Kienamaru,
I sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm. Believe it or not, it does mean a lot to me. Now I have been researching and playing Zelda to get a feel on some ideas on what I know I would want. Here are some of the main ideas I had typed into notepad so my ageing brain doesn't forget. Here is that txt file in a quote.
# Story Line =================================
2 factions fighting aginst one another (good and evil)
pvp (or faction vs faction)
# Worlds =====================================
lava land
snow land
grass land (think hobbit houses)
outer space (think wow bc)
&more
# Mechanics ==================================
achivements
customizeable player characters
mounts
Inventory / bag
different weapons
different armor
texture packs
jump over objects/attacks
earn abilities (like swiming, rock smashing)
currency (ingame)
currency (real money) maybe
health / xp / etc
game chat
# Enviroment =================================
2D zelda like game
Dynamic weather
Open World
Now this will hopefully give you a little incite on what I have already planned. Also if you see where I put currency in and "real money currency." I don't want this to scare anyone in thinking this is another "PAY to get somewhere" kinda game. Now I do need to monetize the game somehow to be able to afford server costs. And operating on (future) donations alone will not be enough to keep a dedicated server going without me using the money I earn from work. So In order to fund the server and the game, I have decided to sell only items that will customize your character. Hats, face expressions, clothes, armor (for looks, not "real" armor for combat), etc.
When it comes to traveling, I like the idea of using an earned mount. I also like the idea of using a flying mount to get around. The only thing about flying mounts though, if the player can control them, they will be able to fly over and find secret places that you would only normally find if you were questing or exploring on foot. So until we have a better concrete example/idea on how use personal flying mounts, they will not be implemented. However a "flying mount" that will travel you from one city to anyother on a predetermined path, that would be awesome.
Oh I believe this needs to be mentioned. I can NOT use the original zelda graphics, but I CAN create similar sprites and tiles. I can not use the original tiles/sprites because I plan on earning money from this game (selling customizeable character clothes) however I might add a texture pack system so that custom texture packs can be developed and used on the game. Including if someone wants to add original zelda textures to the game. Now this being said, as the content grows in size, and more and more graphics are made for those areas, it may be an overwhelming task (for others) to make texture packs.
Okay so now programming the game is gonna take some time, so I need to focus on using OOP as much as possible so the code can be extended. That being said, I need to know all of what needs to be made (mechanics wise) so I can start developing the seperate programs for each task. I have looked up on how to develop this 2d graphics engine and suprisingly with LWJGL I can develop this engine in less than 100 lines of code
.
Now if anyone here is not acclimated to a C style programming language and programming theory let me make a brief explanation. First I create a "program" to display an engine (graphics) on the screen. Once this is completed I will start to develop another little mini "program" inside of the game engine for player movement. Then I will make another program in side the game engine for npc's, etc. Each little feature you use in any game, your bags, killing monsters, looting, adding or changing gear, are all little programs inside of a "bigger" program that makes a complete game. It is there little programs that will take the most time. And as it stands right now, I am probably looking at 30-50 miniature programs that I will have to develop to get a functioning game. This however does not include mission scripting, which without a doubt, take the longest (and this comes last as far as programming goes). The cool thing about me programming in java is, it will natively run on MAC, Linux/Lunix, and Windows.
@Kienamaru. I read something somewhere that someone said it would be IMPOSSIBLE for you to help with just story line aspects of a game. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Being a computer programmer, I don't have much imagination as someone who enjoys writing stories. I would like you to help me with developing a plot and story line. Now just a for warning though, I am picky, and I will always choose the best quality of work. So if I don't line an idea, dont get discouraged. Just understand that I will make decisions about the game that I believe will make the game fun and interesting.
This is all I have for now, I hope other people will chime in and give there expertise on these subjects. I would love to put together a team to help me create all of the game.
