Fancy setting us a gaming challenge? Get in touch here!
Promises of grand gaming adventures and intriguing insights, that's what awaits you in this week's episode of the Gaming Blender! It's a warm reunion as your hosts, Scott and Matthew discuss the intricacies of the Game Awards nominations. Uncover our thoughts on the Game of the Year contenders and ponder what it truly means to be an independent game.
Next we channel our creativity into crafting a hypothetical battle royale game, injecting unique mechanics like permadeath, motion controls, and an "ultimate team" concept. The journey continues as we navigate the terrain of narrative creation in video games. Immerse yourself as we unveil a gripping game concept set in a dystopian future, with humanity pit against an AI overlord, a narrative that weaves itself into the multiplayer gameplay.
Until next time, keep gaming, keep exploring!
Thanks for listening and please leave us a review and subscribe if you enjoyed it. It really helps us out. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gaming-blender/id1597738101
Also please get in touch with us at @gamingblendpod or thegamingblenderpod@gmail.com with your ideas for new games and challenges.
We have begun to update our YouTube channel with video playthroughs and we hope to put more up there soon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZTPuScm5BTf8DdwvaCj0jQ
Keep blending!
Fancy setting us a gaming challenge? Get in touch here!
Promises of grand gaming adventures and intriguing insights, that's what awaits you in this week's episode of the Gaming Blender! It's a warm reunion as your hosts, Scott and Matthew discuss the intricacies of the Game Awards nominations. Uncover our thoughts on the Game of the Year contenders and ponder what it truly means to be an independent game.
Next we channel our creativity into crafting a hypothetical battle royale game, injecting unique mechanics like permadeath, motion controls, and an "ultimate team" concept. The journey continues as we navigate the terrain of narrative creation in video games. Immerse yourself as we unveil a gripping game concept set in a dystopian future, with humanity pit against an AI overlord, a narrative that weaves itself into the multiplayer gameplay.
Until next time, keep gaming, keep exploring!
Thanks for listening and please leave us a review and subscribe if you enjoyed it. It really helps us out. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gaming-blender/id1597738101
Also please get in touch with us at @gamingblendpod or thegamingblenderpod@gmail.com with your ideas for new games and challenges.
We have begun to update our YouTube channel with video playthroughs and we hope to put more up there soon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZTPuScm5BTf8DdwvaCj0jQ
Keep blending!
Hello all and welcome back to the Gaming Blender. No, no, no, your ears do not deceive you, for it is I. I have returned from many, many days and weeks of travel and being away from my beloved podcast. But I have returned, don't worry, and I'm of course here with Matthew. Matthew, how?
Speaker 2:are you? Hello, I am very well, scott, is lovely to have you back on. Two things to start off. Firstly, very formal thing I'd like to thank. I'd like to thank Gareth Pete and best guest for keeping Scott's seat warm. I've loved every minute of it. He's back now.
Speaker 1:He's looked every minute of me not being here.
Speaker 2:Not being around. And the second thing I want to say is your return. You've started off like episode nine, where it's like and Palpatine returned, we didn't know how.
Speaker 1:A message from across the galaxy. He's returned. Yes, no, I wasn't a little bit like that. But yes, everyone, welcome back to the Gaming Blender and welcome back to the usual duo of myself and Matthew. I have missed it immensely.
Speaker 2:It is lovely to have you back, scott. I mean the hours, the days we just sat there and we went. We don't know what to create. Scott would come up. Scott would stop me coming up with terrible ideas about that.
Speaker 1:I mean, would I or would I just feed you to continue the bad ideas, before then going, god, this is a terrible idea, let's move on yeah, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:this is the thing you do often just go and that idea wouldn't work back in your box.
Speaker 1:I never tell you to get back in your box. That would be you do multiple times.
Speaker 2:If we go back through podcasts, it'll be many times we go and where's this idea going? And I go.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't say it, I just think it in my head and that's and those are two very, very different things. No, but in all seriousness, everyone, welcome back to the gaming blender, and tonight we should be cooking up something lovely for you, as usual, if possible. I have, of course, been away, so I've not been able to continue my gaming journey. However, matthew, you have been at home. What have you been doing? Gaming wise?
Speaker 2:So I've been trying to get through Assassin's Creed Mirage, which has been fine. I've been in the second. It's been, unfortunately it was fine.
Speaker 2:I bought it because, unfortunately, my partner was ill and I kind of had an evening and was sort of like I'm just gonna play it and it was perfectly entertaining. And then Spider-Man came out two weeks later and all I want to do is play Spider-Man. So it is, but I don't know if anyone listeners, who you've ever had this where you just like I just need to finish this game. I don't feel like I'm enjoying it anymore, and that's no fault of the game, that's just because I can see what's beyond the horizon. The other thing that I've been doing is looking at the game awards. Now, scott, you would have missed this because you've been away, but I wanted to ask your opinion on what actually first I was. Do you know what has been done for best game this year?
Speaker 1:I actually have no idea. I've managed to somehow avoid this entirely, so I would appreciate some enlightenment.
Speaker 2:So this is the game awards. So obviously I'm just loading it up here. Do you have any idea what could have been nominated best game?
Speaker 1:I mean Baldur's Gate 3 was kind of like everyone was like, wow, this is amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so that's in.
Speaker 1:Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate is in there. Okay, as in as in, you got. You got awards.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, it's been nominated for Game of the Year. Oh, I see so this is the game. This is the shortlist.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what else would be on there? What else came out this year? What did come out this year? Give me some things that came out this year and I'll say where I think I want. I'll just say, because I'm looking at them now, I'll just end up saying the ones that are going out, so do you want me to just tell you and I'll get through the actual yeah, no, no, no, tell me, because I'm I was here for days, I'm being used to it.
Speaker 2:So the nomination Baldur's Gate 2. Oh sorry, baldur's Gate 2. Baldur's Gate 3. Yeah. Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Okay. Resident Evil 4 remake Yep. Super Mario Bros Wanda yeah. The Legend of Zelda Tis, the Kingdom yeah. And Alan Wake 2. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So interesting. Those are all very. I mean, other than obviously Baldur's Gate 3 took a long time to make, but Larry and I are at a massive studio.
Speaker 2:They're not, but interestingly and this is a fun one they're nominated for best indie game. A Because it was the. I don't believe they have a publisher, they just have a bloke who owns it, who's funneled his own money into it, so that's technically an indie game. So Baldur's Gate is nominated for best independent game.
Speaker 1:As your publisher. He's just a man who lives over there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so they don't have a backer, so they've been nominated for best independent game.
Speaker 1:Interesting because obviously it did so well and everyone's been blown away by how much time and effort has been put into it and how well made it is.
Speaker 2:Let's not just debate about, do we, what defines an independent game? I very much fall down on the. I think nominating Baldur's Gate is perfectly legitimate because if it is independent, if someone just channelled their money into it. I know people like, oh, it doesn't feel like an indie game. It's like, well, it's hard to get into that. You just need to take it for face value and go. This is what an indie game is. You need to have funded it. I think it's an exception. It will never keep happening.
Speaker 1:No. So what we're saying is, that is, the indie games are not at all related. You cannot judge an. You cannot say something's an indie game because of its quality and its refinement? No, it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think it's like that. I don't think there's an element of. I think you need to scientifically define it anyway. So it's been nominated, I think. Looking at those nominations, my opinion is and I'm like too, I haven't played it, I've heard exceptional things and I feel like it really pushes the boat out. Spider-man 2, yeah, fine, fine, it was going to get nominated. Super Mario Bros Wanda I mean, it's another Super Mario game. Yeah, has it pushed the medium forward? Probably not. I haven't played it, but it is the kingdom yeah, I think that was always going to be on there. Yes, the first one before is an interesting one because that's obviously a remake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's your opinion with that? Well so, as it's a remake and not a remaster, I suppose it depends on how much they've changed it.
Speaker 2:So it does feel very different as a game because there are lots of tweaks, but you are fundamentally, you can create something exceptional, but it's not necessarily brand new.
Speaker 1:It's. Yeah, it's along the same lines as the original. In that case, I was just perhaps yeah, I'm not sure about that one. I think to me it's probably going to be either Baldur's Gate 3, it is the Kingdom or Spider-Man.
Speaker 2:I don't think it is. It is my favorite. I don't think it is the kingdom We'll get it, because I think Tears of the Kingdom is too similar to Breath of the Wild. I think Breath of the Wild is very much from In Tears of the Kingdom's Core. I think Baldur's Gate was going to sweep it this year. I just think that that game has created such news and noise that it's hard to look past it. The last time, obviously, like I said the last time, it reminds me a lot of Elden Ring when it came out. It just seems to sweep everything else under the carpet. So I think it's Baldur's Gate to lose and Spider-Man. I've heard great things but again, these are a lot of sequels here, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean, I think my favorite thing about the whole Baldur's Gate thing was the reaction of all the other developers. So many developers were just so negative because they didn't want gamers to think that that was going to be the new benchmark, which is awkward, because I think there's going to be a lot of people now that are going to think or expect that to be the new benchmark.
Speaker 2:I think so. I think it's interesting that Starfield's not on there. I don't think Starfield was actually meant to be that good, but I thought Starfield would get on that because of the publicity it had. So I think that's an interesting omission. And I think that Bethesda Bethesda are very interesting because they released a new IP and I thought it was a lot of build up to it, but it seems to have dissipated quite quickly after the release.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think. I mean I haven't played it yet, but from the sounds of it it's a bit too empty. By the sounds of it there's a lot that you can do, but it's a bit like when no Man's Sky came out. Obviously they're not the same game, but there's a lot of stuff you can, your places you can go to, but there's not much. There is what I've heard, for enough. I think.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, it's an interesting line up and I'm interested in you, wins, but I think Baldur's Gate is just going to sweep this year because of what it is new and bringing the industry forward. But far too much about the, about the state of gaming, scott. I feel we need to make a game, are we? Are we?
Speaker 1:not, of course, and I am very excited to be back in our the co-hosted host chair. That makes sense, the co-hosted host chair. So, yes, we shall. We shall crack on. For those who are new to the podcast, welcome. For those who are existing, welcome back. Eight minutes in If you're still here, eight minutes in If you're still here. Thank you for listening to us Wrap it on. At Game Blender, what we like to do is, every week, wherever two weeks are, create a brand new hypothetical game based from a random selection of plots, mechanics and genres, and today we'll be doing just that again. So, matthew, what I would like you to do, as always, is no wrong. No, no, you've rolled, yes, you've already rolled the dice. We've already rolled the dice, you see.
Speaker 2:So, matthew, so it was weird, actually, just just just slight, slight tangent, because when you were away, because I didn't have you getting the same three numbers every time, I was able to allow people to guess again. So it was nice to just hear different things.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you mean. So what you have today to play around with is first of all, as your genre, the number 20, which is a battle royale. Oh, okay. I don't think we've done for a long time if at all. Then, for your mechanics, you have numbers 13 and 21, which are permadeath.
Speaker 2:Well, that works. That's not straight into battle royale.
Speaker 1:And motion control. Oh no, yes and yes. That's it for now.
Speaker 2:So what do you think about having that Go on? What's your opinion on permadeath? Because a battle royale naturally has permadeath anyway. Do you feel like we need another, another role, because it's naturally built into the genre anyway?
Speaker 1:No, you mean an extra role to supplement.
Speaker 2:Yes, because permadeath is built into battle royale as a.
Speaker 1:Unless you can think of an entertaining way to do.
Speaker 2:No, I think, go for another role. I think, because I think permadeath is virtually non-existent.
Speaker 1:What can I do? Ok, see ya Right Stand by and call it, so I made it worse. No, so what you have is number 20, which is Dark Souls bonfires.
Speaker 2:Oh, we have that with Garry very recently. Would you like to do another one? We'd like to do another one.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So if we don't have that, I feel like listeners. Just to be clear, I'm not choosing here, I'm just trying to add a bit of variety.
Speaker 1:Yes, we always want to give you some variety. Okay, so what you have now is number 14, which is ultimate team. Oh God's sake, you wanted a third role.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to. Third role Right, okay, so let's break this down. Permadeff obviously sought straight into battle royale. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. Motion controls back again, the bin. We're going to ignore it. We're going to ignore it for a moment.
Speaker 2:Ultimate team Now, ultimate team is an interesting one because I like the idea of, in a battle royale, say, you have a squad and you have to pick and you essentially build up the squad, but then you have to take each one out to the battle royale, depending on, like, who suits it, maybe Okay, but then obviously if you lose, you lose that player.
Speaker 2:So you have to judge correctly because you don't want to go in and then essentially go go and say I'm going to use Johnny the strong man on this, on this amazing strong man, johnny, strong man, johnny. I'm taking strong man Johnny out on this lovely, like iceplained one, because he's really good at dealing with cold conditions, and then he immediately slips and cracks his skull open and then you're like, well, that's, strong man, johnny's gone. So it's almost a mixture of to bring back to what best guess said last week, like using XCOM as a style thing, where you have this squad, so, as we could do, ultimate team and maybe you put in for a pool of players every week. Maybe every time you log on, you could literally be given a little squad and you're like right, okay, this is who I've got to play with today.
Speaker 1:So what if? What if you? What if, when you, when you went into, when you decide what you're going to do, so you load up the game, when you say, right, okay, so I'm with you. So far you get. You get to choose whether you're going to lead the team or be or be one of the squad, okay, so, basically. So basically, could you do a thing where it's a bit like a school, where you have team, where you are either two. We're basically like you choose to be either the team captain or you choose to get picked.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then you take, you take a role. So the ultimate team thing is kind of maybe you, maybe, so what you can have is you can have.
Speaker 1:You can have two, two, essentially two people log on. They both decide to be I want to be a captain today, cool. So those two people then randomly put together you two are going to fight each other. And then let's say it's safe. It's four, four person teams, five person is whatever, it is Safe. Eight or 10 players.
Speaker 2:So I did.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be a player, then get pushed in to the game and then each there's a there's like a flip, a flip, a flip of the coin for who gets to pick first, and then you each start picking players, one at a time a bit like oh, what you're saying is you are the ultimate team cards.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's brilliant. I love that because because that is essentially the someone else would see your stats and be like, oh my god, oh my god, I've unlocked strongman Johnny 04 to who is the best shooter in the thing. That's a really neat idea, because then you have, like the unusually say, everybody gets picked and you can build up your stats and then next time you can go and choose to be in the draw. That's really cool. I like that idea.
Speaker 1:And you can. You can make it. So there's a design idea. You can design your own. Well, I think things, some things have to be the same, so like where the stats are needs to be the same, but other than that, I think you can design what your card looks like, just to give players a bit of a bit of a sort of a you know a little bit of a and then, yeah, I mean it's the end of daylight.
Speaker 1:I'm sure there's some people like I got picked last, but at the end of the day, like you know, you still get picked, you still get again. You still get to use to play.
Speaker 2:If you're having a team's, how does battle where I work? Is it the simple just eliminate? Are we just going with the classic eliminate everybody in the opposition? Are we doing the shooter?
Speaker 1:So you could do. That's interesting, that's interesting.
Speaker 2:Does this define what the motion controls are?
Speaker 1:Mmm. Oh, that's a very good point. And how do you? Okay? So I think motion controls for this will probably work better, if it's.
Speaker 2:If you say it's in VR, I'm going to hang it up right now. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:I wasn't going to say that I was going to say it probably works better if it's guns rather than swords and stuff. Because then because I was people are just going to go like this and just sort of throw arms around.
Speaker 2:Unless what you do is you take the operation flashpoint approach to injuries and wounds and apply that for motion controls, because then what you'll do is you'll see people get sliced by swords and they will, like, naturally bleed out. So actually, what you end up having is people can't go, yeah, because they're open to attack. So you do you see what I mean? You have to, like you naturally, encourage a more defensive style.
Speaker 1:So it's a bit like when we play chivalry and in the first few seconds we run in and go blah and then die immediately. And then we get actually and you just go, I love my axe, yes. And then we actually think, okay, we need to actually concentrate and okay, now I see what you're saying. So are you leaning more towards sort of melee combat, with the odd range to a bit like a melee?
Speaker 2:Maybe what you could do is you could do it, because obviously the difficulty with motion controls is it's hard to be moving around and then jumping down. So what you could do is you could almost have it as in you is designed around, sort of samurai, one-on-one fighting, but you only have to deal when you make like, when you get challenged, if that makes sense, and to be challenged you have to be seen by the opposition. So you essentially it'll be quite a stealthy game, like trying to get into positions where you can get past there, get behind enemy lines. Actually, I don't know if getting behind enemy lines kind of works, because there's no advantage to attacking them from behind.
Speaker 1:Probably not no, Especially if you think he's like small teams or you know, I'm not sure that would work. I don't think so.
Speaker 2:No, no, I don't.
Speaker 1:Unless it was like, unless it was a bit like so, a bit like Battlefront, where there's loads of bots as well, then it might work. But I don't know. It depends if you want to do that or not. Difficult.
Speaker 2:No, I think. Just I'm trying to think of just a really unique way of approaching the motion control dilemma. That isn't gun or sword, I'm just thinking is there any other way we can integrate it? That feels natural, Like one thought that I originally had was when you was vehicle. Like you know, when battle royale you always get dropped in or you approach. It's that thing Like maybe you approach on a plane and you have to land it or you have to, you have to use the motion controls to do that. But that feels kind of tagged on, not not integral to the gameplay.
Speaker 1:I have one idea you could make it so that the motion control is an important part of the game but not integral in that. A bit like how you have, a bit like how you have a in. Is it Mortal Kombat? Is finishing from Mortal Kombat? Yes, okay. So a bit like how you have like finishing, like finishing moves. You get to choose how you do that. Perhaps the motion control comes in when you've downed someone and when that person, when that person is at your mercy, that's when the motion control kicks in. Then it gives the players the choice of how they want to finish that person. Maybe you do it like that and the rest of the gameplay is normal. Do you?
Speaker 2:I'm more and more worried is that ever cop out. It feels like a cop out, feels like it's not integral to the gameplay. I feel like you need an element to it. What you could do here's an idea. What you could do is that, instead of like the flat grounds, you could make it guns. You can make guns, okay. Instead of the flat grounds you could, you could have it. So it's a very vertical game, okay.
Speaker 2:So you have to climb and whenever you have to climb, you have to literally drag yourself up, using what I'm doing is I'm imagining using a Playstation controller for all this, because I'm imagining the sort of that simplistic obrochoscope motion control. So, say, you have to climb your way up and just Do that physically, or maybe use the yeah, you use the triggers to like hold your hands, to like pull yourself up, and then there are levels and essentially, each level you get to is more easily, more easily defended. So you have a choice with these platforms that you climb up and the. The idea is, do we go and try and climb as quickly as possible, get to the best defendable spot, or do we take the opposition on now in the sort of lower, more spread out regions, and it can be guns as well. So you have this thing where you can shoot the opposition. You can turn around and shoot them While you're hanging from ropes or whatever, using one hands or several out, but you can't be climbing at the same time because you can't be doing the motion control, what you're trying to aim.
Speaker 2:So that's the, that's the integration, the motion controls, like it's literally like trying to pull yourself up and the higher you get, the more defendable is because you got guns and then, that said, that there's an empty fortress on top that your team could defend if they get there first. So you have that tactical element of do we? And maybe that's how you do the battle around as well. You know the sort of closing fog. Instead you have rising seas, very similar to like in worms. So you have the rising seas. So you have to keep staying ahead of the sea and and climbing up, and climbing up, and climbing up. But also you can go like I catch, we're gonna take a few of them on at this stage because this works.
Speaker 1:Okay. So it's a bit like. It's kind of like team deathmatch and King of the Hill the same time. Yeah, okay, okay, yeah, that could work. Different, definitely different.
Speaker 2:I'd like the idea of just sort of how you choose, choose whether you take them on. It's a bit like you know that opening scene in the hunger games. That first time we had the really sort quite harrowing scene yes, it's all charge in. It's like do I get a weapon or do I run the opposite direction? Yeah, and I like that idea of the sort of right, what, what are we gonna do? Which approach should we take? And even when I mean I don't know how much you play for now, I remember the brief period of time I played for tonight and went, oh my god, I get killed all the time. I remember that period of just I like the idea of do you we've got a pick somewhere no one's going to, or do we jump straight into the fray? It's a very sort of balanced approach.
Speaker 1:I will admit, I have never played for night.
Speaker 2:I. I See the attraction through the simplicity. I could just never get hold of the building controls, and the people at the end could always build. That's the thing. Yeah, knock me out. I've just never been a massive, like multiplayer player.
Speaker 1:I'm more. I'm more like a, like a Play with friends or single player. Yeah, like get gamer. Um, okay, I think we've. We've, we fleshed out Most of a game there, but obviously, listeners, we need to add in some sort of story, some sort of narrative and For this, matthew, what you have as your narrative.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:Is number 16, and number 16 is Sacrifice. Oh dear Lord, how do you?
Speaker 2:build sacrifice. So the obvious one here is hunger games, which is hunger games, quite literally, is sacrificial. The, the, the, the tributes are picked as sort of a sacrifice to show the power and entertain the rest. So I don't want to go down that route. Maybe there's a goat on top of the mountain.
Speaker 1:It is the first to sacrifice the goat get to the goat. The first. You can sacrifice the goat to the God in hotel wins. Is that what we're saying?
Speaker 2:Maybe I'm thinking out loud. I'm thinking, maybe Then that's a tribute to time to get out the hunger games mindset with this, because I keep saying maybe that they pick some people and they're a Tribute, and no, no, no, no, no, stop, do that. It is, maybe that's. Let's wind it back slightly. Then let's say the theme is sacrifice. You are not sacrificing in this game.
Speaker 2:The theme is sacrificed because you did not Do a sacrifice to your gods in this world.
Speaker 2:The gods have taken revenge and the gods have enforced this rising seas mechanic, and the rising seas mechanic is why you are both Scrambling to the top and the way it's all separated out into groups and the reason you've got this all guns Is it's kind of it's become the world has become tribal and you're trying to claim this highest ground and you're worried that someone else will get there first.
Speaker 2:So this is a sort of Maybe, oh, okay, in the future, in the maybe, like Tuesday, yes, in the future, ai overlords have taken control of the world, okay, and in forms of sacrifice, they ask us to sacrifice our free will, to sacrifice our, so each. Maybe let's say that we have to wear, we have to wear a chick in our arms, or something like that, because we have to, and what we have done is that that is us sacrificing control to them. Now we as a group our group has refused this thing, yeah, and therefore what the AI is done, because the control thing is reduce its its opened dams of flood waters have come crashing through to Inniolate the human race because of our choice. Yes, now, that's why the seas are rising and that's why we got to get to the highest ground possible. Now, the one thing I can't work out is why does that mean two human factions are at war with each other?
Speaker 1:You can still be fighting in the high ground. Yeah, yeah over. Anakin, I have the fire, I have the high ground.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, because George Lucas was that nearest script. George, what are you doing? I'm writing. Stop it, george.
Speaker 1:Yes the, the boy who was there to stop George Lucas writing, was eating.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, don't choke on your ambition at rule. Oh god, who let him a wealth again? Yeah, basically, okay, so why? So? Maybe? Well, that would be quite a dark storyline, isn't it with? If, if the humans were thought, if both human sides thought that the other humans were working for AI.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'm trying to catch you. So they both think the yeah that is a traitor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're fighting for the high ground and maybe there's some sort of what you could do, are you?
Speaker 1:looking traitors.
Speaker 2:No, no, I think that's the dark source. Maybe if you revealed through like loading screens and notes each time you die and it certainly becomes releases reveals it to the, to the player, you're like, oh my god, I'm actually just fighting people who just want to claim the high ground and they're just defending themselves, and that kind of also plays into the ultimate team idea that we literally this is just a rag tag of warriors, it's nothing else.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I could work yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Narratives are difficult. We get, we get to, we build the game, and then the narrative comes along and goes this does not fit. You must make it.
Speaker 2:I think that's why the best, the best game build the narrative into the, into the plot and the, and that integration is so hard. So there's a story about Naughty Dog, the way they built the last of us. Well, actually, no, it's Neil Druckmann who made the law to be made the last of us to the last of us and who's co on the last of us, one he says he's writes a story from the middle outwards. The reason for that is because at the middle of the story, the player in theory, has all of the abilities are going to get. Yes, you can write the story and integrate the narrative rather than starting from the start and realizing you need to ramp things up, or real, or starting from the end and having to tell things off. You can start from the middle and then work out either way.
Speaker 1:That makes sense yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm being slightly bugged by the story because I just feel like I felt there's no, there can't be an end game, because it's sort of Battle Royale, perma Death, ultimate Team Classics or. But maybe that's the mettoness of it, maybe you're playing into the idea of you. Just you're just dispensing with these, with these people, and you're treating them as objects.
Speaker 1:Perhaps what you do is you build the story, so it's a bit like how you'd normally have a single player, say, if it's a call to do it, you have a single player, campaign and multiplayer. How about this? You kind of merge the two, in that the multiplayer advances, the single player. Okay, so in that, as you play, as you win, the story advances. So as you, as you either participate or captain a team and win, then the story advances. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, so you rewarded for wins with sort of tidbits of the story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:What maybe you could do is maybe you could build in so you have a hub world as a loading screen not loading screen sort of main menu, yeah, and what it can do is you can play off the idea that no one trusts each other, and as well because of AI, because they don't know who's working for who. So you could have all these suspicious things that you have to make it to join. So you'll get a message saying you've been selected to this team. Head to this house. And when you head there, everybody else is there, but on the way you'll be like stalked by people and people will be looking at you and you'll feel like you're being spied on by the AI. So when you're told that you've got to get to the top of this hill to save this team, so you're on the top of this hill to save this, to save yourselves.
Speaker 2:The proceeds are rising again. You look out for AI spies. They're going to be on you, they're going to be attacking you. So you naturally always think that you're on the opposition. Sorry that. You naturally always think that they are the opposition, or whoever attacks you are the opposition. So it just builds up this mistrust within the gaming community itself.
Speaker 1:Oh, I see, so you kind of make this. They are the other.
Speaker 2:Yes, you just say they are the other. The others are out there and you're really vague to the extent of actually in the notes it starts to reveal that humans are just tearing themselves apart. They are punishing them for breaking off and not sacrificing their free will, but realistically the humans are just sort of attacking themselves out of fear and confusion.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. Hmm, you could make it like. This could get quite like tense I really like that.
Speaker 2:I like the idea of this.
Speaker 1:We're just hating each other a little bit.
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like you only need a couple of people to work out the story to get spoilers away. But I suppose that's the same way. You've got a multi-player game here with spoilers, like people saying please don't spoil it for other people, that this actually isn't real, whatever.
Speaker 1:Hmm, I think with more or less there. Are you happy or do you want to add anything else in? Do you have any more?
Speaker 2:ideas. No, I like it. I like it. I feel like. Do you want to do a summary?
Speaker 1:Well, I think your name yeah, I will do a summary. This is, my dear listeners, is a battle royale, with, this time, three mechanics per my death, motion controls, ultimate team with a narrative theme of sacrifice, set in a world in the not so distant future where humanity is come under Go. The world has come under control of a? I overlords the humans in some way. Angered. The I has punished the remaining humans, society, by slowly Raising the sea levels of the world, and so humanity is now fighting amongst itself At the best of the? I, in order to fight over the last remnants of high ground.
Speaker 1:What happened is, as you load, the game gets to wherever you're going to captain a team or be one of the players. Once you're selected as a captain, you then get to choose, basically, an ultimate team of players, a bit like in a playground. When you pick one at a time. This is our players, have you know? Some say over what their cards look like and and add a little bit of dynamism into the game, the motion controls will come in where you are climbing to get to high ground and obviously, shooting, shooting your various different types of weaponry at the same time, and obviously, perma death goes perfectly. Battle royale once you are out, you are out. The storyline will advance as you win matches, either as a captain or as a player, and it will be revealed through the story that humanity is being pitted against itself by the evil, as he as a, is, of course, always evil in all of fiction and Matthew. This game will be called us, and then.
Speaker 2:Oh very good. I like the ambiguity of it, not knowing who the us all of them is.
Speaker 1:This is very true. Well, you know who the us is. It's us Well the us.
Speaker 2:Well, is it us or is it us? Am I me, Am I you or am I you?
Speaker 1:Are we? Us? That would be tricky, wouldn't it? So, anyway, everyone, I hope you enjoyed that, us and them. The Battle Royale game coming to pretty much every platform, I think.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm sure it is. Oh, I do want to give a quick shout out, scott, that's all right. I want to give a quick shout out to, as I remember, who I'm giving a shout out to. I'm giving a shout out to Purple Armour, who made a comment on our YouTube channel, which please go and check out. It's me just messing around that. He is a game designer and he is looking to. He's obviously just taking creative inspiration from our podcast. So I'm, purple arm, absolutely delighted you're doing that and really really appreciate you listening to the podcast. So, thank you so much and good luck with the game. Let us know how it gets on, please.
Speaker 1:Yes delightful If you do, if you do take anything and it works, do, do, let us know. It would be wonderful to know that some of our stupid ramblings have actually helped someone in coming up with an idea, and he's been out as well, because he's making a very cool sounding game Destiny 2S.
Speaker 2:So, yes, keep an eye on it. People see it.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you want any play testers, Purple Armour, we are here and we do like games. But yes, thank you all for listening and we look forward to speaking to you next time. In the meantime, I have been Scott.
Speaker 2:And I have been lovely Always.
Speaker 1:I've also been Matt. I've also been Matt, he's been Matt, and lovely or lovely Matt depends on the man that you talk to, but thank you very much and we'll see you next time. Goodbye, bye.