Eisenstern : The RPG project

by Aardappel_ on 05/10/2006 01:20, 317 messages, last message: 12/12/2010 14:57, 205185 views, last view: 12/09/2021 04:10, closed on 12/12/2010 15:10

As you all know, we have been silently prototyping the RPG project for a while now, mainly in the form of Levels and design.

Today marks the day of the more official start of the project, with a name, a domain, and something hinting at a game design.

Check out the website: http://eisenstern.com/

Particularly note the design notes linked from that page. If you want to have your say about the direction this RPG is going, or feel that certain features "won't work well", then now is a good time to discuss that, in this thread :)

Just because we have a website doesn't mean that we should start announcing this project everywhere, unlike most people, I don't like advertising thing that I am going to do, I prefer showing what I have done :) But it is good to have a home for the project, because we'll shift a lot of our focus towards it as the FPS is getting more mature.

I will be doing some of the core gamecode for this project soon, so people can start to play around with it.

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#46: ..

by CC_machine4 on 05/13/2006 18:34

"it will be SP only." (i kno this isnt the real quote, couldnt be bothered to find it..)

coop SP in eisenstern(sp?) would not only be awesome, but turn the game into a MORPG rather than just an RPG.. again just another thought.

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#47: just FYI -- SP

by Aardappel_ on 05/13/2006 21:11

the reason we're doing SP is because the multiplayer programming effort for such an extensive list of features is gigantic.

Everything that has to be synchronized over the network makes the programming effort go x10. Now that is doable for something as simple as an FPS (but even there its hard work), but for an RPG its immense.

By making it SP we can keep all data local, and many features we will be able to implement relatively quickly. Unlike 99% of the people on the interweb, I have some pretty solid experience with knowing how much effort certain tasks take in game development. I also know how much resources we have on average, and I know I want to have something playable not in 10 years but in months. That knowledge drives a lot of the design decisions.

Once we have a solid and fun SP RPG, we can always look if we can make it coop or even pseudo-MMORPG (hate to say the word), there's noone saying we have to stick with SP forever... but doing SP first is just the smart thing to do, unless we want to fail like everyone else.

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#48: ..

by CC_machine4 on 05/14/2006 23:52

ok, you've convinced me there. :)

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#49: Re: ..

by stephen on 05/15/2006 21:43, refers to #29

RPGs without XP...

How about any MMO end game?

This is one of the best parts IMO of, for instance, World of Warcraft. Once you hit the level cap the game entirely changes. It becomes about finding gear to improve your char insted of the BS level grind. I really dislike the linear XP system.

Most of the end game content in WOW is far too hard for a group of noob 60s to just walk into. One must farm easier instances to find gear to let you defeat the harder instances.

I think this concept could be adapted wonderfully for a SPRPG. I think it fits better with a non-linear "plot" style of play.

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#50: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 05/15/2006 21:50, refers to #49

well, that is sortof what we already plan, but more extreme. Have a look at the design doc on the web page.

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#51: Re: just FYI -- SP

by Eivets on 05/16/2006 00:43, refers to #47

I think that making it SP makes creating content much easier for sure. Implementing a multiplayer game is certainly not that much more effort than the single player variant. As announced a while ago, I have started to implement a multiplayer role playing game based on the sauerbraten engine. This turned out to be relatively easy. I have implemented a second game and did some slight adaptions of the base engine. Mostly to capture keys.

Features currently supported are:
- dedicated server
- persistent world with server state saved in an sql database (sqlite)
- server side builtin http server for placing npcs, creating users etc.
- builtin scripting language to implement quests / dialogs
- dialog system for talking to npcs
- simple quest system
- simple chat system roughly similar to wow
- very basic fight prototype; basically you can right-click on an npc to kill

Biggest missing parts are npc movement and fighting back. That's the biggest challenge because it requires loading the map on the dedicated server. The problem is that the loading code uses a lot of opengl stuff e.g. to display progress bars.

Currently the game features a very simple map with very few quests.

If someone is interested in trying please send me a mail so I can create an account for you.

BTW: I composed some music for the game as well. If you are interested, I could submit the music for usage in Eisenstern.

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#52: Rpg

by headwound on 05/16/2006 04:44

Its a cool idea that you won't start out as peon #113248754556. That makes an rpg about as real as you can get as far as overcoming experience. To be truthful the 32 and 64 bit console rpgs followed the progression of experience to death. In fact aren't almost all rpgs like that? I like the idea of starting out in a scale where the saltiest veteran COULD be ko'd by a new player with a sharp aim.

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#53: ..

by pushplay on 05/16/2006 05:35

>> One must farm easier instances to find gear to let you defeat the harder instances.

Does anyone actually find that fun?

I know too many people that complain about playing WoW. They reach a high level and they stop seeing new things and end up going out on raids to the same places again and again. And for what? To fulfill some human compulsion to collect things. I don't want any part in another game like that.

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#54: Re: just FYI -- SP

by Aardappel_ on 05/16/2006 08:43, refers to #51

sounds cool. is there a web page for this?

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#55: Re: just FYI -- SP

by Eivets on 05/17/2006 00:39, refers to #54

No, unfortunately not yet. I am not planning to release anything, soon and as such there is no website. I just wanted to point out, that an online game is not that far out of reach, that's why I posted this. Tell me what you are interested in and I can provide you with information.

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#56: Re: just FYI -- SP

by Aardappel_ on 05/17/2006 03:44, refers to #55

well, I know what kind of gameplay I want, and I know what work that involves over the network. I doubt we are talking about the same kind of project :)

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#57: Re: just FYI -- SP

by Eivets on 05/17/2006 08:10, refers to #56

I read the design notes and got the impression, that it is not that dissimilar. But sure, two people never talk about the same ;-)

So I don't try to talk you into anything. A single player rpg is absolutely fine with me. I look forward to playing it. But if in fact you would prefer to make a multiplayer rpg, but the complexity of work is keeping you from doing it... I would still say it's feasible in reasonable time. And I do know what I'm talking about ;-) If you need help, I volunteer...

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#58: optics

by MeatROme on 05/31/2006 19:30

just a Q about optics ...

... when getting these "dialogues" - will they be displayed on an opaque background or (like chat in sauer) simply float in the air above the head of the NPC?

I seem to remember something about there being choices in such dialogue - that's how I got the impression it was going to be like a cartoon speech-bubble or something ... with buttons in it you could press in 3D ...

am I on the wrong track here or what?

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#59: Re: optics

by Aardappel_ on 05/31/2006 21:03, refers to #58

its actually going to be all displayed in 3d, yes, like a balloon above their head. Unlike other RPGs, you don't go into a "talk mode" which you are forced to make dialog options and quit the mode manually. In Eisenstern, you can talk to an NPC, or you can simply walk away.

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#60: Re: optics

by MeatROme on 05/31/2006 21:21, refers to #59

Yeah I understood that.
Sorry my Q was a bit malformed.
The emphasis for me was on
opaque background (as your bubble suggests) or (like in sauer) free floating without a background (which I find hard to read sometimes) ...

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#61: Re: optics

by Aardappel_ on 06/01/2006 08:05, refers to #60

we'll probably have some sort of background...

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#62: ..

by Max of S2D [Fr] on 06/03/2006 14:14

Can the monsters give some ammo and armor ?

Will there are new monsters ?

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#63: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 06/03/2006 20:52, refers to #62

max: there will hopefully be all new monsters & npcs. And yes passing on items between them and you, wether part of a dialogue or trading, stealing or killing, is generically possible.

swervez: yes, the UI will see a major upgrade for the RPG. The current menu hurts my eyes. As I said the UI will actually be in 3d, so having 3d models in there will be trivial.

If anyone has any graphical ideas (as to texture/model/shader elements) on how to make a "button" with text in look cool as a floating 3d object, please suggest.

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#64: Re: ..

by kurtis84 on 06/04/2006 18:17, refers to #64

something about making a video game out of that seems wrong...but we do it with war, so who knows.

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#65: Re: ..

by Passa on 06/04/2006 23:51, refers to #64

I downloaded it too.. rather depressing actually. Imagine what the parents would have thought.. I got like a level into the game and it was pretty lame, it almost made the whole thing look fun..

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