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Oni2:Slaves of War/Overview: Difference between revisions
→Gameplay: bringing in some material from my design notes, moving one item out to them
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==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
Assuming we had the use of Oni's original engine, or had totally reproduced its behaviors, what areas can we work on for Oni 2? What areas of Oni needed improvement? The melee combat is probably the area we'd need to focus on the least, as it is the most polished. Our time would be better spent in areas dictated by Oni 2's story, or by [[Review criticisms|criticisms]] of Oni. Too many bullet points on our feature list will result in another Oni project that takes longer than planned, so let's keep it to a minimum. Here's my suggestions: | Assuming we had the use of Oni's original engine, or had totally reproduced its behaviors, what areas can we work on for Oni 2? What areas of Oni needed improvement? The melee combat is probably the area we'd need to focus on the least, as it is the most polished. Our time would be better spent in areas dictated by Oni 2's story, or by [[Review criticisms|criticisms]] of Oni. Too many bullet points on our feature list will result in another Oni project that takes longer than planned, so let's keep it to a minimum. Here's my suggestions for the bare minimum (see the top of my [[../Design|Design Notes]] for additional possible features): | ||
*Slightly improved melee: now with parrying, grappling, throw escapes. | *Slightly improved melee: now with parrying, grappling, throw escapes. | ||
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*Slightly improved AI: Enemies can now call or run for help. No blithely walking past KOed comrades when the area is supposedly secured. | *Slightly improved AI: Enemies can now call or run for help. No blithely walking past KOed comrades when the area is supposedly secured. | ||
*Multiplayer focus: emphasize multiplayer mode as much as the single-player story mode. Consider a co-op story mode as well as competitive and co-op MP levels. | *Multiplayer focus: emphasize multiplayer mode as much as the single-player story mode. Consider a co-op story mode as well as competitive and co-op MP levels. | ||
*Power | *Power progression: Mai's powers develop over the course of Oni's story mode, like moves are unlocked over the course of Oni. | ||
*Natural environments: this one could be a stumbling block for the Oni engine. We might need to re-write the 3D engine (or incorporate an open-source engine) in order to do complex outdoor scenery. If Mai and co. are supposed to be exploring the Wilderness, then this is an unavoidable issue. One specific concern I have is interactive flora. If you're in the middle of a bunch of bushes, do they actually quiver if you brush against them? Does the character push palm fronds out of their face as they walk? If the plants just sit there as static models, then we have a problem, especially because the Wilderness probably is a bit more lively than our everyday ferns and flowers and trees. | *Natural environments: this one could be a stumbling block for the Oni engine. We might need to re-write the 3D engine (or incorporate an open-source engine) in order to do complex outdoor scenery. If Mai and co. are supposed to be exploring the Wilderness, then this is an unavoidable issue. One specific concern I have is interactive flora. If you're in the middle of a bunch of bushes, do they actually quiver if you brush against them? Does the character push palm fronds out of their face as they walk? If the plants just sit there as static models, then we have a problem, especially because the Wilderness probably is a bit more lively than our everyday ferns and flowers and trees. | ||
*Replayability: Oni 2 needn't be a long game | *Replayability: Oni 2 needn't be a long game if we make design choices that encourage the player to replay it. Various ways to extend the life of the game are: shapeshifter, multiplayer, and interactivity during cutscenes (see [[../Design#Free_agency|HERE]] for details). | ||
On the subject of the story mode's length, Oni is approximately 6-8 hours long if you take your time, and speed runs are only an hour long. This isn’t uncommon. Here’s an [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/04/the-incredible-shrinking-game-the-truth-of-game-length-in-the-modern-industry.ars article] about how even the biggest games these days are very short. An Oni 2 made by a few fans could be excused for being even shorter, if we take into account MP and the aforementioned replayability factors. | |||
Conversely, we might choose to label the big-budget blockbuster games like ''Uncharted'' and ''God of War'' as the “Hollywood approach” of gaming — creating those huge spectacles takes up a lot of the development process — and then label ourselves “indie filmmakers” by comparison. If we focus on building less ''expensive'' and more ''expansive'' areas as a fighting sandbox to provide hours of basic gameplay, with fewer specially-scripted events, we could conceivably create a game at least as long as Oni. This isn’t to say that we don’t want memorable cutscenes and boss fights, but we probably shouldn’t plan any events that require a lot of special coding just for one scene if we’re aiming for a lengthy game. | |||
==Art style== | ==Art style== | ||