Is this a good idea?
Or am I just going insane?
(I'll make it if it's a good idea)
Nethack (Roguelike) mod?
Moderator: Moderators
Making multiplayer Gauntlet, the closest realtime approximation of Nethack I can think of, would be difficult, but not impossible. I would suggest that a very simple approximation might be a good starting ground.
We have a lot of the tools to do it now, including level code, once Tower Defense is available.
And, in theory, we could use LUA to generate random maps, with walls, as mazes. The code for generation of ASCII mazes is certainly available, for all of the Roguelikes... it's one short step from there to making it plunk down "walls". Getting it all to come together, and be anything more than a collection of random code, though... a little tough, I suspect.
We have a lot of the tools to do it now, including level code, once Tower Defense is available.
And, in theory, we could use LUA to generate random maps, with walls, as mazes. The code for generation of ASCII mazes is certainly available, for all of the Roguelikes... it's one short step from there to making it plunk down "walls". Getting it all to come together, and be anything more than a collection of random code, though... a little tough, I suspect.
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Felix the Cat
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: 15 Jun 2005, 17:30
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Er, you're not seriously going to build ASCII characters are ye? That's kind've a waste, frankly. Just do color-coded low-poly shapes, if you can't do character models, or use Icons and settings where users will always see Icons all the time, and make the .S3Os invisible (yes, all of this is 100% doable).
25% of making this work is going to necessarily be LUA code, in terms of development time, or higher, depending on how hardcore you want to be, in terms of actually re-creating things from NetHack. If you don't know any LUA yet, now's the perfect time to sit down and learn it. It's not much fun (for me, at least, thus far), but it's still very powerful, and will continue to become more powerful as things go, I suspect.
That's why I suggest that you do a Gauntlet clone first- far easier to code, and you can build on it from there, by slowly weeding out Gauntlet-like features (monster spawners, etc.) while replacing them with a more genuine multiplayer NetHack experience (randomized levels, shops, all of the spells and crazy monster effects, etc., etc., etc.) whilst keeping the realtime feel.
Besides the core code, which would be fairly gnarly stuff (maze-generator, making "keys", making the teleport / level-end, making a between-level shop, like Gauntlet had) there's the rest of the iceberg, if you don't want a mere curiousity: unit scripting, weapons and FX work, to make it feel like a serious game.
If ya can't do characters that bring it to life, and can't code, and can't animate.... then mainly you've got an idea... which is not a bad one, as ideas go, but you need to develop some skills. Or find me a large coterie of artists, and pay my bills for the next six months. Whichever comes first
Seriously... while I don't think Spring would ever really be suitable for, say, an RPG (possible, but meh, you're just asking for pain, and why not just mod NWN?) ... I think that a semi-action game is entirely possible... but ideas are worthless, without skills to back them up. I think up far more games, and game-design ideas, than I ever finish, and I try my best to do them all
Er, you're not seriously going to build ASCII characters are ye? That's kind've a waste, frankly. Just do color-coded low-poly shapes, if you can't do character models, or use Icons and settings where users will always see Icons all the time, and make the .S3Os invisible (yes, all of this is 100% doable).
25% of making this work is going to necessarily be LUA code, in terms of development time, or higher, depending on how hardcore you want to be, in terms of actually re-creating things from NetHack. If you don't know any LUA yet, now's the perfect time to sit down and learn it. It's not much fun (for me, at least, thus far), but it's still very powerful, and will continue to become more powerful as things go, I suspect.
That's why I suggest that you do a Gauntlet clone first- far easier to code, and you can build on it from there, by slowly weeding out Gauntlet-like features (monster spawners, etc.) while replacing them with a more genuine multiplayer NetHack experience (randomized levels, shops, all of the spells and crazy monster effects, etc., etc., etc.) whilst keeping the realtime feel.
Besides the core code, which would be fairly gnarly stuff (maze-generator, making "keys", making the teleport / level-end, making a between-level shop, like Gauntlet had) there's the rest of the iceberg, if you don't want a mere curiousity: unit scripting, weapons and FX work, to make it feel like a serious game.
If ya can't do characters that bring it to life, and can't code, and can't animate.... then mainly you've got an idea... which is not a bad one, as ideas go, but you need to develop some skills. Or find me a large coterie of artists, and pay my bills for the next six months. Whichever comes first
Seriously... while I don't think Spring would ever really be suitable for, say, an RPG (possible, but meh, you're just asking for pain, and why not just mod NWN?) ... I think that a semi-action game is entirely possible... but ideas are worthless, without skills to back them up. I think up far more games, and game-design ideas, than I ever finish, and I try my best to do them all
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NightfallGemini
- Posts: 59
- Joined: 07 May 2005, 23:48
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Sean Mirrsen
- Posts: 578
- Joined: 19 Aug 2004, 17:38
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BlackLiger
- Posts: 1371
- Joined: 05 Oct 2004, 21:58
On topic: Yeah, sounds like a plan.Sean Mirrsen wrote:Why not make an "unroguelike" game? I mean, like Diablo (the first) was, with random dungeons and stuff.
The Spring engine is as good for this as any other, not less because it is opensource.
Off topic: OMG OMG OMG A SEAN MIRRSEN! QUICK, GRAB THE CAPTURE NET!