Peculiar Project

But Mommy! I wanna play in a.... SANDBOX RPG!

2010-02-21T22:05:00.003-05:00

Catchy title, huh?

Sandbox games, whether they be RPGs or just play build-crap-and-destroy it games, I've always been really intrigued by them. Maybe I'm just obsessed with user customization and control. I really think I do want to include a sandbox element of some type in Peculiar-P. But I wanna take a look at some of the sandbox games, and sandbox elements available in popular (and some less popular) RPGs out there today.

So what exactly is a Sandbox game?
In my opinion: A sandbox game is a game that allows for extreme user control of the world; which may relate or not relate to the objective at hand. Most of the time, Sandbox modes or game are just for pure creativity, with no real objective at hand.

Maybe it would be easier to just show some good example of Sandbox game:

Gary's Mod

Gary's Mod is a user-mod for CSS and TF2. Players have full access to all models, guns, scripts, etc. They are given tools to weld models, spawn items, monsters, and such. You can use they model to make your own cars, forts, robots, etc. There's no real objective, but to just build and enjoy.

RPG World

A very, very classic game. RPGWO shows a sandbox RPG at its finest! Players can build houses on any plot of land, and develop them in ANY way possible! Build walls, doors, rooms, lighting, make a blacksmith shop, livestock pit, gardens, even mazes and traps to catch thieves. I must recommend, everyone who is interested in 2D RPGs should try this game at least once, the graphics may look sub-par, but the gameplay is pristine and just plain amazing. It rivals some of the modern RPGs such as Fallout and Oblivion.

Runescape, Lord of the Rings Online, Etc

Obviously, these games show more of Sandbox element, as gameplay doesn't COMPLETELY rely on building up in their sandbox. Player housing is a very common sanbix element. It allows users to sort-of "escape" the RPG world and objectives, and just play around, building a house to their tastes.

So now that I sit back and think about these types of games... what type of gamers do they appeal to?
My guess is more casual gamers. Of course, I think a majority of 2D gamers are more casual than hardcore. Along with RPG players being more casual than say FPS or RTS players. I think implement a sandbox element into Peculiar-P is a great idea! Now to just think of how and what can be implemented. That's always the hard part.

Well, off to take a calculus test!
Hopefully I'll have time to make some serious progess on Peculiar-P this week, so I can show off and request ideas!

PS: All commenets are greatly appreciated! I'd love to hear your ideas and opinions you generate from reading my blog! I want to make a game that appeals to all types of players, so your ideas are very important to me!

Weapons, Triangles, Etc.

2010-02-19T23:28:00.005-05:00

So you're probably asking: Why is there a picture of a pepper? I like peppers.. and spicy foods. And I've discovered that starting a post with a picture just looks way more sexy.

So not much of a Friday update. Just listing down some ideas I had throughout the day concerning a few things: The theme of the RPG, and weapon triangle-thingies. :)

Now for the RPG theme (like fantasy, futuristic, yada-yada), I'm really thinking sort of a mocking RPG. Sorta like Earthbound, mixed with a card game called Munchkin, with a little sprinkle of Maplestory. The basic idea is to sort of mock the really hardcore RPGs. Weapons would range from swords, to brooms, to Elven-made Baseball Bats of Luck and Good Looks. Nothings final. Just sorta pondering the whole scheme of things.

Which brings me to my next point: Weapon triangles!

So basically what I have is the weapon triangle from Fire Emblem. We can see that Sword > Axe, Axe > Lance, Lance > Sword. I want to have the same idea... just trying to figure out how.

I want to try to have 4 or 5 weapon classifications, each having its advantages and disadvantages.
Heavy (Such as Mauls, Sledge hammers, Logs, Maces)
Quick (Daggers, Pocketknives, Scissors, Box cutters, Broken Wine Glasses?)
Standard (Swords, Axes, Frying Pans, Baseball bats, Wrenches, Pipes)
Long (Spears, Pool Sticks, Flags, Basketball Hoops [what?])

You get the idea :)
Random ponderings. Gotta love 'em!

Pixel-Based Movement Anyone?

2010-02-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

Well, after much tinkering, tearing out my hair, and eating cheese puffs... I manged to get really rough Pixel-based movement system going! I'm really excited about this, because it opens up a doorway to many ideas I want to implement!

Now sadly, the vanilla engine ran at ~550 fps; the pixel-based edit drops it to ~100 fps (with 1 player). Is it worth it? I think so. I'll probably cap it around 30... so as long as it doesn't go farther, the more control the user has is definitely worth it.

A small list:
•Knockback
•More "action" in the combat. No more 1 second attack timers defining battles. Attack and Defence alone won't determine battles.
•The general sense that players will have more control
•Jumping, Gravity, Physics, the works.

Of course, next I want to add pixel-by-pixel collision detection (or something CLOSE). Theoretically, I have to methods of how to do this. In my head, I feel like they will work out well, but nothings for sure until I try!

I'll illustrate what I mean with this tree! (Taken from Earthbound, graphic is copyright its respective owners.)

Method 1: Series of Squares

Okay, so what we are trying to do is to have VB6 draw a bunch of squares. (Obviously, they won't be visible to the player. But when a player's coordinates hit the coordinates of one of the squares, it will block them. So obviously it's not super precise... but it won't take a ton computations as it runs... so FPS will be better.

Pros
•Better for lower-end computers

Cons
•Not very precise
•Someone would have to figure out all the square coordinates (I say someone cause I'm really lazy :) )

I'm going to try to implement method 2 first. As I think it will work much better.

Method 2: Series of Squares

Hey Mr. Tree Number 2. Okay, so the idea here simply color detection. Every object will have a mask layer (which the user won't be able to see). The black is walkable, the white is not. When a sprite collides with a white pixel, it will be blocked from moving into it.

Pros
•Very precise
•Easy to make masks

Cons
•Will drop FPS

So that's whats coming up next! Hopefully I'll be able to get at least of these implemented sometime in the next couple days!

The Engine.

2010-02-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

I decided on my base engine. I found a new DX8 VB6 engine called Malachite made by Monoxide over at Monoxide Design. You should definitely check them out if you are interested in engines or game making in general. They have a lot of friendly faces that will be able to assist you in bringing your ideas to life! And hey, you may even see me making a useless post or two. :)

I have a lot of ideas I want to try to implement. Although I'm not the greatest programmer in the world, I can still manage to do what I what. Maybe in a half-assed way, but hey, we can always optimize later.

Welcome!

2010-02-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well, if there anybody out there... anybody... reading this. If you are, you somehow randomly stumbled onto nothing so far; or you are a stalker! (Or both!) But don't worry, they didn't build Rome in a day... so stick around and you may find something of interest!

That being said, as I develop my own ORPG here, I'll make posts concerning it... including features and ideas. Stuff like that.

I have an active mind and lots of ideas! So hopefully you'll stick around for the final product!