Author Topic: The Ultimate Blockland RP - A Theoretical Discussion  (Read 34489 times)

If that's the case, then we defiantly need to discuss what MUST be in an RP, and what is optional. Everything that is an absolute must will be in the core pack.
Didn't I just loving say that I disagreed with that

This shouldn't be about producing generics. Generics don't work. We need an idea, not ideas for handling generic concepts in a different way.

I'm not following you. It looks as though you are contradicting yourself. Would you mind clarifying?

From what I'm understanding, you want to take one "idea" and turn it into an RP? An idea such as a way to make money, or a way to do combat, etc? So that way, everyone will have to "abide" by the rules because they must use this concept to play the game correctly?

So are you looking for a new kind of RP which has not been made yet, then have the mechanics laid out and then think about the rest?

I think rynick might mean trading/economy mod, leveling mod, money/resource mod, etc., as separate mods that can be used together in any combination

Tom

I think what Rky means is: A generic is something like gather resources. Instead of simply creating new ways other gathering resources, we need to come up with completely new ideas.

The problem is that no RPG properly addresses and utilises the fact that this is a building game.

I mean sure, we've had "get money to buy land, then build a house" but that's so open-ended that there's no possible objective there. For me, a good RPG for Blockland would be something that really makes building a functional part of the gameplay without requiring you to be a "good" builder (I'm talking architectural styles etc).

For example, there could be an "Engineer" job where you have to construct something for a specific purpose. Perhaps there's a river and your "job" is to get a vehicle across it safely. Sure it's an easy task, but it's just an example.

The idea may be more fitting in some sort of singleplayer campaign mode, but I'm sure someone can figure out a way to apply this in a multiplayer setting.

I've always wanted an RPG or gamemode which requires you to build forts, bridges, machine, and the like to obtain your goals. It would of course be tricky, because somehting like 70% of players would do everything with red 1x1s, etc.



And yes, no leveling, no resources, and definitely no grinding of any kind.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2010, 08:17:51 PM by FireMan »

Tom

Part of the fun is coming up with how you are going to achieve your goals. Building stuff out of 1x1x5s might be a good strategy it's faster.

I think the best RP would actually be a MMO, you would get bricks by destroying stuff to get across obstacles/defend yourself. The way you would get weapons to destroy stuff to get BIGGER bricks, it would be a sort of crafting system like TF2 has. You would craft 5 bricks to get a stone, craft 3 stones to get iron and 2 irons to get a sledgehammer. Of course, having lots of bricks don't give you stones but hey, neither do little brick people make towers and we still like that.

I think rynick might mean trading/economy mod, leveling mod, money/resource mod, etc., as separate mods that can be used together in any combination
That is the opposite of what I am saying.

I'm not following you. It looks as though you are contradicting yourself. Would you mind clarifying?

From what I'm understanding, you want to take one "idea" and turn it into an RP? An idea such as a way to make money, or a way to do combat, etc? So that way, everyone will have to "abide" by the rules because they must use this concept to play the game correctly?
No. Wrong kind of idea. You're providing ideas for handling generic concepts.

I think what Rky means is: A generic is something like gather resources. Instead of simply creating new ways other gathering resources, we need to come up with completely new ideas.
Pretty close.



One of the problems we encounter in designing these sorts of mods is that we focus on handling the mechanics instead of what they all add up to. We simply assume that it will be the usual: mining, chopping, leveling, et cetera, and thus generics are born.
Simply put: our RPs are built upon a large assemblage of ideas for handling the gameplay rather than ideas for innovative and creative concepts.
We shouldn't(seriously read this starfishs) try to make a bunch of small mods to piece together into an RP. We should think of the RP and make the pieces from there.

This shouldn't be a topic of what has gone wrong with the way RPs handle things and how the mechanics could be fixed as much as it should be about coming up with an idea for an RP that presents engaging and interesting gameplay to the clients.

I see. So it would be like a tree, with the end goal being the trunk and everything you need to achieve that goal be the branches? So you would at or subtract branches to get to that main goal? Sorry if my brown townogy is off, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting what you're saying now.

I see. So it would be like a tree, with the end goal being the trunk and everything you need to achieve that goal be the branches? So you would at or subtract branches to get to that main goal? Sorry if my brown townogy is off, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting what you're saying now.
We come up with what the RP should be about before we figure out how it works.

i.e. It should be about a space station!
- Yes, and oxygen levels will work like so

We come up with what the RP should be about before we figure out how it works.

i.e. It should be about a space station!
- Yes, and oxygen levels will work like so


Got it. So from now on, this post should look like the Suggestions & Requests section.

We come up with what the RP should be about before we figure out how it works.

i.e. It should be about a space station!
- Yes, and oxygen levels will work like so

Good idea.

I have an RP idea. It's basically an Arctic-survival kind of RP, but with twists.

The idea was sort of laid out when Ladios came to my server while I was making a little town on Slopes. Other elements were taken from Ace's Arctic RP with heat-bricks.

In the beginning you'd start somewhere nearby an already built town/village/whatever settlement which lies empty and is a bit shabby. (There should be possibly more of them). Players would get the option of either settling down there or go explore more in hopes of finding something better.

If the players decide to settle down, the first phase of the RP would begin. It would be about rebuilding/fixing up buildings so they can provide shelter to the tired and freezing explorers. Unfortunately for them, they won't have infinite source of bricks, so to get some they have to clear up rubble or demolish buildings that are unneeded. And to add more to the challenge, you can't carry infinite amount of bricks. But you can always always create material piles around the site of construction as a brick reserve. As the town gets rebuilt people could specialise in other things. One may keep being a builder (they are valuable!) some other people could be town guards or whatever they desire, and then we'd have many other folks, making items and so on. But items and vehicles use bricks too (or maybe some other resource?) and we also know that you can't tear down everything. With levelling these item makers can use less bricks to make things. And also they'd get a nice nickname, such as "Ivan the Gunsmith" or "Tony the Pharmacist". Same naming scheme would apply to builders, who could carry more bricks as a perk.

But your probably bustling town now needs more resources, so this is when the second part sets in. With a stable base behind them exploring is somewhat safer. Only somewhat. Because there are things lurking out in the wilderness. Like wild animals and other beastly things. And not to mention cold. So in such harsh environment you need to secure resources. How? It's all up to the players. Outposts could be set up nearby places with bricks. They could be anything from abandoned buildings, large brick piles, or even loose rocky walls. They can also steal from the possible enemies, or trade resources, like bricks for guns and so on.

These places might be far away from your town, so probably you should use vehicles. Vehicle spawns would be different from other bricks. To get a vehicle spawn brick, you have to break a vehicle spawn brick and then you can lay it down somewhere. Normally each possible starter towns should get one or two vehicle spawns initially, but they would have to be covered in rubble or snow so people won't be sidetracked far too early. The bonus of owning a vehicle is that you would be protected from the cold, and the "noise" (I know vehicles have no sounds in BL) would scare away beasts.

These are my ideas so far let's see if something could be done with it.

(I realize that this sort of RP needs a terrain map like The Slopes, and also a pre-built town. But I'm sure that with all the talented scripters out there a "town randomiser" could be made which would use a set of pre-made buildings and would generate them on randomly chosen suitable spots).

I think, to prevent resource grinding. Resources should be mostly non-renewable, however, they should provide many resources before becoming exhausted. Now that this mine is empty, our miner is given another task of setting charges to create another shaft, or becoming an explorer and looking for a new mine.

If this was the case, you would get an interesting nomadic type of deal, there would be ghost towns and abandoned mines, it would create unique gameplay. This nomadic age would only last until the players could successfully build a trading infrastructure, and be able to have a stable town.

Back to resource grinding. You should need skill to harvest resources, perhaps you would have to place cuts in slim zones. You should get penalties for swinging wildly or at nothing. Perhaps swinging at nothing could make the head of your axe/pickaxe fall off.