Development Updates :D

[kaos78414]

I haven't been around here in a few weeks (maybe more, I'm not sure.) I seem to always think about Indie Resource when I'm sleep deprived. Anyway I've been doing WAY too much research. I even sat around and messed with some of those 2D MMORPG engines like Genesis 2d and Eclipse Evolution, both of which are great with what they do, but I don't think I'll be using them.

I found some great guides at gamedev and TGB's forums for making MMO's and what goes into them, and I think most of the same rules apply for PBBG development. One of the things that's still up in the air for me is whether I want to make a PBBG or an ORPG, and what engine I want to use if I go with ORPG. Some of you saw those videos I posted of a sort of practice development of a PBBG. Development was fast and fluid; I was using CodeIgniter and literally had nothing else to do with my time for two weeks, and in that time I crunched a lot of code, and got a working map system, a buggy inventory, character creation, including faction selection and a basis for classes, family creation, and a lot of AJAX features. I also managed to get a bit of the code in for NPC interaction, exploration, and stats.

However, eventually I got a little fed up with how boring it looked, so I researched Flash for awhile, wanting to spruce up the look of the game. I made an ugly avoider game for practice, and got used to AS3 a bit, which btw, is pretty simple to learn if you know PHP or JS.

Anyway after reading those guides, I've decided to move back to square one: research and brainstorming ideas. I think that a lot of the major questions weren't covered when I jumped into development, and it showed as my code got pretty messy. So I went out and bought a bunch of notebooks, and I've already filled one up with nothing but ideas, math formulas for damage, hit, and all kinds of calculations to test.

I've kept some of the major systems, like families and their relationship with characters within them, and the four factions I had created and the little bit of story I had. One major milestone is that I am pretty settled now on a classless leveling system, involving skill trees that open up to talents that open up to abilities (it's much simpler than it sounds). Another major decision now is that I have a greater idea of the features I need at an Alpha release, and I've separated those features from the bloated stuff. This step, I think, is vital, and is going to speed my development process a butt-load.

I think, and hope, that I'm committed enough to spend the next five years if I have to on this game, even if by then it's outdated.

Anyway sorry if this just sounds like rambling incoherent thoughts, I am pretty sleep deprived haha. I'll leave you guys with a poll-style question: What is a feature that you absolutely love to see, but don't get enough of in either PBBG's, MMORPG's or ORPG's? (IE, Player housing, marriage systems, in-depth stories, classless systems, lots of classes, extensive character customization etc.)

[kaos78414]

Since I mentioned the development of the PBBG, I made one last video of it. I'm going to keep it around while I explore my options, because if all else, a (mostly) text-based PBBG would be the easiest route for me to take. Here's the interface so far - You'll notice a bunch of php errors when I log into a character. That's because I deleted a huge chunk of code for redesign so there's some undefined variables there. Ignore that! Let me know what you think of the layout. (no colors or graphics decided on yet really)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm1DIbKIEjg[/youtube]

[hallsofvallhalla]

i love the fade in and out of the wording. Nice touch

[Jackolantern]

Looking good

[kaos78414]

Thanks guys!

[SpiritWebb]

Looks great so far, and I am in agreement with Halls, love the text fading, very nice!