Duel Board - Free multiplayer online games

Nice.

As for ideas - What kind of people do you want to attract to this game? Some small specialised interest group, or "the masses"?

QuoteNice.

thanks. There is still too much work. I have almost finished path-finding algorithm (to prevent walking through walls). Then will be necessary to add NPC's, items, and interaction with it. Then higher-level stuff like combat, quests. And to make it look not-too-ugly (this will be hardest part I'm afraid). In any case, months of work.

QuoteAs for ideas - What kind of people do you want to attract to this game?

Good question. Not easy to answer.
I already have a game for small specialised interest group, and I'm not too happy about fact that majority of "new" people never give it a second try. I'm not sure if I could afford to make one more such game. Well I would like many people to play it, and I don't really care whether they are "masses" or "specialized".

I suppose there is a balance with that. If your game is too much like the others, then people will just play the established ones instead. As you say, it would be nice to have something special, something that makes it different. (If there's nothing special and different, then what's the point?)

One thing is, that programmed "content" can only keep players interested for so long. There could be a danger of tying yourself down by trying pump out new content as fast as the players consume it. The multiplayer aspect is very helpful with that though - it's useful to come up with some things that players can use to keep themselves entertained, with more focus on each other than on the game itself. In RS this is basically limited to competing with other players to try and be the highest level (i.e. who can spend the most hours clicking), and killing people in various ways.

As we discussed before, I think that the player combat side of it could be very interesting if it's done right. If you're going to have it in the game at all, then I'm sure you could do things to give it a wider appeal that what goes on in RS.

I suppose the question is, what can people do in a game that's interesting, and that stays interesting for a long time?

In my personal oppinion, for attracting people purpose, Battle thingz would be the game.  Another Runescape game will not cut it, since most people would most likely choose RS over this new game in its first stages.

Quote from: bizolt on July 05, 2005, 06:03:23 PM
most people would most likely choose RS over this new game in its first stages.

There's no doubt about it.

To make battlethingz I need:
- detailed description how it worked. I never played it
- graphics
- I cannot promise that I will work on it soon. I plan to make backgammon first (which should be quite easy), and I'm considering Crypt. And I guess that likely I'll be spending majority of the time on MUD anyway.
- please don't mention Battlethingz in this section, either email me or write it to "general discussion". I'd like to reserve this section for MUD

Just a thought - does the RPG need to be 3D?

3D-ness does look flashy at first sight, but it's really hard to develop nice-looking graphics for it. In an RPG, where there's just so much stuff going on, it means years of work.

What would you think of a Gameboy-style setup? That can look pretty good, and it's still a lot of work, but probably a great deal less than 3D. Consider the GB Zelda games. I think they look a lot better than RS1. (Also, if you make the players move about with the keyboard, it makes retro-graphics look much better than with mouse movement. A neat psychological trick ;). And I know it's the most efficient on bandwidth, but even with 3D, point-and-click movement tends to make bad graphics look worse.)

The 3D engine could still be used for other games, maybe games that are simpler and use fewer objects that need drawing.

QuoteJust a thought - does the RPG need to be 3D?

Definitelly not. In fact it doesn't even need a computer :) It originated as "social" storytelling game played with pen, paper and dice. Later people attemted to simulate in on computer - according to capabilities of computers in that period :) First computer rpg games were purely text-based, and later top-view, isometric view, first person view and also 3d. There exists fair share of each of them.

About 2d vs. 3d for my game - I don't know. I'm afraid that there already exist too many online 2d rpgs. I choosed to clone RS because it is really unique game in it's class, I don't think there is any other online 3d rpg, playable from browser without downloading and installing. So I though it's better, than to get lost among hundreds of other 2d games.
Anyway, right now I'm not 100% sure whether it is really good idea. I will work on it, and maybe I end up in a dead end so I'll have to change my approach.

I know about the different kinds of RPG; I was just wondering whether this particular RPG needed to be 3D. It makes sense that it doesn't have to be, but that being 3D would make it stand out more.

Matlu, I was curious, are you making this rpg as a hobby or are you trying to turn it into a profitable business?  Either way its going to be a rather complicated project and I was curious what your goals with it are.

For anyone planning to do all that work, I would hope they plan to make money! Really if it is "just a hobby" I would still slap ads on it to try and make some money, hey I even put a referral link on CWF for a group I was part of.

Quote from: zzboots on July 09, 2005, 04:19:03 AM
Matlu, I was curious, are you making this rpg as a hobby or are you trying to turn it into a profitable business?  Either way its going to be a rather complicated project and I was curious what your goals with it are.

lol, it IS a hobby, but I would not mind to see some money from it. You know, I have to pay bills (for example this dedicated web server is not cheap thing). As Blitz said, I will "slap" ads on it  (btw the adds earn VERY little money, it's sure not a way to get rich. I would be very happy if it could at least pay my interenet bills, but right now it cannot)


I know it is very complicated thing. I'm even not 100% convinced that I should continue with it. I also think of something smaller, with this 3d engine. For example I saw a game where you have a tank and you move in small 3d world, shooting other players. I like this idea, but I'm still looking for some.. originality. I guess I would like to make such small 3d game, but I don't know if it would be better to make it turn based or realtime. I could have some rpg elements. For example it could be a bit similar to Cyber Wars but in 3d - maybe also real time.

I still think you would do well to accept donations.

Make it 3d Bomberman. But with a persistent explorable world, and the ability to level up. Instead of getting stronger, when you level up you should just gain new abilities. And of course there could be temporary upgrades.. All the normal bomberman ones. Well, this isn't a serious suggestion, but it would be hella fun. ;)

BomberManRPG!

That is a helluvah good suggestion!

MUD, or multi user dimension, usually refers to a text-based game...  Graphiced ones take the name "mmorpg", massivly multiplayer online RPG, to feel special.
That aside, I hate runescape's graphics.  A lot.  That was the last straw before I quit.  No, I strongly suggest to steer clear of Runescape style graphics.  They stink.  It would prolly be easier (and better) to make it sprited.  Like Tibia! (http://www.tibia.org/home/index.php?subtopic=news)  It loses nothing from it's spritednes..es...Whatever.  If you are going to do 3-D, at least don't do it like run-escape.
But that's just me.  Others may not share my opinion.

It can't be "MMORPG" until it's got a lot of players. And there's no acronym for it if you remove the "massively".

One author used "PIG" for such a thing - "persistent interactive game", but it's not caught on yet ;P

QuoteMUD, or multi user dimension, usually refers to a text-based game...  Graphiced ones take the name "mmorpg",

I don't mind to use word "MUD" also for graphical game, but it's just a matter of taste :) I also prefer explanation "multi user dungeon". I played several such text-based muds.

QuoteThat aside, I hate runescape's graphics.  A lot.  That was the last straw before I quit.  No, I strongly suggest to steer clear of Runescape style graphics.  They stink.  It would prolly be easier (and better) to make it sprited.  Like Tibia!  It loses nothing from it's spritednes..es...Whatever

I'm afraid that your opinion matters a lot. Whether you like it or not, you are my best artist :) The problem is that I'm almost 100% decided to make it 3d and I already spent much effort on it. Can you explain what is wrong on runescape-like graphics?
Tibia is sure great game.. but there are probably too many such games (I know one called Wyvern, but there are sure tens others existing, or in development)
Also, I want the game to be browser based. Tibia's installation file is 6mb, which is too much for online game. They managed to get runescape under 1mb. They have less graphics, just few textures for 3d objects and some 2d art for items and sprites

QuoteIf you are going to do 3-D, at least don't do it like run-escape.

Any idea? It would be great if you could come up with something, but I don't see too many options, the possibilities are quite limited in browser based game :(

Heh, I'm just a spriter.  I hate to admit it, but spriting is one of the most basic forms of graphics.('cept Nethack origional.  your character is an asterick.  That game is awesome) I'm not qualified to workl in 3-D.  But really, runescape is bugly, but some people don't notice.  I'm just sensitive to shading and stuff.  The sprites they do have ingame are just...hidious.  *shudder*  You prolly won't have that problem, though, so do whatever.
And yes, there are like a jillion tibia rip-offs and tributaries.

not sure if it is good approach, but I would feel a bit better to make a first rip-off of RS, than million-first rip-off of Tibia (or whatever such game existed first).

QuoteBut really, runescape is bugly, but some people don't notice.  I'm just sensitive to shading and stuff

Not sure what exactly do you mean. The 3d engine is 100% software based, without any hardware acceleration, and when you want to make it fast this way you have to sacrifice quality. If you mean that sprites itself are poorly drawn, then someone can hopefully make better for my game.
That game is not meant to look great (although they are trying to get it as good as possible), to provide "instant" pseudo-rpg-like game playable from browser, without need to download and install it. And this is also my goal.

BTW I still naively hope that I'll convince you somehow to make some sprites for it :)

Anyway, it has time. I have to work on the engine first.

Indeed, it does have time.  And Yes, I'll do some sprites for it as well as this.  I don't have time to do the intensive work a sprite-based game would take anyway, as I'm working on one myself.  Kinda.  Sorta.

Quote from: T3h luggage on July 13, 2005, 11:00:02 PM
Indeed, it does have time.  And Yes, I'll do some sprites for it as well as this.  I don't have time to do the intensive work a sprite-based game would take anyway, as I'm working on one myself.  Kinda.  Sorta.

if it has some webpage show it to us :)

I mean "I started 2 weeks ago" kinda sorta, not "I got a demo" kinda sorta if you know what I mean.  I just got a few sprites and a rough list of monsters and equipment.

QuoteCan you explain what is wrong on runescape-like graphics?
...
The 3d engine is 100% software based, without any hardware acceleration, and when you want to make it fast this way you have to sacrifice quality.
...
They managed to get runescape under 1mb. They have less graphics, just few textures for 3d objects and some 2d art for items and sprites

I think you might have answered your own question ;).

Yes, runescape graphics made me puke... But it was the dull and unexciting gameplay, and poorly designed competitive play that made me quit it. I played it in the beginning when it first came out, and played for perhaps a year and a half or so. But the only reason I played that long was because it was jagex, and alot of GD Castle users went to it.

I think it's probably possible to design more appealing graphics using the same 3d engine though, so go for it guys. ;)
A suggestion... Give it a good chat system. One where you don't need to worry about how long your message is, and the  ability to scroll up and down... and whatever else you can think of. Crappy chat interfaces always annoy me in online games, let alone a supposed rpg.

QuoteYes, runescape graphics made me puke... But it was the dull and unexciting gameplay, and poorly designed competitive play that made me quit it.

QuoteA suggestion... Give it a good chat system. One where you don't need to worry about how long your message is, and the  ability to scroll up and down... and whatever else you can think of. Crappy chat interfaces always annoy me in online games, let alone a supposed rpg.

I agree totally with that. (Except that I haven't quite quit yet...)

A good RPG is:
- too complicated for any one person to understand
- easy to start, infinitely difficult to master
- timeless in its representation (clarity, rather than simplicity)
- endless in possible permutations
- impossible to become the 'highest' level
- & lots of passive gameplay options so that girls can enjoy themselves

I would suggest looking at these for hints & tips:
http://www.bat.org/help/help.php
http://www.bat.org/help/skillspell.php

Quote- & lots of passive gameplay options so that girls can enjoy themselves

lol, very true :)


You are very right. I will try to stick to old text-based concepts, just to enhance them with 3d graphics.
It will be probably posible to find few concepts, which RS lacks.
What I personally don't like, is that items are very 'static'. Each item has just 1. picture, 2. text description 3. some simple (static) stats in case it's a weapon. That's quite a difference to what was possible in text-based muds, for example I remember a sword which used to talk me, or which could be "charged" with energy etc.

Quotetoo complicated for any one person to understand

That's rather hard if one person is writing it.

Quotelots of passive gameplay options so that girls can enjoy themselves

What I like best is killing people in an environment that requires strategy...

Quoteimpossible to become the 'highest' level

What do you mean by that?

Is it possible, do you think, to link the MUD and java interface?  Perhaps through a telnet relay?

That is, you have dual servers - one running telnet (the host client), which accepts commands, and publishes text replies.  The second is the java client, which is instructed indirectly from what people enter into the telnet client.

So effectively you'd be playing a text based MUD, and the graphics would simply be a representation of what's going on, rather than the entire game itself.

That way you could have as complex a formula as you like for the game itself, but when it represents itself graphically it follows the restraints you mentioned?

Or is that just making things far too complicated? :)

-  - - - ----  --
Blade:

Usually more than one person codes an RPG.  Last one I helped with had about 60-70 part timers helping out.

What different people enjoy doesn't matter - the fact is that women play computer games 2x as much as men, but they tend to stick to games of a passive nature where there is cumulative reward, rather than a risk/reward system - that is, something like cyberpets or the Sims, where they can build, nurture and grow - rather than Doom where it's kill or be killed.

Impossible to become the 'highest' level means just that - people keep playing so long as there's a goal to attain;  if people can max-out they lose interest.

Phew. Long post.

QuoteThat is, you have dual servers - one running telnet (the host client), which accepts commands, and publishes text replies.  The second is the java client, which is instructed indirectly from what people enter into the telnet client.

So effectively you'd be playing a text based MUD, and the graphics would simply be a representation of what's going on, rather than the entire game itself.

That way you could have as complex a formula as you like for the game itself, but when it represents itself graphically it follows the restraints you mentioned?

I'm afraid it has several weaknesses.
- It would be only accepted by hard-core old-fashioned MUD players. I guess that such people already have their favourite MUD, and they would not switch. I'm afraid that such people are not being born anymore  :D  Most "modern" people simply refuse to type, or to learn text commands. It's same problem as MS-DOS vs. Windows, or better  unix-shell-console vs. Windows or X-Windows. Console is mostly far superior, but most people refuse to use it.

- I'm not realy sure how could this "automatic conversion to graphics" work. It would be hard to get it in tune. People would ask: why do I have to type "north", I want just click some place. Also, typical mud movement commands would not work with 3d graphics. I don't know, maybe it just needs some deeper thinking.
I will think about it, but right now it doesn't seem a very good idea. Hm, it would require sa graphical representation of each room (I mean room in text-based mud terms) - and it would start to strongly resemble Adventure games (especially those old from Sierra, where you could both type and use mouse).

Probably there will be some text window, where you still can type commands (as it is done in 2d muds which Teh_Luggage mentioned), but majority of interaction will be done through mouse and graphics.

QuoteWhat different people enjoy doesn't matter - the fact is that women play computer games 2x as much as men, but they tend to stick to games of a passive nature where there is cumulative reward, rather than a risk/reward system - that is, something like cyberpets or the Sims, where they can build, nurture and grow - rather than Doom where it's kill or be killed.

Ok, I get that this happens on average. I was just being difficult, 'cause I'm a girl. (And I don't like The Sims, or the vast majority of virtual pets; but then I don't like Doom either.)

QuoteImpossible to become the 'highest' level means just that - people keep playing so long as there's a goal to attain;  if people can max-out they lose interest.

I thought that might be what you meant. Whether or not it's a good thing is very debatable, however.

QuoteProbably there will be some text window, where you still can type commands (as it is done in 2d muds which Teh_Luggage mentioned), but majority of interaction will be done through mouse and graphics.

Most people don't mind intuitive keyboard controls like the arrow keys. They can sometimes give the game a better feel. Personally I'm not very fond of point-and-click movement.

Quote from: matlu on July 15, 2005, 07:01:42 PM
or better  unix-shell-console vs. Windows or X-Windows. Console is mostly far superior, but most people refuse to use it.

They don't use it because Microsoft used illegal meathods to make game companies make their games only for windows.

I think runescape's new 3D graphics suck too. The 2D graphics were much better. The gameplay is good for the first few levels, but it eventually becomes very repetitive and boring (unless you become a member).

I am very picky with games, but what I find with most online RPGs is that they are very repetitive. Some RPGs are just *To get level 1, click 5 times. To get level 100, click 500 times*. Shimlar is an example of this infinitely clicking game (However, it is purely text-based).

There is a game called Stratholm: www.stratholm.com that uses the same click-to-level feature. However, it also uses a little bit of graphics and a world map feature with lots of quests. It is a browser-based game, but you must download the 3D graphics in a zip file I think. It is a very small file, and there is no trouble extracting it. (I'm a computer dummy, and I did it easily :P) You might want to consider this option when making your RPG.

"A good RPG is:
- too complicated for any one person to understand
- easy to start, infinitely difficult to master
- timeless in its representation (clarity, rather than simplicity)
- endless in possible permutations
- impossible to become the 'highest' level
- & lots of passive gameplay options so that girls can enjoy themselves"

Stratholm is the only RPG I enjoy right now:
- It isn't complicated, it doesn't even have a storyline.
- It is easy to start and difficult to master
- Don't ask me what that means :P
- Stop with the complicated words! (permutations)
- I don't think Stratholm has a level cap. There is a monster called Omega (horseshoe sign) that can attack for 100,000,000,000,000,000 damage. It will take years for someone to get to a level to kill that thing.
- I'm not sure what you mean by 'passive gameplay options'

Stratholm (and other RPGs like Shimlar) occur in 'rounds'.

Basically, after a few months of gameplay, the administrators reset the game, and everyone is at level 0. This means that people who join in halfway through a round will not be behind the start players forever. Also, updates are made which are implemented in-between rounds. This might be a feature you might want to add.

That is all for now.

-Bakster-

I believe that if people get bored after maxing out, then that means the game is crap. If the only thing it has going for it is the ability to gain levels, then there's no point. Games should be about fun, not work.

In my opinion this is a major flaw in online rpgs these days. It should ideally take from a couple weeks, to a couple months to reach max level, depending on the player's style of playing. The main purpose of that journey to max level should be to learn the various aspects of the game, and explore the world. Once you're at max level, that's when the real game should start. Balanced competition/pvp/guild wars/politics/whatever. Epic quests/treasure hunts/areas/etc that require a good party to finish. Monsters that require strategy and/or teamwork to beat. If all this is actually designed in a fun way, no one will care that their character is maxed out.

They could still have "work" to do, if resources like magical ingredients, arrows, food, potions, etc get used up and need to be replaced. Armor and weapons could get worn out too. That way exploration and killing stuff/each other (or stealing- rogues rule ;) ) will still have a purpose besides the fun factor, and it's also where The Crafters (passive gamplay :P) come in.

... I know what I describe would probably be very difficult to make in browser based form, but some of the preceeding posts set me off. The game I described used to exist, and it was awesome. Then Electronic Arts took it over and turned it into crap. Ever since then I've seen wave after wave of boring level-grind rpgs whose main attraction seemed to be how much shinier the graphics were than what came before them...

Well said McCool.  ;D That's pretty much what I intend to do with mine, when I eventually reach the skill level required to do it.

I'm curious what game you're talking about.


I'd like to add, that if there's endless levelling, you can never have balanced competition, because it's always about who's spent the most time working to gain XP. (Note RS)

Also, it means people aren't inclined to stop and have fun, because then they get left behind. And even if they're not worried about that, there's always the promise of being able to have MORE fun at a higher level.

QuoteI'm curious what game you're talking about.

I'm also interested :) And if anybody is willing to do some game design, he/she is most welcome :) In any case your opinions are very valuable.

Huge randomly generated world - no pre-made towns, quests etc... explore the vast world!

Terrain manipulation - ditches, mounds, channels etc...

Player built structures - let players make there own towns/villages

hm, interesting idea. But wouldn't it be boring? Without quests. Would you at least keep basic rpg elements, like stats, stregth,dexterity etc. and experience, levels?
And I'm also not sure about building own buildings. If everybody started to build his own house it could become too big very soon.
It could go like this: you have to kill many monsters, to earn money, then you can buy land and material to build a house, but what then? When you already have it.

I'm not sure if it's suitable for browser-based games and if it's possible to make it interesting with runescape1-like graphics. I'm also not sure if it's technically possible (for browser based game). Will have to think about it

Well, the game was called Ultima Online. After EA took over Origin, and Lord British left, etc, they started releasing patches and expansions that slowly turned the game into total crap. There are now free emulated servers run by players, based on earlier versions of the game, but they're not the same as they seem to attract a much larger ratio of demented players than the official servers... Not to mention the small playerbases.

I remember reading about that, now you mention it. It's sad, how big companies keep taking over small companies and wrecking them.

Regarding your earlier description of what makes a good RPG, I've heard AOL Neverwinter Nights being described like that. It was very popular, but the story goes that AOL scrapped it because it didn't fit their "image" any more. I wish I'd had a chance to play both of these games in the old times.

QuotePlayer built structures - let players make there own towns/villages

btw, this is very nice idea, but how could it work? If you have hundreds concurrent players, each of them wanting to build village, house or whatever, wouldn't it turn into chaos?

QuotePlayer built structures - let players make there own towns/villages

this is very nice idea, but how could it work? Imagine hundreds concurrent players, each of them wanting to build a house/village, whatever. How could they come to any agreement? Wouldn't it turn into total chaos?

"But wouldn't it be boring? Without quests."

make your own quests. eg. explore the huge world, take over the world, build yourself a kingdom

"Would you at least keep basic rpg elements, like stats, stregth,dexterity etc. and experience, levels?"

yes

"I'm also not sure if it's technically possible"

If it's possible to drop an item on the ground then it's possible. Just change the item to a wall and make it so you cant walk through it.

"How could they come to any agrrement?"

get off my land or i will kill you

QuoteIf it's possible to drop an item on the ground then it's possible. Just change the item to a wall and make it so you cant walk through it.

well this is not a problem of course

Quote
"How could they come to any agreement?"
get off my land or i will kill you

again, it's nice - but it's not real life. People cannot be logged in 24 hours per day, 7 days in week, but usually only quite short time per day. Well, what happens when you are "out"? Who will kill the "trespassers"? What if other player from the other side of the world wants to take your land - but he plays when you sleep, and he sleeps when you play. Who will prevent your house from being plundered, when you are logged off?

QuoteBut wouldn't it be boring? Without quests."
make your own quests. eg. explore the huge world, take over the world, build yourself a kingdom

Not sure if this is possible. If a player is expected to have a chance to achieve this, it must be programmed in the game. It is not possible to establish a kingdom in virtual world just based on some "verbal" agreement of some players. It must be programmed in the game that you may become a king, and it must be exactly programmed what impact it's going to have on you and the other players. Thus, there is no real freedom. If you want to have a "republic" instead of a "kingdom", you cannot have it, unless some game designer/programmer makes it possible.
Well, and this pre-programmed process of becoming a "king" may be easily called a "quest".

At least this are my opinions. I never player any real "big" (pay-to-play) popular mmorpg, so I have no idea what features cutting-edge games have. I just don't think that it's enough to give players possibility to pick/drop items and build walls and houses, because it will end up in total chaos (in my opinion)

They're developing a 'build your own city' mmorpg at the moment.
www.atriarch.com

Although it's been in development for 3-4 years already, and is only just reaching alpha (!) it looks fairly good.

Persistent online world without zones, and if you move a chunk of soil, it stays moved, permanently. 

------------

Yeah, the telnet/graphical combo is probably a little too retro.

But try and think of a very original angle to differentiate your game from others.

If you make another hack 'n slash I'll be very disappointed!

Make something 100% original, weird & crazy.

imho

Quote from: god on July 18, 2005, 12:07:28 AM
Huge randomly generated world - no pre-made towns, quests etc... explore the vast world!

Terrain manipulation - ditches, mounds, channels etc...

Player built structures - let players make there own towns/villages

Dude, ther is already one Wurm Online.  There need not be another.
Seriously, with a large playerbase, maximum levels would spoil it.  All you have to do is make each level take more expierience than the last, not by a set number such as 100 but by a more complicated forumula (Don't I sound smart?  Also, you should be able to have multiple characters per account, instead of having like a billion passwords to memorise, and a lot of hassle.  It also boosts the number of people, if not players.

Well, Ultima Online had quite a huge world, and you were able to buy house deeds. I think there was a limit to the number of houses each player could own. There was a range of choices... you could have anything from a tent, to a castle. Once you found a suitable empty space, you could place the deed, and poof there's your house. You got a house key, and you could lock it. Players were able to craft furniture and lockable chests that you could lock down on your property. Big player-run towns existed, some with rulers. It was possible to build yourself a kingdom and rule large areas of land, but it was basically all player-run, and only meant something because of the great pvp system, and guild systems. There was also plenty of opportunity for thieves to rob and plunder property, but if you were smart, you could prevent it.

hmmm, seems interesting, I have to try Ultima Online. I read that there are still some "emulated" server, even some open source. Not sure where to get the client from. Anybody knows? Is one expected to buy it or what?

to keep control of your house/village use NPC guards which auto attack and doors with locks

Ok. Right. I like it. So: the game will be something between UO and RS1. Probably UO with RS1 graphics.

BTW I'd like to see UO in action. I already found out that there are many active servers, some of them open-source, anybody can suggest me where to get a client?

RS type clone with no pre made towns. players would have to work togethor more. eg. they would need to build a blacksmith to increase there smithing.

havn't played UO. but i read you need building permit. i'd make it so you can build anywhere for free.

I haven't been into UO emulation for a long time, but I know that UO itself is downloadable for free, legally. I don't know what the current standard in emulation is. Probably RunUO, for the server, and Razor for the client. Shouldn't be too hard to google it all.

QuoteI haven't been into UO emulation for a long time, but I know that UO itself is downloadable for free, legally.

I downloaded full cd "UO Age of Shadows 15 days trial". Did not manage to get it working yet. I did not install it yet, but I tried to create an account on their web page and it asks for "product registration code", so I wonder if it's going to work.

<edit> It's probably not possible to play on official server, only on those emulated. Anyway, I did not manage to get it working yet.

Quote from: TheMcCool on July 20, 2005, 06:40:31 AM
I don't know what the current standard in emulation is. Probably RunUO, for the server, and Razor for the client. Shouldn't be too hard to google it all.

This emulation stuff seems to be extremely complicated. I downloaded sources and binaries of RunUO, I did not manage to get it working, but the sources seem very interesting and inspiring. They will help a lot.
There is also some emulator called "sphere", not sure how exactly it works but it seems to be quite popular (and closed-source)

btw I also read an opinion on some forum, that RS is just UO's clone (or rip-off), with far less features. Pretty possible that Jagex was strongly inspired by it.

Of course.  RS is very much a UO clone. 

Although saying that, UO was extremely derivative of the whole MUD/MOO genre - that is, neither RS nor UO are original in the slightest.

Please, please make something original.

If it's not original, at least make it funny.

If any of the following terms crop up in your next game, I'll slap you:

Fishing
Magic Missile
[Weapon name] +1
Camp
Mining
Loading...

QuoteFishing
Magic Missile
[Weapon name] +1
Camp
Mining
Loading...

uh, I'm afraid it's sort of hard to avoid these terms in rpg game :) Especially [weapon name] +X is my favourite and it will surely appear :)

UO may not have been original, but it was fun as hell, while RS was crap. The most you can say that RS copied was general concepts and ideas. If the actual gameplay systems were similar then I wouldn't have quit RS.

Well, I guess what I myself thought was most fun about UO was the thievery, pking, and tricking people. I've never been satisfied with any other game's implementation of thievery/pickpocketing. But then again- those things wouldn't be as fun for me without lots of stupid people as are always found in MMORPGS, since I am usually a nice guy even when trying to roleplay a mean character (one of my main characters was a bandit, and I led a small thieves guild for a while.) Fond memories of messing with the [TURKS] guild (not the turks from FF7... they were really all Turkish,) and people calling for "gurds".

Also the whole ghost thing was funny. When someone died they would leave a corpse with all their stuff on it, lootable (not ALL your stuff - there was a bank account you could store stuff in, as well as your house if you owned one,) and they would run around as a ghost until an npc healer or a player ressurected them. All their speech was seen as OoOOo Oo ooo oOoO by alive players. You could only see what they were really saying if you were a ghost too, or if you trained and activated your Spirit Speak skill. What made it so funny was that usually they'd be cursing you out or something, and all you'd see was Oooo oOo, etc. Sailing ships around was fun too.

it's good to have experienced mmorpg players here, please stay around, your ideas will be very valuable.

I finally managed to run ultima online server emulator on my computer. (Only for me to see how it looks like, I don't want to make another public shard, there are too many of them already :) ) Not very funny when you are single player connected :) But it looks very nice.

Hey, whatever happened to the first page of this? Or is that the first actual page?

not sure what you mean, this topic already has 4 pages, and it was split from README topic.

Yeah, i was wrong, i was thinking about the README topic. sorry.

I play both UO and RS, just quit Runescape about 5 mins ago giving all my stuff to my bro ;D. But I am still a Ultima Online player, and I love it, although it is hard to find a shard with people to fight that ARE a challenge (been playing UO for atleast 3 years now..) and yeah McCool UO theiving is great, I like hiding, stealthing up on people, looking in pack, running like HELL and laughing.. Then normally getting guard whacked ;). And turk's still seem to rule UO :( "TURKMUSUN?" and other turkish sayings are hard to get away from, but killing them is E Z.. And i'm looking forward to this game, if you need any inspiration or graphics help just ask me, I like to think I know alot about both ;D.

For further reference about UO, refer to this flash movie: http://www.wtfman.com/flash/com-2.htm

Man... I made some of my best internet friends in UO, through being an evil pker. I still keep in touch with one of them. I found two of them in a dungeon and started making fake attack motions and messages, to get them to attack me. One finally did and I killed him and looting him. I later met them in town, and we started exchanging accusations about who started it... before I killed the same guy again, as he was still flagged grey to me for some reason. A few days later I somehow found their tower and they were there hanging out, and I ran around it terrorizing them with spells, daring them to come out and duel. I don't know how, but we eventually became friends and one of them later joined my thieve's guild.

Matlu, have you done any work to this in the last month? Last post in this forum section was aug. 27th

Quote from: The_Gu3st on September 22, 2005, 08:33:35 PM
Matlu, have you done any work to this in the last month? Last post in this forum section was aug. 27th

only very little, because right now I'm working on something else. But it will be finished in few days and then I'll continue with rpg

Nice work on the new update! Looking good. You didn't mention that you can drop the logs and light them  :).

Yes he did  :P

What happened to that sexy chick in the game?!

I miss her  :(

Oh yeh....oops, my bad.  :-*

Quote from: The_Gu3st on October 10, 2005, 07:05:35 PM
What happened to that sexy chick in the game?!

I miss her  :(

she'll be back once :)

Bit of a grammar problem.

"Tree Chop Down" should be Chop Down Tree, likewise for "Sword Equip, Tree Examine" etc.

Or, you could do this:

Tree
Examine
Chop Down

It was not meant to be all correct :) Likely I will later reverse it, or maybe do as you suggested. Now it's not right time to bother with it

has anyone noticed how you can cut down trees over a stuiped distance?  ::)

"Click to connect!"  *clicks*  "Connecting... Sorry, unable to connect"
"Click to connect!"  *clicks*  "Connecting... Sorry, unable to connect"
"Click to connect!"  *clicks*  "Connecting... Sorry, unable to connect"
Arrg...  Could you post a screenshot?  I'd like to see the model.

Quote"Click to connect!"  *clicks*  "Connecting... Sorry, unable to connect"
Arrg...  Could you post a screenshot?  I'd like to see the model.

ehm, somebody crashed the server again. I'll restart it. Please try to not do "unusual" things, like dropping 100 objects at same place etc. It's not yet prepared for "extreme" situations and it will crash if you push it to the limits.

And the models are really not interesting to see, they are uber-ugly, just to have something. It will have to be replaced later. If anyone feels like doing 3d models, try to create something and I'll put it in there. They have to be as simple as possible, as little polygons as possible and not textured, just coloured.

Quotehas anyone noticed how you can cut down trees over a stuiped distance? 

I was very happy to get it working somehow, I'll fix such details later :)

It looks fine...  What did you use to make it?  I've been wanting to get into 3-d modelling..

Quote from: T3h luggage on October 11, 2005, 10:17:05 PM
It looks fine...  What did you use to make it?  I've been wanting to get into 3-d modelling..

There exist many many 3d modelers, both free and extremely expensive. I think that very popular free one is Blender http://www.blender.org/ (but I never used it myself). There sure exist many other free modelers, but I'm not very familiar with such stuff, you should ask on some 3d modeling forum.
If you have loads of money (or if your conscience allows you to steal it) then very popular commercial are 3d Studio Max, or Lightwave.

Btw Teh_Luggage, if you had some time, I would very like you to try to create some textures for MUD game. If you look closely at the walls of building, you'll see that they are "wallpapered" with same repetitive pattern. It is simple bitmap, I'm currently using 32*64 pixels for one wall segment (I hope it's enough, if not I may switch to 64*128 later). One wall segment is exactly as big, as openings (doors) in the building. It would be nice to have such wall textures with windows or any other decorations (Look at runescape). It is also possible to create one bigger decoration, which will occupy 2 or more segments, for example you can draw one half of very big window on first texture, and second half on second texture, and it will be joined. I hope it is intuitively clear how it works, I'll post later some more detailed explanation with examples :)

Thanks for the link,  I'll download it and try it when I get a chance...
In the meantime, here is my first attempt at a texture:  A brick wall.
(http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5408/brickwall3jx.png)

Yes, that's how it should look like :) It will take several days till you see it in action, because at the moment I'm doing some major changes and I'm not able to produce a stable build.

BTW you should ask some expert about 3d software suitable for you. There are really many of them. For one I heard that Blender has hard to learn interface, but I cannot tell myself, never used it.

i got a program a while ago called hash animation master (hash.com), but its $300 if u wanted it.  i think amozon sells an old version of it for like 230 or somethin.  its a fantastic program, and im just now learning how 2 use it.  once i figure it out, i can probly help out with graphics if matlu decides to make a game with good graphics.  dont get me wrong, i love the exploding commander getting stomped on by an elefant, but it doesnt really compare to things like these

http://www.hash.com/imagecontest/Mar05/22.jpg
http://www.hash.com/imagecontest/Feb04/21.jpg

Quoteif matlu decides to make a game with good graphics.  dont get me wrong, i love the exploding commander getting stomped on by an elefant, but it doesnt really compare to things like these

due to certain limitations my game will never look like this. The game is meant to be played from web browser, and 3d graphics is rendered by my own software renderer (and not a hardware renderer). Data files have to have limited size. For these reasons the graphics has to be  very simple. It will probably look like slightly improved runescape 1. So it's not meant to be a game with good graphics, such effort would be doomed to fail from the beginning. Such games have to be created be team of professional programmers and artists.

Quotei figure it out, i can probly help out with graphics

sure, any graphics is welcome. I will need simple 3d models, and simple textures. Right now I cannot tell what exactly I need, but it will be ordinary items, mostly room furniture and decorations.
Btw such stuff takes some artistic talent ... it's not enough just to have good software :) It's like painting in real life - it's not enough to have good pencil or brush to become a picasso :)

Quotei got a program a while ago called hash animation master

it sure is great software, but there are many many other similar softwares. If you are comfortable using this particular one, then use it :)

OMFG!?! I cant find the 40 chickz0rs?!

This game is like hitlers perfect world. You are hitler, and all the chickz0rs are his "perfect humans". Oh well, atleast they are hott!

Quote from: The_Gu3st on October 17, 2005, 12:46:24 AM
OMFG!?! I cant find the 40 chickz0rs?!

ok, there was bug and all the chicks went to same place and stayed there so it was hard to find them. It was fixed soon after.

QuoteThis game is like hitlers perfect world. You are hitler, and all the chickz0rs are his "perfect humans". Oh well, atleast they are hott!

ehm, that's an interesting analogy. As soon as I get more suitable graphics the hitler's uniform world will turn into .. ehm... multi-cultural chaos

Aargh! An army of evil 2D women are attacking me! And parts of the ground turned yellow and brown...

Hm... I think I will have to enlarge to bricks, and make the tiling less evident.  But it's better than I thought it would be, at least on my first try.

Nice new update.
One thing...The robots stop and stand in front of you when you attack them. But the girls carry on moveing aimlessly when you talk to them. It would be nice if they stopped to talk instead of running away from me  :-\ Maybe they all just hate me.

I love the questions.... "How did you get here?" -  "Matlu put me here"  :D lmao!

u need a question  can i slap u with this axe on there

QuoteOne thing...The robots stop and stand in front of you when you attack them. But the girls carry on moveing aimlessly when you talk to them. It would be nice if they stopped to talk instead of running away from me 

I know, I know. Such interactions are not yet finished. Similar problem is that you can also invoke "trade-with" even when you stand far away. It just needs more programming, I'll do it once there are no other important things to do

<edit> It's all "work in progress", I'm putting updates on web as soon as I finish some new feature. It was same with cyberwars, people who remember it do know that the early versions looked very weird :)

Whooo...I like the walking. It's not bad animation. Ayyyy...when  was in there someone else came in! That's the first time I've seen that happen : )

Who was it??

was me!

it's coming along real good, keep up the good work!

Who the hell are you : S

Quoteit's coming along real good, keep up the good work

thank you

QuoteWho the hell are you

new face :) After long time :)

 ;D

lol, somebody was very bored and decorated my little world :) Good work. Too bad I'll have to restart the server soon and it will be lost :(

(http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8934/mud2nl.jpg)

(http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/9887/mud26oa.jpg)

They should have made some sort of a legible design.

Like a big hand, flicking someone off... hmm... maybe I'll do that...

Wow haven't been on since.. may or something lmao but wow it's looking really cool ! IDK where all the sexy ladies are though >:( ;D

Thank you, it's under heavy development :)
And the ladies... they were too 2d to fit into 3d world. They'll be back once I get some good 3d model for them

Ok cool, btw if you want someone to do the "Examine"s then i'll do it ;D, or if you want any pixel ground-item thingys I can do them.

What exactly do you mean?

The item's (not the ones that will be in the 3d persons hand) but the like avatar ones atm like the swords and axes and the helmet which appear in inventory / on the floor.. I can do stuff like that if you don't have anyone else ^_^.

That would be very heplful. The only problem is that I'm not decided yet whether the game is going to be set into fantasy or sci-fi world, and I have no idea what kind of items and monsters will be used - so you are welcome to design anything you like, and I will probably also use it during testing of game engine - but there is no guarantee that it will get into final version :)

When you choose the colors, the first thing says "Skirt Color" instead of "Shirt Color"...
Too bad, I was hoping to see some chick in skirts...

 ;D
(http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1192/finger5hc.png) (http://imageshack.us)

(http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/774/hello1mc.png) (http://imageshack.us)

Look at my sexay face!

(http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/5329/smileyface3op.gif) (http://imageshack.us)

I tried cropping it but failed. :'(

OMFG! You messed up my "Hi"!!! RAWR!

Ah ok give me a pm if you need anything done :D

Quote from: Lowgravity on November 20, 2005, 07:37:29 PM
Ah ok give me a pm if you need anything done :D

At the moment I really have no clear ieda about game content. If you feel like this, you can try to design something. Anything. Some items, or some actions which can be performed or skills which can be used. (like in RS you can mine metals, smelt them and blacksmith weapons from them... something like this).

Bug: When chosing your character's clothes, the "shirt" option says "skirt".

Also, I did some landscaping, now it doesnt look so....dull

omg, landscaping  :o  I was shocked when I saw it.

Anyway it reminds me that I have to implement item disappearing after several minutes.

 >:( Dont ruin my wonderful creation!!

Im planning on covering every square eventually...

I'm sorry but I just uploaded new version with auto-item-removing (after approx. 5 minutes). Sorry, it really must work this way

Me and you are now on a non-talking terms! Hmph... >:(

.... silence..... finally  ;D

Quote from: The_Gu3st on November 21, 2005, 04:08:22 PM
Me and you are now on a non-talking terms! Hmph... >:(

Don't worry, you can find something else to do that I will outdo you at ;D

Quote from: matlu on November 21, 2005, 04:17:06 PM
.... silence..... finally  ;D

:o You meanie!

Btw Matlu, while we were talking today, a teacher walked into the room and was like

"Now please explain to me how this has anything to do with the Krebs Cycle... or anything to do with biology what-so-ever"

So I replied with
"Well, this model is an example of how respiration works. Observe what happens in aerobic resperation when you give this other robot a 'heart attack'.... Now, as you can see, the numbers display the amount of ATP being produced when the krebs cycle undergoes oxidation."

And then he looked at me, smiled, and walked away.

Moral: Schools in America are like Dumb people in China/India. They just don't exist.

It's much easier to say 'Sorry sir/miss'.

OOOOK I have noticed a few things (probally on ure to-do list but i'll say them anyways) people can loot others stuff, you can't die to my dissapointment :( >

(http://img420.imageshack.us/img420/3079/lolzoer1pw.png) (http://imageshack.us)

BTW will the characters get wiped for some reason? If so i'll stop farming money ( at 214 coins X_X )

You can walk across the black area if you choose to walk a path that has it obstructing it.. And there's no log out button :D

Quotepeople can loot others stuff

it's ok, isn't it? It works same way in real life :)

Quoteyou can't die to my dissapointment

it's on to-do list :)

QuoteBTW will the characters get wiped for some reason? If so i'll stop farming money ( at 214 coins X_X )

yes, characters will get wiped for good reason :) Names and passwords will maybe stay, but inventory will be deleted for sure. Right now it's not even persistent (you loose your items when you log out), but tomorrow it will hopefully work

I deleted several posts which were either *totally* off topic or plain rants.

so matlu, youre working on a rpg?

Yes, I'm progressing constantly but very slowly :) Yesterday I uploaded first version with "somehow" working gun. It's not perfect and has many glitches, but you can see flying bullet

Gun.....Bullet?? Whats this?

*Sends a bullet in the direction of Dodger using a gun*

"Here, catch!"

Very clever. But I did mean what game is this?

Quote from: Dodger on November 30, 2005, 08:58:47 PM
Very clever. But I did mean what game is this?

It's MUMMORPGWWATMTFWALMP

Matlu's Ultimate Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game Which Will Aim To Make This Fine Website A Lot More Popular

I havn't seen any guns in it.

hahah I have a cool idea. Put stuff from cyber battles in it. There could be a Tech faction and a Bioslime faction. They'd both have their own mounts/vehicles and powerups. High level players could buy battlemechs/alien queens to pilot or command around and wreak havoc for a short time, before they have to power down or are destroyed. Stuff and junk. Well it sounded cool to me at the time.

lol i like it. That will mainly attract people from Cyber Battles though and Matlu wants to extend the arm to others..

You might want to decide on a theme before you make more weps, axes + guns = ???. =P Which kinda got me thinking it could be a modern RPG, but then i scraped it because playing people playing on the computer isn't so interesting and a nerd skill wouldn't be very good :-X.

WOW THE SKILLS WORK (1 def!)

Not been many updates of recent...You still working on the game matlu?

Quote from: Dodger on January 19, 2006, 02:05:46 AM
Not been many updates of recent...You still working on the game matlu?

Tough to work on a game when you are on vacation. ;)

I just tested the game, for the first time in a while..a long while. Last time I tested there was still the sprites as figures. I just thought the game is comming along very nicely and I am surprised at how far it has come.

Nice work, Matlu. Are you coding all of this and doing all the graphics yourself?

QuoteNice work, Matlu. Are you coding all of this and doing all the graphics yourself?

Thank you. The progress is slower than I expected :(
I'm coding it myself (I used parts from existing library for character animation though. It's very complicated stuff).
The graphics is mostly "borrowed" from older  games, there is no graphician contributing. I created some graphics myself, but only very simple, like the texture for water, and some simple 3d models.

I thought this game had stopped production.

I also thought that Blitz and zz had disappeared for good.

This thread is over a year old. What are you talking about?

I saw 'new' on the topic and assumed stuff.

Because I haven't visited this forum on this name...

NOW DELETE THIS!!

lmao

Hey guys, remember when this was a thing?  That was wild, wasn't it?