Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
A prehistoric MMO - How would you do it?
Karesh
Member UncommonPosts: 242
Pretty much like the title stated, feel free to post your ideas, etc.
I always find people's opinions and ideas interesting, so that's pretty much my reason for creating this thread.
Comments
Guild/ clan/ whatever- would need to sustain / protect each other. Hunting, gathering would need to be the main quest types.
You could make your own weapons. Quite bored of it already tbh.
The problem would be that spending hours learning to sharpen a club to make a spear, or how to spark a fire would probably get quite tedious for someone surrounded by all sorts of gadgets running on electrickery.
Chins
Are you trying to be authentic or a little more flexible, like make it "mythical" in the sense of making the setting the "pre-historic" times described by many mythologies or religions. Say set in the time of the Titans of the Greeks or something.
Proto-humans would be the playable 'races'
Homeo Erectus, Homo Floresiensis, Homo Habilis, Neanderthalensis
They would vary on intelligence, strength.
I'd add Megafauna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna
my favorite
http://www.itsnature.org/rip/dinosaurs/giant-short-faced-bear/ 16 hundred pounds!
and mess up pre-history some in putting a lot of extinct animals (and the above different homos) together in the same time.
Eating and clean water would be the main currencies.
Slow, 'race' wide technology development through crafting. The game might eventually get to metal working after a few years.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
I think you can half 'sharp wooden spear' obey many of the conventions of normal MMOs. You don't have to spend hours making it, it doesn't need to be a simulation, just a game.
I don't know, maybe selecting the different shapes of scrapers, the size weight of atlatls, etc. could be a mini game. But anything approaching even 10x faster than real time would get boring to me real fast.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Heavy survival and crafting centric. Small communitites, huge space in between. Shamanism with neanderthal and homo sapiens to spice it up. Realistic design, almost historical (maybe mix some era to make it more interesting) would be a lot more interesting than a pseudo fantasy one.
If I were going to make a prehistoric game, I'd want it to be like E.V.O
One of my most favorite games of all time. I was hoping spore was like it, but it just didn't do it for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv6FHOYf-Sk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MhIQhpfvus
Man, I think I'm going to find a rom of it or something and play it right now.
There would be a fundamental paradox with a prehistoric MMO. Prehistory by definition refers to a time before recorded history. That means a time before people (whatever races inhabit your MMO world) could communicate via language to pass down stories and lore either orally or through written text. This would eliminate all possibilty for lore, background story, context, and, logically, even communication in your MMO, which are all rather essential "MMORPG" features. A game lacking these features could hardly be called an MMO or RPG, thus the paradox.
The only way I can comprehend a "prehistoric" MMO is if you control a particular beast in a sort of Darwinian, cut-throat, survival of the fittest jungle world. You would focus on strengthening your beast in typical RPG/MMO progression fashion. Perhaps a milestone to shoot for would be to "evolve" a la Pokemon. Perhaps if you work with others to take down a larger beast, you then (inexplicably) gain control of that beast as a means of "progressing."
I always thought it would be cool to play a creature instead of a humanoid. Being a dinosaur or sabertooth would be awesome in a prehistoric MMO. Instead of items you can equip evolutions, like spore style, to get stronger.
That being said, Im really enjoying some co-op in darkspore at the moment. It would be awesome for a game like that to be expanded to have deeper lore.
A time traveling MMO would be awesome too where you can have factions from different era, dinosaurs vs cowboys vs aliens vs colonial vs cavemen vs you get the idea :]
Ive actually thought about this before..
Make a game similar to xyson (except make it not the worst game ever made), add dinosuars, would be so sweet.
I would play it even if it was 2d lol
Oh and for pvp, it could be Dino vs Human, sort of like Lotro where you had a seperate dino character..
I'd make it like Rift, WoW, Alganon and the others. Just with "kill 20 small dinosaurs" and "protect your eggs from 30 carnivores" and by replacing "slash" and "strike" simply with "bite".
...
Ok that's how 99% of the companies out there would do it.
If I'd have the funds, I'd make it a sandbox game. You know, dark and gritty, with stuff like:
seasons and weather
environment having an impact on your skill (ie making fire when it rains compared to when everything is dry)
detailed character stats (hunger, cold (calculated by the amount, type (like leather or wool) and status (perfect, soaked etc) of your clothes
interaction with about everything in the world. Like building huts and stuff everywhere
having the game calculate temperature and wind speed and such according to your immediate surroundings (like getting a bonus in caves and huts and such, for regeneration and so on)
experiences shape a charakter in some ways permanently (like receiving scars)
aging
And so on and so on. Dunno if it would be fun, but it would be something interesting (for a while).
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
i would make 2 classes Ooka, Ooka Ooka, and finally Ooka Ooka OOka
They would all have 1 single attack.... Throw rock
I don't want to be rude but i think you should check a dictionary because your definition is really off.
You are correct, but it raises a great idea for a Darwinian MMO, raising your creature to fight or flight, hunt, gather, giving it armour or pointy teeth. That would be good. Edit- of course that wouldn't actually be Darwinian and would more closely resemble Intelligent Design, but it would need to be to make the game work.
Chins
I actually like the idea. Of course I would prefer the Jurassic period. So there would be all sorts of dinosaurs. However, it'd be super dangerous to venture out. Like playing the game would always be heart pounding and adrenaline pumping. Players don't really stand a good chance against most dinosaurs. Also the reason for people (players) to be there would be some sort of time travel deal. Not like any sort of cave people or something.
I dunno. Just people who've gotten sent back in time and have to try to survive. That would be pretty fun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prehistory
Actually, my definition was spot on. The only ammendment would be that prehistoric peoples, although non-literate, could communicate in a primitive way without a fully developed language.
Cave paintings are a form of literature. These things evolve gradually, there is no line in the sand (other than the arbitrary era's we give them which in practice must overlap).
Chins
It would make for an interesting sandbox in the least. Though I would substitute some of the 'realism' you would have with cave paintings and allow players the ability to communicate via chat box
You could do it Dinotopia style!
or..Maybe liek Civilization/Xysom?
Start out in prehistoric age with dinosaurs and such, and as the game goes or maybe a big new (expansion or patch) comes, which ushers in a new "era", which will start obsoleting prehistoric era items and such. I think that could be cool, if done properly.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
Imagine RP'ing on voice chat. 'Ugh ugh ugh', 'what the fvck are you on about?', 'UGH!!!'.
Chins
Cave paintings may be a form of expression of thought and, therefore, a means of communication, but it can in no way be confused with literature, which involves the use of a devoloped and mutually understood written language. And yes, prehistory did "end" in various locations around the world at various points in history.
Anyway, these are all just semantics. The only definition I gave of prehistory was that it is the period before recorded history.
I'd make it a game of survival in which you either learn to work with others and contribute to the greater good or you won't make it for long. The only crafting is what was available to man at that time in history. Weather would play a big part in the game and conflict would have no rules. Your character would age and when death comes you wander in the spirit world until you randomly are reborn.
I know it would be difficult to pull off but that's the dream I've had for many years.
Yeah, fair enough. <- aimed at Homitu
Chins
I wouldn't use prehistoric.
But I would use a Lost World/Land That Time Forgot concept. Early 1900's romantic-adventurer game with some Hollow Earth/Symzonia thrown in. Your intrepid team of adventurers must survive the native wildlife (classic T-Rex, of course) and the cunning native aborigines--canibals, naturally--and is there a much more sinister plot at the center of this lost world?
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
Can I play a gnome?
Chins
Hmm, gnomes as the sinister plot? Sure, why not.
Do you mind terribly if we put this grass skirt and the pygmy nose-bone on you?
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.