PART THREE - MMORPG input - Making RTS gameplay fun

[DarkSign]

Nope havent found a torrent site up. Man people are crackin down! :evil:
Might have to break out the emule or edonkey. Heaven forbid I have to use Direct Connect.

Tell me more Balor...this sounds just like what we need! I had some other thoughts based on what Hajo posted in another thread, but got bogged down the same place he did (basically he said instead of sticking something under a scanner, you should have actual operations like open close, disassemble, reassemble,...etc that would help make research an actual activity).

So give me more info on EG until I get the damn thing.

 

[Fez]

Evil genius was pretty dull, Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2 and Startopia are much better. I wouldn't follow leads from EG.

Startopia had a research system based on examining items to get to the next tier. I found Startopia to be far better really.

 

[Balor]

Well, I don't want the system to be EXACTLY like in EG. I'm talking about the concept of examining them
to get new stuff.

Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2

Well, duh. Cannot beat classics... even DK2 was way worse then first... only prettier in the graphics department, sure.
Well, the system in EG:
You are given a few items an the beginning.
Then, you get research machine, database and a few testing devices like Impact, Laser, Biotanks, Centrifuge, Supercomputer...
If you apply the existing item to the correct testing device or combination of them, new items will be unlocked (different combination - different items).
Well, it's funny, but not really "it", I guess.
Better to have a system like I described (I'm very modest... in fact, I'm the most modest person in the whole world.. oh heck, UNIVERSE!).
About disassembling stuff - well, that's a good idea too.
Like, at first, you scan the item - it'll put it into the database, and give you a list of parts. Then, you disassemble an item, and put those parts into the scanner, one by one.
Oh, btw, for balance and extra fun - make that scanner molecularly disassemble the parts in question, effectively destroying them in the process.
Then, you can combine parts to get new items - provided you have enough expertise in the appropriate sciences.
Btw, to create new parts, it should be nice to allow invention of them with appropriate workbenches, + a certain amount of materials.
Like optics workbench + optics working materials + certain skill in Optics - prototype laser chamber (or how would it be called).
You should define what you'll be working on, tho - like "weapons", "tools", "armor", etc. You'll get abovementioned chamber when researching weapons. When researching for "tools" you'll get, say, optical fiber or cloaking device, and for armor - reflective armor.
Btw, it would be fun to have some, more advanced weapons to have a protection against scanning - that will either simply disintegrate without revealing any data when scanned, or fail to be disassembled without exploding, or will even explode when scanned.
It would require a certain skill and equipment to disable the protection.

P.S. An idea about guns - rocket-powered ones would be fun. Think gyroget and Ja2

 

[Balor]

Oh, also. When you have the part, you know how it works and all... but it doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to create it 'en masse'. You'll be able to manually assemble it in the lab, but that'll take long and use a lot of resources.
You’ll have to research ways to make those - again, that’ll require some knowledge in the science field that part is, and knowledge about machinery and stuff.
Like, we already know how nanorobots should work and all... but actually creating them in numbers is completely different thing.

 

[Fez]

You should give Startopia a try if you haven't Balor, you'd probably like it a lot.

 

[Balor]

Perhaps, I've just not seen it anywhere... how old is it?

 

[Fez]

It was made by Mucky Foot and came out in 2001.

 

[DarkSign]

If you read the Auto Assault website....

(this MMO really pisses me off because Ive had my idea of a p-a world with Carmageddon features in various incarnations on the net for awhile, with a system of humans vs mutants vs cyborgs ....and now here comes NC Soft with a similar idea...although their world is for casual gamers with a short attention span.)

you will find that they not only have a system of crafting, but also a system of "reverse engineering stuff that you find....arrrghhh.

You can check it out :

There is also an intricate crafting system that allows for either experimentation or reliable output depending on how much risk you want to take. Generally speaking, any piece of vehicle equipment that drops as loot in the world is eligible for both reverse engineering and for crafting.

Bah...I need to go further...and in an interesting way.

 

[Hajo]

You should give Startopia a try if you haven't Balor, you'd probably like it a lot.

I want to second that. StarTopia a brillant mix of strategy, simulation and story.

 

[Balor]

(this MMO really pisses me off because Ive had my idea of a p-a world with Carmageddon features in various incarnations on the net for awhile, with a system of humans vs mutants vs cyborgs ....and now here comes NC Soft with a similar idea...although their world is for casual gamers with a short attention span.)

LOL! Now, if someone would say that there is NO global information filed people take ideas from - spit that ignorant idiot into his mouth :D.

 

[Hajo]

LOL! Now, if someone would say that there is NO global information filed people take ideas from

Do you believe in morphogenetic fields?

 

[Balor]

Let's put it this way:
I believe in probability theory.
And it states that ANYTHING, provided it's not proved altogether impossible (and it's never known if there are other ways, not discovered yet), has a chance of happening.
Therefore, I thrust everything... to the degree of it's probability.
So, if someone will shout:
"Look, there are small green men in a flying saucer landed in our yard!"
I'd believe that - for, like, 10E-10% .
And besides, "There are a lot of things, friend Horatio, that our wise-men never dreamed of". (Don't know exact quote, loosely translated from Russian version).
That's my philosophy.
P.S. Our physics teacher came up with a example:
It's not impossible for air to escape your room though your door... The probablity of it is so low, however, that universe will age and die (perhaps a few times over) before chance of it happening will reach single digits.

 

[Balor]

Heh, looks like "Gods and Heroes" also takes hireable merc and RTS elements into account.
Hurry up, Darksign .

 

[DarkSign]

tell me thats not an MMO. is it?

 

[Balor]

http://www.godsandheroes.com/
And look at game features.
Looks like good ideas float about and do not settle for one head only .

 

[DarkSign]

Bah. Man I tell you what...ideas in the collective unconscious...being stolen!!!

arrrghhh

 

[Balor]

Oh well, their theme is some ancient Greece, after all. Has nothing in common with PA of any sort.
Levels and stuff too.
So, I guess, you and their mud will be different enough after all not to clash too much. (Unlike EQ and WoW).

 

[DarkSign]

Yeah. Its a good thing too. I mean the gameplay sounds vaguely similar, but the games will be different.

Just kind of sucks to see ideas spread before you have the chance to capitalize on being first. (Of course whose to say I was really first...although I was

 

[Sol Invictus]

Gods & Heroes is a class-based MMORPG. That rules it out as being a good title.

 

[Balor]

Gods & Heroes is a class-based MMORPG. That rules it out as being a good title.

Exactly.