What makes a scavenger game good? Thread

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What makes a scavenger game good? (Forums : Ideas & Concepts : What makes a scavenger game good?)	Locked
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silvertight	Sep 17 2012 Anchor
Hey I just want to make a scavenger game with a semi open city ( something like L4D without driveable cars and huge open world ), the enemies could be zombies, demons, machines, ghosts, anything, its not that important. But i want to ask you guys: What makes a scavenger game good? You need a story for the game or just sandbox gameplay? You need an upgradeable safehouse with bed, generator, ammo making bench? Or just simply something to pimp? You like scavenging for things like supply or fuel to get to a next safehouse, packing up stuff to your car and keep rollin? Collectibles are cool in a game like that? Old stamps, action figures, anything what you can find in a city. You like melee or guns more in a game like this? What difficulty do you want, monsters should be stronger than the player? Collecting items through the game for a final big fight is a good idea? Drink, Food and sleep should be the part of the core gameplay? Coop is a good thing in a game like that? Why do you play games like this, what's keep you on the track for hours? Any little info, tip, opinion would be appreciated guys, thanks for helping me with this. Edited by: silvertight
forte226	Sep 17 2012 Anchor
if you want a good example check out minecraft it has thousands of players that love the game. but if you want my opionion you should have a cool little story, multiple safehouses that are each upgradeable would be a nice addon. haveing to get food to stay alive, and haveing to get painkillers. the monsters should be a challenge to take down, i perfer gam,es witth coop so if you make this please add COOP. also you should add both meel and range weapons
Guiboune	Sep 17 2012 Anchor
one word. replayability find a way to make the game fun to replay
Icedecknight	Sep 17 2012 Anchor
Ghosts and Demons would be a very cool idea since you rarely see it .. I wouldn't call MineCraft a very good scavenger game unless you want to make it boring and more for casual users. Unless that is your goal then sure go for it. I found that having a lot of items in-game that can be sold for a minor amount of currency is fun but necessary, then sometimes you would find a rare item that can be sold or used for a nice sum of currency. Stalker was a lot of fun since you can kill a bunch of mercenaries grab their guns and sell them all until you can buy a nice piece of armor. As long as you get rewarded well for easy or tough work then it should make it more fun. A huge variety with a complex loot and marketing system will make it a good scavenger game imo.
Henley the sun never sets on the eternally cool	Sep 17 2012 Anchor
How about something hyper realistic? Like this Indiedb.com --
Icedecknight	Sep 18 2012 Anchor
Henley wrote: How about something hyper realistic? Like this Indiedb.com That looks sweet! Going to try it out
MCIII	Sep 20 2012 Anchor
Customizable safehouses that have build paths ala Starcraft II's Terran Command Center, so Basic safe house can become fortified battle post or self sustaining haven. The difference could be that you can select turret positions and create traps like Minecraft. Maybe an entire zombie survivor game that is based in the dark ages? start with a village and end with a castle with custom moat, archery posts, hot oil dumping stations. Image a fantasy game where you are the struggling town instead of a wondering hero, your resources can attract heroes to your town for commerce and protection. Those are some ideas off the top of my head.
Zombiestubble	Sep 20 2012 Anchor
A Dark Ages zed game would be cool. Example story: But what about one in a Greek Era? The Established Cities have fallen into disarray as hordes of re-animated souls scatter around the countryside, picking off villages, and even city-states. As a (whatever the hell you want to be), you survive by using your cunning and various skills to make your way from Rhodes to the largest stronghold against the infection: Mount Olympus. Once the player gets to Mt. Olympus, the Greeks believe that it is the souls of Hades' army repossessing the bodies of the living. In order to escape the infection and rebuild humanity, they tell you to amass a great amount of ships and have the population of Mt. Olympus move to Crete, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. The player is tasked with visiting various ports and coasts, ship combat against the possessed, and capture of islands. Proposed Mechanics: The possessed have no will of their own, and act as "organized zombies" and operate similar to ants. There is a queen/king possessed that controls other possessed, and there are warrior possessed who are fallen soldiers and still retain some of their fighting skill. The common possessed are civilians, and have no weapons. Likewise, they have no training and are counted as fodder and merely attempt to kill with the use of whatever appendages they have left. Re-playability: Having multiple ways to capture islands/coasts would add to re-playability, as would customization of armor, ships, weapons, and outposts. Once an island was captured, it could be retaken again if enough "possessed ships" were to arrive and fight. The player then would have to manage strategic position of islands and supplies, lest they get overrun with possessed. Another thing to factor in would be dynamic settings. These include Tide, Day/Night system, various environment events (like Cyclones, Tidal Waves, and Earthquakes), and other events that go on independent of your person. In most scavenging games, people like it when events happen independently of them being there, adding to sort of a conscious world that says "I don't really need you, but if you're around, something might happen differently". As you are tasked with gathering ships and visiting coasts in the latter part of the story (if you choose to implement it), I do see that you might not be so "independent" of the world. However, what I propose is that other people are attempting the same, leaders of factions of course. You can choose to help people from Mt. Olympus get to Crete, or you can help the people of Troy or Athens move to colonies in France. Something to think about: Also, if you're going to have a scavenging game, MAKE SURE THERE ARE LOTS OF CHOICES, AND LOTS OF CONSEQUENCES FOR THOSE CHOICES. THE BIGGEST THING I HATE IS TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE EVERY SINGLE QUEST, AND ACQUIRE EVERY TREASURE AS ONE PERSON. THIS BREAKS THE FACT THAT YOUR CHARACTER IS UNIMPORTANT TO THE WORLD, AND ALSO THE FACT THAT YOUR CHARACTER IS LIMITED. That's right. People like limited stories because that usually means there is more of them, and it also means other perspectives as well. If I were to make a scavenging game, I would choose a setting that isn't widely explored, and choose a setting that allows me to be creative and think about my actions. Pro tip: Never has there been a zombie game with ship combat. Also, this is just an example. Don't get butthurt if this thing sucks. Because there should also be food, morale, disease, and fatigue management. Not to mention recources to create things like weapons and upgrades to ships and whatnot. The more realistic and the more original/open, the more I would probably play it.

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silvertight

Sep 17 2012 Anchor

Hey

I just want to make a scavenger game with a semi open city ( something like L4D without driveable cars and huge open world ), the enemies could be zombies, demons, machines, ghosts, anything, its not that important. But i want to ask you guys: What makes a scavenger game good?

You need a story for the game or just sandbox gameplay?
You need an upgradeable safehouse with bed, generator, ammo making bench? Or just simply something to pimp?
You like scavenging for things like supply or fuel to get to a next safehouse, packing up stuff to your car and keep rollin?
Collectibles are cool in a game like that? Old stamps, action figures, anything what you can find in a city.
You like melee or guns more in a game like this?
What difficulty do you want, monsters should be stronger than the player?
Collecting items through the game for a final big fight is a good idea?
Drink, Food and sleep should be the part of the core gameplay?
Coop is a good thing in a game like that?
Why do you play games like this, what's keep you on the track for hours?

Any little info, tip, opinion would be appreciated guys, thanks for helping me with this.

Edited by: silvertight

forte226

Sep 17 2012 Anchor

if you want a good example check out minecraft it has thousands of players that love the game. but if you want my opionion you should have a cool little story, multiple safehouses that are each upgradeable would be a nice addon. haveing to get food to stay alive, and haveing to get painkillers. the monsters should be a challenge to take down, i perfer gam,es witth coop so if you make this please add COOP. also you should add both meel and range weapons

Guiboune

Sep 17 2012 Anchor

one word. replayability
find a way to make the game fun to replay

Icedecknight

Sep 17 2012 Anchor

Ghosts and Demons would be a very cool idea since you rarely see it .. I wouldn't call MineCraft a very good scavenger game unless you want to make it boring and more for casual users. Unless that is your goal then sure go for it. I found that having a lot of items in-game that can be sold for a minor amount of currency is fun but necessary, then sometimes you would find a rare item that can be sold or used for a nice sum of currency. Stalker was a lot of fun since you can kill a bunch of mercenaries grab their guns and sell them all until you can buy a nice piece of armor. As long as you get rewarded well for easy or tough work then it should make it more fun. A huge variety with a complex loot and marketing system will make it a good scavenger game imo.

Henley the sun never sets on the eternally cool

Sep 17 2012 Anchor

How about something hyper realistic? Like this Indiedb.com

--

Icedecknight

Sep 18 2012 Anchor

Henley wrote: How about something hyper realistic? Like this Indiedb.com

That looks sweet! Going to try it out

MCIII

Sep 20 2012 Anchor

Customizable safehouses that have build paths ala Starcraft II's Terran Command Center, so Basic safe house can become fortified battle post or self sustaining haven.

The difference could be that you can select turret positions and create traps like Minecraft.

Maybe an entire zombie survivor game that is based in the dark ages? start with a village and end with a castle with custom moat, archery posts, hot oil dumping stations.

Image a fantasy game where you are the struggling town instead of a wondering hero, your resources can attract heroes to your town for commerce and protection.

Those are some ideas off the top of my head.

Zombiestubble

Sep 20 2012 Anchor

A Dark Ages zed game would be cool.

Example story: But what about one in a Greek Era? The Established Cities have fallen into disarray as hordes of re-animated souls scatter around the countryside, picking off villages, and even city-states. As a (whatever the hell you want to be), you survive by using your cunning and various skills to make your way from Rhodes to the largest stronghold against the infection: Mount Olympus. Once the player gets to Mt. Olympus, the Greeks believe that it is the souls of Hades' army repossessing the bodies of the living. In order to escape the infection and rebuild humanity, they tell you to amass a great amount of ships and have the population of Mt. Olympus move to Crete, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. The player is tasked with visiting various ports and coasts, ship combat against the possessed, and capture of islands.

Proposed Mechanics: The possessed have no will of their own, and act as "organized zombies" and operate similar to ants. There is a queen/king possessed that controls other possessed, and there are warrior possessed who are fallen soldiers and still retain some of their fighting skill. The common possessed are civilians, and have no weapons. Likewise, they have no training and are counted as fodder and merely attempt to kill with the use of whatever appendages they have left.

Re-playability: Having multiple ways to capture islands/coasts would add to re-playability, as would customization of armor, ships, weapons, and outposts. Once an island was captured, it could be retaken again if enough "possessed ships" were to arrive and fight. The player then would have to manage strategic position of islands and supplies, lest they get overrun with possessed. Another thing to factor in would be dynamic settings. These include Tide, Day/Night system, various environment events (like Cyclones, Tidal Waves, and Earthquakes), and other events that go on independent of your person. In most scavenging games, people like it when events happen independently of them being there, adding to sort of a conscious world that says "I don't really need you, but if you're around, something might happen differently". As you are tasked with gathering ships and visiting coasts in the latter part of the story (if you choose to implement it), I do see that you might not be so "independent" of the world. However, what I propose is that other people are attempting the same, leaders of factions of course. You can choose to help people from Mt. Olympus get to Crete, or you can help the people of Troy or Athens move to colonies in France.

Something to think about: Also, if you're going to have a scavenging game, MAKE SURE THERE ARE LOTS OF CHOICES, AND LOTS OF CONSEQUENCES FOR THOSE CHOICES. THE BIGGEST THING I HATE IS TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE EVERY SINGLE QUEST, AND ACQUIRE EVERY TREASURE AS ONE PERSON. THIS BREAKS THE FACT THAT YOUR CHARACTER IS UNIMPORTANT TO THE WORLD, AND ALSO THE FACT THAT YOUR CHARACTER IS LIMITED. That's right. People like limited stories because that usually means there is more of them, and it also means other perspectives as well. If I were to make a scavenging game, I would choose a setting that isn't widely explored, and choose a setting that allows me to be creative and think about my actions.

Pro tip: Never has there been a zombie game with ship combat.

Also, this is just an example. Don't get butthurt if this thing sucks. Because there should also be food, morale, disease, and fatigue management. Not to mention recources to create things like weapons and upgrades to ships and whatnot. The more realistic and the more original/open, the more I would probably play it.