Rethinking the Example Suite
Posted: 06 Nov 2018, 09:02
The initial idea I had for the Example Suite was to do a fortress in the forest lovecraftian mystery thing Morrowind-style. I still like the idea, but I'm thinking less about making the game like Morrowind. One issue is, who would play our small game over the huge and rich world that Morrowind offers? Morrowind is great as a single player and we've also seen it in TES3MP's multiplayer, which the game isn't exactly designed for but is amazing play anyway.
What if we designed Example Suite specifically for a co-op experience? That would provide an alternative experience that TES3MP currently lacks and I think people would actually play it occasionally on the side of exploring Morrowind with friends. So how would this co-op game look like?
The Kingdom of Man. King Arthur has claimed himself the ruler of all. However an Old God would disagree. He decides to create you and others to slay the king for such heresy and claim the title of kingslayer. Of course, before you can get to The Kingdom of Man, you must first find the road to the Kingdom of Man.
You start in Deadwood with basic items and although the game offers you a couple of directions to go to, its ultimate destination is the king, so it's not open world like Morrowind. However each area has a (raid) boss monster for you and your party to kill. Sometimes it drops useful items and gold, other times a key required to unlock a direct passage to the next area instead of having to go around. Almost every area also has a merchant and there might be quests, whether optional or actually vital to progress to the next area.
The scope for this game is content from Deadwood all the way to the king. However, I plan on using a lot of placeholders since I'm a little intimidated by the amount of work a full-fledged game might require. For example, I currently plan on making only a few weapon models such as a single sword model and then using the same skin on all swords such as bastard sword, longsword, etc. I'd only start working on different skins when the base game is complete, until then every NPC would look like they were wearing the same armor and weapons. So that's what version 1.0 would look like, a bare skeleton of a game that can technically be played from start to finish.
There is of course the possibility of someone else coming along and filling in those gaps. Sometimes people actually post on the forums looking to contribute in some way with art and I'm usually not sure with what they could help at this stage. For the moment, I'd prefer Example Suite to be a 1-man project until I get some basics in place. I think things will become more open to outside help once I push through an update or two.
If we ever get to 1.0 and past that, I was thinking of making a Nexus of the Old God that connects you to different paths to do his bidding. For example, The Kingdom of Man would only be one portal that leads you to a place in Deadwood where you can discover the road to The Kingdom of Man and eventually lead you to the King. However another portal would take you to a path that leads deeper into Deadwoods, to a necromancer who has revolted against the Old God and needs punishing. These linear scenarios could have the same level of difficulty or different levels of difficulty, with each giving you an ability (Kingslayer, Necrosis) at the end.
What if we designed Example Suite specifically for a co-op experience? That would provide an alternative experience that TES3MP currently lacks and I think people would actually play it occasionally on the side of exploring Morrowind with friends. So how would this co-op game look like?
The Kingdom of Man. King Arthur has claimed himself the ruler of all. However an Old God would disagree. He decides to create you and others to slay the king for such heresy and claim the title of kingslayer. Of course, before you can get to The Kingdom of Man, you must first find the road to the Kingdom of Man.
You start in Deadwood with basic items and although the game offers you a couple of directions to go to, its ultimate destination is the king, so it's not open world like Morrowind. However each area has a (raid) boss monster for you and your party to kill. Sometimes it drops useful items and gold, other times a key required to unlock a direct passage to the next area instead of having to go around. Almost every area also has a merchant and there might be quests, whether optional or actually vital to progress to the next area.
The scope for this game is content from Deadwood all the way to the king. However, I plan on using a lot of placeholders since I'm a little intimidated by the amount of work a full-fledged game might require. For example, I currently plan on making only a few weapon models such as a single sword model and then using the same skin on all swords such as bastard sword, longsword, etc. I'd only start working on different skins when the base game is complete, until then every NPC would look like they were wearing the same armor and weapons. So that's what version 1.0 would look like, a bare skeleton of a game that can technically be played from start to finish.
There is of course the possibility of someone else coming along and filling in those gaps. Sometimes people actually post on the forums looking to contribute in some way with art and I'm usually not sure with what they could help at this stage. For the moment, I'd prefer Example Suite to be a 1-man project until I get some basics in place. I think things will become more open to outside help once I push through an update or two.
If we ever get to 1.0 and past that, I was thinking of making a Nexus of the Old God that connects you to different paths to do his bidding. For example, The Kingdom of Man would only be one portal that leads you to a place in Deadwood where you can discover the road to The Kingdom of Man and eventually lead you to the King. However another portal would take you to a path that leads deeper into Deadwoods, to a necromancer who has revolted against the Old God and needs punishing. These linear scenarios could have the same level of difficulty or different levels of difficulty, with each giving you an ability (Kingslayer, Necrosis) at the end.