ma Ville

Unlike what Robert Hess -of .Net show, said "I often think that the best way to push the limits of different things in computers, whether it's the processing power of the computer, or the graphics chip, the languages, the platform, the development tools, is to write a game, because in a game you're always wanting to do something more.", I believe games are much more than that. In fact I designed earlier this year a game called ville, pushing games to the next level; being a platform. What if your operating system, is a game, you have a character, a home, rooms, possessions, tasks, friends, places you hang out with your friends at, all virtual and within that world, your normal older casual usage of operating systems and applications still exist. Inspired by nokiagame and being in its hall of fame, I realized how people loved online gaming, and through that atmosphere they collaborated as never before. We were more than a million and a half gamers, we stayed awake for more than 11 days during the last contest, we practically lived on the game.
Here is a preview of the requirements document for ville(for an rtf clearer format mail me):


ville Design and Requirements Document
Overview
As never before this would be the first game to provide real-life activities; from moving in, living with others, working, passing by obstacles, purchasing stuff through real-like shopping, traveling from place to another, doing activities like listening to music or watching tv or even going to cinema, as well as supporting basic titles and jobs together with their work-like environments to provide a real life simulation. This game as well would support the new concept of a game inside a game, through its SDK, anyone could develop games and embed them, as well as other plugins and addons, board games and many other 3rd party games would be compatible to fit in. Going online, once subscribed to our web services you can have multiplayer, full interactivity with other players, you can visit their homes, work with them, meet them, shop with them..etc. Through missions and obstacles you might face a virus or an earthquake or a robbery from the system or from another person who was either a criminal or a careless driver, you would have to go to a hospital and be the mission of another to treat your illness. Being a truly expandable game, we would put the foundation that could accept additions and requirements submitted by the continuous feedback of users. It would start in 3rd person graphics kind of games and in later editions or versions of the game we would support a fully 3D 1st person game, as in games like GTA, need for speed, all activities would be in a 1st person form with full reality. In the far future, we would as well support multiple ages, where user can travel in time and be in a different era..etc.
The Game
Phases
It would go through the following phases:
Phase 1:
3rd person, where you can see everything and move yourself using the mouse, you would have a toolbox to select stuff from, right click others and objects and have a menu of appropriate actions. You would choose from the real world map where to stay, the list would include all cities..etc. It would be mostly like The Sims kind of games.
Phase 2:
1st person, where you will drive yourself, move everywhere and using keyboard keys mostly and little less of the mouse and toolbox you would be in a reality 3d world of your own.
It would be mostly like GTA, Need for Speed..etc.
Phase 3:
Travel through time, multiple ages..etc
Phase 4:
Multiple Planets, life under water, life in forests, deserts, mountains, opening roads for full travel between cities and places within the game.
Why play it?
This game is composed of a group of ideas, each succeeded in its own game, from the simulation of a world, to travel simulation, purchasing simulation, sports..etc.
It is fun, entertainment, freedom, challenge, continuous, real-like, non risky, accessible, mobile, all-day, explorable and a free kind a game.
In the game, you can meet other players, do activities that affect you, your profile, scores and others as well, you can learn what others think or do, get famous and easily known in the community, you can be yourself or you can try to be someone else.
Prizes and accomplished missions give you credit, points and pushes you ahead with a continuous non boring challenge.
Game inside game guarantees that you can expect new games and contributions coming in all the time, reviving the game forever.
Supporting your mode whether you tend to be a criminal, religious, astrologist, communist or creepy imaginative, whatever, the game will customize itself to match your needs starting from how you can design and shape your room, style, wear what you wish through shopping, purchase what matches your personality and meet or hang out with friends in the place you like (your home, clubs, restaurants..from the wide variety in the game).


Why Sponsor or invest in it?
Players would be able to purchase and shop in the game virtual objects, everything, and here the sponsor or advertiser can jump in, by adding their own device simulated edition in our shops.
Online subscriptions would be another source of revenue, online services would be covering multiplaying, news, stocks, weather, home delivery, everything that was simulated in the game is offered to be real for the gamers as well, the won't need to go away from the game.
On demand Services like listening to radio, music or watching cable channels or movies can be part of the online subscription, the player would buy the suitable virtual device from the game and be able to watch these movies or listen to whatever content in the game.
Requirements
Profile
Each player will have the following:
-a eHistory composed of:
[for the following the gamer can choose from a list, or join existing other gamers communities(buildings, ..) or make his own]
--Education : he would choose the school/college/university of his own and give himself whatever grades as part of building his eHistory in the game.
--Job/Career: he would submit in his job title and where he is working or apply for a job.
--Interests: Sports, News, Channels, Type of Food, Movies, Music, Stars, he can browse from his own computer and add related photos and music for each.
--Friends/Family : he can add in details of the family, community or even tribe he wants to belong to, create or join.
--Memories: he would have an eDiary that automatically records from the moment he plays his memories and he can add past memories and photos as well.
--Own stuff: from a car, to a home, devices, everything he owns, all bound by the credit or funds assigned to him at the start of the game.
--Style/Mode: he can choose his life (i.e. communist, capitalist, religious, teenager, criminal, environment lover..etc)
--Funds: his bank, stocks, salaries, heritage..
--Relations: Professional (Co-Workers list, Lawyer, Family Doctor..), Romance.
--Contact Tools: Email (once he buys an appropriate device to access mail), mobile number,..etc, web site (real one or in-game)..

Village
each village would have the following:
--Infrastructure:
Zoning, basic services (electricity, sewage, cable..), each with their how-to subscribe details for gamers to be able to acquire.
--Services:
Police, Hospitals, Temples, Museums ..etc where gamers can even play as workers there.
--Entertainment:
Cinemas, Parks, Restaurants, Cafes (gamer can as well work there, or purchase such kind of place or build his own)..
--Companies/Businesses:
That's where most players would work, earn their living and points, based on players, there would be the owners, managers, ..etc and again they would decide the assignments/missions or get some proposed through the system..etc
--Government:
There by default but waiting as well for gamers to participate, that government would really affect the whole games (decisions taken in it would reflect on taxes, services, ..etc)
--Media:
Newspapers, tv channels in the game would be automated till gamers choose them as their career.
Trasnport:
Buses, Cars, Planes would be there and some as well would choose this as a career.
--Nature:
A landscape of mountains, rivers, forests would be around.
Online
Once got an online subscription the gamer would be able to :
--Play with other gamers, visit them, chat with them, share stuff with them, work with them, hang out with them..all possible activities, in addition to make difference in the community of gamers, through gamers contributions, by their own creativity and ideas
There will always be new missions or tasks for other users to carry out, this game's development and expandability relies on gamers and their ideas.
--Being online, you will have constant updates, these updates would enrich your gaming experience, making stuff more real, like real news, real weather, real maps, real names for places or sports or..etc, you will as well be able to read ebooks, listen or watch real media, or even update the devices arena you got in the game with a real sponsored list that you might even purchase for real use through the game.
--You can travel in the game to visit other cities and you can as well arrange the same trip in reality, the game would make gradually all reality activities available for you through the game, you would do something virtually and once you like it you can try it for real and that would be done easily because the purchase will be through the game that turned from a game to your own portal.
--Once online, notifications of your progress and whatever you want to be part of while on-the-go will reach you either on your mobile or mail..etc as long as you are away from the game.
--Being part of the community, you can find yourself in the government taking decisions or setting rules or judging or..etc.
--Real like conditions and disasters would happen to you, you might even die in the game or go to hospital, taking you to a real dramatic scenario that no game has done before.
ToolBox
This would be the user's tool to design or edit new objects (in decorating his home, car, clothes..etc), in it he will also put his favourites, addresses to remember, most used or called persons, companies..etc, as well as knowing his status, degrees and levels (hunger, anger, education..).
Here is a proposed simple mechanism for the levels/grades in ville:
Satisfaction (for any X subject[hunger, amusement..etc]):
Satisfaction
++
++
++
++
~
--
--
Below
++
--
~
--
~
~
++
Over
--
++
--
~
~
++
~
~ N/A
++ Increases
-- Decreases
Expected behaviour
Expected
over
below
below
over
below
over
~
Below
++
--
++
~
--
~
~
Over
--
++
~
++
~
--
~
These two tables explains the satisfaction and expectation associated with the behaviour taken by the gamer.
The sum expected behaviour for all players is used as a means of moving and sliding the normal.
As a result of the appearance of a new normal, the current values have new values although they maintain the same quantity (0 to 5) below or under, just like in stock market, so based upon the whole attitude of the society of gamers, the normal of each subject is defined on what they really think not what is predefined.
So for example,
Considering the old normal for [slim] is 0 (neither below or over)
And for that what was once considered [thin] was a 2b (below)
The new normal became 3b (below)
And now the 2b is considered [fat].
Expandability
In the game, once u purchase a group of objects, they enable you to expand your experience totally, for example, once you shop and buy a computer, you can expect a group of missions concerning using that computer in addition to really being able to use it urself to access the internet in the normal means (you can access your real mail, search, do everything as well as continue playing).
The same with other devices, like tvs, multimedia devices, anything you shop in the game, you can use it inside the game just as if you had it outside it.
(once buying a tv, you can see the game tv channels[operated by other gamers], and real tv channels according to your online subscription)
(once buying a discman..etc you can listen to music on your harddisk, online real or game[operated as well by other gamers] radio channels or purchased streaming music from your online subscription).
The game architecture would allow any 3rd compatible game, multimedia or accessory to be accessible for the gamers either online or offline.
A simple proposed architecture for that:
Client Side
Native Platform
.net framework or JVM or neither
Native Game Data (either locally or via network) [Design and RunTime Data]
Expandable rules, containers, schemas..
Special designer tool could be used to make this data, proposed format..XML
Data Access and Network Engine
Expandable support for devices and protocols that implement and expand the game APIs..etc
Rules – Container Modeler/Parser Engine
Supports expansion, addition of 3rd party rules/containers defining how their games, cities, ..etc can run in the game.
User Interface and Resources Engine
How additional 3rd games should appear, skinning and other community features
Graphics and 3D Engine
Supports openGL, DirectX rendering..
Server Side
Native Server
Database – Mail – Files – Web – MultiPlayer/Networking Components and Servers
Web Services and Networking Layer communicating with players and service providers
Rules – Container mechanism:
Person …. A group of [Person]s represent People.
Person is a rule-controlled object in the game system.
Person has a group of attributes that fully describes how he appears, what he can do, where he lives, who are related to him..etc and his available actions that are conditioned and controlled by the game rules.
Container …. A group of [Container]s represent World.
Container is a rule-based object in the game system.
Rule …. A group of [Rule]s represent Knowledge.
Rule is a descriptive set of conditions, values and their acceptable/rejected actions in the game system.
Action causes a transition of state or a change in value of an attribute
Scenario …. A set of
[Person]s in [Container]s that commited a group of [Action]s bound by [Rule]s
Scenarios represent the log of what the users did in runtime, as well as a group of design time available missions.
Like for example:
Hospital [ofType:Container]
_has [attributes]
_name
_place
_owner
_requires [rule-based]
_finances
_out
_expenses
_in
_fees
_duties
_room/space
Fees [ofType:Rule]
_if-on [Hospital]
_[Country_Federal_Tax]+[Governorate_Standard_Medical_Fee]+[Medical_Fee_Value]
Value[ofType:Rule]
_if-on [Medical]
_[Dentist]
_[20 units]
Sponsorship
Sponsors or advertisers can easily fit in this game, either through advertising their products by putting their models in the game (cars, devices, ..etc) or by providing real onDemand multimedia services (radio, cable, news..)
There would be as well eBooks and other educational means inside which can be sponsored and provided by 3rd party providers. Additional Plugins, skins, maps, companies, home designs, clothes, can all provide a means for businesses to jump in the game.
InGame contests, tours, memories, radio, tv or even news can be sponsored as well. Accessories of the game, mugs, t-shirts ..etc as well as mobile notifications can be provided with additional ads.
Portalism
Online the user can multiply, access a range of services from e-mail, search, news, multimedia to shopping, maps, plugins, skins, car/building models, job definitions, learning materials, as well enhanced ranking, scales, contests both ingame or real.

Statistics
Complete set describing everything the user accomplished against what other gamers did. Various views and representations of his actions and possessions in the game, the people he met, worked with, amount of money, his e-diary, favourite places, cars, shows, shops.