The recent significant graphic performance improvement inspired me to tinker with a few new rendering tricks. Surface features (such as trees) now stand atop the underlying terrain. Characters and creatures
can walk behind these features. The goal is to provide a more dimensional perspective to the world.
For alpha playtesters: There are some known issues with the new feature rendering, but I’ve released a new alpha version anyway.
I’m often amazed how much processing can be performed in a few milliseconds, even in the face of sloppy algorithms. Graphic processing, on the other hand, seems to be another story. Any excess painting can be significantly detrimental.
For the record, I’m developing this game in Linux (Debian) with no accelerated graphics drivers, and I am determined for it to run well on my platform of preference. Sun promises a vastly improved graphic pipeline with its upcoming Java update release, but this only helps with DirectX in Windows.
It’s easy to unjustly blame sluggish graphics on Java or Linux. So far in my burgeoning graphics experience, I’ve found that performance problems invariably indicate that I’ve done something horribly wrong. Reading an article on Swing animation last week inspired me to vastly improve my graphic processing.
Without getting into the technical details (unless there’s an interest), the conclusion is that Java on Linux can certainly drive graphic content, as long as you’re meticulous in your implementation. While Java’s general software performance is exceptional, only so much graphic excess can be swept under the rug.
I’ve cleared out excess pages and swept some things under the rug. PotentialGames.com looks exactly the same, but information about the game is now found under Potential RPG (until the new name is revealed… read “decided upon“). Other resources (forums, wiki, task tracking) have been moved.
Alpha playtester(s) should contact their (his) nearest regional branch playtesting center supervisor (me).
Hear Ye, Hear Ye. By High Decree, the game shall be renamed! Huzzah! (No, that’s not the new name; that’s just an olde expression of exclamation.)
Until then, I’ll use a generic placeholder to refer to the Potential Games MMORPG. Portions of the site will be offline until relaunched. Alpha (Beta Beta) testing is paused briefly until relabeled.
For MMORPG Alpha (also known as Beta Beta) Playtesters, I’ve put out a minor upgrade featuring some combat tweaks. This does not yet represent the full MMORPG combat system, but some strides have been made in that direction. Particularly (for the curious), creature population processing logic, character navigation, and combat computations have been adjusted and improved.
What does this mean to you? If you’re a playtester, you’ll find you have an assortment of minor weapons to play with. Until towns are reinstated, there is no way to create any more. There is a population of weak Spiders to the South of Firsttown, which your default character is wildly overpowered to fight.
There are some gameplay limitations to be aware of for playtesting. As mentioned, combat computations are way out-of-balance (in your favor). Compounding the mass slaughtering this enables, corpses do not seem to decay properly. Consequently, the Spider Forest is littered with the crushed exoskeletons of vanquished arachnids. If you do find your hit points dwindling, the best way to replenish them is to die.
That’s all for the moment.
The plight of your character, and staple of RPGs, is to be ambushed by creatures bent on your demise. In MMORPG, the world’s proliferation of evil creatures is determined by population logic. New and improved population management is now in place.
From a gameplay standpoint, the new logic includes (the beginnings of) population dynamics. If you hunt down an area of creatures, the population will dwindle. In time, a population will restock its numbers. In addition, frequently traveled routes (such as along roads) will remain more clear of enemies. Population logic also controls potential combat rewards (items, resources).
From a scheduling standpoint, population dynamics will be further enhanced later. My immediate goal is to continue integrating Beta Beta core gameplay features. Combat improvements are scheduled next, followed by items, shops, and towns. These systems already exist from Alpha, and are being tweaked, per the latest game designs. After this, new components (such as magic, quests, and skills) can be integrated.
After a productive Alpha phase, MMORPG now moves into Beta Beta!
Whereas Alpha was focused on technical issues, the motivation of Beta Beta is to introduce gameplay. During Beta Beta, all core game designs will be integrated and tested, culminating in the MMORPG Beta release.
Beta Beta is not publicly available, but more testers will be sought as more gameplay is integrated. Current Alpha testers can continue to playtest as usual. You will find the world lies dormant for the moment, as most systems are disabled pending game design updates.
Beta Lore: This is a time of great upheaval, as new forces reform the world. Already, the very essence of character has been redefined. Those familiar with the ways of old will experience a world reemerging, with features both compellingly new and pleasingly familiar.
“Great change is necessary for greatness.” — Nyhm
I don’t yet have as defined a game design process as my software process, but I’ve evolved a simple methodology for recording and refining my game design ideas. The technology needed is a pen, a journal, and a wiki. The process involves three activities:
For one, I write down (with the pen, in the journal) every random gameplay thought, with little regard for feasibility or conformity to the rest of the design. From my technical background, I tend to auto-cull things that would be impossible to implement. From my board game background, I tend to prefer strategic mechanics, rather than fuzzy “wouldn’t it be cool if” concepts.
The second activity also involves a pen and a journal (I use the same one from above). The goal is to refine the random thoughts into coherent game mechanics. Terminology like “attributes” and “weapons” and their interactions must be defined. The goal is to draft and refine the game systems.
The final activity, which I had underestimated, is concisely documenting the final game design. This phase forces decisions, exposing gaps and conflicts. If you can’t play the game in your head from these designs, and design the software, then there is something missing. I’ve found that a wiki provides the best balance between formality and flexibility.
All of these activities happen more or less at the same time. This is not a sophisticated requirements tracking system, and document versioning would be needed to coordinate design and software teams, but this works for my team of one.
Overall, this methodology seems rather obvious, but it’s important to be aware of the process, and write it down. Unless something is well documented, it cannot be well understood.
After making some progress implementing new game features, I found myself leafing through my design journals to extrapolate the final design decisions. To solidify the ideas, I’ve spent a few days codifying the design in a wiki (DokuWiki with Dokubook template). Now I have a more rigorously defined design. There are still gaps (the 20% of the unfinished design mentioned earlier), but they are more clearly exposed, so I can code around them.
The most fundamental design change is to the character attributes. From a gameplay standpoint, the character system should feel more “classic.” Simply put, raise your attributes to become better at things. Strategic decision involves which attributes to raise, and what equipment best compliments them. From a technical standpoint, this affects many of the core content objects (characters, creatures, and items).
The new attributes have been implemented, but not integrated with any logic that uses them. As soon as I can, I will release a new client, so Alpha playtesters can at least see the character changes.
Last week, I announced commencement of development, after a phase of game design. No updates have been released as of yet. (Alpha testers will find the client is “expired” … and the server is offline anyway.) I’ve spent this week switching gears back into software development mode.
The technical task at hand is to alter the software to support the latest game designs. Nearly all of the existing infrastructure (the so-called Potential Engine) will remain untouched. Only game objects (Items, Characters, Creatures, etc.) and logic/rules need be manipulated. Plus, the user interface will need to be updated to reflect game object changes, such as new character attributes.
Beyond these updates, the game design calls for three significant additions to gameplay:
These will probably appear in this order. There’s also a Skills system, but that’s part of the 20% of game design that’s only roughly sketched out. These components comprise the fundamental gameplay of the MMORPG project.
As soon as the world is stable enough to walk around in, I’ll start releasing updates with new bits of gameplay (for Alpha playtesters).
Recent Improvements Tome of Lore