08-30-2010, 03:11 AM
I like where you're going with this Vern. In the opinion of designing a great game, I would suggest of having each level moderate in length where it would not be the necessarily the number of rooms, perhaps the way it is designed and how much time the average player takes to beat it -- which would be 20-30 mins.
If I was helping design the game I would have a lot of smaller 20-30 min mansions that each contained a theme. For example, one mansion focused around avoiding enemies and trapping them. Another might be all about zapper beams. Who knows, seeing there will probably be a whole bunch of new features. After you've covered a bunch of themes there would be a larger, 150 room mansion (with save points, maybe?) which contained all of those themes combined. So there would be 5 little ones, then a big one, 5 more little ones, then a big one, until 30 is reached. Each big one would have the features from *all* the previous smaller levels...
It's all in the distant future, however, since the port for Windows and iPhone is going to come first.
On another note:
A in-depth storyline is a huge aspect of a video game these days and has a huge potential in attracting people of buying games. For example, I was drawn in to Ambrosia's game Aquaria because the storyline just gave you a cliffhanger feeling, leaving the player sort of guilty of not knowing what happens, in a certain way. That's the way I felt, and it worked-- I bought that game within a week.
It's an excellent game example of an intriguing storyline. Additionally, it had a level editor in which you could design your own levels -- I find that a must-have for a game to attract player communities. Frankly, MM1 might have been a lost cause without a level editor in my opinion.
Oh, also another huge change I would make is the ability to have much larger rooms. I myself am designing another game with my brother that is a side-scroller (much much different from MM) and we are going to have instead of 'rooms', massive sections in levels. I don't think that would be a good idea for your particular game design, but having larger rooms and adding a bit of scrolling in there would add a nice touch.
I have done quite a lot of research of video game marketing and design lately. Anyway... I do have more ideas, but perhaps later. It's late in my niche of the world.
If I was helping design the game I would have a lot of smaller 20-30 min mansions that each contained a theme. For example, one mansion focused around avoiding enemies and trapping them. Another might be all about zapper beams. Who knows, seeing there will probably be a whole bunch of new features. After you've covered a bunch of themes there would be a larger, 150 room mansion (with save points, maybe?) which contained all of those themes combined. So there would be 5 little ones, then a big one, 5 more little ones, then a big one, until 30 is reached. Each big one would have the features from *all* the previous smaller levels...
It's all in the distant future, however, since the port for Windows and iPhone is going to come first.
On another note:
A in-depth storyline is a huge aspect of a video game these days and has a huge potential in attracting people of buying games. For example, I was drawn in to Ambrosia's game Aquaria because the storyline just gave you a cliffhanger feeling, leaving the player sort of guilty of not knowing what happens, in a certain way. That's the way I felt, and it worked-- I bought that game within a week.
It's an excellent game example of an intriguing storyline. Additionally, it had a level editor in which you could design your own levels -- I find that a must-have for a game to attract player communities. Frankly, MM1 might have been a lost cause without a level editor in my opinion.Oh, also another huge change I would make is the ability to have much larger rooms. I myself am designing another game with my brother that is a side-scroller (much much different from MM) and we are going to have instead of 'rooms', massive sections in levels. I don't think that would be a good idea for your particular game design, but having larger rooms and adding a bit of scrolling in there would add a nice touch.
I have done quite a lot of research of video game marketing and design lately.
Anyway... I do have more ideas, but perhaps later. It's late in my niche of the world.