Rethinking How The Game Actually Works
Rethinking How The Game Actually Works
This one has snowballed a little.
I originally started looking at the kill system because I really don't like the idea of somebody joining the game, building their account up and then getting killed by a random player for absolutely no reason.
Getting rid of new-player killing was the first step, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised the whole system needed changing.
Killing should actually mean something.
The current plan is to make assassinations something players deliberately become involved in rather than something everybody is automatically exposed to.
Players outside a family will eventually have an option to open themselves up to PvP if they want to take part.
Families will have their own assassination setting controlled by leadership. If a family chooses to participate, its members become valid targets as well.
I'm also planning to make actual kills permission-based within families. The boss won't simply switch assassinations on and suddenly give every member permission to murder whoever they fancy.
Instead, leaders will be able to appoint Hitmen and authorise contracts.
That feels much more fitting for a mafia game.
Then the item system got involved...
While working through that idea, I started thinking about weapons and protection.
At the moment, being able to simply earn enough money and buy the best equipment from a shop feels a bit too easy.
So I'm planning to move the better weapons, armour and useful items into the actual game world.
Jobs and organised crimes will have a chance of dropping equipment and other items.
What you find can then be:
The normal shops will still have a purpose, but I don't want them endlessly producing all of the best equipment in the game.
Items will also have durability
Weapons, protection and certain tools won't last forever.
A weapon might slowly wear through use, armour will take damage when it protects you, and tools used for certain jobs may lose condition.
That also means two copies of the same weapon won't necessarily be worth the same amount.
A pistol at 95% condition should be worth more than one that's hanging on at 28%.
Repairing equipment will give money another useful purpose and should help stop the economy filling up with endless copies of the same items over time.
Items will unlock jobs too
This is probably one of the ideas I like most.
Certain jobs will require you to actually own the equipment needed to do them.
A warehouse job might need a crowbar.
Another might require a handgun to be equipped.
A more specialised job could require something rare that gets consumed when the job is attempted.
So finding an item doesn't just mean "+5 attack". It could actually open up new things for you to do.
And finally... an auction house
With items becoming harder to obtain and condition actually mattering, an auction house suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Players will be able to sell equipment they've found rather than everything going through an NPC shop.
That should hopefully create a proper player-driven market where rare items and good-condition equipment actually have some value.
So what started as:
"I should probably change the kill button..."
has somehow become:
I've put together a proper blueprint and development order for all of this now.
There's quite a bit to build, but all of these systems feed into each other, so I'd rather get the foundations right now than bolt them on separately later.
Apparently "just modernising an old PHP script" lasted about five minutes.
This one has snowballed a little.
I originally started looking at the kill system because I really don't like the idea of somebody joining the game, building their account up and then getting killed by a random player for absolutely no reason.
Getting rid of new-player killing was the first step, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised the whole system needed changing.
Killing should actually mean something.
The current plan is to make assassinations something players deliberately become involved in rather than something everybody is automatically exposed to.
Players outside a family will eventually have an option to open themselves up to PvP if they want to take part.
Families will have their own assassination setting controlled by leadership. If a family chooses to participate, its members become valid targets as well.
I'm also planning to make actual kills permission-based within families. The boss won't simply switch assassinations on and suddenly give every member permission to murder whoever they fancy.
Instead, leaders will be able to appoint Hitmen and authorise contracts.
That feels much more fitting for a mafia game.
Then the item system got involved...
While working through that idea, I started thinking about weapons and protection.
At the moment, being able to simply earn enough money and buy the best equipment from a shop feels a bit too easy.
So I'm planning to move the better weapons, armour and useful items into the actual game world.
Jobs and organised crimes will have a chance of dropping equipment and other items.
What you find can then be:
- Used yourself
- Donated to your family
- Sold to another player
- Listed on the auction house
The normal shops will still have a purpose, but I don't want them endlessly producing all of the best equipment in the game.
Items will also have durability
Weapons, protection and certain tools won't last forever.
A weapon might slowly wear through use, armour will take damage when it protects you, and tools used for certain jobs may lose condition.
That also means two copies of the same weapon won't necessarily be worth the same amount.
A pistol at 95% condition should be worth more than one that's hanging on at 28%.
Repairing equipment will give money another useful purpose and should help stop the economy filling up with endless copies of the same items over time.
Items will unlock jobs too
This is probably one of the ideas I like most.
Certain jobs will require you to actually own the equipment needed to do them.
A warehouse job might need a crowbar.
Another might require a handgun to be equipped.
A more specialised job could require something rare that gets consumed when the job is attempted.
So finding an item doesn't just mean "+5 attack". It could actually open up new things for you to do.
And finally... an auction house
With items becoming harder to obtain and condition actually mattering, an auction house suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Players will be able to sell equipment they've found rather than everything going through an NPC shop.
That should hopefully create a proper player-driven market where rare items and good-condition equipment actually have some value.
So what started as:
"I should probably change the kill button..."
has somehow become:
- A complete assassination rebuild
- Family Hitmen and permissions
- A new loot system
- Item durability and repairs
- Jobs gated by equipment
- A family equipment stash
- A player auction house
- New admin tools for controlling job requirements and loot
I've put together a proper blueprint and development order for all of this now.
There's quite a bit to build, but all of these systems feed into each other, so I'd rather get the foundations right now than bolt them on separately later.
Apparently "just modernising an old PHP script" lasted about five minutes.