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If you were playing a sandbox...
Vermillion_Raventhal
Member EpicPosts: 4,198
what kind of building styles would you want? Meaning based on cultures real or typical fantasy.
Would you want multiple building sets where you get 20 or so buildings in a set that fit a theme or just random buildings?
Would you rather have free style building and the texture look be based on what materials you used? Think more Sims.
Comments
Definitely free style building, but with the option to have templates or laborers that can replicate something that already exists. For instance building a wall, and then having the laborers build more walls to make a whole building.
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Although, to be honest, I'd want both. It might be nice if you're fleshing out a Guild City to be able to put down houses and shops that don't look like a clown put them together while blind folded.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Assuming that the "game" would have different races with different cultures with different point of views for building i would prefer a limit that allows me only to use a building set that allows me to build structures only of my own racial culture
and when i say "building set" i mean that all the items, furniture, walls, and roofs etc. would be stylized based on my race
but i still get to decide where i want to build a wall or a doorway so a big NO for building system that only gives me a preset structure and then i have to plant it where i want
and if i want... for example, western furniture in my asian style building i would have to go to a merchant of that particular race that has that "western" vibe.
and what comes to brainless monkeys and trolls that build where ever.... i would like to have some kind of limit to where we can build
sure free building should be allowed for barrigades and other obstacles used to block something or someone and if i want to build a bridge i can build one
if i was playing a sandbox i would expect to have many many different cultures within the game both real and fantasy based. It is a sandbox so i should be able to use my imagination to create the buildings i want. If i have to build the same building as everyone else because thats what the devs provided then give me a themepark. Add as many cultures and tools as possible and let me choose what and how to build. That is part of a sandbox IMO.
Odd that so many people in the thread didn't even make it to the second sentence of the OP. It's not exactly War & Peace.
Personally I could enjoy either architectural style. I care far more about the gameplay of a game than the visual appearance of its buildings. So while I may slightly prefer fantasy style (purely since it enables more creativity for the devs) it's not going to really be a significant factor in my enjoyment of the game.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
The only thing about totally custom builder is your going to get crap accident or not. Your clan lays out a nice city and some guy just is crappy builder builds crap or you're making a Rome looking city and some dude plops a log cabin right in the middle.
I think a good balance is prebuilt that's costomizable with wings and subtractions. I don't know though lol.
If I were playing a sandbox mmorpg I wouldn't be here posting this useless comment
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
I've come up with a lot of building ideas for my own MMO (i know, everyone has their own MMO and they all suck, including mine). And that's one thing I wrestled with. How do you put controls in so some players don't ruin a city.
Should anyone be able to build anywhere?
Should devs require an architectual design?
Should building one city be in the control of one player or guild?
Should cities have one master architect who can alter creations made by others in the city?
Perhaps each city should have a dev or GM overseer. Players can build whatever they want, but the dev/gm can knock down stuff that is deemed out of place.
Or perhaps have walls or buildings decay in one week's time; unless labor and resources are spent maintaining it. This will deter those who are just screwing around or at least make their silly creations go away in a week.
Perhaps create a "Like" system where players can vote whether or not they like specific walls, etc. Any structures which don't get sufficient "likes" will decay faster.
Brainstorming here...
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
This is a strangely-worded question. If I read it correctly, the idea the OP seems to be circling around is how to enforce local style consistancy in a game where players can place buildings?
Do you want developers to limit the toolbox in each area? Do you want moderators with veto power over proposed designs? Do you want to complete seperate the design of archetecture from the placement of buildings (so that a zone-controller would limit the available buildings to a preselected set of options)? Do you want to just leave it wide open and hope natural peer presure creates local cultures? Or do you want something else?
very astute. The crucial aspect here is that the hypothetical game is a sandbox with building as a core feature. Thus it is presumed people would want to exhibit their creations.
Having said that, I'd leave it up to guild/city leadership to lay out clearly their design goals and their policies on who is to be admitted. Thus you'd have a core group of people who, say, want to build Roman-themed buildings. That core group then admits players to its guild/city who conform to this pre-existing condition. The core group may even ask for a sample build to test artistic talent. The key here is that applicants know ahead of time what they're getting into.
As another example, say a core group is more open to accepting more variety, and will accept new members if the recruits are open to learning an aesthetic even if they may lack initial talent. I know of certain mod communities that operate like this in a mentor/student relationship.
Its kind of an open ended question. I, as I've said in other post, have a MMORPG design that's been essentially a sandbox influenced by UO, SWG, Vaporware Horizons if anyone was around for that mess before its released as something not quite.
My idea was zone of control granted by the founding clanhall or township. They are granted the ability to plot out roads and plot building whereabouts and sizes and zoning and even design control over what style is built. This meant that I would need prefabbed buildings. But left me with how many buildings of each style could realistically be made and how many sets of style types. So lets say I had 20 buildings per set and 20 sets that's 400 buildings. Then you might have 3 types of each building if you decay and destruction. That seems like I lot. I'm not sure how many buildings are even in a MMORPG.
I might be able to go further with pieces of buildings and allow players to design. This leads to what about people who troll or just crappy builders. Lol imagine the rage when a clan votes your ugly building to be condemned. Or someone draws boobs, a penis or their name with their house or something.
Another route is to have less buildings but near full proof customizations. Meaning players can get like a few default buildings and safely add on customizations that won't allow you to spell words or draw pictures with your house or just make too horrible houses.
The only real option I've come up with is clan "leadership." Players need to plant their township/clanhall and they get radius of control and can do city planning if they choose. The bad thing is if someone is just here with a house and someone props zone of control over them.
<.<
Never fear, your dream MMO will be here....
just give me a decade or two to finely hone my Game development
and design abilities as well as start a Game Design Studio.
Thank you for your patience.
I like the idea of a combination of custom and prefab as well.
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
Good info. Other ideas to control building:
1. In order to build something, a player must have completed a rather long and arduous series of quests that involve building various things in instances. Make it sufficiently boring so as to drive out those players who are just looking for a cheap thrill.
2. Have the act of building require extensive resources
3. Have the act of building take a long time. Can't just make a building in an hour.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
The more freedom a Sandbox game offers me the more I'm going to enjoy it.
That being said I understand there are technical limitations and so it might not be able ot just give me free reign on how what I build will look like. So I would settle for having a variety of looks for every building type so a player built city can look just how the city planner wanted it to look.
I would also love the ability to just destroy cities because there are some people out there, who i've seen in other sand box games, that build awful cities that just need to be removed from the landscape. =p
Kingdom of Knights - Community Manager
The building style has to fit the game's theme.
Whether in a fantasy game it's greek, roman, bauhaus or psychodelic style depends on the game and it's background.
If players can build structures though, a mix of both pre-built ones and preferably an editor to build free-style.