ultimate video game... for you

[squiggley1]

HOKAY,

So a month or two back, Galkx, Laszers, and I had a conversation about the best game ever (it was originally my idea but then it was twisted into horrible spacey shit >:Y). It would be a combination of the stronghold games, total war, mount and blade, a dash of civilization, minecraft, and crusader kings. Pretty much its an RTS-RPG (with a multiplayer mode that's pretty much the singleplayer but with other people) except that its not so horribly summed down like most mmorts' that it takes 30 minutes to train a peasant.

The games main focus would be you taking on the role of either a lord or a petty king (you expand upon it as the world changes). The world would be massive (randomly generated but with some permanent maps) and persistent. You would be thrown in as either an adventurer or a lord/petty king (your choice).

play styles:

Adventurers:
As an adventurer you have no claim in the world, this is mainly for those who just don't have the feel for leadership and would prefer to be something like a blacksmith or mercenary. Too broad to describe everything in adventurer life.

Lords/petty kings:
As a lord/petty king you start out with a certain amount of land which is sectioned into a few areas, all of which have no true difference other than borders. These sections make it so that not only are you able to have places designated towards resources but also places aimed at cities and the such. You start out with a certain amount of resources (stone wood etc), food, and money. You have to use these resources to start yourself up and build a flourishing state. The going will be very fast paced so you should have a booming settlement within 6-7 hours (no more slow paced bullshit). You can rise other players to lordship when you have the spare land and they have said land. You can also negotiate to have another petty king become your new lord (many kings will want to do this due to the constant threat of invasion and the need for protection.

towns:
Towns will be the core of any good fief, they can range from small hamlets to large busteling metropolises. Towns are made up of government owned land, civilian land, guild land, market land, and purchasable land. Government owned land is pretty self explanitory, its owned by the lord and is usually something like an armory or a barracks. Civilian owned land is owned by civilian NPCs, you gotta make dem armies somehow. Guild land is land owned by a player made guild, its usually used for guild HQs and guild housing. Market land is land made solely for a company, its used for a variety of things such as resource gathering, HQs, and item manufacturing. Purchasable land is pretty much all of these things but instead of being for one purpose its used for a single civilian to make him/herself something, like a house or a shop.

Factions:
Sometimes people will ban together to form factions. These factions are made up of many petty kings and raised adventurers. Factions are usually made so as to create protection for one another. Factions can have a vast array of political systems from democracy to dictatorship. If a few Lords are unhappy with the current leadership and would like to be rid of the Faction leader then they have the ability to either secede or form a coup d'etat against the king with other lords. If two Lords have hate towards one another then they can engage in internal warfare.

Warfare:
Warfare can range from two petty kings going at it with small forces to to massive empires clashing with thousands of troops. Troops are recruited as either trained mercenaries, peasants, or nobles. Wherever you recruit said troops will determine the beginning quality of said troops. If you recruit men in a slum of peasants then they'll come out wearing some clothing and wielding maybe a hatchet. If you recruit in place where there are yeomen then they'll probably come out wearing so chain mail and wielding a decent weapon such as a war hammer. If you recruit in a nobles estate you'll get few but very professional recruits wearing good partial plate and wielding something like a sword or morningstar. You can upgrade your troops too, but It'll come out of your pocket. Adventurers who have taken up the role of a blacksmith can design/forge you weapons and armor for a certain amount of cash (very profitable profession). Equipment they design can become signature items for your troops (the better they are the more they cost), they can also forge you equipment made special for you. You can take bands of troops and form them into companies ranging from 2-200 troops, these companies will form organized combat and will train together and can be upgraded by hiring an adventurer that took on the role of a captain. When the time comes you're going to have to pay your troops though, so don't expect to just be able to make massive armies and not have to worry about future costs.

calling the banners:
When your king or an ally calls the banners that means that they need every available friendly soldier to come to them for a military campaign. All the kings lords (and the lords petty lords (yes that's a real thing but is a minor mechanic)) and allies if they're available are asked to bring as many troops as they can to a certain area to begin a campaign. By the time everyone is massed there will be absolutely massive amounts of troops there training, planning, forging weapons and the like. The army will then march on another kingdom or defend their kingdom from an invading kingdom.

Combat:
The game is not of course fully RTS orientated. You can directly control yourself in combat (and can control NPC captains of yours if you're not able to leave your fief) during battles (you can always directly control your self of course but a lot of the time you'll be managing your fief). You can switch out between these two modes quickly and efficiently.

Collapse:
So say your kingdom collapses due to internal strife or warfare or something, what happens then. Well you become a petty king again, you become an independent kingdom along with all the other lords of your once great and proud realm. You can of course band together with other lords and form another kingdom but many lords will choose to make their own kingdoms. Either this or you can simply say fuck it and become an adventurer with a massive fortune and reputation.

World:
The world around you is absolutely massive, its persistent and sometimes actually expands. Each world is either randomly generated or is a pre set map with finite land. Each server has a different world of course, but some may use the pre set maps.

I THINK I've covered it all, I THINK. Anyway, hopefully something like this will happen in the late future (something like this would take years to create). Until then I'll have to satisfy myself by playing all listen games above seperately ;A;. And no criticizing others ideas and adding onto them, you have no right to decide what you think is better for other people... unless of course its actually constructive

So as the topic goes, tell us about your perfect game. What you would like to see in a game and how you wish certain games were. Don't limit yourself to what is capable as of now. Go nuts and take your time, no ones rushing you.

[andy66252]

Sounds like dwarf fortress except with more towns to control

[squiggley1]

Sounds like dwarf fortress except with more towns to control

pretty much if this game were made I probably would never leave my home.

ever.

[geckosquid]

My perfect game would be a game that tells a story in which every single action made by the player affects the story's progression dramatically. Basically, everything a good movie should have, except with control over everything that the protagonist does.

[andy66252]

personally i would love a game in which actions are taken into account by the individual ai's of each character you meet so that it builds a completely different story for anyone who plays based on what they've done. if i had my way only the player would be able to make the storyline.

[geckosquid]

personally i would love a game in which actions are taken into account by the individual ai's of each character you meet so that it builds a completely different story for anyone who plays based on what they've done. if i had my way only the player would be able to make the storyline.

I completely agree. What would be even better in my point of view was if you could play from the perspective of each minor character in the game to tell the game who they are and what they do, then play as the main character and see how all of the characters that you have essentially created shape the story.

[guthriearmstrong]

My perfect game would be extremely player based. Barely any developer interference at all (strict quests, talking NPCs, etc.) Just like Minecraft! (Or what it used to be).

[partyars]

...a dash of civilization...

[Spammuff]

...a dash of civilization...

Good post A++
Would read again...

[Sebiale]

Only good RPG-RTS I've played is the Spellforce series.

I'm still learning DF.