Post by Zipp on Nov 28, 2009 9:01:36 GMT
I think Ksatria's visual take on the series was very cool and adult oriented. It even maintained some of that Gary Chalk feel. As for gameplay, we really can't say what that would've been like. I was getting the sense it was a lot like Oblivion, though, with possibly some greater depth to combat (though how they figured to pull that off, I'm not sure).
I think LW has to be a First Person deal, as there's no other way to capture the second-person narrative style of the game books. Someone here suggested time based missions, I think that would be a very cool addition as many Lone Wolf books do incorporate some time crunch. I see Lone Wolf operating as a somewhat-sandbox game, a genre I'd like to see more of in modern gaming.
Somewhat-sandbox says that there is downtime between missions in which you can explore and pretty much do whatever, but that time-based events are transpiring as you do this. Dead Rising would be an example of such a game, I think (I've never actually played it).
An in-game example of how this might work...
... obviously the beginning of a Lone Wolf game would be all action and quick pace. The battle at the monastery would lead directly into a need to get to the capital of Holmgard. The time limit here would be fairly strict and would take physical form as the armies of the darklord Zagarna closed off your escape routes and began to surround the capital. At this point I feel exploration would not be highly viable. Armies would surround the woods and there would really only be one general direction for you to go. Cities like Toran would be besieged and impossible to get into, while trying to travel south would be met with advancing troops and west... well, west is the Darklands and death.
After Holmgard, the situation wouldn't change much. The first part of the second adventure is ocean based, and thus fairly linear. Once you washed ashore, things would be open to exploration, but you'd have that forty day limit (though the game would be less geared towards getting you back to Holmgard on EXACTLY day forty, unlike the book). Heading towards the Sommerswerd would really be your best option.
This might seem restrictive, but I think players actually enjoy themselves better when they have restrictions, as long as those restrictions make logistical and plot sense. Invisible walls suck. Approaching armies of thousands... those are a bit more understandable as a barrier. The careful placing of checkpoints is also necessary. Players should have save points, yes, but they also need to be able to start over from the beginning of a "book" at any time. This means that even if they screw up with the time restraints, they can try again.
After killing Zagarna, you would have some time before the King's request to have you sail to the Hinterlands of Kalte. This would be the time to start working towards side goals, like rebuilding the Kai Monastery and helping local interests. You could just [fudge] around or travel until the next mission had become available, but you could also spend the time building relationships with nations or questing after rare items. In any case, even random wandering would help you develop kai skills and combat abilities, though the focus would really be on finding quests and not so much on power grinding. However, even going into the Great Forest could open up a "hunting" quest, or a "foraging" quest. It could also open more detailed quests, such as hunting down bandits or rebuilding the towns ruined by the darkord armies.
At some point, you would receive the summons to court. At this point, king's riders would start looking for you, so even if you were venturing the stornlands, they would eventually find you and lead you back to Holmgard (not a player's choice, here). Then the Kalte mission would begin.
Kalte would have further restrictions, because staying out in the cold too long would kill you, and of course you'd have the time restriction of making it back to the ship. The great thing about Kalte would be that the time restriction would make people very nervous about finishing the mission quickly, but ultimately would be nixed by the powers of Loi-Kymar's teleportation.
And so on and so forth. Chasm of Doom would see an increasing number of undead wandering the map and Vashna himself arising and taking over Mangmaund if you waited too long (this would result in a fairly quick death and reload at the beginning of the "book").
You guys get the idea.
I think LW has to be a First Person deal, as there's no other way to capture the second-person narrative style of the game books. Someone here suggested time based missions, I think that would be a very cool addition as many Lone Wolf books do incorporate some time crunch. I see Lone Wolf operating as a somewhat-sandbox game, a genre I'd like to see more of in modern gaming.
Somewhat-sandbox says that there is downtime between missions in which you can explore and pretty much do whatever, but that time-based events are transpiring as you do this. Dead Rising would be an example of such a game, I think (I've never actually played it).
An in-game example of how this might work...
... obviously the beginning of a Lone Wolf game would be all action and quick pace. The battle at the monastery would lead directly into a need to get to the capital of Holmgard. The time limit here would be fairly strict and would take physical form as the armies of the darklord Zagarna closed off your escape routes and began to surround the capital. At this point I feel exploration would not be highly viable. Armies would surround the woods and there would really only be one general direction for you to go. Cities like Toran would be besieged and impossible to get into, while trying to travel south would be met with advancing troops and west... well, west is the Darklands and death.
After Holmgard, the situation wouldn't change much. The first part of the second adventure is ocean based, and thus fairly linear. Once you washed ashore, things would be open to exploration, but you'd have that forty day limit (though the game would be less geared towards getting you back to Holmgard on EXACTLY day forty, unlike the book). Heading towards the Sommerswerd would really be your best option.
This might seem restrictive, but I think players actually enjoy themselves better when they have restrictions, as long as those restrictions make logistical and plot sense. Invisible walls suck. Approaching armies of thousands... those are a bit more understandable as a barrier. The careful placing of checkpoints is also necessary. Players should have save points, yes, but they also need to be able to start over from the beginning of a "book" at any time. This means that even if they screw up with the time restraints, they can try again.
After killing Zagarna, you would have some time before the King's request to have you sail to the Hinterlands of Kalte. This would be the time to start working towards side goals, like rebuilding the Kai Monastery and helping local interests. You could just [fudge] around or travel until the next mission had become available, but you could also spend the time building relationships with nations or questing after rare items. In any case, even random wandering would help you develop kai skills and combat abilities, though the focus would really be on finding quests and not so much on power grinding. However, even going into the Great Forest could open up a "hunting" quest, or a "foraging" quest. It could also open more detailed quests, such as hunting down bandits or rebuilding the towns ruined by the darkord armies.
At some point, you would receive the summons to court. At this point, king's riders would start looking for you, so even if you were venturing the stornlands, they would eventually find you and lead you back to Holmgard (not a player's choice, here). Then the Kalte mission would begin.
Kalte would have further restrictions, because staying out in the cold too long would kill you, and of course you'd have the time restriction of making it back to the ship. The great thing about Kalte would be that the time restriction would make people very nervous about finishing the mission quickly, but ultimately would be nixed by the powers of Loi-Kymar's teleportation.
And so on and so forth. Chasm of Doom would see an increasing number of undead wandering the map and Vashna himself arising and taking over Mangmaund if you waited too long (this would result in a fairly quick death and reload at the beginning of the "book").
You guys get the idea.
