PHQ-Nickname:
EskimoBob
Halfquake:
Sadistic Eskimo INC
Level:
5
Total kills:
6,719
Birthday:
September 21st 1985
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| Idea for a mmpg - Overview. |
| Mood: | BOOOOM |
| Type: | Diary entry |
| Added: | April 26th 2006, 16:34:55 |
| Visits: | 1342 |
| Rating: | Not rated yet. |
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Description:
This personal page entry is a continuation of my "idea for a mmorpg" that i posted a fair way back. This idea is starting to be a rather huge text file, so rather then hitting you all with one big long huge text file to read, i thought I'd start splitting it up into smaller entrys.
A small warning first, this is more of a brainstorming session then something with narrative so it may be all over the place. Like always thoughts and comments are appreciated. |
All right, I'll start this musing by first suggesting you check out my "Idea for a mmorpg" post that I made a fair while ago. It's got a few story aspects for those that are interested in what I'm talking about when I refer to the Nagi (Still not sure if I like that name. I need one with a bit more meaning) and things like that. However the idea has changed a bit, so it's not necessary. For those that haven't guessed it by now, this is a PP entry about the mmorpg that I wish to create. Though calling it a mmorpg is a bit of a lie. It's more like an mmopg. Or mmog. We will get to that. FIRST we must get down to the very core of the idea. Which of course is:
Why do I want to make this game?
Simple question no? An important one though. The answer in my case is of course: "I want to make a fun world that people can visit and make friends in." Many "mmog" games would have a similar goal I'd imagine but I'm sure there are a few with *ahem* different goals.
Okay, now the key in what I want to do revolves around fun. Or rather the concept of fun. A mmog, like it or not will be required to stretch it's "fun" content to the very limit. Take for instance a typical Korean mmog. Let's say, "Space cowboy" (I'm being serious here - Space cowboy is a free Korean mmog). The idea and core gameplay is fun in it's own right. I had a blast chasing down enemies in my spaceship. However, making it an mmog means that they need to take this concept and ram a fist down it's throat and spread it's entrails as far (or perhaps further) then they will go. Space cowboy is a good example of this. It took me about (from memory) 3 days to get something remotely new in that game from when I first started. I was over it by then - the fun gameplay was horribly marred by the time it took to see anything new.
As much as I hate to admit it, my game will have to do the same thing. Mmog's are cursed by their need to keep subscribers. Mmorpg developers have to try to keep their players playing. Give them too little and they get bored and leave, give them too much too soon and they run out of content and get bored and leave. So do you give them an awesome journey that ends with a longer drawn out method of advancement when they get close to the end or perhaps you draw out the low levels but keep them enticed with something exciting at the end? I really don't think there is a right and wrong answer to that, but either way your looking at a difficult task.
So, how do I plan to make things fun while still providing players with something to keep them going one or more years down the track? Whilst I can't predict the success of my method that I plan to use, I will try to provide the player with several games (of different sizes) that all tie up to become the one package. (That and hopefully a stream of updates that keep adding new things for "free" (if you don't count subscription cost which, like it or not this will most likely have.)
The first game "package" is the game most people came for. It's expansive and hopefully fun for a long time. The game itself serves as the hub to all the other games featured inside the package (I thought now would be a good time to interject, that while I say I want several games they are all still unified by the one stylistic theme and story. Rather by different game I mean different play styles and objectives.) I would hope that most users would spend at least half of their average playtime inside this section of the game.
The second game package should be something fun in a different way. This game advances parallel to the first game type, becoming harder/more complicated as the former progresses. This game (unlike the third) will be forced upon the user under certain circumstances. The main reason for doing this is of course to provide the user with a break from the main game (like it or not) to help users from getting bored with it.
The third game package is a tad less game like then the others. This package should again be advanced by the first package, but still require dabbling inside this package to make headway. Unlike the first two this package is not forced upon the user, but should supply goals for the user to achieve over extended periods of time and helpfully aid in building the community.
The final package isn't really a singular package at all, but rather multiple small packages that make their way into all three packages. They can be as something simple as a small puzzle or something a tad more complicated like a mini-game. These often pop up suddenly and leave just as quickly throughout all the other packages.
So, I know you're wondering - "So what the hell is each package going to be Bob?" Well be QUIET and I'll tell you. The first package is the "mmopg" briefly mentioned earlier, the second is a "2d platform game" and the third system is a sort of house/town building tool (Think the sims, without the sims.). The fourth package is pretty self-explanatory.
Taking the "R" out of mmorpg
I know what you are thinking: "Massively Multiplayer online playing game? What the hell?" That isn't it. It's "Massively Multiplayer online platforming game." Things aren't as cut and dry as that, but that should give you a good expectation of the type of game I want to create.
One of the biggest untapped areas in mmo games is the environment they set everything in. Nearly every mmo features a non-interactive background that you must travel through to get where you are going. Very few have done anything with it. Making your way around the world should hopefully become an interesting challenge in itself. However, a main concern with making a platform-based game is "Will having to travel and jump around everything become annoying after a while?" I hope that with a series of waypoints and skills that allow you to reach other faster (yet harder) routes to make getting around the world not so much of a chore.
I also want to use the platform-based game to develop a co-dependence between characters. Every character that is created chooses one type of movement type (So far I've thought of Leaping (double jumps, wall jumps ext) Speed (running fast, along walls, ext) Time manipulation (slowing time, rewinding time (I have ideas on how this could work in a mmo environment, but don't feel like explaining them just yet), ext). On a "Solo mission" the game will make sure that the players current movement type is able to get past all the challenges, however in group missions there may be obstacles that some players cannot get past by themselves.
Here's a basic example: a player with speed and leaping are grouped together. They encounter a high wall - whilst the player that can leap is easily able to cling onto and pull himself up onto the wall, the player with speed cannot reach. However the leaping player can use the assist move (a context sensitive move) to lean over and pull the other player up to where he is. Bigger puzzles that involve getting your whole team places could really become interesting. I'll work over the details (such as battle systems, character progression and perhaps even plot and characters) of each game type more solidly in the coming personal page entries - but this should give you some idea of the basic system for the game I'm hoping to build.
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flo
April 26th 2006, 19:41:59
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| Okay, now get a bunch of programmers, graphic specialists, a good (v)root server and you are at the business! |
muddasheep
April 26th 2006, 19:54:24
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sounds very good, please do continue  |
Seth275
April 27th 2006, 10:13:12
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i just cross read it because i'm at school i couldn't read the whole thing but it seems to be very cool 
I read through the whole thing now but I'm a bit confused about what you mean with "package" or more like how I should imaging this. Is this all includede in one application or are you talking about diffrent applications that should interact with each other?! Sorry I'm a bit confused right now ; |
EskimoBob
May 15th 2006, 04:45:06
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| When i talk about a different package, from a gameplay standpoint you are doing something completly different to what you would do in another package. However all packages are part of the same game, featuring the same story and client and everything. I'm just seperating them to make this whole presentation a bit easier to fathom. |
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flo
muddasheep
Seth275
