=== ANCHOR POEM === ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── @user-570 specifically in relation to MMOs, I think the scaling aspects of the genre have never truly been utilized. Even something as simple as Agar.io (or similar, can't remember any names teehee) with massive amounts of people (I later learned they were bots, whoops) can utilize scale quite well, if implemented well. The Massive part of MMO is valuable I believe, which is a big reason why I like games that scale like Supreme Commander and Factorio. The Multiplayer part of MMO is valuable because multiplayer brings randomized outcomes, which are always more fun than playing against bots. Multiplayer combined with Massive gives room for community, but only if the game is designed to encourage it. Online... you can't have multiplayer without online haha I believe you can make massive games with very few players, and you can make intensely isolating games with lots of players (like WoW today) and the middle ground in old WoW where guilds are required to do anything worked well for a while, but no longer. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ === SIMILARITY RANKED === --- #1 fediverse/3063 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── @user-570 true. the "massively multiplayer" aspect of WoW is about as important to the game as the "A" is in "ARPG". I can't help but feel like the "impromptu groups" functionality feels a bit better than matchmaker instancing... though anything worth running a group for in WoW after TBC was instanced >.> Honestly I think there's just too many games these days for people to really get "into" MMORPGs, unless they're sufficiently unique in their mechanics (like EVE or Runescape) any ARPG MMOs are dead on launch, as you said. That design space is tapped out, at least for now, until someone comes along and makes it a deckbuilding roguelike or whatever. cough cough ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ --- #2 fediverse/3039 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── @user-570 I'd LOVE a game which taught toki pona!! You've brought some of this up before. I'm uninterested in co-opting some existing thing in a way I then can't support myself off of. Well my points are these: MMOs are difficult because of the added complexity in their networking an open source networking solution exists however no open source client solution exists but one could be written, which is about as hard as making a game using Bevy or Raylib or Love2D, and if one were written, then games could easily be made on-top of them which you would then support yourself off of. I mean... I'd want to support myself too haha, and I can think of like 100 different games that could be made in an engine like that. the idea is that by opening up more design space you can apply your ideas as an early pioneer in a particular design direction that hasn't been able to be explored because the up-front investments in making an MMO are huge. Meanwhile, with this system you could script them in Lua very easily. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ --- #3 fediverse/4877 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────── you can make a functional prototype for almost any game in Warcraft 3's map editor that's why no real-time strategy game ever made an editor as good again FPS editors peaked at Unreal Tournament 2004 imho RPGmaker eliminated a whole class of game design jobs platformers you can make in godot menu based games too, though Twine also works well for that etc etc until you have a prdouct that you can justify sinking money into an engine for (the engine isn't THAT expensive geez and it's the most fun part to write) yeah I think you got this backwards, we should pay for the CONTENT not the structure it lives in. Why not just use godot? why not use a Warcraft 3 map? there are some things you can't do in Warcraft 3. You couldn't make Supreme Commander, probably, at least it wouldn't be as good. etc etc that's how it goes... game design, amiright? I miss thinking about that. Anyway gtg gotta log off for a bit [101 characters remaining] ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┘ --- #4 fediverse/3909 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────── I don't really like singleplayer games sometimes a multiplayer game is too much effort to play with extra players, like Factorio where like anytime I'd play with other people they'd just kinda fuck off and do their own thing (whatever, I wanted to design a factory together, not play singleplayer together >.>) sometimes a multiplayer game has no players, RIP sometimes a multiplayer game has incredibly skilled players who shit on noobs and don't teach, RIP and sometimes a multiplayer game has no IRL friends that are into it, (personal RIP then) ... anyway, games are fun and we should play more of them. I wish I didn't have so much time to waste, but hey I guess that's where I'm comfortable, so... ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┘ --- #5 fediverse/1238 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐ ║ did you know you can run runescape classic offline, locally, just for your own │ ║ server? You can keep several computers ready for a LAN party, each with their │ ║ own accounts ready to go. │ ║ │ ║ "Oh we're level 30 this time because so-and-so is hosting and this is how far │ ║ their computer has levelled up." │ ║ │ ║ vim ~/games/runescape-classic/credentials.txt │ ║ │ ║ at least, I think you can. I know it's singleplayer, so worst case scenario │ ║ you can all be doing the same things at the same time in your own games. Maybe │ ║ split up for a mission or two, but it can get hectic if everyone's in the same │ ║ room. │ ║ │ ║ = │ ║ │ ║ a game jam where everyone works on the same project, uses the same asset list, │ ║ but builds their own collection of minigames. │ ║ │ ║ common functions could be shared, and art references distributed and together │ ║ they could design a whole land. Like, there's no reason minigames can't be │ ║ fully fledged experiences. You can have as many as you want, all in the same │ ║ engine and built from a massive (yet sandboxed) environment. │ ║ │ ║ an all in one game. │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #6 notes/supreme-commander-appeal --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────── a game like supreme commander but fantasy themed and each unit used a special move everytime their mana was full and there were spellcasters who restored mana to targets to increase their power or, hear me out, or, just do that in wowchat I betcha could do it I bet it would be fun as hell please? as a favor to yourself? build the game you want to see and it'll get done please -- stack overflow -- your journals were originally a way for you to remember what to think, remember? old projects meant to show you light and life remember? you are alone in this soul act like it's your own celebrate your period of mental denial as a refraction of your infinite travaille which lasts for quite a good long while have you ever dreamed of the nile? -- stack overflow -- if a doorway takes you to the fae, then where does a river bring you? like raindrops on the floor, racing for an eternity's splendor. what does the rainbow think, as it's cast from the prismatic orb? are each photons aware? bouncing between stars light is beautiful and large beloved by all revered by one ephemeren the totality of all things ------------------ ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────┘ --- #7 fediverse/982 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────── @user-707 @user-708 using this to control the buttons in VRchat would be like a person with a prosthetic interacting with real life :O minus the physicality of course, but that's next. can't wait to play Warcraft 3 and think "select all healers" so I can point them at a dying unit with my mouse. or world of warcraft where your rotation begins to feel like a song. maybe even a text-based adventure, where you reading the text corresponds to the results of the simulation, https://www.spreeder.com/app.php style. could make it so that if you wanted something else to happen, you had to willfully think it while the words are flashing in front of your eyes - the game would pause if you blinked, perfect for phones btw... could be a locally networked thing, like four to six people hanging out and playing a game like pictionary or charades. except, a story that developed, and whoever wanted could change it while everyone was reading it at once. sorta like a competition to see who can make the best twists and false endings ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘ --- #8 fediverse/1602 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────┐ ║ @user-1037 │ ║ │ ║ those all seem really cool though! They all kinda have the same basic UI tho, │ ║ kinda feel like there's opportunities for different kinds of expression. Like, │ ║ in game design there's a lot of different genres, and yeah sidescrollers │ ║ include mario and sonic but they're both very different experiences. So too │ ║ perhaps could we interact with our computers by programming them in more │ ║ engaging ways. │ ║ │ ║ they say some people are visual learners, others need to be taught, some │ ║ people need to watch someone else doing it, and a few might just learn by │ ║ plugging their brains into a computer and downloading a black belt in kung fu. │ ║ │ ║ Maybe typing long paragraphs of logic makes sense for some people, I know for │ ║ most it doesn't come naturally. Maybe some people are more used to like, │ ║ looking at maps that you can examine at different levels of abstraction. Like │ ║ players who play Paradox games zooming from a national perspective to states │ ║ and individuals and all the other things they might want to strategize using. │ ║ Or m │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #9 fediverse/3101 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── if you don't have a lot of time but still like games, like for example a new parent or if you're focused on your career or always traveling, I recommend the game Star Realms in the digital version, which can be played on a phone or computer, has a mode called "48 hour turns" where each of your moves has time to think for two entire days. Most of the time you won't need two days, but it gives time to work on other things. for people who enjoy this mode, it is not uncommon to have 3-5 games running at once. When they have time, they can play as many as they can, and as long as they're keeping up with it there's very little chance they'll lose time. kinda like words with friends, except space strategy. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ --- #10 fediverse/3048 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── @user-570 I really do like the idea of only being able to speak in toki pona. How are you enforcing that? Using sitelen pona? how do you type, by pointing at a grid of characters? or just... by typing? what happens when someone types english? 20-30 players per instance is definitely not Massivetm but it still sounds like you're building systems which emphasize socialized play. I like that, I believe it's always important to have players contributing toward a larger community. It builds a sense of solidarity, and gives you chances to identify ways that people sabotage such systems (by, for example, wasting resources or being greedy) which is an interesting cultural experiment, I think. I thought it was an MMO because you pitched it in relation to the MMO I designed =P also the server software I described is an emulation project first, generic MMO software second, as it needs to be since it lacks a client. If a client was designed, that limitation could be removed. That's really all I'm trying to express. 😋 ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ --- #11 fediverse/2126 --- ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┐ ║ There was this great game growing up called Neverwinter Nights 2 - I never │ ║ really played it, but it was renowned for it's map-editor functionality. You │ ║ could join a person's "game", when really they were in the editor window, and │ ║ they could BUILD THE GAME RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. It was like, computer skill │ ║ performance gameplay improv. It was beautiful. │ ║ │ ║ I did, however, play a Warcraft 3 mod with all the same ideas. Except, it was │ ║ ONLY IN RAM. YOU COULD NOT SAVE. │ ║ │ ║ so it was a lot simpler, and O M G it was the coolest thing ever. │ ║ │ ║ I played it like, twice though. Nobody ever hosted it, nobody ever showed me │ ║ how. │ ║ │ ║ I tried to play it single-player, but I couldn't understand the mechanics. Not │ ║ simple enough for me, I guess. │ ║ │ ║ I couldn't help but think how many cool games a person could make if they │ ║ could do that with the Warcraft 3 editor itself. │ ║ │ ║ Because I did work with that, a lot, which was NOT in RAM, but instead stored │ ║ to the hard drive. │ ║ │ ║ Hard drives which I've since lost, of course, but drop me in and I know ho │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧══════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #12 fediverse/1028 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────── there's this really fun video game I like to play called "Legion TD 2" - it's based on a Warcraft3 mod. In this game, you make tactical and strategic decisions on a fixed term - a competitive game between 4 or 8 players with an incredible array of randomness. it teaches you to work with what you got, and to make decisions based on your opponent's weaknesses. Good luck figuring out what they are, though, as you can't just memorize them out of a book. You need to adapt, in the moment, to the decisions of your foes, while primarily focusing your attention on accomplishing a different task. I really like it because it's taught me to be strategic in plenty of other ways. I used to love the game Overwatch because it required adaptibility. The game was always changing, so no strategy stuck forever, but every match you'd play against a slightly different opponent. but then Blizzard changed the game because they wanted to make more money, and it got worse and worse at what I liked about it. Sadface. : ( ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘ --- #13 fediverse/240 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: game-design │ │ ║ └──────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ i like to design games. my darling is a game based on Majesty (2000) the │ ║ Fantasy Kingdom Sim. you can think of it like a management strategy game where │ ║ you control the knobs and levers that a fantasy monarch might have - │ ║ allocating funds, placing quest bounties, hiring heroes, and organizing the │ ║ peasantry. the important part is that your units are not controllable - they │ ║ just do their own thing. │ ║ │ ║ unrelated, but I think we should design games as APIs that a user's preferred │ ║ tool could interface with and render as they will. it'd help a lot with │ ║ cross-platform compatibility and would allow people to customize parts of the │ ║ game to their desires. │ ║ │ ║ unrelated, but I think if you could design an AI that could play games │ ║ (perhaps through an API) that it hadn't been trained on, I think you would │ ║ have a pretty convincing argument for abstract "problem solving" capabilities. │ ║ │ ║ unrelated, but games like the one I described are good for situations where │ ║ people don't have to trust their monarch. to it you are AGI │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #14 fediverse/1237 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────── primary conversation spaces in social media should be no larger than the size of a conversation. A few years ago I heard that humans can only really keep track of about 5 things before they need symbols to keep track of them. Maybe it was 7, or maybe 11, I'm not sure - the exact count eludes me. But another thing I heard was that we can generally keep track of around 70 people in our lives - beyond that it's hard to remember specifics. And yet our social media sites gives us friends for life, because honestly who's going to kick someone off their friend list? At least, that's how it feels coming from a social background of games. In Runescape you'd add someone if they were cool, and completely forget about them. Sometimes you'd be out wandering in the world and you'd actually run into them, and that was just like... the coolest thing. When I played later games like CoV and WoW everything was more instanced. But their chat system was superior, and you could more easily keep chats with friends ongoing. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘ --- #15 fediverse/968 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────┐ │ CW: for-cats-only │ └──────────────────────┘ the gameplay value of a cardboard box increases exponentially upon the introduction of a box-cutter [to make holes in the box] and varmint sized toys [to play whack-a-mole with] also, it's important to let your can win about 65% of the time - just enough to keep them interested (cats lose attention) but not enough to make them feel like it's easy. That's why it's important not to use your hands as a toy, because your hands always hurt. It gives them a feeling they're craving, both of attention but also success. 65% is more addictive, just ask any designer for multiplayer games. Well... 65 is my number, but there's a percentage (depending on the game) that players have to win if you want to keep their attention. If they win more than that, they lose interest. if they lose more, then they get frustrated. It's a delicate balance that ideally would be measured by AI [cursed] and adjusted per player. That way you could get maximum engagement and =============== stack overflow =================== ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘ --- #16 messages/894 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────── Game designers should reward players for playing multiplayer games, not for being good at playing multiplayer games. They should still have a ranking, and matchmake against similarly skilled foes, while also putting high level players amongst low level players occasionally (and fairly, so maybe one on each team "smurf" style) in order to both teach the low level players and let the high level player have catharsis. When players are rewarded for being good, they stop playing the game to enjoy it. That's fine, but both pickup games and NBA can exist at once and its not due to the logistics of organizing a large group of skilled basketball players. It's not always about skill. By rewarding players for the number and quality of games they play, (so, no afk-ing or throwing outside of being drunk or whatever) not only can you increase engagement but also you encourage low-level and low-skill players to compete just as much. Especially if you tell them "hey, we'll match you up with people who have similar gameplay habits to you. Give it a bit though because the system needs to be calibrated to your particular spirit" ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────┘ --- #17 fediverse/6012 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────── okay picture this: take the open-source source-code for the City of Heroes server (I think it might have been leaked or something? idk) and make an MMO in the same engine using the Mastermind class. In most MMOs, you can have one or two pets at a time. In City of Heroes, Mastermind characters can have 6 or 7. Hey wouldn't you know it that's just enough for a pokemon team wouldn't that be a neat proof of concept. Also there's flying built into the game, and you can teleport and run really fast so like, just animate your character hopping on one of your pokemon's back and you've got travel powers or whatever. I don't play Pokemon very much hehe but I like the aesthetics. https://wiki.ourodev.com/Volume_2_Build instead of abilities on your action bar, you'd have movement commands for each individual pokemon. They'd use their abilities automatically and periodically, and there'd be lots of knockbacks, crowd-control, and target switching. (which is common in CoH mechanics anyway) I mean, only if you're into that sorta tng ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────┘ --- #18 fediverse/1116 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: eye-contact │ │ ║ └──────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ It's important to build self-hostable computing components of video games (as │ ║ in, old style games where you could host a server on any machine instead of │ ║ just the ones owned by the corporation) (as in, your machine, yes yours) │ ║ (something you can control and observe, something within your control) │ ║ │ ║ ======================= stack overflow ===================== │ ║ │ ║ there are two ways to play Unreal Tournament (capture the flag) gamemode. The │ ║ first is to run past all your enemies and fire at them as you pass, which is │ ║ what some of the bots are designed to do. The rest stay on defence, and defeat │ ║ any enemies that approach. │ ║ │ ║ however, they never push the borders of their "territory" forward - each │ ║ according to the different "lanes" or "directions of approach" │ ║ │ ║ I like the use 32 bots, to simulate a more consistent gameplay experience. It │ ║ feels more like ww1, fighting over ground, pushing forward and attempting to │ ║ outmaneuver your foes. │ ║ │ ║ some allies will approach from behind, and you let them pass forward while │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #19 fediverse/2098 --- ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: games │ │ ║ └──────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ The difference between tactics and strategy is a level of abstraction. │ ║ │ ║ Tactics are crucial, but context dependent. Strategy is ALWAYS useful as a │ ║ method of planning. │ ║ │ ║ If you typically play base-builder games like Starcraft or Age of Empires, try │ ║ playing a game like Supreme Commander or Factorio - both of them are one level │ ║ of abstraction up. │ ║ │ ║ If you typically play arcade turn-based strategy games like Civilization or │ ║ Catan, try going up a level of abstraction with Dominions 6, or any game │ ║ developed by Paradox Interactive like Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, or │ ║ Stellaris. │ ║ │ ║ If you tend to play luck-based games like Poker or Monopoly, try playing an │ ║ actual game instead of resolving a system that's predetermined by the initial │ ║ board state and results of chance-based-mechanics with minor (if any) input │ ║ from players, like perhaps Star Realms, Magic the Gathering, or Dungeons and │ ║ Dragons. Each highlight a different type of choice in their mechanics. You │ ║ should probably try all three if you care about strategy. │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧══════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┴──────────┘ --- #20 fediverse/1398 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────── I don't think I've ever appreciated a notification Steam has sent me about my friend's playing games. If they wanted to play with me they would text me. It does, however, make me think about video games more. And seeing their name makes me think of them, which makes me feel closer to them without actually interacting. Which is kind-of an anti-behavior, like facebook stalking except... paying attention to what your friends are playing and when and how much and... not good. I know a lot of people who are permanently offline on Steam because of reasons like that. But, of course, they can still see everyone else, which feels like an anti-pattern... ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────┘ |