Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts,etc

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wolph42
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Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts,etc

Post by wolph42 »

Hello maptool community (or at least that part who read this post ;-)

This is just me dipping my toes in the water to feel the temperature....:

I was wondering what the interest is to create a turn-based video game in maptool.
It would roughly be a game that:
- you can play on your own
- possibly with others as well
- you play against the computer
I think the closest description would be: a nethack like game, assuming everyone here knows that game, if not: a turn based dungeon crawler.
Most stuff (if not all) can be programmed in maptool, like movement limitation, stats, battle, FoW, LoS, turn based, monster movement, treasure, levelling.
And if something is encountered which we require then we address the 1.4 dev team (of which it would be appreciated if they let their interest know as well).

This is however quite a monstrous project and thus without interest and help it aint gonna happen. Hence I would like to know two things:
1. Who would like such a game
2. Who would like to help creating it


Ad.1.: if not enough response come on this part, then it will be dead in the water from the start. In only want to start this endeavour if there's enough genuine interest.

Ad. 2, people I need to make this happen:
1. game mechanics design (so no coding, but *how* will the game work, e.g. battle)
2. graphic artists: items, chests, monsters, dungeon tiles etc. A lot of stuff is already available, but it would be nice if it all fits together
3. writers: to create a story line, events, descriptions of items etc.
4. macro coders: for the engine (e.g. battle, turn base movement, stats, levelling, etc.)
5. devs: for all the stuff thats currently not possible in MT and would be nice to have. E.g. it would be nice to be able to automatically create a map.
6. enthusiasts: there will always be stuff for which you don't need to be a coder, writer, artist, dev, designer so people with interest to help are also welcome!

I've already have an fully automated dungeon creator, so that part is covered and of course, we already have maptool which covers roughly 50% of the requirements.

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JamzTheMan
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by JamzTheMan »

To clarify, are you creating the "game" from scratch as well? Do you have the initial premise/mechanics in mind already or everything will be created from scratch?

Depending on things go I would have some interest. My level involvement would vary but could contribute anything from mechanics idea to some photoshop skills, and of course, support improvements to 1.4.x, especially if they can be used for other purposes.
-Jamz
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wolph42
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by wolph42 »

I have nothing in mind yet for mechanics, although to get most general interest I guess it would be best to base it on d&d, or probly a sivmplified v ersion. E.g. Attack, defense, strength toughness for battle and int for search/ detect. Later on maybe wis/char to add for magic. Again later skills. We can build it up when we get something working.

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Jagged
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by Jagged »

I would be quite keen to see a game with some kind of "action point spend" mechanic. That could take many forms from costing every square moved, or just 1 action point for a half-move etc. Plus I would be happy to help add supporting tech into 1.4 to make that easier.

Plus if we could do 2D and Iso versions? That would be awesome ;)

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wolph42
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by wolph42 »

Jagged wrote:I would be quite keen to see a game with some kind of "action point spend" mechanic. That could take many forms from costing every square moved, or just 1 action point for a half-move etc. Plus I would be happy to help add supporting tech into 1.4 to make that easier.
as of now, all is possible. I'm first gathering interest both in the end product and in the dev scene. When enough have shown their interest we can start designing.
Jagged wrote:Plus if we could do 2D and Iso versions? That would be awesome ;)
Happy to comply BUT I would suggest you have a look at the dungeon builder 2 (link in sig) and see whether that would comply with iso (and how much work that would be).

My interest now, is optimizing the dungeon builder such that its ready for use for this type of game. Currently it still requires some user interaction to get a proper 'random' dungeon (e.g. there is no connectivity check for rooms. I'll post this separately though as to not clutter this thread with technical mumble: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=26558

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wolph42
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by wolph42 »

ok, first stage of this project is finished. I've got the basics of the dungeon generator running.
Its fairly slow, generating a 60x60 square dungeon requires somewhere around 12 minutes (on a reasonably fast pc).
The main reason its so slow, is the adding of the bevels and the adding of the VBL (which is attached to the bevels) I hope that as soon as the new vbl system is in place that at least that last part will be significantly faster.

One thing I now encounter which is REALLY annoying is the broken id system:


Error executing "bringToFront": the token name or id "977718031999010000000000" is unknown.

which happens because the id consists solely out of numbers and hence maptool somewhere truncates the preceding 0's. I dont really know a way around this save having some serious (more) impact on speed.

for testing: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mipk4y5uj1vwe ... cmpgn?dl=0
note that it only runs under a dev = 1.4.1.x version!

When it does run it looks like this:
images
Screenshot 2016-05-30 21.51.59.png
Screenshot 2016-05-30 21.51.59.png (756.71 KiB) Viewed 1103 times
Screenshot 2016-05-30 21.47.49.png
Screenshot 2016-05-30 21.47.49.png (612.36 KiB) Viewed 1103 times

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wolph42
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Re: Interest check for: Coders, writers, artist, enthusiasts

Post by wolph42 »

Ok, I'm basically done with the dungeon builder. More stuff can be done, but for that I need input. Here's what I have now:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ip95r6h7tln6i ... cmpgn?dl=0

just impersonate the lib with the wolfs head on it and hit the top button to generate a random dungeon, with settings to your liking. Size can currently be set to 1 or 2. A(n insane) lot of lights and objects are placed, but thats because its still in test fase.

Its still bugged by the 'id' bug so you can get an error like:
Error executing "switchToken": the token name or id "130886226430010000000000" is unknown. (truncated 0's)
Hopefully this get fixed soon.
Just try again (after deleting the dungeon area).

I need help with:
- bigger sets of bevels (and better graphics for them) this is requested in another thread
- suggestion on how to place lights, crates, tables etc
- 'events' I can add triggers if a token is placed on the token layer and selected OR when moved over (any layer). E.g a chest. What I need is suggestions for these events and fluff text input. Events can be: chest with weapons, gold, traps, whatever you can think of.
- stuff can be added like locks on doors, keys etc.
- stairs, teleports, trap doors etc. However keep in mind that everything is randomly generated so some logic is required
- it also would be nice if we can start thinking of a (simple) game system (e.g. strength, dex, to open doors, toughness to fight monsters, skills...)
- same thing for monsters, where here too logic needs to be thought of. How are they spawned, how do they move, what do they do?
- probly an inventory system
other things you can think of.

This becomes too big for me to do alone, so any help is appreciated. Then end goal is e.g. 10 levels a character can walk through in player mode (so start a server with you as player and then see how far you can get), levels are generated at start, levels can have themes (sleeping quarters, armoury, forge, etc.) A story line would be nice as well, especially if some randomization can be part of it, but writing it is beyond me.

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