Futuristic Sports Mod Idea: Ultimate Frisbee

[Tsylatac]

This thread is basically a rant about why I think this mod would be a good idea and to guage interest, I'd VERY much appreciate constructive comments on the subject . Also, I(we)'ve registered a channel on gamesurge irc, #ultimatemod if anyone wants to chat there.

I've been thinking a lot about potential mod ideas lately, and it struck me that ultimate frisbee, or at least the ideas behind it, might work well as a futuristic first person sports game. Mods like deathball are quite popular, I suspect because they make you focus a lot on tactics and strategy - it's all about out-thinking the opposition to beat them, as well as the skill involved in actual play. It's why teams spend so long practising 'special plays' together. It's basically a lot different to something like normal UT, for example CTF, where you spend a lot of time focusing on individual aspects like hitting the opposition and managing your inventory.

For people who don't know what ultimate is, this is is in ten simple rules. What makes it so compelling is that the game itself is very simple - there are very little rules. The complexity is in the tactics teams use against each other. Defense is handled on a team basis as well. Since you can't tackle other players, it basically boils down to forcing someone to pass a specific way, which gives your team a higher percentage chance of catching the disc once it's thrown (since they have an idea where it's going). Individual skill comes in the timing of runs and knwoing where and when to throw.

EDIT: To clarify a bit, here's a list of the rules I'm focusing on as a basis (the actual mod need not be a direct copy of the actual ultimate rules, just as a starting point, eg it might be more exciting if there were leeway for allowing the disc/ball to bounce off walls):

# The Field -- A rectangular shape with endzones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with endzones 25 yards deep.
# Initiate Play -- Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective endzone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.
# Scoring -- Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's endzone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.
# Movement of the Disc -- The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
# Change of possession -- When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
# Substitutions -- Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.
# Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

Out of this i propose something a bit more futuristic than frisbee, maybe a little more fast-paced. Basically taking the spirit of the ultimate rules - endzone play, unable to move with the game object (and having a timeout for holding it to make play faster), and a simple way of blocking off part of someone's passing range (and maybe some skill in catching the disc/ball/whatever it is). Also, the mod would be trying to promote teamplay as much as possible, so focusing on simplicity over lots of "special moves" and individual skills (although there must be some room for individual skill or it might be somewhat boring to play).

I've actually started a prototype version of this, with some ideas, although it's not really playable yet (I'd rather not put it up until i have some idea of people's ideas as regards gameplay, it's just to prove to myself that such a thing is possible, depending on the feedback i get i may have a proper playable version soon), and i think it has potential. Just wanted to see what other people think .

Oh, and the other great thing about ultimate is the people that play it, i thought that anyone willing to play such a mod should be aware of the idea of the Spirit of the game:

Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

This just seems like such a great idea to me Anyway, you can see what I'm getting at here . Comments and ideas are welcomed.