For various reasons I have not been able to motivate myself to work on the project. While many features were ready to go, I could not give myself that last push to get it ready for hosting. Regardless, I am not proud of my original work. No matter what I do, I have always been limited by the original limited design from the early versions.
As of June 9th 2010 we decided to start the project from scratch. BYOND has evolved significantly as well as my programming ability since DMO's first version; it can be done better.
Currently we remain undecided on the direction of the project but we have agreed it will not be a remake of the original. This means we'll brainstorm from the beginning and rethink everything.
Since I'm not much of a writer, I'll break the rest up into questions.
Name Change
When DMO was first made I selected the name "Duel Monsters" to be unique and different at the time there were more than 10 "Yu-Gi-Oh! (subtitle)" games in development, although nothing playable or working. Fast forward a few years and now a quick search of "duel monsters" turns up over 80 games while "yugioh" turns up around 25. Although I may have started the trend I don't want to make "just another Duel Monsters game".
"D-M-O!" or perhaps "D-M-Oh!" will be used. As most refer to the game as "DMO" anyway.
How much is done?
Not very much. Outside of dueling, nothing. I'm reluctant to say dueling works as I can only think of things that aren't done. The foundation is built, many allowances have been made for various things which will make adding certain cards very fast when I get to it. It's getting there.
Lufia: Allow me to translate. It works, and it works well. The boring background programming is done. All of the basic dueling things are done playing cards, activating, chains, summoning, rituals, equips, duel options, winning/losing conditions, turns, battle etc. Support for tag-team and other modes are in place. At least one of each type of card has been made. In fact over 70 cards are finished and awaiting testing. Cards were picked based on their effects requiring base systems to be built, so other cards that have similar effects will be added much faster. For example adding Monster Reborn required support for special summoning, some special chain conditions, Necrovalley+End of Anubis testing, and a few other things. Some difficult cards like Jinzo and Imperial Order are done. Yeah, not much at all. =3
When will this be released?
Unsure. I'm expecting to go into early private testing by the end of next month. We'll host a private server where testers can enter any time and find problems. It will be rebooted probably daily with fixes and new cards. I'd like to have a good bug tracker/ticket system to speed up testing.
Open testing will happen once we have something substantial to play.
(Will not be released for public hosting)
"Automatic" or "Manual"?
Automatic. Although I really dislike that term.
Will it have every card ever made?
No. Although rebuilding the game from scratch will allow me to add many cards not possible previously, I don't intend to add many more.
In fact some cards in the previous game will not be added. Many useless cards will be left out to speed up development and reduce resource size. Mostly cards that noone uses, have superior versions or weak normal monsters.
What will we do differently?
I am open to help. Though I will not share the programming(or code), I intend to turn to the community for the creative and artistic design. Thus I have avoided building much of the interface or graphical layout. Blog posts will be made posting information and others will be able to submit ideas and mockups.
It will not follow the card release timeline. Instead of releasing card sets from the original TCG, random cards will be selected and added. I understand this will be blasphemy to many.
Improved testing. Testers will have access to a large number of controls to manipulate a duel to test cards. A single player is able to play both sides of a duel, switching back and forth as needed to set up conditions. This allows for faster testing as opposed to relying on someone else and waiting to draw cards.
Tag-Team will have better support. I have accounted for this from the beginning, it should work much better.
Will Duelist Kingdom be back?
Yes. Lufia has put her foot down on this one. I've made sure to be efficient with the programming, so hopefully with a good server we'll be able to support over 100 players.
Any other tournaments similar to Duelist Kingdom?
I would love to have other tournaments. But I don't have the energy to build poor graphics and maps for them.
Which anime arc will it be based around?
None probably. While I liked the original series, I can't stand GX or 5Ds. Card games on Motorcyles? No thanks. Anyway, it may have some flavour from the original series depending on the artist's inspiration but it won't directly be focused towards being an "anime game"(whatever that means).
Tournaments like Duelist Kingdom are an obvious exception.
Card collecting or not?
Don't know. Both ideas have their pros and cons. I like the idea of being able to give out meaningful prizes.
What new features will be available?
I'm reluctant to announce things in the event it doesn't get added. More dueling options and modes will be available.
New Cards will be available. Not thousands, but a few.
Overall the dueling experience has been greatly enhanced.
A lobby system wil be available.
Will Shadow Realm return?
No. One of the glaring problems DMO had was the player division between Shadow and Normal. I want to avoid splitting players into different areas.
Deck Masters?
Yes. Not immediately but Deck Masters will be added at some point. Most of the effects will be remade.
Rankings
Not sure. I haven't been able to come up with a balanced and fair system myself, when I get around to this part I'll listen to suggestions.
Why can't players host?
I recieved several pages daily complaining about hosts or moderators. A single server is a better solution. Faster to release updates and easier to find more players to duel.
Testing Sessions
If you'd like to apply for testing, visit Lufia's Member Page. She will be organizing the testing sessions when it's ready.
Here's a screen shot of a duel in progress(Not a mockup). Picture has been shrunk a little.
