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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 22:09:19 GMT -5
I'm thinking of making a mud where even I don't really know what happened in the past.
I was thinking of having it start out with say 15 races in 15 different locations based on water supply or some other factor. The factor is also randomly/procedurally generated. Then I'll have it simulate the their little civilizations and then they expand into each other they will have interactions, war, peace whatever over time. Eventually after a certain amount of epochs there will be the great catastophy that cuts the races down to what I want (if they haven't been cut already). The game would start at this point in a rebuilding phase.
Each race would have its own cultural tendencies with a bit of randomness thrown in. Essentially the simulation would generate a timeline and a history. Older cultures would have older artifacts. Clay tablets instead of scrolls or w/e. Older stuff's remnants would be nearly gone mud huts or cave dwellings instead of abandoned cities for more recent cultures.
I think it would be cool to find an old tablet broken in half and find out it reads "In the year twenty-fifty two, the Red Ogre kingdom destroyed the Dwarves of Bone mountain. Soon after they were wiped out by a plague". Writings like this would sort of take a random slice from the generated history of that culture when dug up. It could also be useful for perhaps making something that felt like an organic quest. "The cursed sword BloodDrinker was stolen by the half-breed bandit Amos and rumored to be taken to the village of Grey Rock." Where Grey Rock is a village that did exist at one point, and exists as ruins only. The part apart about the unique item is triggered when some ridiculously small chance of 'forage artifact' or whatever goes off and the item is sort of randomly generated and then loaded somewhere in the ruins of Grey Rock.
I think it could lead to some interesting things and keep people busy. Where the fuck is Grey Rock now? They'll need to go north of wherever they found the artifact and search for more artifacts to learn if that place is Grey Rock, also learning the history of that place. Can they even read that language? Will the person who can read it tell them the truth or set off to find it themselves? They all die before they find Grey Rock? It's alright, the item is still loaded there (for the person with enough time to forage it) to be found by some lucky SOB.
The rest would basically be a sandbox mud with players building whatever they want if they can get the resources and defeat other players/the aggro NPCS.
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Jeshin
GDB Superstar
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Jeshin on Dec 24, 2014 22:16:58 GMT -5
Theme Sub-theme Genre Setting Core Gameplay mechanics Fluff
^ a short and somewhat simplistic list of what you should be looking at when contemplating a new MUD. In my opinion
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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 22:22:52 GMT -5
Theme: Post apocalyptic desert-y Sub-theme: undecided/undead Genre: Low fantasy survival Setting: See above Core Gameplay mechanics: Lower fantasy than Arm, psionics, permadeath, leveless, heavy on player creation/control Fluff: undecided
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Jeshin
GDB Superstar
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Jeshin on Dec 24, 2014 22:31:51 GMT -5
A more basic theme... Like Mad Max beyond thunderdome and the Matrix or Snowpiercer have very different themes but are all post apocalyptic. A basic theme would be exploration, man against man (PVP), Horror/Fear, Freedom, etc etc. Your sub-themes would further help define the game. The reason I list theme so highly is because at the core of any successful MUD is a theme whether they realize it or not and it's not always the theme that the game mechanics or lore/fluff helps to strengthen.
Here's a very early draft of a MUD concept I was pursuing for 3 months before deciding against pulling the trigger on beginning codebase development.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||| PROPOSAL DRAFT |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Theme Setting Game Systems Story Elements Conclusion ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Theme The primary theme of the game is exploration. The sub-themes will be adventure, survival, and freedom. These themes will be reinforced by game design choices and the story which places the player in a world of advanced technology and the freedom of the stars at their fingertips. The only price, that resources are required to keep their lifestyle and technology going and thus they must feed the ever hungry needs of their technology. But in doing so explore the galaxy and discover new sources of resources and perhaps even design new technology!
Setting Several thousand years into the future, we find ourselves on one of several seedships sent out from earth to colonize known habitable worlds. Despite the ability to travel at 0.995 the speed of light the journey will/would take several generations to complete. Thus the seedships were designed for the populations onboard to expand overtime and expand they have. Only a few sealed sectioned remain, intended to be opened after the population has reached a certain threshold or they have arrived at their destination. Around the seedship are numerous astrological bodies such as nebula, asteroids, comets, spacial anamolies, and even solar systems with worlds believed to be uninhabitable. Only the pilots of the warpships would know.
Game systems There are 3 key systems to support the themes and setting described above. Travel within the seedship (normal room to room) and travel within space which will utilize a galatic grid for warp and lightspeed movement and a local grid for sublight speed and exploration movement by spaceships. Combat within the seedship person to person using melee and ranged options as well as combat in space between one or more spaceships utilizing 3 different weaponsystems each with their own benefits and drawbacks as well as various defensive options and ship designs. The third and final system is the crafting system which will move away from specific crafts like other muds and instead go into refinary, 3D printing, and assembly. These systems will be expanded on later.
Story Elements The story elements will support the exploration theme by forcing players to explore both to keep the seedship functioning but also their own personal ships. Exploration will be key to the survival of the humans and themselves. In addition the story elements will present obstacles to be overcome in the form of spacial anamolies, aliens, and even other humans who may have turned to piracy to make due. The most basic form of the story is that after generations of travel the intended planet will no longer be habitable and thus force our players to find alternatives. The end of the MUD will concluce with the destruction of the seedship, the resettling and colonization of a planet, or the converting of the seedship into some kind of space port. Or perhaps a fourth yet unthought of option.
Edit - Some more very early stage examples of what I'm suggesting you use as a framework
MUD Themes
1. No-Win Scenario The fall of an empire / civilization Zombies - Modern Setting Disease - Futuristic Setting Invasion - Fantasy Setting
2. Horror (survival) World v. Player - Fantasy Setting Sadisim Player v. Player - Modern Setting Dystopic - Futuristic Setting
3. Balance (spiritual) Religious theme - Fantasy East Asia Element theme - Avatar the last airbender-isque Corruption - Warhammer 40k style action/thought beget physical and mental corrupption
4. Exploration (change) Changing Location - Fantasy Single Location (island) - Fantasy Space - Futuristic
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Jeshin
GDB Superstar
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Jeshin on Dec 24, 2014 22:38:12 GMT -5
Going to throw in here, this is just my opinion, I am not a professional game developer and I would never discourage someone from pursuing their own MUD concepts. I only wish to provide what anecdotal insight I have from my years of staffing and considering my own MUD projects that might help produce a higher % chance of a new MUD being successful and surviving development.
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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 23:00:41 GMT -5
You are probably right but I didn't say I had a cohesive draft of anything. The title is about brainstorming. Ideas get me motivated more than writing a structured document.
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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 23:07:04 GMT -5
MUD Theme?
No-Win Scenario/Survival/Exploration World vs Player vs Player Undead/Zombies - The cause of the fall perhaps? Unearthing/scavenging/learning from the Past, to try and build a future
I guess I don't want to force a story other than the basic background on the players. I would want to see what they will do. (probably something horrific)
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Post by magickermarco on Dec 24, 2014 23:28:06 GMT -5
MUD Theme? No-Win Scenario/Survival/Exploration World vs Player vs Player Undead/Zombies - The cause of the fall perhaps? Unearthing/scavenging/learning from the Past, to try and build a future I guess I don't want to force a story other than the basic background on the players. I would want to see what they will do. (probably something horrific) How about a Fantasy Zombie Survival, where magic is Ultra Rare (casting or otherwise), metal and the likes is common, low tech, iron age technology. Have the period set in the Dark Ages time frame. Have Alchemists (be the casters) where they are all trying to create new concoctions like Wildfire and Gold from lead. Have the Plague the cause the Zombie invasion/infestation. You can even have something similar to Knights Templar and the Illuminati in it doing witch hunts or counter witch hunts depending on your side.
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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 23:30:50 GMT -5
Game systems There are key systems to support the themes and setting described above. The world will have (outdoor?) room descriptions that are dynamically generated depending on where the players are and their relation to certain 'landmark' objects. The Landmark objects that are not terrain will be generated by the history simulator. Even the landmark objects (abandoned village etc) will be generated without staff involvement. Without having to write every room, the size of the world and places to explore are potentially gigantic, with it being large one of the key elements. Travel is not something to take lightly and could take significant time. Player creation of rooms, buildings, forts, items, shops will also be an important key element.
Story Elements The story elements will support the exploration theme by forcing players to explore both to keep the main town or their own outpost alive. Exploration will be key to the survival of the players and main town. In addition the procedurally/randomly generated events will provide opportunities to get ahead, explore, or adventure. The story will be written by the player with hopefully a small amount of oversight needed by any staff. It's between the world and the players.
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Post by nyrsucks on Dec 24, 2014 23:37:39 GMT -5
MUD Theme? No-Win Scenario/Survival/Exploration World vs Player vs Player Undead/Zombies - The cause of the fall perhaps? Unearthing/scavenging/learning from the Past, to try and build a future I guess I don't want to force a story other than the basic background on the players. I would want to see what they will do. (probably something horrific) How about a Fantasy Zombie Survival, where magic is Ultra Rare (casting or otherwise), metal and the likes is common, low tech, iron age technology. Have the period set in the Dark Ages time frame. Have Alchemists (be the casters) where they are all trying to create new concoctions like Wildfire and Gold from lead. Have the Plague the cause the Zombie invasion/infestation. You can even have something similar to Knights Templar and the Illuminati in it doing witch hunts or counter witch hunts depending on your side. I like the idea of a group of <whatever> hunters, illuminati that hunt down whatever people think caused the collapse for sure. Maybe that could be the 'built in' clan that comes with the one 'built in' town.
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Kronibas 2.0
Displaced Tuluki
this account will go inactive once I hit 420 posts
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Post by Kronibas 2.0 on Dec 25, 2014 0:14:58 GMT -5
Theme: post-apocalyptic, science fiction, survival Sub-theme: horror, low fantasy, gangland Genre: same as theme? Setting: metro, ruined city Core Gameplay mechanics: permadeath, classless, only humans are playable, sphere vs sphere, unlimited player vs player Fluff: focus on skill, gritty, survival
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delerak
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"When you want to fool the world, tell the truth." - Otto Von Bismarck
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Post by delerak on Dec 25, 2014 0:19:53 GMT -5
I've always wanted to see an RPI done with fictional history. There are so many interesting eras I'd love to roleplay in: high gothic germania, medieval europe/asia, anytime pre-500 AD Roman Empire, Victorian Steampunk London.
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delerak
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"When you want to fool the world, tell the truth." - Otto Von Bismarck
Posts: 1,656
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Post by delerak on Dec 25, 2014 0:20:05 GMT -5
And all your source material is right there.
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dcdc
Shartist
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Post by dcdc on Dec 25, 2014 0:40:44 GMT -5
(take my idea and run with it XD)
Theme: Post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, survival Genre: Perm-death/ survival setting: Sub-terrain colony, long since cut off from civilization, the society only speaks of planets, space-ships, and day light as if it were legend Core: semi-classless (certain special skills akin to "magicks" would be locked behind selected class, all other class options only provide a boost to skill/compliment back ground.)
Basically a society long since cut off from a galactic/solar contact. Thousands of years of living in Alien ruins, not entirely sure what keeps the lights on, the machines working, and the cold death grip of decompression at bay. Well maybe some do, its up to players to piece together the puzzle, unlock other parts of the colony and figure out these alien technologies. Whether the choose to unlock a hidden station cache of tech, rise to the top of society wield the wealth of power, or lead their tribe to victory.
It can lean heavily on literary devices. Since the society basically only exists because of a isolated hydroponic gardens. Most combat would be reduce to simplistic melee weapons. No laser blasters or gun powder to speak of, no advance sci-fi tech like personal shields or making medical machines. A sci-fi setting, but seriously gritty low tech warfare in cramped station corridors, or vertigo inducing cavernous ruins.
Tribalism would run deep, because their is seriously only so much to go around. Tribes would fight over the few gardens for food, cloth, paper, etc. Scraping would be essential for metals and materials for everything from housing to warfare.
The setting/world can scale to player population easy. Too crowded? RPT event opens up new parts of the ruins, complete with its own mystery and even resources. Too few? Players too spread out? Cataclysmic decompression, cutting off one half of the society. Up to players to find a another route between the very precious hydroponic nodes.
The ruins are can be filled with mystery, history, and all manner of terrible things that lurk in the depths of these alien ruins.
Well trusted players, with characters gifted with incredible intuition or even mutation, could be granted power to unlock parts of the station, or utilize destructive or constructive alien tech. Nano assemblers, station computers, things that would make the ignorant think "magic!". Providing an ability to move plots, and sources of power that would be highly prized. People with the "gift" would be highly feared, sought after, and even executed due to their dangerous nature. Destined either to conquer, live in secret or hide in fear for their own safety.
Over all goal? Figure out the dark history of the colony, alien ruins, and maybe a way to escape to see the daylight and breath the fresh air that is only spoke in legends or rule this strange society with an iron fist controlling the precious garden nodes and their radiant grow lights.
Seriously make that, I'll play the shit out of that.
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Post by sirra on Dec 25, 2014 13:06:47 GMT -5
In my experience, you're putting the horse before the carriage.
Better to first come up with a codebase you either have that is readily available, or you're very confident at manipulating, and already know what you can or can't do with it.
Then the real brainstorming and creativity comes from working around that and filling in the blanks in such a way that the limitations of the engine and/or your knowledge base isn't apparent.
We can spitball great ideas all day, otherwise. But as long as we're spitballing, my contribution would be that games built around a 'mystery', are more suitable for tabletop games. What you want to really spend time on, in a game like a MUD, is to create a sustainable, player-centered dynamic, where the players can do as much as possible to react, cooperate and antagonize each other with as little need for staff support as possible. That in itself isn't hard, any death match arena does that. And anyone, such as Nyr, can jerk off into their word document and come up with a political system to frame it in (Hence, Tuluk).
What's hard is coming up with a coded system of territory and resource acquisition that actually works and encourages people to get involved in protecting or going after it, or benefit from it on the side.
Example:
The great merchant wants to improve his trading influence, so he decides to seize a strategic oasis from a band of tribals, but needs to hire some mercenaries to make it happen. Unfortunately, a local noble wants the oasis as well and has sway within the city guard to try and grab it for himself. Meanwhile, a rival merchant might have already cut a deal with the same tribals, or the tribals themselves might have tribal rivals of their own.
This is a very basic conflict (making claiming an oasis desirable, and have it actually be possible), which sets off a chain reaction of conflict, RP and interest.
Now, what do you think would happen if a merchant or noble in Armageddon wanted to claim one of the very few oasis outside the city, to either support an outpost or help leverage a new trade route?
You'd get a gigantic FUCK YOU. It wouldn't even be remotely possible without an elaborate, choreagraphed NPC circle-jerk stage-managed by staff, and shaking the very pillars of the world. Like the stupid Copper War. Skirmishing over mines and water should be an everyday set of affairs, not END OF TEH WORLD OMGZ THIS IS SO DRAMATIC. You need approval from the senior templar second only to Tektolnes himself for permission to go fucking off after a few Tuluki irregulars!
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