24 January 2006, 5:12 PM
I've been kicking around the idea of making a video game based on BGC2040 for awhile now and I've decided to go public with the idea to see if anyone's interested in helping out. Here are the current specifications.
- Point and click adventure
Like the japanese-only BGC! PCEngine game
Or Spellcaster for SMS (minus the action scenes)
Or Deja Vu and many others
-- Simple, easy to program.
-- Easy to make use of snapshots from the anime.
-- Good vehicle for dialog/writing
- Very basic combat system
Levels, EXP, HP etc.
-- Wouldn't be much fun with fighting some boomers!
-- Makes the game longer and more interesting
-- Lots of possibilities for expansion
- BGC2040 Characters
Well, I like the OVA too, but I intend to draw heavily from 2040 for graphics and music. MAYBE the OVA universe could be used, but only if there are a lot of really dedicated people who insist on it. Frankly, I doubt anyone will volunteer for this project anyway, so as long as it's vaporware I'd prefer for it to be 2040, if only because of the music (see below).
- Music from the 2040 OSTs
Many of the songs on the 2040 OSTs make very good game music.
Good music can really make or break a game and this is the biggest reasons I keep coming back to this idea of making a BGC game. Also, the 2040 music was pretty memorable/distinctive, if all the game does is provoke a feeling of nostalgia it should be considered a success.
- Not an h-game, ecchi, ren'ai, etc.
I don't intend for this game to appeal primarily to one's sense of lust or to have strong sexual content. This isn't going to be based on Parasite Dolls y'know...
- For Windows 98 and up
That's really the only platform I have tools and experience to develop for. But if you have experience with some cross-platform libraries and would like to do most of the coding yourself that's fine with me.
- Slow development process
I'm certainly not in a hurry. This is for fun, so it shouldn't matter if it takes months or years to complete. It's okay even if it takes a couple of months just to get a development team together so don't be shy about contacting me even if this post is very old.
##########################################
Okay, so now that you've got a basic idea of what I'm talking about, let's look at what needs to be done and how you can contribute!
- Graphics
Almost anyone can help out with this. Just take snapshots of graphics that might be useful. Backgrounds and character graphics mostly. Maybe a little animation. With some organization it's possible to divide up the episodes among the contributors to keep this from being overwhelming. The good part about this type of game is that it lends itself well to static pictures that can be easily extracted from the anime.
We also need more experienced people who can cleanup and edit the snapshots. I can do some of this myself, of course, but I don't have any of the real professional tools that can do edge-detection and other nice features which speed up the process.
Some original graphics would also be nice, for those of you who make fanart.
- Story / Dialog / Game Design
Here's where all you fanfic types can shine! We need a plot, interesting dialog and characterization, and compelling gameplay. Honestly, this is probably the hardest part of the project, and it's totally abstract stuff; all the concrete details should be easy (albeit time-consuming).
--General plot
--Locations
--Characters
--Objects to interact with
--Events
--Dialog
--Puzzles
--Rules for the combat part of the game
People with expert knowledge of the BGC technology details would be very valuable.
Since many of the different series are not consistent with each other I think it's okay to bend the rules a bit. It might be hard to make a game that fits into the 2040 timeline since a prequal wouldn't have Linna and nobody knows exactly what happened after the end of 2040. Also, they may actually get around to making 2041 someday. It could take place sometime during the middle of the series, but because of all the character and plot development that goes on during the series it might be difficult to keep everything consistent. So I'd say it's okay to make this yet another alternate universe. And if you want to pilfer some ideas from the spinoffs or the original series that's fine with me too.
- Programming
I have enough experience to make a game like this for Windows. However, if anyone with suitable programming experience would like to help that's fine with me. I'll even turn the coding over to you completely if you've got enough experience and determination.
- Audio
As I said, I intend to use the various 2040 OSTs so this should be pretty easy. However, it would be good to have some sort of fallback music in midi or tracker format for distribution/legal purposes. The only reason I can see us getting a cease and desist letter would be if we were distributing high-quality OST rips with the game. Realistically, I don't think anyone is going to care about shutting down a fan-made game, especially since it can't possibly hurt sales of the anime.
Sound effects aren't a very high priority.
- Website
Anyone willing to make a website for this project? A website may actually be crucial to this project because I can't just regularly spam BGC forums trying to recruit help. The problem is that there are a lot of BGC fans, many of whom would probably be interested in this project, but most of them don't regularly read forums or even browse BGC websites. Not suprising given the low level of activity on most of them.
It's perfectly fine if contributors come and go over the months (like I said above, this is intended to be a long term project), so that's why a website is practically necessary to recruit members; only a handful of people are likely to read this post before it disappears off the first page. Unfortunately, I don't know much about HTML, so getting a web designer may be the difference between success or failure.
So that's about it. I've summed up most of the issues for you all. I think it can be done, but I can't do it alone. I need the help of several enthusiastic people or this project simply won't go anywhere.
Feel free to contact me at the following address, even if you are reading this months after I originally posted it. Like I said above, it's okay for development (or even pre-development) to go slowly.
Append "at yahoo.com" to "bgcfan1980" to form my email address.
Even if you don't want to contribute, at least show your support if you think this is a good idea!
On the other hand, please don't tell me that it won't work. I already know that!
- Point and click adventure
Like the japanese-only BGC! PCEngine game
Or Spellcaster for SMS (minus the action scenes)
Or Deja Vu and many others
-- Simple, easy to program.
-- Easy to make use of snapshots from the anime.
-- Good vehicle for dialog/writing
- Very basic combat system
Levels, EXP, HP etc.
-- Wouldn't be much fun with fighting some boomers!
-- Makes the game longer and more interesting
-- Lots of possibilities for expansion
- BGC2040 Characters
Well, I like the OVA too, but I intend to draw heavily from 2040 for graphics and music. MAYBE the OVA universe could be used, but only if there are a lot of really dedicated people who insist on it. Frankly, I doubt anyone will volunteer for this project anyway, so as long as it's vaporware I'd prefer for it to be 2040, if only because of the music (see below).
- Music from the 2040 OSTs
Many of the songs on the 2040 OSTs make very good game music.
Good music can really make or break a game and this is the biggest reasons I keep coming back to this idea of making a BGC game. Also, the 2040 music was pretty memorable/distinctive, if all the game does is provoke a feeling of nostalgia it should be considered a success.
- Not an h-game, ecchi, ren'ai, etc.
I don't intend for this game to appeal primarily to one's sense of lust or to have strong sexual content. This isn't going to be based on Parasite Dolls y'know...
- For Windows 98 and up
That's really the only platform I have tools and experience to develop for. But if you have experience with some cross-platform libraries and would like to do most of the coding yourself that's fine with me.
- Slow development process
I'm certainly not in a hurry. This is for fun, so it shouldn't matter if it takes months or years to complete. It's okay even if it takes a couple of months just to get a development team together so don't be shy about contacting me even if this post is very old.
##########################################
Okay, so now that you've got a basic idea of what I'm talking about, let's look at what needs to be done and how you can contribute!
- Graphics
Almost anyone can help out with this. Just take snapshots of graphics that might be useful. Backgrounds and character graphics mostly. Maybe a little animation. With some organization it's possible to divide up the episodes among the contributors to keep this from being overwhelming. The good part about this type of game is that it lends itself well to static pictures that can be easily extracted from the anime.
We also need more experienced people who can cleanup and edit the snapshots. I can do some of this myself, of course, but I don't have any of the real professional tools that can do edge-detection and other nice features which speed up the process.
Some original graphics would also be nice, for those of you who make fanart.
- Story / Dialog / Game Design
Here's where all you fanfic types can shine! We need a plot, interesting dialog and characterization, and compelling gameplay. Honestly, this is probably the hardest part of the project, and it's totally abstract stuff; all the concrete details should be easy (albeit time-consuming).
--General plot
--Locations
--Characters
--Objects to interact with
--Events
--Dialog
--Puzzles
--Rules for the combat part of the game
People with expert knowledge of the BGC technology details would be very valuable.
Since many of the different series are not consistent with each other I think it's okay to bend the rules a bit. It might be hard to make a game that fits into the 2040 timeline since a prequal wouldn't have Linna and nobody knows exactly what happened after the end of 2040. Also, they may actually get around to making 2041 someday. It could take place sometime during the middle of the series, but because of all the character and plot development that goes on during the series it might be difficult to keep everything consistent. So I'd say it's okay to make this yet another alternate universe. And if you want to pilfer some ideas from the spinoffs or the original series that's fine with me too.
- Programming
I have enough experience to make a game like this for Windows. However, if anyone with suitable programming experience would like to help that's fine with me. I'll even turn the coding over to you completely if you've got enough experience and determination.
- Audio
As I said, I intend to use the various 2040 OSTs so this should be pretty easy. However, it would be good to have some sort of fallback music in midi or tracker format for distribution/legal purposes. The only reason I can see us getting a cease and desist letter would be if we were distributing high-quality OST rips with the game. Realistically, I don't think anyone is going to care about shutting down a fan-made game, especially since it can't possibly hurt sales of the anime.
Sound effects aren't a very high priority.
- Website
Anyone willing to make a website for this project? A website may actually be crucial to this project because I can't just regularly spam BGC forums trying to recruit help. The problem is that there are a lot of BGC fans, many of whom would probably be interested in this project, but most of them don't regularly read forums or even browse BGC websites. Not suprising given the low level of activity on most of them.
It's perfectly fine if contributors come and go over the months (like I said above, this is intended to be a long term project), so that's why a website is practically necessary to recruit members; only a handful of people are likely to read this post before it disappears off the first page. Unfortunately, I don't know much about HTML, so getting a web designer may be the difference between success or failure.
So that's about it. I've summed up most of the issues for you all. I think it can be done, but I can't do it alone. I need the help of several enthusiastic people or this project simply won't go anywhere.
Feel free to contact me at the following address, even if you are reading this months after I originally posted it. Like I said above, it's okay for development (or even pre-development) to go slowly.
Append "at yahoo.com" to "bgcfan1980" to form my email address.
Even if you don't want to contribute, at least show your support if you think this is a good idea!
On the other hand, please don't tell me that it won't work. I already know that!