Need constructive feedback
Hi everybody.
Im studying Industrial design in Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio Academy of Design in Finland. Im doing my bachelor degree atm, and Im planning and designing a game concept for a GPS enabled devices (mobile phones, tablets, music players). I need your feedback on what do you think of my idea so far. To which direction I should take my idea next or is there something what Im forgetting completely. Every kind of constructive feedback is welcome.
And Im reminding everyone that: Im not going to get the game playable or in a alpha-state. I dont have enough time nor coding skills. Im focusing on to make as believable/finished concept as possible which includes concept art, game mechanics, story, and my report from the whole process ^^
Topic of my game idea is: Turn-based RPG with a location gameplay.
One of the key features is that I want the game have a good story line. Im not sure should I write that, the background and everything else from the scratch or should I pick already existing game and write the story based on that universe. Choosing an already existing story would eventually speed up my process significantly.
Couple of words from the game itself. At the beginning, a player create his/her character(s) from a bunch of the different choice(s). For example a soldier, a mage, a berserk, a wizard (lame examples, I know ^^ ). Im not sure how many different characters and classes there will be but Im working on that. Another possible option could be a facebook login. So the players could be in the game as themselves. This a one thing I really need to think about thoroughly.
Gameplay: the players explore the world, slain some monsters, collect the loot and complete the quests to obtain even better equipments. The player have two pets/demons/helpers in the group, similar to the Shin Megami Tensei, Devil Survivor (http://www.atlus.com/devilsurvivor/). I will call them pets from now on. These pets can be obtained either by buying from the pet store/house or by capturing them from the nature. I was planning to include some sort of a pet fusion in my game, similar to the Devil Survivor. This way, the players could make their pets even more powerful and acquire some ultimate pets, which couldnt be acquired otherwise. Which means, more powerful pets the player have, more powerful monsters they can face. This is the basic of the game. Nothing new or special.
Game main feature is the GPS-tracking, so it depends on where player is. Shadow cities is maybe a best example of what kind of feature Im talking about (http://www.shadowcities.com/) In short, Shadow Cities is a location based multiplayer game for iPhone. Main idea is to became a mage and take over your streets and neighborhoods with your team. Another good example is Please Stay Calm (http://pleasestaycalm.com/). It is a location based zombie survival game. Players go to a places near them either to search for a loot or to kill all the zombies from that location.
Compared to these two, I´m approaching GPS games from slightly different angle. In those games the players can perform all the options regardless where he/she actually is. In my game, the idea is to split these options to depend on where a player actually is. More of this below.
Players needs to mark different spots on their map in the game by actually walking/cycling to that location and mark that spot. One of the first spots would be obviously home or base which is also a safe-zone, where monsters can´t enter. There is also storage chest/room/facility etc.
When the player marks the market/shop in their map, it depends on how far that spot is from the hame/base spot: the nearer these spots are to the home/base, the prices of the items will rise and further they are from the home/base, prices will drop.
Then there could be auction-, quest/mission-, research-, pet houses which are also marked on the map, still by physically going to that spot. For Example, when player wants to start a quest, they need to go to that spot on the map. Of course it depends on what is the action the player wants to make. But overall idea is that players need to move from one place an another to be able to perform tasks.
Another idea is syncing. These days I feel like there is an app for every muscle group or running apps with slightly different interface and the list just goes on. Its also really common that the users create an account to be able to use the service, for example, easy legs by lolo, LLC or NPT Boom by Nike Inc.
Earlier I mentioned pets. Player can rise their levels by slain monsters in the game, basic stuff. When it comes to the player itself, leveling is a bit different. This is where the syncing come in.
After the player/user completes some exercises, the burned calories, run kilometers etc are synced into their character in the game. What is the benefit? Character in the game will gain stats and levels and player itself will archive a better physical condition little by little, level by level.
This idea is not limited only to apps, it could even be used with heart-rate monitors. I have a Suunto M5 model, and Im using that every time I exercise. One of its feature is that I can transfer my records to my movescount account. It is an online exercise diary, where I can see my different stats, like most burned calories, average heart rate, distance, pace etc. So same thing here. Just sync your stats from movescount with your game character to gain levels and better stats.
In a nutshell, location based RPG with a exercise syncing. This is my idea so far. What do think about it? would you play it? If you would/wouldnt, why? Like I mentioned at the beginning, every kind of constructive feedback is welcome.
-Mithrill-
ps. I apologize my english. I hope I describe everything clearly enough.
Im studying Industrial design in Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio Academy of Design in Finland. Im doing my bachelor degree atm, and Im planning and designing a game concept for a GPS enabled devices (mobile phones, tablets, music players). I need your feedback on what do you think of my idea so far. To which direction I should take my idea next or is there something what Im forgetting completely. Every kind of constructive feedback is welcome.
And Im reminding everyone that: Im not going to get the game playable or in a alpha-state. I dont have enough time nor coding skills. Im focusing on to make as believable/finished concept as possible which includes concept art, game mechanics, story, and my report from the whole process ^^
Topic of my game idea is: Turn-based RPG with a location gameplay.
One of the key features is that I want the game have a good story line. Im not sure should I write that, the background and everything else from the scratch or should I pick already existing game and write the story based on that universe. Choosing an already existing story would eventually speed up my process significantly.
Couple of words from the game itself. At the beginning, a player create his/her character(s) from a bunch of the different choice(s). For example a soldier, a mage, a berserk, a wizard (lame examples, I know ^^ ). Im not sure how many different characters and classes there will be but Im working on that. Another possible option could be a facebook login. So the players could be in the game as themselves. This a one thing I really need to think about thoroughly.
Gameplay: the players explore the world, slain some monsters, collect the loot and complete the quests to obtain even better equipments. The player have two pets/demons/helpers in the group, similar to the Shin Megami Tensei, Devil Survivor (http://www.atlus.com/devilsurvivor/). I will call them pets from now on. These pets can be obtained either by buying from the pet store/house or by capturing them from the nature. I was planning to include some sort of a pet fusion in my game, similar to the Devil Survivor. This way, the players could make their pets even more powerful and acquire some ultimate pets, which couldnt be acquired otherwise. Which means, more powerful pets the player have, more powerful monsters they can face. This is the basic of the game. Nothing new or special.
Game main feature is the GPS-tracking, so it depends on where player is. Shadow cities is maybe a best example of what kind of feature Im talking about (http://www.shadowcities.com/) In short, Shadow Cities is a location based multiplayer game for iPhone. Main idea is to became a mage and take over your streets and neighborhoods with your team. Another good example is Please Stay Calm (http://pleasestaycalm.com/). It is a location based zombie survival game. Players go to a places near them either to search for a loot or to kill all the zombies from that location.
Compared to these two, I´m approaching GPS games from slightly different angle. In those games the players can perform all the options regardless where he/she actually is. In my game, the idea is to split these options to depend on where a player actually is. More of this below.
Players needs to mark different spots on their map in the game by actually walking/cycling to that location and mark that spot. One of the first spots would be obviously home or base which is also a safe-zone, where monsters can´t enter. There is also storage chest/room/facility etc.
When the player marks the market/shop in their map, it depends on how far that spot is from the hame/base spot: the nearer these spots are to the home/base, the prices of the items will rise and further they are from the home/base, prices will drop.
Then there could be auction-, quest/mission-, research-, pet houses which are also marked on the map, still by physically going to that spot. For Example, when player wants to start a quest, they need to go to that spot on the map. Of course it depends on what is the action the player wants to make. But overall idea is that players need to move from one place an another to be able to perform tasks.
Another idea is syncing. These days I feel like there is an app for every muscle group or running apps with slightly different interface and the list just goes on. Its also really common that the users create an account to be able to use the service, for example, easy legs by lolo, LLC or NPT Boom by Nike Inc.
Earlier I mentioned pets. Player can rise their levels by slain monsters in the game, basic stuff. When it comes to the player itself, leveling is a bit different. This is where the syncing come in.
After the player/user completes some exercises, the burned calories, run kilometers etc are synced into their character in the game. What is the benefit? Character in the game will gain stats and levels and player itself will archive a better physical condition little by little, level by level.
This idea is not limited only to apps, it could even be used with heart-rate monitors. I have a Suunto M5 model, and Im using that every time I exercise. One of its feature is that I can transfer my records to my movescount account. It is an online exercise diary, where I can see my different stats, like most burned calories, average heart rate, distance, pace etc. So same thing here. Just sync your stats from movescount with your game character to gain levels and better stats.
In a nutshell, location based RPG with a exercise syncing. This is my idea so far. What do think about it? would you play it? If you would/wouldnt, why? Like I mentioned at the beginning, every kind of constructive feedback is welcome.
-Mithrill-
ps. I apologize my english. I hope I describe everything clearly enough.