Killzone

[IchI]

Killzone (only a temp name)

Information and Purpose:

The main aim for this mod is to make it tactical in different forms. It will be like a game of chess mixed with blockbuster. It will be mainly a clan match type of game, I really think a game can get a very large user base when its possible for it to be played in competitions and situated in a very competative enviroment. The game will have many little nuances which will be hard to learn and will keep a player amursed into the game. People play games more if they think continued practice will pay off and give them an edge over the opposition. I have played counter-strike for over 3 years for the aformentioned reason and wish to apply this part of the game mechanic into my mod concept (nothing to do with the way cs players at all, its more about the mentality of the game).

Background:

The year is 2020, the World is united under a single goverment that has taken things into its own hands and created the 'Killzone'. This is the league of leagues, people enter the Killzone in teams. These teams have unique names and the objective is to become masters of the Killzone.

Basic setting:

Each match is held in a large arena. This arena is about the size of 2 football fields and has massive crouds cheering and shouting. The enviroment is overwelming and there tends to be dark levels with coloured lighting like a disco, but not as bad or as bright, so not really like a disco. Just not real time lighting. Each map has droids thats fly over the whole map with large screnes on them. They have scripted cameras that show the battle as it takes place. These droids have large amounts of power and are quiet noisy when overhead. They produce a lot of dust and are all run on waypoints. These waypoints are quiet simple and they follow along the same waypoint throughout the whole map

Weapons/Players:

The game work's on a class based system. You choose a class and will be given an oportunity to choose different weapons. These will consist of rifles, pistols, grenades, explosives etc.... Its like your every day class based system but has some more features which I am not saying atm.

Map strucutre:

The map looks like a diamond and is split up into approx 20/30 sections (this depends on how the game goes in play testing) These sections span across the whole map and each are capture points. There are different types of capture points and each is specially placed on the map to bring in tactical elements of gameplay. The strucutre of the whole level gives different types of gameplay constantly. What I mean by this is if your team is not very good at aiming you can take the tactical approach to things or alternatively If your team is gun hoe you can attack the team directly. These will be explained in later concept releases and I don't really want to go into too much depth. Here is an image of what the map structure could look like:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/st4tic/Map_Points.JPG

Captuing points and your objective:

Captured points all work in different ways. Normal capture points can simpley be triggered by running over them and 20 seconds later you will have that point (you do not have to stay at a point for it to be captured , to cancel it a opponent needs to run over the point) other points may requie certain types of classes to take them. When taking points towards your openents team you can use certain tactics to gain massive advantages, these are called flanking manovers and are shown on a picture bellow:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/st4tic/Map_Team1_Offense.JPG

As you can see from the image team 1 have moved down the bottom and team 2 moved along the top. Team 1 flanked team 2 and struck their points. If a player caputres there oppenents capture point they will cancel out the other points ahead of the point they just captured. There will be lock down times etc... on points once caputred to ensure a flow of gameplay and not getting stuck on one line. But these will be explained later.

They are many things I have not go into atm mainly because I have not got them all sorted out. I want to get a team together and get things together before I really start to get into the finer details of my idea. I am still toying with idea's like having the map in Hexagons. There are many bugs in my idea already. But The concept is only in ithe very early stages of development. I will be implomenting new idea's and cementing the main concept as development continues.

--------------------

This is a basic outline of my planand I am looking for 1 concept artists, 1 coder and 1 writer. This writer will not be a story writer but more of a person who understands my idea and my objective and can help me bring new ideas into the mod and help develope it. I am looking for only 3 people and we will be waiting until the SDK comes out before major production of anything. I am a modeller myself and most people have seen my work on these forums. Remember I am the only person on the team so far. I am looking for dedicated individuals who I will have strong communication with and can help develope this idea. If you are intrested contact me on IRC/email/PM/This thread.

Thanks, if you are not wanting to join can you please give me comments on my idea and mod concept. If you have any ideas for me to develope I will gladdly take them on board.

 

[IchI]

Yes, I understand what you mean. But I want 4 people in my team to get a difference of opinions. I want to make a mod that I love as well as the team. I was in another mod and everything had to be made by the leader or director. No one else was aloud to sujest things. I hated this and its not how I think a mod should be made. A mod is made by a team of dedicated people. I think they should have there say and be aloud to sujest ideas and add parts to the game that they want and like. I want the mod to become more of a team effort. We/I will always stay along the lines of what I have set out to do (Very tactical competative game). But I want a couple of people to help sujest ideas and build up things. When the SDK comes out. The mod concept will be ready and we will be ready do go. Without a difference of opinion I could be doing everything wrong.

 

[IchI]

hehehe, this is why I am asking for a writer. I am just terrible at it Also this is why I am asking for a concept artists to show you want I am looking to create. I will try and answer some of your questions:

Large Arenes: These are mainly like this because I liked it from when playing death ball (I think its called that) its basiclly a football first person shotter game for ut2k3.I really thought it added a nice enviroment to be in. It also makes it feal more competative. Its also a bit different than just having your everyday endless image of land.

Droids: The droids, well I got this idea from Terminator. In some of the CGI sequences you will notice large hover planes going over and creating dust and making a load roar. I really think this could add to the game and make it feel more of a competition and also feel like your doing something more than just running around shotting. Things happing all aroudn you create a enviroment thats more real. Basiclly, not everything always has to revolve around you.

Class System: I get what u mean about what I could do with the class system. But I will be honest. I just simpley havn't thought of an original concept for it yet. I need to think of something to mix into the mod. But its hard to actually think of a class system without making it to complex. Thats another of my objectives which I failed to explain. The mod will be initionally very easy to play and understand. But getting into and under the game and its tactical side will be very hard (just like counter-strike)

Map Concept: I have many ideas for map concepts. Some are just basic urban areas but I had more of a dirt and trash enviroment. If you have ever seen a film called 'running man' there is a scene with that electic guy in his little car. He chaces one of the running men in his car is a very dark and secludeded enviroment. I will try and get some pictures of it. But its one of my main ideas for maps atm (I am also a mapper, I forgot to mention, been doing it 4 years)

Offense UnderstandingI mentioned all the lock down times but failed to explain them well because I am still debating if I would actually use them. I need to put my self in a games situation without playing the game. Its very hard to do and think about everything that could possibly happen. I am still thinking of ideas to get around dead locks in the map and also the game been boring. I tryed to mention things but its kinda hard.

Sorry about my bad engish. I had to rush it ebcause I need to get to bed for school in the morning.

 

[IchI]

ye thanks for all this help Pendragon.

Ok, to explain the maps. What I ment by urban areas is basiclly something like a small shanty town. You won't be able to get onto of any of the buildings and most of it takes place at one level.

I want the main type of map I am looking to create kinda looks like this:

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~akaya/terminator.jpg
http://www.beth96.com/images/terminator.jpg

(Look in the backgrounds and not at the machines. Its very hard to find any good images of what I am setting out to have a style of map. But atm thats the only thing I can really find. Sorry)

The class syetm. I like the idea you have. So it involves chess in another way, because only certain classes can make certain moves. I will have to look into that one.

I thought of a way you get your abilitys etc... and different levels of skill in the class based system and I came up with this:

First on, when you join the server you join red or blue. This will then bring up a class based system. These will consist of something like

Commando
Infantry
Medical
Marian

(only temp names I cba tot hink u of original ones atm, its only and example anyway)

After your have choose a class, lets say I choose Medical. A new menu pops upo asking you what type of cambat you would like to use. If the map you are playing on is a night map. Then choose the stelth version of the medic. If you want more of a fighting aproach to a medic then choose the Combat medic. You can also choose another one thats more suited to there ability. Something like the medic can give 100hp with one ration or something like that. So basiclly it goes like this

Red - Medical - Stelth
Red - Medical - Combat
Red - Medical - Ability

if that makes sense?

**** I am late for school. I will finish what I was going to say when I get back soz.

 

[IchI]

ok, lets get back to what I was talking about before. Each class will have different styles. Because theya re different types of gameplay and the game will be able to be played in multiple ways. What I mean by this that the game can be played in a very offensive manor or like a tactical chess game, thinking about what move you will be taking next. Each class has different styles as I have already said. But these styles will be linked to your type of gameplay. There will be stealth offense and defense version of each class. Each of these styles will have a variaty of weaponry and after you choose lets say 'Stealth' as your style. It will bring up a new window showing you the weapons you can choose from.

Here are some ideas I have thought of walst I have been away that could be aditional ideas to imploment into the game concept:

Jumping: Jumping will be like normal jumping, but there will be an extra jump when double tapping jump which is about 3 times larger. You start of slowly, speed up as you go through the air and when you hit the ground you stay still for a small ammount of time. This idea is from ghost in the shell because I really like the way they imploment the jumping and power of a cyborg.

Team Identification: If you have played splinter cell you will notice that you will have lights on you back that can be seen even when you are in the most darest of enviroments. This is so that you do not lose your character in the darkness and is a way of making sure you don't get lost in darkness. I want to imploment this into my gameconcept because I think if will be better because most of the levels will be quiet dark. Its also a way of itentifying uour team m8s even in the darkest of enviroments.

Tracer Bullets: Tracer bullets will be implomented into the game because most of the areas are dark. I really think it helps you understand a battle better if you can tell when supressing fire is been held. This also means that supressing fire can be implomented. Because if you are behind a wall and you see blatently that bullets are been shot in your direction. Then obviasly you will not go out, unless you want to die. I really want to make sure bullets can be seen proberly. I really like the idea of been able to see exactly where people are firing are your team runs over a small bunker hill. If can really add to the enviroment as well as having the sound of bullets just passing you.

Pendragon. I am taking on your idea about letting cetain classes make certain moves on the playing board (map) but it will be very hard to make sure everything is balanced if I do this. We don't want everyone been the same class in a clan match because its easier to finish and win the game this way. I need to make sure that if you can make a long move of make a diagnol move that you have major disadvantages as a player.

 

[IchI]

Pendragon you have totally missed the point where I said I came up with some ideas. These are no way definate ideas I have sujested. I was saying them just to show u what I have come up with so far. You did the correct thing and commented on them like I wanted but I think you might be taking some things the wrong way and thinking that everything I say is defiante.

I also didn't really describe areas very well. First of all its not going to be a realistic enviroment. The enviroment will be specially made and you will be able to tell that its made a certain way for a certain reason. It needs to be influencing the person into knowing they are playing a game. I am kinda doing the opersite to what some agmes try to achieve. When you play world war games they want you to be on your feet and think you are really in world war 2. I want to do the same but in a totally different enviroment. I want the person to know theya re inside a game and playing a game just like you would play scrable of chess. Along with this enviroment I have many many things to back this up. Along with the main factor of gameplay been very tactical and chess like. My main ideas is not jsut to have a chess game. Well. This is quiet hard to explain (new paragraph )

Right. When you play then game I want people to play the game tactically. But I want to give people different choices in how they play the game. Because I think 1 playing style can get very boring. e.g. quake3 DM = kill your enemy I find this very boring and its not a very long lasting game at all unless you are very very dedicated. I want to make something more complex and very very flexable. I do not in any way want to create a enviroment of total gun hoe action. The game will be kinda wird. They will be times of thinking and tactical advancing then a big battle. Then this will go back to how it was people make there moves and it comes back to fighting again. Its exactly like a chess game. You line up your peiaces and strick.

Beta test... Basiclly. I knew straight away the game would have to be very heavily beta tested. I have a plan for this for both situations. I know this is very early to say. But basiclly I am going to ask some semi leading counter-strike, rtcw, call of duty etc... I am also going to get clan situations going with these people to really push the games dynamics. They will obviasly be public play testing as well. If it was very very hard to balance between the both we could always resort to having to different version of settings. Its kinda like in TFC. I played TFC in bwtfcl division 1 for over 1 year. When you play medic you attack your oppenent. If you wans going into somone base you would expect other attacking players on the other team to shot you. But they don't... You just run past each other. In the long run its just not how the game works. But on public you would never see this type of gameplay. This is only an example of how things could go if the game was not very balanced.



Can I please get another person opinion on things... it would add to the conversation and help me out a lot. Its actually quiet fun as well

 

[IchI]

ow I also forgot to add. I had another idea

High Beam: What I mean by high beams is the map has large sprite beams that are shot up into the sky. Its basiclly a big beam of light (light waypoints on planetside) these are at all points and you can use them as a quick refrnece without having to look at your map. Also they join up in the sky and form a very large grid.

 

[Majestic XII]

Pendragon, you're great, i think its great how you help everyone with their mods, keep it up.
Second, massive respect to Majestic XII for reading the whole thread in the middle of the night (and still write a reply).

To the mod itself:

About the Droids. You can make the droids show a screen with the whole area from a birds eye view, so you can plan the match better and have a good overview over the area.

I like the idea Penny had:

"Offense class can capture nodes vertically/horizontally (maybe add in some sort of point scoring . . .?), Wing players can capture diagonally, Defense players can pull some sort of special ability"

I like to keep it simple with few classes but each class have a special place in the mod. You need a good team that is good in every class to succsed.

umm.. yeah... and listen to money penny, he got some good ideas (as always). This sounds like a very original (omg, thats something new in the hl2 mod scene!) mod, keep it that way and i might help you on the way

I dont dhash a any ytihjg to add now.... i need ot dsheleep.. cant keepe meh eyes opene...

/me falls on keyboard

 

[hokai]

I like the idea behind the whole thing, like a kind of "arena of death" type thing...(?)
I can see how this would incorporate online play, however, maybe not tactics as such - seems to suggest more of a "kill everything that moves" technique. Capture the flag and (team) deathmatch would fit almost perfectly into this. If the maps were more "strategic", maybe a greater use of team tactics could be employed. The mission goals could also be more complicated, so forcing players to think before they shoot, lol.

As for the weapons, will it be a purchase system, like in CS? Or just select the appropriate tool for the killin' and away you go ?
IMO the purchase system is FAR better :thumbs:, as it gets players to work towards goals, etc, increasing the gameplay factor.


As for the vacancies, i'll PM you.

 

[IchI]

I like the idea behind the whole thing, like a kind of "arena of death" type thing...(?)
I can see how this would incorporate online play, however, maybe not tactics as such - seems to suggest more of a "kill everything that moves" technique. Capture the flag and (team) deathmatch would fit almost perfectly into this. If the maps were more "strategic", maybe a greater use of team tactics could be employed. The mission goals could also be more complicated, so forcing players to think before they shoot, lol.

As for the weapons, will it be a purchase system, like in CS? Or just select the appropriate tool for the killin' and away you go ?
IMO the purchase system is FAR better :thumbs:, as it gets players to work towards goals, etc, increasing the gameplay factor.


As for the vacancies, i'll PM you.

no offnese, but did u take in anything that has just been said LOL! you are saying like the complete opersite from what the game is suposed to be setting out to do.

Infact, did you even read anything that I have wrote?

It anoys me when people don't read a full thread and then try comment on it

O well, nm. Thanks for your opinion anyway.

 

[hokai]

no offnese, but did u take in anything that has just been said LOL! you are saying like the complete opersite from what the game is suposed to be setting out to do.

Infact, did you even read anything that I have wrote?

It anoys me when people don't read a full thread and then try comment on it

O well, nm. Thanks for your opinion anyway.

Sorry, I read what you wrote and I appreciate your ideas. I was just trying to get you to view things from diff perspectives, etc. Sorry if I offended you in any way.

 

[IchI]

sorry hokai and sorry Pendragon, I have come across a bit strong on my last posts. Gee I dunno whats wrong with me lol. I blame Majestic.

/me starts to write his comments on the other posts, maybe will do it tomorrow because he is very very tired.

 

[hokai]

Never mind lol, forget it Maybe I could have structured my post a lil better so that there was less offence thrown your way lol.

 

[IchI]

I will try to 'elaberate' this situation a bit better. Buts its really hard for me tog et people to understand me lol. Okies anyway here I go.

Feel and enviroment: When you play the game a very large factor will be how the game feels when you play it. I am planning to have a different settings to most games (very much like the ut setting) I want to make a game feel like a game basiclly. When you play a war game its a game but the designers want you to feel like your actually in a war. What I want to do is make a game that feels like a game. Because my game has massive influence from small board games and other small games like blockbuster mixed into a very competative enviroment. To make the player feel better and actually become imersed into the game I plan on adding small things into the game to make it feel and play better, this is a list of things I have come up with so far:

1. Unrealistic enviroments and straight away you can tell they are tactically strucutred and layed out in this way because its needed and makes the game play better

2. A large arena with crowds of people

3. Score boards around the map just like a football game

4. Sector signs showing you the time until a point is caputred (basiclly each point will have a clock some where, depending on what is happening this will have times to make sure people know how long they have to cancel points etc...

I will write a small section on different perpectives of the game/battle when playing tomorrow when I get back from work.

 

[IchI]

Can you add your responses to the rest of my comments?

urrrr... can u say them again... because I can't seem to find your other questions, heheheh.

 

[IchI]

hmmm, I supose I could try writing it my self. But it would be much better in quality if I could get a writer I can't stand me writing because people never can underrstand what I am talking about hehehe, give it a bit of time and if I can't find a writer I will do it my self. I am not really in any rush. So might as well just wait.

Ow and about some new ideas and concepts. I havn't had much time latly, not even to model. I also just got 3 new games. So kinda ddicted to them atm. hehehehe. I have a free day tomorrow and much of the rest of today. So I will see what I can come up with.

 

[IchI]

I can write it if you'd like, or at least pass on a template (created by Chris Taylor) for design docs. Which games? I need a good new addiction. (Looking at Silent Storm)

hmmm a template would help very much so. Also, if you are offering your services as a writer it would be wicked. But it depends really. Because if its only a tempory position then there wouldn't be much point. Because I would need to get a new writer and start all over again. Because I think the 2 types of writing could colid. I am not a writer so don't know really. I would definatly be intrested though.

Ow I just remembered an idea I had. Ok, I might as well say it now. This idea is kinda very off topic from my actual mod concept. But its only an idea. Here I go:

Okies, when you are playing they will be advantages and disadvantages depending on which way you go. But having different caputre points alone will not be enough. It will always end up in random directions. So I came up with quiet a wild idea to cure this. Imagen having 1 section on the map with a caputre point. But this caputre point has a NPC enemy there. The idea I have atm would proberly be something like a big alien animal kinda thing chaned up. Make this even brutally stong but still will be killable. Try to give the other plays a really really bad disadvanage against this enemy and force them to go in certain sections and add a difference in flow. If the enym is killed the team will have a massive reward and normally this reward happens to be something like a larger section (about 4 sectors big) with health, amunition and also a spawn point. If you wondering where I got this idea from its from the old style of the collasium and also futuristic films with cage wars again large beasts. These are the atributes I think it could add to the game:

1. A sense of deficulty even if your even is not very good
2. Coop sense and style of gamplay.
3. A different veriety of enemys making the game more intresting
4. adding team work into the captuing of a point (explained bellow)

What I mean by this is something like. When a person shots at the eny the enemy is drawn to his direction. At the same time there could be a mechanical device that needs fixing, something like a large lift that the monster is siutated on. Walst your team m8 draws the enym towards you. Then you team m8s fix the lift and push the monster underground. The doors close and the game conitues and the team can now caputure this point.

^^^ this is only a dodge idea I came up with. I don't really know if it would tie in with the actual gameplay of the game. Maybe just have them as an addition map feature in beta testing.

These are some of the enemys I came up with:

Stalkers: They hide in the shadows and have knifes as fingers (like edward sisior hands) they jump out kill and return to the darkness

Beast: A large abomination with chains about 10 feet high.

MUST READ: These are only very very strange ideas I came up with. I need some heavy opinions of bandwidth troubles and also the actual capabilitys of it. Try to be very realistic with the idea. Because I really do have doughts if it could ever work.

 

[IchI]

Chris Taylor Design Document Template (Word Doc, Direct Link)
I can write up a design doc for you if you want, but the role of a writer in a multiplayer mod is mostly just as a secretary--I'd pretty much just be transcribing your ideas in a more readable, coherent format. It's up to you, I guess. Feel free to email/message me.

As to the beast-in-the-middle idea, I definitely like that, it's very cool as an idea, but I don't think it fits well with the feel of the mod. I think you could accomplish a similarly cool feeling in a different way though. How about an environmentally centered hazard? Adding elements like that to some of the maps would definitely help to alleviate the potential for repetitiveness.

Ye I supose it would help me out a lot and I really apreshiate all the help you are giving me. Without you my idea would not have developed at and you will definatly go in the VERY VERY VERY SPECIAL THANKS section to my mod

Do you use IRC? If so connect to quakenet and go to #halflife2 this is the hl2.net community IRC chat room. I could contact you there. If not, just contact me on MSN ([email protected]) and we can talk more about what will be happening and I will take you up on your offer for u to form a strucutre to all the ideas I have so far.

Thanks again

Okies back to the monsters thingy. I like your idea about having traps and interactive enviroments. Kinda like Indiana Jones (totally crap example) But I was thinking. Maybe these monsters could be replaced with something a bit more sutible. Like sentury guns? Have very small buildings (these will proberly play the part of a spawn point) which could add a different kind of enviroment to the map. Because quiet a lot of it will be open (not very open, but more open that a coridor) this coridor section even though very small could add that little bit more to each scenario. It would also give people a better chance to use close range weapons. Remember these builds would only be very very small. They would proberly be about as big as your average 2 bedroom house or something (not strucutred the same, just the size)

What u think?

 

[IchI]

hmmm..... I don't really like the idea of a none violant game. But I like the idea of a very very fast bassed Capturing game. I am thinking if it would be possible to have 2 game types. Since most games have DM TDM and normally another. Why not just have the 1st and the concept you just sujested but with some changes to it. First of all, none lethal weapons. I don't like this idea because I really think using your fists in a first person shotter is very boring. I think it should be implomented with the old class based system and weaponry but at the same time have the fast and touchable points and have no restrictions on which way people can go. Because the other game type can only have the points going in one direction but this concept u just sujested could have people going in any direction they like. I like the whole idea. But stillw ant to keep the other idea we had before as I think it will play as the major concept. But the idea you just sujested could be added as a different style. Kinda like ut2k4 has that capture nodes and also has assault. What ya think?

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Hey Ichi! I can do some concepts, if you still need them.

I do see that there will be robots and monsters and I enjoy drawing them very much.

Here's a few samples...

 

[IchI]

Hey Ichi! I can do some concepts, if you still need them.

I do see that there will be robots and monsters and I enjoy drawing them very much.

Here's a few samples...

hmmm..... I am actually writing a concept atm and even though I asked for one in the early stages its still a bit to early. I decided to change the way I do things and now I am doing all the writing on peper by my self. Well most of the strucutre. Because atm, this is just a big thread with loads of random ideas. I am bringing it together. You are an alright concept artist. I might contact you later on. Thanks for the offer.