Which game design sounds coolest?

C is the most fertile ground for me.

I like the SURVIVE-inspired design with different height tiles representing different floors. Players could face the option of running down to ground floor, or running up to possible helicopter rescue. Scenarios don't have to be different disasters; they could just be different buildings, cruise ship, oil derrick, a wildfire, &c. Running from fire is a pretty primal instinct.

Cyberpunk and vampires are sooo plaaaaaaayed. Might as well make a zombie steampunk dungeon crawl. This is a tough audience for that kind of question though isn't it? If I went to ConSimWorld and asked if I should make a WWII squad-based game or a Civil War skirmish title, would I get the side-eye?

I would love to see a good Cyberpunk game. And by good, I mean excellent.

That said, you could make a better version of Downfall of Pompeii with the disaster theme.

SebastianBludd wrote: I like the disaster movie idea the best; better yet if you could play three different modes where in one it's fire, another is a flood, and the third is an earthquake (probably a nightmare to design but it would be great for replayability). A big theme in disaster movies is individuals jeopardizing the safety or plans of the group for selfish reasons (i.e., a kid going after his dog, the misanthropic loner, the rich guy who refuses to leave behind his briefcase of money, etc.), so implementing that in some fashion would set it apart from a standard "rescue all the people you can" scenario.

Sebastian, That is exactly the heart of what I am thinking for the game. Did you ever see the movie "The Miracle Mile" where everyone could have escaped hours ago if everyone didn't have someone else they had to bring with? Or Slim Pickens with his bottle of champagne in "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure". I even have a "grudge" mechanic that if that particular pain in the butt NPC happens to die, you get a short term benefit from it (although you lose some points in the end game) - a little like the smelly mall Santa dying in Dead of Winter.

Scott Rogers wrote:

SebastianBludd wrote: I like the disaster movie idea the best; better yet if you could play three different modes where in one it's fire, another is a flood, and the third is an earthquake (probably a nightmare to design but it would be great for replayability). A big theme in disaster movies is individuals jeopardizing the safety or plans of the group for selfish reasons (i.e., a kid going after his dog, the misanthropic loner, the rich guy who refuses to leave behind his briefcase of money, etc.), so implementing that in some fashion would set it apart from a standard "rescue all the people you can" scenario.

Sebastian, That is exactly the heart of what I am thinking for the game. Did you ever see the movie "The Miracle Mile" where everyone could have escaped hours ago if everyone didn't have someone else they had to bring with? Or Slim Pickens with his bottle of champagne in "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure". I even have a "grudge" mechanic that if that particular pain in the butt NPC happens to die, you get a short term benefit from it (although you lose some points in the end game) - a little like the smelly mall Santa dying in Dead of Winter.

Miracle Mile is one of my classic faves. Almost unknown, awesome movie.

Re: Poseidon Adventure +

That would be fucking rad - the ship is sinking, and so the board has a water line at which point everything beneath has extra risk - anything 2 levels beneath is gone for good. You can rescue women and children, you can recover works of art, and you can loot shit like diamonds, watches, etc. Placement is cubes, random pulls from bags. The people have a simple AI and will try to move up to the top. The catch: You can only score ONE category, and you must have the most in the category to score it.

If you make that game, make sure to make the cruise line Carnaval so it can be a reasonable simulation to what will likely happen if you take a Carnaval cruise.

Wasn't there a game based on the Titanic that did exactly that? It had something like a flip book with the ship sinking deper on each flip.

... yeah, "SOS Titanic" by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc. I have no idea how the game plays.

I find the idea a bit saddening though. It's like when we play Flash Point and you have to tell the kids that little Jimmy has to have his token taken off the board because he just burnt to death while they were trying to save the cat. It's difficult to relate to because it's a game and therefore there is some cold hard logic involved at some point.

I do like the idea of a malevolent element involved, like a tower that's been possessed by evil spirits that want to steal souls and crush the building, that way it would also make sense as a pvp game. I don't think I'd want to play a game where you are asked to choose between saving lives or lining your pockets with stolen treasure because that's an artificial game-based decision and not a moral choice.

There were two and both sucked. One was “Something D” and the other was SOS.

mezike wrote: I don't think I'd want to play a game where you are asked to choose between saving lives or lining your pockets with stolen treasure because that's an artificial game-based decision and not a moral choice.

No, I think you misunderstand. You are trying to save lives. The NPCs are trying to line their pockets with stolen treasure.

SuperflyTNT wrote: Re: Poseidon Adventure +

That would be fucking rad - the ship is sinking, and so the board has a water line at which point everything beneath has extra risk - anything 2 levels beneath is gone for good. You can rescue women and children, you can recover works of art, and you can loot shit like diamonds, watches, etc. Placement is cubes, random pulls from bags. The people have a simple AI and will try to move up to the top. The catch: You can only score ONE category, and you must have the most in the category to score it.

That is pretty similar to SAVE DOCTOR LUCKY, the rarely-played sequel to the semi-classic and better-known other one.

OP: I like big dumb disaster movie myself. Airport ‘77 or something. Anything with a jaded hero, a plucky kid, and big lapels.