Deadly Creatures – the first step to a interesting world - Insect Online
Ever see those movies like “Honey, I shrank the Kids”?, “Bee Movie”, “Antz”, “Bully”?
These movies did spark interest. Numerous single player games about playing a bug are also out there. Maybe they were not blockbusters but this game stimulated some neurons.
Deadly Creatures appears to be a game where we can enjoy an environment where your world is not in a far away place, but in our backyard. Its scenery is not of mountains, lakes, river and vistas. The points of interest include a closet, a soda can or giant shovel. The hazards of insect life are challenging. Survive other insects, predatory reptiles, and a human shoe or (insert rolled up hand held tool here).
Insect Online would be a interesting reach into our MMO genre. You can put a twist on things so the game is not too foreign to us. Change is scary.
Insects have interesting “skills”. They have ranged weaponry, regeneration, armor, poison, flight, webs, light, etc and some even have professions. Insects have soldiers, hunters, assassins, queens, crafters (workers), etc.
So there is plenty of room to work with in an MMO game. Now how can a game go from Spiders vs Scorpions into a vast MMO system?
This is where we pull a little fantasy from the Pixar movies. We personalize our bugs with the option of humanizing our faces. We can throw in a small face like in Charlotte’s Web can’t we? Or if we don’t like a face, keep the natural look. Customization is a key to an MMO success, right?
But insects don’t have gear. This is MMO blasphemy! City of Heroes did not launch with permanent gear either, the game used enhancements. Electronic Arts hit game Spore offers evolutionary pieces to the creatures that can also act as gear.
Gear fanatics do not despair. Who says you have to look the same all the time? Why can’t that Praying Mantis avatar pick up a piece of bark and don it for additional protection? Why can’t a Wasp avatar snack on a meal laced with radiation for a freakish result? A clever Soldier ant comes across a bleb of Elmers glue and a sharp toothpick and voila! A weapon. Our avatars won’t be wielding Frostmourne, but they can have potent attacks with pincers, horns, venomous tails, dazzling light, bites, stingers, and so on. Loot would be enhancements to ones skills. Legendary items would be evolutionary breakthroughs.
Evolutinary breakthroughs are shape modifying, functional enhancements that are applicable to ones progeny.
Progeny is important is this game. Life is too difficult and too short. It is how the game handles death penalties. If you die, one of your offspring takes your place. An insect is immortal only through its offspring. You would be assigned a mate (and find better ones as you travel) and given your own lair (housing) from which your kids can emerge and prosper.
Our enemies are mighty and vast. Giants named Bobby and Jenny are always threatening with their feet, they wield foreign mauls of death marked with an arcane inscription by a wizard known as Playschool. Hazards like the Bladed Reaper that cleaves the forests must be avoided (Lawnmowers) and the Gas Lords from Orkin always mean certain genocide.
If that weren’t enough, PvP is on. Drop your enemy for enhancements or body parts. Be careful not to mess with those insects associated with a Hive, Colony or Collective (guilds).
Insect Online has potential.