Just read niftys idea .

I really like this idea. The only thing that concerns me is that you need to program in a *lot* of verbs . Otherwise you''ll end up frustrating the players because they''ll be sitting there going "But I wanted to set Landfish on fire!!!!" . Plus, you''ll need to take into account all sorts of environmental effects. Still, I really like the idea .

Just make sure that it doesn''t end up like some of those old adventure games where you spent half your time finding the right verb .

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Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant and she fell on me? Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny.

I would like to combine Niphty''s idea with macros and hotkeys. I still think you need to be able to define internal mood, since it can cause you to be hostile to someone you like or nice to someone you hate. Admit it. How else can we handle PMS in this interface? =)

All in all though, Niphty is RIGHT ON. We need that kind of variable, in fact we need at least three variables to make the system believable. I say they go like this, in order of importance.

Internal Mood Setting
Friendship Variable (set by player on a semi-permanant basis)
Environmental Factors

Anything I''m missing? Anyway, these three variables reacting with eachother should give satisfactory control to the player, but leave enough variation to make it seem personable. I would like it if text input of emotions *could optionally* be relegated to macros alone, for pros.

As for the Voicesynth/Lip Synch/Microphone stuff, I was just pipe dreaming. If we don''t plan for this now, we never will. Incedentally, this system fits perfectly with the conditions mentioned in the Final Death Clubhouse. Now all I need is a fitting advancement system...

Humm.. seems i finally got people to agree with me like landfish always does.. and like landfish i''m left going "what, i can''t argue with you if you agree with me!" so i''ll just take landfish.. er.. annony''s deal about a suitable advancement system and blab on that for a second.
What advancment? haven''t you heard of a MUSH? ;p

Now, as far as verbs and number of verbs and things like that.. well.. a MUD has several hundred verbs AT LEAST! it''s not difficult to program them, just time-intensive. I''m starting a verb list for my game. Actually my MMORPG was set to be something like i''d mentioned, ever since i saw the Sims.. i just knew i had not the talent for it.. but i''m learning .
I was actually working on an excel sheet which contains all the verbs to be put into the game in the first column, what the verb prints out to the person typing in the second, what the verb prints to others in the room, and what the verb prints to the person it''s being done to. The reason i''m having the one done to last is because there isn''t always someone that something''s done to I''m working on writing a conversion program to enter all those fields into the game database without having to retype them all. That way i can simply come up with a few, type them out, and never type them again.. whee! that''s still a dream though.. but i''m working on it

As far as what else can you do? simple.

Let''s start with character creation. Humans according to D&D are something like 6d12+5 (or something equally as rediculous) inches tall. This is a truth. Humans can be within like 4 and 7.5 feet tall. But there''s a bell curve to this. 50% of people fall within 5.25-6.25 feet, 30% from 4.5-5 and 6.25-6.75 and the other 20% from like 4-4.5 and 6.75-7.5. It''s statistical Now, following this bell curve, you can design an algorithm that will produce results like this. Then you simply generate a human based on this and a few questions.
Now the person playing sees something like this:
"You''ve selected a human male. Your human male is 5 feet 11 inches tall. You may add or subtract 2 inches from this number."
then they add/subtract and hit ok.. we''ll say they did nothing.
"You''ve selected to be 5 feet 11 inches tall. Would you like to have long or short legs?"
They pick long legs.
"You''ve selected long legs. Would you like to have a tiny, medium, or large frame?"
They pick medium..
"(blah-blah). Your weight is computed as 185 lbs. You may add or subtract 10 lbs from this."
They stick another 10 lbs to their character to fatten him up to be the frat boy they envisioned..
"(blah). Your character is being generated.... done. Now to the head. Please slide the rulers to adjust face shape and head size."
Yes, this is all possible.. don''t ask me how, i''ll explain some other time ;p
"Now pick a hair color and style. Now pick an eye color.. lip color.. rosy cheeks (y/n).. blah blah.."
"Now select a shirt for your character to wear"
they pick a dark-blue A&F t-shirt
"Now select a pair of pants or shorts"
they pick some tan shorts
"now select some shoes for yourself."
they get some reboks.
"Congrats, your character is done"
this is where the game generates the character, and slaps it on the screen. This is what we''re all moving towards in terms of human animation and human movement.. skeletal frame. The frame is built based on certain tolerances and randomness. A person who''s 5'' 11" with a medium frame will have a certain width of shoulders, certain rib cage.. every bone in your body can be turned into a statistical formula with given tolerances which allows an entire skeletal frame to be generated based on a few questions
Once you''ve got the frame, you put skin to it. We''ve got the ability now to take a shirt skin of X size and wrap it on anything withing 5% of the shirt''s original size without looking distorted. The long/short legs determine how the pants fit as well as the length of leg bones, since those can vary the most in people. Long legs usually correspond to longer arms, as well.. so the single question answers multiple things.
Giving the player a mugshot and allowing them the drag the slide-rulers makes it so they can customize their looks. You have a set of pre-defined faces.. asian, frat-boy, whatever. They can also click on the face and drag the mouse to move the facial points around, allowing you to create a joker who''s always got this evil grin, and so forth. Police use a system much like this to create composite sketchs of people
Now, with a skin on your frame, you officially have a character. viola! that''s the character creation process. Due to the weight you selected and the build, you''ve got a certain ammount of muscle mass and certain ammounts of fat (this could be a question to ask people.. tone level). And with that, you know a given character''s strength. Based on what we know about the eyes, you also know a certain character''s sight ability.. hehe in short, you can determine a lot of things once you''ve got a character worked out.
Intelligence and wisdom randomly roll within a certain limit.. you could almost call it IQ. It uses the same statistical tolerances like everything else
Then you set forth to adventure in your new realm.. and have fun! without ever knowing about the skills you have. Say the character runs a lot, you''ll be able to actually physically represent this by having the character grow slimmer.. or having their muscles grow some.. and they won''t stop to pant so much. Running too much would overwork your character, and they might pass out.. or something to that effect that stops powermaxers from just literally running everywhere! ;p From here.. you can do anything you want. the system is set, primed and ready to pop.. and trust me.. THIS is the system of the future.. thanks to Maxis and other new technologies and psycology research and whatnot oh, and thanks to landfish for making me tell all of you this.. it''s all in good fun maxis can''t copyright the interface, just like doom couldn''t. it''s not a real thing to say "we own this style" lol.

J

I know the "Advancement/no advancement" thing is it''s own arguement... BUT, I think if we were to go without it we would might even make the character creation process more involved.

Also, in such a complex environment (based off of multiple things other than combat) a "character" will need to be so much more than just a set of numbers denoting physical behavior. We will need to know something about personal habits, personality, affiliation with any in-game organizations or factions, etc. I think a "primer" session might be most appropriate, as it would give the player a chance to experience playin the nbew character physically while she decides what she''ll be like in context of the world.

Also, in a Final Death situation (see other thread) this drawn out creation process will discourage repeatedly making new characters just to kill people and die off. Musn''t make it too much of a hassle for those who died well, though, right?

Thanks for the brain food niff. Keep it comin.

What do you think of this idea:

Along with the character creation process (maybe the one described by Niphty) you could have a type of edit box associated with the character. Here you could have the player type a small background story about their character: Who the character is, where he is comming from and what he is doing in the world.

I think that would encourage the players to think creatively about the character they are creating and allow them to assign some personality, purpose and motivation to it.

The other players in the game need not to know about this story. But one might choose to tell about it to other characters in the game and may even be forced to reveal some of it when joining a guild or something (that is, if you aren''t lying to the guilt).

Maybe a player could even choose to use the text box as a form of in-game-diary describing the important events in the characters life.

And if the character performs some great deed or the story is particulary well written the player may be given the choice of getting his character included in ''The book of heroes'' which lists great heroes of the land along with their background and/or life story.

Regards

nicba

Here''s a trick for you... If the character is modifying a template for her facial structure, they should have to modify a MINIMUM percentage before they can use the face. That way, you don''t get a whole horde of people with the template face, and everyone looks basically different. Even better, the more detailed you make the creation system by default, the fewer people you will have rushing through character creation just to get back into the game so they can kill again!

Going back closer to the template could count toward the percentage, so if you really wanted something closer to the template, you could play around a bit and get it...

quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster

I know the "Advancement/no advancement" thing is it''s own arguement... BUT, I think if we were to go without it we would might even make the character creation process more involved.

Also, in such a complex environment (based off of multiple things other than combat) a "character" will need to be so much more than just a set of numbers denoting physical behavior. We will need to know something about personal habits, personality, affiliation with any in-game organizations or factions, etc. I think a "primer" session might be most appropriate, as it would give the player a chance to experience playin the nbew character physically while she decides what she''ll be like in context of the world.

Also, in a Final Death situation (see other thread) this drawn out creation process will discourage repeatedly making new characters just to kill people and die off. Musn''t make it too much of a hassle for those who died well, though, right?

Thanks for the brain food niff. Keep it comin.

For those who die an untimely death by retards.. they will get a second chance at life. Hey, this isn''t reality.

As for final death, i stopped reading the thread, it was pointless not my kinda thing to worry about. death is up to any interpretation.. so.. i''ve got three systems that i''ve thought up.. and all are valid, cause we know nothing about it.

As far as the backgrounds, the Sims has that.. and yeah, it''s nice. plus you can make photo albums gotta love it!

I agree on the minimum mods.. hehe kinda hard to match the number of facial possiblities in the world.. but, hey!

niff.. cute.

we''ll just start calling you Ano

J