Ciderhelm
06-06-2007, 07:59 AM
The RPG development has taken me much, much longer than I expected. Believe me when I say that it's been well worth the wait.
What Can This RPG Do? Here's an example.
Just about everything. The engine itself allows an enormous amount of complexity, which is part of why it's taking so long to become playable.
Let's use the new Spell system to give an idea.
In creating a Spell named "Weak Poison," All spells contain one or more Spell Effectors (what the Spell itself actually does). I must first create a Spell Effector that acts like a poison.
In creating the Spell Effector, I must take the following steps:
Which stat this spell will affect -- in this case, Health.
Who will this effect? The caster or the caster's target? (the target)
Does this effect nullify another effect? If it does so, will the stat modifiers be halted as a result? (No. However, my Cure Weak Poison spell does this to this particular effect!)
Effector Turns -- how many turns will this effect last? (This is what allows DOTs such as poison, HOTs, and any stats-over-time spells to function)
As this spell increases in level, will the number of turns increase/decrease? (Yes!) If so, by how much? (+1 per level)
Effect direction -- Is the Health stat going to be going up or down as a result of this spell? (Down)
How strong will the effect be? (Essentially, how much damage per turn will be inflicted)
Will this effect become stronger as the spell gains levels? (Yes!) If so, by how much?
Is the maximum potential of this spell limited in damage? (This is if I feel that the level of this specific effect might need to reach a hard cap)That's how I set up the effect of the poison. However, that isn't a spell in itself! To actually create the Spell for Weak Poison, I then open up another template and get to work on it. In this I must:
Set the name, description and icon.
Determine whether Players, Pets, or Both can learn this spell.
Determine the Mana cost of the spell and how much more or less it costs as the spell increases in level.
Set a level limit that the Spell cannot progress beyond. In this case, I have it set to "0," which means that it has unlimited growth.
Set a cost of learning the spell.
Set an "Advanced Magick" level requirement. (will explain this more later!)
Set a chance of missing, and whether that chance of missing increases or decreases as the spell gains levels.
Set which vendors may teach this spell (leaving this empty means the player cannot learn it, making the spell functionally only usable by creatures or by pets who already know the spell).
Set the AI's use of the spell -- will they use it on opponents, themselves, or themselves & teammates? Hey, there might be a particularly stupid creature that occasionally poisons himself. :)Finally, the core of the spell itself:
I must then choose which Spell Effectors the spell contains. In this case, I select the "Weak Poison" effect which I created earlier. What makes this so cool is that a spell can have as many effects as I want to set; what does this allow? Imagine a "Poison Feedback" spell which would essentially remove a poison someone cast on you and apply it back to them. A Lifedrain or Divine spell that heals you or your teammate over time while dealing equal damage to your opponent would work this way.So can this spell only be cast? Is there anything else they can do that's cool? Yes. One of the other really neat things is shown in the way I've modified the item and "enchanting" system.
Our item system has single pieces of armor that grow through a system of "Armor Layering." For instance, if you have a breastplate, you would then want to add specific layers of different metals to create chainmail, platemail, pauldrons, etc. This can be done by you if you choose to take up Blacksmithing or Advanced Magick; it can also be done by a skilled Blacksmith friend of yours once we get people playing.
One thing you will find is that "Assault" armor -- specifically for the elite Nightmare faction in the game world -- will become available to you later on. These will be most common among people who choose a physically violent lifestyle; they are pieces of armor that are designed as weapons themselves. Once you learn a "Charge" attack type, or any tackle attack, a large number of item Strength modifiers come into play that are unique specifically to the item and it's layers -- your Armor, not your Weapon, will decide how much damage you deal.
In this type of assault, certain Spell classes come into play. The most common one will belong to Spiked Pauldrons of various metals. Attached to all Spiked Pauldrons is a specific Rend or Impale effect which, when tackling someone with your Armor, will be applied on impact to cause massive trauma and damage over time. Since Pauldrons of different metals can be interlocked, a player can conceivably stack several layers of spikes for brutal damage to the target. With any assault of this type, expect to open yourself up to enormous penalties, in the form of health loss and temporary armor, resistance, and evasion reductions.
Armor Layering, when applied to Weapons, will have a large variety of spell effects -- just as varied as one would expect from an enchanted weapon. These will act as Chance-On-Hit spells, except in the case of Silver or Elemental weapons where spell effects will occur every swing.
This should give an idea of just how complex this RPG will be, and how worthwhile the combat system can be made to be.
What Can This RPG Do? Here's an example.
Just about everything. The engine itself allows an enormous amount of complexity, which is part of why it's taking so long to become playable.
Let's use the new Spell system to give an idea.
In creating a Spell named "Weak Poison," All spells contain one or more Spell Effectors (what the Spell itself actually does). I must first create a Spell Effector that acts like a poison.
In creating the Spell Effector, I must take the following steps:
Which stat this spell will affect -- in this case, Health.
Who will this effect? The caster or the caster's target? (the target)
Does this effect nullify another effect? If it does so, will the stat modifiers be halted as a result? (No. However, my Cure Weak Poison spell does this to this particular effect!)
Effector Turns -- how many turns will this effect last? (This is what allows DOTs such as poison, HOTs, and any stats-over-time spells to function)
As this spell increases in level, will the number of turns increase/decrease? (Yes!) If so, by how much? (+1 per level)
Effect direction -- Is the Health stat going to be going up or down as a result of this spell? (Down)
How strong will the effect be? (Essentially, how much damage per turn will be inflicted)
Will this effect become stronger as the spell gains levels? (Yes!) If so, by how much?
Is the maximum potential of this spell limited in damage? (This is if I feel that the level of this specific effect might need to reach a hard cap)That's how I set up the effect of the poison. However, that isn't a spell in itself! To actually create the Spell for Weak Poison, I then open up another template and get to work on it. In this I must:
Set the name, description and icon.
Determine whether Players, Pets, or Both can learn this spell.
Determine the Mana cost of the spell and how much more or less it costs as the spell increases in level.
Set a level limit that the Spell cannot progress beyond. In this case, I have it set to "0," which means that it has unlimited growth.
Set a cost of learning the spell.
Set an "Advanced Magick" level requirement. (will explain this more later!)
Set a chance of missing, and whether that chance of missing increases or decreases as the spell gains levels.
Set which vendors may teach this spell (leaving this empty means the player cannot learn it, making the spell functionally only usable by creatures or by pets who already know the spell).
Set the AI's use of the spell -- will they use it on opponents, themselves, or themselves & teammates? Hey, there might be a particularly stupid creature that occasionally poisons himself. :)Finally, the core of the spell itself:
I must then choose which Spell Effectors the spell contains. In this case, I select the "Weak Poison" effect which I created earlier. What makes this so cool is that a spell can have as many effects as I want to set; what does this allow? Imagine a "Poison Feedback" spell which would essentially remove a poison someone cast on you and apply it back to them. A Lifedrain or Divine spell that heals you or your teammate over time while dealing equal damage to your opponent would work this way.So can this spell only be cast? Is there anything else they can do that's cool? Yes. One of the other really neat things is shown in the way I've modified the item and "enchanting" system.
Our item system has single pieces of armor that grow through a system of "Armor Layering." For instance, if you have a breastplate, you would then want to add specific layers of different metals to create chainmail, platemail, pauldrons, etc. This can be done by you if you choose to take up Blacksmithing or Advanced Magick; it can also be done by a skilled Blacksmith friend of yours once we get people playing.
One thing you will find is that "Assault" armor -- specifically for the elite Nightmare faction in the game world -- will become available to you later on. These will be most common among people who choose a physically violent lifestyle; they are pieces of armor that are designed as weapons themselves. Once you learn a "Charge" attack type, or any tackle attack, a large number of item Strength modifiers come into play that are unique specifically to the item and it's layers -- your Armor, not your Weapon, will decide how much damage you deal.
In this type of assault, certain Spell classes come into play. The most common one will belong to Spiked Pauldrons of various metals. Attached to all Spiked Pauldrons is a specific Rend or Impale effect which, when tackling someone with your Armor, will be applied on impact to cause massive trauma and damage over time. Since Pauldrons of different metals can be interlocked, a player can conceivably stack several layers of spikes for brutal damage to the target. With any assault of this type, expect to open yourself up to enormous penalties, in the form of health loss and temporary armor, resistance, and evasion reductions.
Armor Layering, when applied to Weapons, will have a large variety of spell effects -- just as varied as one would expect from an enchanted weapon. These will act as Chance-On-Hit spells, except in the case of Silver or Elemental weapons where spell effects will occur every swing.
This should give an idea of just how complex this RPG will be, and how worthwhile the combat system can be made to be.