Beyond3D game
- Thread starter Frank
- Start date
How about this setting: The evil Rys has stolen all GPU power from your system and you have to get it back. So the goal of the game would be to re-enable your GPU features one by one.
When you start the world inside your GPU is black-and-white, flat shaded, non-textured, non-antialiased. After the first boss-battle you get back color. Then texturing, texture filtering, anti-aliasing, alpha-bleding, shadows, bump-mapping, etc. You get the idea.
I would plead for a single player game, a cross between System Shock and Tron. You, the hero, start with fixed-function weapons and skills. Later the fixed-function units will be upgraded to shaders. Once you got shaders installed you can upgrade your weapons and skills. The level of the shader system (1.0, 1.1., ..., 3.0, 4.0) determines how many weapons and skills you can carry and how powerful they can be.
Every level would have a primary objective. You need to accomplish this in order to get to the next level. So the player always knows what he is supposed to do. Then there may (or may not) be secondary objectives for every level. You may fulfill these objectives, but you can also ignore them. It's up to you. Secondary objectives may give you bonues such as advanced skills or weapons, or just a cutscene, or may alter the overall storyline, or you can get something like a familiar that helps you fight through the rest of the level. Additionally there are hidden objectives, like finding a secret place, solving a difficult puzzle. They give you nice bonuses such as increased shader slots, so you can store more shader weapons and skills. While you can review your primary and secondary objectives any time you like, hidden objectives are only displayed after you accomplished them.
The levels should not be strictly linear. There should be at least two ways through a level. The obvious and one that is harder to follow and may include some jumping action or various skills in order to advance. Likewise there should be two ways of playing through a level. The well-known shoot-everything-in-sight technique and the use-your-head way, which may include using skills and solving puzzles. It should be noted that these two threads through a level are not strictly separated, in fact they intersect once in a while. So if you're bored with solving a puzzle of lack the skill to advance, you change to run-and-gun and shoot your way through the level. Likewise when your ammo is running low or shooting bad guys is getting repetive, you can get through the level without so much shooting.
In order to spice things up and keep the player focused the levels occasionally should have time limits.
There are three levels of difficulty. N00b, Normal and GPU Whiz. On N00b level there are fewer and weaker enemies, more ammo, relaxed time limits, but no hidden objectives and fewer secondary objectives (in oder to motivate people to play a second time through on normal level). On normal level threre are more and stronger enemies, less ammo, tigher time limits and all secondary objectives. On GPU Whiz level you have the same number of enemies like on N00b level, but they are a bit stronger. Ammo is much more scarce, so you can't just gun your way through. Time limits are even tighter and there are more of them. Saving is limited to save points (but you are able to suspend/resume your game every time, so when you have to stop playing for a reason, you can pick up where you left). All secondary hidden objectives are available. Additionally to open doors and hack systems you may be required to write a short piece of code (no longer than say 10-15 lines) in a shader like language in order to solve some simple mathematical riddle (combined with a time limit that should provide some fun...).
A game like this could be educational and fun.
What do you guys think?
When you start the world inside your GPU is black-and-white, flat shaded, non-textured, non-antialiased. After the first boss-battle you get back color. Then texturing, texture filtering, anti-aliasing, alpha-bleding, shadows, bump-mapping, etc. You get the idea.
I would plead for a single player game, a cross between System Shock and Tron. You, the hero, start with fixed-function weapons and skills. Later the fixed-function units will be upgraded to shaders. Once you got shaders installed you can upgrade your weapons and skills. The level of the shader system (1.0, 1.1., ..., 3.0, 4.0) determines how many weapons and skills you can carry and how powerful they can be.
Every level would have a primary objective. You need to accomplish this in order to get to the next level. So the player always knows what he is supposed to do. Then there may (or may not) be secondary objectives for every level. You may fulfill these objectives, but you can also ignore them. It's up to you. Secondary objectives may give you bonues such as advanced skills or weapons, or just a cutscene, or may alter the overall storyline, or you can get something like a familiar that helps you fight through the rest of the level. Additionally there are hidden objectives, like finding a secret place, solving a difficult puzzle. They give you nice bonuses such as increased shader slots, so you can store more shader weapons and skills. While you can review your primary and secondary objectives any time you like, hidden objectives are only displayed after you accomplished them.
The levels should not be strictly linear. There should be at least two ways through a level. The obvious and one that is harder to follow and may include some jumping action or various skills in order to advance. Likewise there should be two ways of playing through a level. The well-known shoot-everything-in-sight technique and the use-your-head way, which may include using skills and solving puzzles. It should be noted that these two threads through a level are not strictly separated, in fact they intersect once in a while. So if you're bored with solving a puzzle of lack the skill to advance, you change to run-and-gun and shoot your way through the level. Likewise when your ammo is running low or shooting bad guys is getting repetive, you can get through the level without so much shooting.
In order to spice things up and keep the player focused the levels occasionally should have time limits.
There are three levels of difficulty. N00b, Normal and GPU Whiz. On N00b level there are fewer and weaker enemies, more ammo, relaxed time limits, but no hidden objectives and fewer secondary objectives (in oder to motivate people to play a second time through on normal level). On normal level threre are more and stronger enemies, less ammo, tigher time limits and all secondary objectives. On GPU Whiz level you have the same number of enemies like on N00b level, but they are a bit stronger. Ammo is much more scarce, so you can't just gun your way through. Time limits are even tighter and there are more of them. Saving is limited to save points (but you are able to suspend/resume your game every time, so when you have to stop playing for a reason, you can pick up where you left). All secondary hidden objectives are available. Additionally to open doors and hack systems you may be required to write a short piece of code (no longer than say 10-15 lines) in a shader like language in order to solve some simple mathematical riddle (combined with a time limit that should provide some fun...).
A game like this could be educational and fun.
What do you guys think?
I was trying to figure out a way to make the game be based inside a video card and somehow progressing thru the levels would help people understand how a video card actually works, but I'm coming up blank on how to do that right now.
To make a simple but addictive game you need a XP based system, leveling and grinding/threadmilling. No matter what the naysayers can spew, people like those games, just as haters like to hate them. Not to mention that it's easier to work on game systems that aren't reflex skills based.
Too many of this type of projects want to take on action titles, but given that coding an AI, good event scripting and level interaction aren't easy tasks, most of these projects turn into generic multiplayer deathmatch games (wheee...).
Now, the easy and most reasonable genres for small scale projects, created from scratch, are Shoot 'em ups (Vertical, horizontal, top-down view); side scrolling platformer/adventure games (like the shmups, theses can have a nice 3D engine while having a 2D gameplay, easier to deal with); action or not CRPGs; and Puzzle games (not so fun to create for these type of projects).
All the other type of projects will results into an unfinished mess, or awfully subpar products. In other words, if you want to make something that could actually be good and ever released in a final form, you should chose a simple, fun to create as a whole group, project.
Personally, I'd suggest to work on a RPG or on a platform adventure game, because of their story based nature, they should provide work for more than coders only and therefore keep everybody's interest as high as possible during the whole creation process.
Too many of this type of projects want to take on action titles, but given that coding an AI, good event scripting and level interaction aren't easy tasks, most of these projects turn into generic multiplayer deathmatch games (wheee...).
Now, the easy and most reasonable genres for small scale projects, created from scratch, are Shoot 'em ups (Vertical, horizontal, top-down view); side scrolling platformer/adventure games (like the shmups, theses can have a nice 3D engine while having a 2D gameplay, easier to deal with); action or not CRPGs; and Puzzle games (not so fun to create for these type of projects).
All the other type of projects will results into an unfinished mess, or awfully subpar products. In other words, if you want to make something that could actually be good and ever released in a final form, you should chose a simple, fun to create as a whole group, project.
Personally, I'd suggest to work on a RPG or on a platform adventure game, because of their story based nature, they should provide work for more than coders only and therefore keep everybody's interest as high as possible during the whole creation process.
It sounds very good idea for this, I think it would become one of good game in the future.
I knew it's irrelevant to the discuss go on now, but I cannot resist. I am a mine-digger on the MS-minesweeper, but I get feeling bored on 2-D minesweeper map. Might it be possible to include another simpler 3-D minesweeperfor the mine digger
I knew it's irrelevant to the discuss go on now, but I cannot resist. I am a mine-digger on the MS-minesweeper, but I get feeling bored on 2-D minesweeper map. Might it be possible to include another simpler 3-D minesweeperfor the mine digger
I love that idea! Can be very educational, and not even so hard to implement. And it will make the first design a lot easier!
Seems this can be combined quite nicely...
The game level design in the GPU can be based completely upon the architecture of the GPU. Looking at the 520, it seems like a very nice complex level.
I visualize a giant factory, where there's conveyor belt of somesorts that hold the pixels. And then there's vertex machines, pixel shaders machines, etc working on it. Walking through this factory, first you should see the room with the vertex shaders, and then get to a giant hall with all the the pixel shaders, and a side room with the texture units. Finally you get to the room with the AA processing at the back... (At least, that's how I read those schematics... I really know nothing about the inner workings of the GPU
) Oh... And the evil Ryss is ofcourse sitting in the Dispatch Processor room in the pixel shader engine.
And, as N00b describes, you'll learn what these machines do, because of your assigments. For you to enable textures, you have to find the texture processing units etc... you actually see the result that this has. That's both entertaining and educational.
Maybe you wouldn't only see the results by your actions, but also by the objects on the conveyor belt. They start out as simple square blocks, and at the end of the line, you see complete 3D objects leaving the factory? Or complete scenes for that matter, if you want to visualize the Z buffer and stuff.
Actually, such a thing would be quite fascinating as a demo without a game attached to it as well...
So, that gives us so far (everything alphabetical):
DudeMiester, Humus, Ingenu and K.I.L.E.R for the engine programming
Deepak, N00b, poopypoo and Ylandro to take care of the story and dialogs
DOGMA1138, EasyRaider and Sobek for the art and level design
_xxx_ is responsible for the sound and music
digitalwanderer, hey69, NRP and pascal for the Q&A
epicstruggle and Vysez to do the overal managing
DiGuru to do whatever needs doing at that moment (except art)
Sounds fine?
That leaves us short in the art and sound department.
DudeMiester, Humus, Ingenu and K.I.L.E.R for the engine programming
Deepak, N00b, poopypoo and Ylandro to take care of the story and dialogs
DOGMA1138, EasyRaider and Sobek for the art and level design
_xxx_ is responsible for the sound and music
digitalwanderer, hey69, NRP and pascal for the Q&A
epicstruggle and Vysez to do the overal managing
DiGuru to do whatever needs doing at that moment (except art)
Sounds fine?
That leaves us short in the art and sound department.
EasyRaider
Regular
Did you forget game programming, or do you just want to keep the fun stuff for yourself?
I can model, animate, touch up textures, as well as design and make levels, but I'm not very good at it. I'm better at designing and balancing game mechanics and general coding.
I think it would be best if the engine and art people would decide for themselves who does what. Except for making the meshes and textures at one side, and programming the 3D stuff at the other, it's a grey area.Did you forget game programming, or do you just want to keep the fun stuff for yourself?
I can model, animate, touch up textures, as well as design and make levels, but I'm not very good at it. I'm better at designing and balancing game mechanics and general coding.
For example, K.I.L.E.R might enjoy building the scripting engine. And the more modulair we can make things, the better. So, it might not be a bad idea to generate the levels by script as well.
EasyRaider
Regular
Well, it's to early to divide tasks anyway. We need a clear vision first, then an initial design document.
chavvdarrr
Veteran
i can give ideas, criticise and beta test... maybe more
Yes, which means: making a global story and background.
That would be the job of Deepak, N00b, poopypoo and Ylandro, and for us all to think with them and offer constructive criticism.
I'll put you on the next list.i can give ideas, criticise and beta test... maybe more
