TWO series that are currently in production and need help...

Right, I've been working on creating two story series that I'm planning on developing into video games, but due to my own problems with writer's block, I've been unable to fully finish the concepts behind the whole thing, but I've got a good portion down.

I'll start off with the one I'm planning on releasing first: The Price For Freedom. This one I've been trying to pour effort in because it'll be coming out first and I'm not certain if it'll work out well. Here's what I got so far:

The series is a Humongous Mecha series, mostly Real Robot but with some Super Robot parodies here and there (IE the Mark 1 "Fail" mecha, known for being extremely unreliable and prone to mistaking your commands, actually is a Super Robot prototype that was scrapped because it was unreliable) based around a Sci-Fi version of the American Revolution.

You've got the rebellious Outer Colonies vs the Inner Colonies (America and Great Britian, respectively). After the Inner Colonies have been exploting them for resources and continually keeping them at least three years behind on technology, the Outer Colonies got really annoyed that they weren't listening to their demands, and rebelled.

The Inner Colonies were the first to develop the mecha, at first as a siege weapon to deal with bunkers, but it quickly became so adaptable that tanks are mostly used for defense now. The main reason why the mecha is so effective is because of some Applied Phlebotinum fuel source from an old alien empire that died out a long time ago (so yes, the old empire is being used as oil.) that has so much energy in it anything smaller than a mecha blows up due to an energy overload.

Mecha range from 3 to 10 stories tall, with different skills for each one. 3 story tall mecha are built for "stealth" missions, with lesser armor and weaponry and radar jammers (but given their size, it's easy to notice them visually), while 10 story tall mecha are basically artillery/Boss Battles. 5 story tall mecha are The Mario.

There are Mini-Mecha for urban conflicts, but they're mostly fire-support instead of Lightning Brusiers.

The main characters are Matthew, Maria, Akiba, and Major James Vyker. The first three are mecha pilots that just got out of their military school and joined the Inner Colony Military to fight the Outer Colonies, while Vyker is a Space Marine with a big chip in his shoulder and a VERY violent personality. The four of them are put on the ICN Wallace and have to battle various Outer Colony factions, including the G-Gunners, the most powerful of them all.

Gameplay-wise, you can customize just about anything. Appearance, gender (not having an effect on story mode), mecha equipment, mecha model, mecha paint job (It does have an effect, that last one. For example, da red wunz go fasta!), on-foot equipment, space ship model (this is for multiplayer only), space ship equipment, a space ship fleet after reaching a certain rank in Space battle multiplayer (on-foot, mecha, and space battles will all be seperated into seperate playlists with their own rank system), and finally, name.

The series itself comes across as a half-parody of mecha in general. It makes fun of the concept, but embraces it as well. When in gameplay, you earn credits to buy your equipment, which is gained solely based on how good you did (relative to the game. For instance, a large Kill/Death ratio in a Capture the Flag game will not be as rewarding as actually capturing the flag/defending the flag), which you use to buy new equipment.

In multiplayer, there is a special hidden stat called "Leadership", which goes up based on tactical choices you make in-game. When a game is starting, the game decides who is the team's "Officer" based on the Leadership stat (the highest is the team's officer, but if there is a tie, players can vote on who gets to be the officer). There are multiple ways to increase it, the most common of which is making a good tactical decision (like say, order a grunt to take out the artillery/sniper while having some teammates cover him), but there are also ways such as playing the tutorial of the game.

The main problem I have for this is that I don't nearly have as much work into it as I should. I have no alien species created as of this moment (and they are kinda required in a Sci Fi series, or at least mainstream), and only the basic workings of combat (4/5 weapons in mecha, with them being either Ballistic (medium damage to shields and armor, low ammo, fair accuracy) Missiles (high damage to armor, fair damage to shields, low ammo, lock-on capable Lasers (high accuracy and range, high ammo, low damage to both shields and armor) and Plasma (High damage to shields and armor, low fire rate, good amount of ammo, but fairly inaccurate at anything beyond mid-range). There's also melee if you've run out of ammo, or if you feel like Cherry Tapping. It has infinite ammo and ignores shielding, but you have to be close to actually hit something.

The shielding works like Mass Effect style shields: they recharge and block stuff that hits at a certain velocity and above (which is why melee ignores shields), but have a minimum range (effectively meaning if you shoot execution style, you ignore shielding) for them to go up.

Space Battles are like Star Wars Battlefront 2 space battles, only not so easy. In Battlefront 2, you can just spam all of your bombers and win because all you need to do is blow up their frigates and all but 1 critical system and you've likely got enough points to win. Here, you have to directly destroy the ship, not just cripple it. There are several ships deployed at once, and you have to destroy the Flagship (largest amount of firepower) and the Mecha Repair Ship (that's where most of the Mecha are. They are The Medic. Shoot them first). You have fighters (mostly bombers and interceptors), main ship guns (you can manually control the bigger guns and some point-defense systems, but there are a good hundred or so auto-guns on most given ships to keep the fighters at bay), take a Mecha to cause heavier damage (but you're slower), or take a Boarding Party to assault the inside of the place.

Mecha battles and on-foot battles play out like your average shooter, only with the Mecha battles being more focused on dealing crippling blows to the enemy mecha because they're not as easy to destroy as infantry. Even headshots won't kill outright if the pilot has the second command center in the chest, so you've got to cripple the mecha enough so that it is unable to properly function in battle (and this could be as simple as destroying the kneecaps of the mecha and then destroying the hips, preventing it from turning or standing up).

Mecha are controlled by a neural interface system where they basically control it like they would control their physical body (want to move your mecha's arm? When the system is active, just try to move your arm and the system will stop you from moving your arm and translate that impulse into moving your mecha's arm).

I'll discuss the second series after I get some feedback on this one. I could use some help, such as alien types to work with.

This game, I believe, has some great potential. I also am working on 3 stories I would like to become videogames. You can see them here, here, and [[ here]] (That space is for when I finally decide on a title for that one... which is why this is going on my watch list!)

First off, you may need to make some decisions based on how the two colony groups compare to one another. Are the Inner Colonies far more technologically advanced than the Outer Colonies? Make it show. Give the Outer Colonies "Duct-taped" mechs, or have them be older or stolen models. Are the Outer Colonies greater in numbers than the Inner Colonies? Give them weaker mechs, but more team members. Have the story take effect on the gameplay.

Second, you need to find a way to properly design your on-foot battles. Being human, I can definitely tell you that no normal person would want to carry up to five different weapons on them at any given time. You designed your mech combat well with the different weapon types, now you just need to scale it down for human use. Can humans even use laser weapons (those things require MASSIVE amounts of power)? Do they have portable shield technology designed for such a small scale (again, that would require a bunch of energy)? Also, you need to think about maybe reduced clip sizes or very limited inventories for on-foot battles.

And finally, your alien creativity problem. Numerous sci-fi games have introduced a plethora of alien races. But some of them seem to lack... reason. Here are some tips.

• Consider the number of species on earth. How can there be a planet with only 1 race on it? You can include multiple races that come from the same planet. Are they at war with each-other? Or are they brothers in arms?
• If there even ARE alien races in close proximity to the colonies, why are they there? Are they the natives? Or are they colonizing too? Are they taking part in a great pilgrimage, or are they retreating from a great threat? Your story seems to be based on the Revolutionary War, maybe you could have the "Aliens" be the "Native Americans"?
• Think about how advanced they are when compared to humans, and go for variety. Almost every sci-fi race out there is light-years ahead of humans. But what about the ones that AREN'T as advanced as us? Do they have ships with unreliable warp drives? Do they rely on melee weapons rather than ranged ones? Or is it the other way around, and they never even thought of melee weapons? Get creative.
• Don't go for perfection the first time! Get basic ideas first, and then have them develop over time, as you think about them. I've been developing the story for one of my projects for YEARS, but some of the great ideas only need a few days to think up. Actually, here's one last tip...
• Make a page for it! I've already made pages for Contrast Soul and Damocles, and I update them constantly as the new ideas flow in. If you want to change an aspect of it, just edit the page! If you want to take a step even further, introduce your ideas to the forums by placing the page links in your posts or signature, or even take it Up To Eleven and create a support thread for it, and earn yourself an early fanbase! Heck, you could even get some project support out of it!

edited 28th Aug '10 9:07:45 PM by TheFreeWind

What engine are you going to use to make this? Remember that the conceptual stuff is maybe 10% of the work of a game; you don't want to assume that you'll just get the grunt work done somehow or, worse yet, that you'll find someone else to do it for you.

On-foot rely on kinetic weapons and missiles simply because they are A) Easier to build and maintain, and B) Don't require several metric assloads of power.

Energy shields on foot is possible, but cannot be easily built on a good enough scale (in fact, it requires someone with an intimate knowledge of mecha shielding to even make it possible to scale down for infantry)

As for the alien thing, technically speaking, what constitutes an "Inner" Colony to an "Outer" Colony is actually relative to a location other than Earth, specifically a currently unnamed planet closer to the center of the galaxy (Not at it, cause I know there's a supermassive black hole there) that serves as the political center of the galaxy (Similar to the Mass Effect Citadel).

You've got Humans and Aliens who are on both sides, and those who are just staying out of the combat. There are about 100 spacefairing alien species in the galaxy as of the game (it's roughly 4000 AD there), but there are a few "primitive" species as well.

As for the engine, I'm not sure as of this moment. I would prefer one that can be easily modded so that my fans on the PC version can have boatloads of fun creating new maps and items that the staff can steal-I mean, borrow for the fanbase on a whole to enjoy.

Perhaps Source or the Unreal Engine would work best as of this moment. However, the possibility of these engines being the main ones is still far off, considering that I'm still working on getting a college degree.

edited 29th Aug '10 4:23:26 AM by GeneralTommy

For the engine, might I suggest maybe getting acquainted with the Unreal Development Kit? It's free to download (although, if you make a finished product and sell it, you have to pay royalties), easy enough to use, and it has a large community willing and able to help you out. With it, you get all the tools that (allegedly) the professionals use. you can find their website here.

As of this moment, I happen to have Source Developer's kit, but I feel a bit afraid that I might crash something due to my utter ineptitude with coding. I was actually trying to get a full-blown game company under my wing (as in, I found it as the CEO) before I actually develop the series, but I'm also going to be taking at least a minor in game coding.

Now then, if there are no more tips about Price For Freedom, may I move onto the second series?

Wouldn't it make more sense to start the company once you actually have a product to sell?

...What.

Sorry, I didn't understand what it is that you said there. Were you talking about making the product before making the company, or making the company before I make the game?

Would you kindly clarify?

I'm sensing a serious case of putting the cart before the horse here. Here's the order I suggest you follow:

1. Get your CS degree.

2. Get a game engine that is fully operational and with which you are fully competent and confident.

3. In the meantime, get a job in the gaming industry to get a feel for how it works.

4. Make a highly simplified version of the game as a demo/proof of concept.

5. Work out the details you're thinking about now.

6. Make the game.

7. Release the game (or at least the demo) for free to get exposure.

8. Leave the job you've been at to start your own company. Don't do this until you've found a partner who can handle the business side of it.

That was actually the base plan, except the game itself won't be put into development until the company is made (instead, I'll be developing OTHER games under other companies to get a better feel for how games go through developmental process).

The very reason why I want my own company instead of making it under someone else is to minimize the amount of Executive Meddling that I'll have to go through. Invariably, there will be some, even if it is only from my Producers, but the less red tape to deal with the better, because I am a bit sensitive about changes made to the series itself. I do have other games in mind before I actually make the company, but I can deal with Executive Meddling in those, as they are more of filler for the real stuff.

Really, I'm trying to get the basics of the backstory down before actual coding begins so I don't have to wind up making major engine changes because a plot piece contradicts some of the coding here and there (you can tell it's rather story-heavy).

That's the main problem though. Not only am I horrible with names, I have a tendency to make stuff up on the fly. I'm already writing down the plot for the thing, as well as dicussing with my friends possible concepts to put into gameplay.

So yeah, big thing right now is getting plot details down before everything else so I don't end up making errors later on.

Also, I'm mostly learning coding so I know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to gameplay choices. Nothing frustrates the coders (at least in my view) more than a boss who doesn't understand the coding being used.

Be careful not to run into Duke Nukem Forever Syndrome. Sometimes, Executive Meddling is a good thing.

Depends on what they want to meddle in. If it's stuff like changing huge plot points for the sake of making it "sell better" or some crap like that, I probably would be rather annoyed because I don't really like changing something big I made just so that I can make a couple extra bucks.

However, if it's something like changing some combat mechanics, or if a plot point needs to be changed because it's too confusing, or something like that, I might listen. It's the "sell better" that is the main problem for me.

Hate to double-post, but seeing as how I'm no longer getting feedback on Price For Freedom, I feel that it is appropriate to move onto the other series, and I would like to let people know about it.

The Masked Knight. This one I consider my "main" flagship series because I've poured more effort into it, but I'm still in need of some help, again mostly with backstory, but also a bit of gameplay too.

It's also rather long commpared to Price For Freedom (I have 5 games+ in mind, but I don't think I should go any higher than the 4th game, as that one is kinda the epilogue game). It's a fantasy RPG involving various mercenary heroes from around the world (currently unnamed at the moment, because I'm horrible with names).

The main character is General Tommy (before you ask, no, he is not an Author Avatar, it's just that this is my normal online name, I'm bad with names, and there's another reason why), the titular "Masked Knight", who is always wearing his suit of Mithril armor and wearing a mask to hide his face. The reason why this is is Tommy is an Orc in human lands. There is a Over Nine Thousand year long war going on (literally) between the traditional "noble" races and the "savage" races (mostly the Orcs). Truth be told, the Orcs are the technical "Good Guys" here.

The Orcs are quite different than traditional Orcs, falling a bit into the Warcraft model, but at the same time adding on new traits. For example, Orcs are technically artificial in nature, but can reproduce biologically.

They were created by the local Wizard who did it Karin, an Omega-level Demon (can blow up planets if she feels like it) created them to fight other rogue demons. To do so, she gave them a Superpowered Evil Side simply known as the "Berserker psyche" (it's a shattered psyche with the "Berserker" half being rather close to Hollow Ichigo in the sense that they want complete control of the body and have nothing but contempt for anything that tries to get in their way. Karin notes that the shattered psyche is "Unusual, but needed".

Another advantage given is the Anti-Magic gene. Back when it was active, it allowed Orcs to cast Anti-Magic powerful enough to negate even Omega Demon spells. This also added in a fairly strong spell resistance. However, Karin realized that she made the Orcs a bit TOO powerful and might end up causing a demonic civil war over control of the Orcs, so she sealed up the gene and then sent them to the world.

Right, now that the wall of text spoiler is out of the way, time to move onto gameplay.

I'm currently debating in my head if it should be more of a Prince Of Persia esque fighting system with upgrades, or a more traditional action-RPG that focuses more on your equipment than special moves. What is certain is that there will be different fighting styles for each type of weapon (and if you are dual-wielding, sword/shield, or two-handed). And of course, race options. Humans, Elves, Halflings, and Gnomes are standard (as they are on the "Noble" side), Dwarves are neutral, so they should be an option, but I'm having problems considering if one of the "savage" races should be an option, aside from Orcs. And of course, what advantages each race brings.

Then there is backstory for a good portion of each of the races (I mostly just have Orcish and Elven culture down, and even then, not completely). The series is mostly about subverting or averting standard fantasy tropes like Our Dwarves Are All the Same, or Our Elves Are Better, and especially Can't Argue with Elves.

So yeah, bit of a hand here?

World of Warcraft pretty much dominates this kind of milieu when it comes to video games, so if I were you, I'd go for the Prince of Persia approach.

By the way, making the hero an orc is pretty epic. Kudos for that.

Yeah, that was my current thoughts, mostly because action-RPG seems to be dominating over traditional RPG these days. Plus, there's nothing more annoying when it looks like it hits, but it always says "miss" instead.

So nobody has any other suggestions for these series? Or are you just wanting a tl;dr?