I just realized that I’m not designing a multiplayer game. Well, not entirely anyway. Look, I know the state of the MUD community. Unless you have something truly incredible (I’m not arrogant enough to assume I can create something akin to Godwars or any of the pay-to-play codebases), then you should only expect 5 to 10 players at a time, if you do indeed manage to gather a player base at all. From there you can expect to grow to about 20 players or so in the coming months or years. Beyond that, however, there’s little chance of expansion.

Rather than fight that fact, like a lot of people I’ve seen attempt, or just assume I’m making a text-based MMORPG, I’m going to go the opposite route. I’m going to accept it. With that in mind, I’m designing the minute-to-minute mechanics around the idea that the player will be “alone”. That is to say, s/he won’t be interacting with other players in any way save for a global chat channel. To balance that out, I’m making NPC interaction a priority. My world will be “alive”. The majority of it will be faked, and much of it will only occur when there’s someone to witness it occurring, but dammit – I’ll be able to genuinely say that the world evolved of its own volition. Items in shops won’t instantiate, they’ll be delivered by trucks or planes (that a daring player might wish to hijack). The shipment will come from a warehouse, which will have gotten its contents from several factories. That means that at any point in the production and shipment process, a player can affect the world meaningfully.

I’m not limiting it to production/shipment, though. I want everything to happen in-game. If no one’s around to see it happen, of course it’ll just be instantiated instead (I’m not insane, I still comprehend the sanctity of CPU and Memory preservation), but if they are, then it’ll happen.

Some of the things I’d like a player to be able to do in-game;

• Play a photographer – explore the game world, find interesting events and take pictures of them. Whether it be the unveiling of a new product, the aftermath of a crimescene, a politician’s election party, or a warzone, the player can take the images and sell them to publishing groups for money (and fame, occasionally).

• Get attached to their ship – Starships will develop their own “personality”. During take-off, flight, landing, or any other actions, there’s a chance the ship will shake or generate a sound. These behaviors will persist until modifications are made to it mechanically. A keen pilot will learn these subtle nuances of his/her ship and use it (along with more precise means) to get an idea of the state their vessel is in. “Hit the thrusters! We’re getting out of here! …wait! Something doesn’t sound right… The fuel line’s been cut!”

• Influence the macro – A player skilled in oration, or one with psionic talents, can show up to a meeting of Congress/Triumvirate/whatever and influence the outcome of their decisions (assuming they’re in the position to do so). If you don’t have a position of power yourself, there’s nothing stopping you from swaying a politician before s/he enters the debate room (either through logical/moral means or monetary).


I’d say more, but I’m late for work.