40 replies to this topic

[Daddio]

I like to watch these wilderness survival shows, and an idea popped into my head that it would be a fun concept for a sandbox game.

If you could have randomly generated terrain, then the player would interact to try to build fire and shelter, find food, etc.

What do you guys think? (I'm working on another game...or 2...right now, but I thought I'd float this idea out there.)

[theepicgeno]

Sounds like Minecraft, but I can see Ho you could make it different.

Like drowsyness, and dehydration. But what really matters is if its 3d or 2d. 3d would make it more realistic, but harder to work on. 2d would make it less realistic (unless you have good sprites), but it would take shorter to make.

Good idea. It also sounds like hunger games.

[Jack Indie Box]

wilderness survival has been quite a bit before. but if you came up with an original idea on top of it then it would be good. also it doesnt matter if its not new if your just doing it for fun

[Daddio]

True enough!

I am thinking that a 3/4 view top-down would be workable and easier to create. Make sure that all resource tiles go onto a 32x32 grid for ease of development. I feel pretty confident about being able to create sprites, program movement, harvesting resources, constructing, etc. but I'd probably want to find coding help.

I'm working on another game right now (eager to show that one off soon!) but I am thinking about what to make next.

Anyhoo.

[Jack Indie Box]

"3/4 view top-down"? what do you mean. do you mean not quite topdown (isometric or parrel or parralax)

well if you need any coding just pm me, im not working on a specific project atm and have over 10year exp

[theepicgeno]

"3/4 view top-down"? what do you mean. do you mean not quite topdown (isometric or parrel or parralax)

well if you need any coding just pm me, im not working on a specific project atm and have over 10year exp

If you had over 10 of experience, you should have known what 3/4 top down is (isometric). No to be mean or anything.

[theepicgeno]

I got a little to excited when I was hitting the reply button...

Edited by theepicgeno, 09 May 2012 - 07:54 PM.

[Jack Indie Box]

i was assuming they didn't know the name... if you look inside the brackets i wrote the options out. and 3/4 is not an official name for it so people will you it incorrectly. 3/4 doesnt really represent isometric in a logical way

and 10 years exp doesnt mean you have 10 years of "slang" with it.

[theepicgeno]

i was assuming they didn't know the name... if you look inside the brackets i wrote the options out. and 3/4 is not an official name for it so people will you it incorrectly. 3/4 doesnt really represent isometric in a logical way

and 10 years exp doesnt mean you have 10 years of "slang" with it.

ahh, ok.

[Daddio]

YES, you are absolutely correct. Isometric is the correct term.

Fake 3D

Sounds fun! I need to bust out some work on my current project, but I may start doing some sketches. I'm working with my friend Fluidic Ice on a project, doing story and level design, he's fixing my crappy coding and making things work better.

[Daddio]

So, here's something neat. Doesn't this game have a terrific look? Really rocking the iso thing.

[Jack Indie Box]

yes but its either realtime 3d rendering or pre-rendered from 3d to a flat image

but you could achieve that, if you either had the pre-rendered art or got it made in 3d and rendered each object at the right angle

[Daddio]

Can't speak for them, but if I were doing it, I'd pre-render 3D to flat isometric...or just draw stuff instead.

[theepicgeno]

yes but its either realtime 3d rendering or pre-rendered from 3d to a flat image

but you could achieve that, if you either had the pre-rendered art or got it made in 3d and rendered each object at the right angle

O.O I guess I can't help with this, haha. I have no idea how to use 3d, haha

Well... I can give ideas! Make it somewhat different from the shows. Make it long and sandboxy, but still have an end. Almost like Sims 2: Castaway. Only a few ideas, but I think that they will help

[Markonicus]

I like the idea, always liked those games that throw you in the world and you have to start building yourself up slowly in order to survive and I don't actually know many such games. If someone does please feel free to suggest them, 2D or 3D doesn't matter.

The first thing that comes to mind here is Robinson Crusoe, hope you've read the book, if not, don't waste a minute of your life and go and read it.
So the player wakes up at the beach, doesn't have anything on him and all he can see is some wreckage from a ship/plane that crashed there and left him the only survivor. And then he starts small, let's say he can build a fire and a small tent from the wreckage, and after that he can find a knife to clean a way leading into the forest, after that the player is set to free roam, hunting animals and gathering fruits for food, suffering disease in rainy weather or if he eats bad food etc..

With nice graphics it could be a hit, isometric view would be great. And you'd have health bar, hunger bar etc.. somewhere neatly placed so it doesn't obscure the view and break the immersion. And as for the rest of the story, well the big goal could be finding parts needed to build a boat or something to get away from the island. But while player is at the main quest he has to take care of ''little'' things like getting food and staying healthy so he can't just run around for five minutes, collect the parts and watch the end game credits.

I'd have some more detailed ideas, but this is the overall story and mechanic I'd be happy to play as a gamer.

[Yal]

I've seen a let's play of a similar game called "Survival Kids" which was for the GameBoy. Think a Pokémon game with no gameplay, or a Zelda game with no monsters. You might want to look that up for inspiration (in particular to find things NOT to do with your game... Survival Kids, in particular when Let's Played by those guys, seemed more like a "Don't try this at home!" game than a piece of edutainment).

[chance]

the player would interact to try to build fire and shelter, find food, etc.

Do I get to wear a loincloth? I'd look good in a loincloth.

j/k it sounds fun. But just having the survival-aspect alone, might not be enough. Have you considered adding a touch of mystery? Maybe the character can find a secret cave with artifacts of another survivor (or one who didn't survive).

Or maybe have another person/tribe there... but you never see them. They just leave things for you, or steal things from your camp when you're not there. So you must decide what to hide and/or carry with you. This could add an element of strategy.

[masterofhisowndomain]

Have you considered adding a touch of mystery? Maybe the character can find a secret cave with artifacts of another survivor (or one who didn't survive).

Oh no... treading into Lost territory... POLAR BEARS!

But honestly, something more interesting than "lone survivor" against the world would be a "Lord of the Flies" setup. Either giving the player control over a team of emotional, potentially dangerous survivors, or letting them control only one person amongst those survivors.

I mean, controlling a whole bunch of people and having to manage their needs etc. while they fend for survival is more "Sims: Castaway" (so I believe...), but controlling only one person who has to personally react and try to manage other people hasn't been done (again, so I believe...).

Edited by masterofhisowndomain, 10 May 2012 - 07:13 PM.

[Daddio]

Well gee...I did not expect this to generate so much interest so quickly, but that's grand!

I have been fiddling with it, going with a winter theme, created some painted trees and character. Today I worked with getting the room to randomize itself. That's an interesting concept I haven't tried before.

So far as graphical look, I am feeling good about painting things, I CAN make stuff in 3D if I need to, but it's harder.

Surviving against nature and working your way up to finally being rescued or escape is what I was thinking. But the ideas of an island or location to escape is good. A back-story is interesting too, though I hope it's "sandboxy" enough that it's a different game every time.

Definitely player stats in an unobtrusive bar. I think I'll need help with coding.

I'll pop back in laters!

[Yal]

I really like the idea with the player getting lost on an arctic island rather than in the Caribbean, it's not been done before. Plus, the player has a chore-for-survival: collecting firewood to keep warm enough to not freeze to death. Obviously, as you stay in one place and build up a camp, you'll run short of firewood. So the player will run into trouble if they fortificate themselves too well because they run out of the most vital survival resource. On the other hand, if they run around all the time to get to fresh wood areas, they'll be more vulnerable and lose all the advantages a shelter provides.