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relee8:24pm - I'm still stuck on what I want to make next. I tried talking with a friend yesterday about it, and we came up with some interesting stuff, but nothing really caught me.
The best idea I think was the one for a Dungeon Sim. But there's so many ways to do a Dungeon Sim, and a lot of them have been done already.
I think the most interesting one to me is the idea sort of like the Viva Pinata games, a sort of pet simulator where you build a habitat for monsters and let them interact.
I'm not sure on many of the details yet.
I'm also not sure on the core gameplay. Like, is it building the dungeon itself, or attracting the monsters and satisfying them, or is it both?
In Viva Pinata there was a sort of story mode where you had to unlock things by attracting more and more difficult creatures. That could probably work.
Oh here's an interesting idea. I forgot that in Viva Pinata, you could send your Pinatas to the factory to be shot via cannon to a party. It might be an interesting alternative in my game for the player to actually sell the monsters they attract to their habitats to other dungeons or evil beings or whatever.
So one motivation for your dungeon could be to attract monsters and improve them and/or breed them for sale.
But, I think you might not have to sell them if you don't want to. In Viva Pinata you could also make money by planting and harvesting crops, that the Pinatas would also interact with. They might eat them, or help them grow. So there might be 'monster products' like fancy monster poo or scales or feathers or something that you could also interact with or sell, and plants you could grow for the monsters to forrage on or sell. All sorts of things like that.
This is sounding better all the time.
So we've got a dungeon, that you can build and improve on, and attract monsters by giving them food and shelter that they like, and maybe some decor too. I was thinking that there would be more than just wild animal type monsters though. Like, there are your basic monsters and then there are humanoid monsters that are smarter and live in tribes. There's also undead as an option. What about bandits? They're not really monsters, but humans who have chosen to be bad, but sometimes they live in dungeons too.
I could see something like a Lich wanting to live in a really deep part of a dungeon with lots of other monsters already living there. Maybe with a preference for mindless undead. On the other hand, a Dragon would be attracted to a huge pile of treasure in a large cavern with an exit to the surface so it could fly around.
I think there would also be adventurers who come to your dungeon for various reasons, like taking your money and the loot, killing a specific monster or all monsters in general, or maybe even just exploring. It might be like that game, Evil Genius, and its agent system.
But the Adventurers wouldn't be guaranteed to win, because this is a game about monster pets and we don't want them getting killed easily, but we want there to be a threat. You might be able to deal with adventurers personally if they're a real problem, or maybe there'll be a ressurect option for your monsters.
This seems like a pretty cool game.
What would it take to make a prototype, I wonder?
I'd need to make an editable map system, and some monsters to inhabit it, at least one or two crops to grow in the dungeon, and some adventurers to make things interesting.
The perspective of the player is up to interpretation too. Do you exist in the dungeon, or are you an all-seeing eye, or both? Who does the actual dungeon building; is it done by magic or dug out by minions?
I'll run the idea by some friends and see what they think. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas yourself, reader.
The best idea I think was the one for a Dungeon Sim. But there's so many ways to do a Dungeon Sim, and a lot of them have been done already.
I think the most interesting one to me is the idea sort of like the Viva Pinata games, a sort of pet simulator where you build a habitat for monsters and let them interact.
I'm not sure on many of the details yet.
I'm also not sure on the core gameplay. Like, is it building the dungeon itself, or attracting the monsters and satisfying them, or is it both?
In Viva Pinata there was a sort of story mode where you had to unlock things by attracting more and more difficult creatures. That could probably work.
Oh here's an interesting idea. I forgot that in Viva Pinata, you could send your Pinatas to the factory to be shot via cannon to a party. It might be an interesting alternative in my game for the player to actually sell the monsters they attract to their habitats to other dungeons or evil beings or whatever.
So one motivation for your dungeon could be to attract monsters and improve them and/or breed them for sale.
But, I think you might not have to sell them if you don't want to. In Viva Pinata you could also make money by planting and harvesting crops, that the Pinatas would also interact with. They might eat them, or help them grow. So there might be 'monster products' like fancy monster poo or scales or feathers or something that you could also interact with or sell, and plants you could grow for the monsters to forrage on or sell. All sorts of things like that.
This is sounding better all the time.
So we've got a dungeon, that you can build and improve on, and attract monsters by giving them food and shelter that they like, and maybe some decor too. I was thinking that there would be more than just wild animal type monsters though. Like, there are your basic monsters and then there are humanoid monsters that are smarter and live in tribes. There's also undead as an option. What about bandits? They're not really monsters, but humans who have chosen to be bad, but sometimes they live in dungeons too.
I could see something like a Lich wanting to live in a really deep part of a dungeon with lots of other monsters already living there. Maybe with a preference for mindless undead. On the other hand, a Dragon would be attracted to a huge pile of treasure in a large cavern with an exit to the surface so it could fly around.
I think there would also be adventurers who come to your dungeon for various reasons, like taking your money and the loot, killing a specific monster or all monsters in general, or maybe even just exploring. It might be like that game, Evil Genius, and its agent system.
But the Adventurers wouldn't be guaranteed to win, because this is a game about monster pets and we don't want them getting killed easily, but we want there to be a threat. You might be able to deal with adventurers personally if they're a real problem, or maybe there'll be a ressurect option for your monsters.
This seems like a pretty cool game.
What would it take to make a prototype, I wonder?
I'd need to make an editable map system, and some monsters to inhabit it, at least one or two crops to grow in the dungeon, and some adventurers to make things interesting.
The perspective of the player is up to interpretation too. Do you exist in the dungeon, or are you an all-seeing eye, or both? Who does the actual dungeon building; is it done by magic or dug out by minions?
I'll run the idea by some friends and see what they think. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas yourself, reader.
