Reading the 'Design 101' column over on GameSetWatch got me thinking about The Rules of Gaming.
In the latest edition, Raven game designer Manveer Heir plays Crysis on the PC and lays out what he thinks the game does right, and what it does wrong. The main point he comes away with is this: consistency is key. And this applies to anything: usefulness of abilities, style of level design, whatever. Consistency is definitely key, in all types of games, perhaps most importantly RPGs. Ever play a good RPG for a solid 50+ hours, and then all of a sudden the plot starts to get really...stupid? That can ruin a good game.
With all the rules though, I wonder if a game out there couldn't break about all of them and be more successful as a game for it. So, here's my list of demands for all you game developers - meet me at midnight behind the docks to complete the transaction.
1) I want an FPS that takes place in 4th century BC, when crossbows and little else were invented as shooting-based weapons. Or eliminate the confinements of the FPS genre and just give the player all kinds of weapons: stones, spears, whatever. Make him have to hunt to stay alive, too. Maybe the character lives in exile - this could serve as a solid backstory.
2) I want an RPG that has nothing to do with rescuing anyone or saving the planet from imminent destruction, or some loner hero's troubled past. Or hell, have it be about the bad guys trying to take over the world in some way, but split the game between their perspective and the "good guys," illustrating the point that good and evil isn't so black and white.
3) I want a racer with a compelling story (no, this is not impossible).
4) I want a shooter (vertical scrolling, sidescrolling, 3D sidescrolling, etc.) that involves exploration, and not constant shooting.
5) I want a platform/adventure title in a modern day setting that's truly adult. Prince of Persia is probably the closest thing as of yet, but not quite what I'm thinking (and the setting isn't modern). Edit: Kevin's Mirror's Edge article has answered my prayers and then some with suspicious timing.
6) I want some kind of ninja/assassin game that uses the Wiimote. Nintendo, you'd have to be insane not to do this.
7) Someone release a new Shadowgate or something like it for the Wii and/or DS as well. Sorry, Myst ain't my thing, and it's kind of outdated isn't it?
8) Perhaps most of all though, I'd like to see something truly unique and terrifying: a horror-ish game based on the concepts of nightmares and lucid dreaming. Maybe Silicon Knights and/or Team Silent could develop it, but I think a fresh developer might do the best job for something like this. Imagine playing a character that serves as some kind of conduit for people's nightmares, and you spend the game traveling unwillingly between them, aware you're in a nightmare, yet it seems as real as anything. Think Waking Life meets the last quarter of Silent Hill 3 as a sort of loose idea. Horror + metaphysics = game of the century.
Of course, I don't know everything, and maybe some of this has been covered already, at least to some extent. Feel free to chime in with any examples, elaboration, or ideas of your own!
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