fxajo@acad3.fai.alaska.edu (11/14/90)
I am about to write an adventure game, and I have seen a lot of opinions about how people should think it should behave. I am writing this game with a friend of mine, so we are writing it for VAX/VMS. It is my intention to translate it over to the Macintosh, but I haven't ever written an adventure game, so it has large "Vaporware" potential, at least in the form of delays. Things we have come up with: There are no classes. We figure you are a character, and if you work learning some ability, you should get better at it. If you do everything, you'll get better at everything, but doing everything takes time. There are no "stats" as far as the player is concerned. Sure, we'll keep track of abilities, but real people can only judge their ability to do something, and seeing how they do. Same will hold true for the character. We will probably use some sort of qualitative description for how hurt you are, and if you are in a certain 'qualitative range' you may have difficulty performing certain tasks. We're not sure this is exactly how it will work. Many magic "spells" will require a more lengthy 'ritual' Magic if far too complex for spells of real power to be cast at a moments notice. There will be quickie spells, but don't expect too much from them! Also, you have to discover magic out there. As you gain experience (by use) you get better/more effective at using magic. There will also be "classes" of magic. Anybody can cast anything, but you get better at casting "fire" magic if you cast it more. There's more, but it's hazy. NONE of this is certain, so please send me ideas! This is your chance to say what you want, without the a single piece of code having been established. Adam J. Overton Academic Computing FXAJO@alaska acad3.fai.alaska.edu
draphsor@elaine0.stanford.edu (Matt Rollefson) (11/14/90)
fxajo@acad3.fai.alaska.edu writes: >I am about to write an adventure game, and I have seen a lot of opinions about >how people should think it should behave. I am writing this game with a >friend of mine, so we are writing it for VAX/VMS. It is my intention to >translate it over to the Macintosh, but I haven't ever written an adventure >game, so it has large "Vaporware" potential, at least in the form of delays. Good luck to you, and I hope to see it! When/if you do get to porting it, try to port only the code that deals with how the world works - redesign the interface completely, so it looks like a Mac app, not a ported IBM app. Just a suggestion. >Things we have come up with: > There are no classes. > We figure you are a character, and if you > work learning some ability, you should get > better at it. If you do everything, you'll > get better at everything, but doing everything > takes time. > > There are no "stats" as far as the > player is concerned. > Sure, we'll keep track of abilities, but real > people can only judge their ability to do > something, and seeing how they do. Same will > hold true for the character. We will probably > use some sort of qualitative description for > how hurt you are, and if you are in a certain > 'qualitative range' you may have difficulty > performing certain tasks. We're not sure this > is exactly how it will work. These two are game mechanics issues. Do you have a system that you're going to implement, or are you designing your own system? Unless you're an extremely experienced RPG game-master, I'd suggest implementing an existing system. (Don't know what kind of copyright problems you might run into - I'd suggest contacting the company that produces the system before doing this, if you plan to distribute and/or sell your game.) One that I'd love to see is GURPS, although that's an extremely ambitious project. Also, you're going to have to figure some way to give the player control of how his character improves. This is non-trivial when all stats are hidden from the player. I think that hiding the stats in general is a good idea, but you'll have to be *very* careful to be consistent in implementation (to avoid hidden 'tricks' that allow you to make a character more powerful). > Many magic "spells" will require a more lengthy 'ritual' > Magic if far too complex for spells of real power > to be cast at a moments notice. There will be > quickie spells, but don't expect too much from them! > Also, you have to discover magic out there. As you > gain experience (by use) you get better/more effective > at using magic. There will also be "classes" of > magic. Anybody can cast anything, but you get better > at casting "fire" magic if you cast it more. This is a combination game mechanics and game world question. (As in, pick a magic system for your game world, then implement it with your game mechanics.) What you need to do here is first figure out what you want magic to be able to do and not do, then figure out a mechanic for that. Sounds like you have a good system in mind. Now another thing is to make sure that magic is useful, if you're going to make it a part of your world. The long, complicated spells should be fairly powerful, and necessary to the plot of the adventure. This obviously necessitates a plot that does not depend only on combat. Which I think is an excellent idea, as you can read in my previous posts. Other questions you'll have to answer: How are skills going to improve? How and for what is experience awarded? What control does the player have over what skills are improved? What kind of a power level difference are you expecting between a beginning character and a character which has finished the adventure? If stats are completely hidden from the player, how is he going to choose a beginning character? (I would suggest that, if you're hiding stats and using a skill-based system, you use some sort of a point system to generate initial characters. Again, a GURPS implementation would be a wonderful thing.) > There's more, but it's hazy. Please post when it gets less hazy. I'm sure I'll think of more things I want to see in the game, too! If people want to get this out of the newsgroup to e-mail, or into a more appropriate one, let me know, btw. What would be a good group for this discussion? >NONE of this is certain, so please send me ideas! This is your chance >to say what you want, without the a single piece of code having been >established. A good opportunity indeed. Good luck in writing the sucker, I hope to see it in the future - optimistically, I'll look for it before I graduate. :) > Adam J. Overton > Academic Computing > FXAJO@alaska > acad3.fai.alaska.edu -- Draphsor vo'drun-Aelf draphsor@portia.stanford.edu
man@cs.brown.edu (Mark H. Nodine) (11/14/90)
In article <draphsor.658562838@elaine0.stanford.edu>, draphsor@elaine0.stanford.edu (Matt Rollefson) writes: |> fxajo@acad3.fai.alaska.edu writes: |> Unless you're |> an extremely experienced RPG game-master, I'd suggest implementing an |> existing system. (Don't know what kind of copyright problems you might |> run into - I'd suggest contacting the company that produces the system |> before doing this, if you plan to distribute and/or sell your game.) |> One that I'd love to see is GURPS, although that's an extremely |> ambitious project. I agree. In case you're not familiar with it, it's put out by Steve Jackson Games. You can find copies in nearly any gaming store. --Mark