Your character is a participant in a futuristic event. He steps into a pod... the pod door closes. A few moments later the pod opens up again and the character steps out. He looks around. He observes, he studies, he reasons. He determines what needs to be done and does it. ---- This game would be focused on delivering to the player as many different game tasks as they can imagine. Gameplay could come in many different forms: single-player: character lands on level and is all on his own co-op multiplayer: character lands on level and will need assistance of other characters on same level competition multiplayer: character lands on level and will need to beat other characters on same level co-op/competition multiplayer: character lands on level and might need some assistance first from other characters, after which they will have to beat those that initially helped them ---- I haven''t really figured out how this would be fun, but I think that it would be nice to play a game where each time you play, the gameplay is different. Every time your character steps out of the pod, he''s faced with a different challenge. These challenges could range from the very simple (find object X and return to location Y) to the challenging (find at least 3 other characters, have them form a human ladder, use them to climb a high wall). What kind of challenges the game can provide will depend on the flexibility of the game engine. Anyone in for some brainstorming?

sounds a lot like that series "quantum leap" with scott bakula. at the beginning of every show he has no idea where he is, who he is, or what he needs to do to leave (only to be bouced into a different but equally odd scenario).

That would be kind of cool really but I don''t know how you''d code that. I mean you can code hudreds and thousands of different scenarios individually but what a pain! better to create some kind of random generator but I imagine it would have to be very complex.

quote: I mean you can code hudreds and thousands of different scenarios individually

Well, I wasn''t really thinking about quite that many different scenarios. Let''s keep it to ''hundreds''.

One of the aspects of the game would be that players would get to know certain scenarios. This could give them the upper hand in competition mode. If you step out of the pod and immediately realize that the level is all about doing X, you can start doing X before the others become aware of it.

But yes, it would feel a lot like a Quantum Leap episode.

Player logs on.

Player selects character.

Character steps into pod.

Character solves puzzle.

Character steps into next pod.

Character has to solve next puzzle.

---

Again, what those puzzles and challenges look like depends mostly on the engine that''s used. The more things the engine can handle, the better.

Movement: running, jumping, climbing, balancing, sneaking, etc.

Manipulating objects: pushing buttons, pulling levers, stepping on pressure plates, throwing objects, taking objects, etc.

Create an engine that can handle all that, and then create the puzzles and challenges. If the engine can handle X, then you can create a challenge that involves X.

I think the best part about it, is that every aspect of the design will be used, as characters are randomly thrown into challenges. Even if a player likes to just do action Y, he''ll have to adapt and perform action X when required.

An important thing though would be to keep the challenges somewhat open-ended, in that they can be solved in more than one way. Jumping across that fissure might get you across, but a safer method might be to throw a rope across, finding a way to attach it, then walk across it with a balancing stick.

A slow success should always give a greater reward than a quick failure.

In a multi-player level, you might see two players fall into the gap before every other player realizes that the gap is simply too big. Everyone will start running around looking for a rope. Meanwhile, you might discover some rocks on the left wall next to the gap, that can be used to hold on to. Before any of the others can find a rope, you use the rocks to climb the wall. You made it. You beat all others. The reward is yours.

On to the next challenge.

Hiya,

I think the general idea is great, as long as there is some prevailing theme through the levels (I guess, for myself, I wouldn''t play it if it felt like 50 different games).

I recently purchased Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex for my son for the Xbox, and it is put together much like you describe - each level is quite different (I''m figuring there are about 60 levels in total). The theme is carried pretty well throughout, but each level is quite different (you''re in a submarine, a crop-duster, just hoppin'' Mario-style, etc.).

I would say you''re on to something that could be quite fun (particularly the co-op and competitive multiplayer ideas) - flesh out the ideas some more and see where it goes!

Cheers,
Russ

About Quantum Leap, did he ever got back to his time? I remember he was close, being him as a kid and then his brother at Vietnam, but I never saw an ending, did it had one?

Sorry for the Off topic QL was one of my favorite series, I would play a game like it, but making it would require hard work, otherwise it would get short on many ways.

Kwizatz wrote:

quote: About Quantum Leap, did he ever got back to his time? I remember he was close, being him as a kid and then his brother at Vietnam, but I never saw an ending, did it had one?

As far as I remember, it was actually his buddy Al that he needed to save in the end. (don''t remember how or what from)

ComponentFault wrote:

quote: I think the general idea is great, as long as there is some prevailing theme through the levels (I guess, for myself, I wouldn''t play it if it felt like 50 different games).

I agree. The fact that your character can perform say 50 different actions shouldn''t make the game into 50 mini-games.

I think that if the character really can perform those 50 different actions, each challenge and puzzle should require the player to use a combination of some of those 50 actions.

Challenge 1 might require you to just jump.
Challenge 2 might require you to just climb.
Challenge 3 might require you to jump and climb.
Challenge 4 might require you to jump, climb and run.

I do think that each action should require its own skill, be it player skill or character skill, or a combination of the two. If there''s a multi-player option, I really want each character to feel unique at his abilities.

"Look how far I can jump!"

"Look how fast I can run!"

And it''s not just that players feel good about themselves, but the difference in abilities actually has an impact on the game:

If you can run very fast, you might be able to run through a dangerous section of the level without getting hurt.

If you can jump very far, you might be able to jump across gaps in the level that others can''t.

If you can climb really good, you might be able to climb up walls that others can''t.

In single-player mode this just means that you''ll develop certain tactics at solving puzzles and challenges (a good jumper will at first look to solve a challenge by using his jump skill).

In competition multi-player mode it would mean that you can beat other players at certain specific challenges.

But the difference in character abilities would really shine in the co-op multi-player mode. Here, players will need to team up with others. If a group of 3 characters is faced with a challenge, they should first select the one character that has the best skill at what''s required.

"Hey, we need someone to jump across this gap here. Who''s got a good jumping skill? That person needs to jump across and then put that wooden board, that''s laying on the other side, across so the ones remaining behind can safely make it to the other side."

"Okay, once someone sets foot into this section of the level, a giant boulder will come rolling from behind ala Indiana Jones. We need someone who can run very fast to outrun the boulder and make it to safety, then push the button that stops the rolling boulder mechanism."