ms0p+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Gordon Shapiro) (06/23/91)
That's right - everyone's* favorite Amiga adventure may soon have a successor. I've been toying around with the idea of designing a Zerg II, and, seeing as summer is rather apparently upon us, now have the time to implement it. The potential plot and gameplay details are, as you might expect, somewhat vague and fluid. Unlike in Zerg I, however, this won't be the case after the program is released. Feeling a ShareWare author's dim sense of obligation to his frothing public, I am at present accepting suggestions as to what to include in this epic-to-be, including: o Basic genre of game. Do you prefer a logic-and-puzzle oriented game, or acerebral mayhem, a la Hack? Or perhaps a combination? o Setting. Do you enjoy plowing through bucolic fields and forests, or burroughing your way into an ill-sanitized dungeon? o Plot. Do you want one? Should I make a pretense of developing a storyline beyond "bring the chalice to the gold castle while avoiding Yorkle, Grundle, and Rhindle"? Do you like prose-filled games? Can you, in fact, read? o Interface. Did you like the Ultima-style graphics of Zerg I? Do you prefer a more 3-D look? Animations? Multiple resolutions? Do you honestly think that I'm even going to look at any suggstions you make on this topic? Any other points you care to make are also solicited, along with unbelievable sums of money and new cars. Keep in mind that I'm not promising anything, but the more vehement responses I get, the more likely am I to be motivated enough to write this thing. Thank you, and good night. * Quantitative term "everyone" is a rough estimate based upon a particularly vivid dream the author had a few nights ago. Actual number of people who find Zerg more fun to play than Clock may vary. Mike Shapiro ms0p@andrew.cmu.edu I don't live in fantasy; I only work there.
ttr1415@helios.TAMU.EDU (Thom Robertson) (06/24/91)
Sure! I for one enjoyed the sarcastic humor of Zerg, and I felt all that was needed for a more enjoyable time was a more defined Ultimate Goal. You want to hear my opinions? I'm flattered. I want a landscape AND dungeons AND special adventure areas in BOTH. I want around 50 monsters, 30 weapons, 30 armor, and local specialization (i.e. some monsters, weapons, etc. only found in certain places). I want a storyline. Not a big one, mind you, but enough to support the Final Goal, which I want most of all, and which, IMHO, is THE key to fun in adventuring. Some parts of the world (dungeon levels, perhaps) could be random, but I like my world to be rather static. A LARGE world map would be apprieciated, too. I like having only one character in an adventure (Blashpemer! Gasp!!). It gives me more of a role-playing sense. Well, that's my wants. If you need any help w/ C code on the Amiga, I would be happy to contribute my knowledge and a few of my man hours coding (not that I'm a better programmer, understand, I'm just offering to help). BTW, I'v got some code that smooth-scrolls an Ultima-like map. Would you like it? :) Thom Robertson
seebs@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (The Laughing Prophet) (06/29/91)
In article <scMtYOq00awVM0g0xu@andrew.cmu.edu> ms0p+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Gordon Shapiro) writes: >That's right - everyone's* favorite Amiga adventure may soon have a >successor. I've been toying around with the idea of designing a Zerg >II, and, seeing as summer is rather apparently upon us, now have the >time to implement it. Yes!!!! A friend of mine and I discovered Zerg I recently, and played it through about 3 times. Oh, such challenges.... Actually, though, it was pretty fun. I like the graphics. >o Basic genre of game. Do you prefer a logic-and-puzzle oriented game, >or acerebral mayhem, a la Hack? Or perhaps a combination? Something sort of like Ultima IV or so... Actually, hack isn't acerebral if you *really* want to win reliably. ;-) However, it's certainly fun to have the option of fighting a lot. Perhaps have modes you can switch between: one in which there are lots of fights, so you can build up huge amounts of power, one in which there are only rare fights, so you can move through it faster. And, of course, if you solve enough puzzles, you don't *need* to be as powerful... >o Setting. Do you enjoy plowing through bucolic fields and forests, or >burroughing your way into an ill-sanitized dungeon? Both! (Of course.) >o Plot. Do you want one? Should I make a pretense of developing a >storyline beyond "bring the chalice to the gold castle while avoiding >Yorkle, Grundle, and Rhindle"? Do you like prose-filled games? Can >you, in fact, read? *grin* Yeah, I can read. Some prose would be nice, and a plot too, but for the most part keep with the current set up. I was thinking that, if you have occasional messages show up in the window below the main graphics display, this would turn out to be a near-optimal solution. >o Interface. Did you like the Ultima-style graphics of Zerg I? Do you >prefer a more 3-D look? Animations? Multiple resolutions? Do you >honestly think that I'm even going to look at any suggstions you make on >this topic? *smirk* I liked the graphics. Perhaps limited animation, though. It's not that hard to implement. ;-) And it does allow for icons which, say, out of a 20-some frame sequence, twitch once (ala mimics in ultima, as I recall)... >Any other points you care to make are also solicited, along with >unbelievable sums of money and new cars. Hmm. I believe Zerg 1.0 (or whichever version I have) mentioned the possibility of either doing 32 color (what it had, I think), 16-color, or a hi-res 16 color. I would suggest going with either 32 color or hi-res 16 color - possibly even interlace! ;-) (I have a '3k ... I like interlace.) >Keep in mind that I'm not promising anything, but the more vehement >responses I get, the more likely am I to be motivated enough to write >this thing. Do it! Everyone I know who has played Zerg has loved it and wanted to see more! >Thank you, and good night. >* Quantitative term "everyone" is a rough estimate based upon a >particularly vivid dream the author had a few nights ago. Actual number >of people who find Zerg more fun to play than Clock may vary. *smirk* You have a way with words. The TFOL for Zerg 1 was one of the better Doc-type things I've ever read. >Mike Shapiro >ms0p@andrew.cmu.edu >I don't live in fantasy; I only work there. Nice quote. --SeebS-- -- Peter Seebach - The Laughing Prophet | | Anonymous Posting Here! I don't speak for St. Olaf, St. Olaf | | seebs@acc.stolaf.edu doesn't speak for me, and Marcel Marceau | | "Forgive them Father, for they speaks for no one. | | do not get the joke..."
x3212ijt@MAPLE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU (06/30/91)
2) I would like a game with a lot of text, the majority of the game occupied in cities or dealing with NPCs, with a little wilderness and dungeon, but not much. A game which combines Ultima IV and V, all the Infocom greats, the SSI crpgs, Might and Magic I, II, and III, Dungeon Master, and the story-telling powergaming actually-close-to-ROLE-PLAYING game which does not exist yet. (Sounds pretty easy, huh?) (: x3212ijt@maple.circa.ufl.edu Oh, yeah. Make it point and skill-based, not class-based, and make raising levels a choice to be unimportant.
x3212ijt@MAPLE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU (07/01/91)
Darn news errors. Where can I get Zerg I? What is it? x3212ijt me? you sure?