Drizzlehell
Banned
I was inspired by this while recently playing Need For Speed 4: Road Challenge.
There's an interesting mechanic in that game that I don't think was ever replicated in any of the subsequent NFS games (or any racing game for that matter) even though some of them were ripe for it. So for those who never played that game, the whole career mode revolves around entering a series of championships where you have to put some money upfront to even enter the competition. However, at the end of each championship you face like a chapter boss or whatever and you both put your own cars on the line, and if you happen to lose the race then that's it, you lose your wheels. But if you win, then you get your opponent's car. Although the game does kinda puss out on fully committing to this risk vs. reward idea and if you don't have a backup vehicle stored in your garage, then the game won't even allow you to enter the race. And even if you lose it then it's not that big of a deal because you can easily get another one just like it and it's like whatever man. There's not even that much to do in terms of customization.
So here's my idea - no half-measures. You put your ride on the line and if you lose it and have no backup ride then it's game over, start over.
Now, this would be just the basic premise. Not exactly a roguelike because there won't be any permanent unlocks that would carry over between the runs or randomly generated stuff (although maybe it would be an interesting addition, idk, haven't considered it fully yet), but definitely a game with a permanent fail state that would raise the stakes of each career run. On top of that, however, I also think it would be a pretty great idea to rig the game's economy in such a way that you'd basically get enough starting money to buy a starting vehicle but most cars in the game would be expensive enough that buying additional ones would be impossible, and you'd only win enough money from races to spend on upgrades, customization, and maintenance. And this customization and maintenance would be like a huge part of the game and there would be a lot of it, right down to the cosmetic shit where you could even pimp out your dashboard, tinker with the performance, etc. The goal would be to force the player to grow attached to his car just as if it was your real ride. And then you could add some gameplay features that would increase this bond through adversity and hardship. Like, let's say that there would be these random rivals that would be dogging you throughout the entire career. You know, pushing you off the road during races, smashing through these destructible obstacles like they had in NFS Most Wanted, all of which would cause vehicle damage that would then cost extra money to repair. And then of course you'd also have an opportunity to get back at them, and you'd get some sort of permanent unlocks, customization items or trophies that you could later review to reminisce about the journey and shit.
There may be some more ideas that could help solidify this bond between you and your car but the ultimate point would be that losing your wheels would be like a really big deal and you could even lose the entire game with no option to reload a save or whatever. You'd have to start over from the beginning. Maybe there could be an easy mode that wouldn't have this permadeath mechanic, or you could at least earn some kind of vehicle tokens that would save you from losing the entire career and you could for example get an extra get-out-of-jail-free car that would help you get back on your feet. Or maybe you could just use the cars that you won from previous boss races, but that original car that you worked on so hard since the beginning of the career and grew attached to would be gone. Maybe there would be a chance to get it back once you reach the final boss of the game, but for the remainder of the career you'd have to settle for a replacement.
So that's the basic idea. Thoughts? Feedback? Any other ideas that you think could improve this premise? Discuss.
There's an interesting mechanic in that game that I don't think was ever replicated in any of the subsequent NFS games (or any racing game for that matter) even though some of them were ripe for it. So for those who never played that game, the whole career mode revolves around entering a series of championships where you have to put some money upfront to even enter the competition. However, at the end of each championship you face like a chapter boss or whatever and you both put your own cars on the line, and if you happen to lose the race then that's it, you lose your wheels. But if you win, then you get your opponent's car. Although the game does kinda puss out on fully committing to this risk vs. reward idea and if you don't have a backup vehicle stored in your garage, then the game won't even allow you to enter the race. And even if you lose it then it's not that big of a deal because you can easily get another one just like it and it's like whatever man. There's not even that much to do in terms of customization.
So here's my idea - no half-measures. You put your ride on the line and if you lose it and have no backup ride then it's game over, start over.
Now, this would be just the basic premise. Not exactly a roguelike because there won't be any permanent unlocks that would carry over between the runs or randomly generated stuff (although maybe it would be an interesting addition, idk, haven't considered it fully yet), but definitely a game with a permanent fail state that would raise the stakes of each career run. On top of that, however, I also think it would be a pretty great idea to rig the game's economy in such a way that you'd basically get enough starting money to buy a starting vehicle but most cars in the game would be expensive enough that buying additional ones would be impossible, and you'd only win enough money from races to spend on upgrades, customization, and maintenance. And this customization and maintenance would be like a huge part of the game and there would be a lot of it, right down to the cosmetic shit where you could even pimp out your dashboard, tinker with the performance, etc. The goal would be to force the player to grow attached to his car just as if it was your real ride. And then you could add some gameplay features that would increase this bond through adversity and hardship. Like, let's say that there would be these random rivals that would be dogging you throughout the entire career. You know, pushing you off the road during races, smashing through these destructible obstacles like they had in NFS Most Wanted, all of which would cause vehicle damage that would then cost extra money to repair. And then of course you'd also have an opportunity to get back at them, and you'd get some sort of permanent unlocks, customization items or trophies that you could later review to reminisce about the journey and shit.
There may be some more ideas that could help solidify this bond between you and your car but the ultimate point would be that losing your wheels would be like a really big deal and you could even lose the entire game with no option to reload a save or whatever. You'd have to start over from the beginning. Maybe there could be an easy mode that wouldn't have this permadeath mechanic, or you could at least earn some kind of vehicle tokens that would save you from losing the entire career and you could for example get an extra get-out-of-jail-free car that would help you get back on your feet. Or maybe you could just use the cars that you won from previous boss races, but that original car that you worked on so hard since the beginning of the career and grew attached to would be gone. Maybe there would be a chance to get it back once you reach the final boss of the game, but for the remainder of the career you'd have to settle for a replacement.
So that's the basic idea. Thoughts? Feedback? Any other ideas that you think could improve this premise? Discuss.
Last edited:
