Gladiators (FPM)

Sebastian Janssen · 2002-01-16T16:05:20

First Person Melee (FPM) The player takes on the role of a Gladiator, fighting for fame and fortune... and more importantly, fighting for his (her) life. Players can choose from several different types of gameplay. Single player vs AI: The player is pitted in the arena against one or more wild animals. The animals are controlled by the computer. Single player vs Single player: The player is pitted in a one-on-one fight against another player-controlled gladiator. Multi player vs AI: A group of players team up and fight against groups of animals. The animals are controlled by the computer. Multi player vs Multi player: A group of players team up and fight against another group of player-controlled gladiators. Players can compete in different leagues, ranging from easy to hard. A starting player will usually practice his fighting skill on simple animals, then try to combat bigger animals, and eventually end up battling other players. The money earned can be used to improve equipment, purchase special training or put away into a savings account that can later be used to purchase the gladiator''s freedom (retirement). The life of a gladiator is harsh: short and very cheap. Starting gladiators will combat other players in a special mode: To The First Wound. In this mode, whoever gets to inflict the first serious wound on his opponent wins the fight. The wound can be healed and the beaten gladiator can live to fight another day. The real gladiators though will fight To The Death. In this mode, the crowd will decide if the beaten gladiator should live or not. Once the loser is helpless, the winning gladiator will stand over him, sword hovering over his victims neck and ask the crowd for a judgement. When the cheers for death overpower those for mercy, the defeated gladiator will be killed... There is no coming back from the afterlife (permanent death). No player will want to risk the life of his gladiator. But... the rewards are very high. A winning To The Death gladiator can make up to 50 times the amount of money he''d make in a To The First Wound fight. Also he will gain fame (ranking). Perhaps a skilled veteran will see his worth and provide his services to the winning gladiator, giving him a chance to practice with the best and learn some special moves. The combat engine... Well, I''m no programmer (and I''ve just about given up any hopes of ever becoming a good programmer, I''ll stick with just thinking up lame designs), but I''m sure that in a few years, sword-fighting engines will emerge that will be able to simulate the thrill of a sword fight. Of course for a gladiator game, different weapons have to be used, different armours, different techniques, different tactics. Each gladiator should have its own strengths and weaknesses. If you find that your gladiator is strong, but slow, you should put a lot of armour on him, give him a strong sword and shield and hope he has the endurance to carry the weight of all the metal during a long, hard battle. If your gladiator is fast but weak, you should put only little armour on him. Perhaps just a shoulder protector. Equip him with weapons that make use of his mobility and speed, and let him wear out his heavily armed opponents. Animals should have realistic attacks. They should stalk their prey, react with their instincts. They don''t have to be the main attraction of the game, but they should give a challenge to those players who don''t want to combat real players just yet, and to players who just want to play a quick ten-minute game without having to log on to the internet. I really think the gladiator setting is perfect for online-sword fighting. A lot of the rules can be taken straight from history. Gladiators thousands of years ago were adored by fans like the super-athletes of today. They had fanclubs and even had their own action-figures. Often, they started out as slaves, being forced to fight. But eventually being a gladiator became popular even to the upper class of the society. Some slave-gladiators chose to remain gladiators even when they had made enough money to purchase their freedom. If that can be carried over to the computer, the addiction to the adrenaline rush of the fight that made real people risk their very lives, you can count on me being in the front lines every single day, fighting till I''m bloody, desperately trying to stay alive...

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Silvermyst January 15, 2002 10:05 AM

19 comments, last by Silvermyst 22 years, 11 months ago

krez

443

January 16, 2002 04:05 PM

quote: Original post by Silvermyst
And yes, a gladiator game just screams for all sorts of rankings. And of course the greatest of all time will be immortalized on statues displayed around the Colosseum (even if they die fighting).

personally, i''d rather be represented in the stars, like Hector and Hercules

maybe that''s only for the ones who are the greatest of the greatest...

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)

--- krez ([email="krez_AT_optonline_DOT_net"]krez_AT_optonline_DOT_net[/email])

Gladiators (FPM)

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Gladiators (FPM)

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