Discussions
Brainstorming and Possibly Recruiting
Posted by voodooKobra • 8/19/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: brainstorm, development, game, ideas, MMORPG, Recruitment
Okay, as many BC members are probably aware, I'm currently programming a text-based online RPG based on Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 and 4 (I picked and chose elements that I like from both). I don't have a timeframe established, but I set up a devblog to assist in organization and in getting community feedback. I'll be revealing some of my programming tricks there.
Now, I could finish programming the system tomorrow and I would still be a long ways away from finished. The reason for this is that every single spell effect, feat, item, and skill to be used in battle will be its own PHP script. Every NPC that joins you in battle (Cohorts) will have their own skills and their own AI program; as will every enemy you encounter. It's a hefty amount to program, but it will be worth it in the end.
However, that still leaves a lot of work to be done. So what if the combat system, item system, magic system, etc. all work if there's no dungeons to be explored?
Which brings me to the focus of this thread: I need ideas for settings. Be it a single building in a town or an entire country, any suggestion is appreciated.
Some background: The world is your typical D&D fantasy setting. Magic, dragons, and steel prevail over much of the world. There are grand temples of good-aligned deities and hidden caverns for the evil-aligned ones. At some point, there will be interdimensional travel. (Think Outlands in WoW, or Kingdom Hearts. Many worlds.) There will be many unlockable races; each one having different quest options in the same area to maximize replay value. There won't be opposing factions like in WoW, and any race can play any class if they meet the requirements. (For example, Paladin is an unlockable class, while Daggerspell Mage is a Prestige Class that can only be accessed by a character who meet the requirements.)
So if anyone has any ideas for:
Settings
NPCs
Spells, Feats, Skills, Items, Weapons, Armor
General suggestions
Races
Classes
...please don't hesitate to tell me.
On that note, I might begin recruiting the game staff members at some point in the near future. If I decide to do so, this thread is probably where I will start.
Disclaimer
The game is going to be ad-free and absolutely free-to-play. Since I won't be making any money off the game, don't expect monetary compensation in return for a great idea. If you have an idea that you don't want implemented, please don't post it. Posting an idea in no way obligates me to implement it. So saying "Make a race of foxpeople so my furry friends will want to play" might be implemented if I can balance it with other races and think it will add to the gameplay, or completely ignored if I decide it doesn't mix well with the settings I'm implementing. I'm kinda a jerk, though, and probably won't alter the game's universe significantly to accommodate 3 or 4 people.
P.S.
There will be an AJAX-based chatroom where you can fight other players and RP in private rooms, if you so choose. Major events (holidays, etc.) will be centered around the chatroom and will be ran by a GM. If you are recruited, then you will probably be asked to head one every once in a while.
User Comments
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Also, every zone is going to be accessed via public teleportation or transportation, so there is no significant intercity or interdungeon travel involved. That isn't to say that there won't be a wilderness thrown in at a later date with random encounters and goodies, of course. So don't worry if you think your idea won't fit very well. Geography isn't the main concern of this game.
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What do you perceive to be unclear? I can clarify if need be. "???" doesn't give me a whole lot to work with.
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Um, everything you said was unclear to me except the fourth paragraph. I think there may be a language barrier. -
Okay, let's try this then:
I am making an online role-playing game. It will be text-based (no graphics, no Adobe Flash Player, etc) and you will be able to play from any computer with an up-to-date web browser. I have a lot of ideas for programming the game, many of which are already implemented. However, I haven't developed the setting very much and would appreciate any suggestions.
Suggestions could be an idea for a really cool town, castle, house, or building, or an idea for a dungeon, or a really nifty and fun magic spell or sword technique, or perhaps a non-player character (NPC) who adds to the atmosphere. Or anything, really. -
Well, hell. You're just looking for STORIES.
And here I was totally scared off by all that PHP/NPC/AJAX stuff. -
Well, stories would be great, but I'm more-or-less looking for general suggestions to use to help make the stories.
[And here I was totally scared off by all that PHP/NPC/AJAX stuff.]
Haha sorry. I was trying not to focus on that aspect too much, but the computer nerd in me slipped out. -
Sorry (though this is kind of funny)--I've inadvertently done the same thing back to you. "Story" in my field basically means a brief statement of vision for a particular aspect of a larger project. It's usually just a sentence or two.
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Oh, okay. In that case, yes.
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Here's a preview of a character sheet with some filler skills and feats: 1.bp.blogspot.com/_FfRtKYIxCZM/SosjU5LcoWI/AAAAAAAAAAM/YH6fhxpxD7U/s1600-h/...
(I'm slightly annoyed that I can't just hotlink to this screenshot. Oh well.)
Is nobody interested in my game at all?
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I am - sheesh - just getting online for a few moments.
Gimme a day and I'll help out - I'm running Bead Inventory (counting thousands and thousands of dollars of beads, and casing them.)
Sucks to be me right now. LOL!
Anyhow - HELL yah - I'll give you some mad descriptions... But it won't be until tomorrow - K?-
All right.
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If you want more people to play - you will need some sort of graphics interfacing - if you can get some artists to pick up for you...
A hat - a wand - variety stuff - blood pools... yanno?
LOL!
Oh - hey - jgrame - she's a fantasy painter in here...
OK - so anyways - you'll also need to provide a Semi - "friendly" environment - if you don't mind me saying so...(Like for the newbie - who wants to play - but has NO idea what they are looking at and why it's there... Yanno?)
OK - be back with you.-
[If you want more people to play - you will need some sort of graphics interfacing ]
There will be artwork, but it's predominantly a text-based game. I don't want to turn this into a click the mouse and your character walks type game. Too much work goes into the display and not the gameplay when that happens.
[OK - so anyways - you'll also need to provide a Semi - "friendly" environment - if you don't mind me saying so...(Like for the newbie - who wants to play - but has NO idea what they are looking at and why it's there... Yanno?)]
Yes, that's why there is going to be a tutorial level to explain the ins and outs of the systems. Think Runescape here. I've pulled ideas from lots of places.
And thanks.
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Cool - I agree - no MOVING - just static pics... (girls love pics. LOL!)
Like I said Shadowmere was excellent concept - but the people playing there stink. They don't want fresh blood (unless they can rape them) - but - without fresh blood the game goes stagnant.-
I haven't played Shadowmere yet, but I won't tolerate bullying. Arena battles are duels that both parties must consent to, and a level 20 monk/level 20 wizard can't reasonably duel a level 3 rogue. Not gonna happen.
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VK u iz to smarte fo U.S.
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You're looking for things like:
The fog dissolved and left behind a rancid smell on the air.
Do you breathe it?
(if yes, you're stooooooopid...)
You just died.
If no - you get three brain power points - TADAH!
(the above is a joke... I'm asking are you looking for short quips for battle screens/action screen/move screens or are you looking for full on story lines...?)-
More like this:
Before you is a town.
*player enters town*
In the market square, you see a farmer and an alchemist haggling over prices, and a blacksmith's apprentice tacking up a wanted sign.
> Talk to farmer.
> Talk to alchemist.
> Talk to blacksmith's apprentice.
> Examine wanted sign.
*Player examines wanted sign*
[Image of wanted sign, which says to talk to the sheriff]
The sheriff walks into town from the east.
> Talk to farmer.
> Talk to alchemist.
> Talk to blacksmith's apprentice.
> Talk to sheriff.
> Examine wanted sign.
*Player talks to sheriff*
And so on. Any ideas for characters that you interact with or enemies, or really any type of person, place, or event is welcome.
If you have any ideas for puzzles, that would help too, but I'm probably going to do most of those on my own because I know what can be programmed easily and what can't.
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Very interesting, Voodoo!
I'm a veteran of Steve Jackson's GURPs from 1986 ... never got into D&D as I enjoyed the flexibility of GURPs. Having said that, I eventually was an Ultima Online, Everquest & WoW player - not a fanatic, but I enjoyed playing them with friends.
Settings - You could always look to set up a whole story line around the Wonders of the World. The characters would have to complete their quests within each of the 7 Wonders of the World.
I'd also look at a frozen world - all enemies, etc. relating to ice.
As for the rest, I'd have to think about it. It's tough to come up with new items, when virtually everything has been created, in my mind, in WoW. There are standard items that can be used, of course.
The neat thing about doing this is there chance that it could become something BIG and becomes something akin to WoW, etc., where the money just flows in. LOL.
Nice concept!-
I'm making it staunchly ad-free and free-to-play unless it does become big, in which case ads will exist solely to cover the hosting costs.
I have all kinds of ideas for relic weapons in mind, including a sword that has a 1/10,000 chance of unstoppably killing any enemy, but breaks upon being used. (When I say any enemy, I mean any enemy, too. No immunity.)
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It's going to be easier to work with a storyline and deduce the setting from there. You can get some ideas of archetypes here:
writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/characters-as-archetypes.html
The archetypes may be used to work on general stories, while stereotypes of archetypes could be used to represent your races. For example, one archetype is the hero. I associate this with Sparta, a whole race of heroes who left the weak out in the cold to ensure that the race remained heroic. You might associate it with a different kind of hero (a Robin Hood champion of the useless kind of hero?) but I don't. For the Sparta heroes, I imagine an island with mountains. For the Robin Hood kind of heroes, I imagine an enchanted forest where the poor eat the unicorns to stay alive or something.
I like Medieval settings with sword fights and maidens serving mead. Unfortunately I never played D&D so can't help you much there. How about alchemical warfare as a special spell?-
Spells are direct effects, such as Fireball, Immolation Aura, and Call Lightning. Alternatively, Light Mend and White Wind for healing magics.
However, "alchemical warfare" has been noted for possible story ideas.
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Shameless bump, and also shameless plug of my latest status report:
kobradevblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/some-progress.html -
@VK. I have an idea for a setting/area. I'm not entirely clear what the limits of the game will be but if its possible you could:
(hold on, image is evolving in my mind)
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got it.
Imagine this. A desert-like, shrub-land plane with low, rolling hills with the odd tree here and there. The scene seams to go on for miles and towards the distance there's a line of tall mountains capped with snow. Just off centre of this scene is a tower with turrets and sub-towers that climb up above each other - this would be the main focus of the area.
I'll sketch out the image of the tower I have in my head and mock up a sketch of the land around it too...I'll send you the link once I've uploaded them to DeviantArt.
Ok?-
OOO! just had another scene idea, but I'll sketch that too
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Sounds awesome.
I did mention in an earlier post that artwork will be used occasionally to help set the atmosphere of the game. If it looks great, I might ask to use it (with a link to your blog, of course).
There is going to be a wilderness area where everything is entirely random and a caravan selling wares appears every 2d10 turns. -
I was just planning to do some rough sketches, if you like the feel of them I could go all out and do them properly for you?
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Oh, okay. Reference sketches are great for planning, so I would appreciate them.
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Okay, I have a dilemma. Should I go for an expanded menu or a compact one?
kobradevblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/red-pill-or-blue-pill.html
Pictures at that blog post of what I mean.-
compact, the separate gold/silver/copper isn't necessary, people know what it is.
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That's what I was thinking too. At some point I might make it an option to expand the money display (customizable interfaces and whatnot).
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Is this a platform game like...ummm....the original sonic? or more like WoW with a 3D world?
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Think older. Much older. Think MS DOS, text-based adventure type thing, but better.
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OH!!! Type-based game? I SEEE, ok, complete wrong end of the stick. So are you thinking of illustrations/backdrops as opposed to playable worlds?
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I actually like B better.
Newbies will understand it - and it's best to keep it newbie friendly - remember yes - the mass majority will be players who have played - but you'll need to recruit new folks every day - and they will show up. -
Iratedog: There won't be text input, it will be more point-and-click.
WW: Gotcha. I should probably make all of the boxes collapsible (except the mandatory navigation one that appears during exploration).
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VK, this may be the best idea you've ever had. Do you need illustrations?-
I'm going to rely heavily on text, but illustrations can only add to the atmosphere. In short, yes, if you're willing to provide them.
And thanks.
Even better would be if they were .PNG files with alpha-blending so they fit any layout, because everything is done with CSS and I plan on having different themes during special occasions and whatnot, if that's fine with you. -
Yeah, I figured it'd be something like that. I used to play text based adventures back in the day. I'd be happy to help with any graphics, just let me know what you need.
Edit: Then PNG it shall be! -
All right, sweet.
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add me to that list, I wanna contribute all I can
Just shout out what you need from us and we'll put it together ey Diablo? -
Sounds good, irate. Where can I find your art, by the way?
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Ok, I wasn't making any head-way with the illustrations just now, so I tried something else instead. For that menu you've linked above, I've designed a sort of skin for it to fit into. With your permission I'll mash in a copy of that menu with Photoshop and send you a mock up?
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Sure. I'll PM you with a link to the .css file if you want.
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great!
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