[CPT] Alchemy Skill Expansion Pack
Posted: 27 May 2011, 02:02
Hi guys, it has been more than one year since I published my prototypes #001 and #002. During this period I was busy on obtaining my master's degree in chemistry and on moving from Italy to Australia.
Now that my situation is more stable I can keep contributing to the project. In the meanwhile I've gladly noticed that: TMW has received a massive update, that now mages love to wear their new dyeable hats (#001), and that the old boring snowland is now full of snowy trees (#002)
.
..about the concept:
one of the main aspects of an MMORPG is the Skill System. TMW has some useful/unuseful skills..
however TMW totally lacks of Crafting Skills, critical for the development of the game as they contribute in:
- making the levelling less boring;
- increasing the customization level of PGs;
- promoting trade & commerce between PGs;
- increasing longevity of the game.
through the Mana/TMW Development Weekly Summary (thanks Betram), I've read that a basic crafting skill system is in developing (maybe Crush could know more about the status of the project).
IMHO having a very basic but usable Skill System could be a great starting point for future improvements, and add future skills.
One of the most beloved skill is, without any doubts, Alchemy.
At the moment, Alchemy in TMW is limited to trading potions with Wyara and asking Caul the Alchemist to make an Healing Potion.
The concept aims to expand the Alchemic experience, improve Caul NPC and give him a proper domicile. What I don't like of the current implementation:
(1) Caul looks like a banker of the 19th century;
(2) Caul shares his home with other NPCs, you can't recognize it as the "House of Caul, the Alchemy Master";
(3) Caul's room is a normal room with a caulderon and a table with a potion on it;
(4) Passive Skill feeling, you can't "create", you can just ask for a potion.
So, how to improve these aspects:
(1) Caul looks like a real alchemist;
(2) Caul is a lonely scholar of the science, and loves to live far from the chaos of the
villages: he has an house in the depth of Woodland's Forest and doesn't share it with anyone;
(3) Caul house..it's not an house, is a real alchemic laboratory full of chemical glassware;
(4) Active Skill: you can craft your specific potion using a correct combination of reagents, a solvent and an empty flask.
Each Active Skill will require a related proper Equipment to work. It means that if you want to brew a potion you have to use the Alembic of the alchemy laboratory, if you want to craft a sword you need the Furnace of the local blacksmith,...so you can't craft items wherever you want. This is important to keep players moving across the world.
Once you have learnt a particular recipe (from the master, from a legend told by an NPC, from a secret book,..) you have just to click the Alembic to start crafting your potion.
(STEPS)
- when the player interacts with the alembic, a crafting dialog box appears, allowing the players to choose among the reagents stored in their equipment;
- by pressing <React> the dialos box disappears and the crafting system checks if the reagents match one of the correct alchemic combinations;
- if one of the combinations is matched, an animation of the alembic and a related sound effect are both played;
- eventually, a message informs the player that the new crafted potion is being added to the Inventory.
The Expansion Pack:
All the 4 aspects previously listed are better described in the chapters of the following mini-book I've wrote. The book contains lots of ideas that have to be intended as PROPOSALS, some of them have been even created just for fun.
<<< PDF DOWNLOAD >>> - Watch it in fullscreen mode for more confort.
I think it would be great if we'll be able to implement even a really basic skill system, and then just add advanced features later.
If someone of the coders is interested in the project, I can adapt the graphics to the needs.
Graphic artists can contribute, for instance, designing the exterior look of the house.
Content developers can contribute with Dialogues Scripting/Quests Scripting.
Sound developers can contribute assemling a background sound for the animation (below), composed by 2 sec. of heating (fire sound), 3 sec. of heating + boiling (fire + boiling water sounds), 7 (6,75) sec. of distillation (liquid sounds).
And now feel free to share your ideas and opinions to improve Alchemy in TMW.
Here below, some pictures included in the PDF, and obviously the alembic animation![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pot.jpg)
---
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/sensible_area.jpg)
---
Alembic animation:
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/alchemy_flask_animation_2.gif)
---
All licence-related information of my new and old works, are avaiable in pixel tags form through the links of my Signature.
Now that my situation is more stable I can keep contributing to the project. In the meanwhile I've gladly noticed that: TMW has received a massive update, that now mages love to wear their new dyeable hats (#001), and that the old boring snowland is now full of snowy trees (#002)
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
..about the concept:
one of the main aspects of an MMORPG is the Skill System. TMW has some useful/unuseful skills..
however TMW totally lacks of Crafting Skills, critical for the development of the game as they contribute in:
- making the levelling less boring;
- increasing the customization level of PGs;
- promoting trade & commerce between PGs;
- increasing longevity of the game.
through the Mana/TMW Development Weekly Summary (thanks Betram), I've read that a basic crafting skill system is in developing (maybe Crush could know more about the status of the project).
IMHO having a very basic but usable Skill System could be a great starting point for future improvements, and add future skills.
One of the most beloved skill is, without any doubts, Alchemy.
At the moment, Alchemy in TMW is limited to trading potions with Wyara and asking Caul the Alchemist to make an Healing Potion.
The concept aims to expand the Alchemic experience, improve Caul NPC and give him a proper domicile. What I don't like of the current implementation:
(1) Caul looks like a banker of the 19th century;
(2) Caul shares his home with other NPCs, you can't recognize it as the "House of Caul, the Alchemy Master";
(3) Caul's room is a normal room with a caulderon and a table with a potion on it;
(4) Passive Skill feeling, you can't "create", you can just ask for a potion.
So, how to improve these aspects:
(1) Caul looks like a real alchemist;
(2) Caul is a lonely scholar of the science, and loves to live far from the chaos of the
villages: he has an house in the depth of Woodland's Forest and doesn't share it with anyone;
(3) Caul house..it's not an house, is a real alchemic laboratory full of chemical glassware;
(4) Active Skill: you can craft your specific potion using a correct combination of reagents, a solvent and an empty flask.
Each Active Skill will require a related proper Equipment to work. It means that if you want to brew a potion you have to use the Alembic of the alchemy laboratory, if you want to craft a sword you need the Furnace of the local blacksmith,...so you can't craft items wherever you want. This is important to keep players moving across the world.
Once you have learnt a particular recipe (from the master, from a legend told by an NPC, from a secret book,..) you have just to click the Alembic to start crafting your potion.
(STEPS)
- when the player interacts with the alembic, a crafting dialog box appears, allowing the players to choose among the reagents stored in their equipment;
- by pressing <React> the dialos box disappears and the crafting system checks if the reagents match one of the correct alchemic combinations;
- if one of the combinations is matched, an animation of the alembic and a related sound effect are both played;
- eventually, a message informs the player that the new crafted potion is being added to the Inventory.
The Expansion Pack:
All the 4 aspects previously listed are better described in the chapters of the following mini-book I've wrote. The book contains lots of ideas that have to be intended as PROPOSALS, some of them have been even created just for fun.
![Arrow :arrow:](./images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif)
I think it would be great if we'll be able to implement even a really basic skill system, and then just add advanced features later.
If someone of the coders is interested in the project, I can adapt the graphics to the needs.
Graphic artists can contribute, for instance, designing the exterior look of the house.
Content developers can contribute with Dialogues Scripting/Quests Scripting.
Sound developers can contribute assemling a background sound for the animation (below), composed by 2 sec. of heating (fire sound), 3 sec. of heating + boiling (fire + boiling water sounds), 7 (6,75) sec. of distillation (liquid sounds).
And now feel free to share your ideas and opinions to improve Alchemy in TMW.
Here below, some pictures included in the PDF, and obviously the alembic animation
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pot.jpg)
---
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/sensible_area.jpg)
---
Alembic animation:
![Image](http://ubuntubible.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/alchemy_flask_animation_2.gif)
---
All licence-related information of my new and old works, are avaiable in pixel tags form through the links of my Signature.