Michael, so what was Game Z?

Yeah, it was that Rainbow 6/Delta Force/etc. game that Zev was looking at...the setup was awesome and at the time it was right in the middle of Modern Warfare 2 mania...it was the PERFECT time for a game like that, right as the whole military shooter thing was cresting in the video game world. But there was NOTHING with that theme in the tabletop sector, which made this game feel really unique.

The game itself, I don't remember that much about it other than it obviously needed a ton of development and some simplification. The mission design was really what was most impressive, and the AI was actually pretty good. It was obviously a sloppy, kitchen sinky design by a guy that just needed a good development partner to get the good stuff out of it.

Of course, now it could probably be released more or less as-is on Kickstarter and it'd make $100k.

The game was HORRIBLE as a game, BRILLIANT as an idea. The timing was good, too. It's under development now by another unknown and probably incompetent designer.

I guess instead we got Risk Battlefield Rogue.

Frak, I'd love to have that kind of game. The nearest I know for that type of gameplay is Deadzone, but it's still plagued by linear deployment and small area of operation.

(Infinity too, but it's still too free form).

SuperflyTNT wrote: The game was HORRIBLE as a game, BRILLIANT as an idea. The timing was good, too. It's under development now by another unknown and probably incompetent designer.

probably

especially now.

Yes there is still potential for that one. It is being worked on. Have no idea what it will be like but I hope to find out at Gen Con.

It went through several developers over the years: I just wasn't happy with it and neither were they. The idea was fantastic but we wanted to have an AI, and while I still hope for that it might be that you need a mastermind/overlord controlling the bad guys.

I'm doing some designing in this territory as well. What I find hard, apart from the A.I. that you guys have mentioned, is to simulate the feeling of extremely coordinated action where timing is everything. In other words, making it mechanically and thematically, feel different than just 4 individuals fighting bad guys. You know like Doom the Board Game but with a hostage to rescue. THAT is a major challenge I feel.

Actually Gears of War does this to some extent. Cooperation is built into the very core of the game and I think there's a lot to learn from that game.

You'd be surprised, Marcussen. The trick to designing a co-op isn't trying to pidgeonhole the guys into playing together, that's not hard; the hard part is getting the AI to the point that it doesn't force the players to work together while providing a different experience each time.