Day One: Trying To Do
The Homebrew Developer Thing
First comes tech. What I need to do is cull the tech based on what I can contribute in my free time and what is most compatible with my skillsets. I can write, draw, do 3D and 2D art, and I can handle the odd scripting language. However, if my car was my programming skills, it would have a big disabled sticker on it.
Sadly, due to limited free time, I’ve had to refer to friends who’ve experienced the “big three” tools for advice, instead of exploring thoroughly by my own hand. They all say that you’ll only get so far with Torque if you can’t code. So potential easy 360/XBLA port is out. Darn. At least PC/Mac/Wii browser is still on the cards.
The tech fight is now between Unity and Virtools, and I’ll have to take some major time out to explore both. The next step there is to come up with an idea.
Regarding ideas … the key things to factor here are:
- I’m a noob with the software.
- Time is thin, so the fewer things I have to make, the better.
- A simple idea would be best; it means fewer things can go wrong.
So RPGs, beat-‘em ups, and any stuff with a gazillion back-end checks (hello and goodbye “The Sims”) are out the window. We’re left with basic sports, carnival games, and simple toy play (these tools have built-in physics) games. Multiplayer is something I’d like to implement, but I won’t make a call on that until I know what these tools can do, as perhaps all that stuff is done for you. Though VS play-testing and balancing would be an additional problem (and one I don’t mind).
So what are the simplest sports?
- Shooting. Point at thing. Shoot thing. Get score.
- Bowling. Throw ball at things. Things fallen give you a score.
- Tennis (at a pong level). Hit thing at opponent. Keep hitting thing at opponent until opponent sucks.
- Air Hockey (kinda the same as above really). Hit thing at opponent. Keep hitting thing at opponent until opponent sucks.
I’m going to go with bowling, simply because it allows for sequential multiplayer instead of simultaneous, and I can always change that later with some twisted new dynamic if it turns out the tech can handle it.
So it’s bowling. Everyone knows it, everyone’s played it, but so what? Why do I want another bowling game? Well, Wii bowling got boring after a few goes. It wasn’t very sophisticated. I couldn’t really put spin on the ball, pick different ball weights, etc., etc.
So here’s what high concepts we can flesh out:
- Super-simple. Purist, well-implemented bowling game. Straight-laced.
- Bowling meets Mario Kart. Surreal power-ups, characters, ball properties, and so forth.
- Shotgun bowling. As inspired by Hunter S. Thompson.
- Bowling meets pinball. Maybe with some magnetic rails, unusual pin placements, greater ball control, etc.
I came up with this messy but visual-inspiring pitch to bounce off of friends: “So you have Wii bowling. But what if you could add spin to the ball, pick different weights, different types of ball (magnetic, bouncy, explosive, and so on) … and you had a bowling lane laid out like a pinball table with weird bonuses on the floor and crazy shit all over the place. Rails, strangely shaped gutters, pins laid out differently ... some upside down, some in a straight line but with some hazards in front. Basically it’d be Mario Kart/Mario Soccer-style lunacy applied to bowling. With some pinball thrown in. Maybe a shotgun. And some funny characters. Maybe ones based on Jean Claude Van Damme and George Bush.
Some reactions:
- “Actually, that could be kinda cool.” -- Seanbaby of seanbaby.com.
- “Wii bowling f**kin’ sucks. You should make a better one.” -- Scott Hanley, my neighbour.
- “If you get the physics right, it could be really, really cool.” -- Brady Fiechter, Play Magazine.
- “You’re an ass.” -- Chris Cross, Tarver Indusries.
So now we have a starting point. Both Virtools and Unity also have a Webplayer thing, so it means I can also demo this on a Wii, so simple controls on a PC will be priority #1, but I want to get this working with the Wiimote as well. Luckily, this can be tested with some firmware floating around.
My next steps:
- Come up with a definitive starting design.
- Spend a few days with both Virtools and Unity.
- Write about my findings here.
- Build the damn thing.
By now, Wii parables are plentiful among both the gaming community and the mainstream press.
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>> Day One: Trying To Do
The Homebrew Developer Thing
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