GameIdeas.org

In the comments, Thelo made me realize that controlling this game like I described could become quite complicated. To solve this problem I rethought the user-interface and decided to go with a more SimCity-esque control scheme rather using the RTS model.

Rather than ordering characters around, you’ll just have to decide what needs to be done and characters who are skilled and available would come to take care of it. To create a building, you’d just choose what building to make and decide its position and builders would come work on it automatically. You could collect a specific resource by constructing the appropriate building and characters would go collect nearby resources of that type. Exploring would be just as simple: select a point and explorers go discover its surroundings.

If you so desire, you’d also be able to select a specific character and assign him to a specific task. That’s useful to make sure one character gets a particular skill very high for example.

You could also change the speed of the game, from completely stopped (to let you issue complex orders at your leisure) to accelerated (to avoid waiting for a critical building being constructed). Entering menus, like for diplomacy or for customizing buildings, would also pause the game, so you can take the time you need.

Story

This type of game doesn’t usually have a story, but I think it would be a good idea to add a bit of mystery around the island. By dropping hints of the secret past of the island here and there, you give an additional incentives to players to go explore every nook and cranny (and that’s the theme of this week’s game after all!).

By finding ancient temples and relics of the past, the player would be able to piece together the story of the archipelago. It’s be revealed that the group of island is, in fact, the lost continent of Mu that sunk thousands of years ago along with its civilization. Only the highest peaks of the continent were kept above the water and that’s where the player ended up. Getting more information would reveal a bit more about who the Mu people was, what made the continent sink and how some of them decided to travel to a distant land, where they became the Mayans.

Look and Feel

The premise of this game is rather bleak — a few survivors of a shipwreck, trying to survive in adverse conditions — but I want to have an happier overall feel. The focus of the game is on exploring, but you wouldn’t feel like exploring if the whole game was dark and gritty.

As such, I believe the game would be better served with lush scenery that makes you want to see more of it. The island should be covered with green forest, magnificent waterfalls and gorgeous ruins. It should look like a great vacations spot… if it weren’t for the absence of food and the raids by angry natives.

Musically, Cuban music could be interesting. It would add a lot of life and energy to the game, but maybe a little too much considering the theme. Otherwise some world fusion music could work great too — some Indian-inspired music would add an exotic touch and sound different than most games soundtracks.

That’s All Folks

And with that, the second design challenge comes to an end. The result is a pretty ambitious project, but not exceedingly so. I think the game could appeal to a pretty wide market: it has an interesting premise (likely to be popular seeing the success of Lost and Survivor) and it probably wouldn’t require a very powerful computer to run. The customization aspect is likely to bring a community around this game too.

It wasn’t an easy design either. I really wasn’t sure where I was going with this theme at the beginning of the week and I had to change a few features as the concept progressed, but I think the result is pretty good — I’d play that game!

Come back on Monday when I’ll start with a new theme, with something (probably) completely different. And tell people you know about this site, it’d be so much more fun with a bit more action in the comments

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