UWEs next game, what would you like to see?
Runteh
Join Date: 2010-06-26 Member: 72163Members, Reinforced - Shadow
I was meaning to post a thread on this a few days ago, but I have been thinking a little about it a little before posting.
From a business stand point, the chances are that they are going to be using the Spark engine. I think it is at great point now, and any future versions are going to be a lot better. Hopefully this will mean more time spent on new graphical wizardry and features, rather than bug squishing. The initial release was - as I am sure UWE have mentioned many times - an internal build that we had the pleasure to witness. Obviously the years it has taken such a small team to accomplish huge things has caused frustration for the community, but I think the potential now is not just taller but also broader.
Personally I do still love the whole FPS/RTS concept, and I think it can be taken a lot further. Potentially more interaction with the environment, more interesting/innovative interaction between players/commander.
I'd really like to see the learning curve ironed out. I know people talk about tutorials, but in an ever evolving FPS/RTS game - that is arguably the most complex on the market - this is near impossible to make videos for.
Perhaps any sort of resource based income should be simplified, so perhaps gaining (for example) 1xRT unlocks tier 1 upgrades, 2xRTs unlocks tier 2 upgrades. Etc. You could still associate income with player purchasable goods unlocked by the tiers. Even relate it to kills gained as well?
As someone else has mentioned, they might be making Zen of Soduku 2 for all we know. What would you lot like to see?
From a business stand point, the chances are that they are going to be using the Spark engine. I think it is at great point now, and any future versions are going to be a lot better. Hopefully this will mean more time spent on new graphical wizardry and features, rather than bug squishing. The initial release was - as I am sure UWE have mentioned many times - an internal build that we had the pleasure to witness. Obviously the years it has taken such a small team to accomplish huge things has caused frustration for the community, but I think the potential now is not just taller but also broader.
Personally I do still love the whole FPS/RTS concept, and I think it can be taken a lot further. Potentially more interaction with the environment, more interesting/innovative interaction between players/commander.
I'd really like to see the learning curve ironed out. I know people talk about tutorials, but in an ever evolving FPS/RTS game - that is arguably the most complex on the market - this is near impossible to make videos for.
Perhaps any sort of resource based income should be simplified, so perhaps gaining (for example) 1xRT unlocks tier 1 upgrades, 2xRTs unlocks tier 2 upgrades. Etc. You could still associate income with player purchasable goods unlocked by the tiers. Even relate it to kills gained as well?
As someone else has mentioned, they might be making Zen of Soduku 2 for all we know. What would you lot like to see?
Comments
That's basically what I'm hoping out of any indie company these days. I'm not sure if UWE is the one to provide all that, but I guess making a wish doesn't hurt anyone.
Homeworld 3 would be awesome also!
Warning: dune-nut sign spotted!
Now on to my personal wish (you asked for it!):
I'm quite fond of the first two Dune novels and the 1984 film by David Lynch (as some might have guessed). So, for a long time I have been yearning for a game, that makes use of all the awesome gamey things that universe incorporates. Sure, there have been plenty of great RTS games (dune 2 being my first encounter with video games) and even an attempt at an action adventure, but none of them deliver on what I liked about the novels so much.
There is the religous dystopy and political babble, but those aren't so fit for a (MP FPS) game.
But there is The Voice for example. It is a great explanation for embedding supernatural powers, such as boost of perceiption, damage resistance or control of enemies. Then there is the absolute unique approach to combat; "the slow knife penetrates the shield" (shields only let objects with low velocity pass, bullets just bounce off). This could make for some really interesting melee combat. Add some energy management to make projectile weapons more viable and you've got combat like in no other game.
Then there's the spice, the water of life, thumbers, sandworms, polar ice-caps, smugglers, the guild, the tleilaxu, the bene geserit, the fremen... so much great stuff for an assymetrical FPS!
The reason why I write this on the UWE forums is because they and CDProjektRed are about the only devs I'd trust to get it right.
In more general terms: I'd like them to stick with the assymetrical and teamwork-heavy MP FPS genre, but to make the environments more open and move away from the gritty industrial setting.
TL;DR
Dune is awesome. UWE are awesome. Combine. Profit.
That being said, Fremen vs Sardaukar battles done NS-style would be awesome! Harvesting spice for resources, reclaiming water, shields & melee vs ranged, sandworms.. yes, a Dune FPS would be amazing.
Alas, it is indeed most unreasonable and futile to wish for it:
"Last time I had correspondence with the Brian Herbert, the general rights issue is thus: You don;t buy individual rights to the game or other items. You buy the rights as a package then can contract other companies to make the games, toy and what not. So when SyFy had the rights to the TV miniseries, they held the rights to make the games, merchandise and everything else they only rights you don't get are literary rights.
This was about 8 years ago i asked about this, it may have changed. So from this it might be that FFG couldn't afford the rights because of the bundle cost, so a bigger company needs to buy them for film/TV/Console game then contract FFG to make the board game."
Source: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/945035/who-owns-the-dune-rights
Think CP in TF2 or Assault in UT. One team is focused on building defenses, has weaker weapons, not even weapons, but mostly tools, and weaker armor overall, but has lots of structures, the other team has stuff like vehicles and jetpacks and heavy weapons and so they assault defenders.
I unno, I don't expect CoD from UWE.
+1
Don't forget an engine that is so incredible and next-gen that they'd have to drop - no, prevent! - all mod-support because the community just can't handle it! That would be awesome too!
Indeed! Also I forgot to add no dedicated servers or a server browser of any kind. That would make it instant GOTY
An MMO set in the world of Orwell's 1984. NPCs are the majority in this game, and players must either stay hidden among the NPCs and learn the system and embrace Big Brother, or else be reported for Thought Crime by other players for acting too weird. Later on you could probably join the Thought Police or the resistance fighters.
Now that's an MMO actually worth playing. Take risks with game development, dammit! No need to rehash ideas that has already been done.
Sounds like a large scale version of Spy Party. I would dig that.
I want to see them do something as revolutionary as that.
You just summed up everything I hate about the modern games industry.
As for what I'd like to see in the future, is simply a larger scale terrain based NS. Instead of just capturing resource points, teams would fight over small bases/"forts" (which could possibly include a resource point), from which attacks could be launched from. Each team would have some form of squad based based transport, nothing individual to emphasise teamplay (marines would still have jetpacks though) Obviously new alien forms would be needed.
*already exists though :P
Gloom.
RTS vs. RTS vs. FPS
Two players play an RTS game against eachother, using lots of AI units and base building, while the third team is pure FPS and has to raid the RTS players buildings for upgrades to destroy them and defend their bunker.
Team size would be around 2 RTS players, 12 FPS players. Mayhem happens.
Last team standing wins.
Then again, maybe not...
A single player campaign Natural Selection game that may provide an outlet/excuse to expand on the current multiplayer NS2 experience as well.
A casual platformer called "George the Gorge" where you play as a gorge. Maybe a smartphone game.
A fighting game (either smash bros style or traditional), where you pit historical figures against each other (e.g. Abraham Lincoln, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar).
Zen of Sudoku 2
Funny enough, that's how the idea came around, RockPaperShotgun had an article on Spy Party recently and someone thought of the possibilities a wider-scale Spy Party game, in which 1984 is a perfect universe for such a thing.
Or perhaps take it one step further and do it first person.... Or Both
Or a casual tower defence, to fund NS3
Oh my, I so miss gloom. That is what they should remake.