Poll: A simple multiplayer survival horror idea

[Kranoes]

Really what I would like in a multiplayer survival horror game is a good old fashion physiological horror with up to four people a scenario I will use to explain what i'm talking about will be an Abandoned city. Each player would start at separate points on a large city map starting with different helpful items, An example would be if say player 1 would start off with a city map but player 3 starts with a compass to fully use the map. Another example would be that if Player 2 stared with a Hand Pistol but player 4 has half a clip of ammo for it. Players cannot communicate in till they are in distance with each other To hear over in game VOIP or visibly seeing one another. The game will "play" with the players by the use of distant hallucinations and visible horrors making players not trusting what is fake or not. Example would be if player 2 Thought he saw player 4 at a street corner so player 2 runs over but instead of finding player 4 he runs into hostile NPC's, Another scenario would be if Player 1 saw player 3 coming after him with intent of harming him but vanishes after you fight it. Hostile NPC's instead of killing a player can hold him captive for ransom which could be from Key items to misc.Items, players would have the chance to attack the Npc's or give them the ransom to free the captive player. While the Game progressive it will become harder to sustain 4 players so the game Would have 3 End scenarios

1. One player Kills all three for their items to survive though the game

2. All players play resourcefully and carefully to get though the game

3. the last scenario would be the M.A.D. where all players commit homicide on each other or mass suicide ending the game


Please let me know what you think about the idea and leave some suggestive criticism at the bottom


P.S. I'm not in any sense a game developer or know anything about the game industry this is what i think would be cool to see

 

[Right Hook]

I've thought about games like this, where four players are accomplishing separate tasks. The problem is you need three people who aren't jackasses and don't suck. The game becomes four times harder to manage when everyone can be off on their own potentially ruining the experience. It's cool in theory but hard in practice.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

I agree with Shotgun Guy. Not only would you have to be lucky enough to find 3 competent players online but you'd also have to ensure that they'd have similar schedules since a game like this would probably be much longer than a game of L4D.

 

[Unsilenced]

As much as I support the idea of a game where other players can't communicate with me, this game is going to suck if you have anyone bad in your game. Imagine L4D, but a thousand times worse in that regard.

"MEE LIKEY SHOOTY WITCHES!!!!!"

 

[Kranoes]

I agree with Shotgun Guy. Not only would you have to be lucky enough to find 3 competent players online but you'd also have to ensure that they'd have similar schedules since a game like this would probably be much longer than a game of L4D.

Yes I have thought about those two problem while working all night on this. While there is no way to solve fully the human element of the game. The only way to control it will be by game host simply banning the player from the game session, But I want something different like how League of Legends handles its player base at anytime the offending player is ruining game play, anyone in the session can report the player and support can look though the claim, and if the player was affecting the game play in anyway he will be unable to join another Online session for X amount of time. Also lowering his player Rating

More About player rating in another post


The Difficulty of the game will be in Four modes

1. Easy (AKA Casual): Where if the player dies he will re spawn at a spawn point on the map with all his health bar, Stamina bar and psyche bar full and unlimited session saves

More about status bars and session saves in another post

2. Medium(AKA getting started): at this level your psyche bar will deplete X amount per minute
if not with another player or if being idle. When a player dies it's not game over yet there will be Revival items in game to find (I.E. like the defibrillator from L4D2) when the game starts player will not be able to save they will need to find an item to save with (I.E. ink for a typewriter, batteries for a camera, Floppy disk? ETC.) while in medium difficulty 1 save items will equal to X amount of saves.

3.Hard (AKA Knowing what your doing): At this level your psyche bar will deplete faster your stamina bar will regenerate slower and your health bar will cease to regenerate till you use a health item. Items will become very limited and save items will become one use.

4.survival (AKA Nightmare Fuel): at this level of gameplay weird things start to happen where the game fully plays with you like a puppet on strings. leading you into death traps and making you not believe in your health stamina or psyche bars.One second your health bar would be full the next it will go almost to 1% health or even to 0 but your not dead. revival items will cease to exist finding any item in game world will be a challenge and each player will need a save item to fully save game session.


thanks for the feedback, I will keep updating on this project if you all want me to

 

[doomspore98]

As other people have said, it could be amazing on paper but hard in reality. People tend to be dicks when they have complete anonymity. Maybe if you had some sort of rule or something that gave people points if they didn't do that. Also, is there melee combat, if there are hostile NPC's how are you supposed to fight the NPC's?

 

[viranimus]

Hrm, to me it seems like a merge of L4D and Amnesia, though I doubt anything could be as cool as that sounds.

As others have suggested, this seems too contingent on players not being a bunch of dickheads and or dumbasses.

Thing is, its a good idea in its own right, but much like the old extra credits episode reminded us, Coming up with game ideas is literally a dime a dozen. There are TONS of them, hell practically limitless. But, its not always about having the good idea.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

It sounds like an interesting idea, but to put a different slant on all the other comments of "people are dicks" I would point out that even if people weren't dicks there would still be the old maxim "safety in numbers". Even if you have four players all taking the game seriously and not messing around, they would still draw reassurance from one another, knowing that there was always someone to watch their backs, that if they were incapacitated help would be on its way, and so on.

Also, in a game where the players are all on the same page you are still likely to develop a certain 'gallows humour' that would grow out of the shared tense experience - the AI conversations in L4D2 are a good example of this. People make jokes in stressful situations to relieve said stress.

Both of these factors could greatly diminish the 'horror' elements of the game, but if these issues were managed well and factored appropriately into the horror mechanics then the prospect of such a game is certainly intriguing to say the least.

 

[Kranoes]

To answer many questions at in one post, combat will differ to melee,ranged,traps, Hand to hand and ballistics note that every character will have proficiency to one most of the characters you can pick will not be able to use a weapon to full potential, and i'm stating right now the ballistic weapons will be a nightmare to use correctly. I also see the concern that the horror of a game like this would go down don't worry i'm chatting with a few people locally who know a thing or two about horror who like the thought and are trying to see if this can be pulled off to be at-lest a working concept on the source engine. Now for the hostile NPC's there really just there to hide the real evil that haunts the city and you the player, think of them like a environmental hazard they can easily be avoided if using precaution

Alright back to working on this (my computer hates me for this)

 

[Captain Epic]

It's a good idea but the problem is that the players could easily communicate via messages.

 

[way2sl0w]

Too easy to grief. I think all games would end in scenario 1.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

I like where you are going and would like throw in some ideas I had for a Zombie Survival Game I was playing around with in my head.

Randomized Maps
--I'm pretty sure it isn't impossible to write algorithms that would generate unique maps every time you play. Obviously it would use familiar parts and items, but things should never be quite the same. Kind of like the different maps in Diablo 2 except that the game would continue to generate new maps, while still keeping important land marks.

MMO,Kinda
--I also thought of the idea that every time you fire up the game (for my zombie game, but it works for yours too) you automatically get placed into a online match or server. You're not notified of other players or them you so that it'd be a seamless experience of surviving and accidentally running into other players. I feel like this would remedy your dickheads problem because if they were just trying to fuck you then they offer a natural challenge to the game.

This is why I think MMO route would be the best. If you wanted permanent, unique buildings on the global map then you just place it on the map. A and B could always be in the same spot and look the same, but going from A to B should never be the same.


Anyway, kinda got into more of my survival game, but I think some of those points might be insightful.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

For some reason, I have a vague memory of reading about a game very similar to this concept in a Game Informer magazine years back. Like, my junior year in high school, 5 years ago. Anyone else remember that, or am I just going insane?

Anyway, OT, I agree with everyone else. Great in theory, hard execution. I'd play it nearly nonstop with friends who wouldn't be dicks though.

 

[Tanakh]

Is this a repost? Or maybe just a popular idea, i seem to find posts about a battle royaleish videogame in the Escapist every few months.

Anyway, i don't see it working for crap. AFKERs, griefers, backstabbers, DCers... there is no freaking way a pub party has a chance of cooperating long enough without being forced to.

If you want to polish the idea, IMO, start by figuring out a way that the PCs can interact with each other; if you can't then just make it an ol' fashioned battleroyale. No sense in having a "friendly but not allied" mechanic if it's only going to be abused and turn noobies away.

 

[Kranoes]

I like where you are going and would like throw in some ideas I had for a Zombie Survival Game I was playing around with in my head.

Randomized Maps
--I'm pretty sure it isn't impossible to write algorithms that would generate unique maps every time you play. Obviously it would use familiar parts and items, but things should never be quite the same. Kind of like the different maps in Diablo 2 except that the game would continue to generate new maps, while still keeping important land marks.

MMO,Kinda
--I also thought of the idea that every time you fire up the game (for my zombie game, but it works for yours too) you automatically get placed into a online match or server. You're not notified of other players or them you so that it'd be a seamless experience of surviving and accidentally running into other players. I feel like this would remedy your dickheads problem because if they were just trying to fuck you then they offer a natural challenge to the game.

This is why I think MMO route would be the best. If you wanted permanent, unique buildings on the global map then you just place it on the map. A and B could always be in the same spot and look the same, but going from A to B should never be the same.


Anyway, kinda got into more of my survival game, but I think some of those points might be insightful.

These Ideas are great and helpful in a lot of areas that I needed to solve problems on, mostly on the immersion of how players enter the game, and maybe a tricky way to skip the task of making AI. now to go back to work on the maps before I need to make a funeral for my poor hard drive