FROM THE FRONT



June 1, 2004
Work has been expanding on multiple fronts.

For one, the Dev Team has been rolling up our sleeves and laying the foundation for an entire in-game metropolis that the player will be able to traverse - either by walking, or by any means of transportation he may have available, including flight, buses, trolleys, and the ever-popular taxi cab.

We take a lot for granted in the cities and towns in which we live. Just how many stores are in a strip mall anyway? And when creating a fictional city, you have to know the answer to "just where is a cop when you need one?"

We've also been spending inordinate amounts of time devising game-speak ability for NPC characters to talk to the player, each other, and other main characters. Some NPC's are bossier than others, and you never know how a street-side crisis will end up when a self-important politician shows up and tries giving orders.

Finally, we've just unleashed a Concept Art Section. This will give you an example of the directions we are and aren't going with the game we have in development. That means some of the art will be older and since refined or discarded or shelved for later games. But you'll definitely get a feel for the flavor and humor of where we're headed!

May 6, 2004
A difficult task in creating a game is making sure the players are immersed in it. By that we mean the players should be playing the game like they were the characters, and that those character exist in the “real” world of the game. Actions should be consistent and have consequences. By the same token – if the player is overly (and overtly!) aware that they have to find/kill/maim/destroy X number of Bad Guys in order to “Level Up” then they aren’t playing as the character, they are just using the game’s interface to change stats on a spreadsheet. That reminds players they are playing a game and pulls them out of the experience. Past a certain novelty level as you learn to find/kill/maim/destroy, how much fun is that?

It’s even tougher dealing with this concept in multiplayer games. In a game world where player characters are all supposed to be the Good Guys, shouldn’t they help another player who is in the middle of a fight with the Bad Guys? In-Game Dynamics say “yes!” but some games that are more interested in Leveling Up than Playing the World will actually hold such a heroic act up to ridicule for “stealing XP” rather than just doing what a heroic character would do.

Nuh-uh. Not on our watch.

April 28, 2004
Several key elements, locations, and characters have been revamped and renamed to avoid the appearance they have been improperly borrowed from similar games. Everybody wants things to be fresh and original, so even though we've come up with our components completely independant of other games, the “I got there first” syndrome definitely comes into play. That can be a pain in the cottontail, but it makes the Devs think harder and the result is generally a better concept and/or execution than the original idea. We want to honor, flatter, and parody those sources that have inspired us, not appear to be ripping off other games.

Today the team settled on “Safe Harbor.” An interesting place to live, if you know the right people.

April 2, 2004
New character designs continue to be approved. The process can be a bit protracted; often the “right” details of a character only reveal themselves after other versions just don’t pan out. Sometimes humorous characters start out much too serious. However, the process is never a waste of time, because rejected designs often prove to be launching points for other new characters.

March 10, 2004
Hate Bunny Hopping. Bunny Hoppers must die. Only Dev Team “BunnyHoppers” may live – and that is because we hate Bunny Hopping. This may be a great disappointment to those who make their living hopping and skipping through a game like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road, but for those players who realize that the characters they’re playing wouldn’t do that, this will be a cause for celebration. Characters will be able to Dodge incoming attacks if they are paying attention, or have selected Danger Sense. Wait - did I just let a rabbit out of the hat?

Oh, Bunny Hopping will still be possible – but you’ll have to select it, and the cost will be great. The Dev Team hasn’t decided if ears and big feet come with the selection or not.

February 21, 2004
Vehicles are getting a close look, especially for the Multiplayer Mode. The intent is not to create a vehicle game – but that doesn’t mean they can’t be put to good use. As with anything, the potential for misuse and exploit is tremendous. In fact, a large portion of game design revolves around looking for loopholes – how will players, who are generally much more clever than the Dev Team, make things work in ways we never thought… ways that completely unbalance the game? And how can we prevent that kind of misuse without nerfing some incredibly cool elements in the game?

February 2, 2004
More Multiplayer advances: in most multiplayer games involving teams, there are few goals (Capture the Flag! Anyone?) and both teams are on even footing. Both are “the good guys” – at least from their own perspective. But not in this game. For some players, it’s good to be Bad, and Multiplayer mode will definitely see one team assigned as Villains, getting to do (and get points from) bad, destructive things. Advantages and perks of being the Villainous team have been created, while trying to keep being the Good Guy fun and possible. As Spock once said, historically it has always been easier to destroy than create.

January 2004
The New Year brings us a New Look at Multiplayer Game. Emphasis has been placed on team behavior and team work – but there’s a fine line between wanting players to act like a team and forcing them. Incentives and benefits are being created that will encourage team play. Players that don’t take act as a unit will give a great advantage to the opposition.

December, 2003
Single Player gameplay continues to get the lion’s share of attention. Taking care of character fatigue, anger, arrogance, and desperation required a re-working of certain statistics. Strength is strength, right? But where is the line between speed and dexterity? Should characters “dodge” something even when the player doesn’t see it coming? The results of this tweaking will definitely have serious (and seriously fun) application when the attention swings around to Multiplayer.

October, 2003
Gameplay overview continues to take unexpected turns as characters are developed. While the main characters of the Single Player game have been fairly well fleshed out, details change as we review the player’s ability to interact with them. The world has to live and breathe no matter what the player does – and that affects how character/NPC interaction takes place. Reputation, attitude, even motives all have to be written into NPC behavior.