I work for a band management company representing the band Suffocation. They are a pretty popular death metal band with a good international following, MTV play, movie soundtrack, even a commercial for the History Channel promoting the Dark Ages special. We are working with a programmer who developed his own engine for a FPS game and is skinning it to make a Suffocation based game, using the band's music as well as images from their albums, t-shirts, and the band members themselves. There will be both single and multi-player levels. We are trying to make the game of interest to people beyond just Suffocation fans. I am not a programmer but I am doing some of the other stuff like storyline and I am trying to think of peripheral things to make the game more interesting. One of the concepts we are most excited about is being able to skin the game for other bands, and having those games be compatible so if someone buys the Suffocation version and another player buys a version for another band, they would still be able to play each other in multi player mode. I would really love to hear thoughts on ideas that make FPS games interesting. My main experience has been with Counter Strike, and I also play World of Warcraft. Some of the ideas I have thought about are: -Some sort of ranking system based on kills/wins, including achievements and titles -Unlockable content such as unreleased songs from the band if you reach certain levels (they are recording their new album now so I have asked them to save any music not released on the album) -Online and LAN tournaments and competitions -Special merchandise based around the game (stickers, buttons, etc.) -Discussion forums with customizable avatars based on the game (sort of like the Warcraft forums where you post using your characters avatar) -A special version of the game sold on tour from the merchandise booth with unique content -Some sort of clan or guild system to reinforce multi player storylines, especially if we have different versions of the game for different bands. Obviously certain things will be easier to do then others based on the programming requirements, but I am trying to get a master list of ideas down so when I sit with the programmer we can go one by one and determine what is possible/feasible and what is not. Thanks in advance for any input!

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One of the concepts we are most excited about is being able to skin the game for other bands, and having those games be compatible so if someone buys the Suffocation version and another player buys a version for another band, they would still be able to play each other in multi player mode.

Do you mean exactly the same game , but with different graphics , depending on which band you buy it for? I like the idea of playing a deathmatch , and unexpectedly running into someone from a totally different band , but am not sure releasing 10 identical games with slightly different graphics will go down well. ( Unless you're EA , of course )

Would extras for the game on the band's albums be a possibility? i.e , when someone buys the latest Suffocation album , they can pop the album in their pc , and it'll add some new levels / some new avatars based on that album to the game?

That would be cool.

Death Metal ftw! \m/

If this is going to be just a little gimmick game for the band that would be included on a CD with similar expectations to the required effort as it would be for adding an .avi of a live performance of the band, then you might have some tough discussions ahead of you.

Programming work eats away *lots* of time, several months even if you find an experienced team and limit your expectations to a simple variant of the CounterStrike genre.

But if you got the resources and this is your goal, I feel obliged to jump into the air and cry "hurrah!". I don't know of many games with metal soundtracks, except maybe "Earache Extreme Metal Racing" and to a degree the FlatOut series :)

Obviously you need weapons sound to be particularly identifiable extracts from the bands. A submachine gun that plays a heavy metal riff loop sounds strangely appealing. If you plan on having players from multiple bands, such sounds could even generate interest from players unaware of the band :
"Lol ! What did you shoot me with ?"
"Smoke On The Water, Deep Purple"
"Sounded great !"

(why do I picture Smoke On The Water as a BFG9000 ?)

As a big metal fan i think the idea is cool,

I remember seeing earache metal racing but don't know if its any good.

The most important thing I think is to ensure the game is not purely a gimmick game.

I always thought an RPG with metal soundtrack and characters would work well, especially with the likes of black metal bands and certain death metal bands because their music style and influence is very mythological and has the feel of an RPG style world. For instance immortal always pose in photos with huge swords, weapons and Armour and look like RPG characters lol.

Would be cool to see a metal game out there but like I say make sure its not just a gimmick.

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Original post by SadisticToaster Quote: One of the concepts we are most excited about is being able to skin the game for other bands, and having those games be compatible so if someone buys the Suffocation version and another player buys a version for another band, they would still be able to play each other in multi player mode. Do you mean exactly the same game , but with different graphics , depending on which band you buy it for? I like the idea of playing a deathmatch , and unexpectedly running into someone from a totally different band , but am not sure releasing 10 identical games with slightly different graphics will go down well. ( Unless you're EA , of course ) Would extras for the game on the band's albums be a possibility? i.e , when someone buys the latest Suffocation album , they can pop the album in their pc , and it'll add some new levels / some new avatars based on that album to the game? That would be cool.

The plan is each variation of the game would be the same engine but different level maps, villains, etc. And of course different soundtracks. We would like to make each game different but similar gameplay.

Yes, additional levels, easter eggs, extra goodies, etc. will be available either for download off the website or included in future albums/DVDs.

We are really digging the idea of head to head band vs band play. I have created a basic idea of the story (alternate dimensions created by the emotional intensity of the music making the players avatars fighting for control of turf and resources). So now the main thing is seeing what is and isn't possible and what features people would like.

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Original post by Cygon Death Metal ftw! \m/ If this is going to be just a little gimmick game for the band that would be included on a CD with similar expectations to the required effort as it would be for adding an .avi of a live performance of the band, then you might have some tough discussions ahead of you. Programming work eats away *lots* of time, several months even if you find an experienced team and limit your expectations to a simple variant of the CounterStrike genre. But if you got the resources and this is your goal, I feel obliged to jump into the air and cry "hurrah!". I don't know of many games with metal soundtracks, except maybe "Earache Extreme Metal Racing" and to a degree the FlatOut series :)

I hear you but it seems like the guy already has a solid game engine ready to go and I will be meeting with him this week so my expectation is this to be a real game, not just a gimmick.

That was actually part of the reason I came to this forum, to fish for ideas to make the game more real and less gimmick.

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Original post by Yvanhoe Obviously you need weapons sound to be particularly identifiable extracts from the bands. A submachine gun that plays a heavy metal riff loop sounds strangely appealing. If you plan on having players from multiple bands, such sounds could even generate interest from players unaware of the band : "Lol ! What did you shoot me with ?" "Smoke On The Water, Deep Purple" "Sounded great !" (why do I picture Smoke On The Water as a BFG9000 ?)

Definitely, using concepts from the band image, songs, sound effects, t-shirt graphics and such is a big part of it. The band members have agreed to be boss villains and each one has a pretty distinctive look (tattoos, dreds, shaved head, etc.) and since it is an alternate dimension it is ok for them to be the opposition since it is not REALLY them.

The best videos of them to see is the History Channel commercial:


And their performance at the Wacken festival, which was made into a DVD:


I play Warhammer 40K so obviously I thought of the guitar sounding gun similar to the Noise Marine weapons! :)

Thanks for the replies so far and nice to see some metal fans here.

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Original post by BlackSeeds As a big metal fan i think the idea is cool, I remember seeing earache metal racing but don't know if its any good. The most important thing I think is to ensure the game is not purely a gimmick game. I always thought an RPG with metal soundtrack and characters would work well, especially with the likes of black metal bands and certain death metal bands because their music style and influence is very mythological and has the feel of an RPG style world. For instance immortal always pose in photos with huge swords, weapons and Armour and look like RPG characters lol. Would be cool to see a metal game out there but like I say make sure its not just a gimmick.

That is my wish, I have emphasized to the programmer that I want this to appeal to gamers who aren't already fans of the band so it has to stand on its own as a game. For them I said we should offer the option of turning off the music and changing songs so if someone is stuck on a single player level they aren't stuck listening to the same song over and over again!

Thank you for the replies so far. Obviously the biggest advice is not to make it just a gimmick. If that happens then we would just release it as a fan thing and not market it as a serious game.

I am curious about thoughts on the other ideas that could be done to make it more serious. I think trying to establish a community through forums, ranking system, clans or guilds, and stuff like that really add to the life of a game. What are things along those lines that could really work for a FPS?