Builder try 1

Ok with a few changes we have the builder.  I plan on skinning him differently so it is clear that what class is what.  Pretty much I hope one can get the idea that I hope to convey in the character design.  Nothing too crazy with everyone pretty much the same size.

Soldier try #2

Ok I know that it has seemed like I haven't done much lately so I thought I would show you how I have progressed in my use of blender.  I admit that I can't that full credit for as I started from a male base mesh, but I think that the modifications give a pretty good indication of my vision for characters.  Again the only real difference between a soldier and a scout will be size.  I'll have to work on widening the whole thing for the builder class.  I'll work on painting it next, after I have reviewed a few more tutorials.

End of the semester report

Well I made it to the end of the semester and I think I have learned some valuable information.  I will most likely concentrate on C++ or C# as the language, as Java has many drawbacks for games(memory management, having to run on virtual machine, etc...).  I still would like to stay away from Microsoft if at all possible, one because I think there is a potential for a lot of players on Linux and Mac, and two I just don't like Microsoft, but C# is Microsoft's baby.  I do have to admit that the XNA Game studio library that comes with Visual Studio makes the process of implementation much easier.  I'm fairly tuckered out from a rather stressful semester though so I may not do any work on this until after Christmas.  Have a happy holiday to everyone who happens upon this.

P.S. I got A's and B's with the exception of one F in an unimportant class.  I found that I simply didn't have the time and wear with all to keep up in all of my classes.  Next semester luckily will be much easier.

Online Multiplayer

My semester is drawing to a close, and I think that while I now have a greater understanding of the enormity of the task I have set myself, I don't quite see the path I should take.  One thing is clear, programming effectively and properly will take time to learn.  I am still committed to making this an online multiplayer game, and to that end I studied what it would take to create a basic system where a player logs in.  I found that there are many many different ways that this could be accomplished and I quickly became overwhelmed.  I probably should have found a simple way to do it so that I could pass my C++ class, but what I really wanted to do was to learn to create a flexible and robust database system that would store much more information about players than just their email and password.  Because I don't exactly know what information about players will need to be stored as of yet I am not able to create a data structure for the database to hold.  I am hoping to get more clarification on data structures next semester in one of my classes.  In the mean time I can get back to  working on art work and fleshing out the use case scenarios for everything in the game.

More research on MMO

So in looking around at some new MMOs coming out soon I came across a few that are implementing systems similar to what I would like to set up.  Firefall is looking to be very interesting, especially since it is:
1. Free to Play
2. Players will be able to change roles by equipping "battleframes", which is something similar to what I was hoping to set up.
3. They will have microtransactions, but they are insistent on making sure that cash items will not effect game balance.
4. It's an FPS MMO set up in a persistent world setting.

I'm not able to play it yet as they are still in the early stages of beta, but I'll be sure to analyze it once I get the chance.  There are a few others too, but this one really caught my eye.

The long road

So I am coming to a realization that programming is an art that is easy to get the basics of and extremely difficult to master.  The amount of information that goes into games can be pretty overwhelming, and I now see why they have a very long list of names in the credits of high end titles.  It seems that there is a plethora of programs out there already, but the best programs are guarded very closely so no one can copy them.

I feel like programming is like cooking.  There are really a very large amount of flavor combinations that can be made, and through experimentation and a little luck one can find those combinations that make for very delicious food.  The problem that happens is that when someone learns of a simple combination that makes for great food, they make it a secret and try to capitalize on it by making it so they are the only ones who one can get this delicious food from.  I feel like the community of software creators are very proud of the products they have created and are not very interested in helping new programmers learn the art of code slinging.  This is not true of everyone who programs, but just read the average EULA for most programs to see wording to the effect of "Thou shalt not reproduce, reverse-engineer, decompile, or anything else that shows you how this product was made".  It's basically saying

When I embarked on this project I admit that I only had the viewpoint of the end user or consumer of video games.  Now that I have learned some of the processes that go into making them, and the lengths that some companies go to keep their "recipes" secret, I can see that this will be a longer process than I had originally thought.

Discipline

I am home sick today and so I think I will take some time to post a little something.  I am a little concerned with my level of discipline related to programming.  I have been getting the concepts well enough when I look at examples of programming, and I have been able to write short programs well enough.  The problem comes when I need to work on programming for an extended period of time.  I quickly become disinterested as it is something akin to writing a paper.  I know that the end product will be a (hopefully) enjoyable gaming experience, it's just a rather long and tedious process getting there.  I'm also running into the problem of feeling overwhelmed and inadequate all at once.  I know that I don't have to do it all at once, but at this point I have been having a hard time just keeping up with my classwork let alone working on this game.  Granted I took a rather heavy load this semester and I hope that future semesters won't be quite so cerebral, but from what I have heard graduate school is all about pushing ones brain to the limit.

At any rate I think that I have the basic concepts for the game set out, and now I need to move into the implementation phase.  I will work on getting textures and models during my school breaks.  I am learning a lot of good and useful things despite my feeling of inadequacy.  Thanks for your patience those who are sticking with me on this.

Use case scenarios

So I've been learning to make a little game based on pong.  The amount of work that goes into making even a simple game is pretty mind blowing.  I think the best way to put it is that computers are incredibly dumb, and therefore programmers have to write out explicit instructions on how to react to every little thing that a player may do.  And so one exercise we are going through is to think of every possible way that a human interacts with a game write up what the system should do if a player does something.  These are called use cases, and every button or thing that someone can click on really needs to have something written up or the system doesn't know what to do and cries in a corner making everything stop.  It really is pretty mind boggling how we have programs and systems in the first place.  At any rate I'm going to start working on a monstrous document going through every menu and every possible key press that a player may decide to do while playing the game.

In other news I'm starting out in my C++ class on a program that allows a user to log in to a system and/or register for something.  I hope to have this be my starting out point for the main program, as the first thing players will do will be to log in.  I have until December to get it up and running.  I know it's not much, but it is a start.  I think that during winter break time I will also try to work on more artwork.

Powerups - Same look different function

I have been thinking a bit about how to handle the graphical aspects of armor and weapons and how they will interact with the game.  As I was explaining the game to someone and I told them that the "Aliens" have encased the players in suits that keep them from all harm, then I was trying to explain things like armor and weapons they pointed out that a graphical armor would be pointless since they are already encased in an all harm reducing suit.  Also there was the issue of the armor only covering certain areas, like would it protect the torso if you have the standard shoulder pad type armor.  This also led to me thinking about this from the perspective of an experiment, where much of what is going on has to be simulated to be like war, but not actually be like war.  Anyway the short story is that I am rethinking how these will happen in the game.  Rather than have a brand new graphic for weapons and armor I will make them more like the slot system in FFVII.  this will mean that the powerups for weapons and armor will be represented by little globes which when they are "equipped" they will do things like make the player's suit glow brighter or make the weapon fire differently.  This will mean that the "Aliens" will be able to introduce and temporarily disable all kind of things without necessarily changing anything in the reality of the simulation.

So what this means is that every player comes equipped with the suit, a distance weapon, and a melee weapon that then can change depending on what class they are.  The powerups are then applied to these already existing items to simulate a weapon change or increased armor.  They will still have to be "hacked" in order to be compatible with a given faction, and certain power ups will require the correct class to use them.  They can still take up the pack space as I talked about in armor a while ago.

Anyway a quick update about school.  I am very busy doing the projects for my classes, though I am still learning a lot of valuable information.  I won't be able to work on this project extensively in the near future, though I have a good idea of what I need to do to get started now.

Programming is a lot of work

I have to take my hat off to all of the programmers out there who make things like the internet and computers possible.  Programming is fairly challenging and I think under appreciated work.  I have been doing homework assignments for simple things like minor calculations, and realizing just how much math and programming it takes just to do simple things like graphics and game physics is pretty mind boggling.  I now understand a little better why people say to start out with a small project and forget the big ambitious plans.  I still want to complete this goal, but after over a month of school I feel like I'm not any closer to realizing this project.  I know that I will need to take years to get it right, but I need to do some serious planning way above and beyond where I'm at now.  On the plus side I am getting valuable information on how to create complex programs.  I'm going to be pretty busy with homework in the mean time, so for the few followers I have just know that I may have some pretty long breaks between posts.

Financial argument for Free to Play games

It was pointed out that as an aspiring game developer one has to be able to articulate to potential investors how the investment in a game will not be the equivalent of throwing money away.  Many people in control of money may not be familiar with the world of video games and the very idea of "free to play" sounds as though a game will not generate income in any way.  So I'm going to create an argument for free to play models and why someone should invest in them.

#1 Is audience.  If someone has to pay up front for a product, especially an unknown product, they will be reluctant because it creates a commitment to that product.  If people are able to try a game for free then that sense of commitment is not there, and so there will be a greater willingness to try it out at the very least.  This will mean that the initial audience will be much greater than before, and let's face it without an audience a game will make no money.

#2 Is micro transactions. This means that people can pay real money for items or services in the game that will make the playing experience much more enjoyable.  In many games this comes in the form of premium memberships, aesthetic upgrades for ones avatar or in game property, better or unique game items which will give an edge over the competition, etc....  This means that while a game is free to play for everyone, those who pay will progress faster or will spend less time doing menial or boring tasks which is often referred to as "grinding".

#3 Is that a game need not remain free forever.  Commonly games will build up a following of players during a free to play time period when the game is stable and playable but not finished, which is often referred to as the beta period.  During this time players get used to the game and decide whether or not to buy the game once the "beta" period is over.  Often these periods will not include the entire game and often are equated to a demo or a sneak peak of the game.  This is most effective with large scale AAA titles, meaning that there has been millions of dollars and hundreds of man hours from a large team of developers invested into the project.  This also only works if effective marketing strategies have been put into place.  For the sake of my game argument #3 will not really be applicable.

#4 Is that if players truly enjoy a game they will do what they can to ensure it's success.  There have been many games that have been started through the gaming community's support effort with tools like kickstarter.  Some games have been perpetuated by community support long after the typical shelf life of the game, and with the internet becoming as large as it is specialized communities are popping up all over the place.  If one is able to cater to one such community and gain their respect there can be a huge response in the way of financial support.

I'll have to expand on these arguments and think of others as I go along.

Global pros and cons

In looking at the video game market I have come to realize that this market is pretty much a global marketplace now.  Game developers are able to create games from anywhere and put them out for anyone with internet access to consume.  This is a good thing as game developers potentially have a huge audience, but it also means that there is global competition.  There is also the challenge of providing ones game in what could possibly be a plethora of languages.

I have been thinking a bit about why companies have such long and involved terms of use and privacy policies that users must accept before they are able to use products, and I think that the competition has a big part to play in that.  Creating code for games is a long and very involved process, and if someone were to reverse engineer or in essence steal that code then all of the work that gets put into it may not be compensated.  Because there is no universal law in regards to copyright despite many attempts by multiple countries to create such a law, there is really no way to protect oneself from pirating and copycats in countries that have no laws or little to no enforcement of said laws.  Even in the US where they are taking the whole copyright issue very seriously it is the responsibility of the copyright holder to bring infractions to the attention of law enforcement.

All that being said it is difficult to learn how to program when everyone is safeguarding their code in every way possible.  The other problem is that by the time I get the know how to complete a game technology may be way ahead of my ability to code.  Hopefully the pros will outweigh the cons.

Gravel Block

Ok so here is another addition to the block family.  I was going around my neighborhood looking for things to take photos of because I can't afford to pay for other's intellectual property, and I thought that this worked out rather nicely.  Gravel won't be a whole lot different than dirt as far as functionality, but it will spice things up as far as graphics go.

Possible Money Model

Ok I know that I have expressed concerned about how to make enough money to support the game, and while it is definitely too soon to really talk about this I think I need to keep it in mind.  In analyzing other free to play games there are a few basic ways that they make money as I have mentioned before, through aesthetic upgrades and by bypassing the grind of the game to some point.  So here are a few ideas of how to implement these in this game.  One would be the ability to buy specialized recipes that are only available through the store.  This would include armor that has extra spikes or just a different design, but will not have any more advantage in the game, and weapons with a little twist to them.  There could also be designs for fancier vehicles which have a sleeker look than the in game models.  Because these are designs the owner could replicate and sell them to their hearts desire.

Another area that I'm guessing people would be willing to pay real money would be to buy additional credits and/or raw materials.  Collecting raw materials will be a rather time consuming process and the ability to buy a stack of say 100 of something may be worth it to some individuals.

I think the best way to accomplish this is to have a separate currency which will not reset with winning conditions.  For the sake of simplicity it could be called premium credits though the name could easily be changed at a later time.  This currency could then be used at the in game store to get the premium items.  There would have to be a disclaimer explaining that any normal credits or raw materials bought with premium credits are not refundable in the case that they were purchased immediately before winning conditions were met and everything is reset including credit amounts to 0 and inventories will be wiped clean.

It's important to note that I don't plan on making a lot of money from this, really I just hope that it would bring in enough to support the servers to make the game possible.

Object Oriented Programming Paradigm

So each of the programming languages I'm currently studying are focusing on what is known as the object oriented paradigm, which basically breaks the program down into manageable bites or "objects" that all work together.  In looking back at my design process so far I think I'm right on track for creating this type of program.  It will still take a very long time to develop by myself, but I feel much more confident in being able to do it eventually.  That being said going back to a traditional undergraduate learning environment has been pretty rough.  My memory isn't what it used to be for one, and I'm especially struggling in discrete math which is rather abstract in the first place and is calling on previous math experience which the last time I took a math class was 1995.  So while I recognize the challenge I'm not giving up.

Anyway what I will need to focus on is both data and behaviors that each aspect of the game will possess.  Players will be the most complicated object as many of the behaviors will be taking direct input from the user, but it also going to be the most important since a game with no players isn't really a game.  For now I will continue to work on simpler things like tri-blocks and simple structures.

Tutorial Part 1

I know that one of these is going to have to be created, so I think I'm going to do a basic voice over that is done in an annoyingly happy announcer voice.  It will start out by welcoming the new player as a homosapien, explaining that there is no need for alarm, that they have been placed in a very safe environment, and that all of their biological needs will be met with the aid of an life suit.  The voice will then say
"please do not make any attempt to remove the suit or to return to your previous home".
"In analyzing your optical orbits we have determined you are able to detect these frequencies of radiation, please indicate your preference from these options.  Please keep in mind that this choice is permanent."
At which point the factions which are in need of players will be displayed.  At the start of the game all three (or six) options are going to be available up to say 20 players.  Players will make this choice by moving to one of three(or six) possible doors using WASD on a keyboard or left control stick on a controller.  I think that the majority of users are familiar with this concept so there will be nothing else in the room.  Once they make a choice by pressing E on a keyboard or and walk through the door it will trigger the next set of "instruction" which will go something like.
"We now have some basic tests to make sure you are not defective in any way.  Please walk to the next room."
Once they have walked through the door it will close.
"Very good.  We hope you enjoy your new home.  If we may draw your attention to what others of your species have considered aesthetically pleasing."
This will then trigger a look around the room at several flashing screen shot pictures of the landscape.  Looking around will be accomplished with the mouse in a mouse keyboard set up, or the right control stick on a controller setup.  Once the player has looked at the pictures a new opening will appear.
Because this will be really long if I were to write it all out I'm going to break it up into sections.    

Missions

I've had a bit of time to mull this one over and I think that some predefined mission types will help a lot as far as getting people talking to each other and learning how to work together.  This can be a challenge as many players have had bad experiences with pick up groups or "pugs" and try to limit the number of people that they play with to people they know or have worked with previously.  While I recognize that it can be frustrating to work with people who may have a different way of playing a game, it can be equally frustrating to be a new player in a game and have no one who is willing to play with you.  So the "pug" dynamic needs to work in such a way that players are able to find each other quickly and will have a good idea of what they are going to do.  So whoever decides to make a group for a given mission will be able to decide a few things from the beginning.  First of all will be the size of the element, ranging from 4 man all the way up to a company of 96, though depending on what rank of leadership there will be caps at 8 men for all non leader types, 16 men for a squad leader, 32 men for a platoon leader, and all 96 for the company commanders.  This will assure that players don't take on more responsibility than they are ready to handle.  Group leaders will also be able to set a timer that will determine when people need to be ready to go, which will be visible from the looking for group or LFG console.  This could range from as little as 15 seconds up to 5 minutes or possibly more if needed.  Group leaders will also be able to specify what classes they are looking for and how many.  Player will then be able to apply to groups at which point the group leader will be able to say yes or no.  Once the number of players are met then on the middle of the screen of each player will be a popup of "Are you ready?" with a 30 second timer and an OK button.  This will indicate that they are about to teleport and should conclude their business asap.  If all group members click ok then the map will come up and the group leader will be able to decide where the group will teleport to.  Once that decision is made all group members will teleport and off they go.  The waiting period will give the group leader a brief chance to elaborate on the mission before they all go into action.  So now to break down the mission types.

Search and Destroy

I feel this is self explanatory as the group will essentially be out looking for a fight.  It will be a good mission type for repelling lone wolfs and small groups that have come into the faction's territory and are harassing players.  It also could be for going into enemy territory and looking for vulnerable players.  At any rate this mission type says that the group is looking for combat asap.

Infiltration

As the title explains this one is for going deep into enemy territory.  This could be a group of scouts looking for unguarded structures or vehicles to hack, or trying to get an idea of how the enemy has set things up.  This mission could mean combat, though it's more likely that combat will only happen if absolutely necessary since that will draw attention and will mean not getting very far into enemy territory.

Resource gathering

This mission means that the group will be heading into the caves to look for building resources.  I imagine that there will be a lot of these missions as resource gathering will be essential to expanding territory and making better things all around.  These groups will still need all classes as a small group going into neutral or even enemy territory to get resources will be risky business.

Base attack

This is to signify a full on attack and will probably happen only at the platoon and company levels, though it is not unthinkable at lower levels.  The goal it to attack an enemy base in order to either disable or destroy it.

Base defense

This is a call to arms because a friendly base is being attacked by enemy forces.  While this may not actually take a group, by having everyone teleport at the same time there is a much increased chance of success.  Of course this is assuming everyone teleports before the teleporter gets taken down, which I imagine will be one of the first targets in an offensive.  Because of this I'm sure that players will make sure to have back up bases not too far away.

Base construction

This one area where coordination is extremely important.  There may be a few different ways that players want to go about this and for now it is sufficient to say that it is definitely going to be a group type.

Recon

This mission type may or may not be in enemy territory and will mainly deal with exploration.  This could be in the cave system looking for resources or just taking a look around to see what's out there.  This doesn't always require a group, but since everywhere could be a potential combat zone it doesn't hurt to take a friend or 3 along.

I think that if there was something else the players wanted to do that they could loosely fit it into these mission types, and if not well then I might just have a type your own field.  Because of the whole group needing to teleport together players will need to be in the main base in order to both create and join groups.  Players may leave groups at any time, though players who leave groups at inopportune times without explanation often find themselves with no one to play with very quickly.

School update

So I have finished my first week of classes and I'm feeling very confused.  School is looking like it will not be so straight forward as I had hoped it would be, but it is not hopeless.  I imagine I'll feel much better after I have a few more weeks under my belt.  In the mean time I need to start thinking about school projects, and being naturally lazy I would like to relate them to this game as much as possible so I at least have an idea of what to do when I need to sit down and start coding.

So in C++ I plan on doing some sort of player registration where one inputs several variables like their real name, a preferred in game name which has to be checked for availability, and an email address which has to be in the correct format.  Apparently this class doesn't deal with a graphical use interface or GUI so I'm going to have to do it all from the command prompt.  At least it is a step in the right direction.

As far as Java goes I think I prefer the syntax of C++ to it and so I'll be keeping the projects in that class as basic as possible.  It is a beginning programming class anyway, so I don't see us getting to the point where we can do anything of any substance by the end of the class anyway.

AI

So after a few of my classes I'm thinking that this project will need to include artificial intelligence of some sort.  I think I would like to do simple sentry tower that will randomly appear in certain areas which fire at players who come into their line of fire.  I think that I would like to do a simple spotlight pattern that indicates where their attention is focused.  Scouts will be able to hack these devices provided that they can get around to the back side, and just like anything else that can be hacked they can either make them friendly to their faction or destroy them and get the recipe for making them.  In this way there could be simple auto defense for bases so they don't always have to be guarded.  They will have a spotlight of the color of the faction that they are programmed for and they will be white if they are found in the wild.

Sound

This is a big one that luckily I have already learned a little about.  I have noticed that sound in many multiplayer games is really hard to take.  I think that this stems from sound effects being a part of so many events, everything from shooting a weapon to large explosions.  I know that the technology for good sound has been out for a long time, it is just the large amount of processing that goes into good sound effects that will be hard to balance out.  In many war games that I have played the sound effects create an annoying cacophony of noise that it is hard to take for a few minutes, let alone the hours and hours of time that is spent playing.  The other problem I find is that the sound effects drown out voice chat making communication difficult.

So what do I plan to do about this.  First of all I plan on making relatively quiet weaponry.  Since it is all going to be beam based and is fictional in nature anyway, I can make the sound however I see fit.  This will be true of most of the weaponry in the game, even mines or vehicle based weaponry.  I already have a pretty good idea of what I want the sound to be, which will be the initial discharge and a charge up period after.  Recharging will explain the slow rate of fire and is something that things like capacitors do in real life anyway.  I also plan to avoid any high pitched sound effects as I already suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ears permanently) and I'm sure a lot of veterans out there do too.  Playing video games with high pitches can make this worse.  Structures will probably make no noise at all to cut down on processing when in bases.  For vehicles I think I will use a low hum so players will be able to know a vehicle is around, but not a whole lot more than that.  I'll have to look into this more as I get closer to that point in the creation process.

On another note I start school tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Planetside

Ok so I tried out a new game called Planetside from Sony, which is going to be followed by Planetside2 sometime in the near future.  I paid for a month and I feel very overwhelmed right from the start.  I also feel very undergeared and unsure of what exactly I should be doing.  It does have the feel of a larger scale Unreal Tournament that I was looking to do.  The new game is a big improvement in graphics based on the video, though I'm not sure how the game play will be.

So here are my thoughts about the game from the few hours I've tried of it.  There is a huge assortment of weapons and vehicles to choose from, which felt overwhelming trying to navigate.  The weapons and vehicles were slightly different for each faction, though I imagine the differences were purely aesthetic as far comparable level weapons or vehicles are concerned.  There are three factions which are fighting for domination on several "planets", and on each planet there are a certain number of strongholds which the factions are able to fight over.  In order to travel between these planets there are large teleport structures which are for use by any factions.

One thing that I noticed right off is the amount of legalese I had to go through to install this game.  I had to "read" through 4 separate legal agreements, all of which said about the same thing, before I could get to the login screen.  Also before I could log in to the game a second time I had to agree to yet another set of legalese, in which I am unclear but I may now owe them my firstborn child in lieu of payment.  It makes sense that Sony would want to protect itself from all possible litigation, but it seemed like customers have to go to court just to play the game.  I also had to sign up for some sort of download system which required it's own login.  The game cost $9.99 to $14.99 per month depending on how many months of service you want to sign up for.  Of course if you want to have the biggest and coolest the game has to offer, much time must be spent being cannon fodder and building ones way up through the ranks.  I really felt that as a new player I was not contributing at all to the battle I participated in.  I tried to aim my weapon at the few enemy players I was able to see before dying, but the larger personal weapons all seemed to be fully automatic with a random spray pattern and the pistols are, well, pistols which are puny in every video game I have ever played.

I know that I will probably never have the resources or remotely stand a chance of competing with a powerhouse like Sony, but I think that Apoidea: Hex Wars could still bring something to the market that hasn't quite been done yet.  I'll be sure to play for the time I have bought to see what else I might be able to learn, though I still think that people would prefer a simpler, yet fun, game.  I guess time will tell.

Scout ability: identify

So I've been thinking about scouts and how to make them more integral in the game, especially for groups settings.  One way that I think will promote their use is that they will be able to identify and distinguish between materials out in the field.  I like to think of scouts as the most intelligent class as the have the hacking, so being able to tell whether a material is high or low quality makes sense.  I don't plan on having a different graphic for high or low quality metal, and I'm pretty sure that the cave system I'm going to set up is going to be a little disorienting as far as players being able to tell just how far from the surface they are.  This ability will mean that bringing a scout along for material gathering expedition will make a lot more sense than it did before.  Other players will not be able to identify materials until they have returned to the main base.  My wife has ponted out that there are people who are greedy and would withhold this information from other group members, so I think that I will have a group status message pop up for any material that enters the scouts backpack.  This won't be necessary for weapons and armor, just for the triblocks that the group happens to be mining.  So to recap a builder is necessary to "mine" the material and a scout is necessary to identify said material.  Soldiers just stand there and look tough, a very necessary part of the game too.

Request system

Ok so I was on a date with my wife tonight and she was being very patient with me once again as I brought up this game idea.  And something that came out of that brainstorming session was the idea of a request system.  Basically inside of a company sized element people can post a desired recipe and what materials are needed for it.  Then as players come back to the base they can choose which projects they want to support by donating materials to them.  Company commanders and officers will be able to prioritize these projects so players will know which ones need to be filled first.  Of course players aren't obligated to donate if they don't want to, but the faster things like bases and vehicles get built the better chances of the faction winning.  It also gives guidance to the player who is confused as to what to do next.  Once all of the necessary materials have been gathered the requesting player will be able to craft the item in question.  I would like to have some sort of notification go to the players, with something like text across the screen or a flashing icon in a corner of the screen.  Players will only be able to request for one recipe at a time so there isn't a situation where a players has spammed tons of their own projects that they want to get materials for.

A clean game

I mentioned in my initial goals for this game that I wanted it to be clean enough to play with my young children.  I have been thinking about how to accomplish this and I keep running into one issue.  The hardest content to control is that which the players themselves introduce.  I really want to have players be able to be creative in weapon and vehicle design, but it was pointed out to me that it only takes one or two players to make something inappropriate or naughty to cause the game to expose people to content which is not appropriate.  In analyzing games that have an E rating like Water Warfare or anything Mario I have noticed that there is very little in the way of in depth personal customization, chat functionality, or any other way for players to introduce inappropriate content into the game environment.  Even in games where there is a very controlled environment like World of Tanks  the chat introduces a whole host of objectionable material which players just throw out there as though it normal to talk of sexual crime or of, well just plain disgusting topics.

So my quandary is how to keep this family friendly without removing the ability of players to interact, communicate, and create in the game.  Chat filters can block any profanity or similarly offensive chat,  and I will have to set up a reporting system for blocks placed in such a way that they represent genitalia, swastikas, or swear words.  I think that weapons and vehicles are going to have to be set in their design as there are too many possibilities for players to make something inappropriate there too.  I feel that because of the possible liabilities of online interactions that the minimum age will probably be 13 in order to play.

Hardcore vs. Casual

In my years of playing video games I have noticed a distinct difference between players and playing types.  One set that players will tend to label themselves is hardcore as opposed to casual.  These two classifications often find themselves at odds with one another.   I think that a big challenge is how to appeal to both types of play style without it feeling like one or the other is being favored in any way.

These two types are usually differentiated by one main criteria, time.  Hardcore players are players who will spend what may be considered abnormally large amounts of time playing games.  What this amounts to is the feeling that they will have an edge on other players in some way.  In an MMORPG what the hours and hours of time translate into is them having really good equipment or an understanding of game mechanics that will make them very powerful relative to other players.  In an FPS game it will mean a greater understanding of the map, a knowledge of where and when the best weapons and powerups are can be located, which again gives them an advantage over other players.  Because of the amount of time that these players spend in a game they prefer a high level of attention to detail, especially to gameplay.  They understand that a game does not have to have the best graphics or largest budget to be fun (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hardcore%20gamer).  Unfortunately the hardcore gamer often has little patience or respect for the casual gamer since they often are in no position to be competitive and will often complain about the unfairness of having unfavorable odds.  Casual gamers often enjoy video games on a much smaller scale, and they do it for the purpose of relaxation and fun.  They also make up over 90% of the market, as very few people can or want to devote hours and hours of time to playing games.  I know that I have played games where the social pressure to play made it seem like a full time job (not fun anymore).

My problem is that there are some hard core gamers who ruin the experience for the casual gamers.  This happens because the hard core crowd has such an advantage in a game and will often do everything in their power to crush any hope the casual crowd has so they (in the hard core mind's eye) are running and crying to mommy.  Now I do realize there are some in the hard core crowd who are not included in this rather unfavorable way of looking at them, but the fact that there are even a small number of players like this in a game can make it unenjoyable and uncomfortable for many, many more players in a game.  I admit there have been more than one game that has been ruined for me by players who felt the need to show me how I had no place playing there.  This quote, again from  Urbandictionary.com, puts it rather succinctly.

Hardcore gamers are no less ridiculous than a "pin the tail on the donkey" elitist, who shows up to a birthday party with their own pins and blindfold, won't shut up about you're "spinning all wrong" then looks shocked, as to why the rest of the guests find them socially repulsive.  

The harsh reality is that casual gamers may not know this game even exists for a long time while hard core gamers will provide the initial audience and will probably determine whether the game is successful enough to make it past the first year of existence.  So how do I appeal to all types of player?  I think that taking out leveling and "the grind" of any kind will help a lot in appealing to casual gamers, who may only desire to spend at most an hour a day playing this game.  And let's face it, there is a lot of competition for the attention of all players out there.  If anyone has any good suggestions on this I would appreciate the help.

Also for more insight into gamers look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamer.

Pheromone trails

In going with the insect theme something I would like to implement is a way to communicate via "pheromone" trails.  This will be something that will fade over time and can only be seen by members of ones faction or via special equipment that scouts will have. This way people can leave a trail back to useful materials when they have found them, and it will provide a "ball of string" for those exploring caves.  This will probably be accomplished by a simple line painting on the ground, or glowing footsteps.  It will also be something that you can turn on or off.  I'll have to look into what it will take to set it up.

A paradigm shift

I have been looking at my own motivations for making this game and what I hope to accomplish with it.  I think what I hope to accomplish is to at minimum plant the idea that there needs to be a paradigm shift as far as online gaming is concerned.  I have been playing games for a very long time and I have seen a great many different kinds.  I have seen the amount of detail that is put into game creation and now that I am learning the process I am very impressed with what some companies have been able to produce.  I know that I have said it before, but I think that they are just repacking the same game with newer and fancier graphics.  So I thought that I would sit down and look at where FPS games in particular are at now and what can be done to break out of the paradigm.

First thing that comes to mind is the map.  Players often complain about how a map gets old after playing it over and over again.  I think the problem is that basic strategy of a map will not change once people have figured out the fastest or most effective way to win on it.  Map creation is a time consuming process and relative to how long someone is playing on a map it may be a 1:1000 ratio, meaning that even if players are also making maps new maps can't be made fast enough before players get bored of playing on them.  I think the problem here is that the average time I have seen on a map is perhaps 15 to 30 minutes.  Once the objectives are reached a new map has to load up and the cycle begins again.  So that would mean that even in a situation where say 100 maps are ready to go at a game launch a player will have played most of them within 50 hours of game play assuming they play all of the different game styles, and within 100 to 200 hours of gameplay all basic strategy and tactics have been established and the game is no longer a challenge.  Humans help a little in this because playing with humans means that there will be an element of unpredictability and challenge simply by virtue of the fact that new players are constantly joining the game and they will all be a different levels of competence and knowledge of game play.  To counter this problem I propose to make simpler maps with an element of randomness thrown in so that things will never get to the point where the game is always the same.  Games like Minecraft and Ace of Spades have shown me that a game does not need to have an immaculate landscape in order to be enjoyable.  Also having a persistent world where there is not a timer saying go and everyone starting out from the beginning spawn points all at the same time will make it so there is no 30 minutes and start over again aspect.

Second thing that comes to mind is the objectives.  Often maps will have one objective which players know from the beginning, whether that is to kill more enemies than your enemies kill you, or to capture a flag, hold territory, destroy the enemy base first, etc.... Often these objectives are accomplished relatively quickly, which means that a new map needs to be set up and the process started over again.  Because people are familiar with these simple objectives they get used over and over again, sometimes with simple variations on the theme, but usually they all come back to the same strategy and tactics that are useful in short term confrontations that will only last for 30 minutes or less.  What I would like to see changed here especially is the length of time to accomplish the overall objective and some player creativity in making shorter term objectives in order to reach the overall objective.  I think that if it took at minimum a day to accomplish an objective then strategies and tactics would evolve more slowly and would have a greater amount of variance. If that overall objective became even longer to achieve then there would be an even greater amount of variance bordering on what happens in real warfare.  By simplifying the system the game won't be as complicated as real life warfare, but it should be much more interesting than a 30 minute skirmish.  The downside to this is that it won't be as action packed as your standard multiplayer FPS, but there are already hundreds of them for the player who needs the high speed action.  Luckily in videogames it is possible to take out some of the more boring aspects of real life warfare, like the days spent in travel, the hours and hours of waiting patiently on guard duty or doing menial tasks while waiting for orders, or the mind numbing aspects of  intelligence gathering and analysis.  These activities will still be there for those who desire to participate in them, but teleporting makes travel a non issue,  bases will still need to be guarded but alarms and base defense items can help with this, and intelligence gathering in games is aided by the simplicity of the system and will doubtfully require a large amount of mind numbingness.

I'm sure there are other aspects I would like to see change, but these are the main ones.  I realize that a paradigm shift takes a lot of effort and much persuasion by those who have the vision of the new paradigm.  I think that sitting down and writing this out will help me as I organize my arguments for why changes need to happen, and maybe, just maybe there is someone reading this who can make a larger difference than I am currently able to.

Gearing up for school

Ok so I think I'm all set as far as school for fall is concerned.  I have bought my books, and I have realized that I will be learning in separate classes C++, C#, and Java.  I have heard that the languages are similar and from what I have seen so far there are only minor changes between them.  I just hope I am able to keep the syntax between all of them clear in my mind, but after Chinese I think that these languages are going to be much easier to learn.  I'm in for a rough semester though.  I hope that by the end of it I will have a much better idea of the process than I currently have.  I feel a little excited about it.  I also feel a little nervous.  Wish me luck.

Behaviors

So since I brought up the topic of psychology I think I need to ask myself what exactly do I want the players to do in my game and what will motivate them to do it.  I think the obvious one is that I am hoping that players will participate in the ultimate goal of area domination and/or whatever winning conditions for a round are.  As a part of achieving that goal there will be the actions of freezing enemy players, collecting raw materials, processing raw materials into gear and useful game objects, and defending bases against enemy attacks.  I don't particularly care for short rounds like the 30 minute skirmishes usually found in FPS games.  Rather I would prefer that even if only one faction was working hard at it unhindered that winning conditions could not be met within the course of a month.  That way there will be longer to plan out strategy and provide a complexity not found in most games.  I want players to work as teams and communicate well.  I do want to encourage specialization in various aspects of the game, like someone who is particularly good at scouting out the enemy or someone who is an expert at navigating the cave systems.

I don't want players to do anything that could be considered rude, lewd, crude, racist, and pretty much anything else that could be considered offensive in any way.  This will mean that there will be strict rules and policing that will have to happen, especially for players who decide to build something that is inappropriate.  I don't want players to destroy anything that will help their faction or to do anything that will hinder their factions in any way, like spying for the enemy or sabotaging a base by putting blocks in the space where a structure should go.  I also don't want players to become addicted to the point where they are neglecting the other aspects of their lives.  I want players to be useful and productive members of society, both in game and in real life.  Preferably I would like the game to be enjoyable enough that someone will willingly come back to it over and over again, but not feel like if they don't play they will get left behind.  To this end I have decided not to have leveling at all.  Everyone will be able to do everything from the beginning, though they will have to be playing the right class to do certain things still.  In this way if someone doesn't play for a time then they can come right back to the game as though nothing has changed.

Skinner boxes

I have noticed and I also admit to being manipulated by what is known as a skinner box.  To make a long story short a psychologist by the name of B F Skinner figured out that he could make pigeons do all kinds of weird things by setting up a reward system for the targeted behavior.  So for example if you want the pigeon to turn around in little circles then every time the pigeon starts to turn a seed is deposited into a feeding tray.  The trick is to drop seeds at longer and longer intervals so that the behavior becomes more and more cemented.  By the time your done the pigeon will circle for minutes in order to get the food.  The reason I bring this up is that the principle is often used in video games to keep players playing games.  This is commonly found in role playing games where at the beginning of the game one gets levels and new equipment pretty fast, and then later on in the game the pace slows down and it takes longer to go up to the next level and get better equipment.  Eventually it may be months in between the time that you see any appreciable increase in the game.  Just as soon as you think you have finally reached the end, you are at the highest level and have the best of the best gear, they bring out an expansion and the whole process gets added onto for the next few months or even years.  And yet players will continue to play because they have been conditioned to do so.

I'm writing this as a kind of rant because I have realized that this process is going on and yet I get pulled into it again and again.  From what I have found in my research this is commonly referred to as a "hook", or an addictive element of a game that keep you coming back again and again even after is ceases to be fun or even remotely entertaining.  The biggest problem I see in this is that people get so hooked on games that they start to neglect almost everything else in their life.  I know that it has been a serious problem in my life on more than one occasion.  So I would like to make an enjoyable game that isn't as addictive as many MMO's have been specifically designed to be.  The other problem I run into is that I know that this is going to take money to work, and not just something to get it started, but upkeep and updates and the list goes on and on. I am hopeful that many people are turning to independent game developers to return to games roots where if it's not fun then players won't play.  It is just the challenge of how do you get people to support the unknown and new.  After all the biggest competition is for the money of the consumer, and business will go to great lengths to get it.  I guess that in the end the goal of making this game and the master's degree will help me even if the game is not successful as I am hoping it will be.

If you are interested to find out more about do a Google search for "video game skinner box".  What you find is pretty eye opening.

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.

Today's question is one I have already looked into:

What codebase will you use? Will you biuild from scratch or use a tool? If so, which one? (http://www.devmaster.net/engines/ has a great list)

I admit that I am lazy, and while I have had some basic programming up to this point,  I would prefer to build off existing systems.  I also want to make sure I am using good practice when putting the game together, which is why I'm going to wait until school starts for this part.  Of the research I have completed so far, I feel that Blender will be a very useful tool.  While Unity 3d while showing great promise as a tool, it is rather expensive.  I'm sure that I will run into many other possibilities as I continue to research.

Whose legacy to follow

Today's question goes like this:
Where will you fall on the "MUD/MMO genealogical tree"? Which will you take inspiration from? Which will you try to differ from?


I'd like to think that I am being original in my game design, though I must admit that I am not doing anything entirely original.  From MMO's I am borrowing from Aion, mainly in the area of crafting.  I am also specifically doing things that are inspired from a great dislike of the same game, namely that skill had very little to do with being competitive and levels and gear always trumped.  I am inspired by the originality of games like Minecraft and the simplicity of games like Ace of Spades.  The real time strategy I'm hoping to use is going to be an extremely watered down version of Starcraft or Command and Conquer.  In short I'm being inspired by a great many different sources, so much so that this game won't really be considered as being a copy of any one of them.  Like I have said before, if there is already such a game, please let me know.

To do list

I was thinking that I should make a list of everything that I am currently aware of that will need to occur in order for the game to become reality.

1. Learning programming or hiring a programmer
2. Learning database software and setting up a database for the game
3. Learning server functionality and setting up a server, keeping it secure and functioning with minimal downtime.
4. Determining the amount of bandwidth necessary for 1200 players to be able to connect and play in 1 hex field, or in the game period.
5. Finding a publisher or figure out how to self publish the game
6. Learn marketing in order to attract potential customers
7. Learn about 3d game production and design
8. Set up a website complete with forums, all that must be moderated
9. Possibly create a company, complete with taking out loans for start up costs, etc...
10. Convince at least a portion of the video game market that this game is worth devoting time to

I'm sure this list will grow over time as these are just what I have already realized.  The good news is that much of this can be learned, it will just take a long time by myself.  I guess I'll go get back to work.

Gameplay

Today's question:
Do you have gameplay (quests, etc)? How important is it?

The only real gameplay in terms of quests will be that I will put in will be a basic tutorial on how to play the game.  I would really prefer to leave missions and objectives to the players.  I know that some players really like the direction that quests provide, but I think that so long that the overall objective and how to play the game are made clear, that players will find their own ways to play the game.  The leveling system will encourage certain behaviors in the game, and those with the drive to achieve levels will also be directed in the actions they take by whatever action is required to raise said level.

Genre

So this is the next question:
Genre? (fantasy is about 90% of the market now)

I think that this game would fall under the Sci-fi end of the genre scale.  This allows for a lot of room for artistic interpretation.  If anything it would be similar to Portal with some wacky superpower experimenting on the player.  I don't know if there is a specific genre title for that or not.

I'm just going to say that many of the questions on this list aren't particularly pertinent to what I hope to accomplish with this game.  That being said I think I will only concentrate on those questions which will help me in the development direction I'm hoping for.

A great video on multiplayer

I have stumbled upon this in my research and thought it was worth marking here

Social Mechanics

Some things I found really important in this video is as follows:

Keep game leadership happy.  Leaders often have incredible pull in a society, and online games are no different.
There are some things that there is an infinite amount of and subsequently has little to no value.  Giving gifts of something that has an apparently limited supply can go a long way in keeping players loyal.
Make players feel as though they have a say in the game, with something like an election, and they will feel invested.
I'm sure there are many others I'm forgetting, so I'll keep this link for later.

Appearance of the game

Next item on the list:
MMO Appearance? (text, 3D, first or third person)

Ok I think I have pretty much established to be a 3D First person shooter environment.  If I could have my way I would probably make it look and feel a lot like Unreal Tournament 3 minus the blood, gore, and sexiness.  Many of the things I would love to implement already exist there after all, such as vehicles, turrets, and the outline of red or blue around the characters depending on which team they find themselves.  In reality it will probably not look very good at all, with graphics comparable to something like Ace of Spades or possibly Minecraft.  If the concept takes off though I would hope to be able to get the support of a big game producer and the big game making machines that they control.  In reality the big video game companies appear to have little in the way of motivation to do so, since MMOs have an upkeep cost in order to keep operating every month and people already pay premium money for their products.  I can still be hopeful though.  This is a dream after all.

I think I will take a moment to discuss my personal feelings regarding how I feel the game business is going.  I have played a large number of games over the course of my life over a lot of different genres.  If even half the gamers out there are similar to me, then I think that many of them are tired of playing the same game with new and updated graphics.  There are only so many ways to add detail to a model before it becomes something that takes too much time to make and is not appreciated at all.  The biggest reason I am taking the time to outline so much detail of a game that may or may not happen is because it is a game that I would enjoy playing.  I don't think that I am alone in this boredom with the state of the average first person shooter game.  Conversely I am becoming increasingly aware of the difficulty of making a game though.  I also acknowledge the great risk a company or publisher takes when they agree to fund a game.  One bad game could ruin a company financially, and unless someone presents an awesome final product there is little chance that people are going to financially back it.  So for all the people out there thinking "yeah this would be cool if this actually existed, but there is no way it is going to happen" I hear you.  I am just not content to make a repeat of tetris and/or doom and be satisfied with my effort.  So as crazy and overambitious as this game is, this is going to continue to be my goal.  Hopefully I one day will look back at this and think "Man, this took a ton of effort, but it's finally ready to go."

Also, if there is anyone reading this and thinking "I know of (insert name of project) that was just like this and failed because (insert reason)".  If you are one of these people please do me a favor and email me at d12har at gmail dot com.  Thanks