Project Z

[Corinthius]

Update:

It sure has been a while, I suppose time flies when you're programming, ey?
This update will be short and sweet, just a couple of announcements and some updates on the game! - In all honesty, the night before last, I was stuck on a particular module when Indie-resource's very own Jack came to mind, luckily, I solved the problem before attempting to steal his time

So what's new?

Project Z

Official Announcements:

1) New Team Members

Project Z is pleased to announce that it's recruited 2 more lovely people who are hard-working and dedicated to the tasks at hand, each sharing passion for games and design & development.
One; who's become the vice project manager, is now working on audio for some parts of the game and scenario scripting, while the other is graphically talented in linear art.
Additionally, the game will be fully translated into two other languages by utilising a global language file, the two languages at our disposal at the moment are German and Italian.

2) Innovative-Development

Project Z has taken a turn to the hand-held market, while we've not begun development yet, as i'm still learning the ins&outs of the programming language, it will happen. I'm currently learning Objective-C so that it'll be possible to program for the iPhone, unlike the actual game, this will be classed as a "remote" for the game, giving actions or receiving updates from within the game in a real-time environment. I'm rather excited about this project, and only good came come of it. The Majority of my college time is spent around Objective-C now.

3) Inspiration & Recognition

I must point out that I've been helping to test and aid the development of another game in the time I've been away, although it takes up some development time, I am happy to be apart of it. Being within the team, I've learned a lot and I would encourage all to come along and play!
- http://www.medieval-europe.eu
Furthermore, Indie-Resource has been a huge inspiration and help to me as a developer, thank you all

The game:

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DEV 1.3
To
DEV 2.4
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As many know, this project under-went a huge code revival in earlier development stages. This development phase really took advantage of that as I was able to display many new features with clean, secure and efficient processing.



Implementation List 2:

• New Structure: Player_Home_Basic [Actions: Rest, Storage, Upgrade, Rent-Out]
  New Structure: Town_Wall [Actions: Patrol, Repair, Reinforce, Upgrade]
  New Structure: Town_Wall_Tower [Actions: Man-the-tower, Ring-Bell, Upgrade]
  New Structure: Workshop(s) [Actions: Storage, Upgrade, Work, Rent-out]
  New Structure: Water_Well [Actions: Gather-Water, Upgrade, Poison]
  New Structure: Farm_Hut [Actions: Rest, Storage, Upgrade]
  
  New Roles & Titles: Religious [The Pope, ArchBishop, The_Faithful]
  New Roles & Titles: Other [Merchant, Caravan_Guard, Farmer, Artisan]
  New Roles & Titles: Military [Guard-Captain, 1st Class Soilder, ... , 9th Class Soilder, Recruit]
  
  New system: Pets_&_Animals [Donkey, Horse, Cow]
  New System: World_Map
  New System: Town_Map
  New System: Age [Players Age 1 year every 6months. Player starts at Age 18 or 21]
  New System: Unique_Item_Creation_Naming [Unique Items are named by the creator. Unique Items can then be produced normally via a "blue-print"]
  New System: Language [Italian, German, Revised_English]
  
  New Mechanics: Breeding [Cows, Goats, Horses, Donkeys, Dogs]
  New Mechanics: Farming [Wheat, Cabbage, Tomatoes]
  New Mechanics: Cooking [Stew] - [Requires level 2 House | Cabbage + Meat + Water]
  New Mechanics: Smithing [Short_Sword]
  New Mechanics: Travel [Dynamic travelling which takes weight of inventory into account as well as player attributes]
  New Mechanics: Unique_Creation [Cooking, Smithing] - [Player must be skilled, unique creation is very hard, but profitable if sucessful]
  New Mechanics: Evil_Intent [Thievery, Duels, Murder]
  New Mechanics: Good_Intent [Donate, Volunteer]
  New Mechanics: Battles [War, Duels, Arena]
  New Mechanics: Contracts [A binding agreement between individuals or groups]
  New Mechanics: War [Seige, Raid, Crush]
  New Mechanics: Monetary Markets [Exchange Currency for another, values dependent on amount in circulation]
  
  
  Mechanics Change: [Hunger or Thirst = 0, reduces health, when health = 0, player dies]
  Structure Upgrade Limit: [->5]
  
  New Graphics: Unique Item Graphics
  New Graphics: Structure Graphics in Town_Map
  New Graphics: World_Map
  
  New Locations: Europe [France[2 towns], Scotland[2 Towns], Germany[2 Towns], Italy[2 Towns]
  New Currency: European Currencies added
  New Items: Just under 100 new Items added, only 10 implemented from that 100 so far.
  
  Webside_Structure: Website Building has begun
  
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  Comments
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  There is actually a couple more implementations that i never included above, because they're too small to mention really.
  It doesn't seem like much looking at it above, however it's taken me months of pain, coffee and hot-chocolates and a lot of dedication from both me, and my team!
  I'm hoping to put up some images soon of some of the new features, there is very little graphic to the game as of yet, because we're just making moduels and mechanics before putting them all together.
  I'm not sure what-else to say, I may need some testers in time to come, so naturally I'll ask this community first - if you're interested, just PM me, and when that time does come, i'll PM you back
  
  Also, if you have any ideas that you'd like me to consider, that would be awesome - As a matter of fact, some things people have suggested, have become a big part of my systems thus far.
  Thanks guys, once again!
  
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  End Note
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  It really has been an eventful couple of months, it seems like no time has passed at all, but really, i've acomplished a lot, with thanks to you lot
  - I'll be turning this into a fully-fledged "game-Template" upon completion, i'll take out my own images and scenario scripting, and put in an easy-to-use admin panel that has just about everything you need to customise the game to make it your own. It'll have it's limitations though
  
  Thanks Guys,
  Corinthius ~

[hallsofvallhalla]

sounds awesome!

[Corinthius]

Thanks Halls!
I've mentioned you in my development diary, as an inspirational figure
If it's okay, when the time comes to publish the game, I would like to post a link to this site?

Corinthius ~

[hallsofvallhalla]

well of course. I will even add a link to front page. Working on redoing the front page now.

[Corinthius]

Project-Z Development: Year 2

Introduction

It's been a really long time since I've visited this community but I thought I'd come back to share the progress on project Z and see how everything is coming along here too! I see all the same faces around which means there's no lack of extraordinary talent, I'm hoping a community project will be started soon so I can give back what I gained from this very place!
Corinthius~

Project-Z: Where is it now?

Unlike most novice game developers these days, I haven't given up on my original project, and I don't intend to. It's become a big part of my life, to the extent I've put many, many, many hours of free time into it's development and progression. It's been a huge success, once I got over the initial learning period. (I remember asking some silly questions on here!)

I haven't released Project Z publicly yet, the main reason is because this is a learning project as well as a potential commercial project. Since my last visit I have gained entry into a prestigious university where I'm studying Computer Forensics & Security, and one of my units is PHP, MySQL and another is game development. I'm kind of utilising Project Z as the catalyst for this and once I have graduated from University (Hopefully with a 1st) I'm planning on releasing Project Z. It's going to be good, I won't lie!

Project-Z: What's changed?

A lot has changed since the simple days of coding levels, health and items. Project Z has been completely remodelled into a fully Object-Orientated game, making use of a template system I developed myself. The game has taken a slight turn from pure factual medieval simulation to being inclusive of the lighter fantasy elements. This was a collaborative decision as through research we found it to be more commercially appealing and interesting to code.

Project Z now takes place in a beautifully hand-crafted world with a progressive and persistent back-story that is greatly influenced by the players. (A major feature now is the players ability to influence the ordinarily "static" story of the world, so that players who join in a post change environment are induced within a completely new and exhilarating atmosphere that was created dynamically with the help of the pre-change players.

The mild fantasy elements are introduced very softly, for example: instead of blatant "magic" the world features natural elements which all items, characters and objects are made up of, by drawing out these elements a player is able to influence the world around them and utilise it for their own gain whether this is crafting or fighting.

A major feature that I have added recently is a background engine called the "Dynamic Core Engine". I developed this engine to handle every entity within the game that isn't controlled or handled by the player. This covers animals in the wild, weather, seasons and even naturally occurring disasters in such a way that the player could have no idea it's happening. For example; animals now have Artificial intelligence packages which control their behaviour independently, they will search for food, remember where that food was for the next time, sleep, eat, claim territory, fight rival packs and even mate with other pack members to produce new wild animals. (It is entirely possible for the players to make an animal become extinct!)

Project-Z: New Engines?

There sure are! Including the one I briefly mentioned above, project z has become host to many wonderful modules! Here are just a few of them:
======> Dynamic Core Engine <=========
"Environmental Algorithms calculate every aspect of the game world as it changes to determine weather by area, climate change, season change and natural disasters!"

• Players can influence the world in many ways, the inexperienced players will have no knowledge of how they're affecting the world, and it is mainly the role of older, more experienced players to keep the game world alive and functioning (This plays a major part in the games politics too)- Now, while there is climate change, it isn't quite the same as our own world's climate change. I mentioned the world being made up of elements and this is fundamental for the planet to reform and refresh it's state, overproduction, aggressive resource harvesting and excessive use of high-level elemental abilities can cause chaotic changes in the atmosphere, which affect crop production, wild animals and many other entities.

• There is a dynamic weather system that works exactly the same as Earth's own atmospheric changes and contains all the written laws of modern meteorology. (A lot of research has went into this particular engine!)

• Animals have AI, they make friends, form packs, mate, eat, sleep, wash, search for food, remember locations of importance, fight with other wild animals, independently level up attributes, skills and even become legendary player killers (after a long time!) This all happens dynamically in the background, however much of this activity can be observed by players who take an interest in the animals. Much information can be gained by simply observing, tracking and hunting animals in Project Z. When an animal finds food, it lets it's pack members know where that food is too. When animals acquire or consume food, it takes it from the world's natural food deposits and consumes it in real-time

=====> Control Core Engine <=====
The control core engine focuses around the player and how he or she influences the entities around them. There was a lot of research about human nature in this particular engine.

• Reality is becoming a reflection to what the Control Core can do, almost everything a human can do, their character can now do (Within processing reason of course.) The player is able to make several choices throughout their experience which determine their alignment non-statically. Using psychological profiling and a little trick called "Thought-Tracking" we've been able to create a system that gently delivers and determines the characters "good" and "bad" attributes without blatantly saying "You are Evil" and "You are a saint"! However, players can always repent for their crimes and evil-doings, but society may not be willing to accept them anymore.

• No unnatural limits: The control core makes sure that unnatural limits don't stop players from doing what they want to do, It's a hard aspect to explain so I will probably make a more explanatory post on this unit at a later date!

======> Stasis Core Engine <=====
The stasis core engine handles and controls all entities which are static in the world until a change is applied. This covers structures, terrain, resources and so on.

• The community must care for it's environment, resources can be depleted if the players do not take care. Trees can be re-planted, animals can be bred within society and released into the wild for preservation.

Okay, so I know this all sounds very complicated and even a little boring on the entertainment side, well, it is! - All of this runs in the background, parallel to the game, as additional dynamic functionality that allows the game to be truly persistent and evolutionary. Let's move on...I guess

Project-Z: New features?
- Animals: Hunting, Catching, Breeding
- Currency 2.0: Powerful Kingdoms can create their own currency using resources as the coin content (based on a % of the resource content.) IE: .2% Gold content out of a total of 1 whole gold content. Content is used to determine how valuable a currency is within exchanges.
- Dynamic World 3.1: Travel the world, it takes a very long time to span the entire globe by foot. Resources differ between regions because of climates and weather impacts.
- Combat 4.7: Battle using decisive tactics, designate roles within an army of players, Ranged Archers, Formidable Knights, Foot Soldiers and even War Hounds. Weapon Triangles (Sword Beats Axe, Axe beats lance, lance beats sword) type of thing, same applies to armours with weapons and elemental magic.
- Item rarity: All objects have a rarity value: if you have ever played monster hunter, it's similar to that (0-5 star rarity with a secret 6 star rarity). All rarity is color coded too
- Economy 7.0: A LOT; free markets, black markets, restricted markets, loans, investments, etc..
- CraftBucket 2.3: Crafting of basic, intermediate and advanced items using recipes, mastery of craft field (ie: smithing) allows the creation of unique items that can be made into a recipe and given to other players.

Much much much more -

Although it may sound like the game is packed with a ton of features; and as many people have said; "Lots of features everywhere will put players off, they won't know what to do or where to go, simplification is the answer!" - Well, project Z uses a system that eases players in slowly and introduces features when the player is ready, by combining Level utilisation with Skill Tree Completion and social construct, the game is able to achieve a very simple outlay while still having great high-end features that the hard-core players can dive into, and leave less concerned and dedicated players to enjoy the more simple features.

The game has taken a turn and is now using the following "languages" to support it fully:
PHP, mySQL, jQuery and AJAX.
The game is relatively complete as it is, however I want to create high-end graphics, pioneering features and a fully working premium system.

I have a fully functioning team of 6 members who are very dedicated. We have received financial support from a local independent media school who specialise in game development, so I feel as though it could be of good industry standard with some additional development to certain areas.

Well, this has been a /very/ quick catch-up, I'll hopefully post some pictures and additional information for you guys soon!
In the meantime, another game I am helping to develop is about to launch into BETA Version 2.0; it's a huge release with a great array of content! Check it out: http://www.medieval-europe.eu

Man, that was long ~
If anybody is interested in helping to develop Project Z at the design's core, let me know, we're currently looking for someone with great enthusiasm and passion for next-generation ideas!

Corinthius ~

[hallsofvallhalla]

Still sounding great! Anxious to see some screens

[Jackolantern]

Wow, this sounds very cool! I remember hearing about the project last year, but didn't know it would be this far along! The engine and the dynamic elements of it sound very interesting. Can't wait to see more!