Selkirk
2005.10.30, 05:44 PM
I was reminiscing today about a game I used to play a game on the PC, Wheel of Time, which I think was highly under-rated. The single player version stunk, it was rushed, rough, and buggy, but then two player version had a quality to the game play that was just plain fun.
One reason for this was the magic system that was based loosely on the principle of rock paper scissors. There were many diverse offensive spells, but each had one or more counter spells.
The effects of the spells were relatively slow for a FPS. This gives the player time to react to an offensive attack by choosing an appropriate defense. It also allowed multiple attacks and defenses to be "In the air" at the same time.
The result was that during an encounter suspense would build as attack, defense and counter attacks were used, until one player would gain the upper hand in an exchange and then Bam! All the "balls" that were being juggled between the two players would come crashing down on the loser.
It seems like this general concept of a slow, asynchronous multi-round rock paper scissors could be translated into many different themes.
In WoT, you acquired your spells by exploring the map.
Another old PC game that we used to play to no end was Scorched Earth. One of the things we liked about it was that you could buy power ups between rounds, but you could earn interest on the money you didn't spend, lending some strategy to buy now or buy later.
My game writing days are probably over, but I'd like to see some of the concepts make it into a mac game.
Thanks for your attention. :)
One reason for this was the magic system that was based loosely on the principle of rock paper scissors. There were many diverse offensive spells, but each had one or more counter spells.
The effects of the spells were relatively slow for a FPS. This gives the player time to react to an offensive attack by choosing an appropriate defense. It also allowed multiple attacks and defenses to be "In the air" at the same time.
The result was that during an encounter suspense would build as attack, defense and counter attacks were used, until one player would gain the upper hand in an exchange and then Bam! All the "balls" that were being juggled between the two players would come crashing down on the loser.
It seems like this general concept of a slow, asynchronous multi-round rock paper scissors could be translated into many different themes.
In WoT, you acquired your spells by exploring the map.
Another old PC game that we used to play to no end was Scorched Earth. One of the things we liked about it was that you could buy power ups between rounds, but you could earn interest on the money you didn't spend, lending some strategy to buy now or buy later.
My game writing days are probably over, but I'd like to see some of the concepts make it into a mac game.
Thanks for your attention. :)