Spitballing an Idea (not Path related, but grid game related

[Mooncalf]

Yeah, I do think it would appeal to waaaaay more people. Practically everyone who likes both old school roguelikes, and Minecraft / The Walking Dead. Which is a massive target audience, especially if I could get it running smoothly and keep it simple rather than overwhelming people with systems and rules.

[Azraeth]

If it's more graphical, with a player driven plot, I think that would go a long way to keeping it more automated, which I think would give it a good long term projection. Actually, if most of it is automated, I think it could keep peak interest for a long time. Especially if you can strike a balance between competitive features and team oriented ones.

You know anything that involves writing totally has my interest XD

[Cliff Worthington]

You already know I'm in and here if you need someone to bounce ideas off of.

[Alexandrea]

Very interested.

But. The reasons TWD:SS are in part due to the slap you get with every post, ooc and ic. I've messaged you about that before. It sucks to post even on ooc threads and end up wounded, near death and lose exp.

[Kira]

Very interested.

But. The reasons TWD:SS are in part due to the slap you get with every post, ooc and ic. I've messaged you about that before. It sucks to post even on ooc threads and end up wounded, near death and lose exp.

Same!

I love the idea. I'd play it.

Now TWD, I want to play but you can't even post anything on there.

[Charles Crafter]

The entirety of this sounds epic in every way I have one extra comment and one question though:

Comment: Considering how big this would have to be, would you think there would be a large amount of lag or data problems? Now, keep in mind I have never played a game that does this sort of thing, but I would like to know if there might be an issue with it.

Question: Theoretically, f you (or someone else with your input) were to do this, would it still be operatably in browser like path is? I have always preferred those types, but because this sounds like it would require way more stuff, I can imagine a ton of reasons it might be preferable to most people to download it.

[Mooncalf]

The entirety of this sounds epic in every way I have one extra comment and one question though:

Comment: Considering how big this would have to be, would you think there would be a large amount of lag or data problems? Now, keep in mind I have never played a game that does this sort of thing, but I would like to know if there might be an issue with it.

Question: Theoretically, f you (or someone else with your input) were to do this, would it still be operatably in browser like path is? I have always preferred those types, but because this sounds like it would require way more stuff, I can imagine a ton of reasons it might be preferable to most people to download it.

My solution to the lag problem is to store the 'grid' data in separate txt files, so that each time you enter a new section of the world it only has to read one small file, and the database doesn't get too big to read and write. The server has almost unlimited storage, and each txt file will only be around 5kb, so by my calculations we could have in excess of 200,000,000 segments of the world (for just a terabyte), each at around 20 x 20 Path-size squares. Even if we had tens of thousands of people playing, that would be no problem.

Yeah I'd make it work in a browser too. The idea is to keep it simple tech-wise, so that updates could happen quickly.

[Mooncalf]

My main dilemma with this game is that it either has to be completely live, like a normal MMO, or it has to be grid based in a very similar way to Rise (and Path, kinda).

The issue here is that if you get frequent updates on the movement of other players, live fighting becomes cumbersome, because by the time you've clicked somebody they've already moved out of range of your melee, most likely. Rise / Path doesn't work too well for live fighting, at least not to a decent professional standard. Either the movement is too fast to be able to hit anyone, or the movement is too slow, but either way it's not ideal for anything except turn based fighting or fighting NPCs, and I didn't really want to go turn based with this fighting.

Anyone got a solution?

Of course, one solution is making it more like WoW or TOR, where it updates player movements every 0.5 seconds or so, and melees still hit even if your enemy is moving away slightly. That works okay with non-grid games, but I don't see it working here.

Alternatively, I make it in Unity, and it becomes more like a classic 2D MMO, which isn't really grid based at all. But ... there's enough of those games already, and developing that takes a heck of a long time. Plus some people like the simplicity of grid games and being able to play them on any device.

Or ... we just keep it exactly like Rise (in terms of movement and grid), but with javascript coding to make it smoother. It's not ideal for live fighting, but I guess enough people play / have played Path for it to be a viable option. Plus it gets done super fast if it's kept the same as Rise (Path, but with graphics instead of words).

[Charles Crafter]

(To your first response) Well very cool!


And to the other one. I do like the idea of a completely live game. But to try and have it be both live and have good role-play aspects might be a lot more difficult aside from the other problems you mentioned. So In my personal opinion unless you can get some good extra people to help with both regularly I think it might be easier to keep closer to the last type you made and make it more like rise, I don't play that one as often but I have liked it's design a good deal.


But if you do decide to make it live completely, I think it would be a good idea to have stations where people can do things solely in role-play so they don't get killed while just trying to read or write something.

[Wendigo]

Also seems like it would be less about PVP and more about a variety of survival skills. Expert pathfinder anyone?

Yeah, people probably wouldn't bother PVPing one another unless they were members of a rival nation / city / group in a town that's being attacked.

I think that, if you allow an option for PVP, you're going to have a faction that exists just to PVP/troll everyone else. It's inevitable in that sort of game, and you'd have to police it or let it go.

Frankly, I think you should set a hard cap on PVP to avoid much of the ugliness of other games. You can still have PVPesque options like picking pockets or wounding people, but I'm envisioning a trolling faction forming that exists to loot the countryside and burn down what everyone else has built.

That might be realistic, but I really think PVP is what has killed Path for me. Just my $0.02.

I wouldn't even start a game like this if it was going to have a PVP option, regardless of what claims or promises of policing it were given. Full stop.