The same place that you get essential game progressing upgrades from should also sell frivilous cosmetic upgrades that you can buy and people will comment on your new look.

Good article on interface design:

http://www.hardydev.com/2010/01/26/adventures-in-interfacing-part-i-should-the-interface-be-the-adventure/

Interface

??????

edit: maybe interactions change based on robot upgrades and are reflected in interface. Also, the actions change depending on context -- eyes are a visual description for mundane items; clue hunting mode on key items. Mouth is talk or maybe he just puts it in his mouth. Hand is use (doors and switches), take for inventory objects, and it makes people uncomfortable if you use it on them.

 

Day / Night

Hopes and Dreams

[00:11:00] Liz Edwards: I was thinking we could do night / day -- some things are open in the day, some things at night
[00:11:38] Liz Edwards: the game will probably be linear (i assume!) but itd be nice to revisit places and have them different
[00:16:33] Liz Edwards: i find it really sad when games are only set at night, too, i don't know why haha

[00:19:20] Danny Weatherley: haha yeah good idea!
[00:19:32] Danny Weatherley: i like the idea that its switchable and that could be part of the puzzle

[00:20:29] Liz Edwards: yeah, even if its just an option to say, "lets get some rest and check it out in the morning"
[00:20:50] Liz Edwards: but if you skip too many days without progress your boss gets mad or something haha

[00:22:50] Danny Weatherley: it'd be great it at just certian intervalls people get mad at you for doing typical game stuff

[00:23:07] Liz Edwards: i'd love that
[00:23:38] Liz Edwards: i hate getting repeated responses
[00:24:03] Liz Edwards: we should try to have that not happen!
[00:26:15] Liz Edwards: like you can ask a question a few times but the responses are "You already asked - I said,-"
"Seriously? I said-"
"Are you malfunctioning or what?"
and then the question disappears

[00:26:32] Liz Edwards: we'd have to have a note system so responses can still be read by the player

[00:27:43] Danny Weatherley: yeah like a journal or something

[00:28:06] Liz Edwards: the player should be able to write in it too
[00:28:34] Liz Edwards: i can't remember what game it is that lets you respond to emails you recieve
[00:28:54] Liz Edwards: Uplink let you, and there was another
[00:28:56] Liz Edwards: maybe the xfiles game
[00:29:08] Liz Edwards: i just love being able to write things back, mostly dumb things
[00:29:28] Liz Edwards: even if just to get a canned "this email bounced", "I am away on holiday!", response :B

IDEA

If we're going with the android cop vs android murder/hardware harvesting ring thing, he should go undercover.

Are the bad guys androids or human? Jerk androids would be scary but I like the idea of our android pretending to be human. If anyone sees you using android gadgets you are busted. WHIRR WHIRR. What was that? WHIRR I NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM EXCUSE ME

THAT IS ALL

Here's Frank -- I haven't got an interface in mind for the question/expression system and the actual npc face art will probably have to be a bit smaller to fit into that. But yeah I can do a bunch of expressions (hopefully) fairly easily in this style:

If one of you wants to mock up an interface with him, I can send you the PSD.

Things in the game

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key

GREEN - Definitely happening.
YELLOW - Probably happening, need confirmation.
RED - No idea whether it's happening.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basically I really need feedback on everything red or yellow, as it effects the code, story, artwork, and overall quantity of work we all have to do. The sooner I know the better.

Just to expand on some ideas...

Mini Games: When I say mini games I mean anything that takes us to a new interface (except the inventory).

I like the idea of having a reoccurring puzzle that's just part of the game mechanic, something like the Elder Scrolls lock-picking system, or maybe something like this for repairs/upgrades: 

Are we having a fake operating system?

Conversation System: Interface needs discussion, as in are we going to have text floating above their heads (like in The Dig), text in a box (like in Gemini Rue), or a new screen (like in Gabriel Knight: Sins of Fathers)? Or something else entirely?

Protagonist -> Stats : We discussed upgradable parts and combat systems, if we're doing either of these things we need to decide on a system.

Camera -> Pan -> Up/Down : This is self explanatory right? We need to decide this soon!

NPC -> Click to Interact -> Animation : Having a "facial expression" conversation system would eliminate any need for animation cutting down work, (unless we did animated faces within the conversation system).

NPC -> Buddy : Did I dream that we talked about a "click on your buddy to generate a hint" system?

Environment -> Click to Interact -> Doors to Access Connected Environments -> Animated or Static Images: What's the setting and how shall we make the door mechanic work?

Audio -> Voice : Personally I don't think voice acting adds anything to a game, and can detract a lot from the overall quality when done badly. Just my opinion though. What do other people think?

Combat System

Are we having a combat system?

Whether we are or not I'd like to throw some ideas in and get a discussion going. Obviously the story and puzzles take priority, but there's no harm in thinking about this sort of thing.

A turn based battle arena style systems would be fun to program. Very old school, and very enjoyable when strategy is involved.

That said, this worked well in games that were combat heavy, no idea how well it'd work in a game that's combat light.

Sword and Sworcery's combat system is pretty cool, it's time based, you click on the sword or shield depending what the thing you're fighting's doing. Also unlike normal games, stuff you fight doesn't get tougher, you lose hp as the endless battles take their toll on your health.

We could also do a text based combat system through a computer interface. I'll give that idea some more thought...

Any ideas on this matter? What are your favourite combat systems and why?

Plot Idea

How about this for a plot idea?

Z is a standard model android, political activist for the Android Rights Movement and police detective. He investigates the series of brutal "android harvesting" crimes, and strives to identify and bring down the organisation responsible.