From what Nadeo have told us, a quite small part of the buyers do register for online play. But a very big part of the online players keep using the game (playing online). I'm quite sure that the people who don't play online, they don't play at all, which means they are not happy customers. A challenge for Nadeo is to make these people happy, because it would automatically generate more sales. One thing would be to clearly state that the online mode is the great thing with the game, which every owners of the CD should try. But also by making a more interesting solo mode. It would never be as good as online mode, but what can be done to make solo mode better? Think about other things than just the AI...
Harald
Single player mode
21 posts
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by Kwasi » 04 May 2005 10:50
One idea to improve your skills and to offer a better possibility to train manouvers could be to invent a time-trial.
The best time that was sailed should be shown as a shadow.
(similiar to the ghost boats) It would be an advantage to see where the time was gained or lost.
Would also be interesting to import a replay from another skipper on this course and sail against this shadow.
Times could also be stored online when connected.
The best time that was sailed should be shown as a shadow.
(similiar to the ghost boats) It would be an advantage to see where the time was gained or lost.
Would also be interesting to import a replay from another skipper on this course and sail against this shadow.
Times could also be stored online when connected.
Cheers, Nick
- Kwasi
- Posts: 605
- Joined: 21 Jan 2004 03:17
- Location: Munich, Germany
by Waverider » 04 May 2005 14:44
Create a series in single player mode where the same boats are recorded with times and place finishes for a certain number of races in each race area with a certain number of race areas to be included in the circuit, perhaps chosen by the player previously. If the AI was much improved at the same time, it could be quite challenging and addictive.
The problem is not what you do not know, but what you know that is not so.
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Waverider - Posts: 6
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005 01:29
- Location: Wherever my anchor isn't dragging.
by Popeye » 05 May 2005 04:04
Vsk 2 had a challange system that unlocked things like venues and boats. I thought that worked very well to teach how to use the game and could also work to teach the rules, or at least the basic rules. I occasionally have joined a race on the demo and would get many questions about what the rules were. It may help some to be able to pause the action and consult race judge about a situation or a rule definition.
Popeye
Popeye
Popeye
Even a blind squril finds an eggcorn now and then
Even a blind squril finds an eggcorn now and then
- Popeye
- Posts: 126
- Joined: 27 Aug 2003 15:23
- Location: New Jersey
by CAN Knot » 06 May 2005 21:15
Here's my take, which essentially expands on Waverider's idea:
The single player game should include a "Career Mode" that tracks a players statistics over time ala the career mode in EA Sports' F1 Racing, or most other car racing games with a career mode.
The player should be able to enter and/or create regattas of 3-15 races (say) and race against the same AI boats for the entire regatta. A "season" would be made up of several regattas with some regattas serving as qualifiers for other more prestigous regattas. Again the user races against the same AIs for the entire season. A season could be made up of local beer can regattas, regional regattas, "national" regattas and international championships. There might even be a "Generate Season" function; the user selects a bunch of courses, clicks "Generate Season" and the game generates a series of regattas that span 3-4 months of game time using the selected courses. There would be weekly local regattas with 3-4 races each, a monthly regional regatta with 5-12 races and one or two national or international events that the user has to qualify for in some way: have a certain amount of cash (see below), have a certain ranking, have won a least one local or regional regatta, etc. The user would have the option to skip any event and at times there may be more than one regatta for the user to choose from. For example one weekend there might be several local regattas, and a regional regatta all going on at the same time. The user can choose to enter any one that they have qualified for, or skip ahead to the next week.
Have a pool of 30-40 AI skippers each with their own name, boat, nationality, skill level etc. Some skippers would be aces and some rather inept, but the skills of each AI wouldn't change. This way the user can get to know the AI skippers over time, who to cover, and who to stay away from. The AI skippers the user will face in each regatta is a function of the regatta type; fewer aces in the local beer can regattas and fewer inept sailors in the national and international events but always some of both. Of course the name, boat skins, etc. of the AI players should be fully configurable by the user.
If the user is playing a season the results could be calculated for all AI skippers. For example, each week there might be 4 local regattas, the user would race in one regatta against 7 AI boats and the results are calculated for the other 3 regattas so it appears that all 32 skippers (1 human and 31 AI) are competing in the same season. This would continue throughout the season so the user can follow the results of all the skippers to see if they are going to qualify for the big championship at the end of the season and see who they will be racing against.
Add an "economy" to the game. That is, cash prizes are awarded at each regatta and the money is used to buy better sails, hire better crew, maybe even perform some modifications (within class rules) to the boat. The more prestigous the regatta the larger the prizes. Gear fatigue and failures should also be factored in so people have something to spend their money on. For example, you could buy an expensive, lighter, faster mainsail that wears out after a few races, or you could buy a cheaper, heavier mainsail that lasts longer but isn't as fast. The more you use an item the more it wears out, the slower it becomes, and the more likely it is to fail when pushed to its limits. The wind strengths should also affect gear fatigue, sails wear out faster and are more likely to fail in F7 than they are in F3. This would allow the user to do some equipement/crew management; maybe they want to save their set of expensive sails for the big regatta coming up, and use an older set for the local regattas before then, or maybe they need to push for a few big wins so they can afford the expensive sails for the big regatta. If the user is still hoisting that old worn out spinaker in F6-F7 there would be a good chance of it blowing out. However, if the user has hired a better foredeck crew they will be able to do the sail changes faster than a lesser skilled foredeck.
Related to the above: have a "Crew Available Dock" where you can hire better crew. For example a better foredeck for faster sail changes, better trimmers for improved boat speed, and a better "tactician" that can plot the laylines correctly and do a better job on the prestart countdown. For example, with the default tactician the laylines might be slightly off and he won't be very good with a stop watch so the countdown timer might be off a second or two either way. Of course, the gun, regular clock, and line colour change wouldn't be affected so you could still time it manually if you wanted, but the information your tactician is giving you (via the game displays) is slightly off until you can hire a better one.
Add crew morale as a factor. The more you pay your crew and the more races you win the happier your crew is and the better they do their jobs. Buy them new gear and they get happier, cheap out and get the "small beer cooler" upgrade and the crew won't be as happy as if you had bought the "big beer cooler" upgrade so each crew member could have three beers on the sail back to the dock. Hire a big burly grinder and put him on the foredeck and he won't be as happy, or effective, as he would be trimming the main.
These are just some ideas and there are lots of other ways to go. Of course, all of the above is worthless without a decent AI. But given a good AI (which is the hard part) doing something like the above would be relatively simple.
The single player game should include a "Career Mode" that tracks a players statistics over time ala the career mode in EA Sports' F1 Racing, or most other car racing games with a career mode.
The player should be able to enter and/or create regattas of 3-15 races (say) and race against the same AI boats for the entire regatta. A "season" would be made up of several regattas with some regattas serving as qualifiers for other more prestigous regattas. Again the user races against the same AIs for the entire season. A season could be made up of local beer can regattas, regional regattas, "national" regattas and international championships. There might even be a "Generate Season" function; the user selects a bunch of courses, clicks "Generate Season" and the game generates a series of regattas that span 3-4 months of game time using the selected courses. There would be weekly local regattas with 3-4 races each, a monthly regional regatta with 5-12 races and one or two national or international events that the user has to qualify for in some way: have a certain amount of cash (see below), have a certain ranking, have won a least one local or regional regatta, etc. The user would have the option to skip any event and at times there may be more than one regatta for the user to choose from. For example one weekend there might be several local regattas, and a regional regatta all going on at the same time. The user can choose to enter any one that they have qualified for, or skip ahead to the next week.
Have a pool of 30-40 AI skippers each with their own name, boat, nationality, skill level etc. Some skippers would be aces and some rather inept, but the skills of each AI wouldn't change. This way the user can get to know the AI skippers over time, who to cover, and who to stay away from. The AI skippers the user will face in each regatta is a function of the regatta type; fewer aces in the local beer can regattas and fewer inept sailors in the national and international events but always some of both. Of course the name, boat skins, etc. of the AI players should be fully configurable by the user.
If the user is playing a season the results could be calculated for all AI skippers. For example, each week there might be 4 local regattas, the user would race in one regatta against 7 AI boats and the results are calculated for the other 3 regattas so it appears that all 32 skippers (1 human and 31 AI) are competing in the same season. This would continue throughout the season so the user can follow the results of all the skippers to see if they are going to qualify for the big championship at the end of the season and see who they will be racing against.
Add an "economy" to the game. That is, cash prizes are awarded at each regatta and the money is used to buy better sails, hire better crew, maybe even perform some modifications (within class rules) to the boat. The more prestigous the regatta the larger the prizes. Gear fatigue and failures should also be factored in so people have something to spend their money on. For example, you could buy an expensive, lighter, faster mainsail that wears out after a few races, or you could buy a cheaper, heavier mainsail that lasts longer but isn't as fast. The more you use an item the more it wears out, the slower it becomes, and the more likely it is to fail when pushed to its limits. The wind strengths should also affect gear fatigue, sails wear out faster and are more likely to fail in F7 than they are in F3. This would allow the user to do some equipement/crew management; maybe they want to save their set of expensive sails for the big regatta coming up, and use an older set for the local regattas before then, or maybe they need to push for a few big wins so they can afford the expensive sails for the big regatta. If the user is still hoisting that old worn out spinaker in F6-F7 there would be a good chance of it blowing out. However, if the user has hired a better foredeck crew they will be able to do the sail changes faster than a lesser skilled foredeck.
Related to the above: have a "Crew Available Dock" where you can hire better crew. For example a better foredeck for faster sail changes, better trimmers for improved boat speed, and a better "tactician" that can plot the laylines correctly and do a better job on the prestart countdown. For example, with the default tactician the laylines might be slightly off and he won't be very good with a stop watch so the countdown timer might be off a second or two either way. Of course, the gun, regular clock, and line colour change wouldn't be affected so you could still time it manually if you wanted, but the information your tactician is giving you (via the game displays) is slightly off until you can hire a better one.
Add crew morale as a factor. The more you pay your crew and the more races you win the happier your crew is and the better they do their jobs. Buy them new gear and they get happier, cheap out and get the "small beer cooler" upgrade and the crew won't be as happy as if you had bought the "big beer cooler" upgrade so each crew member could have three beers on the sail back to the dock. Hire a big burly grinder and put him on the foredeck and he won't be as happy, or effective, as he would be trimming the main.
These are just some ideas and there are lots of other ways to go. Of course, all of the above is worthless without a decent AI. But given a good AI (which is the hard part) doing something like the above would be relatively simple.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.
-
CAN Knot - Posts: 1212
- Joined: 31 Jan 2001 04:02
- Location: New York
by Shockwave » 07 May 2005 02:31
Jesus indeed. I love those suggestions Keith, in your grand plan would the ability to buy gear etc roll over into the online game as well? I think certainly some kind of offline season like this would build up the skill level of new players so that they would stay playing the game long enough to be competetive online. ATM i think we lose heaps of people that try online a few times but get their arses handed to them & don't come back.
Great idea Keith.
Adam.
Great idea Keith.
Adam.
- Shockwave
- Posts: 82
- Joined: 11 Aug 2004 08:08
- Location: Sydney, Australia
:p .by Waverider » 07 May 2005 15:39
CAN Knot wrote:The single player game should include a "Career Mode" that tracks a players statistics over time ala the career mode in EA Sports' F1 Racing, or most other car racing games with a career mode.
The player should be able to enter and/or create regattas of 3-15 races (say) and race against the same AI boats for the entire regatta. A "season" would be made up of several regattas with some regattas serving as qualifiers for other more prestigous regattas. Again the user races against the same AIs for the entire season. A season could be made up of local beer can regattas, regional regattas, "national" regattas and international championships. There might even be a "Generate Season" function; the user selects a bunch of courses, clicks "Generate Season" and the game generates a series of regattas that span 3-4 months of game time using the selected courses. There would be weekly local regattas with 3-4 races each, a monthly regional regatta with 5-12 races and one or two national or international events that the user has to qualify for in some way: have a certain amount of cash (see below), have a certain ranking, have won a least one local or regional regatta, etc. The user would have the option to skip any event and at times there may be more than one regatta for the user to choose from. For example one weekend there might be several local regattas, and a regional regatta all going on at the same time. The user can choose to enter any one that they have qualified for, or skip ahead to the next week.
These are just some ideas and there are lots of other ways to go. Of course, all of the above is worthless without a decent AI. But given a good AI (which is the hard part) doing something like the above would be relatively simple.
Excellent ideas CAN Knot. You explain it really well. Perhaps the addition of a 'race' save-game and a 'season' save-game would be desirable. With a few more venues added by Nadeo which seems to be what they are hinting at; this could become a tremendously improved design.
It seems to me that the inclusion of some kind of 'e-mail' or 'uploadable' season would not be too difficult to design in addition; to share with other players to download. Perhaps they could enter the 'season' at the beginning or a later date and take over the position of one of the AI competitors, completing the season themselves from that point on. The original player who designed the circuit could become an AI competitor on the new player's machine for the remainder of the season.
It should certainly help to improve the skills of many mediocre racers such as myself and encourage our participation in much more online racing. This would certainly add-up to increased sales to Nadeo and a plus to all of us.
The problem is not what you do not know, but what you know that is not so.
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Waverider - Posts: 6
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005 01:29
- Location: Wherever my anchor isn't dragging.
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