Mephs
03-12-2007, 12:09 PM
Hey all,
After my last thread about strategic player positioning, I'd had a bit of a spin-off idea. The idea was simply to try combining a match-3 style gameplay with RPG gameplay. So I came up with some ideas and did a bit of research and found out that I've been beaten to it by a game called Puzzle Quest. It looks like a very, very nice game and it is exactly the kind of thing I was envisaging. For more info on the game, check out their webpage
here (http://www.infinite-interactive.com/puzzlequest/).
Now, I'm loathe to make a clone, I'd like to hope I'm a bit more original than that, and I was never too happy about considering the idea of a match-3 mechanic as it is so hugely overdone. Hence the need for this post. I think it would be interesting to perhaps try to pre-empt a design that could succeed the match 3 mechanic. What other mechanic could we use that would still retain the intuitiveness of match-3, but bring something very original to the table?
I'm a little stumped myself, I would like to avoid doing a spin-off idea that is too similar, but it's almost like the match-3 mechanic is firmly carved into a part of my brain and I'm incapable of thinking past it.
As an idea for the RPG/match-3 clone, I had wondered vaguely about a mechanic where mages compete over a landscape built from 3d blocks. The player could use the mouse to drag out a line over the longets chain of a single block type as possible. The block could produce mana dependant upon it's terrain type: i.e. trees would produce green mana, lava would produce red mana, etc, etc. Then when blocks are destroyed, new blocks flood into the map. The twist to my idea though, would be to have the player standing on the terrain. When blocks are destroyed, the player is pulled around the map by the shifting influx of blocks, so block destruction influences the players position and line of sight.
Anyway, this post isn't about that specific idea, but rather I'd like it to investigate the possibility of something that could stand on par, or above the match-3 mechanic. Something new for casual and (possibly) hardcore players alike that wont have people muttering under their breath "so I get to save the world by matching 3 colours again?!".
I suppose if such an idea were so easy to come up with, someone would be onto a good deal of money by now, so I appreciate that this post is asking alot, but I also suppose that if you never ask the question, you'll never get an answer!
I suppose also, we need some guidelines to know what we're up against. I'm going to assume the following:
Taking from match-3 the mechanic should probably be turn based, facilitating multiplayer hotseating, strategy and a game that can be played at a fast or slow pace with or without interruptions. On the other hand, if turn based, the game should never keep the player waiting too long, ideally for no longer than a few seconds at most, perhaps making some allowances of course for multiplayer.
The mechanic should be intuitive, a player should be able to make reasonable progress without much thought or effort required, but more depth should be available in the mechanic if desired to add longevity, perhaps through more difficult levels as an optional element (even if optional just means later on in the game).
Luck should play a part in the mechanic, even a bad player should be able to get some positive feedback from the game to encourage as wide an audience as possible.
The mechanic should ideally only require a mouse and a single mouse button. We could allow for more complex controls for advanced players, but by default it needs to cater for the lowest comon denominator, so to speak.
That's about all I can think of for now. If anyone has any ideas, or bits of ideas it would be good to discuss them further. I'll also keep thinking on the idea and post anything I come up with.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
After my last thread about strategic player positioning, I'd had a bit of a spin-off idea. The idea was simply to try combining a match-3 style gameplay with RPG gameplay. So I came up with some ideas and did a bit of research and found out that I've been beaten to it by a game called Puzzle Quest. It looks like a very, very nice game and it is exactly the kind of thing I was envisaging. For more info on the game, check out their webpage
here (http://www.infinite-interactive.com/puzzlequest/).
Now, I'm loathe to make a clone, I'd like to hope I'm a bit more original than that, and I was never too happy about considering the idea of a match-3 mechanic as it is so hugely overdone. Hence the need for this post. I think it would be interesting to perhaps try to pre-empt a design that could succeed the match 3 mechanic. What other mechanic could we use that would still retain the intuitiveness of match-3, but bring something very original to the table?
I'm a little stumped myself, I would like to avoid doing a spin-off idea that is too similar, but it's almost like the match-3 mechanic is firmly carved into a part of my brain and I'm incapable of thinking past it.
As an idea for the RPG/match-3 clone, I had wondered vaguely about a mechanic where mages compete over a landscape built from 3d blocks. The player could use the mouse to drag out a line over the longets chain of a single block type as possible. The block could produce mana dependant upon it's terrain type: i.e. trees would produce green mana, lava would produce red mana, etc, etc. Then when blocks are destroyed, new blocks flood into the map. The twist to my idea though, would be to have the player standing on the terrain. When blocks are destroyed, the player is pulled around the map by the shifting influx of blocks, so block destruction influences the players position and line of sight.
Anyway, this post isn't about that specific idea, but rather I'd like it to investigate the possibility of something that could stand on par, or above the match-3 mechanic. Something new for casual and (possibly) hardcore players alike that wont have people muttering under their breath "so I get to save the world by matching 3 colours again?!".
I suppose if such an idea were so easy to come up with, someone would be onto a good deal of money by now, so I appreciate that this post is asking alot, but I also suppose that if you never ask the question, you'll never get an answer!
I suppose also, we need some guidelines to know what we're up against. I'm going to assume the following:
Taking from match-3 the mechanic should probably be turn based, facilitating multiplayer hotseating, strategy and a game that can be played at a fast or slow pace with or without interruptions. On the other hand, if turn based, the game should never keep the player waiting too long, ideally for no longer than a few seconds at most, perhaps making some allowances of course for multiplayer.
The mechanic should be intuitive, a player should be able to make reasonable progress without much thought or effort required, but more depth should be available in the mechanic if desired to add longevity, perhaps through more difficult levels as an optional element (even if optional just means later on in the game).
Luck should play a part in the mechanic, even a bad player should be able to get some positive feedback from the game to encourage as wide an audience as possible.
The mechanic should ideally only require a mouse and a single mouse button. We could allow for more complex controls for advanced players, but by default it needs to cater for the lowest comon denominator, so to speak.
That's about all I can think of for now. If anyone has any ideas, or bits of ideas it would be good to discuss them further. I'll also keep thinking on the idea and post anything I come up with.
Thanks for reading!
Steve