Journal Apreche's Journal: Turn Based Strategy for PC 2
Ok, so it's the summer and my job is really short. Like it's only from July 10 through August 1st. So I've got a lot of time to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs. So I decide to start a coding project. I took a fun board game called "Zombies!!!" and thought about making a pc version that could be played online and such. I e-mailed the rights holders and they said "no, screw you" or something like that.
So I then thought about making something else for blogs and xml and crap, but 1000 other people have already done it.
So finally it came to me, I would make a turn based strategy game. I would even be able to salvage some code from the Zombies!!! project, since I would still use the square grid.
This is what I'm thinking. A grid of squares. Players take turns moving units and taking actions. Online play, campaigns, the works. Text based interface, normal gui interface and an opengl interface all available. Functionality on all major platforms. Linux, *nix, BSD, OSX, Windows. Imagine a cross between X-COM and Advance Wars that you can play online with your friends. I can't believe nothing like this exists yet.
Also I'm going to keep the theme/map and campaign stuff in XML as seperate from the game as possible. This will make it easy for players to create mods and such. There will, however, be a main/default game I'm going to make.
My plan is to make everything in python. This will allow me to make a working game very quickly. I can then test the crap out of the game to make sure the system is good and the game doesn't suck. Once that stage is complete graphics/sound/polish and all that stuff can be added. Java code can replace python code to get performance and cross platformness. Depending on performance needs we can even take the C/C++ route and make seperate builds for different platforms.
In the end I will have a suite of applications.
The game itself: loads mods, plays single player campaigns, plays ipx lan games, allows net games with manual host/client setup, allows connection to matchup server.
The matchup server: has functionality similar to what tetrinet has. An IRC type server which allows players to form games without having to tell their ip to everyone else. I'm not sure if I want to make the matchup client a seperate app that can be launched on its own or actually built into the game itself. I think I'm going to make the matchup client seperate, but also launchable from within the game to save confusion.
Mod Maker: A suite of apps that allows creation of new mods. Has a map maker, unit creator, campaign designer. Allows very simple creation and packaging of mods for distribution. Graphics and sounds will have to be produced in seperate apps and imported.
Anyway, what I really need is ideas for the game itself. If you're a fan of turn based strategy, and you would like to have a fun game to play, alone or online, tell me what you would like to see in such a game. I've already decided on a square grid system with as simple statistics as possible. Lastly, if you know of any such games that exist already please tell me about them. I searched the net a bit and didn't find much. I'd be very interested in learning from others.
Design and ideas (Score:2, Interesting)
One thing I'd like to see in such a game is some sort of evolutionary aspect to the individual 'pieces'. ie. Maybe you can sacrifice two pieces by merging them, and create a new 'super-piece'. Or maybe when one piece defeats/takes an enemy piece, it absorbs some of its abilities
Re:Design and ideas (Score:1)