Duke Nukem 3d and Unreal tournament SHOW that they did not have design docs. These games do not feel terribly unified, Nukem is a pile of purile drivel and UT is a disjointed (though somewhat entertaining) amalgam of random experiences that show off the game engine.

Needless to say, the lack of unity and purpose is the foremost reason that MOST gamers can''t play these games for extended periods without being bored to tears.

Aha. Never said boring. I like it, but never for long periods of time because nothing ever changes! The one thing that plots (linear or non-linear) bring to a game is changes in situation.

But this is about a solid design doc. I think it shows. You''re right, all of those things WERE good about UT, but they might have been BETTER with a solid, unifying theme. It seems very helter-skelter to me.

quote: Original post by Landfish

Duke Nukem 3d and Unreal tournament SHOW that they did not have design docs. These games do not feel terribly unified, Nukem is a pile of purile drivel and UT is a disjointed (though somewhat entertaining) amalgam of random experiences that show off the game engine.

Needless to say, the lack of unity and purpose is the foremost reason that MOST gamers can''t play these games for extended periods without being bored to tears.

*sigh*

Dagnammit, I should be going to bed, but I just *had* to reply to this.

LF, you''re projecting. DN3D was one of the top FP shooters when it was released. The gameplay was great, the voice overs funny (in a very juvenile way, but funny nonetheless), the level design clever. Sales were awesome, and helped put 3D Realms in a pretty financial position. The game was Rambo meets a very bad Roger Corman movie. What you see is what it was _SUPPOSED_ to be. The levels very much were unified, though they didn''t have the same focused direction as, say, Half-Life or System Shock. It wasn''t that kind of game!

And as far as UT: Dude, where the hell are you getting your information from?!?!? Argh! UT isn''t _SUPPOSED_ to be a unified experience! It''s a deathmatch game! That''s what it does! That''s _ALL_ it does! The levels might as well be random maps; there isn''t supposed to be a bloody friggin unified feel!

_MOST_ gamers, if the jammed up servers are any indication, can play UT repeatedly, over the same levels, for _HUGE_ amounts of time. I''ve been one of them. I''ve made some pretty good gaming friends online. I see a lot of familiar nicks. People play a lot!

C''mon, face it! Your tastes are different. You''re not the average gamer. And that''s fine. But you shouldn''t act as if all other gamers are like you.



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Just waiting for the mothership...

quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster

Just a passing reply. Duke Nukem 3D and Unreal Tournament were created with no design document. Not to say if you don''t write one, you''ll succeed like they did, but by the same token, not writing one doesn''t necessarily make you an amateur.

I do not believe that this can be true; it is highly unlikely, but of course show be a reliable source of this info and I will believe you.

And to Landfish, a design document isn''t only about story. A design document covers everything from ideas to engine architecture and coding structure to scetches of art used in the product. As levels and art and the engine was well throught out (although not coherently) in UT you are wrong about the statement that the other posts above also critisize.

Jacob Marner

I happen to think Duke Nukem is one of the best games to have come out the past few years... it is ENTIRELY unified in style and content, very funny, and highly addictive to play against eachother.
It''s a comic-book game, and it works very, very well.


People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
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