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[Sir_Castic]

I'm in the early planning stages of game development, and need yall to help me out.
I'm at a loss for which method of basic gameplay to use (stealth, diplomacy, action, theft, etc.), and the degree to which realism will be displayed.
So, I turn to you, fellow forum members!

Relevant info:

Side-scrolling Platformer/Shooter (think Cave Story or Iji)
Drawn in the vein of C&H or OOTS (Cartoony, for those who don't know)
HQ is most certainly underground
Game will be free.

What makes your ideal Spy Game?

[Urist McSpike]

The plans are locked in the safe, in my secret hideout...   

[Sir_Castic]

The plans are locked in the safe, in my secret hideout...   

Secret hideouts... got it.
Anything else?

[hemmingjay]

Emulate Sid Meier's Covert Action as much as possible.

[Neonivek]

It REALLY depends what kind of style you are doing it.

My ideal spy game would be about you running a spy agency and trying to use the best moves and best agents you can in order to uncover plots.

While the "James Bond" types may be good about defusing a sticky situation. Moles and Contact networks will be the bulk of the gameplay.

In fact when it comes to action the amount of information you managed to gather will reveal to you the best possible spies for the task.

In otherwords you would need to balance spies who gather information (and the different types of them), Assassines, Combat troops, and Defusers (Defuser would be like James Bond or other action spies).

But that is just me.

[Ricky]

I feel as if it's necessary to have at least two ways to complete a mission, if not more.

There's my two cents.

[Cicero]

Emulate Sid Meier's Covert Action as much as possible.

This.

[Sir_Castic]

Emulate Sid Meier's Covert Action as much as possible.

Covert Action is something I've never had a chance to play. However, from an image search of it, I gather that what you want is car chases, minigames and  stealth. Am I correct?
I'm unsure about car chases. Considering the perspective, I'm unsure if I should do it in a scrolling obstacle-course-thingy, with the other guy trailing you, or what.

It REALLY depends what kind of style you are doing it.

My ideal spy game would be about you running a spy agency and trying to use the best moves and best agents you can in order to uncover plots.

While the "James Bond" types may be good about defusing a sticky situation. Moles and Contact networks will be the bulk of the gameplay.

In fact when it comes to action the amount of information you managed to gather will reveal to you the best possible spies for the task.

In otherwords you would need to balance spies who gather information (and the different types of them), Assassines, Combat troops, and Defusers (Defuser would be like James Bond or other action spies).

But that is just me.

When I was initially thinking up the game, I had imagined it to look somewhat like the following image, minus the art style and hud.

I like your ideas about the other spies. Backup, maybe?

I feel as if it's necessary to have at least two ways to complete a mission, if not more.

There's my two cents.

Don't worry.

***

Thanks for the input, guys.

[Robosaur]

Shapeshifting. That is all.

[Neonivek]

I like your ideas about the other spies. Backup, maybe?

In a manner of speaking. In my idealised spy game form they have different roles for different situations. As well as different skillsets within members of the same group.

Though yes using more then one would have been possible especially if things went wrong backup would make sense. (But the entire basis is that the information you get from actual spy work is absolutely vital)

Moles would be entirely decked out in Spy abilities and have little combat ability, Diffusers have a balance, and Combat Troops are all combat.

[gimlet]

Floor 13 + Covert Action + Evil Genius + the better parts of Republic: The Revolution

[hemmingjay]

The car chases in Covert Action were the weakest part. The other minigames were excellent including the codebreaking mechanism and hacking. The best part of the game was the random mission generation. Essentially every mission was the same, but the random flavor was excellent.

[PanH]

I'm a bit like Neonivek, to me, the ideal spy game would be with a network of spies, a network of information.

[Nadaka]

The ideal spy game is 75% sitting at a desk reading/writing the most boring documents and translating the some guys grocery list from farsi, or listening the north korean navy men sing drinking songs over shortwave radio. The rest of your time is spent in meetings with pencil pushing middle management within the agency.

[Mullet Master]

Let's see, spy game genre ...

Stealth games : Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell series, etc. The bar is very, very high for a good stealth game. I would say - if you are an indie dev, it's going to be very hard to compete.

Nobody has really explored a game about being the head of an agency in a non-sci fi setting- such as assigning agents to missions, recruiting new agents, and managing a budget.

One more idea, you could always make a game about physical infiltration - bypassing electronics/alarm networks, picking locks/safes in more detail, etc.