SkyNet - Co-Op Gameplay (Theory and potential structure)

[hipolipolopigus]

Small thought that I'd like some input on...

 

We know that vanilla Skyrim contains large parts of Tamriel. Why not use this to our advantage? Instead of re-scripting everything Bethesda has done for Skyrim, why not base our Co-Op in Morrowind? Doing some searching, I came across this effing massive 3288x2460 map of Tamriel. I think that Morrowind has enough mountains along its' shared edges with Skyrim.

 

Sure, most of the terrain looks like LOD meshes, but heh... So, what do you think? Too much work? Am I mad? :tongue: :ohdear:

 

Also, the forums are up! :dance: I just sub-domained the URL I got for my filehost :P http://skynet.hipolipolopig.us

Edited December 2, 2011 by hipolipolopigus

[BlackRL]

Just woke up... Here goes!

 

It's not difficult to get more than a couple of users on a server. What really counts is the resource consumption.The system for getting 3 players on would be the exact same as the system for getting 600 players on (Although 2p Co-Op could be simpler, the only difference is iteration).

 

Well, yes and no. In theory, this shouldn't consume much in the way of resources, it depends on how it's designed. Bear in mind that this hardly has any code behind it at all and probably won't have anything for a while (We need the CK for the good hooks unless the SKSE do some amazing magical stuffs!).

 

There's no reason why they can't go along on the quests, they won't be recognized as companions in the game. Just loose, semi-NPC mannequin puppets. That's where the core-logic and content peeps come in.

 

You can only go so far with small and simple. The fact that I've even started this has literally Condemned me and my alias for life if this falls over. So guess what? This isn't going away, this is happening. It may take a damned long time, but it is happening.

 

If consumption is a issue, then the answer is yes, it's more difficult to have more than 2, also, ES isn't balanced to have mobs of players running around and killing everything, it's no MMO and that would certainly ruin the game. Like I said, co-op already is in the game, only difference is that you are doing the magic of letting the NPC be replaced by a real friend (PLEASE let this be true) :)

 

Mannequin puppets? Ah ok, I see, I would prefer to be a companion, but it's equal to me, do whatever is more simple and quicker. If for any reason you are going to exploit the companion don't forget about the quests that our companion is replaced/removed by another one (mandatory).

 

NICE! I hope it happens! Make it simple and fast so the fun can start! And if people like it you can get a revenue in advertise for your future site, etc. When I insist in simple is because of my long experience modding soccer games (Pro Evolution Soccer), I mod and manage a site since 2003 (huge one by the way) and one of the problems is that too complicated and long projects fade away and people loose interest, including the people that are doing it. So again, and sorry if I'm being a "pain", keep it simple, keep the focus, forget about complicated item or leveling management, forget about complicated quest management, just keep it simple and you might pull it off. "Just" let us invite a friend over to our world and save, everything is managed in the host to keep it simple and viable, and I said just with "" because this alone will represent a TON of work.

 

I wish you all the luck of the world, and who knows, if done correctly you might get Bethsda attention :)

 

EDIT: no pause when accessing the menus please, that's the only way to keep the challenge for 2 players, at least include an option to remove the pause

Edited December 2, 2011 by BlackRL

[GrumpyOldNord]

Oh wow. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Skyrim's ONLY downfall is the lack of any multiplayer. I would love to lend any aid that I can, though I am pretty incompetent when it comes to programming, so I suppose I'd be useless. However, if there's anything you guys need that I can help with, please just ask and I'll do my best. I would absolutely love to see this happen, the sooner the better.

[Szimitar]

Instead of re-scripting everything Bethesda has done for Skyrim, why not base our Co-Op in Morrowind?

 

I think it's a great idea to base any Co-op content outside of Skyrim, as it has to be somewhat different from usual dungeons to be enjoyable for multiple people. But we should probably split off a content team from the main team, as the technical aspect is the most important one. As seen with the Morroblivion project, creating too much content can drag a mod out to infinity, so we should keep it simple at first. As there are quite a few people here who don't know much about C thought (including me), having a content team running on the side should not be a problem.

 

I actually have a few ideas on how to change gameplay to make the game fun for more than 2 people, I will post them in your new forum when I get my registration email.

[BlackRL]

One more thing, this guys are trying something too, why not join forces?

 

http://www.skyrimmp.com/

- http://jsoftstudios.net/

- http://twitter.com/#!/jsoftstudios

- https://www.facebook.com/pages/NWN-jsoftstudiosnet/235849919780390

[FireBug3]

One more thing, this guys are trying something too, why not join forces?

 

http://www.skyrimmp.com/

- http://jsoftstudios.net/

- http://twitter.com/#!/jsoftstudios

- https://www.facebook.com/pages/NWN-jsoftstudiosnet/235849919780390

they are all empty -_- Edited December 2, 2011 by FireBug3

[BlackRL]

The site is off, should be on soon.

 

Anyway, I've posted all the links so it's easy to get in touch if needed.

Edited December 2, 2011 by BlackRL

[hipolipolopigus]

If consumption is a issue, then the answer is yes, it's more difficult to have more than 2, also, ES isn't balanced to have mobs of players running around and killing everything, it's no MMO and that would certainly ruin the game. Like I said, co-op already is in the game, only difference is that you are doing the magic of letting the NPC be replaced by a real friend (PLEASE let this be true) :)

 

Mannequin puppets? Ah ok, I see, I would prefer to be a companion, but it's equal to me, do whatever is more simple and quicker. If for any reason you are going to exploit the companion don't forget about the quests that our companion is replaced/removed by another one (mandatory).

 

NICE! I hope it happens! Make it simple and fast so the fun can start! And if people like it you can get a revenue in advertise for your future site, etc. When I insist in simple is because of my long experience modding soccer games (Pro Evolution Soccer), I mod and manage a site since 2003 (huge one by the way) and one of the problems is that too complicated and long projects fade away and people loose interest, including the people that are doing it. So again, and sorry if I'm being a "pain", keep it simple, keep the focus, forget about complicated item or leveling management, forget about complicated quest management, just keep it simple and you might pull it off. "Just" let us invite a friend over to our world and save, everything is managed in the host to keep it simple and viable, and I said just with "" because this alone will represent a TON of work.

 

I wish you all the luck of the world, and who knows, if done correctly you might get Bethsda attention :)

 

EDIT: no pause when accessing the menus please, that's the only way to keep the challenge for 2 players, at least include an option to remove the pause

We're re-writing so much anyway, we may as well add some logic to make it near mmo-compatible with leveled mobs which randomly spawn :happy:

 

The companions system would limit us (Although it could also be a side-project to allow more than one follower!) as it is. Unfortunate, but heh :sweat:

 

Well I'm a stubborn bugger :happy: I'll finish this myself if I bloody have to :no: :wink: Thanks for the support :happy: I'll think about what you've said (It's 4:20am here on Saturday now :ohdear:)

 

Oh wow. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Skyrim's ONLY downfall is the lack of any multiplayer. I would love to lend any aid that I can, though I am pretty incompetent when it comes to programming, so I suppose I'd be useless. However, if there's anything you guys need that I can help with, please just ask and I'll do my best. I would absolutely love to see this happen, the sooner the better.

Head on over to the site at http://skynet.hipolipolopig.us and sign up for a brainstormer role :happy: You don't need to be a programmer to contribute, you just need the right attitude! :thumbsup:

 

I think it's a great idea to base any Co-op content outside of Skyrim, as it has to be somewhat different from usual dungeons to be enjoyable for multiple people. But we should probably split off a content team from the main team, as the technical aspect is the most important one. As seen with the Morroblivion project, creating too much content can drag a mod out to infinity, so we should keep it simple at first. As there are quite a few people here who don't know much about C thought (including me), having a content team running on the side should not be a problem.

 

I actually have a few ideas on how to change gameplay to make the game fun for more than 2 people, I will post them in your new forum when I get my registration email.

Thanks ^-^ I'm not sure what's going on with the email system ATM. If nothing arrives shortly, PM me here and I'll set up an account with a temp password for you to sign in with :dance: I look forward to hearing more from you, a lot more :wink:

 

One more thing, this guys are trying something too, why not join forces?

 

http://www.skyrimmp.com/

- http://jsoftstudios.net/

- http://twitter.com/#!/jsoftstudios

- https://www.facebook.com/pages/NWN-jsoftstudiosnet/235849919780390

they are all empty -_-

Indeed they are empty. Besides, I'm awesome (Notice my domain name? :P Hipolipolopig.us. I'm the man, obviously :wink: :rolleyes:) I won't speculate on the seriousness of their projects or their experience, but I'll assume they're like so many other teams that charge in with little-to-no understanding of the concepts required. It may be harsh, but it's a sad reality :sleep: :confused:

 

Edit: Emails should come through for future registrations. Stupid PHP... Wouldn't have had that problem with ASP.net and C# :wink: emails will be coming from [email protected], but I may change it to [email protected]

Edited December 2, 2011 by hipolipolopigus

[BlackRL]

We're re-writing so much anyway, we may as well add some logic to make it near mmo-compatible with leveled mobs which randomly spawn :happy:

 

The companions system would limit us (Although it could also be a side-project to allow more than one follower!) as it is. Unfortunate, but heh :sweat:

 

Well I'm a stubborn bugger :happy: I'll finish this myself if I bloody have to :no: :wink: Thanks for the support :happy: I'll think about what you've said (It's 4:20am here on Saturday now :ohdear:)

 

Thanks for the answer.

 

Just an advise, if people wanted ES to be MMO they would play the free Age of Conan. One of the fun parts of ES is the element of being alone questing or almost alone (NPC companions), also, I've been in the SKYRIM official forums and most of the people strongly disagree with some mp options. To be honest I'm one of them, the more isn't always the better, 2 is more than enough.

 

Companion system is perfect because it does not interfere in any way with the game, just substitutes the NPC companion by a real friend, sometimes limited is better, we don't want to ruin ES with tons of people running and killing around.

 

From my experience I found it almost impossible to find a group of persons to help, you might get 2 or 3 but more than this is going to prove to be an impossible mission.

 

Keep it simple, keep the focus, Bethsda themselves say it's HARD and history shows that it's almost impossible to pull this off in a ES game, so, it's never too much to say again, keep it simple. No one wants a mod for a 2011 game in 2013, for many reasons, new games, new graphics, new mechanics, etc.....

 

That said, this is your work and you do it the way it pleases you because it's your effort, good luck! :)

Edited December 2, 2011 by BlackRL

[hipolipolopigus]

We're re-writing so much anyway, we may as well add some logic to make it near mmo-compatible with leveled mobs which randomly spawn :happy:

 

The companions system would limit us (Although it could also be a side-project to allow more than one follower!) as it is. Unfortunate, but heh :sweat:

 

Well I'm a stubborn bugger :happy: I'll finish this myself if I bloody have to :no: :wink: Thanks for the support :happy: I'll think about what you've said (It's 4:20am here on Saturday now :ohdear:)

 

Thanks for the answer.

 

Just an advise, if people wanted ES to be MMO they would play the free Age of Conan. One of the fun parts of ES is the element of being alone questing or almost alone (NPC companions), also, I've been in the SKYRIM official forums and most of the people strongly disagree with some mp options. To be honest I'm one of them, the more isn't always the better, 2 is more than enough.

 

Companion system is perfect because it does not interfere in any way with the game, just substitutes the NPC companion by a real friend, sometimes limited is better, we don't want to ruin ES with tons of people running and killing around.

 

From my experience I found it almost impossible to find a group of persons to help, you might get 2 or 3 but more than this is going to prove to be an impossible mission.

 

Keep it simple, keep the focus, Bethsda themselves say it's HARD and history shows that it's almost impossible to pull this off in a ES game, so, it's never too much to say again, keep it simple. No one wants a mod for a 2011 game in 2013, for many reasons, new games, new graphics, new mechanics, etc.....

 

That said, this is your work and you do it the way it pleases you because it's your effort, good luck! :)

The companion system would mean many more things to hook and intercept. Companions are forced to follow the main player, so control would be an issue. When a companion dies, you get a letter with gold, so there'd be an issue there... I think the mannequin system is simple because it requires the least amount of intercepting of the "Natural" Skyrim processes.

 

I reject your concept of people not wanting a 2011 game in 2013. I was still playing Oblivion right up to the release of Skyrim. Sure, main quest was done, but there was still so much to do! We could get into a debate about this, but I'd rather not :P

 

Up until a few days ago I thought starting up the .net framework in a non-managed application was impossible. I was far off. I could list millions of things that have been called "Impossible" over humanity's many years which have been done by people stubborn enough to not accept that they're simply "Impossible". The right attitude will get us far with this project. We're not a bunch of children tampering with BASIC. We're injecting Microsoft's CLR into Skyrim and making a bunch of the chat over tea and biscuits! (Don't ask, tired :P)

Edited December 2, 2011 by hipolipolopigus