I''ve been tossing around this idea (that''s far to ambitious for me at the current time, but oh well) of making a multiplayer FPS that would work a lot like Everquest or Ultima Online. It would still be a FPS at heart, but you would have to buy your weapons and armor, gain levels, etc. Damage would also be handeled in a bit more RPG like manner (though a shot or two to the head would still be quite leathal). This game would take place in a game "world" instead of a "arena" (think Tribes 1/2 only much MUCH bigger) with seaprate towns and the like. Also, for the hardcore "Quake" type fans, we have small "Paintball" arenas in which you can play a "classic" FPS type game w/ out damaging your charecter. Sound fun so far? I think so! HOWEVER!!! If I was to (attempt) to do such a game I wouldn''t want it to quickly break down into a world wide deathmatch, thats what the "arenas" would be for. I would want people to socialize, trade, explore, etc. So, in order to discourage people from simply going on mad rampages I would set it up so that when you die, your charecter is gone. That''s right... gone, vanqiushed, destroyed, dead, NOT COMING BACK. No respawn. To continue playing after your charecter has died you must create a new one from scratch. Caught your attention yet? I have several reasons for doing this. One: It would obviously increase the games realism. ^_^ Two: People wouldn''t be so "Suicidal" if it meant they were going to lose a charecter that they just spent a week building up. Three: As stated above, It would encourage people to socialize peacably instead of killing womever they saw. Now remember, Damage is more RPG like, so your charecter isn''t going to die TOO easily. Also, the arena''s would basically be paintball tournaments, so losing there wouldn''t knock you off for good. There''s a bit more to this all than just that but I wouldn''t want to give away ALL my ideas! ^_^ So? What do you think? Any better suggestions? ----------------------------- Blue*Omega (Insert Witty Quote Here)

Do you fight bots or other players? If it''s strictly PvP, then that''s a bad idea. Otherwise, if it''s mainly cooperative play against computer enemies, it''s a very good one. It sucks losing a character you''ve been working on for a while, and if it''s strictly PvP then someone will lose their precious character with each conflict. You''d have people running away from fights before the other can finish them off.

~CGameProgrammer( );

As for the Bot/Human question, It would be a mix. Somewhat like Everquest or UO. AS for the "people running away" idea, that''s almost the type of reaction I''m looking for. If you can''t respawn then your charecter is suddenly a very precious thing. You would do whatever you have to to preserve it. This would bring out the "real life" reactions in people. I think that would make the game more interesting.

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Blue*Omega

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You''ll also need to make it so one really powerful guy (think Everquest lvl. 60 Paladin) can''t go over to someone that''s spent a few days on his character but is still relatively weak (lvl. 10 Wizard) and chop his head off. Otherwise, the game''s gonna grow into a "The weak stay weak while the strong grow stronger" sorta thing, and this probably won''t be too fun for the newbies. Just my 2 copper (That''s an Everquest saying. Man, I really want that game back)

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. ^_^
Simple solution!

Make multiple "worlds". The "Level 1-10" world, the "Level 11-20" world...

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Blue*Omega

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If you have separate worlds for the differing character levels, you miss out on some of the best interaction there is - That between an experienced player and one just learning the ropes.

You could try a form of policing wherein it''s considered "illegal" to kill someone outside a certain level range of your character. MUDs do this quite well I feel. It may not work for what you have in mind though.

I will admit that if the world has no-restriction pkill, I''d prefer one that had the separate worlds. (That''s too darn close to admitting I might be wrong )

Faradhi, opinionated ... extraordinaire

Like in a paper/pen traditional RPG where death actually means death they set up some pretty good rules to keep players in check. In some doing bad things simply means your player won''t advance, sort of like the Shadowrun karmatic system (not like the UO one) One good example I can think of is the Star wars role playing game where you earned dark side points and if you got too many you lost control of your character and they became an NPC. Something like if you do evil deeds you lose your soul and some dark God (or other malignant force) takes control...

*****confused by earlier errors, bailing out....*****

I don''t think the idea with the different worlds would work very well... One of the main ideas behind a role-playing game is, that you evolve your characte, isn''t it? And how do you see that you have gotten better? By comparing yourself with others...

So if you switch to a new world after level 10 it''s almost as if you started anew - not very rewarding!
There are other ways from discouraging players to kill others: bad reputation, "police", ... You could make the life of criminals a living hell! ;-) The easier the kill the worse the punishment should be...

Just my 2 cents...

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www.BadEntertainment.net

I can see that in order to have this all make sense I''ll have to explain the WHOLE idea. ^_^
I''m thinking of having this game take place in an sort of Techno/Wild West setting (Ever see Trigun?) You would start the game as a Citizen and would remain so until one of two thing happen. Good, high level players would have the chance to become "Sherrifs" (a.k.a. GM''s). On the other end of the spectrum, however, are the "Outlaws". If a player should do anythin illegal within the game (Kill a citizen or sherrif, rob a store, blow up a town... you get the idea) they become outlaws. Outlaws have bountys placed on their heads depending on how much damage they have caused. IE: a player whom has killed another player would have a $500 somthing bounty while a player responsible for the destruction of a town or two (a VERY difficult feat) might have a whopping $10,000,000 reward on his/her head! Outlaws would also have various restrictions set upon them, like not being able to play in most paintball arena''s or buy goods from general stores. In order to get supplies an Outlaw would have to buy from a sort of black market or player to player trade, or rob other players or stores. Also, outlaws would not get paid bountys if they kill/capture other outlaws. The title of Outlaw would be lifted if you were to surrender yourself to the proper authoritys and pay for past damages.

As you can see, an outlaws life would be a stressful and difficult one. The outlaws would baisically represent the "Hardcore" gamerers (You don''t make friends too easily when your worth $3,000,000). they would also encourage the all other players to abide by the rules. That "lvl. 10 charecter" would have more than enough reason to keep from chopping off the newbies head if he wished to keep that level 10 charecter alive.

Just a few comments to answer the questions that I know are inevitable.
For one: YES! you COULD feasibly destroy an entire town and all inhabitants therof. This would take a TON of skill (and luck) however. And yes, the towns would be repaired. Otherwise the world would become barren very quickly.
Two: Please don''t put up any post about it being a bad idea to have players as the GM''s. I''ve thought that through already. They would be "Sherrifs", not Gods.

Now that I''ve outlined the whole plan, what do you think?

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Blue*Omega

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