Tag Archives: mini games

October 27, 2023 · 08:45

The added chapter

In continuation of yesterday’s part. I did more mulling (or brooding) on the setting of the case file. If you consider that the case file is a collection of three mini games, the first thing I considered that three did not make the cut, so I came up with two more mini games. That led me to two considerations. The first was on the setting of ‘evidence’ the second was on progression.

Danger One
The first danger was that you get too much of a “then I went there, then I did this then I saw that”. I need to consider another path. Almost like a diary, but with changing premisses. 

Even as we adhere to some setting we can start with the date, the action and the location can be programmable. As such, we get more than a dozen versions of the first element which contains the action and location. From there we get (as illustrated) 4 versions as a start that describes the event we ‘just played’. That part is set with actions and clues. The clues (hints we uncovered) are set to text parts and these elements make up for a chapter in the case file. The problem here is not that it is too detailed, it becomes what elements are required. On the other hand, if I set the larger wheels in motion, the re-engineer will solve the setting. 

Complication One
The 4 versions are the four versions of the text, it might be that ChatGPT can ‘solve’ it all making the solution easier to get up to two dozen versions and that is ‘painted’ with the writer style that is selected. So that every case-file has a different artsy approach resembling the thriller and espionage greats of the past. 

It is rather invigorating, trying to engineer a new solution from scratch. With the IP I made it was somewhat simple, now that I am getting to the nitty gritty part of the bottom layer, I need to set a different premise. The original solution that had 3 64KB mini games now becomes a lot more connecting. Each mini-game will not merely be larger, it will also give us more properties and more parameters to consider, to implement and to keep on the side to make the story work (or make it more of a story). 

From there I will need to consider the elements to make it a framework. As such it is not a framework, but a setting to create a framework for each case file. When I get that I avoid replication to a larger degree making it much more long term, or at least longer term. You see the case file is merely one side of the appeal. The cases need to have the appeal for the whole game to remain interesting, not a connection of repeated actions. The idea to enhance the original was for me a trigger to create a better game, the case file was merely an extra. Yet the idea to make it a way to connect your gaming to any other mobile solution (for the case file) will add to the larger interest for gamers and that could also be set to enhancing the gamer profiles of gamers (if the gamer desires). There are still several parts to dig into. The first is to let the gamer set the connections and data collectors in place. That gave me a few ideas to enhance the game further. The second was to set the game in a ’24 hour’ setting. 

Consider this example. Even as we see that action one and action two are interchangeable in the beginning, the setting past the second timeframes is that we could see different information in time frame three. When we add to the fact that action one and action two gives us different data we get a different and larger frame to work with, yet I also believe that any upside needs to receive a downside. We get on one side, but we are through that way denied other intelligence to work with (sorry for sounding cryptic). It becomes an altering frame within the game and now we get a new premise. We can create cases with altering time constraints. It adds to the dimensions of gaming enthusiasm. Adding the two ‘mini games’ was’t the challenge, it was how t fit it into the frame for players. Getting the introduction levels to get the first two ‘tools’ to teach the players what to do, then we get the ‘main tool’ and in the second intro mission we add one tool and in the third mission we add the second tool and after that the real missions start giving me a lot more challenges to upgrade the game from what was into what could be, but that is for soon enough.

Enjoy the day.

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February 3, 2022 · 19:45

It’s IP but not mine

I just had the weirdest daydream. In the dream I was playing a game I had never seen before. I think it was a mini-game. It was set to either DC or Batman, I honestly cannot tell. What was the setting is that the mini game had two sides and you play one side. It was like a puzzle, the weird part is that you decide to either play the antagonist, which was based on Christian Bale as the Mad Hatter with ginger moustache and goatee and the stronger he becomes in the mini game, the better your upgrades get in the real game. The mini game is time based, so you get time to consider moves and the time is set to the maximum amount of moves and time to think is reduced. So as you ponder moves you might end up only having 3 moves (in stead of 4). The opposition was the assisting protagonist played by Ewan McGregor as Bobcat. If he gets stronger he gets more upgrades and the main character gets less. It is an odd thee sided equation. The weird part is that time is a larger element in the game. I was playing the game and I was selecting moves. The board looked very “steampunk Jugendstil’ if I had to coin a phrase. I had never seen the setting before, but it was not the mini game that was capturing me, it was the tactical side of the mini game. We always tend to go to make OURSELVES stronger, to set another level by making the opponent stronger is something I had never contemplated before. We could make our assisting protagonist stronger but that also comes at a price. It is almost the equation of 10 points can be divided. If the opponent ends up with 4 points, the 6 points go to you you think, but that would be wrong, Bobcat gets 6 and you get 4, so it is a different kettle of fish. You need to make the opposition stronger to gain strength, so if Mad hatter gets 6, 6 points open up in the main game and Bobcat only gets 4. It is a different kind of seesaw. The issue in the game becomes if Bobcat becomes too strong, Mad hatter ends up being weaker, but then so do you. A puzzle where you need to consider that your allies need strength, but you need to enable a little more for you. Because if one gets too strong, the third party (either you or bobcat) loses out too fast and when the game essentially requires two players, you are out of the game, because Bobcat ended up out of the game. It is a very different dynamic and that dynamic requires a level of balance. You see the (so called) AI in a game can be twisted to break on your behalf, but if YOU become the measurement of balance and opposing decisions the decision making tree becomes a whole new thing. To coin a phrase; “The game Skyrim has skills, so if you become stealth level 5: You are 40% harder to detect when sneaking”, so what happens when your stealth level 5 implies that some opponents automatically become level 4? You have all these kinds of opponents in the DC universe. So we have the armies of the clown, two face and the penguin. They have soldiers, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. So what happens that in stealth the captains automatically become level 4? In fighting, if you are level 4, officers are automatically level 3 and below are level 2. But it is on top of what they naturally have, so you need an altering game, you cannot become a one trick pony. And the mini games decide on your assistant in that part of the game Bobcat, Catwoman, Bluebird and Azrael. It changes the dynamic of the game and more importantly is creates a much larger replayability and more challenges. Because you were playing part of a 3 sided dice and that changes the odds and the options throughout the game.

1,2,3 sided dice

As I stated this is not my IP, if any it belongs to Bob Kane, as such I put my thoughts here as Public domain so that (optionally) Mr. Kane can still become aware of it. 

As far as I can tell, this has never been done before and as such it might be an interesting push for a more challenging form of tactical games. Well, that is my part played, and it is time for me to have a sandwich and contemplate a few things in the Middle East. I think it is time to check what the media was so eager not to tell, especially as some players do no longer have the means to do the things some claim THEM to do but that is life. Have fun and Auf Weinerschitzel.

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