FF Word Game spinoff

[SKWLCafe1]

10 Friends in High School or College form Teams of Five to compete on a 5v5 Word Builder Contest via PC. Having downloaded and installed the Gaming App they log on to Word-Builder from among a list of other Games by Square Enix.

When open, Word-Builder, displays the option to "Enter 5v5". The game allows for Team Captains to set the Team names. They select "Team Hyur" and "Team Elezen". The Players and Team Names are stored. A Player can be in multiple Teams but not on opposing Teams during gameplay. A player can be listed in “Team Noctis” and in “Team Luna” but cannot be available to one Team when both are playing against each other.

The game selects a random word from a built in database of words and displays it next to a timer set to countdown from 10-Seconds.... The random word displayed is "ENIX"...

The above is the opening sequence to my proposed Word Game spinoff that i have been on a quest to develop since 2016. The Game is meant to stimulate the intellect, provide fun, enhance FF characters awareness, multiply cosplay enthusiasm and induce FF gameplay from Non-FF and FF fans.

I wish to seek out Game Development enthusiasts for collaboration in developing this gaming concept spinoff of FF

 

[Dionysos]

Hey. Thanks for sharing this.

I have a few questions. Is this a text-based game to follow on from the premise in the first post? Or are you seeking help on a project which would take place elsewhere?
If the former, what might our responses look like and how may we engage with this? If this is an 'interest check' thread then that is cool too.


I ask partly because I want to gauge where I can help or who else might be able to help or participate, but also to determine which section this thread should belong. I'm thinking Sector 7 Slums (our gaming section) but I want to learn more about what this is first.

 

[SKWLCafe1]

Thanks for the engagement,

Yes it is a Text-based game that would be played within the FF ecosystem but not necessarily as an add-on in the game.

I have a lengthier synopsis with highlights of mechanics and descriptive visual but being new here i thought to share briefly and take in guidance. I am very much open to taking direction on what more details i need to share to get the benefit of your assistance, including thread appropriateness.

 

[Dionysos]

No problem.

You can feel free to share as much of your synopsis as you see fit and I will do my best to offer suggestions.

To be clear, how many teams are there? It is 5v5 with ten players split into two and Team Elezen and Team Hyur are selected, but then Team Noctis and Team Luna are mentioned as well as the possibility for some players to be in more than one team so long as they don't clash. So what are the limitations regarding number of teams, etc?

I guess another thing would be to define 'Team Captain' and 'Player'. What separates them, etc?

 

[SKWLCafe1]

I appreciate your engagement. Thank you

Teams can be limitless and Team Members can name their Teams as they wish. I used Team name examples from FF for relatability.

There can be variations of Team formation from 1v1, 3v3 and 5v5. The more the participants, the more points each Team Member earns.

The Team Captain is the "Founder" of the group... or in a future variation, they can be voted on or off by Team Members

I have attached 2 files for review. One is the Game Design Concept, the other is a hand-drawn schematic to help visualize the game components.

Looking forward to additional comments.

 

[Dionysos]

I’ve now read those documents and I’m a lot clearer on how it works.

One suggestion (which might not work) would be to increase the score slightly when people use a Final Fantasy related word (like ‘elixir’ in the examples) compared with a generic word. I guess that part depends on whether the game is to be played with no particular theme or if you are giving it a Final Fantasy slant. That would also require adding a lot of FF words and concepts to the database.
Another suggestion would be also increasing the score slightly if a player includes multiple letters from the given word (again with the example 'elixir' it contains E, I and X from Enix so could score higher than a word with only E).
Those are just suggestions off the top of my head based on a first opinion and might not be possible.

Is this planned to become an app or a webpage game?

I like the concept draft image. At times it might look quite busy but I think all of the information needs to be there and a sensible use of colour could help lead the eye to the most important parts at any time.

I might offer some further thoughts when I have more time.

 

[SKWLCafe1]

Thank you...

The suggestions would work well. I like the one of introducing Final Fantasy related words (even if they are not grammatical). They would help build on the association with FF Games and storylines. The Points aspect would be equally enriching.

I understand that there are Pros and Cons of a native loading game vs webpage loading in terms of bandwidth, connectivity speeds and other mechanics, including user experience based on proximity to servers. I will leave it open to guidance and further advice for now

There would be 2 versions- A PC mode and Mobile mode. A player would be provided the options to compete with Mobile or PC players ONLY, or with Either. Now, logically it would be easier and faster for a PC user to type in using more than two fingers at a time compared to a Mobile user... I'm open to correction on my assumption though.

I agree with you, the hand-drawn blueprint does look busy. Most of the text could be hidden by Menu in game execution and User Interface display. One of the reasons i showcase the hand-drawn is to give room for Arts and Graphics person to bring it to life without having previous artistic biases on my side.

Some of the next steps you could consider assisting me with, may be:

1. Possible connection with passionate developer(s) that we can together explore building a minimum viable product with as we try to build traction, feedback and possible funding for scaling.

2. Engine options. Advice on whether the Luminous Studio engine would support such a game or is there need, for various reasons, to explore other Engines

 

[Paddy McGee]

Engine options. Advice on whether the Luminous Studio engine would support such a game or is there need, for various reasons, to explore other Engines

Luminous Studios is a proprietary engine within Luminous Productions (which is a part of Square Enix); being pragmatic about it here: the likelihood of you getting access to that engine to build a final fantasy word game, which you're looking to source people for on a Final Fantasy discussion forum, is going to be quite low.

However, from what reading the concepts you've posted about, it really doesn't seem like you need 3-D modeling like the sort of modeling that the Luminous engine supports.

Instead, I would suggest something like Unity (https://unity.com/) or maybe even Unreal Engine (https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/); these, while still proprietary to a company, are much easier for you or me to get a hold of and develop with and have training resources both provided by their mother company and out there in the wilderness. They provide multiple resources and have the tooling for both large scale 3D games AND some more lower level games like yours. Both engines support multiple devices (as per your requirements) and are rather easy to get up and going with, if you have some programming knowledge.

Tidbit: Both of these engines have been used to develop Final Fantasy games; Unity was used for the Port of Final Fantasy IX and Mobius Final Fantasy while Unreal is being used for final Fantasy VII: Remake - so there is still a connection there if that's what you were hoping for.

 

[SKWLCafe1]

Thank you...

I am inclined towards Unreal though initially i had set off thinking Unity having seen a card game built off it. Unreal due to the easier royalty options upon publishing but understanding it's limited developer base

You are right. On the onset, my concept will not need 3D features as the User Interface is mostly static with a dynamic widget here or there. User Avatar is what i would like to make room for in terms of graphics details and customization, though i believe those are details to be expanded upon once the MVP proves successful.

I have zero programming experience. My knowledge comes from reading here and there as i try to find the best resources to help in developing my concept

Luminous Studios is a proprietary engine within Luminous Productions (which is a part of Square Enix); being pragmatic about it here: the likelihood of you getting access to that engine to build a final fantasy word game, which you're looking to source people for on a Final Fantasy discussion forum, is going to be quite low.

However, from what reading the concepts you've posted about, it really doesn't seem like you need 3-D modeling like the sort of modeling that the Luminous engine supports.

Instead, I would suggest something like Unity (https://unity.com/) or maybe even Unreal Engine (https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/); these, while still proprietary to a company, are much easier for you or me to get a hold of and develop with and have training resources both provided by their mother company and out there in the wilderness. They provide multiple resources and have the tooling for both large scale 3D games AND some more lower level games like yours. Both engines support multiple devices (as per your requirements) and are rather easy to get up and going with, if you have some programming knowledge.

Tidbit: Both of these engines have been used to develop Final Fantasy games; Unity was used for the Port of Final Fantasy IX and Mobius Final Fantasy while Unreal is being used for final Fantasy VII: Remake - so there is still a connection there if that's what you were hoping for.

 

[Dionysos]

I have no programming experience so I've sorry I'm not much use on that front (for that I'll suggest Paddy McGee's advice). I'll only be able to offer opinions on how it might look as a user or text information, etc. I think that 'hiding' some of the display information (as seen on the blueprint) or making it appear when appropriate could be a good look.

I know a few other forum users on this site who have been creating games in recent times. redcloud9 and AuronX spring to mind most readily, but I'm not yet sure what it is they have used for their respective projects (both projects being both very different to each other and to your own concept).

I would say that typing on a mobile most certainly will be slower and more problematic compared with PC users. Many mobile users will have auto-correct functions and predictive typing which could hinder progress in this game. The timer might run out before some people have typed even a handful of words. There may be some people who have mastered mobile typing, but I doubt they will be particularly numerous. It might put PC users at an unfair advantage if this was to go cross-platform.

 

[SKWLCafe1]

Thank you...

I have noted Paddy's advice and continue to appreciate your remarks.

I will be glad to engage with both redcloud9 and AuronX

I agree with you on mobile vs PC. I preempted the ability to choose which players to play versus - A balance could be struck: either allow the player to choose Mobile vs Mobile; PC vs PC or PC vs Mobile or to reward competitors with extra points if playing from mobile given the limitations. Then again, the autocorrect function could be used to "cheat". Possibly A.I could be used to counter those by establishing, over time, the average time it takes to key in say 4 or 5 or 8 words etc and flag those that fall below "unexpected" time limits for investigation.

I have no programming experience so I've sorry I'm not much use on that front (for that I'll suggest Paddy McGee's advice). I'll only be able to offer opinions on how it might look as a user or text information, etc. I think that 'hiding' some of the display information (as seen on the blueprint) or making it appear when appropriate could be a good look.

I know a few other forum users on this site who have been creating games in recent times. redcloud9 and AuronX spring to mind most readily, but I'm not yet sure what it is they have used for their respective projects (both projects being both very different to each other and to your own concept).

I would say that typing on a mobile most certainly will be slower and more problematic compared with PC users. Many mobile users will have auto-correct functions and predictive typing which could hinder progress in this game. The timer might run out before some people have typed even a handful of words. There may be some people who have mastered mobile typing, but I doubt they will be particularly numerous. It might put PC users at an unfair advantage if this was to go cross-platform.