From The Mana World
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==geography slowly taking form==
If you're interested enough to read the following ideas, please consider leaving some feedback.
It's slim now, I know.. but I'll continue detailing the geography section when I return.  Hopefully, we can get some imagery on some of those pages soon, too.


==stories on the way, in some form or another==
==swimming & oceanwalking==
whether they're comics or just illustrated short stories.. I want to start working on the first chunk of them soon.  Starting probably, with the story of each God escaping.  (I have a small story planned for all but the God of Air.. but I'll figure something out or ask for help if I can't.)  I will be looking for artistic assistance on that endeavor, when the time comes.  More on this when I get home, probably.


==the system, in general==
Swimming does not work in the same manner as it does, on the real world.  On the mana world, the only place where one can swim, is where the water meets airAny level of swimming ability probably determines how fast you're able to move across this top layer of airy waterYou can only swim on the surface of the water and can not simply sink, or dive downward to access the ocean floor; No Z-axis.
We '''need''' to have the basic foundation of a system laid down by the end of next month, but I think we can do it fasterI will try again to write a new proposal to consider, tear apart, etc.. ;) Though a lot of what is already on the wiki gives us a great idea what we're shooting for, it doesn't really serve as steady ground to build a balanced game system on.


==the crystal conundrum==
However, if you have gills or some other method of waterbreathing, you can walk safely on the ocean floor.  As stated, this can not be accomplished by sinking or diving, since the layer of airy water can not be penetrated.  The only common places to access the ocean floor, are beaches.  Beaches serve as ramps to and from the ocean floor.  There probably aren't very many access points to the ocean floor.


Here are some quick examples of how the crystal shards might work, in the game.
With this contrast between swimming and oceanwalking, we can allow people to swim without ever having to depict under-water swimming. (which would require more sprite frames) Swimming can be portrayed as simply as it is in other 2d games, like Zelda and Graal.. where the character's head is (partially) above water, with some simple splashing graphics and sounds to assist the illusion.


*they are somehow made to be the backbone of a magic system.
Under-water travel on the other hand, could be done fairly exactly as it's done in the SNES title "Breath of Fire".. a method of which I am very fond.
**examples of magic systems like that can be found in a number of games..
***..like final fantasy 6 & 7 .. and Chrono Cross.. and probably a lot of games that I am forgetting or just haven't played.




*just part of a large ongoing quest of finding gems (shards, jewels, stones) for the purpose of modifying your equipment..
**for an example, each of these items could have some use or application, where they would somehow become part of your equipment.  Probably by "equipping" gem-type objects on to your existing equipment, to modify the benefits (and penalties) that you receive from it.
***maybe you have a long sword with one "slot".. you place a pure red crystal fragment in this slot and now that weapon's elemental damage-type is "fire".. maybe there is even a weapon spell effect that is randomly activated during normal attacks.  The same sort of effect could apply to armor; like equipping that same red fragment to the slot on your breastplate, would produce some sort of fireshield effect..


*both of those ideas could work together.  Perhaps when you get the spell effect to function for the first time, it begins the learning process.  This could also be one of a few ways to learn magic.
==elements and materials==
**other more traditional methods can be present as well; books, scrolls, runes.. etc.
***the latter (script & text) method could be reserved for advanced magic.  Maybe the crystal shards can teach you a number of basic spells, but the more intricate ones require actual concentrated study.


*the idea was raised that perhaps it's the unspoken duty of each player to return what crystal shards they find, to the original crystal.  These "main" crystals would actually fluctuate in size with the amount of shards donated back to them.
I've been trying to come up with a material tree, based on three fundamentals: The fantasy-style elements that we've adopted, the real-life table of elements and of course, as the governing guideline, the rule of coolUnfortunately, I was once again unable to come up with a complete idea on my own, but this is the gist of it.
**part of the idea was that the world's supply of energy could actually be depleted, perhaps to the point where people can't use magic, unless something is done about it.
***it would be a definite ongoing quest, because of its hindering effect on magic-use.
****Pauan didn't like that part of the idea as I recall, because it discriminated against magic-users.  I suppose I tend to agree.  The entire idea is just a little too flimsy, though.  I just thought it was worth mentioning for some reason.


*at any rate, the crystal shards should be worth something.  Enough that the Gods are seeking to collect them, before Mankind realizes their "true potential" (whatever that ends up being) .. The Gods create monsters to help gather the shards and hopefully, to destroy Mankind in the process.


===energy to matter===
Using the following forces, elemental energy can be converted in to various types of matter.


==Concept Art Requests==
*fire = heat
*lightning = electricity
*air = gas? wind?
*ice = cold
*water = moisture
*plant = acid
*earth = pressure
*metal = magnetics? gauss?


Anything that's been described so far that anyone feels any desire to sketch, draw, etc.. please do so.  I think it'd be ideal to decorate these pages with imagery relevant to the subject-matter.


A large chunk of this will end up being the animals and monsters sections.  I think we could start using categorizing flags for each creature, to be used in any number of combinations.  The flags could be things like: (diurnal) (nocturnal) (herbivore) (carnivore) (aggressive) (undead) (general animal-types)..etc  ..basically descriptives that can be used to group creatures together in various ways, that can also be adapted if need be, to some sort of in game behavioral status.
*example: the creature in the room is an herbivore; lucky for you, you're not a plant!
**another example: the creature in the rooms is an herbivore but is aggressive!  LOOK OUT, plant and meat alike!


Bottom line, we should have a nice full realm of creatures, though I'm all for the notion of using monsters as templates for "new" monsters.
These could be some of the basic forms of matter that we're able to create from elemental energy.  ''Metal is the only complete set amongst these examples.''




Geographic detail.  The map is fine to tell us what type of terrain is where, but I'd like to see some takes on what some of these places might look like and likewise, I'd love to have images to place in each location's article.  With the articles for the continent's for example, instead of just cropping the map to show what the area is, it'd be nice to have a mock-photo of it.  Even if it's just a sketch and you don't feel like doing the coloring, pass it along.
;Earth:sulfer (heat), lithium (elec), silicon (pressure), carbon (magnet)


For the basic elements of each area, we don't need a ton of descriptions to get the lay of the land sketched out with a little more detail.  If something is thought up after the fact, like a city or something else noticeable from a distance.. I'm sure it's within our collective capabilities to just add it to the picture later. 
;Metal:iron (heat), aluminum (elec), titanium (gas), cobalt (cold), tin (moisture), zinc (acid), lead (pressure), nickel (magnet)


Besides that, I'd like some help with ideas for things like natural landmarks in some of these environments.
''Aside from the potential to be blended in to alloys, each type of metal could have various forms of modification applied to them.''  (hardened, tempered, galvanized, etc..)




==Other stuff==
;Air:nitrogen (cold), hydrogen (moisture), xenon (acid)


Names are becoming something of a dizzying task for me.  I'm not opposed to using real life names for certain things.. we can't avoid it to a certain extent.. but I'd like to make an attempt to have some original names for just basic things like types of metal and other materials.. obviously, names for original animals, even if they're strikingly similar to something in real life.  We're locking the race names down for the time being.




==Things that I will be updating when I get home==
''obviously, it's a little easier to do with Metal than the others.''  I imagined this might somehow lead to a the development of a metal / alloy-tree, that would actually have some sort of function beyond sounding cool.  Another purpose was to provide a foundation for at least some level of familiarityFor example, it's fairly common knowledge that steel is usually made from a mixture of iron and carbon; wouldn't it be cool if that mixture ''actually'' resulted in a steel product, when you tried it in-game? It would definitely take some discussion to make it usable, but I would love to see a material tree developed beyond a generic list of things like, "ore, wood, blah blah blah.."
I'm leaving in a few hours, out of state for a weekI won't be able to work on much of this while I'm away and there's a SMALL chance that I'll be staying longer. In the unlikely situation that I DO stay longer, I will notify Rotonen as quickly as possible, about my situation.  Realistically though, I'll be home as scheduled, on the 19th.


The bulk of what I'll be able to work on, if anything at all while I'm gone, will be concept art.  Something I've previously not had a lot of time for.


Another piece of the idea was to reference historical alchemy.  The above mentioned metals could be basic forms of the precious metals.  Iron could be turned in to Gold, while titanium could be turned in to Silver.  Aluminum (being relative to electricity which is between Silver and Gold) could be turned in to Electrum.  If we did this, an imbalance in currency value could be avoided, by using fiat currency in all civilized areas.  Precious metals might then be reduced to a value more relative to their usable qualities.


'''next progress log will be in about a week and a half or so.'''  sorry for the sloppiness (TIRED!) and wish me luck on my journey!


'''[[User:Dabe|Dabe]] 09:15, 12 May 2007 (CEST)'''
 
 
==comments==

Latest revision as of 16:28, 8 January 2009

If you're interested enough to read the following ideas, please consider leaving some feedback.

swimming & oceanwalking

Swimming does not work in the same manner as it does, on the real world. On the mana world, the only place where one can swim, is where the water meets air. Any level of swimming ability probably determines how fast you're able to move across this top layer of airy water. You can only swim on the surface of the water and can not simply sink, or dive downward to access the ocean floor; No Z-axis.

However, if you have gills or some other method of waterbreathing, you can walk safely on the ocean floor. As stated, this can not be accomplished by sinking or diving, since the layer of airy water can not be penetrated. The only common places to access the ocean floor, are beaches. Beaches serve as ramps to and from the ocean floor. There probably aren't very many access points to the ocean floor.

With this contrast between swimming and oceanwalking, we can allow people to swim without ever having to depict under-water swimming. (which would require more sprite frames) Swimming can be portrayed as simply as it is in other 2d games, like Zelda and Graal.. where the character's head is (partially) above water, with some simple splashing graphics and sounds to assist the illusion.

Under-water travel on the other hand, could be done fairly exactly as it's done in the SNES title "Breath of Fire".. a method of which I am very fond.


elements and materials

I've been trying to come up with a material tree, based on three fundamentals: The fantasy-style elements that we've adopted, the real-life table of elements and of course, as the governing guideline, the rule of cool. Unfortunately, I was once again unable to come up with a complete idea on my own, but this is the gist of it.


energy to matter

Using the following forces, elemental energy can be converted in to various types of matter.

  • fire = heat
  • lightning = electricity
  • air = gas? wind?
  • ice = cold
  • water = moisture
  • plant = acid
  • earth = pressure
  • metal = magnetics? gauss?


These could be some of the basic forms of matter that we're able to create from elemental energy. Metal is the only complete set amongst these examples.


Earth
sulfer (heat), lithium (elec), silicon (pressure), carbon (magnet)
Metal
iron (heat), aluminum (elec), titanium (gas), cobalt (cold), tin (moisture), zinc (acid), lead (pressure), nickel (magnet)

Aside from the potential to be blended in to alloys, each type of metal could have various forms of modification applied to them. (hardened, tempered, galvanized, etc..)


Air
nitrogen (cold), hydrogen (moisture), xenon (acid)


obviously, it's a little easier to do with Metal than the others. I imagined this might somehow lead to a the development of a metal / alloy-tree, that would actually have some sort of function beyond sounding cool. Another purpose was to provide a foundation for at least some level of familiarity. For example, it's fairly common knowledge that steel is usually made from a mixture of iron and carbon; wouldn't it be cool if that mixture actually resulted in a steel product, when you tried it in-game? It would definitely take some discussion to make it usable, but I would love to see a material tree developed beyond a generic list of things like, "ore, wood, blah blah blah.."


Another piece of the idea was to reference historical alchemy. The above mentioned metals could be basic forms of the precious metals. Iron could be turned in to Gold, while titanium could be turned in to Silver. Aluminum (being relative to electricity which is between Silver and Gold) could be turned in to Electrum. If we did this, an imbalance in currency value could be avoided, by using fiat currency in all civilized areas. Precious metals might then be reduced to a value more relative to their usable qualities.



comments