TW RPG in development

[gdugwyler]

I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe HZ runs ASSS, which allows for server-side bots -- enabling the ability to use the kinds of ? commands you're talking about rather than having to PM a bot that's emulating a client. Very cool. Unfortunately TW uses the old standard server (and has to, until ASSS is stable with many hundreds of players at a time -- from what I understand it isn't yet).

So yeah, the bot will be controlling the whole system. One advantage to this is that the points don't have to be done in the style limited by CFG settings. Ranks/levels couldn't be very easily implemented using only standard points, either. We may eventually have an on-screen readout displaying total points, or perhaps points until next level and maybe a progress meter.

I'm now working on the bot almost every day. New changes include the basic ships being unlocked when reaching a particular rank on any presently-used ship. This will prevent casual players from using more annoyingly dangerous stuff from square 1, such as the Jav -- which jav players will be happy to note will not be underpowered by any means. (The Jav will be one of the most powerful in the game when fully upgraded ... however, the upgrades will not come all that quickly.) Shark has also been changed to standard-unlock, meaning it will be unlocked in this same fashion. However, it'll be the second to last to be unlocked by rank (before the jav) as it's also a bit of a specialty ship. The levi, weasel, and lanc will remain specialty-unlock ships.

That's all for now.

[D1st0rt]

(and has to, until ASSS is stable with many hundreds of players at a time -- from what I understand it isn't yet).

most of asss's instability comes from problems in custom zone modules, the base distribution is pretty solid these days

[roxxkatt]

thats what they all say ;D

[gdugwyler]

Getting close.

Development is coming to the point where Distension (yes, that's actually the name) will be playable as a beta probably within about 2 weeks.

In order to keep the hype machine going, here's what remains to be done:

- Last of the upgrades for ships. Some will be upgradeable faster than others, but not have the best long-term life, and some will take their sweet time but be ungodly powerhouses if and when a dedicated player maxes them out (estimated to take probably about 6 months of regular playing). 2 of 8 ships are actually settled, and the other 6 have all the conceptual work complete.
- Flag time system similar to pub, but without the ability to warp in, and a much more meaningful MVP system. Having a real reward to give out helps, as does not having to worry about ship or freq hopping. Both flags will be available, and winning a round/scoring the jackpot will mean holding both flags for a short amount of time. If teams become too uneven, the timed mode will automatically shut down at the end of the present round. Think about it like a series of battles, with a very large jackpot for winning the war ... maybe best 5 of 9, or something equally ridiculous. I think having both flags open won't be too big a deal, though it will change the nature of the action from the standard style of basing to more of a defend-attack turf situation. Freqs will spawn either slightly higher or slightly lower to give them a sense of having more territorial claim over one base than the other. Expect dueling skills to come in more handy, though your base game will still be very important. The idea is that a maverick won't necessarily be a detriment to the team.
- Slight map tweaks. (Making the FR even larger.)
- Unlocking mechanism for levi (-- and good luck finding it). This may wait for a while in order to allow beta testers to test out the levi and ensure everything's OK.

We'll need testers pretty soon here. That's why it's in bold. To get your attention. Bold bold bold bold bold. The ideal tester would be willing to put in at least 5 hours a week playing. The array of benefits include: guiding the development of a Hot New Project; bonus points after public release for reporting bugs/suggesting good improvements (as well as generous beta bonuses); test-driving the ships before the schmuck down the block; very favorable starting point bonuses for the 3 beta testers with the overall combined highest rank across all of their ships; and so on. ?message dugwyler or forum PM me if it sounds at all interesting. Maybe say a little about your hopes and dreams, what you want to be when you grow up, or even how much you'd want to play per week.

[gdugwyler]

Update:

- Map's done. Spent way too long on the tiles -- I went through 11 tilesets before settling on this one. I think it works, though. It will probably vary more than the pub map, as well.
- 3 ships remaining to be set up. A couple of new abilities have been added, and the ships are a bit more unique. Something relatively amazing was added to the Lanc, making it not only a ship that people will actually want to play, but tactically different from just about anything seen in SS. It will require real skill to make it useful, which makes it all the more appealing. Ingenious players are in for good times.
- All 8 ships will be available from day 1 for the beta. This way the ships will get somewhat equal amounts of testing. Even after all the huff about unlocking, it may just end up this way in the normal release as well, with the ships that have the potential to be the most powerful just requiring greater time to upgrade and max out (largely due to higher maxes), as well as difficulties in the early levels that might dissuade the inexperienced. Not sure on this. If you have any preference one way or the other it would be interesting to hear.

[Dierienow]

Hi. I have a few questions.

1) Will the zone always be open to play or will an <ER> have to start it?

2) What incentive will players who have all the ships and are upgraded fully have to play in this arena? Rankings?

[Money]

LOL AN <er> GTFO NEWBIE OR AT LEAST READ THE ENTIRE THREAD BEFORE ASKING STOOPID QUESTIONS LOLOLf

[Dierienow]

LOL AN <er> GTFO NEWBIE OR AT LEAST READ THE ENTIRE THREAD BEFORE ASKING STOOPID QUESTIONS LOLOLf

I tried to read all of it but I might have missed some stuff (the ER thing doesn't make sense though now that I think about it). Thank you for your response and forgive me for being somewhat interested in this.

my second question stills stands I guess

[Kim]

Troll less, money

[DankNuggets]

the arena should be open all the time (i think)

supposedly, it would take a long time to max out all of the ships. I guess it would lose appeal in the since that there's nothing more to gain, but then again there's nothing to gain now. It will give an oppurtunity to play a similar arena/map as pub while being in your own "custom" ship. Also, diff players would have diff abilities unless everyone fully maxed so it should be an interesting experiment

[gdugwyler]

Yep, should be running full time as Dank's said, and Money offhandedly said in a bastardly fashion. The only thing that will change based on number of players is whether or not the jackpot will be available -- if it gets too uneven, so that one side basically has no chance of winning, the game will shut down at the end of the round. Either that, or the jackpot will adjust accordingly, making a highly stacked team earn very little for holding both flags for x amount of time. This might be the easiest option, but will need tweaking in order to ensure fairness.

As for maxing out ships, the game will be designed that you can play as many different ships (more fun that way) but so that actually maxing out a ship should take many months of playing only that ship. This is, at least, the idea so far, subject to change based on feedback and so on. Also, some ships will max out much earlier, but not have as good a skillset, whereas others will have a great deal of potential, but to reach it will be... well, not impossible, but nearly so. A jav, for example, can get L4 bombs -- no joke, the purple ones -- which in Distension will have a slightly higher damage radius than current L3 (bomb radius is overall reduced). It will just take them a sweet long time. Something like a year, estimated, of regular playing with just the jav... so not entirely insurmountable, but pretty much unattainable for any but the absolutely most dedicated. These such individuals will probably be made of legend (and possibly win) within the game, and probably have a fairly good time in between wanton fits of destruction and being made fun of by the other team for having played so goddamn much. For the rest of us it's more a pie in the sky. Nice to think about.

The levelling up scheme is mostly to allow a more unique ship for each player, though still within the bounds of being recognizable as part of TW. Basically it's designed to take present interesting gameplay, and milk a little more life out of it. Might work.

Going to go take as many painkillers as I can get down my throat now. I just had a root canal, and it's overall not quite as awesome as I'd been led to believe.

[gdugwyler]

Damn, I forgot to say: yes, there will probably be some sort of ranking system eventually. I'm not sure when or what it will consist of, but even though I doubt anyone will actually max out every ship, there should be something of this nature for those that like the stats. Such as foo'ba' enthusiasts.

[gdugwyler]

The game is now in a very early beta, but it's becoming playable. More testers are needed. ?message dugwyler in-game, or join chat distension if you have a few minutes to spare every once in a while. Testers will have the luxury of seeing more advanced stages of ships before the public (points will be handed out).

[gdugwyler]

Thanks to everyone who has helped test so far. It's helped fix a lot of bugs. You guys have brought it out of the gray area of alpha/early beta and into full, workable beta.

The bot is starting to get pretty solid, capable of operating without major bugs for a decent while. The flag timer is now part of the game, adding a sense of purpose to it. Awarding some meaningful points seems to make it more interesting, at any rate.

I'm leaving for vacation until the 24th, after which I'd like to go (slightly) more public with the beta. Being able to do 5v5 or more will show how the ship dynamics work, the tweaking of which will be the focus of the later beta testing before the game goes totally public, with, uh, massive participation and universal acclaim.

A recurring question: since people will be trying to hold bases and assault them, will LTing be a big deal? The current levi is a very strange ship, relying on big EMP bombs with reduced damage rather than just popping everyone. But we could still go with the traditional levi, since regardless of whether or not some levi is assaulting base (and his terr earning absolutely nothing for helping him), people will want to hold on to flags to keep the points coming in. The other option would be limiting the options for an outside assault, forcing LTs to do their dirty work inside.

See you guys in a couple weeks. Appreciate all the playtesting so far.

[Zenlion]

Wow, I just read this again, been a while since I looked at this thread but as I was saying, I think this is a solid Idea to advance the population of TW once again, and I commend you for it, I really hope that you stick with this, I think that with the system you want to implement that you will draw people fans or not of RPGs, this will bring more of a competitive edge back to TW again, great idea and good job