This is a tough topic to decide on. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts - http://t.co/yKGBygy

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Microsoft XNA MVP

If you want some degree of realism, death should be pretty final for your character.

However, quoting from James Bond. "If I fail to report, '008 replaces me"

If you die, you will control the next agent, who happens to have the same xp level and appearance, who is dropped off at some standard location (aka "spawn point"). There could be a counter attached to your identity, that records the agent number, which gives player some sense of how skilled they are, as well as being embarrassing if that number is exceptionally high.

Also, death surely means Scaramanga's henchmen has taken the solex agitator from your dead body, and MI6 hasn't magically got it back. That's the job of the next agent. So key items in your inventory should be lost in death. Next agent is issued with new pistol with full ammo, and a set of other discreet gear. You may be able to choose some of that gear.

Also, evil geniuses will rarely want to see you shot. They're much more creative than that. They'd prefer to capture you and put you in some pernicious situation, such as strapped to a table with an industrial laser slowly cutting through it, or on a small island in a crocodile infested pond.

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I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

I like this idea. The player loses the closeness of identifying with the character, but it's a nice balance between perma-death and avoiding frustration from having to start over. Rather than having the exact same appearance though and xp, since I don't know that I'm going with an xp based system here (see previous post ), maybe giving the player the ability to respec the new character would be nice. That could be frustrating too, at higher levels unless the process is relatively easy. Allowing the player to see the previous character's specs would be good with the option to just copy perhaps.


That means handing out missions dynamically which adds a bit more complexity but is a nice touch.


I'd like to stay away from this and make it a bit more realistic. No bad guy is going to just tie the agent up somewhere and let him escape.

to you!

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Microsoft XNA MVP

The average bad guy won't do ~ they'll just shoot. But the evil genius will rarely want to get their hands dirty. They will only do so when forced to do so in the final showdown.

Whenever the evil genius is present, they'll radiate an aura to their henchmen to "capture, not kill" the agent, where you'll be manhandled into a pernicious situation, where you'll subsequently die if you fail to escape. It could be quite exciting for players if they manage to escape.

If you die (are shot, or fail to escape pernicious situation) then you'll respawn as the next agent.

This makes the evil genius a fundamentally different challenge to other bad guys.

I don't know if any current MMOs have scenarios where the player becomes helpless, and must submit to being pushed around. If you don't comply, some stuff in your inventory is at stake (because of what is lost in death/respawn). It's a real threat that would be felt. Helplessness fueled fear is a different emotion to the adrenaline fueled fear of being in a gun fight.

Think of the scene in Octopussy where Bond is made to take the place of a wild animal in a hunt. The sheer quantity of ground forces and various people riding on elephants with rifles, massively outnumbers Bond, and cannot be taken on. The only way to survive is a combination of running and hiding. You can sense of death is in the air somehow. The noise and chaos of the hunters is frightening, because you know their aim is to kill you. You know they can easily do it, and you can hear them getting closer and surrounding you, no matter how fast you run. It's made worse by the fact that it's a jungle, and you don't really know which way is which. You only know where the sound is coming from.

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I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

I don't know that situations like that would be appropriate for an MMO, although they might be interesting. I'm working on a post for combat, which is related to this.

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Microsoft XNA MVP

What you'd need is for each zone in the game to have a penalty area.

So to implement that scene from Octopussy, a jungle themed zone might have an area within it that is designated "The Elephant Hunt", where players are put if they are captured, and where they're expected to die. Perhaps three or four hostile hunting groups can randomly move through this area ~ each group having maybe 1 elephant rider and 12 ground units. To escape this area with your life intact, you'd have to evade these groups, and find an exit. Tardiness will surely result in being found and shot.

Your main guide would be sound as the groups would be noisy. They move a bit faster than you can run, so you have to dodge out of their path rather than try to outrun them.

In another zone, the penalty area might be "The Crocodile Pond" from Live And Let Die, and if you are captured in this zone, you get dumped on this island.. The only way to escape is to jump on the crocodile's backs when they happen to line up like stepping stones. If you miss a step you fall in the water you will very likely be eaten before you can swim to safety. If you stay too long on a crocodile's back, it will toss you in the water. You may have only 1/3 of a second to jump from one to the next.

It would fit perfectly in an MMO

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I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Depends on the style of MMO, I guess. It's a good idea, but doesn't fit the style I'm going for which is more gritty I guess.

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Bored? Head on over to my blog and see what I'm up to.

Microsoft XNA MVP