Walls

I had a thought that so far I have planned on almost everything being crafted from refined metal and energy crystals.  And so in my insomnia state in which I tend to think of these things I thought what value will the other collectible items in game have.  I think I have discovered the answer in the way that crafted items of anything but metal and energy crystals will interact with shots that have been fired.  If one were to build a wall of say, dirt, for example then that dirt could only be destroyed by enemy melee attacks.  This would mean that walls put up would provide good cover for players and structures, both of which can be damaged by both melee and distance attacks.  This then brings up the idea of stone.  I want stone to be one of those things that only builders can break and/or harvest, meaning that stone walls are impervious to everything except builder melee attacks.  So a base that has been surrounded by a nice stone wall will be protected from long distance attacks so long that the enemy is not able to get line of sight on anything inside.  Since ramps will be pretty easy to put in it would be a very simple thing to set up a base that one can move out from.  I hope this will provide incentive to collect and process other materials.

On another note before I had said that recipes would be forgotten when winning conditions have been met.  I think I'm going to change it so that there will be a timer for certain recipes so that they won't come into play for a given time period after winning conditions.  I think I will rank the recipes and make it so higher ranked recipes take longer to unlock.  So for example if someone has learned a rank 4 recipe then they will not be able to craft it for 4 days after winning conditions have been met.  That way everyone gets to keep their recipes, but the winning faction won't start out with a huge lead as far as knowledge goes.

Low Quality Iron Block

I know it's a little hard to see, but this is an example of a low quality iron block.  I will probably edit it so the pattern isn't so obvious, but for fast work I think it came out nicely.  Let me know what you think.

A 3d triangle block

Yes that right I have finally perfected for use the triangle block.  I even was able to do an UV unwrap so I can paint textures onto it.  And so begins the lovely process of material creation.  As I finish each one I'll post it here for inspection.  This block has the UV test grid displayed on it to show how all of the squares are nice and well, square.  As soon as I get a nice processed metal look I'll also start making structures.  I'm thinking I will need to do some sort of special graphic so one will be able to tell the structures apart.  I have an idea of and electric doorway for the teleporter, and the class change will display a wireframe hologram of a character so it will be clear what it is for.  The communications array will have nice glowing towers, and I'm not sure that I will need to do anything special for healing and shield structures since they will be an area effect and players won't have to do anything to interact with them.  At any rate I'm going to get started making blocks now.

Vehicle and Structure Hit Points

Ok after determining vehicle configuration I had a thought about how to determine total hit points.  Because these structures and vehicles are going to be built from metal blocks, then the total hp of the vehicle or structure will be equal to the total number and type of blocks.  Depending on which raw materials one uses to construct the structure or vehicle the hp will vary.  So for example if someone were to collect 12 low quality iron, they could construct a small vehicle with each block contributing 25 hp each for a total of 300 hp.  Now if someone were to use high quality iron each block would have 75 hp each for a total of 900 hp.  Now there wouldn't be additional hp for high quality titanium or apoidium unless additional crafting has taken place.  There could be additional recipes for double density titanium and apoidium, as well as another recipe for quadruple density apoidium. So going back to our example if one were to use high quality quadruple density apoidium for the same vehicle each block would add 300 hp per block for a total of 3600 hp.  So while this would still be a risk it would be a much better investment in the long run, especially since builders/workers would be able to heal the hp back to full.  The same principles would apply for structure hp, meaning that taking the time to collect and refine the high quality ore will pay off in much more sturdy structures and vehicles.  I think that in the long run the faction that works together to make high end bases will be the victors.

Vehicles

So I had a brainstorming session with my very patient wife, and I worked out a few possibilities for vehicles in the game.  First of all vehicle designs will have to be found and they will have a modular design approach.  Small vehicles will have two modules, one of which will be used for a driver and the other can be used for either a passenger or one of several vehicle mounted weapons or other useful modules.  So far I have worked out a mounted weapon module which requires 2 spots (one for the weapon and one for the operator of said weapon), a healing module that has an area of effect around said vehicle, an energy module which increases speed and weapon recharge rates, and a shield module which also has an area of effect.  Empty spots can also be used to carry passengers and/or cargo of structures or storage.  Vehicles will disappear when destroyed, including all modules that have been mounted.  As such destroying a vehicle will be very difficult, meaning the hit points of a vehicle will need to be into the thousands.  Hit points will vary depending on the quality and type of metal used to craft the vehicle.  Speed and driver weapon power will vary depending on the type and quality of the energy crystal used in creation.  The driver weapon is an automatic part of the vehicle, which is slightly stronger than the soldier weapon.  All of the vehicles will be hovercraft type that won't touch the ground.

Grid Coordinates

I have had a bit of difficult time determining how to set up grid coordinates in a hex based map system, and I figure that I'll just try to fit them into a square based system relative to each home base.  This will mean that all three factions will have a completely different grid coordinate for each hex.  The picture shown above will be the grid coordinates for the green faction for example.  In this way if the world were to be rotated everyone would still have the same orientation.  This would also work if additional factions were introduced later on, as the grid would be relative to their home base even if 6 factions were participating.  I think this will make spying more difficult as everything would have to be translated.

World of Tanks

So I have been trying out a few free to play models and I came across World of Tanks.  This game is one where  players participate in short tank battles over and over again.  The player earns experience and money through these battles which allows them to research and purchase higher quality and more powerful tanks and equipment.   There is also a currency that can be purchased with real money which gives players access to specialized equipment or premium memberships.  I feel that there is very little in the way of socializing in this MMO as the vast majority of battles are random battles with complete strangers.  The draw that I can see would be the idea of progress and the desire to get the best of the best so that one can easily destroy the opposing tanks.  With a system of horizontal leveling that I am proposing the idea of progress will still be there, but not as strong a driving force since everyone will still be on a level playing field.  The desire to win and dominate will still be a driving for many since the competition will still be there, they just won't get a large advantage because they have been playing longer.  Also I think that having teamwork being essential that people will be drawn by the social aspects of the game.  I might have to figure out a way to add in special items that can be purchased for real money as a way to support the game.

A free gun

So looking around the internet I stumbled upon some rather nice models that people have donated to the public.  This one caught my eye and I think it would be useful as the pistol for both workers and scouts.  At any rate I think it would make a nice addition to the game.  I'll have to keep my eyes open to see if there are any more models that would be of use.  I found this on Blender Cookie if anyone is interested

What I need to code

Ok I've been working on learning C++, but that process is going very slowly.  In this post I need to outline the specific programs that I will need to make.  Clearly there will need to be a server, and a client which will connect to the server.  Before I can set up a server I need to make a level editor where I will create the triangles that the hexfields will be populated with.  I'm really hoping to not have to reinvent the wheel with this, but it looks as though I'm going to have to work out the programming specifics on at least a few areas.  Still a month before class starts though, and I have to admit that I would like to get to work on this stuff sooner than that.

Ads

I decided to try out the adsense or monetize option in my blog.  The link doesn't seem to be working quite yet, but I'm hoping that it will bring up ads for a similar type of game since that is mostly what I have blogged about.  Please don't feel obligated to click on them.

"You Failed" from meet the robinsons

Ok so I had a bit of a setback when it comes to rigging as the picture shows.  For some reason a part of the mesh just doesn't want to move along with the rest of it. I'm also realizing that I need to get the mesh set up in a little more natural pose in the first place.  I'll chalk it up to a learning experience, and I'm sure that I will have many more of them.  Still I don't think I did too bad for being essentially a beginner, and now I have a much better concept of what I would like to do in the future.

The first Character mesh

Ok so here is the first, and not very good I might say, character I want to use in the game.  I'm thinking that this is what the standard soldier will look like.  In making this character I was thinking about how this game needs to have more of the bee influence.  And so when creating the "suit" that all of the players are put into I thought that the bees would "anthropomorphize" the suit giving it a bee face.  The antennae serve as actual radio antennae that will allow players to communicate in a hex field as long as there is a communication structure up.  The mandibles are just the bee's way of making us feel like one of them.  At any rate I have a working mesh that I am going to work on setting up rigging on.  I think the process for future models will go much more smoothly now that I actually have gone through the process.
Also going along with the bee theme I have decided to change a few of the names I have used so far.  Soldier will stay soldier since their main function is attack and do military actions.  Scout also seems to fit, but builder I think I will change to worker.  Worker bees do mostly support type work in hives and I think that it fits better.

Builder Stats

Ok this will cover the builder stats:
Height: 1.5 meters
Mass: 150 kg
Health 300 (75 Arms, 75 Legs, 150 Core)
Pack Size 34 Slots
Speed Rating Slow (movement of 1 meter/sec which also may need to get adjusted)
Sprint time 3 secs
.5 meter jump at 20 meters/sec gravity
Standard issue pistol type weapon (damage of 10 points per hit) with single shot only
Axe type 1 meter melee weapon (25 damage per hit, 1 sec per strike)

I'm sure that more will be added to these later, but this is a start at least.  If your asking why I'm putting this all on the blog it is because it will be searchable thanks to Google, which means that I will be able to reference it easily enough later on.

Scouts info

Now the same thing only for the scouts this time:

Height: 1.2 Meters
Mass: 70 Kilograms
Health 100 (25 arms, 25 legs, 50 core)
Pack Size 16 slots
Speed Rating Fast (Movement of 4 meters/second which may need to be adjusted)
Sprint time 12 Sec
2 meter jump at 20 meters/sec gravity
Standard issue pistol type weapon ( damage of 10 points per hit) single shot only and .5 meter short sword melee weapon (10 points per hit, .5 seconds per strike)

Soldier specifics

Ok I'm going to post some rather specific information on the soldier class, which won't really be a secret.  After all I'm being very open about everything in this blog.  So the stats are as follows:

Height 1.9 Meters

Mass 100 kg
Health 200 (50 arms, 50 legs, 100 core)
Pack Size 24 Slots
Speed Rating Medium(movement of 2 meters/sec which may need to be adjusted)
Sprint time 6 Sec
1 Meter Jump at 20 meters/sec gravity
Standard issue M16 type (damage of 25 points per hit) and sword type 1 meter long (Damage 25 points per hit, 1 second per strike) melee weapon

Options of Single shot, 3 shot burst, and fully automatic

How many materials?

Something I've been struggling with is the whole concept of material collection and how to make it at least a little more challenging.  Some thoughts I have had include have a set amount each block can produce until the area is reset.  Another is having a set amount that it can produce in a given time period, like 50 in one day.  Or I can just make it so that a player will be able to harvest an unlimited amount from any node, but the amount they can carry is limited to say stacks of 9 per inventory slot.  I'm sure that this is something that will get sorted out as I start to make the game, just something I need to think through now.

Related to this is the amount of materials needed to make things.  I am probably going to go through crafting recipes one item at a time in posts so I will have it to refer back to.  This will mean a lot of posts about very specific details, which I would like to have in place for everything before I start the programming.

Treasure

I know one thing that many people enjoy is the sense of excitement at finding a treasure of some sort.  I am thinking that treasure chests in this game will contain designs which can then be learned or sold.  I think that hiding these chests in the caves will give another incentive to people entering the caves, and it could make it so that new designs could slowly be introduced into the game.  I know I personally like to look for treasure, and having a design that no one else has would give a player a sense of ownership, especially if the design is critical for the success of the faction.  Learned designs are something that that would be forgotten once winning conditions have been met in order for the playing field to be made completely level at the start of a new round.

Which platform?

Ok today's question is this:
What platforms will you support? Vista? XP? Other MS? Linux? MacOS? Consoles? Handhelds? Phones? Browsers?
This is something that I can't determine right now.  If I am successful in going with something like Onlive then this will be an easy question as Onlive is already supported on many different platforms.  In the event that I am not able to work out this deal, I will most likely make an .exe file for people to download which then connects to the server.  I would prefer to avoid this as anything put into the client can be hacked, which will ruin a game faster than anything I'm aware of.  So this is one that is going to have to wait until I've gathered more information.

Leadership potential training

I think one of the greatest things that might come out of the interactions in this game is the opportunities for people to lead other people.  I have been playing through the Valkyria Chronicles on the PS3 lately, and I was thinking about how the strategy is easy when I'm able to control all of the members of a squad one at a time.  In real life people don't always do exactly what you expect or desire.  I have found that this is often the case in MMO's, and while it is frustrating at times successfully pulling off an operation is a very satisfying feeling.  Also people need to be defeated every so often, which is something that video games in and of themselves aren't very good at.  When you are facing a worthy adversary and the battle isn't going in your favor then people can learn the most of what it is that they must work on in order to be better.  This is something I really hope to pull together well.

The crash

It would appear that all of my exploration and downloading things has caught up with me.  My computer has crashed, and all I can say is that I am very thankful that I got the idea to document this process online.  I'm not sure what I'll be able to salvage from my old files, and I need to get a recovery disk from somewhere since I am not able to find mine.  I have a growing distrust of hard drives and the more I hear of cloud computing the more I think that it is a really good idea.  I know that means that all of my information will be out on someone else's computer, but at least I won't have to worry about my personal computer taking a dive like it just did.  Anyway I'm sure that my progress will be slowed dramatically until I can get my computer back up and running.  I have a laptop that I'm working from now that isn't nearly so powerful, but I can still do some reading on it at least.  So till next time.

Character creation

My recent successes in Blender led me to a bit of overconfidence.  I'm trying to work out character creation, which is proving to be a much more difficult task.  First of all I know I need to create a skeleton before I even think of starting on the actual forming.  Getting this part done so far is beyond my level, and just messing around led to Blender crashing.  I might have to wait on this until I'm in school as well.

The Scimitar

Ok and the last melee weapon of the game, which will be used by the soldier class.  I really hope to be able to utilize these components when the time comes.  In the mean time I will continue to make models as I find the process rather enjoyable.  I think I will start on the block types next.  I still have to work out a way to make the whole system go together, but some models put together shouldn't hurt.

Aesthetic upgrades for a price

It would seem to me that many games are moving to a model where one may spend real money in order to have access to a large assortment of purely aesthetic items with which they are able to create their own personal online identity.  In this way the actual game can be free, which works for me because I really couldn't care less what my avatar looks like so long that the game is fun.  That being said I do recognize the value of being able to customize, and also that some people are willing to pay for it.  And so some ideas that I have for this will be objects that people will be able to place on their personal or communal property.  This will mean things like plants, statues, wall paper, pictures, and many other items will need to be created.  I would love for players to be able to insert their own pictures and creations, but because of the possibility of inappropriate material that will most likely not happen.  The fact that people are going to be able to stack their own blocks will be difficult enough in the first place.  At any rate this is something I'm going to have to keep in mind, especially if this game is going to be able to stay afloat financially speaking.

A blue short sword

Ok so yet another creation, and this one was much easier.  This is the scout's melee weapon, a simple short sword.  I also made this in Blender and this time I edited the resulting rendered image with Gimp, another open source image editor.  I think the biggest challenge 3d modeling wise will be character creation.  I think I'm going to work at keeping them fairly simple as well, to go along with the theme.  I imagine that the final product will look like the characters found in Love, which are simple yet artistic.  

A blue Axe

Ok to show everyone that I have been learning a little bit in the mean time I have created my first 3d melee weapon.  I think it turned out fairly nice, though I am a little biased.  This was created in Blender, which is not the easiest program to use.  Anyway this is the builder's melee weapon, and I will make a corresponding green and red one for the other classes.  I'm not even sure I will be able to utilize this yet, but I think the experience is good all the same.  I now have a lot more respect for 3d modelling, which I'm guessing by the end of my studies I will have a healthy respect for each and every job in the gaming industry.

Caves

Since I have determined that there will be levels of metal I feel that there should also be an element of difficulty to getting the high quality ore.  I think the best way to accomplish this is to have 3 levels of caves that run underground.  In trying to keep things random I could have it so sometimes the caves will connect, and sometimes they won't.  This means that someone will need to successfully navigate the caves all the way to the lowest level and then back again in order to get the high grade ore.  Since something else I want to implement would be land  mines, builders could set land mine traps, making entry into a cave even more challenging and dangerous.  Creating the network of caves will be a part of the land creation, which is still going to take a while to complete.

Armor

Ok I've had this idea going around my brain for a while now.  It has somewhat been established that there will be several levels of metals, most likely 9 at least.  So there will three kinds of metal, and low-high grades of each type.  Because I don't want armor to add more than 100 additional hit points at any given time, I'm thinking that armor made of low grade of anything will add 50, average grade will add 75, and high grade will add 100.  The differences in the metal types will determine how much pack space is used in order to equip said armor. To help clarify this I have made a diagram which is shown above.  This means that the easier to get iron will still be useful, especially to someone who isn't going on a gathering mission and will most likely end their mission in being frozen.  It also will mean that the scout class will not be able to wear iron armor at any time, which is one of the weaknesses of the scout class(that and they are just weak).

Large moves to free to play

It has come to my attention that many MMO's are moving to free to play models.  This means that the game is free to play if you don't care what you look like or leveling at a very slow speed.  One is able to pay for aesthetic upgrades or faster leveling.  One game that I recently decided to check out was Global Agenda, a game set in a sci fi setting.  They have 4 classes, 3 of which are the classic healer, scout, and warrior type.  The fourth class was a class relating to robotics which seemed to be fairly unique.  I found that the gameplay was the standard kill stupid mobs and collect pointless things for people.  I don't really want to spend the hours and hours it will take to get up to the point where I will be able to participate in the Pvp aspect of the game.  The graphics were very impressive, particularly the characters.  I think the take away I have from this is that I will have a lot of competition, which was already a given.  I just didn't expect so many of them to move to free to play so soon.