Apoidea: Hex Wars

No headshots

2012-02-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I was discussing the whole concept with a few classmates when I said that I didn't want to include critical kills like head shots. They thought that I was going to have a lot of problems since head shots have been a part of the FPS mindset for such a long time. So I thought a little explanation of why I feel critical kill shots shouldn't be a part of this game.

1. Being killed in one shot really stinks. There have been many games that the head shot insta-kill makes the game very frustrating, especially for new players. Ace of Spades in particular comes to mind, and I have personally taken on 5 or 6 players and killed them all before the could get me just because I was able to shoot their heads faster than they could shoot me. While in real life it is very possible for 1 or 2 bullets to take someone out, in a game or an experiment like I am hoping to make this like I wish to encourage competition and a moderate feeling of fair play.

2. It is bad practice to aim for the head in real life combat. The first day of M16 training in the Army they instruct all soldiers to aim for the center of mass. On a human the center of mass is just between the stomach and the chest, where incidentally a large number of vital organs are located. So while it is true that shooting someone in the head will kill them, shooting them in a place you are more likely to hit them like the chest has just as much a chance of killing them. While I realize games don't have to be like real life combat, for the few people who do get put into a combat situation I would like to have this game be good training for them.

3. I want this game to have the feel of a RTS game, but with the players being the individual soldiers. In most RTS games there are certain classes that are stronger than other, but typically there is a decent balance between same level entities. In Starcraft for example, a single terran marine vs. a single protoss zealot would be a fairly matched fight in which one or the other may win depending on the strategies used. If the marine could kill the zealot in one shot by shooting his head, that balance would be shifted. Now I know there are players out there claiming that since heads are smaller and there is a chance to miss that head shots are really skill shots and should be rewarded, but if the reward is your enemy not even being able to counter attack in any way it's too powerful. And so the head will only get damaged as much as the torso.

I hope this explains well enough why I don't wan't to have instant kills. Even vehicle mounted weaponry will seem a little under powered in the game, as the goal is not the super fast paced die every 30 seconds combat normally found in FPS games, rather the stay alive and do as much damage (or prevent as much damage) strategically type game.

The Official Google TV Blog: OnLive: Console-class Gaming Comes to Google TV

2012-02-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Ok this could be big news for cloud gaming. If Google starts supporting it with the large amount of server power and it's amazing amount of internet influence then we could see it really take off.

The Official Google TV Blog: OnLive: Console-class Gaming Comes to Google TV: Videogames just took a huge leap into the future with OnLive cloud gaming on Google TV. With Google TV, you take it for granted that y...

Linear Algebra, Matrices, and 3D math

2012-02-10T11:43:00.001-07:00

I realize that it appears that I have not made any real progress on this game for some time now. I'm finding that there are many principles that I need to learn before trying to tackle 3D. Part of that is math, which I have been struggling through for a little while. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in doing anything 3D learn about linear algebra. A brief explanation is that it is the math that helps give the illusion of 3D on a 2D surface (like your TV or monitor). Anyway the learning process is slow as I'm not as young as in times past. As I have said before this will take a long time, especially since I want to do it right.

No competition inside of a faction

2012-02-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a bit about this subject and how to bring it into this game. Often in MMOs players find themselves competing with their allies for resources such as better armor, that special drop that only one person can get, whoever has the highest number of enemy killed, etc... I really want to bring in the concept that if someone on my team (in my faction for example) gets something that it is a reason to be happy and not envious.

In war situations any resources that can be gained by ones allies or denied ones enemies is a bonus. So for example I don't want to put a limit or respawn timer on resource nodes because it would make it so players within a faction would have to fight over who gets it and when. It would also encourage camping, territorial disputes, and make it difficult for new players to get necessary resources. So what I envision is a large group heading to a resource node would welcome any and all who happen to want to join them, because that means there will be more of that resource for the faction. Having more people with you mean more backpack space to fill up with valuable metal or energy crystals. Also the larger numbers would make enemy ambushes and other enemy attempts to deny ones faction resources less effective, meaning that for all in the faction it is a win. I think that would promote teamwork, camaraderie, and esprit de corp inside a faction, which is necessary if a faction wants to be successful. So that means there will be no special bonus given to the elite other than the satisfaction of completing the mission. I do realize there are players out there who obsess over leader boards and the acquisition of status symbols, and this game may not be for them

Data structures

2012-01-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

So to start off this semester of study I am focusing a bit more on data structures, as well as learning more about Java and C# with the XNA Game creation code. Before diving off into coding I have realized that it is much more important to understand the principles of effective and efficient programming. In talking with a mentor about my proposed landscape system he brought up a good point. If I am trying to render thousands of objects that share similar characteristics, like the triblock, that making each one it's own unique object will take a long time to process and will eat up tons of memory. So finding an effective way to represent all of the landscape can be rather difficult to do. This reinforces the decision I made earlier to have indestructible landscape that can be built on, even though that removes the possibility of tunneling under enemy bases and defenses. If the only blocks that can be placed and destroyed by players are the ones that they have gathered the resources for and taken the time to craft then the total amount of memory usage should be considerably smaller. I hope that through the course of this semester I will be able to find what data structures will be most appropriate for everything that I wish to put into this game.

The Multipurpose handle

2012-01-23T18:20:00.002-07:00

So in looking at how I want to display things I had an idea about how tools will be displayed. I am taking the perspective that the aliens in charge only wish to provide the most basic equipment to the humans, and many things are in reality virtual objects. So as far as actual physical objects go every player will have the suit and an all purpose handle. For the three main modes that will always be available for players in the field the handle will change what kind of output it gets. I envision this handle being somewhat like a WII remote in size. For ranged weapon mode a glowing pistol/rifle will be attached, with the handle being the handle of the weapon. For melee weapon/tool mode a glowing blade will appear on the end of it. In placement mode a beam of light will come out of the end of the handle and whatever object the player wishes to place will show up either 1 a wireframe of the object in the color of the faction to indicate that it can be placed there or 2 a grey wireframe to indicate that it is a no go at that spot. The last mode I think I want to have is just the laser pointer with the option of visible beam and invisible beam(it will default to invisible) which will help players to quickly communicate if they see something that they wish to draw their teammates attention to.

Why so few posts

2012-01-23T18:09:00.001-07:00

I was looking back through the posts that I have done in the past, and I found that there were several posts which weren't particularly productive and might have shown a bit of negativity. While part of my goal in documenting this process is to show the entire process that I am having to go through to make this game, I also wish to be efficient in my communications and leave out unnecessary parts, though I suppose you the reader can always decide which posts to read and not read anyway. So if it seems like there isn't much coming out, it's because I would rather have quality over quantity.

Where MMO's currently fall short

2012-01-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

I might have wrote concerning this in the past, but I think it is important to revisit. I have had a few thoughts about how I feel the dynamic of massively multiplayer games is currently failing. I feel a lot of it comes back to a paradigm which could be traced back to games like the original final fantasy and dragon warrior for the original nintendo. A long time ago role playing video games were single player and players started out as weak and poorly geared characters who then began a long journey to becoming stronger, more powerful, and well geared adventurers who could beat increasingly stronger enemies. This paradigm also was present in non video game type role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and then many other variety of role playing games similar to them. This paradigm of leveling up and becoming increasingly stronger was very successful and almost became pervasive in a world of offline video gaming, so the fact that online games would build off of it is only natural.

Enter the world of the internet, where players can now play games with other people in online worlds. The most famous example of this would probably be World of Warcraft though there are many of them out there with a growing number of them coming out every year. Just as in the single player paradigm of the single player role playing games, online game players start as weak and lowly characters who are able to progress through the acquisition of experience, wealth, and a whole assortment of items which allow them to complete quest after quest. The problem arises when players try to play together in these environments. I'll illustrate these problems with several scenarios featuring players A and B.

Scenario 1.
A has been playing an online game for several months now and has a level 25 character. He is good friends with player B, who after having heard of this game and having many invitations from A to play finally decides to play the game. Here is the problem. B must now start as a level one lowlife with nothing to his name, and starts to play the game in the way that single player rpgs go. If A wishes to play with B, he must either take his level 25 character back to the low level area where there is no challenge and the character does not progress, or he can start another character from the ground up so he can accompany B in this new game. A is now at odds with B in that A must stop his progression on his level 25 character if he wishes to play with B, which usually results with A impatiently rushing B along. B in the mean time may feel rushed and that he is not able to enjoy the game because A is trying to get him up to his level. What will usually occur in these situations is B finds another lowly beginner to play with or will elect to play alone as beginning levels don't really require teamwork. In the mean time A is playing with the other level 25s and progressing along there. Eventually, perhaps months or maybe even years later, A and B are on a level playing ground and can enjoy the game together. That may or may not happen as A and B may have stopped playing this game and have moved on to another game where the same situation happens. The moral of the story is that these friends aren't able to enjoy playing online games together. Players have tried many tactics to overcoming this problem, including power leveling( high level players assisting low level players to get levels quickly), buying gold from gold sellers for real money, or just buying an account where someone has already done all of the work of leveling up. All of these solutions have their own set of problems, but I digress.

Scenario 2
A and B start playing a game at the same time, but A has a lot more free time and motivation to play than B does and soon A is 5 levels higher than B. As time progresses the gap between these two players grows ever larger and soon it is not any fun for either player when they play together. This defeats the purpose of playing the game and soon A and B either find new friends to play with or will stop playing the game.

Scenario 3
A is a self proclaimed hard core gamer who decides that he must have the very best in the game before anyone else. To this end A quits his job and has very little interaction with anyone outside of the game. B is a friend who also enjoys games, but does not feel the need to have the best of the best, nor does he think that the game should trump life. A ends up spending every waking moment for months or possibly even years doing the mindless quests and hunting the rarest of monsters for the chance of the rarest of drops to happen. When B suggests that they play together, A notes that because B has not spent the necessary amount of time in the game and therefore cannot kill things fast enough, is too weak to fight the ultimate monster, etc.... So even though both players are the same level, the gear disparity makes it so they are still not on an equal playing field and cannot enjoy the game together.

So what is my point with all of these scenarios. My point is that the progression paradigm that works so well in single player games actually interferes with the social aspect of online games.

What is needed is a Paradigm shift.

Imagine now that the progression paradigm is changed to remove the concept of leveling up. In scenario one A and B are no longer at odds because there is no longer a level disparity. They can play together even though A has played 3 months longer than B. In scenario 2 it doesn't matter that A plays more than B since the amount of time that one spends in the game does not progress the character farther. And in scenario 3 A does not feel the compulsion to play the game to the exclusion of all else since no matter how much he plays he will have the best the game has to offer and B will be able to play with him even though he may not share the same level of motivation.

I know that some of you reading this are thinking "without progression what is the motivation to play". Well from what I have learned from research on MMOs from sources like the Daedalus Project many people play these games not because they wish to progress through a game, it is because they want to play with friends or other humans. This would suggest that if A were able to more easily and enjoyably play with B, then they will be more likely to play the game. I'm not suggesting that there be no objectives at all, though there are examples of games that have been successful there too like the Endless Forest.

I hope to provide in this game a place where people can play together, working to a goal side by side regardless of how long one has been playing or any other factor. It's also my hope that other MMOs will come to the realization that the progression paradigm is getting in the way of social interaction. After all the reason many people play multiplayer games is to have fun with friends.

Builder try 1

2011-12-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ok with a few changes we have the builder. I plan on skinning him differently so it is clear that what class is what. Pretty much I hope one can get the idea that I hope to convey in the character design. Nothing too crazy with everyone pretty much the same size.

Soldier try #2

2011-12-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ok I know that it has seemed like I haven't done much lately so I thought I would show you how I have progressed in my use of blender. I admit that I can't that full credit for as I started from a male base mesh, but I think that the modifications give a pretty good indication of my vision for characters. Again the only real difference between a soldier and a scout will be size. I'll have to work on widening the whole thing for the builder class. I'll work on painting it next, after I have reviewed a few more tutorials.

End of the semester report

2011-12-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well I made it to the end of the semester and I think I have learned some valuable information. I will most likely concentrate on C++ or C# as the language, as Java has many drawbacks for games(memory management, having to run on virtual machine, etc...). I still would like to stay away from Microsoft if at all possible, one because I think there is a potential for a lot of players on Linux and Mac, and two I just don't like Microsoft, but C# is Microsoft's baby. I do have to admit that the XNA Game studio library that comes with Visual Studio makes the process of implementation much easier. I'm fairly tuckered out from a rather stressful semester though so I may not do any work on this until after Christmas. Have a happy holiday to everyone who happens upon this.

P.S. I got A's and B's with the exception of one F in an unimportant class. I found that I simply didn't have the time and wear with all to keep up in all of my classes. Next semester luckily will be much easier.

Online Multiplayer

2011-12-07T15:38:00.001-07:00

My semester is drawing to a close, and I think that while I now have a greater understanding of the enormity of the task I have set myself, I don't quite see the path I should take. One thing is clear, programming effectively and properly will take time to learn. I am still committed to making this an online multiplayer game, and to that end I studied what it would take to create a basic system where a player logs in. I found that there are many many different ways that this could be accomplished and I quickly became overwhelmed. I probably should have found a simple way to do it so that I could pass my C++ class, but what I really wanted to do was to learn to create a flexible and robust database system that would store much more information about players than just their email and password. Because I don't exactly know what information about players will need to be stored as of yet I am not able to create a data structure for the database to hold. I am hoping to get more clarification on data structures next semester in one of my classes. In the mean time I can get back to working on art work and fleshing out the use case scenarios for everything in the game.

More research on MMO

2011-11-21T15:44:00.001-07:00

So in looking around at some new MMOs coming out soon I came across a few that are implementing systems similar to what I would like to set up. Firefall is looking to be very interesting, especially since it is:
1. Free to Play
2. Players will be able to change roles by equipping "battleframes", which is something similar to what I was hoping to set up.
3. They will have microtransactions, but they are insistent on making sure that cash items will not effect game balance.
4. It's an FPS MMO set up in a persistent world setting.

I'm not able to play it yet as they are still in the early stages of beta, but I'll be sure to analyze it once I get the chance. There are a few others too, but this one really caught my eye.

The long road

2011-11-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

So I am coming to a realization that programming is an art that is easy to get the basics of and extremely difficult to master. The amount of information that goes into games can be pretty overwhelming, and I now see why they have a very long list of names in the credits of high end titles. It seems that there is a plethora of programs out there already, but the best programs are guarded very closely so no one can copy them.

I feel like programming is like cooking. There are really a very large amount of flavor combinations that can be made, and through experimentation and a little luck one can find those combinations that make for very delicious food. The problem that happens is that when someone learns of a simple combination that makes for great food, they make it a secret and try to capitalize on it by making it so they are the only ones who one can get this delicious food from. I feel like the community of software creators are very proud of the products they have created and are not very interested in helping new programmers learn the art of code slinging. This is not true of everyone who programs, but just read the average EULA for most programs to see wording to the effect of "Thou shalt not reproduce, reverse-engineer, decompile, or anything else that shows you how this product was made". It's basically saying

When I embarked on this project I admit that I only had the viewpoint of the end user or consumer of video games. Now that I have learned some of the processes that go into making them, and the lengths that some companies go to keep their "recipes" secret, I can see that this will be a longer process than I had originally thought.

Discipline

2011-11-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

I am home sick today and so I think I will take some time to post a little something. I am a little concerned with my level of discipline related to programming. I have been getting the concepts well enough when I look at examples of programming, and I have been able to write short programs well enough. The problem comes when I need to work on programming for an extended period of time. I quickly become disinterested as it is something akin to writing a paper. I know that the end product will be a (hopefully) enjoyable gaming experience, it's just a rather long and tedious process getting there. I'm also running into the problem of feeling overwhelmed and inadequate all at once. I know that I don't have to do it all at once, but at this point I have been having a hard time just keeping up with my classwork let alone working on this game. Granted I took a rather heavy load this semester and I hope that future semesters won't be quite so cerebral, but from what I have heard graduate school is all about pushing ones brain to the limit.

At any rate I think that I have the basic concepts for the game set out, and now I need to move into the implementation phase. I will work on getting textures and models during my school breaks. I am learning a lot of good and useful things despite my feeling of inadequacy. Thanks for your patience those who are sticking with me on this.

Use case scenarios

2011-10-12T15:53:00.000-06:00

So I've been learning to make a little game based on pong. The amount of work that goes into making even a simple game is pretty mind blowing. I think the best way to put it is that computers are incredibly dumb, and therefore programmers have to write out explicit instructions on how to react to every little thing that a player may do. And so one exercise we are going through is to think of every possible way that a human interacts with a game write up what the system should do if a player does something. These are called use cases, and every button or thing that someone can click on really needs to have something written up or the system doesn't know what to do and cries in a corner making everything stop. It really is pretty mind boggling how we have programs and systems in the first place. At any rate I'm going to start working on a monstrous document going through every menu and every possible key press that a player may decide to do while playing the game.

In other news I'm starting out in my C++ class on a program that allows a user to log in to a system and/or register for something. I hope to have this be my starting out point for the main program, as the first thing players will do will be to log in. I have until December to get it up and running. I know it's not much, but it is a start. I think that during winter break time I will also try to work on more artwork.

Powerups - Same look different function

2011-10-03T14:38:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking a bit about how to handle the graphical aspects of armor and weapons and how they will interact with the game. As I was explaining the game to someone and I told them that the "Aliens" have encased the players in suits that keep them from all harm, then I was trying to explain things like armor and weapons they pointed out that a graphical armor would be pointless since they are already encased in an all harm reducing suit. Also there was the issue of the armor only covering certain areas, like would it protect the torso if you have the standard shoulder pad type armor. This also led to me thinking about this from the perspective of an experiment, where much of what is going on has to be simulated to be like war, but not actually be like war. Anyway the short story is that I am rethinking how these will happen in the game. Rather than have a brand new graphic for weapons and armor I will make them more like the slot system in FFVII. this will mean that the powerups for weapons and armor will be represented by little globes which when they are "equipped" they will do things like make the player's suit glow brighter or make the weapon fire differently. This will mean that the "Aliens" will be able to introduce and temporarily disable all kind of things without necessarily changing anything in the reality of the simulation.

So what this means is that every player comes equipped with the suit, a distance weapon, and a melee weapon that then can change depending on what class they are. The powerups are then applied to these already existing items to simulate a weapon change or increased armor. They will still have to be "hacked" in order to be compatible with a given faction, and certain power ups will require the correct class to use them. They can still take up the pack space as I talked about in armor a while ago.

Anyway a quick update about school. I am very busy doing the projects for my classes, though I am still learning a lot of valuable information. I won't be able to work on this project extensively in the near future, though I have a good idea of what I need to do to get started now.

Programming is a lot of work

2011-09-20T13:02:00.000-06:00

I have to take my hat off to all of the programmers out there who make things like the internet and computers possible. Programming is fairly challenging and I think under appreciated work. I have been doing homework assignments for simple things like minor calculations, and realizing just how much math and programming it takes just to do simple things like graphics and game physics is pretty mind boggling. I now understand a little better why people say to start out with a small project and forget the big ambitious plans. I still want to complete this goal, but after over a month of school I feel like I'm not any closer to realizing this project. I know that I will need to take years to get it right, but I need to do some serious planning way above and beyond where I'm at now. On the plus side I am getting valuable information on how to create complex programs. I'm going to be pretty busy with homework in the mean time, so for the few followers I have just know that I may have some pretty long breaks between posts.

Financial argument for Free to Play games

2011-09-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

It was pointed out that as an aspiring game developer one has to be able to articulate to potential investors how the investment in a game will not be the equivalent of throwing money away. Many people in control of money may not be familiar with the world of video games and the very idea of "free to play" sounds as though a game will not generate income in any way. So I'm going to create an argument for free to play models and why someone should invest in them.

#1 Is audience. If someone has to pay up front for a product, especially an unknown product, they will be reluctant because it creates a commitment to that product. If people are able to try a game for free then that sense of commitment is not there, and so there will be a greater willingness to try it out at the very least. This will mean that the initial audience will be much greater than before, and let's face it without an audience a game will make no money.

#2 Is micro transactions. This means that people can pay real money for items or services in the game that will make the playing experience much more enjoyable. In many games this comes in the form of premium memberships, aesthetic upgrades for ones avatar or in game property, better or unique game items which will give an edge over the competition, etc.... This means that while a game is free to play for everyone, those who pay will progress faster or will spend less time doing menial or boring tasks which is often referred to as "grinding".

#3 Is that a game need not remain free forever. Commonly games will build up a following of players during a free to play time period when the game is stable and playable but not finished, which is often referred to as the beta period. During this time players get used to the game and decide whether or not to buy the game once the "beta" period is over. Often these periods will not include the entire game and often are equated to a demo or a sneak peak of the game. This is most effective with large scale AAA titles, meaning that there has been millions of dollars and hundreds of man hours from a large team of developers invested into the project. This also only works if effective marketing strategies have been put into place. For the sake of my game argument #3 will not really be applicable.

#4 Is that if players truly enjoy a game they will do what they can to ensure it's success. There have been many games that have been started through the gaming community's support effort with tools like kickstarter. Some games have been perpetuated by community support long after the typical shelf life of the game, and with the internet becoming as large as it is specialized communities are popping up all over the place. If one is able to cater to one such community and gain their respect there can be a huge response in the way of financial support.

I'll have to expand on these arguments and think of others as I go along.

Global pros and cons

2011-09-12T15:53:00.000-06:00

In looking at the video game market I have come to realize that this market is pretty much a global marketplace now. Game developers are able to create games from anywhere and put them out for anyone with internet access to consume. This is a good thing as game developers potentially have a huge audience, but it also means that there is global competition. There is also the challenge of providing ones game in what could possibly be a plethora of languages.

I have been thinking a bit about why companies have such long and involved terms of use and privacy policies that users must accept before they are able to use products, and I think that the competition has a big part to play in that. Creating code for games is a long and very involved process, and if someone were to reverse engineer or in essence steal that code then all of the work that gets put into it may not be compensated. Because there is no universal law in regards to copyright despite many attempts by multiple countries to create such a law, there is really no way to protect oneself from pirating and copycats in countries that have no laws or little to no enforcement of said laws. Even in the US where they are taking the whole copyright issue very seriously it is the responsibility of the copyright holder to bring infractions to the attention of law enforcement.

All that being said it is difficult to learn how to program when everyone is safeguarding their code in every way possible. The other problem is that by the time I get the know how to complete a game technology may be way ahead of my ability to code. Hopefully the pros will outweigh the cons.

Gravel Block

2011-09-07T22:10:00.002-06:00

Ok so here is another addition to the block family. I was going around my neighborhood looking for things to take photos of because I can't afford to pay for other's intellectual property, and I thought that this worked out rather nicely. Gravel won't be a whole lot different than dirt as far as functionality, but it will spice things up as far as graphics go.

Possible Money Model

2011-09-06T10:55:00.000-06:00

Ok I know that I have expressed concerned about how to make enough money to support the game, and while it is definitely too soon to really talk about this I think I need to keep it in mind. In analyzing other free to play games there are a few basic ways that they make money as I have mentioned before, through aesthetic upgrades and by bypassing the grind of the game to some point. So here are a few ideas of how to implement these in this game. One would be the ability to buy specialized recipes that are only available through the store. This would include armor that has extra spikes or just a different design, but will not have any more advantage in the game, and weapons with a little twist to them. There could also be designs for fancier vehicles which have a sleeker look than the in game models. Because these are designs the owner could replicate and sell them to their hearts desire.

Another area that I'm guessing people would be willing to pay real money would be to buy additional credits and/or raw materials. Collecting raw materials will be a rather time consuming process and the ability to buy a stack of say 100 of something may be worth it to some individuals.

I think the best way to accomplish this is to have a separate currency which will not reset with winning conditions. For the sake of simplicity it could be called premium credits though the name could easily be changed at a later time. This currency could then be used at the in game store to get the premium items. There would have to be a disclaimer explaining that any normal credits or raw materials bought with premium credits are not refundable in the case that they were purchased immediately before winning conditions were met and everything is reset including credit amounts to 0 and inventories will be wiped clean.

It's important to note that I don't plan on making a lot of money from this, really I just hope that it would bring in enough to support the servers to make the game possible.

Object Oriented Programming Paradigm

2011-09-02T12:02:00.000-06:00

So each of the programming languages I'm currently studying are focusing on what is known as the object oriented paradigm, which basically breaks the program down into manageable bites or "objects" that all work together. In looking back at my design process so far I think I'm right on track for creating this type of program. It will still take a very long time to develop by myself, but I feel much more confident in being able to do it eventually. That being said going back to a traditional undergraduate learning environment has been pretty rough. My memory isn't what it used to be for one, and I'm especially struggling in discrete math which is rather abstract in the first place and is calling on previous math experience which the last time I took a math class was 1995. So while I recognize the challenge I'm not giving up.

Anyway what I will need to focus on is both data and behaviors that each aspect of the game will possess. Players will be the most complicated object as many of the behaviors will be taking direct input from the user, but it also going to be the most important since a game with no players isn't really a game. For now I will continue to work on simpler things like tri-blocks and simple structures.

Tutorial Part 1

2011-08-27T09:09:00.000-06:00

I know that one of these is going to have to be created, so I think I'm going to do a basic voice over that is done in an annoyingly happy announcer voice. It will start out by welcoming the new player as a homosapien, explaining that there is no need for alarm, that they have been placed in a very safe environment, and that all of their biological needs will be met with the aid of an life suit. The voice will then say
"please do not make any attempt to remove the suit or to return to your previous home".
"In analyzing your optical orbits we have determined you are able to detect these frequencies of radiation, please indicate your preference from these options. Please keep in mind that this choice is permanent."
At which point the factions which are in need of players will be displayed. At the start of the game all three (or six) options are going to be available up to say 20 players. Players will make this choice by moving to one of three(or six) possible doors using WASD on a keyboard or left control stick on a controller. I think that the majority of users are familiar with this concept so there will be nothing else in the room. Once they make a choice by pressing E on a keyboard or and walk through the door it will trigger the next set of "instruction" which will go something like.
"We now have some basic tests to make sure you are not defective in any way. Please walk to the next room."
Once they have walked through the door it will close.
"Very good. We hope you enjoy your new home. If we may draw your attention to what others of your species have considered aesthetically pleasing."
This will then trigger a look around the room at several flashing screen shot pictures of the landscape. Looking around will be accomplished with the mouse in a mouse keyboard set up, or the right control stick on a controller setup. Once the player has looked at the pictures a new opening will appear.
Because this will be really long if I were to write it all out I'm going to break it up into sections.

Missions

2011-08-26T20:10:00.001-06:00

I've had a bit of time to mull this one over and I think that some predefined mission types will help a lot as far as getting people talking to each other and learning how to work together. This can be a challenge as many players have had bad experiences with pick up groups or "pugs" and try to limit the number of people that they play with to people they know or have worked with previously. While I recognize that it can be frustrating to work with people who may have a different way of playing a game, it can be equally frustrating to be a new player in a game and have no one who is willing to play with you. So the "pug" dynamic needs to work in such a way that players are able to find each other quickly and will have a good idea of what they are going to do. So whoever decides to make a group for a given mission will be able to decide a few things from the beginning. First of all will be the size of the element, ranging from 4 man all the way up to a company of 96, though depending on what rank of leadership there will be caps at 8 men for all non leader types, 16 men for a squad leader, 32 men for a platoon leader, and all 96 for the company commanders. This will assure that players don't take on more responsibility than they are ready to handle. Group leaders will also be able to set a timer that will determine when people need to be ready to go, which will be visible from the looking for group or LFG console. This could range from as little as 15 seconds up to 5 minutes or possibly more if needed. Group leaders will also be able to specify what classes they are looking for and how many. Player will then be able to apply to groups at which point the group leader will be able to say yes or no. Once the number of players are met then on the middle of the screen of each player will be a popup of "Are you ready?" with a 30 second timer and an OK button. This will indicate that they are about to teleport and should conclude their business asap. If all group members click ok then the map will come up and the group leader will be able to decide where the group will teleport to. Once that decision is made all group members will teleport and off they go. The waiting period will give the group leader a brief chance to elaborate on the mission before they all go into action. So now to break down the mission types.

Search and Destroy

I feel this is self explanatory as the group will essentially be out looking for a fight. It will be a good mission type for repelling lone wolfs and small groups that have come into the faction's territory and are harassing players. It also could be for going into enemy territory and looking for vulnerable players. At any rate this mission type says that the group is looking for combat asap.

Infiltration

As the title explains this one is for going deep into enemy territory. This could be a group of scouts looking for unguarded structures or vehicles to hack, or trying to get an idea of how the enemy has set things up. This mission could mean combat, though it's more likely that combat will only happen if absolutely necessary since that will draw attention and will mean not getting very far into enemy territory.

Resource gathering

This mission means that the group will be heading into the caves to look for building resources. I imagine that there will be a lot of these missions as resource gathering will be essential to expanding territory and making better things all around. These groups will still need all classes as a small group going into neutral or even enemy territory to get resources will be risky business.

Base attack

This is to signify a full on attack and will probably happen only at the platoon and company levels, though it is not unthinkable at lower levels. The goal it to attack an enemy base in order to either disable or destroy it.

Base defense

This is a call to arms because a friendly base is being attacked by enemy forces. While this may not actually take a group, by having everyone teleport at the same time there is a much increased chance of success. Of course this is assuming everyone teleports before the teleporter gets taken down, which I imagine will be one of the first targets in an offensive. Because of this I'm sure that players will make sure to have back up bases not too far away.

Base construction

This one area where coordination is extremely important. There may be a few different ways that players want to go about this and for now it is sufficient to say that it is definitely going to be a group type.

Recon

This mission type may or may not be in enemy territory and will mainly deal with exploration. This could be in the cave system looking for resources or just taking a look around to see what's out there. This doesn't always require a group, but since everywhere could be a potential combat zone it doesn't hurt to take a friend or 3 along.

I think that if there was something else the players wanted to do that they could loosely fit it into these mission types, and if not well then I might just have a type your own field. Because of the whole group needing to teleport together players will need to be in the main base in order to both create and join groups. Players may leave groups at any time, though players who leave groups at inopportune times without explanation often find themselves with no one to play with very quickly.