24 replies to this topic

[Musashi_HUmar]

Here's a letter I sent to Sega about the idea I had for a NiGHTS MMO I put in my user name instead of my real one for privacy purposes.

Musashi_HUmar

February 12, 2008

Sega of America
650 Townsend Street, Suite 650
San Francisco, CA 94103-4908

Dear Sega of America,

My name is Musashi_HUmar and I am 17 years old. I'm a long-time fan of your work. I'm writing to you now on the subject of an idea I had for a game. With the December 18, 2007 release of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, a lot of people have now been introduced to NiGHTS. I myself had it on pre-order months before the release as I am a major fan of NiGHTS.

A while ago I had a thought about some different Sega franchises. I had been playing Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II when I started to think about NiGHTS. What if you were to do something of a crossover? That's when I got the idea to do a NiGHTS into Dreams... MMO. As time passed, I got more and more ideas for the game. Here's the run down of it.

When the player first starts off, they design 2 characters. One is the kid they go around Twin Seeds as in the awake world. The second is their own customized NiGHTS which they use to fly around in dreams as.

To enter a dream, the player will go to what I've decided to call, "The Sweet Dreams Hotel". They go to sleep and then enter the dream world. Then, they will have their choice of dreams to fly though. Every so often, new dreams will be created and available for download. Also, at the Sweet Dreams Hotel, there will be a list that lists high scores on the different dreams as well as the player's world ranking on that dream.

Once the player is in, they go around and of course, collect the four Ideya. It's basically the same as any other NiGHTS game. At the end, the player fights a boss. When the player finishes, the points they got from that dream is added onto what is called their Overall Score. The higher the Overall Score is, the higher rank they have in the online community.

The gold stars they get from the dream is used as currency in the awake world. The players can use it to buy things like different customizations for their characters, art work, music(for when they are playing, not for download), and more.

In the awake world, players can walk around Twin Seeds. The players will also be able to talk to one another as well as make trades. Also, awake world games will be available such as basketball, soccer, and other mini-games which players can challenge each other to. The winner of each game also gets a certain amount of gold stars and some points added to their Overall Score.

Players can also challenge each other to Dream World games such as racing through a course and battle mode. The racing would work just as it does in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, except there would be maybe another lap or two. Battle mode would work the way it does in NiGHTS into Dreams... because in my opinion, paralooping around your opponent 3 or maybe 5 times works better. The winner of each game gets a certain amount of gold stars and points added to their Overall Score depending on how quickly they won.

It is my hope that this letter inspires your corporation to at least make a game similar to this if you don't decide to make it this way. I however felt that this was an idea at least worthy of taking a few minutes of your time to read this letter. As I said previously, I have been a long-time fan of your franchises such as Sonic, NiGHTS, Samba de Amigo, and more. I hope you consider my idea for production

Yours truly,

Musashi_HUmar

[TRiPPY]

A proper online game/dreamer/dream design was one of the most requested things in our community SEGA project back in 2007, the chances of SEGA ever doing it though are pretty slim considering how much JoD sold as a general platform/adventure type game. The servers on PSU are pretty quiet and that's a successful series

[iLLViLLAiN]

Not the be pessimistic but the chances of your dreams coming true are about as slim as the Playstation 3 passing the Wii in sales. An MMO idea is nice and all but my main issue with them are fees. I can't stand them. I feel the same about DLC on PSN and XBL.

[Musashi_HUmar]

I understand, but I thought I would at least give it a shot. I've always been told that you never know about something for sure until you give it a try. If it does happen, I'll be happy. If it doesn't, it's no big loss. At least I put my idea(I'm sorry, Ideya), out there.

[iLLViLLAiN]

I understand, but I thought I would at least give it a shot. I've always been told that you never know about something for sure until you give it a try. If it does happen, I'll be happy. If it doesn't, it's no big loss. At least I put my idea(I'm sorry, Ideya), out there.

It's good you tried. At least you're not someone who complains all the time and never acts.

[TRiPPY]

Yup, it's good when people take their opinons directly to the company instead of sitting whining about it on the internet. Thats the only way things get through to them over time.

[Saifer Dracondrali]

I understand, but I thought I would at least give it a shot. I've always been told that you never know about something for sure until you give it a try. If it does happen, I'll be happy. If it doesn't, it's no big loss. At least I put my idea(I'm sorry, Ideya), out there.

Good man! if you really wanna try ta put this idea into action try to become a game designer for Sega (but be forewarned the hours for game designers are absolute murder!)

maybe I'm not reading your letter right but I don't see how this game is much different from JoD other than custom characters :/ and probably seeing other peoples avatars could you explain that a little more thoroughly to me if you don't mind? I wish sega was more inclined to listen to its fan base I swear I think they have an unpaid hobo working the e-mails. >

[TRiPPY]

Nah usualy the people working the emails agree... it's the higher ups that don't listen to anyone.

[Musashi_HUmar]

Well see Saifer, in this game, there are some differences because there is a lot more to do. Not only can you actually meet up with people, you can talk to them as well via the kind of IM system they usually put in MMO's. There are all kinds of mini games in Twin Seeds to participate in as well. Of course, I can't think of too many off the top of my head, but a lot of NiGHTS related games. If you have any specific questions, send me a PM.

[DiGi Valentine]

You know, i would dream about this kinda idea myself.
I've always wanted some kinda character-creation feature for a NiGHTS game and for it to be online would really be amazing. It would be like linking all the worlds dreamers together.
So, for your idea i salute you because i'm totally behind it.
But i know Sega won't do anything, sadly. After everything that happened with NiGHTS over the last year, the project we sent to all the offices...did it really amount to anything in the end? Not really. They heard what we had to say then carried on with what they were doing. If anything, i think the only thing they did to it in terms of making us happy was adding Elliot and Claris into the game because as far as i was aware that happened later on in development and i get the feeling that our project may have caused it. Our project really did contain a lot of people asking for those two kids to return and i think we caused that to happen.

But as far as a huge idea like this goes, i don't think Sega will listen. I want them to, believe me....but i don't think they will because at the end of the day they want something that is going to make money and NiGHTS hasn't got the type of media hype that would generate enough money from being an online game.

Still, keep at it though. Ya never know what might happen one day.

[Purgatory]

Not the be pessimistic but the chances of your dreams coming true are about as slim as the Playstation 3 passing the Wii in sales. An MMO idea is nice and all but my main issue with them are fees. I can't stand them. I feel the same about DLC on PSN and XBL.

*shrug* Guild Wars doesn't have a fee..

My mention of Guild Wars is NOT an open opportunity to bash it and say how much better WoW is- I'm just saying, you buy it you play it. Online.

I agree chances are slim though.. But I wouldn't give up on it. Hold onto that.

[Musashi_HUmar]

I thank you all for your input. I won't give up. Even though it probably won't happen, I've never been one to give up on a dream. Of course at my age, 17, I haven't had that many big ones yet. But still, some day you might see me working for Sega or someone big. I've got some pretty good ideas for games, for those who have the time and patience to listen.

[iLLViLLAiN]

*shrug* Guild Wars doesn't have a fee..

My mention of Guild Wars is NOT an open opportunity to bash it and say how much better WoW is- I'm just saying, you buy it you play it. Online.

I agree chances are slim though.. But I wouldn't give up on it. Hold onto that.

Guild Wars is more fun.

[Nemoide]

Hooray for letter writing! There is no way Sega would actually follow the idea because then they would have to involve you with the intellectual property rights and that could be VERY MESSY. However I very much support writing to Sega and telling them to basically get their act together.

I wonder who actually decides what games do and do not get made. Would a marketing department say "try to find a way to implement these features never before seen in a game (ie Virtua Fighter)"? Would a programming/development team really want to make Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Games? It is a mystery to me!
But Sega's curse is to make great games that do not turn a profit, it seems.

[Musashi_HUmar]

See, that's the thing that's always mystified me. Sega has made so many great games in their day, yet they don't turn any kind of profit. What they're doing these days is clasping onto the one thing, the only thing they have left really, that was any success. You guessed it. I'm talking Sonic the Hedgehog. They've been making so many Sonic games, the quality has gone way down. It all went down hill after Yuji Naka and a lot of other key Sonic Team people left. I mean, people like Naka made NiGHTS into Dreams... the awesome game it was. That's why JoD isn't anywhere near as good as it could have been. Although Naka never wanted to make a NiGHTS sequel.

[Saifer Dracondrali]

I mean, people like Naka made NiGHTS into Dreams... the awesome game it was. That's why JoD isn't anywhere near as good as it could have been. Although Naka never wanted to make a NiGHTS sequel.

still... maybe the new prez. of Sega will breath some life into these games, sonic and the secret rings was surprisingly put together well, and he did throw out sonic rush 2 and that new sonic game I've been hearin about so maybe theres hope?

and Musashi, how long do you plan on being on the forums? because I'm aspiring to have a major involvement in sega I don't know what I'm going to work as yet but I'm gathering my friends on the web and in rl to help turn sega around, wishful thinking I know but I believe this forum supports dreams . so WHEN I work for sega, or vice versa :3, I'm gonna turn ta you for some bright ideas cuz you seem to have a pretty good head on your shoulders, and its a shame Sega doesn't put it ta use. (course I'd want input from the rest of the forums too)

[Musashi_HUmar]

Saifer, I plan on being here for a long time to come. You will have my support in helping turn Sega around. And even if you can't get into Sega, at least I'll help try to make a difference. Right now I have 2 dreams that I'm hoping to accomplish one of. The first one is to become a successful guitarist in my band and make it big. My second one is to become a game writer and create some of the best games the world has ever known.

[Saifer Dracondrali]

Saifer, I plan on being here for a long time to come. You will have my support in helping turn Sega around. And even if you can't get into Sega, at least I'll help try to make a difference. Right now I have 2 dreams that I'm hoping to accomplish one of. The first one is to become a successful guitarist in my band and make it big. My second one is to become a game writer and create some of the best games the world has ever known.

*applause* good to hear! you sound quite devoted by your post, it refreshing to see someone who is willing to work for it rather than sit on their bum and complain... so ya wanna be creative with the games story, eh? I take it your talented in the ways of literature?

[Murder's Last Crow]

Um... I'm a game designer, and with my new job I won't have to worry about making a living off of odd jobs anymore, so I was planning to take a break and finish my online game project, mlcARCADE (everything's been planned and most of the models have been created).

But, um.... I'll make this game if you guys really want it that badly. All I need is a server to interact with, really. I could make a prototype build just for IPs to play on. I mean, this really does seem like a good idea, and I'd hate to see it go to waste if we could at least give it a go and see what happens.

I'll only do it if the community's really all that interested, though. If no one's gonna' play it, I won't bother. I've been wanting to make a NiGHTS fangame for a long time, and even though this might not bring any of the story I had in mind into it, it'd still be a great thing to enjoy for all you dreamers out there.

I have all the 3d modelling and scripting skills needed to pull this off on my own. Just need ideas and stuff. I mean, really, to create a simple prototype with one character/maren and a test of how the levels would run really wouldn't take longer than a week. Sure, I won't be making money off of it, but everyone needs a hobby, right?

^^; So, you guys wanna' see this happen? Bring something special to the fandom?

[Saifer Dracondrali]

Murder's Last Crow... your offer is quite intriguing. And you have the talent to set all this up? I must say I'm quite impressed, but I'll save my questions about "how you do it" for later. I for one am interested... but I believe it's entirely up to the mind behind this topic. I would, however, check it out under the circumstance that others approve.

[Musashi_HUmar]

Yes Saifer, I'm pretty talented literary. My only problem is organizing all my ideas and then writing the story. MLC, that would be awesome of you to do such a thing. I'm starting to learn C++ coding myself and once I get my skills up, I have game making software, so I might be able to help later on. A project like this could not be done by just one person. We would need a whole team of people to get something this big done. Otherwise, my only question is, what if Sega finds out? It could lead to a lot of trouble.

[Murder's Last Crow]

Saying we could get in trouble for this would be the same as saying the guy who made the flash NiGHTS game could get in trouble for what he did. It's just a fangame.

And to be honest, I've been thinking a lot about how to make this game, and it'd be nice to get community contribution, but I really don't NEED it. I was thinking that level and outfit designs could be contributed later on, but other than that, here's a small bit of what I imagined to do as far as customization.

And keep in mind I already know how to program every thing I mention. I think we should start a new topic so I can list which ideas the community want that I already know how to program and which ones I do not.

I mean, to be honest, I've created online lag-free games before, just for fun to make sure I can do it, and it doesn't take more than a day to get a simple system set up. The paralooping will takee a little extra, but yeah, back to the customization.

I was thinking of doing a very simple layout. Instead of cramming tons of accessories and junk into the game, it'll be kinda' like the Sims. Choose a head and body for your maren and human. In the final builds there are sure to be many heads and bodies to choose from, and the max files will be open to the community to make their own for contribution. And since this is a fangame, anything goes, but I don't think we should get too outrageous with the options.

So each head/body will have 3 primary color areas that you can change the hue/brightness/saturation of in the options that'll be encoded into your player's parameters each time you sign on. I'm thinking of leaving most of the data on the user's PC to minimalize the need to use a server except for transferring that data, rather than storing it forever.

I mean, in the end, network programming is all about assigning variables to get the desired details to the other users.

Well, I'd go further in depth, but I know no one's interested in long-breadth conversations about the intricacies of things. One thing I want to express most of all is that I'm sorry if it feels like I'm stealing your idea or anything. I'm fully willing to work together on this. I just think we should make it a community driven thing instead of just something between programmers. And that we release prototypes that you can play on LANs and the such, or simply connecting up on an IP rather than a server. Just so people can play around and do bug reports and stuff.

I'm not saying it'll be done tomorrow, but I do think it'd be a cool thing to get started. And heck, at least there'll be more motivation to get it finished with the community hyped up about it, so I'm sure it won't simply be abandoned. We're sure to get tons of fanmail when it's started, though.

So, Musashi, PM me or PM me your hotmail/yahoo/aim so we can talk it over and see what our next step should be.

[Musashi_HUmar]

I look forward to getting moving on this! I agree, it would be good to have community support on an undertaking like this. You should have my aim screen name and personal email by now by the way.

[Murder's Last Crow]

Sorry I missed you yesterday, Musashi- I ran into some difficulties and didn't get back in time to get your outline. I'll be on this afternoon for a few hours.

[Musashi_HUmar]

I emailed the outline to you on your aim account. You should have it by now.