[MUD-Dev2] [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game

[Mike Rozak]

Zach Collins wrote:
> But combat is excitative, at least when it's not numbingly repetitive.

Good point. Too much adrenaline is bad for sleep.


> You are a protozoan. You and your team are a protozoan.

I've never had a dream that I was a protozoan... I suspect that being a 
protozoan being chased by an amoeba would make for an interesting stress 
dream; certainly differnt than being chased by orcs.  :-)

Humorous anecdote: When I worked at Microsoft, one of my coworkers had a 
stress dream that he was naked... but he wasn't naked and taking a math 
test, or anything cliche. He was running (naked) through the halls of 
Microsoft being chased by Bill Gates. The dream occurred because of an 
upcoming meeting with Bill Gates that he was preparing for.


I think you might be jumping the gun on game-design specifics. Some broader 
issues must be dealt with first:

- Mininotebook/UMPC screens are very small. How does this affect gameplay?

- Using a mouse (touchpad) on a mininotebook/UMPC isn't all that easy, 
particularly when it's resting on your lap/stomach.

- Same issues with keyboards that are really tiny and resting on your 
lap/stomach.

- Some UMPCs have touch screens and no keyboard; this changes the experience 
too.

- Is it good to play game-audio in bed at night and wake up others? Or does 
the player wear headphones (with a cord that gets tangled up)? Or no sound 
in the game at all?

- Does battery life and limited CPU affect the game design?