Interface: Space (Undo's recent work)

[undo11]

an example of a skill data pad which would pop up on mouseover describing the skill's usage and effects and displaying the icon for it, in the upper left hand corner.. in this case, the mercurian skill,
"Liquid Cloak"

[undo11]

professions list based on race

[undo11]

personal ship schematics
these are suppose to be more of a cultural statement than aerodynamic or utilitarian.   they are only meant for travel in planetary atmospheres and between a homeworld and the hub.

[undo11]

i used a free copy of fraps, a software to make videos while playing video games.  then i converted it to an animated .gif using an unregistered .gif converter, which i really like. here's an example of a video converted to .gif  while using the engine i've been talking about. 


that software is really inexpensive too.  i could buy it for like 25 dollars i think.  fraps is a bit more.  and i think we would need something like the pro version of fraps, to make cutscenes and etc.

[undo11]

I have a program that analyses any on-screen action and makes a report about it, so that can be tested, once you have something visible.
As far as I know DirectX doesn't work in browsers, but I have not been following that area for a long time.

that's what i'm trying to say.  i don't want to make a browser game.  i will if i have to, but i would rather have it be a downloadable game using video game making software that's established, so we're not always swimming against the current

[ArMaP]

that's what i'm trying to say.  i don't want to make a browser game.

OK, I understand it now.

My reading comprehension hasn't been that good in these last few days.

[undo11]

How to slow down model related lag in our game

we discussed this topic as well, in the prior thread on the subject.  so this is for new readers.   

one of the problems with new 3d mmos, is the trend to give new players entirely too many options for their character's appearance.  and although having lots of options sounds great, it tends not to be when you get alot of players, all with different models, in high traffic areas like raids, battlegrounds, cities or similar congregating points. (this is even starting to happen with world of warcraft as they add more and more flying mount textures to the game, resulting in these mammoth textures floating/flying around in high traffic areas, many of them completely different from each other).

so to satisfy the player's interest in variation,  i thought it would be better to let them make changes over time, that required something similar to a daily quest concept, where you accumulate special points you can spend to adjust or modify your character's appearance in the hub's cosmetic facility, as you level up.  the higher your level, the more options you have.

even then, we wouldn't be starting out with 20 different hairstyles for each race, for example, nor ending with 20 different hairstyles.  we're going to start with a very basic 4 options for each modifiable physical trait and up it to 8 by end game, so we don't end up with the same problem when more and more people have reached max level and have enough cosmetic points to make as many changes as they want.

just to give you an idea of a mmo that had a fantastic set of characeter model options, that ended up losing a third of their players to the inability to move in major cities, i present, AION, a graphically gorgeous game with entirely too many model options





this accumulation of cosmetic points would be achieved via a non violent daily quest  (so people who just play the non violent parts of the game, can also accumulate cosmetic points and we don't have to have 2 different cosmetic quest lines).  light hearted and silly quests would be best for this, as it would also help to remind players that it is just a game afterall and not a commentary on your worth as a human being.

anyway, as a result, i've been exploring various hairstyles in addition to the first set of options.  the first group are 4 standard hairstyles/markings, which generally fit the race they were designed for, however, later in the game, as the player accumulates cosmetic points, they can make additional or new changes to various aspects of their character's appearance, up to 8 for each modifiable attribute.

[undo11]

PVP Balance

One thing that turns people off from pvp battlegrounds and arenas, is how fast their character may get killed or how easily it is to make their character useless.  One of the reasons these fast kills are in mmo games is because the accumulation of honor points requires fast kills and so the idea was to give the player reduced survivability, vs. their survival in non-elite/non-raid pve scenarios. 

to solve this, i've been toying with the following concepts:

1.  no fast kills in pvp. 

2.  you get oodles of honor points per kill, because it takes quite a while to kill any class.  this means INCREASING survivability for pvp battlegrounds. it also means that....

3.  a person wearing cloth isn't going to die just because you hit them once or twice .  a ranged melee isn't going to die fast simply because they have ranged melee abilities to compensate and therefore should automatically have less survivabilty. no, if you want  to take out that ranged melee, you gotta work at it, same as any other class.  this also means, however, that ranged melee can't range you a few times and take you out of the game either.  it's gonna take work and strategy.

4. no reason to add crowd control to pvp battlegrounds, and therefore, the players can actually use their other abilities.

5. you will have to strategize, with your battleground team, as if you were fighting a whole group of raid bosses, and the opposing team will have to do the same because you will be just as hard to kill as they are.

6. both factions will have equal social appeal, so that there's not one side that's always low population and therefore, the underdog, and also to alleviate the issue of having the more socially appealing side, with the most newbies, which can be incredibly frustrating in pvp battlegrounds.  if this means adding a couple more races, so be it, but this area has to be done correctly.  i'll show you why in a minute.

7.  as part of the increased survivability and increased honor point collection, all gear stats will be removed when you enter the battleground. therefore you won't be able to go in a pvp battleground and die 2 seconds later just because you don't have special gear vs. your opponent who does have special gear.  this will be about skill and teamwork not about stats and gear.

now for the why:
watch this video, made by a fellow who quit the new star wars game, STAR WARS THE OLD REPUBLIC, because newer  mmos are all following wow's template, which is one of the big problem areas of wow in the first place.  why copy the parts that are malfunctioning?



i'm thinking making healers immune to damage and incapable of dealing out damage.  this means they have to manage their "imagine" energy efficiently cause once they run out, they'll be useless to their team until they have more, same as any raid.   they only get honor points if their team does.  this will also alleviate the issue where the entire opposing team tunnels/targets your team's healer(s) and they never manage to heal anybody.  this would make it necessary to have only one healer per team.

stuns are a form of crowd control, so are dizzy, knockback,  silence, mind control, blast, fear, stomp, frozen, frost, clap, charge, ambush, etc, none of those types of abilities would be available for use in pvp battlegrounds, to solve the issue of spending most of your time doing nothing because you're under some form of crowd control

[ArMaP]

One thing I liked in an old Star Wars game was that we had a finite amount of power in our ships, so we had to balance it between the engines, the weapons and the shields.

Would something like that made sense in a game like this?

[undo11]

One thing I liked in an old Star Wars game was that we had a finite amount of power in our ships, so we had to balance it between the engines, the weapons and the shields.

Would something like that made sense in a game like this?

is this thread in private mode?  cause you're the only one responding now, and that would be because only mods can see private threads.  can you find out for me please?

[ArMaP]

is this thread in private mode?

I don't know, I only know that's visible to everyone.

[undo11]

One thing I liked in an old Star Wars game was that we had a finite amount of power in our ships, so we had to balance it between the engines, the weapons and the shields.

Would something like that made sense in a game like this?

ships are different story. 

[Ellirium113]

ships are different story. 

One of my all time favorite space battle games was Klingon Academy. IMO this game was way ahead of it's time.







Ah sweet memories of Federation canon fodder. 

[petrus4]

something strange going on here.  why is it everytime someone joins the team or shows an interest in working on the game or helping with it, they suddenly go poof?   am i being left out of the loop on this ?  are you guys using me like a cheap dish rag?

While I can't speak for anyone else, undo, I can tell you why I probably (although I won't say definitely) won't be getting involved in this project.

The problem with MMORPGs, is the difference between what they are meant for, and what they actually get used for, by a vocal minority of the population, at least.

An MMORPG's purpose, is what I myself, and several other people I observed, used World of Warcraft for; self-discovery.  It's to allow and facilitate the usually quiet, retiring, reclusive individual (who normally remains introverted because of how terrifying and generally fascist, contemporary society usually is) to vicariously experience the archetypical Hero's Journey.



Virtual Worlds: Why People Play.

That is not, however, what very many people use it for.  A lot of the people who I saw, primarily used WoW simply as a means of deriving the source of narcissistic supply, which they were unable to obtain in offline life.  They treated the game as a treadmill, or as a loot vending machine, because all they wanted was to be able to sit on their mount within the cities, decked out in epics, and have everyone else stare at them in awe.  They saw the weaponry and equipment that their characters were able to get in-game, as ends in themselves.  When it is used in that manner, it ceases to be a means of potentially greater empowerment and development for a person, and becomes a trap.

I pinned her again, and when her eyes cleared, spoke in a furious whisper, my eyes level with hers. The basilisk I'd had earlier was not good eating, and I knew it would smell as foul on my breath as it had tasted. Sure enough, she flinched.

"This is what I can teach you. I know of the people you speak of. They at times go to dangerous places, yes; but with healers and mages beside them, warriors in thick plate in front of them, and enough others in general to hold their hand and make sure it's *safe*."

My lower lip curled.

"They also eat three square, even meals a day, with wine, cream, and gravy, and every night they sleep in the same soft, clean, perfumed beds that they will die in, behind thick stone walls, that yet more of those men in plate stand on top of."

My next words to her were a snarl.

"I live out here."

-- Mirshalak.

That is not the same as the Hero's Journey.  It can look the same perhaps, in many ways; but the great error lies in seeking only the outer appearance of attainment, rather than the culmination of the real internal process.  People have called me a hypocrite where Mirshalak is concerned, and truthfully, they're right.  I haven't allowed what Mirsh has taught me, to cause me to really live fearlessly.  I've only allowed it to go far enough that I have conscious awareness of what a contemptible, mediocre coward I am, while still continuing to be one anyway.

The point is, however, that that is what people potentially can obtain from an MMORPG; they can take that out of the game, and back into offline life, and they can ultimately become a much more powerful and confident person because of it.  The thing which makes an MMORPG such an incredibly effective and unique means of a person obtaining that, is that they don't even know that they're doing it.  As far as the player is concerned, he or she is just playing a game.

Bruce Wayne: You're vigilantes.
Henri Ducard: No, no, no. A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely.
Bruce Wayne: Which is?
Henri Ducard: A legend, Mr. Wayne.

[undo11]

i hear ya.

and just allow me to add to that sentiment, that the frustration i'm experiencing as an old female trying to make headway in something like this, is equivalent to pulling my hair out, with my teeth, one hair at a time, while balancing on one toe that's missing a toenail.