Nature Demo Sample Program
We need a nature demo that shows advanced shader effects and of course it has to look really good.
Whiteboard
(UNCCheezy) I'm currently working on a project that should satisfy these goals...
(pro-rsoft) Sounds great. What exactly will that be?
Also, would you be willing to share it to the community?
(UNCCheezy) well i guess I shall go ahead and give you the pitch. and yes it will be open source!
Pitch:
The Zen Garden
The Zen Garden is a game/software tool where the player explores a spectacular environment, while being introduced to some ideals from Zen Buddhism. (mainly to people who know little about Zen) It has not yet been decided whether or not it will be a game or just a software tool, the choice should be made by the design and development team. (I have ideas for both)
If The Zen Garden becomes a software tool, the main purpose is to explore art in a virtual world, (shaders, shadows, sound, etc...) and create a portfolio showpiece that illustrates the team’s ability to produce technical art.
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On the other side, this idea could turn into a game. I still haven’t quite decided what the main goal of the game would be, but have explored the following options:
My initial idea was an adventure game with no text, no clues, no anything. The player is left in the world to explore, and there are “hidden” quests that when activated enrich the environment in some way. (such as throwing a rock in a still pond begins a constant wind, giving the pond constant ripples, where it had been calm before.) the problem with this design, is that it alienates all players except hardcore adventure gamers.
Second, a game where we use things (such as a bird flying past the character to the next objective) to guide the player certain places, but not make them actually do anything. (IMO this goes best with Zen)
Lastly, a RPG based game where you play a Zen monk training to become enlightened. There would be quest oriented tasks that come directly from your Master, but still leave you with choices. (This would produce a more traditional game)
All three of these games have totally different implementations and ideals of what the game should “give” the player. As I said earlier, it really depends on the dev team choice. The marketability to make this into a game is quite limited, so it seems to me this is strictly a portfolio piece, as always, I am open for suggestions, but I would like to keep the art, sound, and Zen ideals as highest priority for the “game”.
