Crestfallen Studios

by **Inderos** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:25 pm

I'm sure some of you here have played such games as Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre or even the recent Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. It has long been a dream of mine to play a multiplayer version of such games. Often when people think about games like this in an online setting, they think of two people with a group of units playing against eachother in a way not dissimilar to chess. I, on the other hand, would find a game where you created a single character and raised that one only far more interesting. It would create a setting that would encourage team play, because no one single character would be capable of handling every situation possible. People could form regular teams to play with against other people or go on quests. Maybe people could hire eachother to help out with quests instead of just asking for help? And example would be a mage wants to capture a renowned bandit, but the bandit always gets in close and kills them quickly. So maybe the mage offers a sum of money for a knight or fighter character to come and absorb some hits and help capture the bandit? Some sort of mercenary feature at least.

There would be a reasonable number of job paths to take, although not enough to overwhelm the player. I won't go into details for ones I've thought of yet, just because I want to hear what every thinks about the game as a whole, first.

One thing that has always discouraged me from playing MMOs for very long is that you never seem to be working to an attainable goal. Level 99 isn't always something everyone has time for. And even if they got to Level 99 would the gameplay change that much? Not usually. Phantasy Star Online avoided this problem quite well. There was always a boss to get to, even though the story was almost non-existant. There was always an end to area and a new one to get to. I think that a defined story and structure would be a great addition to any MMORPG. A lot of MMOs have said they've got a story, but for the most part they're always so open-ended that you never really know what to do next anyway. A tactics style game lends itself very well to story-telling, because cut-scenes could be inserted after key battles. Some might say people won't want to sit through cut-scenes, especially not on an MMO, but if you only put cutscenes in battles that will push the story forward, some people could just choose not to do those battles or quests.

There would be a few major towns that would act as "hubs" for shops, quests and guilds. There would be roads between the towns and extra areas between them that would also offer extra quests for special items or secret bosses. Encounters inbetween towns would take place as follows:

If you touch a monster that is not engaged with another player, you are forced into battle. There would be no transition, battles would take place right on the main map. It would set you and whatever monsters were around up on a grid and the turnbased strategy would commence. If you should come upon someone fighting monster already you would have the option of joining the battle to help out, or move on and leave them to their fate. The person who started the fight would also have the ability to decline help. Items would not be dropped, but gained through a menu at the end of the battle. You could chose which ones to take and which ones to leave. Experience would be divided in a way so the original combatant gains the most.

A lot what I've discussed here has been very vague, but only because this is concept, not actual development.

by **Glenn47** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:52 pm

This is what is called "spamming." Of course you tried to start with a clean slate, but this is basically the same as reposting a locked topic. In some levels, anyway.

by **Inderos** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:56 pm

And now, what you're doing is defeating the entire purpose of a new thread. Please, don't post in here unless it has anything to do with the game.

by **TeppicTheBloodLyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:59 pm

What Programing system/tool will you use? will the first beta/demo/whatever be open-source?

by **Inderos** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:01 pm

I don't know either of those answers because I'm not the programmer

. Whatever language the programmers I use are most comfortable with is the one it'll be written in.

by **TeppicTheBloodLyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:02 pm

So you'll use a tool? not C++ or C or something?

by **Inderos** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:06 pm

Like I said, I really don't know. Not for sure atleast.

by **Fredric** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:09 pm

Have you thought of any strategic elements for the battle system, like the lawcards in FFTA or something like that?

by **Inderos** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:17 pm

I'd rather not include something like law cards. I do want to implement some sort of combo system, so the game doesn't have too laid back of a feel.

by **OverlordBill** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:18 pm

I'll post where I bloody want. You suck, I hate you and you're not clever or creative at all. See you in hell.

by **Glenn47** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:28 pm

A combo system for an online game probably wouldn't work if you mean like pressing different buttons to do different moves. The game would lag between combos for people.

by **TeppicTheBloodLyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:28 pm

OverlordBill wrote:I'll post where I bloody want. You suck, I hate you and you're not clever or creative at all. See you in hell.

That means you're going to hell too, Bill.

by **OverlordBill** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:29 pm

Duh bitch. Eighth level. Hobnobbing it with Satan himself.

by **TeppicTheBloodLyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:31 pm

OverlordBill wrote:Duh bitch. Eighth level. Hobnobbing it with Satan himself.

...I DON'T, wanna know the details...

by **TeppicTheBloodLyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:11 pm

So anyway, if youre not a programmer, are you gonna hire friends or something?

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