Sunday, December 18, 2011
Salty's Skyrim Surprise
During a gameday a friend threw, ideas for a mod started popping up in my head. I want to tell you some of the plans, but we don't even have the mod kit yet. Besides, it's a surprise. I'll make a blog post for the mod, which will start off only have a few changes, then one for each update...but I won't tell you what's in it.
Dead Man's Land Death Penalty and Character Creation Options
So, I was talking with someone about the behavior of the zombie hordes, while explaining a few of the features, and he pointed out that the code would be a little more complex than I thought it would, in order to prevent people from exploiting the hordes. My response was that was part of the game. If a group of players wants to take the risky tactic of herding zombies in an attempt to defeat a group of rivals then they can, but if they screw up, they may be the ones that end up being eaten.
I figured that I'd share the fact that we now have a really fun, viable origin for the zombie plague, and then share that bit of conversation with you. Now, the origin won't be shared directly from us, you'll have to wait until someone in the game explores and figures out the cause. Hell, the first server might actually have someone get their medical and related skills high enough to figure out a cure for the plague. That's part of what we want to do here, the players have the chance to change the direction of the game, and not just by talking on the forums with us.
Now the bad thing about this tactic, is that when you get turned by the plague, you lose that character. You can't even use the slot, until your zombie is killed cured, or...other, although you'll always have a free slot. For that slot, you can log in, wheel the camera around and watch him wreak havoc, but that's about it.
PvP there's no permadeath, but it can lead to some really bad results if you pick a fight in a heavily infected area.
The next part may seem unrelated, but it's something that popped up over and over while tinkering with the system, especially with the prospect of permadeath, which is something I think would work really well with
this title, especially because this one is going to a little experimental, and we'll be trying a few things that may not work, but I want to see how they work.
I'm trying to come up with an option on how to make the permadeath not a game killer. This game is wanting to have benefits for hardcore players that want to put in the time and build something amazing, while not
excluding more casual players.
Something that we're going to try is options for jumping into the game.
You want to start at level one and grow your character organically, that's awesome, you'll
level up your skills at an accelerated rate, at least for the first chunk of your character's life.
The standard method of character creation will be to create a character that's around (in WoW formula terms) level 30. That way you can jump right in, be capable but not great at what your character does.
The third option, which might not be in the game, due to possibility of griefing, is that you can make a character that's a little higher level but more generalized that isn't persistent. Effectively a throwaway
character. This would let people jump into the game more quickly if they knew they didn't have time to spend a ton of hours with it.
It's very possible that the first and third options will only show up one a clan stakes their territory, secures it, and makes it into an actual clan hall.
That's my ramblings for the moment, comment below and I'll try to address any questions that you have.
I figured that I'd share the fact that we now have a really fun, viable origin for the zombie plague, and then share that bit of conversation with you. Now, the origin won't be shared directly from us, you'll have to wait until someone in the game explores and figures out the cause. Hell, the first server might actually have someone get their medical and related skills high enough to figure out a cure for the plague. That's part of what we want to do here, the players have the chance to change the direction of the game, and not just by talking on the forums with us.
Now the bad thing about this tactic, is that when you get turned by the plague, you lose that character. You can't even use the slot, until your zombie is killed cured, or...other, although you'll always have a free slot. For that slot, you can log in, wheel the camera around and watch him wreak havoc, but that's about it.
PvP there's no permadeath, but it can lead to some really bad results if you pick a fight in a heavily infected area.
The next part may seem unrelated, but it's something that popped up over and over while tinkering with the system, especially with the prospect of permadeath, which is something I think would work really well with
this title, especially because this one is going to a little experimental, and we'll be trying a few things that may not work, but I want to see how they work.
I'm trying to come up with an option on how to make the permadeath not a game killer. This game is wanting to have benefits for hardcore players that want to put in the time and build something amazing, while not
excluding more casual players.
Something that we're going to try is options for jumping into the game.
You want to start at level one and grow your character organically, that's awesome, you'll
level up your skills at an accelerated rate, at least for the first chunk of your character's life.
The standard method of character creation will be to create a character that's around (in WoW formula terms) level 30. That way you can jump right in, be capable but not great at what your character does.
The third option, which might not be in the game, due to possibility of griefing, is that you can make a character that's a little higher level but more generalized that isn't persistent. Effectively a throwaway
character. This would let people jump into the game more quickly if they knew they didn't have time to spend a ton of hours with it.
It's very possible that the first and third options will only show up one a clan stakes their territory, secures it, and makes it into an actual clan hall.
That's my ramblings for the moment, comment below and I'll try to address any questions that you have.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Thanksgiving Hiatus
Apologies for the lapse in posting, Thanksgiving week was followed by a local convention that I staff the tabletop gaming area, so preparations for those distracted me as usual. I shall begin regular posting in a day or two, though.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
A word on quests, shops, auction houses, and NPCs
Think of most zombie apocalypse movies/shows/comics/...etc. for a moment. How many people did you see in those that weren't main characters?
The Walking Dead was an exception, and had a bunch of young gangbangers get together and protect each other and an elderly home, but not many else did. Even then, in Dead Man's Land, that would've qualified them as another player group.
There will be close to zero NPCs in this game. The few NPCs that do exist will be spawned by players, once they secure their territory, and maintain it for a certain amount of time. The characters you meet inside a player city that appear to be NPCs will most likely be players logged out.
Get a quest from a marker that leads you somewhere? Probably placed there by a guild member wanting you to head over and join up. Found a shop with decent weapons? That's been set up by a player craftsman. Wanting to put something up on the auction house? There's either going to be a player run one, or you'll have to set it up yourself. Remember: Wall Street started with people gathering at a walnut tree to trade.
Nearly everything will be modifiable by the players. This is going to be a virtual world, not just an online game.
--Lunas
The Walking Dead was an exception, and had a bunch of young gangbangers get together and protect each other and an elderly home, but not many else did. Even then, in Dead Man's Land, that would've qualified them as another player group.
There will be close to zero NPCs in this game. The few NPCs that do exist will be spawned by players, once they secure their territory, and maintain it for a certain amount of time. The characters you meet inside a player city that appear to be NPCs will most likely be players logged out.
Get a quest from a marker that leads you somewhere? Probably placed there by a guild member wanting you to head over and join up. Found a shop with decent weapons? That's been set up by a player craftsman. Wanting to put something up on the auction house? There's either going to be a player run one, or you'll have to set it up yourself. Remember: Wall Street started with people gathering at a walnut tree to trade.
Nearly everything will be modifiable by the players. This is going to be a virtual world, not just an online game.
--Lunas
Monday, November 21, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Dead Man's Land
The current focus for Geekin Out is Dead Man's Land, a zombie apocalypse MMORPG set in the NW Arkansas, and slowly spreading out. A few details of the game will not be published on the blog, as it's more fun to actually play and discover a game, but over the next few months, we'll be taking this idea from daydreaming/mental tinkering stage to fleshing out the system and getting ready for programming.
Some of the basics of the game:
No classes, just skills and perks. Want to be a tank? You got it. Want to mix in some medic training? Spend the time working on the skill and you can. We'll be working to make every skill have a purpose, so that way there's not the equivalent of everyone wanting to be a tank mage. Considering that resources will be scarce at certain points in the game, a lot of people will become experts by necessity, which should be interesting to see.
A robust guild system that takes advantage of the crafting and construction systems. Guild members will be able to work together to claim a territory and build it up to survive onslaughts from the zombie hordes and even other players guilds. Guilds will be especially important because there won't be any prebuilt cities guaranteed safe.
A crafting system that allows players to submit designs for new creations and slowly affect the world. From modifying designs for weapons and armor to unique architectural styles for guild cities, we want this to be a virtual world that grows with and from the players as much as the staff.
Different types of zombies will make appearances, but at first just the crawlers: Standard shambling corpses that aren't a threat individually, but tend to be attracted to the same things, and quickly become a lethal hazard.
There will be open pvp, but in this world you really don't want to piss off too many people.
That's all for now, looking forward to feedback. The players interested in having a virtual world and not a theme park experience will help me hammer out what hasn't already been decided definitively.
---Lunas
Some of the basics of the game:
No classes, just skills and perks. Want to be a tank? You got it. Want to mix in some medic training? Spend the time working on the skill and you can. We'll be working to make every skill have a purpose, so that way there's not the equivalent of everyone wanting to be a tank mage. Considering that resources will be scarce at certain points in the game, a lot of people will become experts by necessity, which should be interesting to see.
A robust guild system that takes advantage of the crafting and construction systems. Guild members will be able to work together to claim a territory and build it up to survive onslaughts from the zombie hordes and even other players guilds. Guilds will be especially important because there won't be any prebuilt cities guaranteed safe.
A crafting system that allows players to submit designs for new creations and slowly affect the world. From modifying designs for weapons and armor to unique architectural styles for guild cities, we want this to be a virtual world that grows with and from the players as much as the staff.
Different types of zombies will make appearances, but at first just the crawlers: Standard shambling corpses that aren't a threat individually, but tend to be attracted to the same things, and quickly become a lethal hazard.
There will be open pvp, but in this world you really don't want to piss off too many people.
That's all for now, looking forward to feedback. The players interested in having a virtual world and not a theme park experience will help me hammer out what hasn't already been decided definitively.
---Lunas
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Geekin Out Lives!
Well, finally made the blog, and we should be posting once or twice a week to start. Geekin Out Games will be a coffee shop/game store, but also a vehicle to develop some games that have been percolating in my head, and a way to encourage nerds to be healthier and do more. When the site itself gets built, there will be a section for starting up a simple exercise routine using minimal equipment, since a healthier body makes for a keener mind. Also there will be a section for strategy guides, and links for some games that some of us are excited about.
---Aaron
---Aaron
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