Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!caen!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!uc!noc.MR.NET!news.stolaf.edu!thor.acc.stolaf.edu!seebs From: seebs@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (The Laughing Prophet) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: Zerg II Suggestions Invited Message-ID: <1991Jun29.044650.21736@news.stolaf.edu> Date: 29 Jun 91 04:46:50 GMT References: Sender: news@news.stolaf.edu Reply-To: seebs@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (The Laughing Prophet) Organization: SporkMungus Lines: 82 In article 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..."