I am horrible. Making all this journals about stuff I'll never do... but my mind is like a sewer. If I don't flush out all the ideas collecting in it I get stuck.
1) After researching genetic algorithms (check this simple one... its fun to watch http://www.qubit.devisland.net/ga/index.html ) I had the idea it would be great to implement them in FPS shooters (and other games). A genetic algorithm mimics evolution. Basically it varies parameters randomly and sees what parts work and what parts don't and then inherits those parameters to the next generation. Survival of the fittest in a mathematical model. Now applied to your typical zombie game this would mean that your playstyle would change the zombies coming at you. Lets say you have the typical slow moving ones at first. And you begin sniping them all then zombies would emerge with smaller heads (or the heads sunk into their chests making them harder to hit) or even no head at all. If you use a flamethrower the zombies could develop fire resistant skin, or just become bigger and abandon swarm tactics (fewer stronger zombies instead of many weak ones) or they learn to absorb the fuel and spit flames back at you! If you often use grenades, zombies would stop cuddling together in a herd and maybe get faster so you can't throw your grenades. Using machine guns could result in armored zombies and so on.
In the beginning you'd get many disadvantageous mutations too where maybe the legs are missing or it can't walk straight and are easy to kill. Letting them survive to "poison" the gene pool could be an essential game tactic.
Of course doing that with a real genetic algorithm would be very cool, but difficult. Genetic algorithms need tons of generations (and quite some CPU power for more difficult problems) to reach a point where they start to become good. So if this would be implemented in a game would probably be a simplified evolution code, with limited option for the zombies. Still if you give the zombies enough options to be able to have thousands of variations the replay value of such a game would be much higher.
Also the gameplay would be interesting. You could try not to use the same weapon too often to prevent the zombies adapting to them or simply use one weapon as long as you can until its useless and then switch to the next (and hope the campaign is over when you run out of new weapons). Survival mode would be easy to implement too. Players would only have a limited set of weapons and then you send wave after wave. With the zombies adapting it will get harder and harder on its own.
Higher difficulty settings would simply have faster adapting zombies, breaking away from the boring "enemies have more HP and deal more damage" settings you usually have.
This idea works great for alien invasion games too :3 _______________________________
2) I though of 2 wishes that would have an interesting effect on the world.
First wish: I wish that there is a Karma rating that rewards good deeds with luck and bad deeds with bad luck. Second wish: I wish that penis size, breast size, appearance and fertility depend on your Karma rating.
With these two wishes every nice person in the world would have more good things happening to them (and less bad) and all bad people would have more bad stuff happen to them (and less good). In addition all nice people would be pretty, fertile and well hung/endowed, while all the assholes would be ugly and small dicked / flat chested and impotent. If you have been bad, learn your lesson and change your life you can of course reverse the effect. However all incurable dickheads would die out and leave a nicer new generation (in theory ^^)
Well, I was thinking your units would be animals of some kind that would occasionally mutate at production and could be mated with other units to pass on mutations, those that survive combat would have their genes used to produce replacements and your forces would improve over time.
Well, I was thinking your units would be animals of some kind that would occasionally mutate at prod
Imo it would work better in a Bioshock style setting than a zombie setting, and would be a bit easier to implement - your oppenents adapt their use if plasmids/gene tonics/nukaine to your most frequently used attacks and weapons - if they live long enough to witness them, so it can also pay to be stealthy instead of going in guns blazing. You can even plan ahead and try to lure your enemy into an evolutionary extreme to then attack with the opposite strategy while they scramble to re-adapt their entire genetic makeup.
What would be even more interesting would be an AI that simply learns new tactics for their existing units by observing you and what works against you. And then of course you can pit two different evolutionary paths of the same AI against each other and watch.
Other aspects that could be tied to karma would be intelligence (you can do more good with more brains and do less evil with less brains) and maybe body odor.
Imo it would work better in a Bioshock style setting than a zombie setting, and would be a bit easie
I think it would work for many types of games. But of course Bioshock has a very nice setup for it. And pitting AI against AI could be a cool Multiplayer game. Bascially players try to do the reverse as in campaign mode.
Through their actions they try to breed the strongest enemies. Then they can enter their trained enemies against other peoples (like Pokemon XD)
And for Karma tied to intelligence I would be very hesitant. It would be changing around in people's mind. And just because someone is stupid does not mean he can't do lots of evil. The problem is it could become a negative spiral. Say you slip once. Usually you learn from it, but as your reduced Karma reduces your intelligence (and thus common sense) you don't and do something even more stupid/evil next time resulting in even lower Karma, etc....
I think it would work for many types of games. But of course Bioshock has a very nice setup for it.
Yes Left 4 Dead would be a prime example. However it would go much farther than that.
For example, if the party is good at killing Boomers the Boomer could stop spawning altogether or maybe even inherit his spewing ability to one of the other zombies. Or even worse, make each and every standard zombie explode after death.
And you like the Karma idea? Who'd have thought XD
Yes Left 4 Dead would be a prime example. However it would go much farther than that. For example,
Sounds like a very interesting game. Although I can see why it hasn't been made. That sounds like a royal pain in the ass for even rich developer/publisher teams to make.
That sounds nice although that kind of adds to society's unconstructive obsession with large genitals and breasts.
Sounds like a very interesting game. Although I can see why it hasn't been made. That sounds like a
