Project Savage WIP thread

[jrackley]

uberwigget I know what you mean about the dialogue systems either having not enough or too much, but if you do decide to use one in the future, I highly recommend Dialogue system, it is a little pricey and has a million features, but it is super easy to use and well worth it for sure.

by the way love the menu system looks Awesome, cant wait to start making mine, once I get some of this combat squared away!

[uberwiggett]

Yeah man I have used that system in the past, it's solid and definitely does the bark like I want, but it's also a lot of extra stuff that I probably won't use and may end up compounding the amount of data for the game etc etc. Want to find something more tailored but if not I'll likely go for that one.

Speaking of tailored, so I've been able to make new materials/texture combos for armouring up my player models! As I said before, they come with 1 set of clothes, but by doing some thrifty texture controls I've changed that into both cloth and studded leather versions, and I can probably do a bit more with scale armour etc to give some variety. But to implement a system that allows me to alter the equipped armour, I've come up with a proposed script.

edit: the attached image is a photoshop, not an actual script!


so as shown, the Player object is selected by dragging the prefab into the field ( I don't know if this is necessary but I assume it is)
the Item List is also there so it can reference the armour by its item stats in invector and read from it
Player Body Layer is the child object of the prefab that is the bottom layer of the character, in order to prevent it from being switched off so we don't have invisible players

The equipment list will be an array (is that right?)
Size allows you to indicate how many different sets of armour are available to that player model.
Element 0 will obviously change with the name input
Armour ID this will be a stat held on the item in the vItemListData, indicating which of the array elements to activate
Child Object is the layer which will be activated and have its material set by the array element
Material Assigned allows you to set the material you will be using on the child object
Equipped is a radio button/box to indicate that this is the currently equipped/active armour set.

Equip Sound is the sound file that will be played whenever an item is equipped/unequipped.

Theory goes that this will allow me to change the player model by simply activating whatever object layer is referenced and assign it the correct material. The armour stats such as defense bonuses (and later, can cast magic while wearing bool) will be held in the item as per the vItemListData. Which is in itself a whole other set of work in order to implement armour and a new equipment field, but AFAIK this has been done before and there is tutorial on how to add more item categories somewhere around here or youtube


Now, who wants $5 USD to write me the Player Armour script??

[Deleted]

Sure uberwiggett, I'll give it a go, for a player armory script.



EDIT- uberwiggett I'm sorry I can't actually, I don't know enough code to be able to help you, I'm learning still, but I don't want you to go with a bad script, hope you understand

I'm sure other members would like to help you out :D

Hey Guys, uberwiggett if it's alright, as Chronic and J make addons to help you guys, if you need some environment art, I'm going to dedicate art to the community, and it will be updated, and I'm doing this in thanks (I'll start a thread) to satisfy the coders, and the artists :D

[uberwiggett]

wow haven't updated here in a bit! been too busy posting in other threads. Anyway tonight I bit the bullet and had a quick go at implementing the bark dialogue. happy with how it's turned out, but not sure if I want to make the entire game isometric view instead of just the dungeons (with main world rotatable). Anyway here is the latest vid.

[shadex]

Jan 24, 2017 11:34:21 GMT uberwiggett said:

wow haven't updated here in a bit! been too busy posting in other threads. Anyway tonight I bit the bullet and had a quick go at implementing the bark dialogue. happy with how it's turned out, but not sure if I want to make the entire game isometric view instead of just the dungeons (with main world rotatable). Anyway here is the latest vid.

Fond memories of Ultima coming back ..... Good job on that!

[uberwiggett]

haha thanks, yes I loved Ultima VIII and that is where I got the floaty text fondness from!

something about the mix of low poly and hand painted just didn't sit right with me. so I fixed it.

[Invector]

this looks like a good fit for your project:
[POLYGON - Adventure Pack]

[Chronicman]

That's funny I was looking at this guys assets yesterday, I was gonna buy this one but I could not find any monsters to match this style.
I love his huge asset for 139 $ the massive pack > Simple Fantasy - Cartoon Assets

[xenoblackinc]

looking good keep up the good work.

[uberwiggett]

thanks xeno. Was going to record some footage to make a fancy video but too tired tonight, here is the fully enclosed cave world! just a few minutes of running around what is there so far. Will be focusing on making the little township a bit more busy over the next few nights.

[Deleted]

Awesome Dude!!!!!!!!! ::D

[uberwiggett]

So with the new shooter Template comes a new reworking! if you've followed my tute series you'll see I've been spending a lot of time using low poly models, and built up a fairly sizable assortment of assets in the similar aesthetic. So there'll be a shift to these assets again. But I've also been deciding what needs to be changed to the original concept (which was a stock standard RPG). As I'm a fan of many genres, I've always wanted to mix them into one big game that covers so much, but of course it's difficult to pull that sort of thing off even as a big AAA company let alone a hobbyist indy dev. Games like the witcher 3 and the mass effect series really show us the kind of depth we can put into video games, and how technology now is really catching up to cater to massive open world designs and stories. And now, thanks to the tireless efforts of so many with template systems and integrations, big scale systems aren't actually so hard to achieve. So in that respect, I've decided to radically alter the concept, from being a deep background world to a world the players themselves forge. It's something I've always wanted to get from open world survival games but ultimately find lacking, Rust was a heartache after a week as I found it was pointless without a super huge playerbase on the server, and even when it was there was little incentive to keep going. Conan Exiles is a step in the right direction, with having a pve environment mixed with sculpting the land, but each of those lack a strategic element that allows the player to really effect the game world.

What I want to develop is a game that allows players to set the goals they want to achieve right at the start, but still engage in story driven quests and gameplay that actually effect the living landscape of the game world. In this, players will be able to choose what they want to draw from the game, and in turn, lead into generating the content that will keep them coming back for the long term.

I'm a hobbyist developer, I don't have aspirations to become the next Minecraft overlord (not particularly fond of his dress sense), but I want to see video games break out of monotony and take larger steps. So I'm going to be using this thread to post my ideas on game mechanics and outline the somewhat crazy and far reaching ideas that I'm pinning to project savage. If you like an idea of a mechanic, you are free to take them and develop on them, I won't hold you to account for sniping the idea because whilst I might like the supplemental income, I'm making this game for the passion of it and not the cash. And I'm interested to see the ideas come to fruition! Anyway here's the first installment of the gameplan, it's a bit of a mess and who knows how the formatting will turn out, but I'll be adding bits here when I write them up, and possibly do a few video explanations and demonstrations should anyone be really keen on picking the brain.




PROJECT SAVAGE

Game Design Document



Summary:



Project Savage (PSav) is the working title for a new video game that mixes third person action adventure, RPG and strategic elements to create a long term gaming experience. Players will control a single character as they forge their preferred faction's standing in the game world, which consists a living eco-system, AI driven rival factions and neutral NPCs. They will be able to construct their own bases, and expand them into villages and cities as they progress and gain influence over the ultra-large sized game map. The map is filled with various flora and fauna, of which can be discovered, studied and harvested to meet the needs of the player faction's growth. NPC towns and villages will generate random quests, based on their individual needs, and should they fall under the area of influence of player factions, produce materials required to further expand the player's reach.

Rival cities will also form, and AI systems will expand their influence to counter the players'. All of this occurs in real world time, once the server is started, it is geolocked to the local time. 24 Hours in game time is 24 hours in real world time. Players will need to invest in their construction efforts, or spend their time fulfilling quests to appease their in game neighbours.



Items and equipment can be studied and replicated via gathering materials and crafting to the appropriate diagrams. New formulas can be derived from studying unknown plants and lead to the creation of new potions, and some arcane secrets* can be discovered that radically alter the gameplay and faction goals. Friends can join the server to further the cause, or hinder it with their own factions, and a lineage system encourages co-operative intergenerational play, by recognising characters heritage via name and characteristics.



The scope of the project covers a broad range of game mechanics and tastes, and is intended to be played out over a lengthy period of time, whilst still retaining new and enticing features as the player progresses.







------BRAINSTORMING------



Game mechanics ideas:

Flora and undomesticated fauna begin as unstudied, but harvesting and research can lead to the reaping and understanding of ingredients and materials.

Ability to research various plant and animal life (revealing stats in a compendium)

Plague/Disease/Poison will afflict settlements, cures can be developed by studying disease and mixing ingredients with specific counter-stats

Buildings will have health, and can be damaged by weaponry (Based on material composition)

Real world equivalence to game world time scale

Randomised events occur in game world, affected by seasonal shifts

Game server allows for player drop in/out functionality.

Hidden/Rare player options discoverable

Museum feature allows storage of items with backstory to be displayed.

Lineage system; newly created characters can be tied to existing characters and recognised by name and shared characteristics

Political system driving AI faction interactions and living Eco-System



Political System:

The AI factions will be driven by a political will system, which guides their interactions with the environment and players. The statistics of the faction will influence their behaviours, which in turn are affected by randomised events and seasonal shifts.

Stats involved in the political system for factions;

Standing: An array that lists the player and NPC factions, with the tags (friendly, neutral,aggressive), dictating reactions to encounters with persons of listed faction. Friendly; will sell goods to faction and protect it in combat scenario, Neutral; will sell goods to faction but not engage in combat for or against, Aggressive; will engage in hostilities on sight.

Area of Influence(AoI): Radius spawning from center of home base, territories within radius will be deemed as under faction influence.

Growth: Amount the AoI will expand every 24 hours based on following factors;

Wealth: Total amount of currency and goods value held by faction members

Health: Amount of disease and poor health held by members within faction AoI

Military: Point value system totalled from all military members of faction

The total amount is calculated by comparing to a threshold amount (based on AoI size), resulting in a fraction expressed as a decimal, this is then added to a whole number (1), and creates the total multiplier for the 24 hour cycle. Every 24 hours this number is used to increase (or for a less than 1 value, decrease) the size of the faction AoI.



Values of the individual components of growth that fall below the threshold will increase the desire of the faction (or settlement) to increase to meet requirements. This will drive faction goals and guide decisions.



The threshold value is set against a database, and is calculated against the AoI size.



Should two AoIs overlap, territories held will remain as to the original faction owner, however standing relations between the two factions may alter.


Not to spoil it but the rare/hidden stuff would be things like discovering a potion that kills the player for 3 days and then resurrects them as an undead Liche, they are then able to choose if they want to mind zap their faction and turn them into an undead horde or rival them with an all new faction. That's just an example, would be other things to throw in there.

[Deleted]

Awesome uberwiggett !!!!! :D personally I'm trying to achieve a similar goal, open world I'm going for but extra detail mechanics is what I would like to achieve, even though I'm a hobbyist dev, I enjoy coding as well as having a passion for it. If it's alright with you, I would like to use some of your ideas, though would it be possible to make a tutes of the video of the code and stuff? I've been having trouble with making a open world that can hold performance, but I've been having trouble with code as well. Thanks again uberwiggett for the ideas :D

[rolfy]

This looks really good! Liking the brainstorming in your road map, some great imagination there, have you given yourself a deadline or is that open ended?

[uberwiggett]

Hi Rolfy, thanks for the praise. This is my flagship project, which really means it's my opus, whilst I'd like to be able to dedicate time and set a structure to it, my real job doesn't let me do this. So it's very open ended, if I took others on board (or outsorced stuff) I could probably set some milestones, but I'm not able to manage that yet.

I do have a few offshoot projects that are more fitting to standard game designs, working on one now that I'm really enjoying and might be able to get a demo for in a few weeks time. But otherwise I am just here spouting off my mind and hoping someone with more time/skill runs with it





Living Eco System

-game design theory-



What is it?

The idea behind a living eco system is to create a simulation of a living and breathing world filled with animal and plant life. Its main use would be for open world games that rely on economy systems to support game mechanics, systems like construction/crafting using materials, dynamic quest generation and realism. It is a system that controls the spawning and dynamic AI pathways of creatures, critters, environment and any other asset that feeds into the system's needs. It also handles a simulated food chain, by controlling the spawn and desire to consume the various components handled by the system. It is also the backbone of other economical systems that rely on the data produced.



Previous examples:

During the creation of Ultima Online, a living eco system was envisioned. It would control the spawn rate and actions of npc creatures including livestock and monsters. A proposed outcome of the system was, that a dragon living in the mountains would feed on deer roaming the nearby forest. If players had hunted the deer in the forest, reducing the deer populace significantly, the dragon would have less food to satiate its appetite, and then start to look for a secondary food source. Eventually, this would lead to a bigger food search radius on the dragon, that would have it travel to a nearby village to prey on its livestock. The villagers would be afraid of the dragon's presence (and losing their sheep!) so a quest would be spawned for players to hunt the dragon (or even so far as to replenish the deer population).



All the spawning of animals was controlled to simulate realistic re-population rates for the various furry creatures of the land, and for a brief moment, a little world was born. But this system never made it into the final build for UO, the sad fact is that with the player's insatiable appetite for collecting materials and crafting the best gear, within hours of the test server going live, they had pilfered the pelts and meat and components from every animal. The system could not keep up the re-population rates to meet the demand of the players to sufficient effect (even the poor dragon was slain before getting hungry!).



This was a symptom of MMO dynamics, a large player base means there is a severely high demand on resources, to compensate for this, mob spawn rates were changed to the system we see today, of timed refreshes (kill 10 wolves, and 2 minutes later they spawn again!). As most MMO worlds have finite space for players to parade in, it's near infeasible that such a system could work. Also, the system resources required to simulate the ecosystem was, especially in that era, very hard to come by, making it less viable a game mechanic.



But with the level of technology we have today, computers are able to crunch enough data that such a system could exist even for a server handling a small number of players. But it is still reliant on the game mechanics which are still modelled off mob spawns. To fully realise and create a need for such a system, game mechanics will need to match. Survival games are a step towards the ideal mechanic, as it gives incentive to the resource management required. But it needs to also be tied in to the landscape effect, construction efforts and use of materials needs to have an impact on the game world, which requires a more in depth mix of trade and political systems that integrate the player and npc factions to create the full cohesive world.

edit: I had a nice picture with this text but it doesn't work to cut n paste :P