In my game I want to have mind control, however I do not know how to do it without the player feeling "cheated". Any advice?

Huh?

To put it another way. How about actually telling us something about this game, how it will work etc so we know what your are talking about. Then we may be able to offer you some useful advice.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

two points:

01: if a player falls under the control of another character it should be, whenever possible, the player''s own fault. only when a player is truly outmatched by his opponent should mind control be a possibility. all other instances should be preventable in some way.

02: when a player is under control by a foreign agent there should always be a way to break that control. some of it will most likely rely on the player''s level and the controlling character''s level to determine how difficult it would be to break control.


anyways i like your idea. this is something that i''d considered briefly for one of my designs but haven''t made a definite decision about yet. but i will definently implement some type of subjugation status in the form of capture, imprisonment and slavery. i''ll post any specific ideas i have about this while the thread is still around, but right now the concept is still vague in this area.

Take for instance games like Final Fantasy or any rpg where you can get charmed. When you get charmed your character is being mind controlled or whatever. You can generally heal them with some antidote. In this type of game you don't feel cheated but if you only controlled one character then I guess you would.

Oh yeah, I like your name big cheese, lol

[edited by - BlahMaster on October 14, 2003 9:51:10 PM]

quote:

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Original post by BlahMaster
Take for instance games like Final Fantasy or any rpg where you can get charmed. When you get charmed your character is being mind controlled or whatever. You can generally heal them with some antidote.

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really? i always just chopped them with my axe, as getting hit cured it!

OP: are you talking online multiplayer here? i am assuming as such... and these are jsut random suggestions:

1) allow characters to wear a tinfoil hat to block the psychic''s control.

2) have it work similar to hypnotism: a charmed character will not do something completely against their nature (i.e. if you charm a paladin, do not expect to make him kill children as it will break the "spell"). the more out-of-character the actions are, the better chance the link will be broken and they regain control of themselves.

3) give it a time limit, or some other limit, so the controlling character can only control other characters for a short while, or cause them to do only a small number of tasks.

4) make it illegal in the game-world; if someone mind-controls you and makes you give them your shoes, the police/guards/whatever will hunt them down and fine/kill them.

5) make it so that after controlling a character, they cannot do it again for a while (at least not to the same character), giving them a little while to kick the crap out of them for doing that.

[ok i should note that all of this comes from the point of view of my own design, which is primiarily a srpg (strategic...) and probably, i hope, has an entirely different concept than what you are thinking of. but for an rts these ideas need only be transferred to the units rather than the "player"]

one thing that i would do is have a scale of the strength of the control factor. something to account for the player's experience and the method of control. then you need a scale of resistance, some skill or attribute that defends against mind control. weight these two factors, and determine a total control strength. then determine just what you mean by mind control and align it to the scale. something like..

low control: slight control, dectecable by a general loss in coordination, actions that fail or are counterproductive in some way, and clumsiness. sometimes comes at the hands of traitorous allies who secrely wish you to fail.

lower middle: direct control, must be within sphere of awareness. brief duration, during which the subject is trapped in his own body. intermittent with breaks during which an opponent can determine his own actions.

middle: a general control, requiring almost constant attention at first. can be done through more indirect means. subjects used to achieve an end desired by the controller. can be broken with an increase in concentration in the subject or a breakdown in the concentration of the controller.

upper middle: much like middle control, although only periodic attention is required on the part of the controller. much harder to break without major outside intervention.

high: major loss of free will, more akin to brainwashing. can only be broken by an outside force. can be deceptively less noticable than the middle levels.

[edited by - syn_apse on October 14, 2003 10:42:59 PM]

If this is a first person game, what if you made both players have control. ie the player in control wants to move left while the player being controlled wants to move right making the player stay still. Only if both want to move right will the player actually move right. (Stuff like firing will be done if either person hits the fire key). This would work if there was a time limit that broke the spell.
-Greg

Probably the fairest thing would be to make the player that is being controlled invinsible, so that the player in control cannot delberately kill off the player only place them in a situation where the controlled player will have to negotiate safely after regaining control.

1. Thanx every1 4 replying so fast! I like your suggestions!

2. Obscure asked:

quote:

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Original post by Obscure
Huh?

To put it another way. How about actually telling us something about this game, how it will work etc so we know what your are talking about. Then we may be able to offer you some useful advice.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

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This is a fps/rpg in the future. Mind control is the result of either people or devices. Mind control is only found in the last 10 levels.

If mind control means that some ai/other player gains control of the players avatar, then that would be horrible in an fps, because the player would just be sitting there helpless watching his character do things he doesn't want.

A more interesting way of implementing it would be to manipulate the character by illusions. For example, an illusion might appear to make friendly characters look like horrible, slavering monsters. Enemies might appear as damsels in distress, urging you to rescue them from the horrific beasts that surround them. A better 'mind controller' might be more subtle.

There should also be clues that the illusions aren't real - graphical clues (illusions could be very slightly, but not obviously transparent) behavioural clues (the slavering monsters don't really act like slavering monsters should) etc. Thus an astute player can figure out he's being manipulated and take steps to avoid it.

[edited by - Sandman on October 15, 2003 7:18:19 AM]