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| Thread: Also making my own game |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 · NEXT» |
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 13, 2007 09:51 PM |
bonus applied. |
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Also making my own game
Well I've finally cracked after reading about Unhackable's new game, so I've decided to start making my own  .
It's going to be (if it ever gets finished, which seems unlikely) an online game, probably a mix of strategy and rpg, a little mass-multiplayer perhaps; I haven't quite decided yet - see below.
The prototype map engine can be found here (IE only).
The latest version (optimised, now works in Firefox, put "a" into both boxes): here
Basic game outline:
Each person owns a town, which has a points score. You can improve your town, which generates creatures and soldiers (treated separately). You also have a leader (and various generals) who can move around the map, with troops. On the map will be missions and battles with either opposing armies - which your army fights - or single creatures, which only your leader fights. You can attack other player's towns, whereafter presumably you can take them over. Random map combat and missions scale as you level. That's as far as I've got.
Things as yet undecided:
The line-ups, and all the other high-level stuff. 
Whether you can explore the map area around other players' towns as well as yours (programmatically a little harder). Note: attacks on other towns are done automatically, not by you.
Whether the area you can look around slowly grows as the game progresses.
Whether map objects are reused repeatedly, possibly for different quests, or similar but scaling ones.
How combat will work (creatures will almost definitely be stacked).
The plan is for soldiers to be hired and placed into regiments etc.; each regiment type, dependant on your town type, has different abilities. Soldiers come from the main races in the world, and you can add multiple types of race to each regiment. The race-makeup could also determine the abilities /stats of the stack. What type of race you can hire is affected by town type but varies randomly from player to player and from time to time.
Well I think that's all, I sure hope I don't give up too soon. 
If it gets any further, I'll need some alpha/beta testers! And some pixelartists too, now I come to think of it (let's face it, my grass isn't the ultimate in realism  ).
Any ideas greatly appreciated... 
What we have:
Basic idea - a world made up of say 900 grid squares, one player per square. Then each of these is divided up into 900 more (the ones you can see with the link) - each player's zone is identical in layout. At the beginning you can only explore say 400 of these squares, but this number slowly grows as you get better. Each player has a town from where they can upgrade soldiers, creatures and leader, send attacks to other players etc.. In each map section there are buildings with constant functions, resources which repeatedly reappear, battles which randomly appear, and possibly other things. You move your leader around the map to do all the various things, and as he battles he levels up, providing new spells and abilities. Supplied by me
Race idea - when you start you chose a race, and this defines your town type. Your actual soldiers may not be from your base race. You have regiments of different unit types (available ones defined by town race), but can put people of any race into any regiment. What races are available for hire varies randomly and is also affected by your choices in the game. What creatures you can buy depends on your town race. Supplied by me
Combat - type one is like Heroes in some way. Soldiers have abilities based on regiment type and race makeup. Creatures support soldiers. Type two involves just your leader; conflicts would vary randomly between the two types. Supplied by me
Focus - your race type has certain focuses, and you can change the balance of these to give yourself different abilities. There are three areas to vary - nature, magic and worship. Changing you nature modifies the statistics of your regiments; your magic affects the spells available; your worship gives you certain skills similar to the HoMM5 racial ones which scale as you change you focus / level. Geny suggests e.g. Life worship resurrecting some of your troops after battle. Supplied by me and Geny
Possible basic storyline - the factions themselves can always be changed
See here. Supplied by bixie
A map engine and database architecture - which seems to work fine for some (any problems please report - make sure to be specific).... Supplied by me
Offers of artwork
Both conversion for map items and creation of artistic 3D pieces to illustrate the creatures, help make the game look nice etc.. Supplied by vhilhu and Daystar
What we need:
Combat specifics - initiative-based? Speed based? Attack, defence, HP AND damage? And so forth.
Specific races, their regiment types and creatures - ideas include all those of HoMM5, and also Nagas, Tanuki (racoons), Kitsune (foxes), Itachi (weasels), Raniju (otters), Mujina (badgers), Nekoma (wildcats), Gnomes, Angels, Fairies, Goblins / Kobolds, "baphomet-inspired goat-headed people", Greek-mythology-inspired humans etc..Supplied by me, bixie, vhilhu, GenieLord and Daystar
Possible lineups:
Spells, abilities, buildings and all the other fiddly bits
Map layout
AI
Gulp... 
Crikey that's one hell of an undertaking...
Disclaimer: this will probably never be finished. But it's nice to pretend it will...
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bixie
Promising
Legendary Hero
my common sense is tingling!
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posted May 14, 2007 05:49 PM |
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can you tell us what you were thinking of in terms of races?
personally, on a game like this, a storyline is central to how the game is going to progress. racial pairings if often a good answer to that, have one race truly and completely hate another. its simple and easy, and provides, with an online element, loads of people joining in and trying to help their race onto victory. a classic one is high elves vs dark elves, or humans vs orcs, or something like that.
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Love, Laugh, Learn, Live.
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vhilhu
Famous Hero
We are NOT schysophren
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posted May 14, 2007 06:04 PM |
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Edited by vhilhu at 18:07, 14 May 2007.
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WOW. when i first saw the thread, i thought it was gonna be another noob who "wants someone to do art and someone to do the code, but i can supply you with my cheesy idea". but youre a true exception 
anyway. as of pixelart, Wesnoth is an excellent game with GPL-d art; its terrain sprites are hexes, but i can easily edit them square-shaped for you, as your game seems to be such.
as of your engine, you gotta do something about the movement :/ it gets stuck very soon sometimes, and sometimes keeps going an' going.
EDIT: theres also too much delay after pressing the key.
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Two little Gnoll boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Gnoll boy left all alone;
He went and hung himself and then there were none.
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bixie
Promising
Legendary Hero
my common sense is tingling!
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posted May 14, 2007 06:38 PM |
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yeah, its me who is the N00b whose supplying the cheesy stories!
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Love, Laugh, Learn, Live.
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Ted
Promising
Supreme Hero
Peanut Exterminator
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posted May 14, 2007 07:30 PM |
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imo i think G_Mage will make a simply great online game (if its finished) good luck!
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Visit my Site!
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 09:36 PM |
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Quote:
WOW. when i first saw the thread, i thought it was gonna be another noob who "wants someone to do art and someone to do the code, but i can supply you with my cheesy idea". but youre a true exception
anyway. as of pixelart, Wesnoth is an excellent game with GPL-d art; its terrain sprites are hexes, but i can easily edit them square-shaped for you, as your game seems to be such.
Thanks very much
As it happens I have played Wesnoth - if you think the graphics could be used in the game, that would be a major shortcut! I'd love for you to convert, but it's probably best for your sanity if you wait until the game is closer to completion - I don't want you to have done it for nothing.
But I have to own up - I'm kinda like that noob you describe, just with the programming ability. I'm terrible with histories and the like! But thanks
Quote:
can you tell us what you were thinking of in terms of races?
personally, on a game like this, a storyline is central to how the game is going to progress. racial pairings if often a good answer to that, have one race truly and completely hate another. its simple and easy, and provides, with an online element, loads of people joining in and trying to help their race onto victory. a classic one is high elves vs dark elves, or humans vs orcs, or something like that.
Interesting, I hadn't thought of the game in terms of teams. Maybe you could only attack other races, and the like (although there would have to be something to keep the numbers roughly balanced I suppose). As for the races, I had planned to stay away from the traditional races (no elves, certainly no humans) but may change that - so for example, Nagas, Lizardmen and so on. I'd quite like a complex relationship between each town and the various magical elements or whatever else I add.
Quote:
as of your engine, you gotta do something about the movement :/ it gets stuck very soon sometimes, and sometimes keeps going an' going.
EDIT: theres also too much delay after pressing the key.
Excellent, some testing going on here . Could you tell me what browser and operating system you're using, and how old the computer is? On my fairly new one it works fine, although if you press a key repeatedly and quick enough that the map doesn't have time to move, it does keep going for a while (which is what I intended).
Programatically I've had big problems with this engine. I initially had it such that it only ever displayed the squares around you, and loaded other squares as you moved towards them - but the server is too slow for that and you end up with large black expanses. Now what it does is load them all and shunt them all around as you move. As I said, this works on a powerful computer but could chug a little on slower ones. Unfortunately there is little more optimisation to do; if it is verging on unplayable and your machine is not too old then this could spell the end for the project! 
Oh wait, I take that back, there is more I can do - I'll try to give it a go in a mo.
Quote:
imo i think G_Mage will make a simply great online game (if its finished) good luck!
Thank you very much Ted, it's nice to have your support! Unfortunately it's quite a big if; what's been done so far has taken me a number of hours and that's just the very basic game system i.e. the relatively easy bit.
So, back to work ... 
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted May 14, 2007 09:44 PM |
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For enemy races, can I give some advice? (assuming that is is set in Ashan or sth)
Haven (angels(light)) vs. Dungeon (faceless(dark))
Sylvan (Natural Order) vs. Acadamy (Forced Order)
Necropolis (Tallness) vs. Dwarves (Shortness)
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 09:54 PM |
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No, I've decided this needs to be non-Ashan, such that it could actually `go gold`. But I like the second pairing - although it would probably mean elves...
Here's an idea:
each race has certain attributes, so
Nature: attacking
Magic: earth
Worship: order
and so on. At the beginning of the game you are equally focussed in each, but you can choose as you play to focus on one of your race's aspects in particular. As this happens, the other races become progressively less / more `enemy`, depending on what their basic attributes are. At the same time, your abilities, creatures etc. vary.
??
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bixie
Promising
Legendary Hero
my common sense is tingling!
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posted May 14, 2007 10:01 PM |
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Quote:
Interesting, I hadn't thought of the game in terms of teams. Maybe you could only attack other races, and the like (although there would have to be something to keep the numbers roughly balanced I suppose). As for the races, I had planned to stay away from the traditional races (no elves, certainly no humans) but may change that - so for example, Nagas, Lizardmen and so on. I'd quite like a complex relationship between each town and the various magical elements or whatever else I add.
how about by pass races like naga and lizardmen all together and have something with just as much folklore, but a little more interesting background.
i was thinking about taking it to some interesting mythological creatures from different places. the one that really springs to mind for me (i read alot of manga and japanese mythology) is the rivalry betweem the Tanuki (racoon people) and the Kitsune (fox people).
alternatively, we could take a leaf out of Brian jaques books and have humaniod animals fighting.
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Love, Laugh, Learn, Live.
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:04 PM |
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Or even better, combine yours and the (not-so-)classics! What I'm trying to acheive in this game is a little orginality to distinguish it from others, so your ideas could fit well! 
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Ted
Promising
Supreme Hero
Peanut Exterminator
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posted May 14, 2007 10:07 PM |
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now its really getting interesting, i think a Fire Dragon and naga people are a good combo
+shoudnt this be in Modders Workshop?
on a side note: were's Alc?
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Visit my Site!
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted May 14, 2007 10:12 PM |
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Edited by Daystar at 22:12, 14 May 2007.
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That way ->
Also, I don't get the whole
Nature:Attack
etc.
thing. Do you mean you could chose between
Nature: Attack
Nature: Defense
Nature: Healing
Nature: Construction
and
Magic: Earth
Magic: Fire
Magic: Sea
Magic: Sky
Magic: Twilight
Magic: Dawn
Magic: Death
Magic: Chaos
etc.
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:13 PM |
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Quote:
now its really getting interesting, i think a Fire Dragon and naga people are a good combo
I may just come up with some lineups of some kind - remembering of course that creatures and soldiers are to be different game components.
Quote:
+shoudnt this be in Modders Workshop?
Well I was following Unhackable's example (always the best idea I know...). To be honest, it doesn't really fit anywhere, because it's not strictly heroes, just vaguely similar to it and interesting to discuss . 
UPDATE:
Right vhilhu, I have further optimised the code (read: deleted a large proportion of it), and my game now works in Firefox!!!. Give it a go and see what happens, it's a lot less processor-intensive now I hope!
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:15 PM |
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Just pipped me to the post there DS.
Here's what I mean:
Each faction has various `values`
Faction 1 Faction 2 Faction 3
Magic Earth Water Fire
Nature Attack Balanced Defence
Worship Order Chaos Death
Which are all equally valued when you start (say 10 points each). As the game progresses you are able to redistribute these points, so that after a few levels you could as Faction 2 be more focussed on the water side of your race than the chaos side. This would mean that:
a) you would have more water-based abilities available
b) the fire faction, Faction 3, becomes more of an enemy for you because you are emphasising something which is in contrast to their magic focus.
Having written it down like that it seems quite complicated, but it could work! Hope this clears things up.
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted May 14, 2007 10:16 PM |
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&nsbp:
huh?????
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:16 PM |
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HTML stuff, give me a moment!!
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted May 14, 2007 10:18 PM |
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would you like me to do some animations for you? If it will be 3D. If not, I can still do something.
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted May 14, 2007 10:22 PM |
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Edited by Geny at 22:25, 14 May 2007.
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Very nice, has a lot of potential if you see it through imo.
Reminds of the old Warlords games.
As for the Nature/Magic/Worship thing - it could work, but for it to work you need to know what will it give to concentrate on something and for that you need to come up with some general options (abilities, spells etc.) of the player.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:22 PM |
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used to be needed but it now seems unnecessary...
Edit:
Thanks Geny, I've not played the games but Wikipedia tells me all
And Daystar, although 3D anims would be unneeded for the game itself, they would be great used as game art. But as I said before, unless you want to have fun making them I'd wait if I were you - to this date I have been known to finish only one of my projects, and that was the TotE page for HC (which hasn't even been used yet!). Thanks for the offer all the same!
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted May 14, 2007 10:29 PM |
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Quote:
As for the Nature/Magic/Worship thing - it could work, but for it to work you need to know what will it give to concentrate on something and for that you need to come up with some general options (abilities, spells etc.) of the player.
Naturally. These are all things that need to be done - it seems that for me at the moment the programming is the more fun bit (!!) - and the abilities and so forth are things that you guys can help with if you want.
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