If its a Prehistoric MMO i would go the route of different Gods( because its a newly made world). You are the gods that walks among your people, and you need to gather followers by helping the newly made humanoids by getting them the tools to create society, to help them get weapons with minerals for hunts and foods and to get them to worship you and the more you are worshipped the stronger buff you get. And others can steal your worshippers or destroy the monuments they build to worship you with.
There are Dinosaurs, giant mythical creatures that can destroy your followers and you need to destroy them.
There can be wars fought by your followers against other followers, and each can choose the kind of humanoid followers they want, it can be lizardman, it can be halflings , it can be giants. Different races of followers that are strong in different ways. And the more you help your followers the more lands they conquer and rule. If they hate you, they might rebel against you and other gods can take over.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
First off I'd just like to add that although the debate over 'what is Prehistory?' in this thread is interesting it is somewhat pointless. The boundry between history and prehistory is the introduction of language in the written form... Period. Now this does not mean there was not oral language before this as there most certainly was. Paleoanthropologists figure oral language in some form or another goes back millions of years all the way back to the Australopithecines. It's as simple as this:
History = Writing
Prehistory = Before Writing
Now as for the subject of the thread I think the only way a prehistorically acurate MMO would have enough content to be interesting would be in the post-farming to writing period. This was at the dawn of civilization when small farming communities and actual towns started to develop and thrive. This is also when humans started to specialize in their skills. Before farming you had small hunter-gatherer groups and all members of the group did just about everything that was needed for the group to survive. After farming humans started a more settled lifestyle and the community made it so individuals could specialize in certain skills. This was also the birthplace of the marketplace where wares were traded for other wares and there may have even been some crude form of currency involved.
Other than that the only way I see it being at all interesting is if you throw out prehistory and do a more scifi or steampunk version of it. Something akin to 'Land of the lost', 'The land that time forgot' or even Anne Mccaffrey's 'Dinosaur Planet' series.
I hope that this is not too long to read, becouse there are in my opinion interesting ideas,
Hello,
First I would like to apologise becouse I didn't read all post so I may be will repeat someone else and for the second I don't like todays mmorpg I seek more from the game then current games can offer and for the third excuse me for not english being my mothertongue. (bad excuse) So lets begin.
Now the ideas. Fisrt idea is that prehistoric mmo (later just PO = prehistoric online) would be almost non-violent, I mean something like in real life. It would be built on cooperation, if players will not cooperate they will die. I played with idea of just one life but that would be too radical, brutal instead of this in PO would be very easy to die. There wouldn't be calssical system of experience, obtaining items and pvp. And to erase last thing that current mmo would have in common with PO, there would not be proffesions like in any other mmo. (Still I am not sure if my ideas are pure original).
I will explaint my system trough story with comments:
Fisrt you are born in a cave you have no father and mother, not literally becouse whole tribe is your family so every man is your father and every women is your mother. Since you are just kid you have to learn how to live and become more independent and there is nothing that you can't take back.
"This means that after your first login you will go trough some kind of tutorial. You will be able to try everything and if you dont like it you can do it again other way. That inculde skillpoints, mutations, craftpoints etc. (I will explain that later)."
Through your childhood you will learn how your tribe works, that all year some tribemen gather food (hunters, pickers, some kind of farmers) to survive winter or catastrophe that might come. That other tribemen are working as craftmen (tailor, weaponsmith, jewerly craftmen) and there are ofcourse shamans their task is to heal wounded hunters and pickers. Their another task is to foresee the future to help people.
"so main system is thet players are divided to tribes and and they have to gather food for winter. And there are more was how to do that. I mentioned hunters, pickers, crafters and shamans, that reminds professions but this proffesions are free, that means you wont pick your profession at the start but you are building your profession through game, and if you are going for hunt you are a hunter, if you are picking fruits you are a picker. The profession will be creared trhough skillpoints (SP). You can add SP to your staff skill, spear skill, club skill, throw skill, trap skill, finding skill, identify skill, there will bw large amount of craft skill and for shamans will be heal skills, phropecy skills (but that will only be foreseeing from bones, fire, water, wind, toads and other animals etc.) And for crafting it can be secondary profession or full profession."
You have reached adulthood and your life begins. You are bound to stick with your tribe or run to another. And there is ofcourse way to live alone, but this path is very hard and your survival is not very probable. So you choose your way and help your tribe to survive in wilderness. You are capable of hunting small animals (birds, lizards, rabits, snakes etc,) but to hunt down larger animals (bears, tygers, giraffes, lions, pumas, leopards, wolves etc.) you have to work in group, set a good trap or tame a dog to help you. Then you can go and pick up fruits but for better progress you should sew yourself a bag or you can only carry fruits in your hands. You can find a places where fruits and mushrooms regulary grow or puck roots from ground.
"I said thet this game would be build up on cooperation but still ther should be a way how to play alone, so if you choose to be loner you will lose some benefits. You wont have a shaman to heal you or other crafters to made things for you becouse you will have to spent your skillpoints to another skills then crafting and healing or foreseeing to survive."
From time to time you will encounter some one from diferent tribe and begin to talk. This talk can turn out in good relationship with whole tribe and you can share your skills, material and food. Or it can turn out to war where hunters become a warriors and shamans begin to learn how to hurt people. Craftmen will invent more powerful weapons. This war inculde tactic so you have to choose when and how you attack or built yourself a wall and try to defend your tribe and food but be aware that you can starve to death if you can't go out of your walls.
There are even tribes that are gaining food mainly from wars so when they see you, you better run.
"PvP in this game wouldn't be player vs payer so PvP isn't right term. It would be tribe vs tribe = TvT. But you can of course fight with each other in terms of tribe. I think that there is small to explain aobout this paragraph maybe just that there would be posible to steal food from another tribe."
Onece upon a time your location become inhospitable. Animals and fruits starts to disapear and your tribe has to move. Thats when finding skill shines, to find a good cave takes a lot of experience. Your tribe is made to move even in other circumstances like disasters (fire, storm, flood or becouse of agressive tribe nearby).
"In PO there would be a option of merging tribes or only making an aliance. I didn't mention how a player will earn expirience. That wont be nothin new, just from playing (for killing an animal, picking pruits, crafting, healing, for handing over food you gathered, basicaly for using your skills). At the begining I wrote something about mutations. Mutations would be physical changes that only apear when you reach certain point of experience (level). Mutation can influence your strenght, intelect, dexterity, wisdom, charisma etc. every mutation will make a small change in your look and according to your choice (str, dex, wis, char...) you will grow higer, smaller, bolder or thinner. If you add more intelect your head will get bigger and the same with strenght and muscles, charisma and beauty etc."
I realise that this system of game play would be pretty hard to create and even harder to get it in process, but I would love game like this. It would need large amount of people (players) even developers (that is given) but I think that it would be popular if well made.
PS: I forgot to mention currency: That would be a barter trade. And there would be a points of trust gained through playing in one tribe that would decrease the prise of things in shop of your tribe. (by shop I mean individual npcs that sell their goods)
SANDPARK -- It could be a very cool experience, especially if it is open-ended enough to allow the development of scientific breakthroughs, inventions, religions, and whole civilizations trading and in conflict. Hell yeah. I would play that for a long time.
I'd mix prehistoric and modern themes, like the mixed mesozoic/western mashup of Dino Storm.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
In my opinion this would have to focus on essential tools and resources in order to survive the harsh wilderness... Depending on how far back we're talking, I see basic items such as rock-hammers, flint and steel, and the like... Resource gathering, things like skins, wood, stone, bone.
I don't envision a traditional quest system, more of a "sandboxy" approach in the sense that, you're in this world, you join or start your little hunter-gatherer clans, and you fight to survive.
Take over other clans, make huts, build huge bonfires.
Hunt wildlife...
This sounds really fun!
Of course, everything I just said has probably already been mentioned, but there you have it.
Regardless, a great MMO that just drops you into the middle of the pre-historic wilderness, finding other players...
In my opinion this would have to focus on essential tools and resources in order to survive the harsh wilderness... Depending on how far back we're talking, I see basic items such as rock-hammers, flint and steel, and the like... Resource gathering, things like skins, wood, stone, bone.
I don't envision a traditional quest system, more of a "sandboxy" approach in the sense that, you're in this world, you join or start your little hunter-gatherer clans, and you fight to survive.
Take over other clans, make huts, build huge bonfires.
Hunt wildlife...
This sounds really fun!
Of course, everything I just said has probably already been mentioned, but there you have it.
Regardless, a great MMO that just drops you into the middle of the pre-historic wilderness, finding other players...
I wouldn't see the use for NPCs, either.
Awww... I'm pumped now...
This is somewhat like what Xsyon attempted/is attempting, only in a post-apocolyptic scenario. I'm not sure how successful they've been since their launch with hammering out bugs, etc. But you might like some of the concepts.
Ooohh! I played for two months and just figured out how to cook a pig! FIRE! Wooo!
At level 57 you might get lucky enough to get an epic drop. Which is the legendary "sharp stick". Which is better than the regular stick you got at level 45. And much better than the twig you used at level 20.
Other weapons include such epic things as "a rock", "another rock", and " sharp fingernails ".
Ooohh! I played for two months and just figured out how to cook a pig! FIRE! Wooo!
At level 57 you might get lucky enough to get an epic drop. Which is the legendary "sharp stick". Which is better than the regular stick you got at level 45. And much better than the twig you used at level 20.
Other weapons include such epic things as "a rock", "another rock", and " sharp fingernails ".
In my opinion this would have to focus on essential tools and resources in order to survive the harsh wilderness... Depending on how far back we're talking, I see basic items such as rock-hammers, flint and steel, and the like... Resource gathering, things like skins, wood, stone, bone.
I don't envision a traditional quest system, more of a "sandboxy" approach in the sense that, you're in this world, you join or start your little hunter-gatherer clans, and you fight to survive.
Take over other clans, make huts, build huge bonfires.
Hunt wildlife...
This sounds really fun!
Of course, everything I just said has probably already been mentioned, but there you have it.
Regardless, a great MMO that just drops you into the middle of the pre-historic wilderness, finding other players...
I wouldn't see the use for NPCs, either.
Awww... I'm pumped now...
So what would the players be? Homo Sapien, Neanderthal, Erectus?
I was reading about Homo Erectus the other day. Those guys were studs. They measured the speed of some footprints running and found that the guy was running faster than the current world record, and pointed out that it was unlikely that these footprints belonged to anyone who was above average for them. They were a tall Neanderthal, basically. 6 foot tall on average. Same structure except as modern man except for the skull/face but more powerfully built than modern man.
They'd make for a great MMO race as far as athletic ability.
I would make it like ARMA of operation flashpoint for combat and production or similiar to Mount and blade warband
it would go something like this
You are ..."Uklangor" you start with your cave tribe of ... cave people say 3 to start with you have a map of the surrounding area and a world map (fog of war over the map unexplored) you need wood etc you could take out the hunters or bods you want to level on hunting trips around your territory you start with basic weapons clubs close attack spears and flaming torches etc
you command you bods to do various things with grunting ( i dont mean they shout shilka at 12 oclock) but they generally can flank enemies/beasties for various furs, skins bones etc a full gathering thing going on
certain technologies and territory upgrades will basically turn your settlement into some sort of bronze age log defended dwelling but there is no cap apart from character level to how many bods you can command, a certain amount of leige or tax must be paid to a player who has vat amounts fo troops and land or you can just up and move the whole tribe then exact your vengeance later on them if you so please
it would be nice to have a structure for hand reared animals like sabretooths or riding a wooly rhino into battle
the world could be conquered eventually but a general alliance and grouping could be formed
pvp is open and running into opposing territories
a browser version woudl link into the game so i could play at work or get people to harvest or prduce while away from my main computer (satisfying two player types the first person and the browser game) the mount and blade raid styles would need more tactics and waypoints having your sling units pelt some players ot buffalo using various hunting techniques.
central meeting points for purchasing bod slaves for trade goods
to summarise the initial game would be exploratory and niche building for your followers followed by resource gathering and leveling contact with players and diplomacy
players could use the browser version to name their favourite cave man and get them to explore the map whislt aways travian stylee i guess would be simplist seasonal conditions would play a large part and having stored and prepared for winters and developing your area.
mobs free ranging and using the other prey animals to migrate from Dinos to Sabretooths throw in a few raptors and mamoths depending on where you move your tribe to, knowledge could be shared with other players about hunting and farming also weapon tech and armour from hides not the extent of ryzom where you fashion everything from a radio alarm clock from a crab shell but a good production tech
it would be a wholly sandbox game from player commanding tribes of cannibals to people trying to build the hanging gardens of babylon
Any setting can work, it depends on how the gameplay is implemented.
*Dons Sandbox Hat*
It's a good chance with this setting for players to really make their mark in an unoccupied game world. No preestablished villages and such. From Day 1, players start at a certain point, and its up to them to get together and work with each other and MAKE their villages as well as all the things required to survive as a community. Mutual protection, resource gathering, making tools / weapons / etc. None of that is made available easily for the player. Everything comes from another player.
On the same token, players can establish their homes and villages anywhere.
The countryside can be altered.
And eventually, I'd like to see power come into play. Namely where groups of players / villages will start fighting each other for resources or better lands, if trade isn't enough for them.
Etc., etc.
Basically, give the kids a playground and toys to play with, and they will make their own story, their own drama together.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
In my opinion this would have to focus on essential tools and resources in order to survive the harsh wilderness... Depending on how far back we're talking, I see basic items such as rock-hammers, flint and steel, and the like... Resource gathering, things like skins, wood, stone, bone.
I don't envision a traditional quest system, more of a "sandboxy" approach in the sense that, you're in this world, you join or start your little hunter-gatherer clans, and you fight to survive.
Take over other clans, make huts, build huge bonfires.
Hunt wildlife...
This sounds really fun!
Of course, everything I just said has probably already been mentioned, but there you have it.
Regardless, a great MMO that just drops you into the middle of the pre-historic wilderness, finding other players...
I wouldn't see the use for NPCs, either.
Awww... I'm pumped now...
So what would the players be? Homo Sapien, Neanderthal, Erectus?
I was reading about Homo Erectus the other day. Those guys were studs. They measured the speed of some footprints running and found that the guy was running faster than the current world record, and pointed out that it was unlikely that these footprints belonged to anyone who was above average for them. They were a tall Neanderthal, basically. 6 foot tall on average. Same structure except as modern man except for the skull/face but more powerfully built than modern man.
They'd make for a great MMO race as far as athletic ability.
Alley Oop Online, only without the time travel.
Unless those types of humanoids mixed and matched, which I doubt, then I think the notion of "Races" in this setting should be avoided. It would force players of the same races to be in similar clans, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense, I believe.
In that regard, there'd probably be just one "race". Generic cave man, or the closest thing to it. You know what I mean.
I'm more interested in the actual survival gameplay, however, more so than what type of sub human species my character happens to be.
I got one, I called it Primeval (though, that's prolly not going to work)
I like these discussions because it forces me to paraphrase a grand idea to as little wording as possible. It's good practice.
World / Art Design
Consider it a "sexy prehistoric fantasy game", characters all have rock-hard abs and they glisten in sweat, all that goodness from the cover of a Danielle Steel book. (never open those past the cover) To sum up what the ESRB rating would say; M for Violence, Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes and Partial Nudity.
Since it's an action game, the world is split into public hubs, fairly expansive exterior zones leading to other hubs, and then mission instances. Think Guild Wars 1 in the way zones work, when it comes to other players, only the areas directly outside the hubs are used for player-villages (each one instanced per guild). Mission instances are a lot like Monster Hunter, you have a set of goals that can determine what is in the hunting ground.
Players will have to wear clothes (or not) based on the local temperatures as there is a threshold in how hot/cold the area is vs your clothing. Wear furs in the snow, but wear grass skirts in the desert, or nothing! I would like to consider sunburns and tanlines to this as well.
Character
Choose from 6 flavors of Sapiens, as well as Cro Magnon and Neanderthal. The latter two are varied on the layers of civil barbarity. Later on; Gigantopithicus and Australopithicus. Though that's a balancing nightmare right there.
Classes are 'castes', and there are only 3; Hunter, Warrior and Shaman. Hunters have special PvE abilities and traps, Warriors specialize in PvP abilities and melee, Shamans are the best at identifying items to find in the environment and can craft special items for combat. All three have a need for each other in extensive hunts, but can go it alone solo, if need be - just know what you can and can't handle. Learn to hide and/or flee, this game is about survival.
Combat
PvE mainly happens in instances, and is based on a hunt. You have a set of tasks, and are to aquire those items and drop them off at your camp before nightfall (depends on the time your tasks assigned). When you kill something bigger than a man, in order to harvest it you must do so from multiple sides of the corpse. Each usage will further denude the model, showing the relative parts taken. Larger parts must be carried on your shoulder. All animals can be hunted, regardless of size, and their goods' price is proportional to the difficulty in catching and/or killing them.
PvP is purely in tribal war, and tribes are guilds. So in order to even have at it, you have to join a group and start a village on the outskirts of the hubs. You can then enter 'raid' versions of any outskirts map, which act like a zone-wide game of capture the flag, etc. Nobody actually destroys each others villages, but since it can take place in your zone, it can simulate your village being burned. With that said, placement to the buildings is static, and the resources needed to build it all come from PvE.
Crafting
With the spirit of the original making of tools in mind, you can make your weapons and armor on the spot using items gained immediately from combat, or out of the environment. A "search" hotkey is something you will get used to using. Pop it near a tree, find a branch. Walk over to the riverbanks where the ground visually shows a texture of river stones, that is what you will get. Combine the two, you get a club. This mentality goes into everything from food, to clothing and even building new campsites in the mission, in order to have less of a journey for the dropoff.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Comments
If its a Prehistoric MMO i would go the route of different Gods( because its a newly made world). You are the gods that walks among your people, and you need to gather followers by helping the newly made humanoids by getting them the tools to create society, to help them get weapons with minerals for hunts and foods and to get them to worship you and the more you are worshipped the stronger buff you get. And others can steal your worshippers or destroy the monuments they build to worship you with.
There are Dinosaurs, giant mythical creatures that can destroy your followers and you need to destroy them.
There can be wars fought by your followers against other followers, and each can choose the kind of humanoid followers they want, it can be lizardman, it can be halflings , it can be giants. Different races of followers that are strong in different ways. And the more you help your followers the more lands they conquer and rule. If they hate you, they might rebel against you and other gods can take over.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
First off I'd just like to add that although the debate over 'what is Prehistory?' in this thread is interesting it is somewhat pointless. The boundry between history and prehistory is the introduction of language in the written form... Period. Now this does not mean there was not oral language before this as there most certainly was. Paleoanthropologists figure oral language in some form or another goes back millions of years all the way back to the Australopithecines. It's as simple as this:
History = Writing
Prehistory = Before Writing
Now as for the subject of the thread I think the only way a prehistorically acurate MMO would have enough content to be interesting would be in the post-farming to writing period. This was at the dawn of civilization when small farming communities and actual towns started to develop and thrive. This is also when humans started to specialize in their skills. Before farming you had small hunter-gatherer groups and all members of the group did just about everything that was needed for the group to survive. After farming humans started a more settled lifestyle and the community made it so individuals could specialize in certain skills. This was also the birthplace of the marketplace where wares were traded for other wares and there may have even been some crude form of currency involved.
Other than that the only way I see it being at all interesting is if you throw out prehistory and do a more scifi or steampunk version of it. Something akin to 'Land of the lost', 'The land that time forgot' or even Anne Mccaffrey's 'Dinosaur Planet' series.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
They could offer opposable thumbs and fire in the cashshop.
I hope that this is not too long to read, becouse there are in my opinion interesting ideas,
Hello,
First I would like to apologise becouse I didn't read all post so I may be will repeat someone else and for the second I don't like todays mmorpg I seek more from the game then current games can offer and for the third excuse me for not english being my mothertongue. (bad excuse) So lets begin.
Now the ideas. Fisrt idea is that prehistoric mmo (later just PO = prehistoric online) would be almost non-violent, I mean something like in real life. It would be built on cooperation, if players will not cooperate they will die. I played with idea of just one life but that would be too radical, brutal instead of this in PO would be very easy to die. There wouldn't be calssical system of experience, obtaining items and pvp. And to erase last thing that current mmo would have in common with PO, there would not be proffesions like in any other mmo. (Still I am not sure if my ideas are pure original).
I will explaint my system trough story with comments:
Fisrt you are born in a cave you have no father and mother, not literally becouse whole tribe is your family so every man is your father and every women is your mother. Since you are just kid you have to learn how to live and become more independent and there is nothing that you can't take back.
"This means that after your first login you will go trough some kind of tutorial. You will be able to try everything and if you dont like it you can do it again other way. That inculde skillpoints, mutations, craftpoints etc. (I will explain that later)."
Through your childhood you will learn how your tribe works, that all year some tribemen gather food (hunters, pickers, some kind of farmers) to survive winter or catastrophe that might come. That other tribemen are working as craftmen (tailor, weaponsmith, jewerly craftmen) and there are ofcourse shamans their task is to heal wounded hunters and pickers. Their another task is to foresee the future to help people.
"so main system is thet players are divided to tribes and and they have to gather food for winter. And there are more was how to do that. I mentioned hunters, pickers, crafters and shamans, that reminds professions but this proffesions are free, that means you wont pick your profession at the start but you are building your profession through game, and if you are going for hunt you are a hunter, if you are picking fruits you are a picker. The profession will be creared trhough skillpoints (SP). You can add SP to your staff skill, spear skill, club skill, throw skill, trap skill, finding skill, identify skill, there will bw large amount of craft skill and for shamans will be heal skills, phropecy skills (but that will only be foreseeing from bones, fire, water, wind, toads and other animals etc.) And for crafting it can be secondary profession or full profession."
You have reached adulthood and your life begins. You are bound to stick with your tribe or run to another. And there is ofcourse way to live alone, but this path is very hard and your survival is not very probable. So you choose your way and help your tribe to survive in wilderness. You are capable of hunting small animals (birds, lizards, rabits, snakes etc,) but to hunt down larger animals (bears, tygers, giraffes, lions, pumas, leopards, wolves etc.) you have to work in group, set a good trap or tame a dog to help you. Then you can go and pick up fruits but for better progress you should sew yourself a bag or you can only carry fruits in your hands. You can find a places where fruits and mushrooms regulary grow or puck roots from ground.
"I said thet this game would be build up on cooperation but still ther should be a way how to play alone, so if you choose to be loner you will lose some benefits. You wont have a shaman to heal you or other crafters to made things for you becouse you will have to spent your skillpoints to another skills then crafting and healing or foreseeing to survive."
From time to time you will encounter some one from diferent tribe and begin to talk. This talk can turn out in good relationship with whole tribe and you can share your skills, material and food. Or it can turn out to war where hunters become a warriors and shamans begin to learn how to hurt people. Craftmen will invent more powerful weapons. This war inculde tactic so you have to choose when and how you attack or built yourself a wall and try to defend your tribe and food but be aware that you can starve to death if you can't go out of your walls.
There are even tribes that are gaining food mainly from wars so when they see you, you better run.
"PvP in this game wouldn't be player vs payer so PvP isn't right term. It would be tribe vs tribe = TvT. But you can of course fight with each other in terms of tribe. I think that there is small to explain aobout this paragraph maybe just that there would be posible to steal food from another tribe."
Onece upon a time your location become inhospitable. Animals and fruits starts to disapear and your tribe has to move. Thats when finding skill shines, to find a good cave takes a lot of experience. Your tribe is made to move even in other circumstances like disasters (fire, storm, flood or becouse of agressive tribe nearby).
"In PO there would be a option of merging tribes or only making an aliance. I didn't mention how a player will earn expirience. That wont be nothin new, just from playing (for killing an animal, picking pruits, crafting, healing, for handing over food you gathered, basicaly for using your skills). At the begining I wrote something about mutations. Mutations would be physical changes that only apear when you reach certain point of experience (level). Mutation can influence your strenght, intelect, dexterity, wisdom, charisma etc. every mutation will make a small change in your look and according to your choice (str, dex, wis, char...) you will grow higer, smaller, bolder or thinner. If you add more intelect your head will get bigger and the same with strenght and muscles, charisma and beauty etc."
I realise that this system of game play would be pretty hard to create and even harder to get it in process, but I would love game like this. It would need large amount of people (players) even developers (that is given) but I think that it would be popular if well made.
PS: I forgot to mention currency: That would be a barter trade. And there would be a points of trust gained through playing in one tribe that would decrease the prise of things in shop of your tribe. (by shop I mean individual npcs that sell their goods)
SANDPARK -- It could be a very cool experience, especially if it is open-ended enough to allow the development of scientific breakthroughs, inventions, religions, and whole civilizations trading and in conflict. Hell yeah. I would play that for a long time.
I'd mix prehistoric and modern themes, like the mixed mesozoic/western mashup of Dino Storm.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Damn I have been wanting to do this game for years. Community ideas are great. I'm bookmarking this thread.
I'm currently trying Ogre 3D, If anyone feels like participating, send me a message
An honest review of SW:TOR 6/10 (Danny Wojcicki)
Oooh!
I like the imagery of this idea.
In my opinion this would have to focus on essential tools and resources in order to survive the harsh wilderness... Depending on how far back we're talking, I see basic items such as rock-hammers, flint and steel, and the like... Resource gathering, things like skins, wood, stone, bone.
I don't envision a traditional quest system, more of a "sandboxy" approach in the sense that, you're in this world, you join or start your little hunter-gatherer clans, and you fight to survive.
Take over other clans, make huts, build huge bonfires.
Hunt wildlife...
This sounds really fun!
Of course, everything I just said has probably already been mentioned, but there you have it.
Regardless, a great MMO that just drops you into the middle of the pre-historic wilderness, finding other players...
I wouldn't see the use for NPCs, either.
Awww... I'm pumped now...
This is somewhat like what Xsyon attempted/is attempting, only in a post-apocolyptic scenario. I'm not sure how successful they've been since their launch with hammering out bugs, etc. But you might like some of the concepts.
Not sure if it's been said but i would do it as BC was supposed to be.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Ooohh! I played for two months and just figured out how to cook a pig! FIRE! Wooo!
At level 57 you might get lucky enough to get an epic drop. Which is the legendary "sharp stick". Which is better than the regular stick you got at level 45. And much better than the twig you used at level 20.
Other weapons include such epic things as "a rock", "another rock", and " sharp fingernails ".
This is actually funny
So what would the players be? Homo Sapien, Neanderthal, Erectus?
I was reading about Homo Erectus the other day. Those guys were studs. They measured the speed of some footprints running and found that the guy was running faster than the current world record, and pointed out that it was unlikely that these footprints belonged to anyone who was above average for them. They were a tall Neanderthal, basically. 6 foot tall on average. Same structure except as modern man except for the skull/face but more powerfully built than modern man.
They'd make for a great MMO race as far as athletic ability.
Alley Oop Online, only without the time travel.
Once upon a time....
I would make it like ARMA of operation flashpoint for combat and production or similiar to Mount and blade warband
it would go something like this
You are ..."Uklangor" you start with your cave tribe of ... cave people say 3 to start with you have a map of the surrounding area and a world map (fog of war over the map unexplored) you need wood etc you could take out the hunters or bods you want to level on hunting trips around your territory you start with basic weapons clubs close attack spears and flaming torches etc
you command you bods to do various things with grunting ( i dont mean they shout shilka at 12 oclock) but they generally can flank enemies/beasties for various furs, skins bones etc a full gathering thing going on
certain technologies and territory upgrades will basically turn your settlement into some sort of bronze age log defended dwelling but there is no cap apart from character level to how many bods you can command, a certain amount of leige or tax must be paid to a player who has vat amounts fo troops and land or you can just up and move the whole tribe then exact your vengeance later on them if you so please
it would be nice to have a structure for hand reared animals like sabretooths or riding a wooly rhino into battle
the world could be conquered eventually but a general alliance and grouping could be formed
pvp is open and running into opposing territories
a browser version woudl link into the game so i could play at work or get people to harvest or prduce while away from my main computer (satisfying two player types the first person and the browser game) the mount and blade raid styles would need more tactics and waypoints having your sling units pelt some players ot buffalo using various hunting techniques.
central meeting points for purchasing bod slaves for trade goods
to summarise the initial game would be exploratory and niche building for your followers followed by resource gathering and leveling contact with players and diplomacy
players could use the browser version to name their favourite cave man and get them to explore the map whislt aways travian stylee i guess would be simplist seasonal conditions would play a large part and having stored and prepared for winters and developing your area.
mobs free ranging and using the other prey animals to migrate from Dinos to Sabretooths throw in a few raptors and mamoths depending on where you move your tribe to, knowledge could be shared with other players about hunting and farming also weapon tech and armour from hides not the extent of ryzom where you fashion everything from a radio alarm clock from a crab shell but a good production tech
it would be a wholly sandbox game from player commanding tribes of cannibals to people trying to build the hanging gardens of babylon
nerf scissors! rock is fine...
yours paper
Any setting can work, it depends on how the gameplay is implemented.
*Dons Sandbox Hat*
It's a good chance with this setting for players to really make their mark in an unoccupied game world. No preestablished villages and such. From Day 1, players start at a certain point, and its up to them to get together and work with each other and MAKE their villages as well as all the things required to survive as a community. Mutual protection, resource gathering, making tools / weapons / etc. None of that is made available easily for the player. Everything comes from another player.
On the same token, players can establish their homes and villages anywhere.
The countryside can be altered.
And eventually, I'd like to see power come into play. Namely where groups of players / villages will start fighting each other for resources or better lands, if trade isn't enough for them.
Etc., etc.
Basically, give the kids a playground and toys to play with, and they will make their own story, their own drama together.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
Unless those types of humanoids mixed and matched, which I doubt, then I think the notion of "Races" in this setting should be avoided. It would force players of the same races to be in similar clans, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense, I believe.
In that regard, there'd probably be just one "race". Generic cave man, or the closest thing to it. You know what I mean.
I'm more interested in the actual survival gameplay, however, more so than what type of sub human species my character happens to be.
I got one, I called it Primeval (though, that's prolly not going to work)
I like these discussions because it forces me to paraphrase a grand idea to as little wording as possible. It's good practice.
World / Art Design
Consider it a "sexy prehistoric fantasy game", characters all have rock-hard abs and they glisten in sweat, all that goodness from the cover of a Danielle Steel book. (never open those past the cover) To sum up what the ESRB rating would say; M for Violence, Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes and Partial Nudity.
Since it's an action game, the world is split into public hubs, fairly expansive exterior zones leading to other hubs, and then mission instances. Think Guild Wars 1 in the way zones work, when it comes to other players, only the areas directly outside the hubs are used for player-villages (each one instanced per guild). Mission instances are a lot like Monster Hunter, you have a set of goals that can determine what is in the hunting ground.
Players will have to wear clothes (or not) based on the local temperatures as there is a threshold in how hot/cold the area is vs your clothing. Wear furs in the snow, but wear grass skirts in the desert, or nothing! I would like to consider sunburns and tanlines to this as well.
Character
Choose from 6 flavors of Sapiens, as well as Cro Magnon and Neanderthal. The latter two are varied on the layers of civil barbarity. Later on; Gigantopithicus and Australopithicus. Though that's a balancing nightmare right there.
Classes are 'castes', and there are only 3; Hunter, Warrior and Shaman. Hunters have special PvE abilities and traps, Warriors specialize in PvP abilities and melee, Shamans are the best at identifying items to find in the environment and can craft special items for combat. All three have a need for each other in extensive hunts, but can go it alone solo, if need be - just know what you can and can't handle. Learn to hide and/or flee, this game is about survival.
Combat
PvE mainly happens in instances, and is based on a hunt. You have a set of tasks, and are to aquire those items and drop them off at your camp before nightfall (depends on the time your tasks assigned). When you kill something bigger than a man, in order to harvest it you must do so from multiple sides of the corpse. Each usage will further denude the model, showing the relative parts taken. Larger parts must be carried on your shoulder. All animals can be hunted, regardless of size, and their goods' price is proportional to the difficulty in catching and/or killing them.
PvP is purely in tribal war, and tribes are guilds. So in order to even have at it, you have to join a group and start a village on the outskirts of the hubs. You can then enter 'raid' versions of any outskirts map, which act like a zone-wide game of capture the flag, etc. Nobody actually destroys each others villages, but since it can take place in your zone, it can simulate your village being burned. With that said, placement to the buildings is static, and the resources needed to build it all come from PvE.
Crafting
With the spirit of the original making of tools in mind, you can make your weapons and armor on the spot using items gained immediately from combat, or out of the environment. A "search" hotkey is something you will get used to using. Pop it near a tree, find a branch. Walk over to the riverbanks where the ground visually shows a texture of river stones, that is what you will get. Combine the two, you get a club. This mentality goes into everything from food, to clothing and even building new campsites in the mission, in order to have less of a journey for the dropoff.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
How about as you level you change from Neanderthals into Homo Erectus.