My perfect computer game would be something like this:
NAME:
World Without Man
FEATURES:
- It would be set in a world without man. You could play as a griffin, phoenix, or dragon.
- Optional storyline for each species.
- No magic. That makes things way too easy.
- Random things happen [unicorns found with hostage dragon hatchlings (free the dragons or kill the unicorns? Time for only one), phoenix carcass struck by lightning found with necklace (ignore it? Eat the body? Take the necklace? Take the necklace and ask others about it?), etc.], you won't notice the difference until a few hours later.
- Character stats would be composed of the following: Speed (how fast you fly in the air/run on the ground), Strength (in terms of physical battles), Voice (how loud you can scream --- useful for deterring attackers and getting help), Communication (how persuasive you are/how well you understand other species --- there would be a Communication stat for each species), Breath Power (strength of breath, dragon-only), Breath Capacity (how long the breath can go, dragon-only), Regeneration (how fast you heal). Hit Points would stay the same, no matter how long you played.
- The stats would rise depending on what you did (if you flew around more, your Strength stat would increase, if you ran more, your Speed would increase, if you talked to others more, your Communications stat would increase, etc.). Say, an hour in game doing one thing, or one thing over a period of 'chopped-up' time, means +1 of that stat.
- Along the same lines of the Communication stat, you wouldn't be able to understand the other species at all at the beginning of the game. There would be language barriers between all of them.
- There would be customizable characters. You could lengthen the snout, make the wings smaller and sleeker like a falcon or broader like an eagle's, enlarge the tail, add spikes, manually color it or not, add frills and feathers and streamers and markings, etc.....I actually went on ahead to list the moddable options, set characters (drew one of them too), and what you could do in the character creation, but I probably won't post more info unless people ask. This idea is really just to keep me busy.
- None of the species would talk in English, or any other language. They would hiss and shriek and roar. Translation would appear at the top of the screen.
- The game would put emphasis on making the random-generated members of your species seem alive. They would each have a simple past [____ attacked 'character' and lost, ____ mated with character, etc.], a pre-set motive, randomly generated stats, and a general personality (set by reactions in an editor: [character name]'s daily relationship with [character 2], much like in SimPE for The Sims 2. There might be a point system for things like Temper [aggressive, passive, or inbetween?], Willpower [low self-esteem or high?], or Outgoing [talk a lot? Talk a little?], and those would affect how they responded to a question or something).
- I don't know if this would be possible, but perhaps procedurally generated animations? There would be limits as to the range of motions each part (wings, legs, head, etc.) could do, of course.
- When fighting, there would be targeted body parts that the computer A.I. would try to get at most (such as throat, belly, etc.).
- There would be different territories - though not strict - for each species. They would be something quite a bit like
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1220/worldmappsicl3.png, possibly with a few little islands around the continent.
- Night/day/dusk/dawn. Seasons. The game would start in winter (if not seasons, some of the lands would be in perpetual winter/spring/summer/fall).
- Hunger/Thirst/Energy/Social (depletes depending on how social your character is over a daily basis)/Entertainment needs. Fighting drive replaces Social in spring.
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What do you think of my idea? What would your perfect, dream computer/console/other game be like?
