Nailing it down: Creating a final feature spec

Well that was a crippling sickness I just encountered out of the blue. One day I have a sore throat, the next I am full on attacked by a sinus infection.

However, first things first, if I want to ever finish this I need to create a finalized feature spec. As much fun as it would be to go all Duke Nukem Forever and spend the next 12 years adding and reinventing and adding some more, I actually would like this project to finish sometime this decade.

I was recently told by a much wiser ex-Microsoft developer recently that for a project you have to plan for Version 5 or 6, and then radically scale back when it comes time to get to work, and so with that in mind, I have begun categorizing my feature list into two camps: Must Haves and Want to Haves.

I do this so that I can keep my core feature set - the things that I MUST include in my game if I wish to present the vision, and then the optional stuff - things that sure are neat ideas, but outside of the scope for a v1 edition. That way, I can still keep the list by my side and implement little extras as time permits as well as have ideas for future revisions, DLC, and or (demand permitting) the sequel.

So what exactly do I NEED to have?

Lets break it down:

NEEDS

• Single player skirmish: Duh, I need to have a single player version to the game, even though it will be rather simplistic "skirmish" mode, where you just play against computer players.
• Decent, capable AI (artificial intelligence): Since the single player game relies solely on fighting against a number of computer players, it is important that they provide challenges. A minimum requirement of difficulties would be very easy, easy, normal, hard, and very hard/unfair.
• Multiplayer: This is honestly where I think the bread and butter of the series lies, in its multiplayer. The minimum requirement would be a turn based multiplayer, where you set the turn limit before the game starts (anywhere from say 10 minutes to 24 hours) and then you play using push notification. Turn priority is determined by random at the beginning of each turn and can be viewed at any time for strategic purposes and all you have to do is submit your turn before the time limit expires. Push notification would be used to announce when the new turn begins AND gives warnings you can set on how many minutes remain before you are "skipped" over.
• In-depth multiplayer chat system: This is tied directly to multiplayer in terms of importance, there needs to be both instant messaging chat as well as a PM system due to the nature of the times between turns. In a game so based around diplomacy, information, and alliances/treaties, it is imperative it is easy, quick, and useful to chat to other players.
• Fully envisioned game map of the world: I have to have a game map! In a perfect world (aka the one I am shooting for) I hope to have a full replication of the entire world, in which you can then scale down to "mini" maps if you don't want the space. For instance you could just do Europe and Africa, or the Americas, or Asia, or Australia and surrounding islands. This allows for a variety of "maps" while still being just one single deal.
• News Wire: I will dedicate a more thorough post detailing this concept, but at a high level overview, this is how you begin each turn, and also how you deal with fog-of-war and general dissemination of information so you are kept up to date on happenings around the game world. This is a critical innovation into the play mechanics and you will see why in a few weeks.
• Logistics: This needs to be implemented in some rudimentary format. Logistics is the great equalizer in this game. It balances giant nations from being able to just steamroll over the rest of the group without thought once they get that elusive "higher tech" like can happen in games such as Civ IV. People need to be tide to imaginary resource daisy chains that limit their rate of expansion as they grow, or it will negatively hurt their nation. This can be as rudimentary as a px/in ratio where so far away equates to needing X. This of course still needs to be fleshed out and turned into a working model. 
• Card System: This is the bread and butter of the play mechanics, this is how you buy, play, improve, and generally interact with the game.
• Battle System: Well there needs to be a way to wage war in a game built around conquest. Most of this will be automated but I need to come up with a way to implement it.
• Morale: Morale is the semi-tangible aspect of the game showing the willingness of your nations citizens to listen to you. For example: if you create a peaceful nation and then go war happy you will have riots and revolts crippling your infrastructure.
• Technology trees: This is what allows you to guide your nation into developing certain cards to fit your play style.

STRONGLY WANTS

• AI "personalities": Think the N64 game Perfect Dark's "Bots". I would love to be able to include different personalities that you could choose from, perhaps you wish to add warmongering dictator bots or a bunch of pacifist nations to change up traditional "balanced" gameplay.
• Multiplayer Bots: Fairly Straight Forward. Just the single player AI that works with... get this... multiplayer.
• Easter Eggs/Cheats: This hopefully wont be too hard to include and can add a lot of hidden fun. Perhaps if you type your leaders name as something it gives you a lot of starting cash.  Just stuff like that.
• Actors: A strong addition to the aspect of morale, though ultimately very time consuming to develop, actors would be "born" randomly into cities and have their own agendas, which they then try and implement. This makes you react and have to deal with them before things grow out of control and bring the nation to a stand still.
• Social Impact: Mostly stuck here simply because I cannot come up with a viable way to represent it, thus leaving it in limbo. I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with a way to implement things seen in social games such as facebook's farmville where you are tied to, and sometimes responsible, for helping out with people with their game. It is the hardest area to come up with something fair and balanced, but it could revolutionize the genre if you could make one player responsible for aspects of another players in a "double blind" situation. 
• Clouds: A little addition to the map, but It would be really neat to have transparent clouds floating around above the map with shadows cast upon the ground. Completely superficial, but its the little touches that add POP to the world.
• 3D game map: File this under strongly want  but almost certainly a future revision. Basically something that looks like THIS. That way you can see the geography of the world as you look around the map. This would help "tie" in logistics modifiers such as mountains, water bodies, and other terrains.

FUTURE REVISIONS

• Single Player "Stories": In addition to skirmish mode, it would be nice to include scenarios or stories that you have to play out. These modes could range from historically referenced to insane, quirky, and off the wall (alien invasions perhaps) to extend the life of the game and give the user more choices in how they want to play. This requires a massive amount of creation, balancing, and writing to create stories however so it is unrealistic that this could make a V.1 release.
• Custom game maps: Similar idea to the map builder in say, the Civilization series, why limit the game to just what the world looks like currently, perhaps the user wants to live in a world filled with a hundred tiny islands. Use of sliders could help forge a randomized world for people to play on, again shaking things up and allowing the user to play how they want. Unfortunately this is a large undertaking is will need to be pushed to future revisions of the game.
• Expanded game concepts: Many of these concepts will have to be very "bare bones" for V.1 (such as morale, social interaction, card systems, logistics, and everything else) which I would love to flesh out into more feature rich variations for further revisions.