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DizzyDoo

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Hi there, this place seems friendly enough, and from what I've heard, this is also the place to go to get Pokemon based advice.

Without turning this into a 'Hiya I'm new' thread, I'm a programmer. I've been programming games for quite a few years now (I think it's on 5 or 6 currently) and as a hobby work as a freelance coder which brings in a little cash.

Now onto the discussion, imagine this scene, if you will. You're walking down the streets of Pallet Town, you see other trainers busily walking, standing around or even having a heated battle. You meet up with some friends, trade one of your Butterfree for that Pikachu you've been eyeing, then stock up on Pokeballs from a player selling them cheap. After some friendly duels your small group travel to the nearest gym and have a go at earning a badge. Unfortunately, the player that runs the gym has a darn good Onyx, so it's back to the forests for training.

I don't know about you, but being able to play a sort-of Pokemon MMORPG appeals to me. I was thinking of building an online Pokemon fangame, but if it ever got mildly popular it would be shut down by Nintendo (which is fair enough). What I'm actually trying to do, is design and build a game that emulates the core elements of Pokemon that make it a fun game. I'd really like it to not be a complete clone (note that there is nothing wrong with being influenced by a decent game) so any ideas on how to make that unique, PM me.

So, the discussion is, in a nut shell, what do you think would work (gameplay-wise) if Pokemon was to make the leap into the realms of MORPGs? What changes would have to be made to how the single-player games work as of now?

If you wish, I'll post some screenshots of what I've been working on so far.

Thanks for your input,
Matt (DizzyDoo)
 
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Well from my experience with MMORPG most of the mechanics would work like runescape as far as i see it. Pokemon battles could only take place in a arena set aside from the main gameplay area. Pokemon would roam the world and defeating one and catching it would work as know. So yer thats how i would imagine it but i doubt Jagex would let you steal their technolgy...
 
Interesting... I think it'll be good if you'll post some screenshots of your work so far. Is it going to be something like Pokemon Crater, or is it going to be a 3D MMORPG?
 
DizzyDoo said:
If you wish, I'll post some screenshots of what I've been working on so far.
Click to expand...

Post them. Post them.
 
NinjaScyther4 said:
Well from my experience with MMORPG most of the mechanics would work like runescape as far as i see it. Pokemon battles could only take place in a arena set aside from the main gameplay area. Pokemon would roam the world and defeating one and catching it would work as know. So yer thats how i would imagine it but i doubt Jagex would let you steal their technolgy...
Click to expand...

Jagex are not the only ones making MMORPGs, there are hundreds, and rest assured I would create my own engine and server.

FrozenShadow said:
Interesting... I think it'll be good if you'll post some screenshots of your work so far. Is it going to be something like Pokemon Crater, or is it going to be a 3D MMORPG?
Click to expand...

Currently I am working on my own on this (it's hard to attract sprite artists when you have little to show for it) so a 3D MMORPG is out of the question. The upside of 2D MMORPGs is that they can be developed much quicker and at less cost, where as 3D MMORPGs have a lot more development needed. As for showing some screenshots, the only thing I've been working on so far is my in-house level editor (crucial to every RPG development team) but you might be interested in that. I'll upload it shortly.
 
I do believe that it has been done. However, I also believe that that was closed down.

Hm, what was it called again?


However, your's sounds rather unique, and certainly a rather load differently to the one I was thinking of (which I'd never played but seen screenshots of), so I'd press on.

Good luck on this. :D
 
Conquistador said:
I do believe that it has been done. However, I also believe that that was closed down.

Hm, what was it called again?


However, your's sounds rather unique, and certainly a rather load differently to the one I was thinking of (which I'd never played but seen screenshots of), so I'd press on.

Good luck on this. :D
Click to expand...

You're thinking of "Pokemon Online", which has not been shut down, but has just undergone some lengthy downtime. Interestingly enough, the project is doomed to fail, not only because Nintendo can shut it down when ever they like, but because the online movement engine is coded quite horribly. I was talking to the guy who hosts their servers (I am good friends with him) and he said he'd never seen a dead-reckoning engine built so badly. That was about a year ago though, so things may of changed.

Thanks for your encouragement.
 
No problem, and yes, it may have been Pokemon Online, yet still something is nagging me that that is the incorrect one... Hm...
 
I am not aware of any other Pokemon MMORPGs, perhaps I should research a little more.

Here is the level editor. Once the user paints a tile, they can click the render button and have the edges of the paths automatically adjusted which saves the map designer much time. I still need to add support for loading tile sheets at runtime, and I'll probably recode the render section so it does it automatically, rather than at the press of a button.

leveleditorpng.png
 
Slick The Vaporeon said:
I downloaded Pokemon Online and guess what! I've never gotten to play it!! =/
Click to expand...

Probably because they haven't really got round to getting their own server. I managed to get in and play the beta, and it was just very basic, walk around, talk and battle, nothing more too it than that.

I still haven't gotten thoughts and advice on how to approach the gameplay, so that is still welcome.

Oh, and if you are interested in testing, give me a PM with your email, thanks.
 
That'd be cool.
I think it would be like Runescape, as someone said, except you could initiate battles with anyone nearby.
 
Thanks everyone for your testing applications, there are plenty more spaces available, so keep the PMs coming!

And the only similarity it will have with Runescape is that there will be many people playing at once, as well as lots to do. But my question still stands, untouched. What will make this game successful and different?
 
well, it needs to have what most online mmorpgs have. You need to be able to update with new areas. The problem with all the pokemon video games is that after you beat the elite 4 there really isn't much to do. That's what will set it apart from the normal Pokemon games anyway.

and i know this is another runescape thing but you should have a special wilderness type area where if you offer to battle somebody they have no choice but to battle. So kind of like normal trainer battles. In normal areas you should be able to ask sombody for a battle, except they can say no.
 
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