Topic: Awesome game idea

[idolminds]

I just got done watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In the movie Indys father kept a diary full of clues to finding the Holy Grail, which of course is used throughout the movie.

I was thinking that would be a cool game thing. Not an in-game book, but a real book included with the game itself. The basic manual would be separate and small (which manuals tend to be), but with that would be a book full of drawing, directions, clues, and other lore related stuff. The game itself would be very hard or impossible to beat without this book. Of course its not a cheat book or guide, as all the stuff is in passages and poems and other cryptic fun.

I'd love to be playing this game, coming into a room that seems impossible and seeing a statue in the corner and thinking "Hey, that looks familiar" and paging through the book to find the scribbled drawing of it, reading the passage and then figuring out exactly what I had to do based on the passage.

Ok, I'm probably totally alone on this one. Maybe thats the game *I* need to make.

[Quemaqua]

I wouldn't say you're alone.  I've had somewhat similar thoughts before, though never very well articulated even to myself, so yeah, I don't think you're alone.  If somebody actually did that concept *right* I think it could be great fun!  Actually, that's sort of how I started working on music for my book.  I had been thinking of a similar sort of multi-media (literally) game design that might include some slightly unorthodox stuff outside the game itself, and then thought... hey, wouldn't it be fun if I took that same idea to my book and included something that could go with it but that you generally don't see included with a book?  Of course that obviously would have little bearing on one's enjoyment of fiction, but with a game it could really provide and new and different experience.

[idolminds]

It reminds me of my favorite WoW quest, Cuergo's Gold. While fighting things in Tanaris you'll pick up pieces of a map. You need all three pieces (upper, lower, and middle) and then the map reads:

South of Wheedle
South of home
Find a mast and flag and bones
Dig you there, if you be bold
Dig and claim Cuergo's gold!
A key you'll need and a key you'll see
The men you face take blood as fee.

Using that you need to locate the hidden chest, which was super fun.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah I remember doing that one.  That was awesome.  I did it all alone and was getting chased by lots of killer turtles that were higher level than I was.

[Xessive]

There are a few games that use that same idea.. I can't think of any off the top of my head right now, but Metal Gear Solid had a small encounter which needed you to have the original case "You need to contact Meryl! You should be able to find her frequency on the back of the CD case!" and it's actually located in one of the game screenshots on the back of the cover

[Quemaqua]

I had to recall that from memory when playing it on my PSP.  But yeah, that one had several cool little moments like that.  They broke immersion quite a lot, but they were still fun.  And I guess it isn't like MGS was meant to be immersive in the first place.

[idolminds]

Yeah, I remember that in MGS. But that was one instance in the game. I'd love for an entire game to be like that. A room with a tile floor that must be crossed, only some tiles are booby trapped and all the tiles look the same. The only map is in your book. Even then, the map might not be a direct map, it might be a series of clues to figure out. And all the areas of the game can be done in a similar way.

[Ghandi]

It would never happen. Companies would never want to incur the cost of an additional booklet. Hell, most don't even want to pay for the jewel cases for cds anymore. It would only cost a few dollars per unit, but over many units this adds up. They would vie for digitizing it first, I would assume.

Although maybe I'm wrong. I would definitely love the concept, if done right. But honestly, who has that sort of imagination in the industry nowadays to do something like this?

[idolminds]

I am totally going to try this. Make like a demo level with a 5-10 page mini-book to go with it. PDF obviously, but mainly for the proof of concept.

[Ghandi]

Do it! That would kick ass. It might take some work but it will be worth it.

[Xessive]

It would definitely be better than most of the annoying security measures out there. Obviously someone could scan it in etc. but it's a more fun way to go about it

Ooh here's another game: Ankh II! It comes with a "code wheel" which you have to rotate matching the descriptions in the game to decipher certain codes in order to progress.

[idolminds]

Heh, I remember something like that was used as copy protection for the original Need for Speed.

I've had some more time to think about this, and I'm hitting a few snags...mostly save/load. I think this would work best if you weren't allowed to quicksave, because then simple trial and error would get you through places.

I'm undecided on my next point, though. Obviously a checkpoint system would be welcome to players. No one wants to replay large sections of game. On the other hand I'd almost want to steal the "one death" idea from roguelikes. It would really make you study the book because you only have one chance of getting it right or you start over. It makes the book more important. If you only had to move back to the entrance to the room if you die its not that big a deal. If you had to restart the game...then you take things more seriously.

But no one wants to restart the game. If you get far and slip up and have to start over, well...no one will want to play it all again. Perhaps the best would be only one save per level. If you die you have to restart the level, not the game. That way you still have to rely on the book to not replay a lot of area, but its not so mind numbingly punishing when you die.

[Cobra951]

Such obvious copy protections always ended up getting scanned, or fully itemized, in the case of more complex things like wheels. 

I'm in the minority here, I guess.  I prefer any books I need as reference in a computer game to be part of the game's virtual world.  That good idea for a game would work either way.