quote:
Original post by Mooglez
Are you serious? Darnit, I want to see a new mmo sport game, not another dance exercise game.
Actually, it's not dance exercise. The central concept is rhythm: you can play (in the current design) as a dancer or a DJ and go head-to-head with a friend. I'm also thinking about an online "dancehall"/Soul Train -type component.
Setting: Dancehalls. DJs spin tunes, dancers do their thangs on various parts of the dance floor.
Gameplay: Dancers As you dance well, a crowd begins to form around you, chanting your name ("Go Mi-ike! Go Mi-ike!") which ups your score. You could also be going head-to-head with another dancer in a number of modes: Turns, in which each dancer comes up and drops a wicked move or sequence than backs off and challenges his/her opponent to match that; Simultaneous, in which you go at the same time and see who the crowd likes best. I'm thinking of putting time limits in some modes... Dunno, a lot of the specifics are still up in the air.
How is this different from any of the existing dance n' rhthym games? Character building: you can "study" various dance styles and incorporate them into your routines. You get to configure style changes (switch from classic breakdance to pop n' lock to house...) and triggers for various movements within each style. By stringing the movements together, you pull off combinations and complex manovers. The difference is that the movements can be cumulative if you want (ie, rotate torso by so much, raise left arm so far...) or "standard" combinations.
DJs You have a bunch of tunes in your box which you would have selected prior to a gig. You then select a record or two to put on the plates (simplified interface; the focus is on mixing, not simulating the full DJ experience) and apply effects in real-time. If you keep to rhythm or introduce interesting sequences, the crowd gets hyped. The more you hype the crowd the more your reputation grows and so on. You can enter DJ battles to see which DJ has the "wickedest" cuts, or even go against dancers (in this case you'd be trying to drop a rhythm that the dancer can't figure out and dance to).
The unique feature I want to add is that you wont be constrained to pre-defined rhythms. If the music is bumping at 4/4 and you drop a riff or a break move at 6/4 or 8/4 (or even 12/3, but it flows with the overall rhythm), then you get extra points. This means that the game will need to recognize tempos dynamically, which I have worked on and broken down to simple pattern recognition.
It will be possible to "train" your character - both DJs and dancers - to perfect new combos. A lot of the detailed aspects of this are still up in the air, but that's the general concept as it stands.
I'm also planning to make use of a hierarchical animation system I'm working on that dispels with the need for motionsets. This means that you can interrupt a motion - extremely useful and effective for break and pop n' lock. I also plan to use the system in a bunch of sports games on the back burner.
On genres: I find that they put me off. Hearing "the new tactical FPS" or "the hot new RPG" tend to (rightfully) cause me to ignore a game, because it has, so far, implied the same old gameplay. DungeonSeige, for example, is an extremely impressive game engine with some nice AI and graphics touches, but the game play is neither revolutionary nor particularly evolutionary. I realize that revolution is rare, but could we at least evolve the gameplay of our genres?
I play NBA Live 2000/2001 frequently. The game has a lot of good, but even more bad. I'm constantly convinced that the designers don't
play the real life game, and barely watch it on TV. So, I'm looking to create a true basketball simulation (not an arcade game). This design point has lead me to some rather radical changes to the way the controls are classically laid out in ball "sims", and a bunch of other things. If I can pull it off, I'm sure I would have at least evolved electronic basketball simulations.
[Edit:] Had the redundant statement "you can play as a player or...", which should have been "...play as a dancer..."
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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!Edited by - Oluseyi on December 17, 2001 6:43:47 AM
Although not PC, I recall one arcade game where the controller is butt. Yeah, that''s two t''s. I forget what it does and wish i could clarify so as to get all the sick thoughts from your head (and mine) 
