For eternal glory and a 12-month subscription to Edge, James Portnow wants you to come up with some FPS minigames... are you up to the game design challenge?

Check out the winners of the 2D MMORPG NPC challenge. 

Welcome to the second installment of James Portnow’s game design challenge. Here’s how it works: each week I’ll post a design scenario right here on Next-Gen. As part of that scenario I’ll ask you to solve a design problem. You’ll have a week to come up with a solution and the overall bi-weekly winner will scoop a free 12 month subscription to Edge magazine.

Here’s the catch: you’re competing against literally thousands of the best minds in the industry, from world class designers to students set on being the next big thing. I get hundreds of submissions a week and I read them all - I even respond to the most interesting ones so this means that anyone can win but competition’s steep.
 
So why bother?

REWARDS: Everlasting glory, fame eternal and a 12 month subscription to Edge magazine! Oh, and every once in a while I’ll be giving away some of the random promo materials companies send me (have my junk!!).

Perhaps most importantly, I’ll be posting the winners on Next-Gen. That means that your name and your entry may be seen by some of the biggest names in gaming.

TIPS: Read the scenarios carefully for implicit constraints, know what your goals are, draw clear connections between your solution and the problem you are trying to solve…oh, and your solution had better be greater than Portal if you want me to read more than 1000 words (feel free to include charts, tables, or pictures to lower your word count).

The next design challenge awaits...

ZOMG!

You’re two weeks away from ship, Jimmy just blew up the build, Perforce is wiggin’ out, the senior staff is out of town and there’s no coffee in the coffee machine...worse still, you’re about to make a deadly mistake:

You: “Ok guys, let’s just roll back so everyone can get back to work.  Jimmy, I don’t want to have to tell you again, don’t check anything in until you know it functions.”

15 minutes later...

Unnamed AP1:

“They’re gone! They’re gone...Oh sweet lord in heaven! The minigames! THE MINIGAMES” (At this point he crashes to the ground, reduced to an inarticulate puddle of sobs.)

You should play the lotto. Somehow, between the arcane vagaries of your perforce server and your attempted roll-back, all of your game’s minigames disappeared.  Luckily it didn’t affect any other portion of the game (according to the engineers that’s not even technically possible!).  Alright, you know what you have to do...

Stepping over the still quivering AP you say: “Does anyone remember the minigames?”

Tumble weed rolls between the cubes.

This week’s challenge:
Design minigames for an FPS.

Assignment Details:

You’re building an FPS.  The central conceit is MAGNETOBOOTS ™, a device which lets the player walk on any surface (i.e. up walls or hang from the ceiling).  Unfortunately the MAGNETOBOOTS™ prevent the player from jumping.

The game has an enormous variety of guns so if you need a specific gun for any of your minigames, odds are you have it. You’ve also got an impressive physics system to work with. Any of the objects in the game can be flagged "magnetic."  Toggling this flag on makes the object stick to any surface so if you need a ceiling full of tables, you’re set.

Remember you’ve only got two weeks left, so games which are quick to get off the ground, test and iterate are preferable.

DESIGN TEAM...GO!

Will you get the minigames done in time?  Will the bosses come back and can the whole design team?  Only time will tell.  Better get cracking on those minigames.  If you need any help or want to kick around some ideas, consult the design staff and post questions by adding comments here.

When you think your ideas are ready to ship, send them off to jportnow@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Next-Gen.biz, James Portnow, and entities associated with James Portnow or Next-Gen.biz are not responsible for similarities between the content submitted to James Portnow's Game Design Challenge and any existing or future products or intellectual property.