Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to the Gears of War:
Emergence blog.
Now I'm going to be honest with you, this project started
just last week, which means that a lot of components are still fluid. But hey, if you have any ideas that'd you'd
like to see implemented, shoot us a message in the comments section....We
probably won't do it, but you never know.
Also, we're most likely going to encounter a large quantity
of fails during our journey of this virtual game. There will be a lot of laughs and tears, but
we'll be sure to post some of our best in each blog.
So what exactly is Gears of War: Emergence? Simply put, GOWE is a virtual game in the
making which cannot be sold due to legal issues. Why bother then? Because if this creates enough hype, Microsoft
may give us the green light to continue, or the same game with different
(legal) assets gets created.
What part do you get to play in all of this? Just get excited. This may sound like an easy job, but it's
NOT! It's not your average 8-4 job. You have to eat, sleep, drink, and breathe
GOWE! Just kidding, just retweet our
stuff and we'd appreciate it.
Anyways, here are some of the things that we're looking at
to advance the GOWE dream :
Assets:
Since this game is not for profit, we're using some of
Epic's (which now belongs to Microsoft) intellectual
property. In other words, the COG, the
Locust, and most of their swanky gear is on the table. As Dom said: "This is going to be
awesome!"
AI that's actually intelligent:
You know how most video games have an AI that is predictable
or just extremely stupid (I'm looking at you Aliens: Colonial Marines), yeah we
don't want that. Most AI out there are
programmed with IF/THEN statements: IF I cross through this door, THEN (trigger)
a monster will appear and attack me.
Yes, jolly good! The monster
killed me, I load the last save, and now I know that that @**hole will show up
when I cross the door. That screams "replay
value", doesn't it?
Instead, what we seek to implement is a neural network style
AI, much like how a brain works. In
other words, decisions are based on context and experience. So let's run through our door/monster
scenario again:
We cross the door with a big gun. Maybe the monster runs away, maybe it fights,
maybe it calls for reinforcements. Isn't
that still an IF/THEN statement? Not in this case since many things can alter
the monster's decision, such as: how long before we cross? Do we cross alone or
with an ally? What direction are we looking in when we cross the door. If these things change, the monster could
easily reassess its decision. What's
really cool is that no decision is permanent.
If the monster decides to engage, but later realizes that fleeing is a
better option, it may do so (if you haven't killed it yet).
Level Design:
We're going to start simple, and by simple, I mean add a
floor. That probably sounded pretty
stupid but once we get the mechanics functioning properly, then the fun begins.
Once I've mastered the arts of...flooring (?), then it's
game on! Beaches, caves, cities... Sera will
have gained life again.
New Mechanics:
This is probably still the biggest question on the table at
the moment: Typical GOW with over-the-shoulder 3rd person view or RTS 3rd
person? We'll keep you posted.
Story:
This is pretty awesome because the Gears of War universe
during the Emergence era is not all that developed, which leaves room for a lot
of creative interpretations. Small
spoiler: We're thinking of going the route of the COG Navy. We're just not sure what to do with it yet.
Voice Acting:
Not going to lie, the voice acting for this is probably
going to be atrocious. We don't have the
proper recording gear, and we don't have sexy voices. Again, we'll keep you posted...
Music:
I am a composer and I'm proud to announce that I just
received my sweet 88 key MIDI keyboard in the mail. Get ready for some wicked soundtracks.
There's no doubt that this is going to be a long and
complicated journey, but our love of Gears of War will surely carry us through the hard
times. Stay tuned folks.
Fail of the week:
Anya with Measles (don't ask)
Follow us @gowemergence
Like us on Facebook: Gears of War: Emergence
