Dev Update #020: City Life, Warfare & Combat Revision news - The Ancients

Welcome one and all to Dev(elopment) Update #020!

Well, this week sure has been full of idea exchanging. Most of which has been the refinement of existing systems and more pixelling.

Combat System

Well, suffice to say, the Combat System works relatively well considering how complicated it is and how very untested it was. The only issue was that, through a home-made combat generator that used the Project Terra Combat System, the actual fights (even between total starting-out newbies) lasted for a long time (30+ minutes).
This was obviously not a good thing. However, the only refinement needed was to lower the player's HP, which also makes the game far more realistic. If somebody cleaves at you with a two-handed axe, don't expect a little "-33 HP, 5302/5335 remaining" and such. If somebody hits you, you're going to feel it.
This forces the player to learn a little about weapons to dodge them and know they work, as well as to invest in decent armour, rather than any whack-a-mole equipment.

Meanwhile, we are trying to figure out a way to avoid the whole "Lol tier 5 sword is bestest weapon in game. Everybody go get it" issue, that so many MMOs have, and even persuade people to do.
Right now, we're thinking of giving attributes to weapons themselves - lighter blades will be better for dexterity-high people, whilst smaller blades will be better for smart people - who know how to use it! And so forth. It's quite bland right now, though, so we're still working on that.

Guild System

The Guild System is something I personally am looking forward to. The Guild is a place where people of common cause gather. A place where they learn, experience and enjoy company together. They should fall in love with this place so much, they are willing to fight to the death for it. If it is taken over by a stronger enemy, rather than taking the cheaper option of "Well, let's just build another..." I want people to truly wish to fight for their home building.

For the Romans, it's mostly likely that these places will be Castra - Roman Forts - although, I'm looking for an alternative which makes it a whole building, rather than a camp.

In these "Guild Halls" to speak in the common sense, there will be bedrooms for all the members, places to train, places to read, places to shop, eat, bathe, drink, excrete, work, relax (Drink, anybody?) and so forth. I want it to be a hub for commotion - but I don't want people to become so able with it, that they never need to leave the place!
Ah - also, these "Guild Halls"/"Castles" can be expanded, for a summisable fee (in-game currency, of course!)

World-wide War System

This is a very exciting feature, but it's not 100% sure to be in. However, if we can work it out that it will be in, it will be fun.
Players who have climbed the warfare ranks to the position of General, will be able to access a War Room. In this room, he came meet with NPC Advisors, informants and NPC/PC commanders on tactics for world-wide Warfare.
This can simply be to moving troops to borders to protect Rome's lands (Or, any other civilization you play as?), to actually charging out, to simply training, to sending smaller forces out on bandit-hunting and such.
Now, the fun part is, that when the General tells these little models on the board where to go and what to do, the actual armies in the world will need to enact them - these include the players who have joined the army. They will carry out these orders, and will be rewarded for such duty.

However, you then have the issue of the player being offline, away on holiday, and so forth. If somebody does not wish to follow this career path, they simply do not need to - simple as.

To avoid alot of issues, there can only be one General player - or moreso, however the Roman Army system worked a few thousand year ago. ;)

As I say, it's all very experimental right now, but I thought I'd share this grand idea with you fellows.

City Political/Economy System

Players will need to pay taxes. *Throws a book at a heckler* Let me finish!

However, they don't have to. Also, this is in-game currency, not real money, so it's not phishing of sorts.
What I mean to say is, that if you have bought a house, shop, warehouse and so forth in the city, you'll need to pay rent for these. This tax then goes to the city. The city is managed by the Senate, who are an elected few, chosen by the citizen players and NPCs of the city.
The Senate then chooses where to put this money, where to invest it. They can lower and raise taxes, they can increase and lower pay to civil servents, and even vote for a change of law.
Money goes from Player/NPC to Player/NPC. Money goes to Senate. Money goes to City. Money goes to Player/NPC. So forth.

Shops can be in-shop in Insulae, on the high-street Market where players/NPCs are allowed to shout their wares as much as they like in a spam-like fashion, but limited to a few seconds apart, or high-class merchant stores.
Housing can likewise be Insulae, city houses, or large city estates.

Then of course, you have Country living, but that's entirely different, housing-wise. Housing is mostly small houses that players can freely expand, as if they were building out in the wilderness.
The economy is mostly farmland, animal husbandry and small crafts the village needs.

Taxes can be divided into three sectors;
City: High
Country: Low
Wilderness: Free

The upside of living in the City, is everything you need is within grasp. Want to dine in high class? Go right ahead, down the street and around the corner. There is also the matter of how safe it is! Your only issue is the unlikely mugger, who you can report to the City Guard!
The downside of living in the City, is the taxes, busy lifestyle, and lack of space to build.

The upside of living the Country, is the space. The relaxed pace. Easy living. Farm a little here, export a little there, eat the remains for yourself - or trade it to your neighbour for a cup of tea! You get the idea.
The downside of living in the City, is that Country Villages have a chance of being raided by bandits, you have a very limited "police force" to report to, and it's quite a travel to the city, in most cases - especially through the wilderness.

The upside of living in the Wilderness, is the complete freedom! Found a nice lake for fishing in? Build a house, stoke the fire, and live happily ever after. Expansion is no problem, because you don't need to pay any taxes, you don't need to give anyone anything!
(There's also the future possibility of starting up your own village, but this will require a much larger world to support as many villages as will likely pop up, player-made).
The downsides however, have their forthcomings - it's completely possible that an NPC or a Player can come by and burn you to a cinder. You can't report it to the city guard, because by the time you can get to them and back, the perpertrator is likely long gone and has covered his tracks. There's also the issue of loneliness, nobody to trade with, and you have to do everything yourself.

Possible New Sprite

I'm currently working on a new sprite, but I have such mixed feelings about it that I won't be posting it. It looks "acceptable", but I want it to look great! I can't simply "change" it later on in the game, because I'd need to redraw *all* the weapons, armours and animations - so I need to be sure!

Insulae

Insulae, as previously mentioned the City Section, is the basic housing and shopkeeping for a player. You can find images of these in the Media Reel!

Not much is currently going on, Insider-wise. The Community is growing in number, and the Community Feature on the Forum is looking pretty varied in voting right now, which is good!

I've also released a new thread that will be tracking Development, as a countdown to Alpha Release (Primoris Terra). Link Below

Head on over to vote for the feature that *You* want to see in-game, for Alpha Release! Link Below

Community Feature Voting: Forums.project-terra.net
Countdown to Alpha: Forums.project-terra.net