Del_Duio Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Hey guys, I had this cool idea for a little computer game that I think if done right would be fun for fans of RUSH. Here's the story I've come up with so far: New Year's Eve, 2111. The members of RUSH have defied science and nature and have willed themselves to live upwards of 160 years old, in anticipation of the year that their stellar "2112" album was named for. Everyone expects them to play 2112 in its entirety for Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, but virtuoso drummer Neil Peart has a different plan.. Hours before the show, Neil announces to bandmates Geddy and Alex that he wants to finally play their lost epic "The Camera Eye", as a show of thanks for the almost 200 years of support from their fans. Horrified, Geddy and Alex lock Neil backstage and disassemble his giant 101 piece drumset! They then have the pieces sent to the icy caves of Xanadu.. Never more shall they return! Can Neil Peart escape his backstage prison and travel to the Icy caves of Xanadu to assemble his drumset again? Will he be able to do it in time for Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve show? Will The Camera Eye ever be played live?? Find out, in.. Neil Peart: Mission- The Camera Eye! I've already asked for some assistance from my gaming community to help me code the project, so it's nowhere done or anything, but I just thought people here might get a kick out of the basic premise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LerxstFerret Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Would be fun as a little internet flash game, but as a full on PC game, it would most likely suck. But I'm a video game elitist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotbass1228 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 i would play it.... and to win and whatnot, you need to preform various rush songs and ride a motorbike to run over Rush album reviewers... colect rush lyrics and meanwhile Geddy and Alex summon By Tor... and you must be the snowdog to vanquish your foe! I would def. play it! Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 I got really into brainstorming last night and had way too many big ideas that were beyond my capabilities, mostly how song or album titles were powers that did things in the game to help Neil out (Available Light- lights up the cave, Test for Echo- hit enemies with a sonic wave, Hold Your Fire- enemies can't shoot for X amount of seconds, etc.) But that would just be too huge of a project! I'm looking into trying to limit myself (in a good way) to an old NES game's specs, at least color-wise. Thanks for the luck, if I can get anywhere with this one I'll be sure to post here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonfiredaman02 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 QUOTE (Del_Duio @ Feb 16 2008, 02:59 PM) I got really into brainstorming last night and had way too many big ideas that were beyond my capabilities, mostly how song or album titles were powers that did things in the game to help Neil out (Available Light- lights up the cave, Test for Echo- hit enemies with a sonic wave, Hold Your Fire- enemies can't shoot for X amount of seconds, etc.) that sounds really awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gleamingalloyaircar81 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 QUOTE (Del_Duio @ Feb 16 2008, 10:31 AM) Hey guys, I had this cool idea for a little computer game that I think if done right would be fun for fans of RUSH. Here's the story I've come up with so far: New Year's Eve, 2111. The members of RUSH have defied science and nature and have willed themselves to live upwards of 160 years old, in anticipation of the year that their stellar "2112" album was named for. Everyone expects them to play 2112 in its entirety for Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, but virtuoso drummer Neil Peart has a different plan.. Hours before the show, Neil announces to bandmates Geddy and Alex that he wants to finally play their lost epic "The Camera Eye", as a show of thanks for the almost 200 years of support from their fans. Horrified, Geddy and Alex lock Neil backstage and disassemble his giant 101 piece drumset! They then have the pieces sent to the icy caves of Xanadu.. Never more shall they return! Can Neil Peart escape his backstage prison and travel to the Icy caves of Xanadu to assemble his drumset again? Will he be able to do it in time for Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve show? Will The Camera Eye ever be played live?? Find out, in.. Neil Peart: Mission- The Camera Eye! I've already asked for some assistance from my gaming community to help me code the project, so it's nowhere done or anything, but I just thought people here might get a kick out of the basic premise. Sounds pretty cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 Great news, I was able to really sit down and work on it tonight for about 4 or 5 hours and it was really fun! (Sometimes you lose your muse or whatever). I had some cool ideas that should be funny to you guys, and best of all I think I'm going to be able to impliment the song / album powers somewhere in here after all! I want this to look a bit like a NES / old arcade game, and just finished the title screen a couple of minutes ago. Here's what I have so far: /tdc/npmtce-TITLESHOT3.png If you're wondering why he's wearing that orange shirt, the truth is when Neil was locked backstage he was visted by snowdog who gave him his Roll the Bones era bandana and a protective chainmail shirt made out of the misprinted orange-label Caress of Steel albums from 1975. These are to protect him from the perils of Xanadu. Another thing I've decided is that Neil can't be killed in the game, so the main enemy is the timer. If the time runs out, then Geddy and Alex win because Neil couldn't get all of his drums back together and perform The Camera Eye at Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve spectacular. One of the musical note powers I have planned is the powerful "Time Stand Still" in which the timer stops for a whole level. I'll post more when I make more, but so far like I said if you're having fun with a project then something's gotta' be right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRocinanteKid Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 How come Geddy's evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Feb 21 2008, 08:55 AM) How come Geddy's evil. Well, Geddy and Alex aren't EVIL per se, it's just that they really really don't ever want to play The Camera Eye. I was thinking that by locking Neil up backstage (so they think) it would mean they would gip the fans out of a show, and that would be very unlike them. So, to fill my first plot hole of the game I had a great idea: They plan on using the PORTNOYBOT 1000 to fill in for Neil during the show. It has a special property that can make it look like Neil using holographic projectors so nobody will know the difference. I had this great sound utility that you can use to make Atari 2600-era sound effects with I found on my hard drive the other day. I'm planning on this little game having Atari 2600 quality sfx lol. Nothing spells retro more than sounds like these coupled with the NES font, I imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 QUOTE (Del_Duio @ Feb 19 2008, 05:55 AM)/tdc/npmtce-TITLESHOT3.png That's cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 Thanks Jaye! I did a lot of work on the game last night, mostly making Neil's song powers. Here's a list of what I have so far, with more to follow! --- Available Light: Lights up the darkness so you can see the whole level of the cavern. Countdown: Makes the game timer lose 2 seconds per tick instead of 1. Marathon: Doubles your walking speed. Test for Echo: Sonic waves radiate from Neil. If they touch an invisible object it'll show up. Time Stand Still: Stops the game timer for the duration of the level. Hold your Fire: Makes it impossible to throw drumsticks! Chemistry: Changes enemies into other objects Neil can use. Coldfire: Shoot icy flames instead of drumsticks. These require no ammo and travel at twice the speed of a normal drumstick. Something for Nothing: Summons between 5-10 drumsticks for Neil to use. Vital Signs: Removes all effects from Neil, both bad and good. -- Ones planned: The Necromancer and The Weapon for sure. The Roll the bones era bandana is a gamble for Neil to use (hence the bad effects in this list), but the effect is pretty cool as it uses my own version of the Starman (see screenshot below). /tdc/npmtce-shot3.PNG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRocinanteKid Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 It sounds amazing! I hope it comes off. Keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Well, "amazing" might not be the right word lol, but thank you! Since this last post, I've added The Necromancer, which summons one up to Neil's current level and he flies all around. Currently, if he hits an enemy he kills it, but if he hits Neil he takes 50 seconds off the clock, which is a big deal in this game. The two big story cutscenes in the beginning are all done, so here are some screenshots from there: /tdc/npss2.PNG Alex tells it how it is. /tdc/npss3.PNG Even Snowdog can't be partial here. I plan on having hidden shops where you can buy stuff off of Snowdog somewhere in the game using money you find in Xanadu. Speaking of which, last night I made a cheesy MIDI version of the song to use as background music while playing. Since I had to remake this thing into a horribly short crazy arrangement, it now runs about 1 minute 40 seconds or so. It's pretty dumb, but hey I need background music and what other would fit more than a car wreck video game version of Xanadu right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 QUOTE (Del_Duio @ Feb 28 2008, 02:45 PM)/tdc/npss3.PNG That made me laugh. I like the scenes, though. I hope you do get to finish it, I'd love to play it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 (edited) Some new shots: By-Tor's shop /tdc/BYTOR-SHOP.PNG Neil's new song power, "The Weapon", which calls in the Rocinante to obliterate his enemies. /tdc/ROCINANTE-SHOT.PNG Edited March 5, 2008 by Del_Duio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Wow, I like the Rocinante. And By-Tor and The Snowdog are cute. Especially The Snowdog. (why is he floating though?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 QUOTE (Jaye @ Mar 6 2008, 02:01 PM) Wow, I like the Rocinante. And By-Tor and The Snowdog are cute. Especially The Snowdog. (why is he floating though?) Thanks Jaye! I tried to fashion the Rocinante a bit after the ship "Cygnus X-I" from the R30 DVD "Darn that Dragon" clip (old-fashioned). I also got one of Neil's two special treasures straight from Rush DVDs, what at home I call his "Elf Booties"- those weird leather drum shoes he wears with the tape. In this one I just have them listed as Drum Boots. They nullify the effects of spikes, which makes sense. I also have a bottle of The Macallan, but I'm not sure what it's going to actually do yet. The Snowdog is floating mainly because those two dogs are mythical in Rush lore, and so they are also in my game. Snowdog has a line about it too, but I don't want to spoil everything By-Tor doesn't like Snowdog obviously, and he puts him down every chance he can get. I made some killer robots similar to the ones in that old game Bazerk for Neil to fight or avoid, and 4 more levels which brings the total up to 5 playable levels of Xanadu. I can probably crank out 3 levels per night I'd guess, slowing only to add different types of obstacles or maybe new enemies. I'm going to try to get the robots to shoot lasers so that might take me a little bit to get right but it'll be worth it in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crush252 Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 This sounds sweet. Just make sure that the controls don't make your hands have to fly all over the place. They should all be close together or at places where your right and left hands can stay in two different places and still reach the controls easily. can't wait... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Crush252 @ Mar 20 2008, 03:11 PM) This sounds sweet. Just make sure that the controls don't make your hands have to fly all over the place. They should all be close together or at places where your right and left hands can stay in two different places and still reach the controls easily. can't wait... Don't worry. This time I made sure to make the controls easier on the hands, and I've also coded a joystick option if you want to play that way instead. Keyboard-wise, it's just arrow keys to move, Z to fire drumsticks (or coldfires, if you have them), and X to use a note power. I wanted to try to keep it very simple button-wise. I'm up to level 13 of Xanadu now. There are 15 pieces to Neil's kit (I guess this is his small one haha). To clear a level you need to find either a tom or cymbal and the exit stairs will open up. There are also additional hidden drums on some levels so players who want to risk the time might be able to score 2 drums on these and build his kit faster. And of course you can buy drums from By-Tor too. The game is pretty short so far, I'll say that. I'm trying to make this as arcade-y as possible, so there's no save files or anything like that. The time limit (255 seconds) should be the right amount to make it challenging, and using your note powers should prove very helpful, unless you get a string of bad powers in a row, which should be rare. A quick rundown: Enemies- Killer Snowman: Moves either right to left or up and down (not both). Very slow. Getting hit by one is a 10 second penalty. Bazerker!: These will always move in a square or rectangular pattern. They will also shoot bullets at you if you're close, but the bullets fly in a straight line in front of them (not heat-seeking). Getting hit by either a bullet or robot itself is also a 10 second penalty. Bat: The last of the normal enemies. They fly all around and over everything including cave walls and Sacred River Alph. They're also pretty fast. Getting hit by one is a 5 second penalty. The Necromancer: The super hidden enemy. He only shows up if you summon him by mistake on a bad roll with Neil's magic bandana. It takes 3 drumsticks or 2 coldfires to kill him, but if you can you'll earn a silver clock which adds 100 seconds to your time limit. If he touches you, it's a whopping 50 second penalty though. NOTE: Touching any enemies will not only get you the time penalty, it'll also kill that enemy too. I coded the other secret treasure of Neil, The Macallan. Having it on you halves all time penalties incurred, which is pretty cool when you're running low. Some new screenshots of the new drum building display, and old friend John Rutsey: /tdc/npmtce-newshot.PNG /tdc/RUTSEYCELL.PNG I was thinking that maybe the ending would be different if you didn't find the two secret Neil Treasures, but maybe not. I also plan on having this come out around the time S&A Live does. Edited March 21, 2008 by Del_Duio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Well, it's been a slightly long road but the game's all done! I have a couple of guys testing it out for me, but so far it looks as if there aren't any errors and stuff, which is great news. I plan on making it public either this Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully nobody up here will skewer me for my take of things in this futuristic world of Rush I tried to choose some different Rush songs to remake as video game music as the soundtrack, and it's not bad as a bit of a setlist too! I only picked one song that most everybody would know, and a lot of "b-sides": Tom Sawyer The Body Electric Prime Mover The Twilight Zone Mystic Rythms Xanadu Lock and Key The Big Money Stick it Out The Camera Eye The story is pretty big, and it has a decent sized ending too. It's probably 60% / 40% story vs actual game, if I had to guess. It's also kind of not very hard to win, which is cool I guess as it means more people will see what happens with our boys right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotbass1228 Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 make sure to put it on the board under roll the bones when its done!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Okay, it's out. I hope you guys find some humor and entertainment out of some of this http://del_duio.sitesled.com/tdc/NPMTCE.zip (Size 2.66 MB) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Woohoo! I'm playing that tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 It figures, there may be 2 bugs in the game, blah! I'll check up on these later tonight, and if they exist I'll fix them and upload the fixed version by tomorrow morning. Apologies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I'm loving the game! I haven't managed to finish it yet, I keep running out of time.. But it's awesome, can't wait to see the end! Bugs? If there is any, I haven't noticed them. What kind of bugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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