e.sport – tournament & show – page 5
Today, details : the objective is to allow the players to carry out the proposed missions in the best possible way. So I must have clarified these missions, and then to be able to think about the skills, abilities and objects or information to have, in order to carry them out in the most efficient way.
This is an unstoppable logic.
The major quest is the following: it is about eliminating, in one way or another, the problem posed by the two owners of the gargote pompously called guesthouse.
It is possible to kill them – to steal them – to seduce them – to divide them.
These are the 4 possible ways to succeed in this quest.
For option 1: kill the owners – by offering clues that accuse another character and obviously without being seen – what are the skills to have?
- strength / composure / creativity / intelligence / speed / discretion / indifference / agility
- + have one or more items that compromise another character.
- have if possible a character in the team capable of making a diversion
For option 2: steal the owners
The skills are : composure / discretion / agility / speed / strength / speech / cunning
- + have information on the location of the hoard / information about its actual content – in case there is nothing or not enough or compromising
- If possible, have a key or a pass to speed up the movement.
If possible, have a character in the team capable of creating a diversion.
For option 3 : attracting the owners
The skills are : charm / empathy / creativity / intelligence / speech / cunning
- have information – clues that will allow to seduce: Mr AND Mrs
- have secondary quest items that will allow you to seduce them too.
For option 4: Dividing Owners
The skills are : empathy / indifference / intelligence / speech / cunning / charm
- to have information – clues that will help break up the couple Mr AND Mrs.
- have secondary quest objects to prove this information.
This gives me skills that will either be shared on several paths or more particularly adapted to one or the other chosen path.
For example, charm is fundamental to succeed in Option 3 – cunning for Option 4 – agility for Option 2 and intelligence for Option 1.
With this, I already know which characters are going to be oriented towards which path, since they are going to carry out their main quest to either collect clues or improve some of their abilities. As a result, I pre-orient them de facto.
So I’ve got enough to build the quests for phase 3, since it’s all about allowing the characters to get the elements they’re going to need to complete the major quest.
These principles will lead to real team strategies. Indeed, in the final phase, there will be only four teams left in the competition.
So don’t eliminate a team that you might need to succeed in your quest.
Nor should you arrive without the necessary clues and/or items – you can, but your chances of success will be slimmed down.
And so, as the inventor of the game, I know that I will place, for phase 4, means of help for those who would arrive having “burned everything” in phase 3: they will lose time, but they will still be able to achieve the goal.
Perhaps I shouldn’t give you this to read, I’m afraid I’m not very clear. Right now, you and I are having an experience – following my thoughts almost live, I’m just a little ahead of the game. Really not very much. So, please, forgive me when it’s not clear.
Let’s continue – I’m moving on to Phase 3, the phase of the main quests of my 12 teams.
At this point, everything is still possible for each of the characters – and each of the teams.
Well… I loved the naughty cheat races, you know, those races where you almost care more about throwing shots at others than you do about winning?
So, with the relationships between teams that I’m putting in place, it’s going to be possible to literally scuttle the other teams’ quest progress – possible to empty the safe – possible to deposit compromising clues – possible to kill the team’s main character – possible to send him to the hospital, to jail, to look for strawberries in the winter, in short to eliminate him.
There are two options here – and here again, I base myself on my experience as a player. When I play dirty cheat races, and we play together, we all have an eye on the other team’s screen to anticipate their dirty tricks.
Players are used to doing that.
Also, it will be a tournament – so the images of the different screens of the different teams will be visible.
Of course, each team will have a watchful eye on what the team that is ” hunting ” them is doing.
My first option is classic: it is always possible to check the screens of the other teams. There are a lot of teams, so there is a good chance that the trap will go unnoticed.
The advantage is that the spectators will be able to see the trap and get stressed if it’s a trap for a character they support.
The disadvantage is that they can fan the trap before phase 4 – and that would be sad.
So here I am in a second, less classic option: giving players and teams the possibility to hide their screens for a limited time. In other words, nobody but them can see or hear what’s going on.
You see, as I want to allow some nice theatrics in the final phase, some phases of the game must be hidden. All cheaters will tell you: the most beautiful cheating is done in full view of everyone – but it’s still good to have discreet moments.
So, to allow each other to get caught, I have to integrate hidden moments to the other teams.
Here’s the solution I like: in phase 2 and phase 3, we offer each character an object of invisibility: a single object for both phases. This object is for a single use and for a limited time – 40 seconds seems to me to be more than enough – but to be tested. In 40 seconds, your character has the time to change place and do what he has to do, with no control of anyone, no visuals.
Your screen will appear “black” to the others: so the others will know that you’ve done something wrong – they may try to counter this – but they won’t know which one.
And that will add a real dose of suspense for everyone – players and spectators alike.
The teams will of course have to consult each other seriously to know when to use these objects – so there are 5 per team – and for what use. They can use it “cash” to really trap another team, or to bluff and waste another team’s time – that will be their game strategy.
I’m very happy with myself for tonight – but before I forget, I’m adding another element, which I will develop:
As there will only be 4 finalist teams – that on the game’s premises there will be the possibility of traps set by teams that will have lost but will have left the trap – that eliminated teams can be eliminated but have, at the end of phase 3, objects or useful information for the finalists, I wanted to. … yes then there ok, I unicorn, so… I wanted to leave it up to the eliminated teams to decide whether or not to give their objects/information to one or all of the finalist teams – whether or not to reveal their traps.
Basically, I give them the opportunity to be “good losers”, to be fair play, and to support one, two, or all of the teams for that matter.
I, who am the opposite of that, am horrified by this proposal – I know what I would have chosen.
But it seems that many people in the world are good players and happy losers.
In this case, the team that helps someone else win will be mentioned at the moment of the final victory. That’s the great, mind-blowing time of: we are all great people.
In the field of video games, there will be lots of angry sore losers, I will feel less lonely.
So I have: the essential skills my characters will need.
The objects/types of objects that I need to invent and then scatter throughout the game.
The cheating-object par excellence, which I will have to “dress” and diversify anyway.
I still have to add more crazy but useful skills to give more shine to all this.
And clarify in real life the objects/indices.
Then I’ll take back my 12 characters – who for the moment have all the abilities, some at level 1 and others at level 12: I’ll take away two abilities completely – they will be denied access – which will give the character the obligation to be completed by the characters of the Borderlands game – and I’ll remodulate the ability levels, so as not to have characters that are too linear.
Finally, I will have to invent ways to improve these different abilities – and there I will be entirely in line with Sheogorath’s theme of insanity.
I’m moving slowly, but I’m moving forward.
Featured Image : screenshot from Crash Team Racing – Polar Pass – by Naughty Dog– remastered by Beenox in 2019 ( Crash Team Racing Nitro-fueled) the so famous TNT box…. yes, yes, all right, it stays one of my favourite race.
ALTAIR - Concepts 