So going back to thinking about using this for truly EPIC video games…
Remember SPORE?
Remember the PROMISE of it? The dreams we believed?
A game from the primordial Sea to the vastness of Space that was to span the test of time?
And then, the heartbreak and utter, utter disappointment…
SPORE Was at it's core supposed to be three big games.
Dawn of time to sapience,
"Civilization" and city phase,
And then "Space" phase, which was supposed to be the "Real game" phase.
Well what we got was basically a couple of boring "Mini games" and then a really REALLY broken "main game"
So, what if we gave the game the love, care, and EPIC-ness it deserved…
Lets start off by making the three game phase, THREE GAMES.
Game one:
EPOC: The Dawn of Time.
Basically similar to spore, Start off as a Microbe and evolve to Sapience and into the stone age.
But make the whole thing much MUCH more in-depth.
Have an "Ocean phase" Where you go from Microbe, to multi cell organism, to fish, and THEN to land.
Being able to put more specific attributes into your creature, able to breed with others for mutation and species changers.
Have a much larger "World" Not just walking around, but you can zoom out to different continents, send your creature to other places to see it evolve differently or gain better attributes.
A "pre-cave man" phase just before Sapience (the end of the first game) which would decide a lot of your 'culture' burial rights, primitive art, etc.
EPOC2: The Rise of Civilization
Basically this would be "Civilization" to a certain extent.
Instead of other historical races however, there would be randomly generated other versions of your species. Instead of the static "Money, Religion, Military" groups in SPORE there would be Nations with procedurally generated cultures and religions and such based upon dozens of individual aspects from existing historical nations, governments and cultures.
Using a system similar to Civ's "Policies" You would slowly shape and mold your own civilizations cultural, religious and government polices.
You can "Win" through the normal, either conquer everyone. Through being elected "World Leader" or by building the first Interstellar Spaceship.
On the "Spaceship phase" unlike Civ, where building the ship is like building any other Wonder…
There will be a Dedicated "Space Race" phase, where you build primitive spaceships units, and go from primitive Mercury rockets, through Apollo like capsules, and then Research more advanced aspects of spaceflight until you are able to construct a ship that can carry people to colonize another planet in your system.
Unlike SPORE and Civ, how you design the ship will matter in how successful it is. Also what things you have to build the ship will be guilder by the polices you have adopted over the course of the game. Weather it will be more militaristic, more exploration, etc.
Once you HAVE colonized another planet…
EPOC3: The Final Frontier.
The "Real" game that everyone wanted.
Basically a X4 Master of Orion style space civilization game.
This game would have its own phases.
"System Stage"
"Steller Stage"
"Sector Stage"
"Galactic Stage"
Each stage unlocks new new tech and new ships and new policies.
(This was something we discussed in another three you can check out
HERE
So THREE Separate games.
Each one of these you are able to "Upload" your creature from the previous game (or make a brand new one if you want to start from scratch)
All of the various choices and decisions you make will actually matter at the end. How you played, how you evolved and what sort of government or culture you adopt will in time make a difference as you expand out into the stars!
How does that strike ya?