Ok, I''ve made my decision, and I''m writing a game with elements of Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital, Majesty, and other similar games. The common theme is that you don''t control the characters directly, you just tell them what you want doing and how to do it, and hope that it works. Most of the gameplay is already planned out, but I am interested in hearing what people especially liked and disliked about these games (and related ones like Theme Park, maybe even Transport Tycoon or soccer management), especially with regards to the interfaces. By this I mean input and output - is there anything that stood out as being good about the methods for issuing directives? Anything novel about the type of information presented to the player? Anything that these games didn''t do which you wish they had done? Did you feel you could get enough information on the characters? Too much? Any graphical elements that were useful? What about sound effects for feedback? I can''t compete with the big boys in terms of graphical beauty or FMV intros, but I hope that with enough opinions I will be able to create a slick and intuitive interface allowing for smooth gameplay. [ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions | Organising code files ]

I think one of the cons of Dungeon Keeper was that the creatures were not isolated enough. For example, I''ll be working on my nice new cozy dungeon when all of a sudden i notice that I''m being attacked, and all my minions are scattered about due to my lack of organization (or just not caring). No problem though, because I can just use my "hand", pick them all up, and dump them on the unsuspecting adversary. Also you could due cheesy tactics like picking your losing minions out of a fight, dropping them somewhere safe, cast heal a bit, and throw them right back in, behind the enemy too, if you wanted to.

The point is, the interface would have been so much cooler had this kind of interference not have been allowed. You would actually have to USE the guard posts, for example. You would be forced to think of strategic layout of the dungeon so that the minions would minimize their spread but still have a lot of organization apparent. Maybe every unit should have it''s preferred strategy, depending on the race. A cunning goblin might wait in the dark, and then attack from behind instead of fumbling into the main avatar, a level 4k Giant, or something.

One of the things which I found REALLY cool about that specific interface was the inter-racial conflicts within your very own creatures. An example of this was the spider/fly hatred, who would get mad and beat each other for a bit. When I first saw that I was VERY impressed, to say the least.

With Theme Hospital, It had all the pros of dungeon keeper (well most... the possess spell rocked ) and none of the cons. I noticed this was actually built into the gameplay itself. An example of this would be the janitors, who if they were lazy, would go slow, and not do much. It was just so interesting just to sit back and watch everything live the way it is supposed to, without ANY player interference. I spent countless hours playing that game just looking at things happening. Simulations are just so immersive, and with todays AI techniques and ultra processors, I expect they could get so much better.

A very cool thing about the game was the fact that every single unit had it''s own personality, it made them seem so much more unique, and led to decisions such as hiring personel based on their skills AND personallity, which I find models the real world quite well. Unfortunately, most of the actual gameplay differences between different doctors/nurses and their personallities seemed hardly to affect the game. I think some animation and sounds to show their feelings inside the game would help the player see the differences a bit more. I can''t think of any examples on this, but I think I was clear enough, and there already a lot of articles about the subject of emotion/animation, so If you didn''t understand, look it up

And thats it

quote: Original post by Laroche
I think one of the cons of Dungeon Keeper was that the creatures were not isolated enough. For example, I''ll be working on my nice new cozy dungeon when all of a sudden i notice that I''m being attacked, and all my minions are scattered about due to my lack of organization (or just not caring). No problem though, because I can just use my "hand", pick them all up, and dump them on the unsuspecting adversary. Also you could due cheesy tactics like picking your losing minions out of a fight, dropping them somewhere safe, cast heal a bit, and throw them right back in, behind the enemy too, if you wanted to.

Ah yes. I remember this quite well, and I agree in that it ruined some of the strategic elements of the game. Guard posts and that rallying spell became somewhat underused.

My game is going to be more like Theme Park in layout where all characters, good and bad, will enter through the same entrance, therefore to be honest there won''t be much strategy in where to place the guards! (Except for hidden assassins, perhaps.) I will give this some more thought though.

quote: One of the things which I found REALLY cool about that specific interface was the inter-racial conflicts within your very own creatures. An example of this was the spider/fly hatred, who would get mad and beat each other for a bit. When I first saw that I was VERY impressed, to say the least.

I may or may not incorporate some of these elements. Right now, when working out all the different types of character that you can control, I don''t really see any who are ''natural enemies'', despite the fact that I wanted an aspect of this in the game. I will have to see if I can work it in there somewhere without ruining anything else.

quote: A very cool thing about the game was the fact that every single unit had it''s own personality, it made them seem so much more unique, and led to decisions such as hiring personel based on their skills AND personallity, which I find models the real world quite well.

Right now the only personality differences in my game design relate to the different character types... some prefer combat, some prefer study, and so on. Maybe I will give some thought to whether I can add an extra element of this to make individuals more distinctive.

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Dungeon Keeper: I liked it for a while, because of its decent graphics and gameplay, but only played a few levels before getting bored. Too much to do, too little control (for me).

Majesty: I loved this game. I finished all quests and even recently bought the Northern expansion, and started playing all the quests again (because by then I''d deleted the game of my 10GB harddrive). What I loved about Majesty was that the choice of buildings really did affect the battles you fought. If you didn''t create a marketplace, your heroes would not have healing potions to consume during battle. If you didn''t create (and upgrade) a blacksmith, your heroes would not have the proper equipment during battle. Guardposts are key, as they are an excellent bait for monsters.
The simplicity of placing the bounties ($100 increments; two different types of bounty: explore and kill) is just wonderful. The heroes gain experience quickly, and near the end of a quest, you really have some favorite (high-level) heroes that you keep track of. But losing one (death) isn''t all that bad, because you simply create more.

Something I would add to Majesty, even though it might get a little confusing, is more buildings. For example, when I create a blacksmith, let me choose between a standard blacksmith (for 100% cost), a superb blacksmith (for 200% cost) or a ragtag blacksmith (for 50% cost). The additional choices will (for me) improve the strategic element of the buildings.

I would also like to be able to give the characters a few different commands. The two types of bounties can stay, but let me set some more types of quests for my heroes (for example: find a wandering hero and convince him to join in your king''s service).

I''d also like bigger maps. The Majesty maps work, because they are perfectly balanced. By the time I''m finishing a level, I''ve almost always explored the entire level. I''d love it if the maps were big enough to give me some more strategic choices: should I explore this part of the map? (if not, because I''ve seen some horrible monsters in that area, let me place a ''NO exploration'' sign in that area, with a penalty for heroes who choose to ignore my order) should I spread out my forces and send them across the land, or organize them a little into strong groups? in what direction should I expand my city? where do I place my guardposts?

In a game where I can not directly control characters, I want to be able to have lots of choices to make, in order to influence those characters indirectly.