roles for NPC's in Adventure mode:
-Dungeon Master
-Order
-Traveler
-Guide
-Partner

Dungeon Master NPC's have a self explanatory role; They are the ones in control of the dungeon and play the role of villain for players during adventure mode. Dungeon Masters will monitor the players progress and attempt to hinder them from time to time (Though this often backfires) Occasionally they will taunt players or declare themselves when they alter something in the dungeon. Dungeon Masters can be one of three AI characters (The same as those in Battle and Defender mode)

Order NPC's are villains that are loyal to Dungeon Master and act as their servants within the dungeon. They can either complement the dungeon master by controlling parts of the dungeon or taking a physical form in which case they will confront the player directly as a boss or hostile enemy unit. There can be several Order NPC's in a single dungeon at one time. Order NPC's can be one of twelve characters, though they can take on different persona's inside adventure mode.

Traveler NPC's are neutral NPC's that are placed throughout that dungeon and can wonder from place to place. They can give tasks to player for side quests and offer useful advice and services, however some of them can also be recruited by the Order and Dungeon Master to hunt players or cause trouble; as such their role is destined to change from dungeon to dungeon. Traveler NPC's can be any of the same twelve characters that the Order is drawn from

Guide NPC's are benevolent NPC's that are allied with the player and will help them in various ways. Guide NPC's are responsible for getting the player through the dungeon and are the ones who give the player objectives to complete. Guides will also provide the player with advice to complete the dungeon or back-story to the dungeon and NPC's themselves. Guide NPC's can be one of four characters taken from the previously mentioned of twelve

Partner NPC's are bound to each player and provide similar information as that of of the Guide. Partners are selected by the player.

 

[Shoulder]

That's a lot of information to take in there, Koenig, but first impressons are I like what I'm seeing. So is this game purely online and local multiplayer, or does it sport a single player option ala Monster Hunter?

In other words, is it possible for adventure mode to have an offline mode where you can still complete quests and tasks without having to go online, if a player chooses to do so? And also, if there is a single player option, then like Monster Hunter, can you still upgrade your stats and use them in the multiplayer portion of the game?

Another thing I notice is you mention about the dungeon portions of the game. Well, are the dungeons just dungeons, so caves, and underground areas, or will there be forest-like areas, or even locations inspired by sci-fi? Since this is a game where you play as robots, could space-like maps be in the cards as well?

 

[Koenig]

That's a lot of information to take in there, Koenig, but first impressons are I like what I'm seeing. So is this game purely online and local multiplayer, or does it sport a single player option ala Monster Hunter?

In other words, is it possible for adventure mode to have an offline mode where you can still complete quests and tasks without having to go online, if a player chooses to do so? And also, if there is a single player option, then like Monster Hunter, can you still upgrade your stats and use them in the multiplayer portion of the game?

The answer to that is Yes. While every game mode supports multiplayer, a player can play by themselves in any mode if they want (Though bots would be used to substitute any other players needed to play select matches such as those found in Battle) Whether or not local multiplayer will be supported will depend on hardware limitations; so far it seems to me like it would be easy to implement in Battle and Defender, however Adventure will likely be more difficult to accommodate.

Another thing I notice is you mention about the dungeon portions of the game. Well, are the dungeons just dungeons, so caves, and underground areas, or will there be forest-like areas, or even locations inspired by sci-fi? Since this is a game where you play as robots, could space-like maps be in the cards as well?

Ideally there will be a number of differently themed dungeons with the themes ranging from castle masonry, underground caverns, industrial settings, or even the interior of a spaceship. As long as the setting is from the "Inside" of something it should be possible, however more open settings like forests and fields would probably be harder to implement due to coherency limitations. Because each part of the dungeon would be loaded separately from the rest it might be difficult to render other parts of the dungeon when they should otherwise be visible.

 

[Majorbuddah]

sounds very fucking cool!! and very fun!! and very ambitious!! i'd love to have a game like this.

 

[simplyTravis]

When do we get to play this? Kickstarter this nao!

 

[Mr-Chris]

sounds very fucking cool!! and very fun!! and very ambitious!! i'd love to have a game like this.

Koenig is very good at thinking of things we all want it seems!

 

[Koenig]

When do we get to play this? Kickstarter this nao!

If and when I acquire the skills to actually develop all the assets needed for the game and implement them, or if an existing developer with relations to TNE is willing to take on the project themselves.

 

[Koenig]

Defender Mode Overview:

Defender mode is a cross between the hoard and tower defense genres. In this mode players will be placed within a centralized map (which I will refer to as the "Castle" for the remainder of this document) and tasked with protecting something at its core along with various secondary objectives scattered around the map as waves of enemies attempt to destroy said objectives and the players who are defending them. (The setup itself is very similar to games like Orcs must Die and Sanctum)

At the very beginning of a defender game players would start at the heart of the Castle and would only have access to the inner wall, however after completing a number of waves the outer sections of the Castle would be unlocked allowing players to access and fortify it in preparation for larger waves. Some other parts of the castle will also be locked off by keys or meters, but grant access to more useful locations such as vantage points and in-game armories. Every castle has a number of power ups, hazards, turrets slots, and doorways that can be activated or upgraded by players with the coins they earn during each wave.

Each wave consists of a different kind or combination enemies vying to destroy the core of your base or its secondary objectives; failing to protect the core will result in a game over while the loss of secondary objectives will result in a penalty. After each wave players are given a brief period of time to recover and prepare for the next wave; the time given to them will gradually change as the game continues. Killing enemies and completing tasks will net players with coins; in the case of the latter this would typically mean completing a series of optional tasks during an active wave and would reward the player accordingly. Successfully repelling enemy wave will also further reward players with an another bonus based on their performance during the current wave, the grading of which being based on the S, A, B, C, D standard.

After a set number of waves a special hoard or boss monster will take the place of the next wave altering the strategies that can successfully be applied; many of these enemies will have different attack patterns, weapons, and armor but in turn yield much more money when defeated. After each major boss wave players will be given the option to retire during the recovery period. Choosing to retire will trigger a special wave in which the players must complete a series of objectives and survive till the end, doing so will end the game and grant them a large bonus based on the number of waves that they have completed and their respective grades. Choosing to continue on the other hand will resume the game mode and continue to send waves of enemies of increasing strength at the players. Generally speaking, retiring is almost always better than getting a game over, however the more rounds players complete prior to retiring the better the ending bonus will be.


NPC's:
Just like Adventure and Battle mode, Defender mode will be overseen by a number of NPC's taking on various roles; some helping the players, others hindering, and some apposing them. There are four different role for NPCs in Defender mode:
-Monarch
-Guard
-Barbarian
-Partner

The Monarch NPC is the leader of the Castle and constantly monitors your efforts to protect it. The Monarch will issue commands to Guards and provide information to the players in order to help prepare them for the various waves of enemies. The Monarch can be on of the three main AI characters.

Guard NPC's are in game allies that assist the player in defending the castle. They are capable of upgrading themselves and operating traps and weapons to counter the oncoming hoards, however they will rarely be able to completly fend off a wave on their own. Guards only follow the order given to them by the Monarch, but players may assist them by offering power ups, repairing their equipment, and actively assisting them in battle. Guards can be any of the twelve neutral characters.

Barbarian NPC's are the antagonists of the Defender game mode and will lead select hoards of enemies against the player. They will taunt players and enter conversations with any of the NPC's present, often threatening those in the castle, absentmindedly revealing their strategies, or simply entering a conversation with other NPC's. Much like guards, they can be any of twelve neutral characters.

Partners perform identically to how they handle in other modes; they are selected by the player and will provide support to them. They can interact with most other NPC's help provide further character and exposition without halting the game.

(Updated 8/19/14)

 

[Koenig]

Awards and Achievements Overview:

"Project FPS" party has a number of different awards and achievements for players to complete and subsequently progress their account. Awards and Achievements are classified differently from each other though they do interact.

Awards are in game medals and ribbons that are given to the player based on their performance and actions in all three game modes. Depending on the award in question, they can either be awarded during the middle of a game or upon its completion. Awards are given for number of reasons; ranging from getting x number of kills, reviving team mates, eliminating multiple enemies at once, completing a objectives, altering the map, finding secrets, defeating boss's, finishing quickly, repelling waves, and virtually all other manner of simply playing the game.

Achievements on the other-hand are entirely based upon reaching specific goals. Most achievements are based on completing a certain number of identical awards, however several of them are also based on rare actions that are more difficult to do and less commonly pulled off. All achievements are recorded on a large hexagonal graphical checklist (Similar to the square checklist used in a few Nintendo games); each time one of the achievements is completed its corresponding check-box is marked and replaced by a semitransparent icon. Completing enough achievements will reveal a special image hidden underneath the achievement tiles.

Player Level and the Scorecards:
Rather than being based on a typical XP based level system, players level up by completing a certain number of specific awards and achievements that have been assigned to them and are kept on the players scorecards. Scorecards are a cross between skill-trees and a kind of achievement system. Every players score card has a number of select awards and achievements listed on them; however many of these are split into their own branch and corresponding level. Completing all objectives in one branch will cause it to reset the content listed on it and level up its rank; rewarding the player with a specific title to match the play style that was likely required to complete it (For example, if a player got a large number of rifle and headshot kills, the "Sniper" branch of the skill-tree would level up granting the player a rank up and a sniper related title) No player is forced to complete a specific branch in the score card to progress through the game, however it will reward players who do complete all of its branches with a number of titles a cosmetics that are exclusive to it.

Bingo:
In addition to the scorecard, players are also given access to an award based reward system based on and named after "Bingo". The Bingo grid is filled with a number of awards for the player to complete, and each will be checked off after its completion; if a number of the completed awards make a solid line the player will be rewarded with a rare card and the Bingo board will reset. There are several different bingo boards available to the player to choose from, each of which is either tied to a specific game mode and a corresponding daily, weekly, or monthly clock. The goal of adding Bingo to the game is to encourage and reward players for trying out different types of play-styles.

(Updated 8/22/14)

 

[Koenig]

Power Cards
Power Cards are the working title for the in-game bonuses that can be activated in all three game-modes. Power Cards are essentially semi-randomized "score streaks" that players are given access to while playing.


Deck: All power cards are pre-constructed by combining various collectible cards and then placing them in a small deck (approximately 10-30 cards) Some cards would further augment the game by providing resources while others would be weapons and power-ups that improve a player's abilities. The combinations in question are essentially weapon combinations and skill trees, each comprised of one primary card and one to three secondary augmentations. The primary card dictates the kind of weapon, skill, or power-up that the player will gain when he uses the card, while the secondary cards attached to it augment its statistics (For example, a gun/grenade/shield/skill would be a primary augment while attachments, elements, capacity and
abilities would be secondary augments) By customizing a deck to his or her liking, a player can build their arsenal to match their preferred styles of play.

Map Bonus: These cards are specific to each map and game-mode and provide power ups relative to each mode. This allows for special power-ups and powerful strategies that are unique to each mode and map.

Hand: Players can buy any Power Cards currently in their hand provided they have enough coins to do so; the price of each power card is proportional to how powerful it is and the amount of skill it takes to use. The cards available in a players hand are randomly drawn from the players deck and map-bonus, this is done to add an element of chaos to the game and to prevent players from exploiting a single Power Card repeatedly to gain an unfair advantage. Cards are drawn upon completing missions, going on killstreaks, dying, and at regular intervals. No more than 8 cards are allowed at any one time, however they will still be drawn at set intervals; if a card is drawn and the limit is exceeded then the existing cards are discarded in the order they were drawn. This means that players can not hoard a specific type of power card for an excessive amount of time.

Avatar: A limited number of Power Cards can be equipped to one of the player's avatars, allowing for some level of consistent play, however the cards that can be used as such are typically much weaker than deck counterparts and are limited to specific classes and game modes. Once again this is for balancing reasons in order to prevent exploits, however it can still be customized enough for players to create their own default play style to fall back on if all else fails.

(Ill edit more tomorrow)
(Last updated 11/20/14)

 

[Koenig]

Without feedback or the adequate skills to program and test the game there are not many ways for me to refine the design of the game, so for the time being (Considering this pet project has been dead for months) I am going to share various tidbits and idea's that merit inclusion but have not been fully designed yet. This way I can at least have a record of everything and can work on it in the future.

 

[Koenig]

A note about aesthetics: Invisible walls.

While I would hope to avoid using Invisible walls completely, I doubt that will be possible in some locations or maps with particular styles; so they will likely be included in such events. I don't know about you though, but I personally hate running head first into an invisible wall in what should be an open path. To help alleviate the frustration of such encounters, I think it would be a good idea to visibly mark the location of Invisible walls with holographic dashed red or yellow lines, thus changing to a semi visible state; likewise to further bolster this effect, player contact with the invisible wall would trigger a visual shock wave that would propagate along the invisible wall in the form of large pixels-essentially given a physical identity to the wall post impact.

Alternatively, the game could forgo invisible walls in favor of penalty zones; IE locations where players would be automatically killed if they entered them (Similar to the radioactive zones from MW2 or the borders from Borderlands) From a story-telling and contextual standpoint and considering the player is playing as a robot, this could be used to provide context as a self-destruct/failsafe feature built into robot in order to prevent them from exiting the testing grounds.

 

[Koenig]

A note about controls: The D-pad and Right joy stick.

I noticed I never explained how the player would use cards before, so I suppose I should explain that before getting to much further. Because each player can hold up to 8 cards at any given time it is very important that we implement a way to allow the player to quickly select and use the one that they want. To that end I think it would be best to map these controllers to a D-Pad overlay with the right analogue stick. IE the player would would hold down on one of the D-pads four primary directions which would bring up a semi-transparent menu screen from which the player could then select one the options with the right analogue stick; while holding in that direction the player would simply release the d-pad and whatever was highlighted would be selected (If the conditions to use were met, at least) ((Alternatively would could also require the player to hold down on one of the shoulder buttons to select an option after highlighting it for more accuracy)) There would be eight options total, each mapped to one of the cardinal 8 directions that can be accurately performed.

The D-pad itself would bring up four different menus. The up direction would be used for activating cards in a players hand, while the bottom would be used for discarding. They are intentionally mapped to the opposite sides of the D-pad of each other to prevent the player from accidentally throwing away a card they wanted or using one they wanted to get rid of. The left Direction would be used to access existing equipment that had already be played from the players hand (Powers ups, remote control drones, armor, repair-kits, etc.) While the right Direction would be used to interact with the map/gamemode such as accpeting a sub mission, gaining bonus effects from bounties, or marking a position on the map.

 

[Koenig]

A thought about playing rankings. In order to display a more accurate representation of a players talent and playstyles, each player would be "ranked" according to two primary factors: His "Star" ranking, and his proficiency rank.

"Star" Rankings are determined by taking the average score of a players last 50 rounds in each respective game mode, give or take a fractional percentage weighed by other activities such as connection rate, variety of games, etc. The idea is to rank a player by their recent abilities rather than focusing on their permanent record.

Proficiency ranks are essentially a variant of the "prestige" badge from the CoD series (Albeit with a few minor benefits)
The way proficiency would work is in by providing the player with a number of long term objectives such as using achieving a certain win/lose ratio, KRD, missions completed, weapons used, etc. Once these conditions were met the player could exchange a large amount of in game currency and/or cards to earn a special badge correlating to that specific objective; likewise their would be various tiers of badges for each branch so not to force a player to begrudging change their playstyle in order to advance.

For example: If I won/completed many modes using mainly a melee weapon, I could unlock the "Bronze saber" badge and exchange a large portion of my deck to activate it, from which I could display it on my profile. A player could have up four different badges displayed at any given time, correlating to each major game mode or secondary proficiency. Meanwhile, merely unlocking the exchange would factoring into match making, regardless if I purchased the badge or not.

The added bonus of having a badge comes in the fact that each badge slightly boosts the "drop-rate" of rarer cards from various sources. The higher level tier the badge the greater the rarity increase, likewise the badges would also be weighted to improve corresponding the luck of finding corresponding types of cards. This way players would be rewarded over the long run for making use of such features.

 

[pawbyte]

IF you're willing we can attempt to make this for the Wii U in 2.5D for 2016, but we'll need some help(audio, voices and some art) from the community.

 

[Koenig]

How would you propose to make this game in 2.5D? It would require a complete overhaul in terms of design and gameplay.

 

[Koenig]

What do you guys think about the layout of the game so far? From a functionality stand point I think the main modes are well defined, but I am afraid that an all menu based navigation system might subtract from the theme of the game. I have been considering designing a "Plaza" section of the game that would essentially act as a hub/town for the player to use when they don't to use menus as much. Either for the sake of single player continuity or as a "meeting place" like the tavern in Monster Hunter. Either way, I am still uncertain about so I would appreciate some feedback.

 

[pawbyte]

How would you propose to make this game in 2.5D? It would require a complete overhaul in terms of design and gameplay.

Then I guess never mind for now. Maybe I can master Unity3D soon for that.

 

[Koenig]

Oi. I have not updated this in a long time. Ill see what I can do over the next few months during my free time Suggestions and feedback are welcome and wanted!