Potential Blog

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.

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:

• Combat (redesigned)
• Magic
• Quests

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).

If you monitor the MMORPG Dev Cave Status page (which I assume everybody does), you’ll have noticed the renewed development activity, including exciting software updates, such as:

• fix javadoc warnings

Core game design is about 80% complete (on paper). Game testing is needed to finalize the remaining 20%, so I’m shifting back into development mode. Every aspect of gameplay will be improved, including Items, Characters, Creatures, Populations, World, Shops, Towns, and Combat (in roughly this order).

After much Alpha testing and post-Alpha work, MMORPG levels up to the next phase of development: Alpha2!

Alpha2 features new weapons, new towns and shops, new resources, and new graphic glitches! Despite some kinks to work out, the new world appears stable and playable.

If you’re an Alpha Playtester, you know what to do. If not, MMORPG is not yet ready for public exposure, but is getting closer every day. In fact, there are several gameplay updates on the cusp of integration.

The purpose of Alpha2 is to introduce new gameplay systems and test them for stability and playability. Game balance and content are secondary concerns at this point.

MMORPG Alpha2: Create characters, combat creatures, cross terrain, collect resources, and craft weapons.