Update And Computer Game Idea

Well, I failed in regularly updating. I blame it on my mate's hormones, which I've always reacted more strongly to, and increased dose of anti-depressant. I've been somewhat out of it and not in the mood do do much the last week.

I went shopping the other day. Wore my heeled boots, and that aggravated my ankle again, which isn't cool. Still, I got pair of jeans, and they fit better than any pair I've had in the past. Still want to get a pair of closer fitting ones later, as these are still a little loose, but since they're talls they actually fit, which is a ginormous plus.

I know I had meant to stop talking about computers, but I guess they just keep dominating my life. I started to poke again at Ragnarok Online, and found one server that looks really cool and has a decent forum community too (even if they do seem a little childish to me, but I guess a lot of them are pretty young so it's to be expected), but I've been running into problems connecting to it. I've asked on their forums for help, but so far haven't gotten any useful responses. Oh well, I am using Ubuntu, not Vista or Mac OS, so I guess it's also not that surprising.

Still, one thing this has done is started reminding me what I like about RPGs, and what I'd like to see in an MMORPG. I've thought in the past about making my own RO server, or modding it to be like Chrono Trigger, but I think I'd rather just learn how to program and make my own from the ground up. I'd likely just nab sprites from elsewhere at the beginning, as then I wouldn't have to make my own before getting it to work, but I might do that at the same time.

I still need to make lists of what all I want it to do, what the basic story and mechanics will be, etc, and I plan on doing that later, but I might as well explain a little here some of the basics and see if I can get people's responses on what they think or if they'd be interested in helping/playing.

I'd likely do more or less a classic fantasy game, cause magic rocks. I'd like to add in some steampunk elements too, just cause I also love technology and it looks awesome, and it'd still mesh in quite well with magic. Instead of having a polygonal game that can be resource intensive and look bad if you don't have a top notch computer, I plan on having be entirely sprite based, even for the maps. Give it a sort of retro look, reminiscent of console RPGs before they went fully 3-D. This has the advantages of being easier to program (always a plus for the development side), able to look more like an interactive anime/softer look even with gore and such, take less bandwidth to cut down on lag and allow those with lower quality connections to be able to play, and make it so that even older computers can run it, again expanding who can play.

Characters would have a basic class that sets their basic look, what weapons they can use, and some basic skills. They'd also have an element they can choose (still need to figure out if I'll use the western 4 elements, or the 5 chinese elements, or what), which affects what kind of magic they have, how much damage they deal/receive to the other elements, and sets a colour on the sprite to help personalize it a little and give an idicator at what they can do. I'm also thinking it'd be cool to add in elemental mounts they can summon (after doing a quest to get the skill) for faster movement, but that can be a later addition to the game. I might also see about different races/species to choose from, which would also affect stats, skills, or something, but that would require a lot more sprites to be made, be more elements to balance, etc, but could still be cool. Oh, and characters will be able to select hair colour and style, and it won't be dependant on gender (though I might add in facial hair for guys only, separate from the head hair), including having a bald option.

So far the different weapons/classes I'm thining of will be:
Two handed: Claymores, katanas, pole axes, halberds, and the like. Will be more about offensive skills, having some mob control and large-damage-single-target attacks.
Shield: Use of one handed shields and one handed weapons, such as broadswords, warhammers, and flails. Focused more on defense, being able to block attacks and possibly protect allies (party members).
Dagger: Knives, daggers, katars, rapiers, and other light weapons. Focused more on speed and agility than toughness and pure damage.
Bow: Longbows, shortbows, and crossbows. Able to use different kinds of arrows as well as skills for a variety of effects.
Guns: Revolvers, lever-action rifle, and shotguns. Can fire more rapidly than a Bow, but has to pause to reload after a few shots. This is the technologically advanced class, and will have some skills to show it.

I've not been thining of having too much for PVP, but I'll likely at least include PVP arenas for those that like it, and might see about including a monster arena too. The monster arena wouldn't give exp or drops (there's monsters in the fields for that), but they'd rank the players and players can earn points for items. Might introduce something like that as a PVP option as well if enough people want it. I'd also likely have individual, party, and guild versions for them for variety and to make it more interactive.

For selling items I'd have NPCs in town that will sell them "for commision." This keeps it so there aren't hundreds of shops open, causing lag and taxing the processor for people that aren't even there. I'll also try to figure out some way to cap parts of the economy so it doesn't turn into "haves" and "have nots," as I want to let people be able to buy and sell rare drops and equips from each other while not alienating people who join the game later.

I'll also be trying to have a lot of quests, for experience, money, and items. I might throw in some element and/or class specific quests, to help give more variety and not make each character do the same things, and might even have it so that you have to choose between a few quests. There'll still have to be some classic level grinding, so you can't just use quests the entire way, but they'll still be helpful and add flavour and story to the game.

Oh, and I'm also thining of making it so that if you overkill a monster (because you're a bit high level to be going against it) you won't get (as many) drops from it. This will help keep maps open to more level appropriate characters. I'm also gonna need to figure out how to scale experience awards based on levels, for the same sort of reason. I want to make sure each class can level on their own, as some people prefer that, and people can't always find parties either, but I want there to be options to go more offensive or be geared to support within each class. This will be partly set by the element, but also where they put their skills.

Anyways, time for me to writ up some more detailed info on this for myself, and to make it so the post isn't tl;dr length. (tl;dr means "too long; didn't read" for those who don't know.)

Toodles!