A game mechanic concept

[Drace]

If you make a game like this, I would pay for it. Yes! Pay! Me!

[Greeny341]

You would need a large team for this to actually be possible. I too have thought of this sort of idea in my mind too. In the first chapter keep the events simple such as a small building being shut down or haunted. Then when the amount of players rises elevate the events to whole towns being destroyed and mass murder. Of course I dont beleive this level of gaming will be available anytime soon.

Though I dont understand how you connect to the internet while your in school/work since your computer is most likely to be off.

Another concept is I doubt these events could be frequent as the updates would be constant & poeple would spend ages updating their files before entering the actual game. This is a nice idea an all & i support it in everyway but unless you have a large team to do such a thing you wont be able to make events weekly it would be more like every couple of months like the MMO of today.

This plan does sound very nice I agree though it conflicts with how you would pay for hosting/bandwidth etc. I like the Free Online FPS named Gunz. It is a nice deathmatch shooter with permenant servers etc. I hear their adding a quest mode & I'm pretty sure its the same as Runescapes.

What you want to do is have one quest done by a bunch of poeple and once its complete it can never be done again. You might want to have some smaller quests that CAN be done again by anyone just so when there is no major event going on at the present time. Also an evolving world sounds like a project that could take a couple of years & by then I doubt you would have the enthusiasm to go on. That is unless you were going for earning cash with this MMO idea.

(Sorry if this is total Bull**** I probably made no sense to you but in my mind it sounds like it make sense. Remember im a 13 year old teenage not a rocket scientist)

[SaiKar]

Originally posted by Drighton
The conflict is that you don't want Player A to have access to that town, but you don't want to give the story away for Player B or thrust Player B ahead, skipping all plot points along the way.

Well that's inevitable really, isn't it? I mean, if the town is going to get destroyed at a certain real-life time, and Player B isn't on when it happens, then he should miss the destruction of the town. Otherwise it undermines the entire purpose of the online synch.

The flipside of this is that if the players get word that the town is going to be attacked at a certain real-life time, they can try to get online and coordinate their efforts to defend the place, which would just be wicked cool.

[Drace]

Indeed. They could astemblish several defense lines, creating a parallel world for Player A.

[Drighton]

Originally posted by SaiKar
[B
Well that's inevitable really, isn't it? I mean, if the town is going to get destroyed at a certain real-life time, and Player B isn't on when it happens, then he should miss the destruction of the town. Otherwise it undermines the entire purpose of the online synch.[/B]

Sai: the part about player A and B was in a scenerio where you are not playing with a constant internet connection, as with an MMO. I face the same general problem with implementing LAN play in my game except that is something I will have to face and isn't just speculation.

The flipside of this is that if the players get word that the town is going to be attacked at a certain real-life time, they can try to get online and coordinate their efforts to defend the place, which would just be wicked cool.

That is another mechanic all together: the ability to learn of the impending event from an NPC ingame and attempt (and possibly succeed) to stop the event from reaching fruition. This, once again, is something only acheivable in an MMO.

Originally posted by Drace
If you make a game like this, I would pay for it. Yes! Pay! Me!

It seems that I'm sleeping on a gem here Drace. Too bad I spilled the beans, now someone can steal my idea. :p I have a similar problem with my game. The leveling system I dreamed up in high school was eventually used in Fable by Lionhead. Now, I can't say that they stole my idea... because I haven't found the bugs they hid in my house yet.

Originally posted by Greeny341
You would need a large team for this to actually be possible.

Indeed.

Though I dont understand how you connect to the internet while your in school/work since your computer is most likely to be off.

It would only connect to the internet when you get home and load the program. But thats irrelevant now, since its been determined that the game would need constant online connection.

Another concept is I doubt these events could be frequent as the updates would be constant & poeple would spend ages updating their files before entering the actual game. This is a nice idea an all & i support it in everyway but unless you have a large team to do such a thing you wont be able to make events weekly it would be more like every couple of months like the MMO of today.

...

What you want to do is have one quest done by a bunch of poeple and once its complete it can never be done again. You might want to have some smaller quests that CAN be done again by anyone just so when there is no major event going on at the present time. Also an evolving world sounds like a project that could take a couple of years & by then I doubt you would have the enthusiasm to go on. That is unless you were going for earning cash with this MMO idea.

Most of the "sidequest" events would be randomly generated by the server. Thats not hard to do, since it can pull all the information from a database. The major story/plot lines would be programmed by a team when they get the story from the writer.

Again, since this can only be an MMO, all the information, including the map and events, would be stored on a server which would handle all those calculations. The client, which you would have on your computer, would simply recieve the information it needs to build the environment and make the necessary changes. Basically, you have the graphics, the server has the map and tells you where to put the graphics.

I've been working on my current project for a few years now. Its mainly for my enjoyment (i like programming, its fun to me), as would an MMO. Though, if I did do an MMO, I would definately have to charge for it to support the money I would spend hiring graphics artists, programmers, and to help pay for the server or servers I would need to maintain and the people who would maintain them. I would basically be starting a business... so yeah, money would have to be involved. :p

[Blademon]

Drighton nobody stole your ideas. I also had some nice ideas that ended up being used in Star Wars Galaxies(not the greatest of games, but still) Like the Scout class or the Merchant Class. as well I still having a few in my backpocket(some as old as 2000) that haven't been thought up.  I give full props to Blizzard, they're so innovative, when everyone was following up Everquest, they revolutionized the MMO genre. They do it everytime and that's why they make money.

I also had similar ideas that ended up being taken a few years later. What I learned from this ( and maybe you might as well ) is that once you get the idea, someone else around the globe might as well at that very same moment, the difference is some people who have that spark have the resources at their disposal to make it a business/game.

It takes 2-3 years to make a game, you get the idea today, tommorow you start on it, and 2-3 years later it's out to revolutionize everything. Once you have an idea, you need to get to it ASAP, other people probably also have it around your time as well.


Anyway, it's great if you're the kind who comes up with new ideas as well, it should come constantly, and maybe you'll be in a position where you can exploit your ideas.

[AsakuraHao2004]

You should so make this. It sounds f0rkin aw0ersom!

[Drighton]

Originally posted by Blademon
Drighton nobody stole your ideas. I also had some nice ideas that ended up being used in Star Wars Galaxies(not the greatest of games, but still) Like the Scout class or the Merchant Class. as well I still having a few in my backpocket(some as old as 2000) that haven't been thought up.  I give full props to Blizzard, they're so innovative, when everyone was following up Everquest, they revolutionized the MMO genre. They do it everytime and that's why they make money.

I also had similar ideas that ended up being taken a few years later. What I learned from this ( and maybe you might as well ) is that once you get the idea, someone else around the globe might as well at that very same moment, the difference is some people who have that spark have the resources at their disposal to make it a business/game.

It takes 2-3 years to make a game, you get the idea today, tommorow you start on it, and 2-3 years later it's out to revolutionize everything. Once you have an idea, you need to get to it ASAP, other people probably also have it around your time as well.


Anyway, it's great if you're the kind who comes up with new ideas as well, it should come constantly, and maybe you'll be in a position where you can exploit your ideas.

I was joking... well semi-joking... actually its kind of an inside joke between me and my friend (who has helped me on and off with my game). I don't really think that anyone stole my ideas. Its just fun to think so. I like conspiracies. :p

Originally posted by AsakuraHao2004
You should so make this. It sounds f0rkin aw0ersom!

I just might. I might even take my current game/story and mix the two together. Hell, I might as well. A LAN/TCP-IP connection being enabled in my game is the first step... but I don't know the first thing about setting up servers and the like.

If I do, this would be like... years from now. And who knows, EverQuest3 will probably feature this system. :p

[Drace]

I sure hope we get a free copy then.

[charaman]

im sure you'll be needing beta testers....






 

[Drighton]

Well, here is the deal.

I can implement this concept only a fraction of the way as the game is right now, and I plan to. My main goal, to have all players on the same page at the same time, is impossible to do unless i go online, won't be acheivable, but all other concepts, like the illustration about the city being destroyed, would.

I still plan to put LAN play in the game, but the concept creates a problem with players being in sync with each other, as far as being able to play in the same world. As of now, the only solution I can think of is to restrict players to multiplayer only with other players who each have the same major flags turned: If player A has reached a point where Town X was destroyed, but player B has not, they cannot play together. If you guys have any other solution to this problem, I'd love to hear it.

If I ever do take the game online, that will be later... like after I finish the game later.

And yes, I intend to offer free Beta to people here, and the game will be free. When it goes online... thats a whole other situation.

[charaman]

Originally posted by Drighton

And yes, I intend to offer free Beta to people here, and the game will be free. When it goes online... thats a whole other situation.

well, wouldnt you want to reward your charas beta testers in some way?



           

[Drighton]

  FORBIDDEN LOVE!!!!

[Drace]

Yeah. I wanna Beta test too when you need a Beta tester.

[Drighton]

Beta testing won't begin for a while. If you take a look at the development page on my website, you will see just how far I am from finishing.

I supposed I could throw a small demo together right now, but it wouldn't be anything fantastic, nor would there be any battles, nor could you buy anything.. you would just be walking around and looking at my graphics glitches that I haven't ironed out because I'm too lazy