Over at Broken Toys, a gauntlet has been thrown on how one would design a BG MMO. Lots of good ideas, but none of them really stood out in my mind as a game I’d want to play as BattleStar Galactica. Thus, being a know-it-all myself, I’ve let myself go wild on this.

I created the following game design with one thought in mind: Remain True to the Show. Having seen games based on everything from movies to fandom muds, I’m always amazed at how we repeat the same errors over and over: levels, hit points, stats, giving players control where in the Intellectual Property (IP) there is none, creation of fictious roles. And games that challenge those ideas are percieved to not be “FUN” enough to be a commercial success. Key points: a Battlestar Galactica that is progress quest based treadmilling is denying what is GREAT about the show.

Restraints are often seen in movies and television as good things - they keep costs down. In games, they’re bad because if you don’t shoot for the moon, then if you get to the 75% to the end goal of a game development and a new CEO/Director/Marketing Schlub wants to shoe-horn a new feature in, by the time you launch it unbalances the game, is poorly QA’d, and disturbs the developers.

Thus, I propose a 100% canon MMO. Nothing in the MMO cannot be created that wasn’t in or directly implied by the series. Here’s the restraints I’d put on myself:

The game is not a physics, RPG, collision detection engine: the game is a story generator that has a physics collision detection engine it. Just as Battlestar Galactica series isn’t about the special EFX and explosions and computer generated Cylons, the Battlestar Galactica MMO isn’t about the physics/rpg/resolution-toys, it’s about the story. If you don’t get that, you shouldn’t be designing the game.

Each week or two of game play would be mapped to episodic content of the series - as time passes on the show, time would pass on the MMO. As events occur with the series, we would script events on the MMO. I would fight during the contract process to create some synergy with the writers to make sure that the MMO isn’t breaking canon and to have them slip some events that happen off-screen that can be played through by players, say 6 times a year. Also, if the original talent doesn’t sign the contract to provide voice talent, I probably wouldn’t sign the deal. It’s an all-or-nothing.

An example: during Colonel Tigh’s dictatorship (in the first season?), there’s references to other ships not giving supplies to the Galactica. The players would be involved with resolving those conflicts - either by force or otherwise.

Quick points
1. No one would KNOW if they were a Cylon or not. The paranoia and PKDickian ideal of “self” is important to the BG series, if I am not a Cylon, is one of my friends? I would create several storylines that weave this in. Also, some PLAYERS will be Cylons and I’d follow the “Sharon” storyline - at first, they’d be accused of something they didn’t do, then slowly come to realize they ARE a Cylon - or they’d be activated and given a command to perform sabotage. However, I would also guarantee that every player gets at least ONE “am I a cylon?” plot.

2. The rewards are based on which characters you interact with: no leveling, stats are minimal. Bottomline, you are invited to roleplay in this game, not power-game.

3. Every paying customer could have ONE and only ONE pilot on a server. Keeping true to series, the callsign will be given to you during your flight instruction, you cant choose it. Everyone will want at least one pilot - and this will reflect the lack of resources. Callsigns given by Apollo or Starbuck will have more value that a callsign you choose. If you pass flight school - taught by Starbuck - then you can be a pilot. If you fail flight school, then you are not a pilot.

4. Death is death. Death is integral to the BSG IP. Mourning and grief are an active portion of the game. Every player will have a family left behind and/or dead on the colonies. Treat a death with respect and anything less will cause a lack of respect for the game. The goal is that you’re going to be given opportunities to go out gloriously. More importantly, if you’re a player and die so that you compatriots can live, you’ll be remembered.

Basic Play
Play resolution, with the exception of specific parts (say flight or FPS combat) would have a game mini-toy, similar to the Indigo Prophesy style of resolution. Generic enough to work for multiple uses in the game, but specific peices would definitely fall into FPS mode. The difference, I would guess, is that there would be other minigame resolution except for flying - that would be a standard WASD/Joystick.

The role/class system would be a meritocracy: you either have the skills to be a: Pilot (Starbuck), Marine (?), Operations (Petty Officer D), Technical (), Diplomat (Billy), Scientist (), Preist () or Journalist(). These roles would govern what you have access to (ships, flight deck, etc.)

Game Content
For every several episodes, the MMO would have events, such as the nuclear strike, or the Cylon invasion. In fact, I wouldn’t sign a contract that doesn’t allow us to closely match events that occur in the system

The game plot would be broken into 4 parts:
1. How you got into the fleet: were you on a diplomatic mission, a trader, in jail, etc?

2. 33 minutees - for a server/shard to get free of the Cylons, ALL of the players would have to have a number of successes until the event with the suicide nuke ship occurred. This gate will become the standard of resolving plots. Gathering resources for the fleet becomes a major driver in the plot.

3. What side have you joined - are you pro-military or pro-government or (for the lack of a nicer word) pro-journalist (muck raker) or the Criminal element? Your loyalty will be tested.

4. Family, friends and romantic interest. Call me a bit of a girl here, but developing relationship where you have to choose between duty and friendship will be deciding factors.

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So that’s the MMO - what’s wrong with it? Everything. People will whine about their characters dying. People will whine about how there’s not enough action. But then, done right - with the same risks of the series - I think we could build something pretty spectacular.

So, what else could be done as a “PUNT” process? For example, instead of striking out on the new territory, what can we build that reduces game development risk and improves our chances that marketing schleps will understand.

BF2 meets Battlestar: there have been several large combat situations that could be used a “map”.

BattleStarcraft a la Homeworld space combat - this is the easiest solution I can think of. Cylon vs. Colonial. It’s a bit dry, but get’s the job done, and you can follow the BSG story exactly + easy multiplayer.