For the most part, the hosted games are fairly consistently anchored in some sort of fantasy flavor, either as a game mechanic or a core concept. Would there be any interest in, say, a sports game? And not one where every player has a different superpower (though if you can manage to make that work before I do, more power to you). I have thought up plots from the perspective of a coach, a talented rookie, amateur and professional level players, etc. I think leading a team throughout the course of a season, dealing with bad calls, nagging reporters, fighting (or embracing) the pressure to cheat, all have compelling subplots.
Any reason why it hasnāt been done yet? Would you guys play it if I wrote it?
Ive never really watched sports, always found it more interesting to play them myself than watch some random person doing it.
The idea of a game around sports seems really unappealing to me, however when I actually think about it Iām sure it could be possible to make it interesting if it was a story based around the sport rather than just playing it.
The image Iām getting is of the relationships, choices and training between matches being the main story and then matches being a brief decision with little input into how you play (I canāt think of anything more tedious than choosing to swing high or low 30 times in a baseball match, or to pass or score in a football game)
In reality anything can be interesting if you write it right. Remember as well that the majority of COG players probably donāt have in depth knowledge or most sports rules and politics (and those that do will only have it in a few sports). So your best bet is to present it like any new world or gloss over the minor details when possible unless you want to bore people or drown them in petty details.
I love the idea of a game about sports.
Also, you should take into consideration, that not everyone in here is from U.S. Though, perhaps majority is.
Meaning, personally, I have no idea about the rules of baseball or american football. Hockey and Football, are the ones that I watch and play.
20-year footballer here And Iām from the US!
I like to think that I am able to maintain a character-focused drama regardless of the setting. Iāll keep my athletic plots on the back burner for now, but good to know where a few of you stand.
So does that mean āAmerican footballerā? Or soccer player? Iām from the UK so I always find those names confusing. Itās not like they even use their feet with the ball!
If you made a game based on American Football you probably would loose a lot of readers as most outside of America have no understanding of the game. Probably find the same thing with baseball.
Maybe something known worldwide like Soccer or Basketball.
hahahaha that would be awful, certainly. Though Iāve heard that for the people who like baseball, they are all about the mind games of swinging high or low, putting pitches in certain areas based on player tendencies, etc. Bores me to tears, but SOMEbody is watching it.
Sports are, for me as an author, simply another area for character conflict. Winning, losing, outsmartingā¦in this way itās no different from the way war is used in most of these hosted games.
edit: I love both american and real football, but āsoccerā was my first love in the sports world.
Slammed is the only sports game so far AFAICRā¦ there have been a few football WIPs over the years but none was finished. Would be great to see one succeed!
Uggh, here we go again, when you, as an American, say āfootballā, do you mean your game derived from rugby with all the high-school quarterback dramaās based around it, or do you mean fussball (as in soccer), the game derived from the Aztecs kicking the skulls and recently severed heads of their enemies around a field, with the grossly overpaid players, gross homophobia, and the most corrupt organization in the world governing it all?
And
The last one also brings me to my next point: Gender. In most sports most leagues and competitions are gender locked (equestrian sports is one notorious exception) so do you therefore want to focus your game on male or female sports and athletes?
Also wasnāt @Samuel_H_Young developing a chess master game? Now thatās a sport!
Ugh, here we go again, where you, as a non-American, instantly assume Iām some caricature-ized ball with a flag on it.
I love football, American or otherwise, as I said in a previous post. My German ancestors crushed everyone at the WC, and I couldnāt be more proud.
I tend to write male characters cuz itās what I know best, but who knows. As I said, Iām just gauging interest. I can see youāre not interested, thanks for stopping by
Iād love to see a blood sport game. Now THATāS an unfilled niche.
You know something along the lines of āBlood Bowlā which is probably the only sport game I ever watch or play (PC game wise that is.).
Yeah, Iām working on what will probably be the first Hosted Games that will be about a sport, Journey of the Chess Master.
I would definitely play a sports game. In fact I even started to write a football game but dropped for mainly two reasons. The first reason is that I didnāt know if I could use real clubs and the second is that the focus of my interest and knowledge are the Brazilian, Argentinian and Uruguayan leagues and I thought it wouldnāt appeal to people here.
Iād love like an illegal underground fighting game- yāknow like the Kumite tournament in Bloodsport. Or if not illegal, something like Tekken or Mortal Kombat. Fighters from all around the globe gather for a tournament, different characters experts in different fighting disciplines.
You could have great rivalries, romances, a deeper plot behind all the fighting, a revenge saga etc. Thereās great potential in this and Iād buy a well written game on something like this in a heartbeat.
THIS. I love it! Ugh now I have even more plot ideas!
I think the mechanics behind trying to write a story about a team sport would be very difficult. No one player in a team sport, even in basketball, can really determine the entire outcome of a given game. Games like (American) football and soccer/everywhere-else-football just have soooo many people involved. It would be hard to map out plays and strategy without diagrams of plays, etc.
I think a solo sport like boxing or ultimate fighting would be a lot easier to implement.
Also, I donāt want to paint with too broad of a brush, but Iām not sure how much overlap there is between āHuge Sports Fansā and āCoGās Target Audience.ā
Racing!
Choose a fast moving metal object, be it planes be it cars or boats, plenty of thrill to be had.
A long distance race?
A demolition derby
stunt flying
street racing
ectā¦
thatās something that would be workable in my opinion, and youāre not completely solo BUT the majority relies on the pilot/driver so relationships rivalries fame fortune and failure are all possible too!
Thatās just my two-cents. Personally Iād throw in a unreality ala Twisted metal/combat racing or Gladitorial dogfighting (air-to-air combat) but thats just me.
Of course we already have a racing game on Hosted Games of sorts: The Race!
I would love to see a well-written football game (English, not American) as thatās my passion. A good baseball alternative would work for America and also perhaps grab some of the Korean / Japanese market. I think those two would be the most lucrative sports. However without a lot of detail and careful planning it would be very hard to create something non-linear without extreme customisation.
I do have an idea for this but thatās in the future: too many games on my plate right now.
Never knew that oops
didnāt see it on the list
Is the link for The Race still working? Everytime I choose my partner and click Next, the game goes back to the beginning. Itās an endless loop.
To me in can be a good idea, sport simulation combine with RPG and life. Either a coach or a player could be interesting.
As a player deal with stress, teammates, choices for some actions during a match, etc.