Hi Alex,
De : [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] De la part de Alex Vachon I went through the two game descriptions and here are my impressions (I'm just starting to learn about the projects, so I hope my comments won't feel too much out of context). [David] Thx a lot for the feedback, I really appreciate. I am not too hot on the idea of asking a player to hack websites. It sends a signal and sets up a overall tone that can scare away a lot of people. It's very geeky too imo. What is the goal behind that choice? Is it just used as example to demonstrate what can be done? [David] Agreed. Actually, the 'hack' and 'scan' are remaining feature from a previous version we had worked on, that was focused on hacking and was definitely more geeky. We think that these feature still have their role to play within the missions in the current game but should be renamed according to the context. 'Hack' becoming the action of doing something visible on a site (take control of it as originally planned but also clean it from a virus, block an attack from an external threat, any action and it does not need to be very tech oriented). And 'scan' becoming actions that the player can do on a website without being noticed (retrieve a hidden information, see what department of the organization owns the site, etc). If we rename these two and use them in the missions as actions the player can perform, it should be ok I guess. Do you agree ? In fact, as a potential player, I would like to know what this is all about, what is the big picture? I know that there is an ecological component to the game, so I perhaps the "big picture" is not determined yet. [David] Well, you're right, the big picture is not determined yet. And it's a very good question that needs a little bit of explanation from me on the process we follow as of now. Currently, the focus is only on the very first prototype (missions, introduction of the organization and of the trust management). Then, if the feedback on this prototype shows some potential, some effort will be put in its production values (art, sound, video, etc) and some first elements of a storyline (ecological context) will be developed to have some kind of a clean demo of the game. Actually, rather than a demo, what I'd like to have then is a game, even with a small scope, but with a gameplay loop that proves to work). Until then, it's difficult to say more about what the game will be in the future or even what the big picture is. I'll elaborate a little here. Xav and I both had some experiences in video game where you spend a lot of time on writing the complete design documents, have the storyline written, etc, basically all the conception. And then, because of budget or technical constraints, or because of playtests that show that the player find to be fun some stuff that had not been foreseen, you end up with a very different game than what was originally planned and promised. And the other risk of planning everything at the beginning is that then you tend to want to stick to the original concept and it becomes difficult to really listen to the feedback of the community. This is basically why the focus right now is to try to define a frame only for the current prototype and not for what the game could be in the future (though it can be really tempting sometimes J) All this said, each one of us has his own long term vision and elements that he wants to see in the game in the future (for me in brief : blurring reality and the game / massively multiplayer gameplay based on information and influence / game as a tool to question the world around us through narration&interaction, etc). So, even if it's not possible to create a one page document that gives the long term direction of the game, I think it's interesting to gather and compare these visions. So what I'll do in the next days is add a page to the wiki where we can sum up all ideas for a possible future for the game. I'll let you know as soon as the page is there with some first elements I'll add, and I hope it can serve as a basis for the discussion. Your feedback would be much appreciated on this ! .and sorry for the long mail J
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