STraTOS 1997 April & May/STraTOS 1 - 1997 April & May.iso/CD01/INTERNET/SITES/RAND/UNSPLIT/text0193.txt

Text File | 1997-02-06 | 5.6 KB | 108 lines

    Hello Sebbe,

>Nah:-) but why should all monsters look so ugly, hey maybe thats why
>they are called monsters....
  Indeed! :-)

>Anyway when the gem-deu is out it would be easy to start creating
>your own levels... One question though, if we are to do levels for bm
>(levels that are not just for fun:-) I think we have to follow the
>story line of the game and we also have to see to that the bm that
>not is the doom clone will work as a full game and not a game with
>many special designed levels and so on, with no connection...
  Is that a question or statement? :-)

  Actually, at this point in time, I feel the game has grown out of
proportions(a good thing, when we can organize it) and no is exactly sure
what will make it into the game. That was the basis of my different
story/graphics thinking.. as somewhere down the line, even if Bad Mood is
completed, we will have others designing their own levels with stories(or
lack of.. :-)) and graphics out there that we do not even know about.  For
that reason, is why I believe Bad Mood should be created with a very open
and modular story line, capable of supporting additional tie-ins.. main
characters, etc. We need to establish a hook within the imaginative universe
of Bad Mood, where others can hook into and expound upon Bad Mood, both
graphics, sound, and story wise.

  It's not so much like a different 'tiny' little versions of Bad Moods
running around, but a different view point upon the same established
reality/principle.. like one person looking at a color and calling it "Blue"
while another persons calls it "Orange" and accuses you of color blindness.
:-) Neither of them were wrong, maybe in reality it was really Orange, but
to the first person it was Blue.. :-)

  We all have our different versions of Bad Mood, or perceptions of it which
is why graphics have been of various different styles. Not a bad thing but in
the end, the graphics will probably become more of a 'fodder' that needs to
be edited and re-sculpted to work in a one major release of the game.


---------
   Hello Robin,


>No reason why the story can't be changed as the game progresses, or
>as different BMW files are loaded in. I'm rather keen on the idea that a
>scenario is discovered as the player progresses through the game. If by
>playing the player is progressing the story, that's a further incentive to
>continue. That's what we (me and Martin Milner of 999 Software) are doing
>in our new game- Alien Thing- The Director's Cut. The player as an
>infiltrating marine doesn't know much of what's going on, but as the player
>progresses, more information is gathered and the whole picture becomes
>clearer.
   Sounds great. If we had different type of characters(wizard, warrior,
etc)in the game, who knows.. we might even be able to stage different
progressions that are more story(thinking/puzzles) story orientated, where
some are nearly pure blast 'em.

>And yes, Doom's story is shallow, but then the game is so designed
>that it doesn't really matter what the story is- the gameplay is by far the
>most important factor. And yes, I think you probably are in the minority in
>thinking Doom quickly became boring. ;-) But then there are plenty of
>people that would rather have a decent story than a straight-forward one
>and leave it to adrenaline for the excitement.
  :-)  Well, don't get me wrong, but I found the concept of Doom very
interesting. I just didn't like Doom..

>A different range of graphics would be exciting and prolong
>interest of course, but there is still a need for the sprites to work
>properly in all the directions. If they look strange, face in the wrong
>direction or don't seem to sit on the floor, or if the animation's not
>smooth enough, that's what I meant by crappy. I know because it's a problem
>I have all the time- often it takes a lot of editing before a diagonal
>sprite looks right. 8-)
  I see your point, but I think we have been thinking along the same
lines.. as I'm not for badly misplaced sprites/textures. If a sprite is
missing some directions.. that is bad, but it is not bad if the sprite
happens to be drawn and not rendered.. in my opinion.

   When I said how stories can be manipulated and changed, I didn't mean
waxing a page or two about why things appear a little different(although
that could be done).. but what I had more in mind is actual story/design
change being explained in such a way as being mysterious. If you stepped
through a hole in the wall, a crystal doorway, etc.. who knows what you
might find on the other side? All things can be explained creatively, and
where dwelling upon the players imaginations,can help to create a world
where nothing seems out of the norm and anything can happen.

  That is one of the things or why I never got too interested in Doom, as I
never really felt threatened or attached to the universe I was playing in.
The multiplayer games is what keeps so great attention on games like Doom..
I think because not only the fun of blasting a friend, but also the
unpredictable nature of her/him jumping out/or sneaking up at you from any
corner.  We could, with careful design, touch up/pronounce on some of this
unpredictableness..

 Well, this is all in my opinion and may or may not be correct, but I think
it would be a great way to deter from making an exact Doom copy. Just look at
all the  Doom clones, a lot of them have very nearly the same type of
graphics, dark and gloomy..in a dungeon, castle, etc. Not a thing wrong with
it, just it would be neat to stumble upon 'weird' areas where things are
flipped upside down/sideways, graphics style change, etc.


Well, thanks for hearing my babbling and opinions, as long winded as they
are sometimes. :-) ,
Robby