Ideas For Games That Will Never Get Made

Like many of you, I also play those dern vidya games. I have a fondness for Tower Defense style games, but I am tired of the lack of innovation. Every game features an endless line of creepsm the same towers, and varying degrees of polish. They're essentially the same, much like platformers in the early 90s (also like 90s platformers, there's an awful lot of tie-ins).

So here is what I think is the core challenge: To preserve the familiarity of tower defense games but to introduce new mechanics to challenge the player.

My first thought was to change the creeps or the towers themselves, but after a bit of time I abandoned this thought experiment as it's not in line with the first half of my goal (to preserve the familiar). Therefore, we need the six basic towers I see in every game:

• The cheap, medium-damage and fire rate tower (starter tower)
• The fast but weak tower (machine gun)
• The slow, long range tower (usually a sniper or mortar; optional splash damage)
• The tower that slows down the bad guys
• The tower that poisons or burns the bad guys (Damage over time)
• The tower that does splash damage

Some games change up the creeps - the Protector series does an excellent job of this, with various creeps immune to/made stronger by/vulnerable to various types of damage. I think this is a good step towards our goal.

And then my mind turned towards the economy of TD games: Kill an enemy, get money/credits/energy. This is the only thing I have never seen changed.

Well, let's do something about that.

I envision a game where you play the role of an independent contractor charged with the static defense of a space colony. You have numerous contracts with various weapons companies, all of which specialize in turret defense. As one of their top customers, and due to the media attention your company is receiving, your successes and failures have a direct impact on the stock market value of these turret defense companies. Therefore, your primary means of income is not killing enemies but trading stock.

Killing an enemy with a turret made by Altair Industries, which specializes in ballistic weapons (the Rifle, the Machine Gun and Shotgun Turrets) drives their stock value up, while having a negative effect on Betelgeuse LLC (specializing in self-propelled explosives such as missile strikes, mortars, and rocket mines) as the two are in direct competition. Driving a stock price too low may result in BLLC sending mercenaries to the colony to discredit Altair Industries technology.

Other companies include CanDo Construction, whose upgrades allow you to alter the path the creeps use (through barricades, carving new roadways, moats, and other innovations), and Delta Management Solutions (whose "turrets" actually just boost the functions of other nearby turrets - a Media Team increases the stock value of successful kills, especially bosses, while Motivational Speakers might lessen the effects of failure and drive the fire rate up).

Pausing the game allows you to engage in stock trading, while randomized global events keep you on your toes - like the real market, a canny investory can cope with almost any events. Special cards are collected by completing side missions and destroying bosses, and these trump cards allow you to turn events to your favor.

Because every game now needs to have friggin' multiplayer, 4 person matches allow a dynamic market while defending separate maps. An additional sandbox mode allows players to blast away at creeps with your investors supplying money for you but only in between waves - so the resource management aspect stays at the forefront.

By combining economic strategy with tower defense, I hope to create an innovative, engaging experience without branching too far away from what the modern games is familiar with.

Zombie Centric

I can't talk much about it, but I have a project in the works.

On a related note, what are your favorite zombie-related materials?

Night of the Living Dead (1968): I saw this movie when I was 10. Needless to say, a baseball bat stayed under my bed for the next ten years. This is the movie that started it all: The genre, Romero's career, and eventually this very list.

Dawn of the Dead (1978): Dawn is a good example of a filmmaker's evolution. A successful sequel, free from the characters of the previous movie but displaying a natural evolution of the events portrayed. Materialism, militarism, and the failure of the government - themes that Romero will use throughout his career - contribute to the breakdown of society in a huge way for the first time in this movie.

Return of the Living Dead (1985): Look, this movie is fun. I like it. That's about it.

Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore) (1994): I don't know why I like this one either. It's an existential-romance-horror-porn-comedy with zombies. I suppose I've never seen sex, violence, and death linked together the way this movie does, and I haven't seen any other movie with the thesis that we bear no responsibility for our actions.

28 Days Later (2002): The first zombie movie I saw that didn't actually involve the living dead. It inspired the "fast zombies" trend of the Aughts, and inspired me thinking about how the modern political atmosphere could be used to make movies.

The Zombie Survival Guide (2003): Finally, some nerd sat down and wrote it all out for us. Every angle of surviving the apocalypse has been carefully thought out and documented in this groundbreaking work. If only it were a bit more quoteable.

Dawn of the Dead (2004): This movie has no redeeming societal values. It is gory as shit and fun to watch. As a double bonus, it got me interested in Johnny Cash.

Dead End Days (2004): An internet serial that tackles the worth of advertising, big business, and viral marketing in our society. It's also very funny.

Shawn of the Dead (2004): Without a doubt, my favorite zombie movie. It runs the gamut from being hilarious to to gory to heartrending then back again in a trim 99 minutes. Along the way, it manages to hit on just about every trope in the genre while still taking itself seriously.

Land of the Dead (2005): This was (until Diary of the Dead came out) the weakest of the Romero series. However, I found elements of it intriguing, and I've watched it as research material. The most interesting aspect of this movie, to me, was the scavenging gang - maybe I read too much into it, but I saw those guys as what happened to the bikers in Dawn once someone organized them. The freebirds sold out.

World War Z (2006): This is to books what Dawn was to movies: Thinly disguised biting social commentary. It shows how human nature contributes to the apocalypse more than the zombies ever could.

Left 4 Dead (2008): L4D showed that zombie games could be fun, tense, and mainstream. I also appreciate its cooperative gameplay.

Pontypool (2008): Without a doubt, this is the most terrifying zombie movie I have ever seen. Every zombie movie depends on tension to make it work. Tension comes from incomplete information - and this is the only movie I have ever seen where I never knew more than the characters did. What happens when the virus isn't in the blood, or in food, or spread by the rat-monkey...but the English language? What happens when you only see the outbreak through the eyes of a talk radio jock, instead of at street level, hearing the confused reports of survivors...and the more confused reports from the infected themselves.

Zombieland (2009): Okay this movie is just fun, and it has some of the most innovative zombie kills I've ever seen.

Tell me about yours!

Kitchen Sink: The Setting

I had an idea to create the most Savage setting I could recently. I've got a rough concept going on, so here are some of the notes I made:

• I don't want PCs that move between multiple universes, because I want to create a single setting people can exist in. Easier that way.
  
• There will be zombies.
• Strong pulp elements.
• I want everything in the core rules to be represented, from the much-maligned Superpowers AB to the powered armor. This means we need a mix of fantasy, World War II era technology, and future sci-fi.
• Strong weird elements (should be obvious by now).
• Enough horror that the Guts skill is necessary.
• Should take place on Earth...but not necessarily in real cities. We might see a guest appearance from Arkham, for instance. Maybe "Paragon City" fills in for New York while "Lakeside" fills in for Chicago.
  
• Should have clear-cut heroes and villains. Any anti-heroes or persons in a morally gray area exist to either redeem themselves and become heroes or slide down the slippery slope to villainy.

So here's what I'm thinking:
In the war-torn land of Avalon, a desperate King Arturian III orders his most skilled sorcerers to cast out the plague that has infected the dead of his land...but something goes horribly wrong. The disease was more invasive than anyone realized and had infected the whole of the land, not simply the bloodthirsty zombies that roamed about. The world shifted, becoming whole again only at the most convenient point...a realm known as the Waygate...or to its inhabitants, Earth.

For millenia, Earth had been the nexus of thousands of multiverses. The Waygate lay at the center of a thousand universes, each stranger than the last. Earth's convenience made it a prison for pandimensional alien gods, a visiting point for sorcerers and mystics, a battleground for the forces of Heaven and Hell, and imbued many of its artifacts with a fraction of power. The Waygate suddenly found itself merged with a strange parallel universe.

The change was instant: Wherever the Mists of Avalon spread, the dead would rise and otherworldly creatures would emerge - the elves, dwarves, and other creatures of myth. After only a few months of such things, tales spread of another wave of visitors, these from the stars above...these "starmen" wield strange technology and vast knowledge. Little is known of their agenda, save that the Starmen are sworn to exterminate the undead scourge.

Meanwhile, rumors abound that the Nazi party in Germany is beginning to learn how to harness the power of the Mist. Can the heroes stop them, before the Waygate is torn apart?

Elf, human, dwarf, orc, halfling, and starman must take up arms against zombies, gangsters, survivors, the KKK, and Nazis in this two-fisted, pulp-splatterpunk, free-for-all. If it's an RPG trope, it's included.

Modern Setting Thoughts: Resources

I've been thinking about how to handle resources in Eight Kingdoms, and in modern games in general. So while that pot of coffee brews, let's talk.

In general, I think individual dollar amounts are too difficult to track in a modern game. It is one of those cases where our collective suspension of disbelief cracks, I think, and hell if I want to assign a monetary value to everything worth anything in modern society. I think World of Darkness and d20 Modern has the right idea in treating your wealth as a statistic; the problem is applying that idea to the way Savage Worlds handles dice - it's a wonderful abstraction for cinematic combat, where a lucky punch can fell a giant, but as a grad student I can't possibly roll my d4 Wealth die buy myself a flak jacket and a nice car. It's just not going to happen.

So I am looking at treating Wealth like a derived statistic: If your wealth (which I am going to call Resources, because it can represent online bargain-hunting, credit, permits, and calling in favors) is higher than the object in question, you can afford it. If your wealth is equal to the object, you can, but it's going to cost you some Resources temporarily - buying that battle-ready greataxe is good for the hunt, but it sure set you back. If the object requires more Resources than you have, then you can't afford it.

Wealth is ranked, arbitrarily, 1 to 12, with 1 meaning no income or place to live (or it could mean you're in high school and everything you own belongs to your parents) and 12 being an independently wealthy millionaire who doesn't really have to do anything. Most office jobs probably merit a Resource of 5-6.

I like this so much that I also want to use it to create Contacts. I talked about contacts earlier - they're how you track your sanity. Contacts are rated on the same scale, with 1 being an unfriendly environment and 12 indicating that at least one person in the environment would die to protect you.

Each Contact is a single NPC that represents a group of people (usually). A Contact is a group that can assist you in some way. Example contacts include Coworkers (represented by your buddy Terry), the Regular Gaming Group (represented by your GM Arny), your Family (represented by your wife Jessica), and the Police (Uncle Dave, who just made Detective). The other PCs don't count as contacts, and each Contact is be tracked independently.

As stated, each Contact is rated 1-12, and using them is penalized the lower the number is. Say you get pulled over for speeding, which is fine, but you don't want the officer to see you have an arrow in your leg, and you REALLY don't want him to see what you've got tied up in the trunk. Good thing you're Uncle Dave's favorite nephew (Contacts 8), so all it takes is one name dropped and you're off with a warning. If you had Contacts 1 for the Police, it might take some quick thinking (Persuasion -4) in addition to the name dropping.

Resources and Contacts are interchangeable, to a point. I am playing with the idea that you can lower one to raise the other, temporarily, but doing that puts a strain on either your friendships or your finances.

Now, to make things more interesting: You have a finite number of points at character creation to allot to both Contacts and Resources. Now, it sure SEEMS like a great idea to put a lot of points in Resources and just be a trust funded orphan without any friends. Unfortunately, doing so penalizes all your interactions with other people because you don't have social skills. I think it will probably also have an effect on your character's Channeling abilities, because if you have the mental block that you don't need other people, well then, you sure don't need fictional people from another reality (and one wonders how this character would have gotten into gaming anyway).

I haven't worked out the details exactly, of course, but I'm happy with the idea of it, and I'm always accepting thoughts.

Generation Gap

Alright, so I had so much fun doing the last Generation Gap that I'm doing another one.

This time, we've got a lady Dwarf, who I see is Arcane Resistant. I'll go ahead and call her Dana. A raven haired lass with pale blue eyes, a bit on the smallish side, Dana looks a bit more like a halfling than a dwarf. Dana's into her adult years, not quite middle aged, pushing sixty.

Dana was born to a pair of entertainers – her father was a musician and poet, while mom was a gymnast and dancer. Dana lives in a small logging village, growing up among humans, dwarves, and one or two elves. The family has been part of the community for quite a while, moving there over 400 years ago to meet with some distant relatives. Dad's not doing too well these days, health-wise, unlike Mom, whose lifestyle keeps her active. At least Dad never had a nervous breakdown every time Dana left the house for a few hours – with a mother that protective, it's no wonder Dana is used to getting her way (leaving her with a Charisma penalty).

Dana is the middle of a big family five siblings. Her youngest sister, Mara, is also sick, which is putting a drain on the family's finances, while the next oldest, her sister Hannah, is in and out of prison for bar brawls. Her brother Kristoff, two years younger than Dana, is doing just fine, while Dana's older brother was kidnapped by slavers when Dana was very young – and Dana's oldest sister was actually sold into slavery by the State as punishment for a crime she committed before Dana was born. No wonder Mommy cottoned to her so much. Dana is now the oldest kid in the house, with one languishing, one in prison, and two children in fucking slavery. Luckily, Kristoff and Dana are close, which is great, because Hannah doesn't speak to her and Mara has actually tried to kill her once.

Between profession of her parents, having a younger brother who looked out for her, a younger sister who has spent most of her life in prison, and a youngest sister who would rather she was dead, Dana always looks for a way out of a conflict before resorting to violence. Her grandfather, an old cleric, was pleased by this outlook and promised her fortune and glory if she followed her heart, an idea Dana has held onto – because it's better than being sold into fucking slavery. Dana spent a lot of time running from her problems by climbing trees, easy to find where she grew up, which helped her avoid some of her family's chronic health problems and probably contributed to Mara's hatred of her.

As Dana started to become a young woman, she took up archery with the elves in the area, who taught her a few woodland survival tricks as well. A knight passing through the area must have seen some spirit and talent in young Mara, and she was offered the chance to become his squire. Something about his words resonated with the young Dwarven woman, who must have decided that sounded better than being sold into slavery/being kidnapped into slavery/spending time in prison waiting to be sold into slavery, and what the heck, might give her the chance to find her brother and sister – and get away from her murderous sister. With a tearful farewell to Kristoff and her mother, Dana set forth.

At this point I can either just accept the Knight career, or I can roll randomly. Being as the Knight skill package is pretty sweet, I take that. Plus, skimming the table, I see there's a small chance I can actually drag my family out of financial burden and maybe protect myself from Mara.

Dana swore an oath to defend the weak and helpless, and right out of the gateset out on an epic quest to earn her spurs (and three free skill dice) – Ol' Grampa Dwarfington was right, she was set for a long and glorious career. In the course of things, Dana's order found itself trying to end a raging war, and Dana wound up on the frontlines more than once – she honed her fighting skills, but lost an arm and wound up behind enemy lines as a prisoner of war – an unpleasant experience for anyone, but more than usual for Dana. However, prison only strengthened her resolve to survive, and she carried out her term with quiet dignity.

Eventually, her order ransomed her and presented her with a small gift – an enchanted longsword, a gift usually granted to Knights with ten more years of experience (at this point, I pull out the Fantasy Gear Toolkit and roll up a pretty sweet +2 damage bonus). Dana has recently been told by her (somewhat embarrassed) superiors to wander the earth doing good until they have need of her, a promise she is happy to oblige.

Dana

Ag d8

Sm d4

Sp d8

St d10

Vg d8

Climbing d6

Fighting d10

Guts d6

Intimidation d6

Riding d6

Shooting d4

Survival d6

Pace 5

Parry 8

Toughness 7(1)

Charisma -1

Heroic

One Arm

Pacifist (minor)

Vengeful (minor)

Arcane Resistance

Block

Gear : $100, Kristoff (Magic Longsword, d10+d8+2), leather armor, steel helmet

Character thoughts: Dana is actually a pretty sweet character – a one armed warrior dwarf-knight-lady who fights like a bitch from hell. I can see room for this character to develop, and as a GM, there's plenty of story hooks in this her. As far as negatives go, Dana is going to have a hard time getting started with her lack of wherewithal, and that Pacifist Hindrance is really going to be a problem until she gets some Persuasion or ups her Intimidation.

Edit: Uh, no Notice die, I see.

CITIZENS: The DnD room

This man has built himself a DnD room, and I hate him. And yes, I am jealous.

State of the Game 2009

Fellow gamers, let us review the State of the Game here at These Dice Look Funny.

Actual (or Virtual) Dice Rolling:
In 2009, I ran only two games - a solo session for a couple friends in early January, and three games in the Necropolis universe for coworkers during the summer. I played in a Dungeons and Dragons game over webcam, and am currently involved in a PBP Gamma World game on Google Wave. Friends, this is a woeful state to be in - this hobby cannot exist in a vacuum. I need to play more shit, dammit.

Professional Writing:
In 2009, I wrote one full length adventure (currently in editing) and was contracted for a splatbook with adventure included, currently sitting around 12 pages (approximately 1/3 done). I also wrote two one-shot adventures. I gladly celebrate these opportunities - they mean my hobby is finally paying off, and I find the actual writing is a wonderful leisure activity.

Amateur Writing:
Short of a few new ideas (the Metagame) and some articles on this site, 2009 was not a good year for my non-professional writing. I chalk this up to the pressures of school and my rising stardom* in the professional world.

Computer Gaming:
With my machine a few years behind the times, most of the really captivating games are sadly denied me - my greatest feeling of loss is reserved for Dragon Age: Origins. I have, however, recently gotten into Half Life 2 (finally) which I am glad to say has withstood the test of time. I also got more involved with roguelikes, my new favorite being Triangle Wizard.

Reading:
2009 was also a sad year for reading. I did not get the chance to read many books this year. I did read The World According To Garp and liked it very much.

Closing Thoughts:
I am happy to have had a chance to develop some professional cred this year and look forward to all the fortune and glory that entails. Though I wish dearly I could have done a lot more gaming, I'm happy for any opportunity at all, so I welcome Google Wave and its ability to bring people together.

In 2010, I should like to develop any one of my Five Good Ideas (Clock and Dagger, Eight Kingdoms, Zombies from Dimension X, Rig, and Bullets and Brimstone) at length. If nothing else, it would be a good year to move them from the "notebook" stage to the "actually written down in a Word document" stage.

Keep the dice rolling!

*I would not actually call myself a rising star...yet.