Yeah I enjoy our conversations to, and yes MGS 3 "S" is going to be the bomb either way, and has gotten me to refind the fire that I thought had died out in me for the franchise. ---Though I simply cannot stand
Metal Gear ACID at all. It looks great, but it's basically the game "Ghost Babel" from the Gameboy Color regurgitated with Chris Jenner's name being changed, but with much the same mission, and the whole play style having become some odd MAGIC THE GATHERING style card schism. *WHY I'll never know?
Anyhow on the idea of me ever making a game, that's something I've tried to do numerous times with a few here or there, but without the $MILLIONS needed, the reality usually seeps in quickly during development time that putting in those 12 to 18 hour days every 4 days still gets in the way of real life, and trying to juggle a job, appease the wives (or take care of kids) AND find the time to want to program is hard. I honestly can't program shit other than HTML and the now defunct VRML coding processes. What I do is
Visual Concept Design and work with programmers, sound ppl etcetera every step of the way during a production... as generally I am the one who wrote the initial script/design document, and we all collaborate to see where branching paths and options go and what not. It's basically what Shigeru Miyamoto was at the time NCL hired him and he did Donkey Kong and the first SMB game... though no official company is ever interested in a VCD unless they themselves know at least C++, and my brain doesn't work that way... I'm a writer/director working usually with a stable of differing artists whom I know. I have to be there to make a change right there on the spot, or rewrite things when a programmer says:
"Nope, with what we've got to work with Mike... it's not happening. Go back and rewrite it based on what I'm about to show you. At best this is what we can do."
...which kinda sucks and all. I've got all kinds of design documents lying around in an air tight gun locker, but I refuse to ever show them outside of a certain circle of people because I'm not running into the crap that
DXMachina is going through in his thread about that Film Buff Douche Bag stealing his ideas. The only difference is that on two of the projects I actually self copyrighted the works, but I'm paranoid about even a character design getting out that someone who does work in the industry would see with the money, then basically make money off something I envisioned. This is the reason I stopped talking in great detail about my "YAKUZA" game. On one hand I wouldn't mind if someone did something "Like" my idea, but I certainly don't want all my ideas taken.
Having said all that, my dream combat game generically titled
SNIPER would actually implement all of what I was discussing above, and the key of the game is to use your stealth either solo- or in co-operation with a spotter and you're sent on various missions hired out by the military to take out select targets in some levels... and in others your an SDM (Squad Designated Marksmen) fighting within a platoon in the middle of an even bigger operation or War all around you. In other levels you're conducting a Target Aquistion for B-52s which are leveling a city nearby, and can feel the Earth shaking from the distant bombardment, while the constant crackle of Kalishnikova fire is going off all around you, and you must stay invisible. In another you might be on the run from an employer who double crossed you, and all this while taking into account "Counter Sniping" with enemy snipers looking for you. Urban, Jungle, Desert Terrain you name it. In the game, if you can think it... chances are I already did and it was programmed into the game. Hell I'd let a player extract information from a local hot woman and before she can kill you, you've got to get the weapon from her. I'd let someone capture and torture someone if that's what they wanted to do... but the longer you did that you might actually miss your target, then have to deal with Sweeper Teams sent in to kill you. But I've probably said more than I should have already.
MERCENARY X99
