Topic: I have an Idea for a Dungeons and Dragons MMORPG
Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
That's completely different from D&D Online: Stormreach 2 or whatever its called.
Basically the gist of it is that rather then make a "game" per se they make the engine and dedicated most effort towards an idiot proof and easy to use world builder that can easily do the following:
-Generate a world map -generate towns/cities -dungeons -wild lands/highways -quests and npc conversations
Also have account management abilities so you can from the "Superadmin DM Client" setup privalages as to what regsitered players are DM's and which ones have rank over others.
As well as manipulate and edit easily within this building a billions different facets of the "world" such as what items are and are not availiable so you won't have lower level DM's giving out epic gear to low level friends.
Basically you have a paid subscription to play online period.
But then you should have a fixed price to buy or buy online and then download a "boxed" WorldBuilder say 50$, which lets you build a whole world and with your default monthly payment plan of say 10$ host a world with X many zones and allowed max Y many players at one time.
So now you have a game, that plays on the D&D ruleset, or even better! Have it so that in the world builder you can SET THE RULE SET TO WHATEVER EDITION YOU WANT! GURPS? Check. 3rd Edition Revised? Check. Fourth Edition? Fine, Check. Etc etc!
And then from there you can EDIT the rules so you can add it or revise it so you can house rule it!
So now you want to build your world but wait!!!! Hold the presses!!! You're as talented as a flipper handed freak child who just discovered MS Paint!! Your got no talent to make even the first zone right now what do you do!?!?
Easy! Not only when you decide to make a new zone you can choose to either A) make it yourself from scratch, B) use a premade "Starter Pack" of zones released by "Blizzards of the Hill" C) Modify the starter pack maps and use them fully supports if your confident with that.
Or d!! Randomly generate a zone with a bunch of easy to use options! Most people are probably familiar with randomly generated maps from say Dwarf fortress of Civilization so not much further is needed for that.
So you have your world, you have you as DM, I'm tempted to say that offering a community webspace and forums but maybe that might be nifty but aside from that so you setup your webspace and get your players and asusming you have friends online somewhere and get them into the game then you can set them up as DM's etc to delegate.
Or you could say play on a premade server managed by the company who made the game/engine and just on that or join other peoples servers!
I think this could be an interesting idea.
Kinda like how Neverwinter Nights do it, but better, more user friendly.
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quote:Kinda like how Neverwinter Nights do it, but better, more user friendly.
Yes, everyone has that idea. It is, however, surprisingly difficult to make a better, more user-friendly version of Neverwinter Nights that remains as customizable as we'd all like it to be.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson:
quote:Kinda like how Neverwinter Nights do it, but better, more user friendly.
Yes, everyone has that idea. It is, however, surprisingly difficult to make a better, more user-friendly version of Neverwinter Nights that remains as customizable as we'd all like it to be.
posted
I had an idea once for a game that would solve everyone's problems, end hunger, and bring peace to the world. It would also have photorealistic graphics and brilliant art design, and have a really nifty time-shifting mechanic based on the rotation of polynomials.
So far, I have the loading screen done.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I'm determined to play a live D&D session via webcams. Don't know when it'll happen, but it WILL!
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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By wanting to have all the options you list there, you necessitate a program which is mostly open-ended with much user-created content or something obscenely big and clunky and expensive that isn't flexible.
Basically you have to operate on a continuum of Simplicity vs Capability. By definition, the more capability you include, the less idiot proof something is, and the easier it is, the less content it can include.
Maptools, with it's large amount of community-created artwork, maps, interactive tokens etc is basically all you need. If you want to expand your capabilities a bit, programs like skype, oovoo, photoshop, campaign cartographer etc can be useful, but aren't strictly needed.
If you don't have time, grab some pre-made maps from the user community, but if you do, make your own. Make your own automated tokens which can do most/all the rolls and calculations you need. Change your ruleset to a different game by programming new tokens, or finding examples from the user community...
Note: Skype + Maptools is what my college friends and I are currently using to play remotely.
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by TheGrimace: www.rptools.net By wanting to have all the options you list there, you necessitate a program which is mostly open-ended with much user-created content or something obscenely big and clunky and expensive that isn't flexible.
Probably true. But ideally (barring better solutions) it ought to be possible to make a program with various layers of "auto do it for me in the way that seems to work for most people" vs. "toggle off the autopilot/simplification features and let me fiddle with the guts."
As an entirely imaginary example:
Generate a populated continent for me.
Generate a populated continent the size of Australia for me.
Generate a populated continent for me the size of Australia with x number of miles of coastline, a highest point of 12,000 feet, a mean elevation of 350 feet, and temperate with regard to vegetation concentrations and water distribution.
Do the above, but let me fill in the population centers and roads by hand.
posted
Well the general idea Grimace is that I want a program as I describe but with how should I put this? Crysis/Oblivion level of graphics or better graphics WITH the massive open ended awesome content creator of DOOM.
As i feel while I like NWN1&2 its completely retarded how narrow it is and how many mistakes they made, its as if they had the people read the Core books and nothing else and had no professional dms on the design team or something how shoddily stuff was done and modding it is a pain in the arse.
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posted
I think I have to agree with Tom here. Of course a simpler interface with perfect graphics would be awesome, but that basically goes without saying. Unless you actually have the technical know how to do it there's not a lot to talk about.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
So in effect your idea is "Just like existing games, only with added AWESOME". That's not an idea, that's a wish.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
I think you need your eyes checked.
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posted
Blayne, we're not saying that better graphics wouldn't be better. We're just saying that "making the graphics better" isn't exactly an original idea.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: Blayne, we're not saying that better graphics wouldn't be better. We're just saying that "making the graphics better" isn't exactly an original idea.
Except thats not nessasarily what I'm saying that was one facet of it, the actual idea is A) having a game that the server operator can set to whichever edition of D&D rulesets they want or non D&D ones like GURPS.
B) Having a world builder that is both manual and has options for automatic generation, with maybe something to stress test it.
C) Having the company host it but with every little bit more you pay the more people can log on simutaniously.
Not just that but also have as their core product their OWN server with unlimited slots ~within reason own world, quests, etc and hired professional DM's with a salary and maintain their own server(s) as large and rich in content as todays mainstream MMORPG's that people who buy the game can play and for a fee make their own.
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
And and D) also edit and homerule the current ruleset as they wish. This stems from the fact that the 3.5 used in NWN2 is so horrible and buggy that had it been easier to edit by the playerbase then nearly all problems would be fix, this was more a flaw with the engine I believe so the goal would be to make an overall engine with "mini" engines that allow the switching between rulesets.
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posted
Yes, I would like all these things. And I'm telling you, Blayne, it would be an enormous undertaking to program something like this. Even the "professional DM" thing is, at this stage, a pipe dream.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Add another to the "wonderful MMORPG ideas for a dedicated team of hundreds of programmers, writers, artists, 3D designers, and subject-matter experts". Sure, maybe it would be nice, but it isn't happening without a huge outlay of effort costing millions of dollars.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Or, as my game studio owner buddy says - "We've got plenty of great ideas. That's the easy part."
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
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posted
While that's true, that's not necessarily the issue. I don't think there's anything wrong with tossing around interesting ideas on a forum because tossing around ideas is fun even if you're not going to do anything with them. The issue is that in this case there's really nothing to talk about. "I want a flexible, intuitive D&D online engine with amazing graphics." Well, okay. I want a Ferrari.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
This is true. It isn't just an idea, its an idea that is nothing more than a straightforward wish. There's nothing really to flesh out, unless Blayne's prepared to start talking about how some of the things might work algorithmically.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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