Apocalypse Online

Told Nils I would post a link in the forums to the site http://www.apoc-online.com

It is an MMO being build using Realmcrafter and a lot of B3D modding about.

I'm working on it with him, but mainly all I am doing is some music and working on the site.

As always, the higher level code, PHP and what not will be my effort (including the member system and all that jazz later on) but right now there is a not so done web site and the forums.

He wants me to post here in the hopes that someone from these forums will take interest in it and want to help us out.

We really could use some help with it, and if you do, you will share in the eventual profits. (if there are any)

Nils doesn't seem like he has he stuff together, but he does. The combination of his bad english and his inexpirence are what makes it seem like this will fizzle. I've been working with him for well over a month and what he lacks in expirence he makes up for in the drive to actually complete the tasks needed to get things done.

I'll be happy for any feedback you can give me on the site, the game or anything else you want to give us feedback on.

I'm very proud of what matt has been able to put together visually.

Anyway. That's it. I'll drop more info on this much later.

I don't see anything of interest on the site. The story is really cliche. The story art is horrible. The website makes me want to stab my eyes out. The game artwork on the forum is quite low quality.

Overall, I'd rate it a C just for effort.


Plus, the whole "we offer fame and riches!... eventually." line will only attract the beginners, and if you're working on an MMO that's exactly the kind of people you don't want to attract for work.

Maybe the Webpage should use smaller link graphics. The page is looking a little too overviewable IMHO.
Add some Char etc. pics to the page.

Great story, races etc. Unfort. I shoulda do my own work, so all I can do is wish you good luck.

Edit - Don't let yourself be demotivated by nay-sayers.

Look, If I listened to half the things Noel has said to me, I prolly would have killed myself.

I agree about the links on the site.

I don't know about GREAT story... the races are becoming interesting.

Start listening, I want to put "capable of inducing suicidal thoughts" on my resume.

only because a story isn't new, it doesn't mean it's bad. Some themes will always rule.

That theme doesn't rule, jfk. It's pretty much a ripoff of Fallout without the cool stuff.

There is a lot to the story that doesn't really come through in the forum and the site.... there is a great deal of lore I've written and the Nils and others have written... The world will be very history rich, with religions based on the events of the past, and unique races, and things that have never really been in any game.. let alone an MMO... course... all this is cosmetic... the game itself will be a lot like an endless string of boss battles, exploration, and pvp... Rather than offering thousands of many mobs to kill, each battle will be more epic.

It isn't going to be a graphicly driven game... which an MMO shouldn't be anyway. Hopefully, what it offers will appeal to a lot of people... but, if it doesn't, we are perfectly capable of keeping the server up for a small number of people to enjoy on a personal level.

We will allow anyone to join for the price, but are really just making it for us, if we make any money with it, more power to us... that isn't really our goal...

If any of that makes any sense.

Why arn't you making an mmorpg where you can do anything? That's what I do.

{Rant mode: on}

Complete originally is almost impossible (and probably not desirable). There are approximately six billion people in the world, so chances are somebody somewhere has already expressed ‘your’ idea in some form or another.

And then there is the issue of accessibility. If you stray too far from what people expect, you lose them. For example, ‘Tolkien-esque’ settings dominate the fantasy market. People want more dwarves and elves and magic rings – it’s familiar, it’s safe, it’s comprehensible.

That’s not to say there can’t be spectacular successes by straying from the trodden path. The Sims franchise is a good example – it was different to every game that came before it… No, it actually wasn’t. You can find similar elements in earlier games: Jones in the Fast Lane, Little Computer People, etc…

Originality is relative, and everything is derivative.

{Rant mode: off}

With regards to post-apocalyptic settings, I’m still waiting for somebody to remake Wasteland – now that would be cool.

I was actually working on a game that I called "Wastelands" once. It was a fallout style RPG, with 3D...coulda been really cool too if I had the resources to finish it, but this was before I learned of BlitzBasic...

For real? I mean we mostly figured it was a hoax.

What kind of game designer in his/her right mind, thinks people are going to pay to play a game where combat is hard (ie you're likely to die a lot) and the penalty for failure is that severe (20 minutes staring at the screen, doing nothing) - never mind the fact that you'll have an hours downtime before able to fight again. That's not even remotely enjoyable. That's worse than ... Lineage 2 or something. I mean why not just write a program, with a suitable hardware attachment, which gives you a good pneumatic punch in the groin every once in a while.

And how on earth are you going to encourage people to engage in PVP when the winner has to wait an hour to fight again, but the loser only has to wait 20 minutes to respawn?

Arcanum? Transarctica? Rock and Roll? Super Mario Sunshine? Pikmin?

Impixi,

What a depressing attitude.

FlameDuck, in reality, there will not be a boss then 1 hour down time, the enemies will be a little harder, a little fewer, and there will be a lot MORE bosses... You're main expirence will come from fighting bosses, so if you chose to only fight the bosses you will gain levels and have to wait about to heal and get ready from another fight with some other boss, as you will not gain the same exp for beating the same boss twice..

There will still be a lot of baddies roaming around, but the goal won't be to fight millions of them... tho, you certainly could do that if that is what you enjoy.

Do you think if we bombard Noel with geocities sites he will actually stab his eyes out?

I'm going to pull my pants down and warn people of the dangers of atomic warfare....I will do this by shouting.

O.o

I'm afraid that I agree with Noel here. The setting is hopelessly hackneyed. There may be a finite number of stories and themes, but you've mixed them in a very uncreative, uninteresting and generic way.

I know this sounds brutal, and probably bruising to the ego, but it's better to hear this sort of honest feedback while it is still early enough to do something about it.

Ignore them all. Do it your way - finish it and then see what you've got...and then learn from it. Too many 'what ifs' otherwise.

I was literally caught with my trousers down and arrested today...if I'd have listened to everybody who warned me otherwise I would never have been arrested.

"Ha! Who's laughing now?" I say.

Do you think if you bombard me with geocities sites I'll view them? You have to find sites that aren't hosted on geocities, that way I won't know they're hideous from the get-go.


Now that was a good game. Even with all the bugs it was amazing.

Please make the game more like Fallout. :))))))))))))))))))))

This supports my statement that originality is relative. You consider them original because they are original in your experience. But another person might not consider them original because they contain familiar elements. Arcanum, for example, shares similar setting elements to numerous pen and paper role playing games…



Why, John?

I’m not depressed about it. And I still try damn hard to achieve some measure of relative originality. I just don’t freak out like I used to when I discover that one of ‘my’ ‘original’ ideas has already been expressed by someone else. Those damn Japanese Anime screenwriters beat me to the punch almost every time… ;)