I'm in the process of designing a space-based MMORPG. Players will join an empire and help it to expand its influence throughout the galaxy. These empires will be able to invade planets and go to war with each other. To a great extent I've focused the game on space ships, but, if possible, I want to have a component that takes place on planets. Right now I'm thinking about having it where wars against planets are decided by battles on the planet. What I want help on is how to design this part of the game. I thought about having it where the capital city of each planet is underground, and that players would have to fight their way underground to the capital in a first-person shooter type interface. I'm trying to think about how this could work. Players would be fighting AI bots that protect the capitals and any human empires who decide to intervene on the planet's side. I want to emphasize working in groups without making it burdensoms (where players would have to wait on a group). I was thinking of having it where a solo player can do something that helps along the war, but large scale gains would have to be made by groups working together. Maybe have it where there are different types of missions in the war. Maybe some missions would be suited to lone players, some to small groups, some for large groups, some would take a long time to complete, others would be targeted at players who can only play for 20-30 minutes. This would mean players could impact the war anytime they log on (when they don't have long to play, when they have time for a long mission, when they're on with a group of friends, etc). I do want it where the war progresses somewhat slowly, and I plan to have AI. Right now the idea is that if a planet is invaded, its government is AI controlled. The point of the invasion is to affect this government, but other empires can intervene on the planet's side. So the war against the AI planet has to be challenging, but it shouldn't be impossible to win if another empire joins the war on the AI's side. A lot of the time the players will just be fighting the AI. The main problems I'm dealing with for design is: - how is spawning in controlled - how do you progress down into the planet (taking new bases?) - how do you have both long travel times to objectives and short for different types of missions - how do you allow lone players and players without much time to play to influence the outcome while also encouraging players to use groups and plan in the medium to long term - there has to be some system of supply (the ships in space bring supplies to the planet) - how can the supply system be constructed so that players on the ground can continue the war on the ground without supplies, but be greatly impeded by the lack of supply - how do players get points for completing objectives, and who makes the missions? Another thing I want is something different from the usual quake-style of play. I want players to use tactics, and this means having a slow enough pace to the action so that players have time to think before they do something. I don't want it like a deathmatch where you have to always be moving as fast as you can from place to place, and one of the main skills is to strafe constantly as you shoot so that you're a harder target to hit. I want a type of first-person shooter gameplay that is different from a lot of what's out there. World war II online attempted to make this type of gameplay, but in that game a lot of players resorted to the ususal quake-style tactics (strafing while shooting to make yourself a harder target for example). I want a game based less on quick reflexes. Some things that I've thought about are: - have it where some of the bots that defend the planet are immensely strong. Players would have to use their heads and work in groups to take one down, and use stealth and strategy while alone to avoid one en route to an objective. - Create a weapon that can work over a very large area that slows down enemy players or makes it harder for them to walk. Maybe this would encourage a player going out somewhere to take along someone with this "slow-gun" in case he runs into any PC's. Also, this type of weapon could nullify the shoot and strafe strategy in combat while preserving the strafe as an easy means of getting around obstacles, etc. - Have supply missions in which players go to the surface to pick up supplies and transport them down to a base beneath the surface. - have it where when players take a base, they can spawn there. - have it where there are zones around a base where AI can spawn. Maybe players can knock out their power supplies located at different points to deactivate all the AI in the zone instead of going head to head with the bots. - maybe almost indestructible bots could serve as a medium term "cushion" to prevent rapid advances. This would ensure that if a large group of players got on and played at 1:00 A.M. for two hours, they couldn't take advantage of the time they were on and there large numbers to win the war too quickly, without other players' help or much enemy player resistance. (important to ensure that advances are made over the long term, but players can make big differences in large numbers within a short time. - have it where it takes some robots respawn long periods after their destruction and/or some robots take a long time to die. For example, have a very powerful robot whose only weakness is thin armor over a fuel line; this line can be hit by a good marksman and cause a fuel leak. It could take a long time for the leak to destroy the robot. - timescale would be important. Can advance quickly or slowly depending on actions, but not too fast. - Have it where different supplies coming from the space ships go with different strategies. Example: If the ground commanders want to slow down an unstoppable advance they could request tripwires be supplied; if they want to advance quickly against the bots they can ask for weapons designed for strong robots, if they want to defend their ground from players from another empire they can request weapons that are good against other players, etc, etc. - different groups of players could have supply accounts at a base, so groups of players could 'own' a certain amount of supplies. Authorized players could take out weapons to use. - make it where there are basic, weak weapons that can recharge themselves instantly. This ensures that players can still fight without having weapons in the supply account. It also ensures that if the people in the ships above the planet can't get in supplies (due to attacks on convoys by enemies for example) then the players below can still fight. - have teleporters scattered within the planet that players can capture to make travel easier. this is something lone players and players who don't have a lot of time could capture to help the war effort but ensure that the war's progress is driven by long and medium term planning and at least small group action. - have a variety of different bots with different abilities. Some could highly dangerous to a team of players, some could only be dangerous to one individual, some could impede important objectives, some could just be a nuisance. This would also allow for players who don't have much time to play to help out (maybe by clearing an area of bots that are a nuisance). - having it where players can only carry so many devices and weapons. This would allow players to specialize in a group in order to multiply their effectiveness, while lone players would have to carry weapons and devices that are more suited to general protection from all threats (but are less effective at dealing with specific threats). Anyone have any ideas??? -- Scipio3

Or just have it load StarCraft when you hit the "invade" button.

About FPS style of play that does not ecourage strafe-shooting.

Have you tried Call of Duty? The targeting system is not pixel-precise. You're accuracy depends on if you are aiming, crouching, standing, walking, or running.
I've tried using my standard strafe-shooting "tactic" in that game in multi-player. It just doesn't work. You really have to surround the ennemy and suprise him. You need to sit still if you want a good chance to hit your mark.

Maybe something like this could fit your aims.