05-18-2011, 09:40 AM
Our objective is basically to return to 'old school' role-playing, obviously within the bounds of what is realistically achievable in an automated online browser based game.
But 'old school' is key, the role playing side of it is going to be less accurate as it will be a mixture of rpg, strategy and board gaming.
We think we've come up with a nice blend of ideas that on their own are not necessary original, but together could prove to be quite unique and at the same time of interest to a large group of online gamers both old and new alike.
Ilkor is going to be based on the microlite20 system, which greatly simplifies the SRD system which you may or maynot know originally stems from the D&D world. In a nutshell we are going to do away with all the hugely complex systems, charts and stats and return to what rpg was all about many years ago which was basically fun.
So for example we are only going to have 4 possible races that a player can choose from (human, elf, dwarf and halfling). The same with the class, again only 4 (fighter, wizard, rogue and priest). D&D used to be like this many years ago and this is what we are going to base our system on. Stats, again only a handful, Strength (STR), Intelligence (INT), Dexterity (DEX) and Charisma (CHA).
So we are hoping to try and catch the essence of 'old school' gaming and inject a bit of life into it and in doing so alter it where needed to bring it in line with online gaming (text-based browser).
The map is key to this. We've gone for a Tolkien style as we like this style ourselves and we think it goes nicely with the world setting of Ilkor. The mostly 2 tone colour approach is also interesting. We are not looking to have a huge array of colour on our maps, we want it subtle partly due to the game theme and world setting but also because we will be able to drop various icons, tokens and journey paths and routes ontop without detracting too much from the terrain info and visa versa.
We are also very much looking forward to using actual tilesets from Jon that capture that Tolkien feel. Currently Chris (the guys who is writing the mapping engine and editor) is using a set of mock tiles which doesn't correspond to Jon's illustrated map and therefore doesn't give either the map engine nor Jon's hard work any justice. Hopefully by the end of June we'll be able to give a sneak preview of what the tiled map will look like and the various levels of scale between the tiled map, full detailed and thumbnail illustrated maps. It's hard to describe here how it will actually be presented to the player without visuals, so you might just have to wait a little longer I'm afraid!
The alpha / beta playtest will start in the New Year (7th Jan hopefully). We really don't know how many players we'll accept. It would be great if we get to a point where have so much interest we have to shut the doors!! However we are writing this game so that it each region should be able to cater for around 100,000 players. There are 5 regions, but to prepare a region to be opened up it will take many months to design and populate. We have no idea how well the game will do, but we're building it with a grand scale in mind. The gaming engine can also be reused and reskinned to host another totally different game, different map, etc. We are writing the game where possible to be rather generic in nature. But for the playtest period we hope to have at least a couple of hundred players.
Turns will have a weekly cycle. We are not going to be pushed into running the game with the typical pace that many online games are run today. We think a weekly cycle is plenty. Each turn will be broken up into 3 phases. Each phase will last for about 48 hours. A player will be given x number of actions he can perform within a turn. He can perform these in dribs and drags throughout the weekly cycle, or he can issue them immediately during the first phase, etc. It will really be totally up to how he wishes to play. There is no right or wrong, its down to the player's style of play and tactics. Within that general ruling there are a number of sub-rules that will need to be adhered to, such as the player will only be able to issue x number of 'buy' orders per turn, can only move so far, etc. Alot of these actions will be real-time actions, but there are actions such as combat and movement that are processed at a set time during the week. This means players can submit a move order but it won't be processed until the end of the current phase. The player might have say 60 movement points. He could decide to use them all up to move at the end of the current phase or he could decide to use only a portion of it. Again it depends on what he is trying to achieve.
Players who have hours on their hands to be online will not benefit. If a players can find 10-20 minutes every 2 days or so then that should be enough to compete against players who are online all the time.
Hope that gives you some insight into what is coming down the line. Hopefully my ramblings makes some sense and is something players will enjoy.
Cheers,
Sean.
But 'old school' is key, the role playing side of it is going to be less accurate as it will be a mixture of rpg, strategy and board gaming.
We think we've come up with a nice blend of ideas that on their own are not necessary original, but together could prove to be quite unique and at the same time of interest to a large group of online gamers both old and new alike.
Ilkor is going to be based on the microlite20 system, which greatly simplifies the SRD system which you may or maynot know originally stems from the D&D world. In a nutshell we are going to do away with all the hugely complex systems, charts and stats and return to what rpg was all about many years ago which was basically fun.
So for example we are only going to have 4 possible races that a player can choose from (human, elf, dwarf and halfling). The same with the class, again only 4 (fighter, wizard, rogue and priest). D&D used to be like this many years ago and this is what we are going to base our system on. Stats, again only a handful, Strength (STR), Intelligence (INT), Dexterity (DEX) and Charisma (CHA).
So we are hoping to try and catch the essence of 'old school' gaming and inject a bit of life into it and in doing so alter it where needed to bring it in line with online gaming (text-based browser).
The map is key to this. We've gone for a Tolkien style as we like this style ourselves and we think it goes nicely with the world setting of Ilkor. The mostly 2 tone colour approach is also interesting. We are not looking to have a huge array of colour on our maps, we want it subtle partly due to the game theme and world setting but also because we will be able to drop various icons, tokens and journey paths and routes ontop without detracting too much from the terrain info and visa versa.
We are also very much looking forward to using actual tilesets from Jon that capture that Tolkien feel. Currently Chris (the guys who is writing the mapping engine and editor) is using a set of mock tiles which doesn't correspond to Jon's illustrated map and therefore doesn't give either the map engine nor Jon's hard work any justice. Hopefully by the end of June we'll be able to give a sneak preview of what the tiled map will look like and the various levels of scale between the tiled map, full detailed and thumbnail illustrated maps. It's hard to describe here how it will actually be presented to the player without visuals, so you might just have to wait a little longer I'm afraid!
The alpha / beta playtest will start in the New Year (7th Jan hopefully). We really don't know how many players we'll accept. It would be great if we get to a point where have so much interest we have to shut the doors!! However we are writing this game so that it each region should be able to cater for around 100,000 players. There are 5 regions, but to prepare a region to be opened up it will take many months to design and populate. We have no idea how well the game will do, but we're building it with a grand scale in mind. The gaming engine can also be reused and reskinned to host another totally different game, different map, etc. We are writing the game where possible to be rather generic in nature. But for the playtest period we hope to have at least a couple of hundred players.
Turns will have a weekly cycle. We are not going to be pushed into running the game with the typical pace that many online games are run today. We think a weekly cycle is plenty. Each turn will be broken up into 3 phases. Each phase will last for about 48 hours. A player will be given x number of actions he can perform within a turn. He can perform these in dribs and drags throughout the weekly cycle, or he can issue them immediately during the first phase, etc. It will really be totally up to how he wishes to play. There is no right or wrong, its down to the player's style of play and tactics. Within that general ruling there are a number of sub-rules that will need to be adhered to, such as the player will only be able to issue x number of 'buy' orders per turn, can only move so far, etc. Alot of these actions will be real-time actions, but there are actions such as combat and movement that are processed at a set time during the week. This means players can submit a move order but it won't be processed until the end of the current phase. The player might have say 60 movement points. He could decide to use them all up to move at the end of the current phase or he could decide to use only a portion of it. Again it depends on what he is trying to achieve.
Players who have hours on their hands to be online will not benefit. If a players can find 10-20 minutes every 2 days or so then that should be enough to compete against players who are online all the time.
Hope that gives you some insight into what is coming down the line. Hopefully my ramblings makes some sense and is something players will enjoy.
Cheers,
Sean.
(05-18-2011, 05:10 AM)Cortrah Wrote: Yes, I agree, I spent a few hours going through his work today, very inventive compositionaly and tactically in additional to the great watercolor washes and beautiful palettes.
Even if it takes more time than you expect, with good aesthetics and good gameplay, I think a strategic game has more long term viability than a graphically focused one with less strategic focus.
I love also the reverence to tolkien's natural style that he's using for Ilkor and will enjoy seeing the lower level tiles.
How many players are you hoping for initially for the alpha? and after a full game has filled? Do you have a design planned for the granularity of turns?
I do think that if you can properly automate a game like this, that there is a good market for it. Too many of us like games but have difficult schedules to accomodate.
I think of even games like "Heros of Might and Magic III", a game like that, the biggest problem with it is whether or not it will run on a modern OS.
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