el mariachi
June 13th, 2007, 05:14 PM
Hi ubunteros! In a very long conversation with a great, computer addicted, friend, we "created" what we think would be the base for a great game. I would like to try to show you our idea. This is going to be long.
Before I start I would like to state that English isn't my native language (I'm Portuguese) so, if I make some kind of typo of say something you don't understand, please correct me/ask me.
Game type
The game would have to be a MMORPG, and we thought it would be cool if it was based on the Last Exile's anime universe: Steam age; Vanships (http://www.alienman.it/public/vanship1.jpg) (steam powered airships); war between nations and some kind of all-powerful organization ("The Guild" in the anime). It would be just based on the anime though, so no direct relation, just similar elements.
All players would start out as vanship pilots, owning an actual vanship, instead of having to level up to have one.
Game's core: The Vanship
It wouldn't be the best game for everyone, seeing that the main mechanic would be something similar to Freelancer (airship simulator) but with some twists, you still would be able to roam by foot, but that would be only in cities or for catching something (more on later).
There would be different classes of vanships, like in Eve Online, ranging from small scouts to über huge ones (the game isn't in space though). The bigger ones could be piloted by more than one player, like a party, where each one would have different functions (shooting enemies, actually pilot and commander - give instructions to other players of the squadron).
Players' role
Players would have to choose between the two rival nations.
These nations are engaged in an ever-lasting war for world domination (for economical power or some kind of powerful crystal whatever, we didn't reach an agreement :P). Each nation would have different abilities (all players from that nation would have those abilities from the beginning), although few. These would affect vanship control (more on that later).
Every player would be assigned to a "post" in the nation's hierarchy, being the top-most the better ranked player of that nation and having commanders, generals and squadron leaders, each with specific abilities and roles.
For instance: A military squadron with a "commander" in a big vessel would give bonuses to his squad members as also orders (in a RTS fashion, much like Battlefield 2 does).
The leader of the nation (or leaders) would be able to create defenses on their controlled territories (limited number) like anti-air defenses, towers whatever, in order to defend it from the other nation.
Questing!
For starters we thought on a simple quest system similar to the anime one: message delivery and scouting. Player's wouldn't have EXP points, instead they would have a reputation level-
-The reputation level
As a player successfully completes these missions he earns reputations points and higher level missions would be available (ranking from 1 to 10). Level 10 missions would be issued by the nation's leader and would have to be executed by a squad or squads (parties/guilds). These points can also be earned by eliminating other nation's players or by helping in the conquest of a region.
This said something is obvious: there is no armor/gun/vanship/vanship add-ons limitations! You can start out with the most über one *FROM THE SIMPLER CLASS* in order to get to the other classes you would have to be either promoted to a higher rank (through the reputation system, squad leader promotion or buying the license [these would be expensive of course].
-Underground quests! *the best of them all*
This is, in my opinion, the best idea we had, although many people won't like it.
We all know some legends/myths, stuff like the holy grail and so on. So... the game would have the same system, but the Grail would actually exist! *WTF?* I explain! --> Shops would sell vanship add-ons and all the stuff you can wear etc. but some really great, really good, really über add-ons would only be available through some "underground" questing, that is, searching for that specific item based on rumors that our cute npc's and staff would spread around (most of them would lead to nowhere, but not that many, or else it would become to frustrating) and, of course, the item(s) would be well guarded. THESE ITEMS WOULD BE UNIQUE - if someone (most like a squad, because they would be really hard to get) finds it, its theirs. period. I thought about stuff like a stealth engine for the airships, with some limitations to flight speed and fighting ability. This would also encourage people to conquer territories.
-Pimp your ride!
Ever wanted to have an unique vanship? well another feature of the game would be something similar to the creature creation engine of the game Spore (still in development). If you have all the necessary materials you would be able to construct your own parts (visual appearance only). Imagine a stealth scout that looks like an actual stealth plane. it would have limitations to keep all the creations from not looking vanships or not fit for the theme.
-Abilities
While inside the vanship you would be able to increase your speed, increase bullet firing rate, make bullets with fire, stealth and some more I haven't thought of. I haven't really thought about on-foot abilities.
-While on-foot
Player's would be able to roam through the cities and buy a house or shop:D. If they don't have a house they would live in some sort of apartments where stuff could be stored.
-Squad Bases
Some sites would be capable of hosting a base for a squad/guild. inside vanships would be repaired and enhanced with squad only stuff (flags, colors, special items). These would also serve as spawning points. If the region in which the base is located is captured, the base wouldn't be destroyed (serving as a "rebel" base). They would be small but a squad would be able to own more than one (no more than 2) bases. The number of these sites would be proportional to the size of the region.
-Power balance
But what if a nation captures all of the territories? This wouldn't happen, because a "mysterious" faction called "Sylphs" would balance the game. They would be a super squad (human, not npc) with über vanships and weaponry. Although they would be a small group. They would fight both sides and have a base in a region not controlled by any faction (they would change region sometimes though). These players would have to be handpicked and these players would play as normal ones, that is, they would be like undercover agents.
-Huge battles
The nation's leader would be able to summon (through rank 10 missions) players for attacks on enemy targets. And the rival nation's leader would be able to summon player for defense (both would have juicy rewards in cash/reputation) creating huge battles, that could be nationwide, with lots of fighting spots. If a region is captured it can't be attacked for 1 or 2 days.
-Dying
As in Last Exile, part of the world is covered by a dense layer of clouds. If your vanship is shot and your HP goes down to 0, you fall from the sky, through the clouds. to some kind of place that would take you back to the last place where you landed, if it has facilities a desert won't cut it. This process would take about 5 minutes, enough time for a battle to be decided.
This isn't all, but it's already too much for a forum thread. Tell me your thoughts and comments.;) if there's interest I will post the rest of the idea (mining, voice chatting, and a lot more). Oh and btw: THE GAME WOULD BE FREE (as in free beer and as in Open-source) AND LINUX EXCLUSIVE (well maybe not, but the primary OS would be Linux).
Thanks for reading!:KS
Before I start I would like to state that English isn't my native language (I'm Portuguese) so, if I make some kind of typo of say something you don't understand, please correct me/ask me.
Game type
The game would have to be a MMORPG, and we thought it would be cool if it was based on the Last Exile's anime universe: Steam age; Vanships (http://www.alienman.it/public/vanship1.jpg) (steam powered airships); war between nations and some kind of all-powerful organization ("The Guild" in the anime). It would be just based on the anime though, so no direct relation, just similar elements.
All players would start out as vanship pilots, owning an actual vanship, instead of having to level up to have one.
Game's core: The Vanship
It wouldn't be the best game for everyone, seeing that the main mechanic would be something similar to Freelancer (airship simulator) but with some twists, you still would be able to roam by foot, but that would be only in cities or for catching something (more on later).
There would be different classes of vanships, like in Eve Online, ranging from small scouts to über huge ones (the game isn't in space though). The bigger ones could be piloted by more than one player, like a party, where each one would have different functions (shooting enemies, actually pilot and commander - give instructions to other players of the squadron).
Players' role
Players would have to choose between the two rival nations.
These nations are engaged in an ever-lasting war for world domination (for economical power or some kind of powerful crystal whatever, we didn't reach an agreement :P). Each nation would have different abilities (all players from that nation would have those abilities from the beginning), although few. These would affect vanship control (more on that later).
Every player would be assigned to a "post" in the nation's hierarchy, being the top-most the better ranked player of that nation and having commanders, generals and squadron leaders, each with specific abilities and roles.
For instance: A military squadron with a "commander" in a big vessel would give bonuses to his squad members as also orders (in a RTS fashion, much like Battlefield 2 does).
The leader of the nation (or leaders) would be able to create defenses on their controlled territories (limited number) like anti-air defenses, towers whatever, in order to defend it from the other nation.
Questing!
For starters we thought on a simple quest system similar to the anime one: message delivery and scouting. Player's wouldn't have EXP points, instead they would have a reputation level-
-The reputation level
As a player successfully completes these missions he earns reputations points and higher level missions would be available (ranking from 1 to 10). Level 10 missions would be issued by the nation's leader and would have to be executed by a squad or squads (parties/guilds). These points can also be earned by eliminating other nation's players or by helping in the conquest of a region.
This said something is obvious: there is no armor/gun/vanship/vanship add-ons limitations! You can start out with the most über one *FROM THE SIMPLER CLASS* in order to get to the other classes you would have to be either promoted to a higher rank (through the reputation system, squad leader promotion or buying the license [these would be expensive of course].
-Underground quests! *the best of them all*
This is, in my opinion, the best idea we had, although many people won't like it.
We all know some legends/myths, stuff like the holy grail and so on. So... the game would have the same system, but the Grail would actually exist! *WTF?* I explain! --> Shops would sell vanship add-ons and all the stuff you can wear etc. but some really great, really good, really über add-ons would only be available through some "underground" questing, that is, searching for that specific item based on rumors that our cute npc's and staff would spread around (most of them would lead to nowhere, but not that many, or else it would become to frustrating) and, of course, the item(s) would be well guarded. THESE ITEMS WOULD BE UNIQUE - if someone (most like a squad, because they would be really hard to get) finds it, its theirs. period. I thought about stuff like a stealth engine for the airships, with some limitations to flight speed and fighting ability. This would also encourage people to conquer territories.
-Pimp your ride!
Ever wanted to have an unique vanship? well another feature of the game would be something similar to the creature creation engine of the game Spore (still in development). If you have all the necessary materials you would be able to construct your own parts (visual appearance only). Imagine a stealth scout that looks like an actual stealth plane. it would have limitations to keep all the creations from not looking vanships or not fit for the theme.
-Abilities
While inside the vanship you would be able to increase your speed, increase bullet firing rate, make bullets with fire, stealth and some more I haven't thought of. I haven't really thought about on-foot abilities.
-While on-foot
Player's would be able to roam through the cities and buy a house or shop:D. If they don't have a house they would live in some sort of apartments where stuff could be stored.
-Squad Bases
Some sites would be capable of hosting a base for a squad/guild. inside vanships would be repaired and enhanced with squad only stuff (flags, colors, special items). These would also serve as spawning points. If the region in which the base is located is captured, the base wouldn't be destroyed (serving as a "rebel" base). They would be small but a squad would be able to own more than one (no more than 2) bases. The number of these sites would be proportional to the size of the region.
-Power balance
But what if a nation captures all of the territories? This wouldn't happen, because a "mysterious" faction called "Sylphs" would balance the game. They would be a super squad (human, not npc) with über vanships and weaponry. Although they would be a small group. They would fight both sides and have a base in a region not controlled by any faction (they would change region sometimes though). These players would have to be handpicked and these players would play as normal ones, that is, they would be like undercover agents.
-Huge battles
The nation's leader would be able to summon (through rank 10 missions) players for attacks on enemy targets. And the rival nation's leader would be able to summon player for defense (both would have juicy rewards in cash/reputation) creating huge battles, that could be nationwide, with lots of fighting spots. If a region is captured it can't be attacked for 1 or 2 days.
-Dying
As in Last Exile, part of the world is covered by a dense layer of clouds. If your vanship is shot and your HP goes down to 0, you fall from the sky, through the clouds. to some kind of place that would take you back to the last place where you landed, if it has facilities a desert won't cut it. This process would take about 5 minutes, enough time for a battle to be decided.
This isn't all, but it's already too much for a forum thread. Tell me your thoughts and comments.;) if there's interest I will post the rest of the idea (mining, voice chatting, and a lot more). Oh and btw: THE GAME WOULD BE FREE (as in free beer and as in Open-source) AND LINUX EXCLUSIVE (well maybe not, but the primary OS would be Linux).
Thanks for reading!:KS