The Mana World Forums

I was wondering, will there be travel by cannon like in TSOM? It should

I'm more for trains, (air)ships and caravans.

well, if you want to stay close to the spirit of TSoM, you must use cannons!

I never cared much for the cannon travel feature and the cannon guy gives me the creeps. Less about my opinion however, I do remember talking about cannon travel at some point. As I recall, there was some sort of a consensus that it would be too much like SoM. If it did somehow make its way in to the game, I would at least hope for some significant damage when you slam in to the ground.

What about Trebuchet travel ?

to travel short to mid distances
30% possibility of critical damage
less accurate, mean can take you to somewhere else hehe

Dave wrote:... As I recall, there was some sort of a consensus that it would be too much like SoM. ...

I am ofcourse reasoning on the idea that the game world is loosly based on concpets of early console RPGs like SoM, so if the game is called 'The Mana World'... I can hardly image it can be too much like SoM when it comes down to the game-world.

I don't understand the 'realism' argument. Like that you could never surive a cannon blast... ofcourse not! But neither does magic exist, or can you come back when you are dead. That doesn't mean we are not cooperating that into the game. I think cannon travel is a perfectly acceptable, and even almost 'must have' feature in something like the Mana World. On which terms we can discuss...

Othello wrote:

Dave wrote:... As I recall, there was some sort of a consensus that it would be too much like SoM. ...

I am ofcourse reasoning on the idea that the game world is loosly based on concpets of early console RPGs like SoM, so if the game is called 'The Mana World'... I can hardly image it can be too much like SoM when it comes down to the game-world.

I don't understand the 'realism' argument. Like that you could never surive a cannon blast... ofcourse not! But neither does magic exist, or can you come back when you are dead. That doesn't mean we are not cooperating that into the game. I think cannon travel is a perfectly acceptable, and even almost 'must have' feature in something like the Mana World. On which terms we can discuss...

I’m In favor of airship travel, mainly because I want to create a land of mist and clouds in which you can see a picture of the world below in between the clouds and this would be a logical way to get to it.

I think we should strive to have our own style (the key word is loosly based on)

so if the game is called 'The Mana World'...

BTW, the word and concept of Mana is very very old....

But neither does magic exist, or can you come back when you are dead.

While I'll admit these things are not realistic, they are easily more significant to gameplay than the notion of travel by cannon. I never really mentioned realism directly, but on that issue, it's more a matter of believability.

Sure you can survive being blasted from a cannon, but can you survive a fall from that height, at that velocity, with no safety equipment awaiting your arrival? Believability would dictate that no, you could not.

As Len pretty much just stated, Squaresoft didn't invent the concept of Mana. I feel that being too overtly "inspired" by things from SoM, will lead to an environment with a ripped-off feeling. This is why we didn't use the same races, same elements, etc. If we wanted the game to be that much like SoM, every character would begin the game in Potos Village, holding a rusty sword.

The only way I can imagine this feature in TMW would be as more of a hidden novelty, with a SINGLE location; not a network that spans the world.

"Welcome to Carl's Cannonry, can I interest you in a cannon? Sure it's precise. Can it shoot people?! I suppose it could, but what are you getting at?"

*Shoot me toward Tulimshar.
*Aim me at Argaes and fire!
*etc..

Though I don't think we should use it at all, if we do, I'd vote to keep it solitary, isolated and possibly hidden.

Len wrote:I’m In favor of airship travel, mainly because I want to create a land of mist and clouds in which you can see a picture of the world below in between the clouds and this would be a logical way to get to it.

Instead of airships, maybe there could be angelic wings? I think it would be much more fun to fly through the mist and clouds on wings than in an airship. Perhaps you could get angelic wings when you do something really good? For example, you could donate some things to an orphanage, and then you get the wings, not exactly as a reward, more like a consequence. But only one flight for each pair of wings, so that you will have to do something good every time you wish to fly around in cloudland.

Edit: Another idea, for those who like to play evil... Maybe you could also get wings by somehow stealing them from an angelic creature, but then they turn red or black instead of being white?

That's more of a personal option than a travel service.. one of the conceptual races would ideally be winged, but they're more like birds than angels.

Or the bird like in Zelda 3 That would be cool. If you are a magic user you might have a 'transporter'... maybe you can even mail yourself in the post-office . 'I'd like to be send to the Farmer Village please'. Then they stamp you all over... and you'll be mailed. Now the mail in TMW works by magic ofcourse, or monkeys puting things in tubes which span the entire world! .. something like that... did I mention monkeys?

The idea of monkeys using pneumatic tubes always makes me laugh

Len wrote: I’m In favor of airship travel, mainly because I want to create a land of mist and clouds in which you can see a picture of the world below in between the clouds and this would be a logical way to get to it.

This seems like a good idea, since we have a town in the clouds. We could have a whole network of cloudlands plus the ground.

If no one has anything else about the possible use of Cannon Travel, maybe this thread should be renamed to something more generalized, such as.. "Travel Services"

I like Axl's trebuchet travel idea ... I especially like the not so accurate results which can land you in a place where you didn't want to go.