Game Discussions How about a vehicular-based "driving sim"..? Autoduel/Car Wars vs Mad Max, futuristic post-modern / post-nuke(?) etc, but set in UK?

Presuming the engine behind Elite:Dangerous (incl missions) could potentially be used, with obvious modification (from 3DoF to land-based, driving 2DoF) -- ie not just taking the SRV surface roving mechanic -- I could imagine the POTENTIAL to have a "driving+guns" sim, along the lines of the (Steve Jackson Games) Car Wars desktop game, which inspired Origin Systems' AUTODUEL, and more recently similar genre games like the Mad Max spin-off and the RAGE game...

IS there any chance that Frontier might explore the potential to do some sort of driving+guns (+missions, incl delivery, maybe passengers, quite a bit which could be similar in nature to Elite's missions) type of game?

I remember driving from Wiltshire up to Yorkshire, and it took 5-6+hrs (not stopping at any major centres on the way up)... Somerset to London is 2-2.5hrs...
I'd think, then, that a driving game, set in (e.g. only!) a "geographically-realistic" UK, could still be quite "large"..
Mad Max and Fallout means a post-nuke style game might be too "already done", and zombies have been done to death (again), ....

What if it was a "divergent timeline" basis future, but things have gotten chaotic, leading to vehicle weaponisation & escalation, and on-going confrontations, including armoured police, and factions on both sides of the law, including a military arm, but mainly independents / mercenaries ...

In fact, considering Global Warming / climate change challenges at this time, and borrowing from an old BBS (Bulletin Board Service) game called OVERKILL, in that old game, the currency was something they called "Water Crystals" (amongst my BBS friends, I nicknamed them "WaCr's", rhyming with "crackers"), ... making clean water a highly desirable commodity, in a radioactive world where people live below ground / in shelters / in shielded/walled major cities, and wore protective suits in order to survive "outside"..... What about an imagined "post-global-warming" UK???

In a world where airplanes no longer fly; perhaps due to lack of fuel, or the skies are ruined (volcanic ash clouds from even more volcanos coming live and erupting around the world???), so shipments come into UK by sea, via ports, and must be delivered across the country by road... and of course hijackers etc make the roads dangerous ... and there's room for escort / protector roles, need for armour and both offensive & defensive weaponry .... major cities, protective walls, the last bastions of humanity, ... and who knows what's happened to the Royal Family..? O_O

Borrowing from Autoduel, the "bus/coach" function in that game allowed players to move between towns without driving treacherous roads; perhaps there could be an "invincible" / unstoppable ARMOURED RAIL option, to allow movement between safe habitats, without risking life/limb/vehicle... but requiring Identity Documents, which tap into a system (reputation), so "criminal" types can not use it; and perhaps keep a "bus/coach" option, which may still be attacked on the roads (which crims can use; OR leave them only the option of using their vehicles, and taking their chances)... >_<
Such Armoured Rail system could also be used to "guarantee" resource delivery to major population centres, feeding into the background economy...

If pushing the "electric vehicle" idea, fuel is less significant (except maybe for older hybrid vehicles, eg bus/coach!), but CHARGING STATIONS will be Very Important... Waypoints (i.e. between major cities / safe havens) might have charging stations, but be "held" by leading factions, so access may either cost more or less depending on your affiliation / reputation... (See the Elite parallels? They make sense, I feel...)

There's a lot that might be done in a First-Person Perspective, real-time, Road War driving sim style game...
(Versus turn-based, highly tactical, Darkwind: War On Wheels style)

So, anyway, those are some initial thoughts...
Anyone else possibly interested in such a game??

Frontier - any chance, esp. if there's enough interest??? =D
 
Man, I've been waiting decades for a good Car Wars game. Autoduel was too long ago! Shame Steve Jackson is so prickly to deal with, otherwise it would've happened by now.

I'd want it tactical and turn-based tho. What's the point of buying the rights otherwise? You could just rip it off.
 
What if it was a "divergent timeline" basis future, but things have gotten chaotic, leading to vehicle weaponisation & escalation, and on-going confrontations, including armoured police, and factions on both sides of the law, including a military arm, but mainly independents / mercenaries ...
Do you know about Interstate 76 ?
 
Man, I've been waiting decades for a good Car Wars game. Autoduel was too long ago! Shame Steve Jackson is so prickly to deal with, otherwise it would've happened by now.

I'd want it tactical and turn-based tho. What's the point of buying the rights otherwise? You could just rip it off.

Hi Milligna,

Was unaware re Jackson that way...

Yes, been aaaaages since Autoduel. DOSBox (et al) provides a way. Plus, there's a website (I'd need to find again) which let's u play old pc games live online via Web browser .. Tho I don't think u can properly "save" games... I had Roadwar on, left my pc powered all the time, then one day, power cut.. Lost it. o_O

Turn-based & tactical:
Look up (on steam, if not elsewhere) DARKWIND: WAR ON WHEELS

Last I read it's still going strong. I'm not sure there's another similar alternative.
 
Post apocalyptic Britain? You mean like London?

Lol.. Nah, London's got a (C)-zone, congestion charging.

I'm thinking crime ridden, w guns, gangs, road war... Maybe more like Manchester / Birmingham..
o_O


No, actually, I mean use the WHOLE UK for the "world map" (maybe incl Isle of Man, Ireland, by way of secure ferries), retaining most of the major cities as strongholds safe from "the elements" (whetever they'd be in this alt future, as long as its NOT bloody zombies) w the idea that, as an island, we're limited to the UK as a game domain/area.

A bit like how the old Roadwar was USA ONLY, and Roadwar Europa was the main continent of Europe, with major cities, and dangerous roads between them.
;)
 
Wasn't the sequel to '76, '82..?
The sequel was forgettable though. The original was everything you mentioned, but located in the US deserts, certainly accounting for the low polygon abilities of 3D graphics back then... Also what tied the game together was the music and characters.
 
The sequel was forgettable though. The original was everything you mentioned, but located in the US deserts, certainly accounting for the low polygon abilities of 3D graphics back then... Also what tied the game together was the music and characters.
Yup, I definitely remember that. :D
 
So, only 1 year "necro" ... but now that we have ODYSSEY = on-foot play, there is EVERY CHANCE that Frontier Developments could conceivably employ much of the COBRA engine (reduced from 6DoF, of course) to driving mechanics (beyond just SRV-like).

Missions, incl Secure Document Couriering, Important Item Delivery / Retrieval, Assassinations / Escorts, can all be based on the way ELITE works . . .

"Roles" (esp now with Odyssey's WELDER tool) could potentially include Vehicle Mechanic -- imagine a Mission to go out into dangerous territory to help repair an NPC's vehicle; possibly defending them from spontaneous attack before being able to complete repairs..
"Onward Mission" offer of Escorting them to a Stronghold / Safe City; or, learning that they are carrying Rare Valuables that you might then LIBERATE . . . OR, as a "spy", learning of their own Mission, to report back to your own Major Power . . .
 
Top Bottom