At the beginning of the best of times

So now that I have some idea of a good use of interaction (one-to-one Wii fighting), and a character progression ideda to try out (logarithmic point for point spending), I need to sort out what sort of starting and ending conditions I would have in my own game.

Probably wise to start from the start (GET IT). The character would be the pilot of a mechanical warrior similar to a Gundam (of Mobile Suit Anime fame) or a MechWarrior, but smalle rand more responsive to control. This would start as a form of entertainment similar to gladiators of yore, and eventually become so popular and powerful the military would start to take notice. The player would start off with little to no knowledge about the protagonist, as to create intrigue and lead the player in a journey or being able to gradually relate to the player without being so overwhelmed with knowledge from the offset.

The state of the game world would probably start off peacefully in reflection of the narrative. This also provides some sort of tutorial mechanism, in providing easier challenges and fights to get the player adjusted to the nuisances of the controls and the fighting system. The player would start with a set of fairly basic skills initially - I wouldn't give an Mega Super Ultra Hyper Annihilator Beam straight off. They would have some special attacks like rockets and/or lasers, and have some lower stats based on a selected specialization or class.

The mentioned tutorial or introduction mechanism would be a simple fight against a weak but cocky opponent to give the player a feeling of triumph in accomplishing the first task. This should ensure that the player gets a basic feel of the gameplay, and also ease them into the interaction and nuisances of the fighting system. Of course, this also allows players who are playing a second time through to defeat the first opponent with some advanced fighting techniques they've learnt.

I think as part of character progression, a rival would be excellent. Someone or a set of people who turn up all throughout the game, but not consistently. They would also have their skills develop throughout.

The ending conditions would ultimately have the player controlling a ridiculously high powered machine with blinding speed and battlefield-shaping attacks. The state of the world would be a wa-ravaged, mid-apocyliptic mess of politics and high skill battles. The final boss would be something epic, in the scale of a world dictator and his innumerable hi-tech army.

Now that I have this framework, all I now need to do is to assess the "fun" factor of these ideas.