RMMV Afar the MMORPG

[Ellie Jane]

Afar is an MMORPG created in RPG Maker MV. It is currently online and playable, though is in its very early stages.

Afar has been officially launched in a very early Beta form. Please take this into consideration. There is not yet a lot to do: there is no battle system, no trading, no shops and no enemies.


What there is is the very basic early game and various multiplayer enemies built into a solid base from which to build from. This includes a built-in chat system, in-game forums, and various server-side saving of data systems.


Everything for the MMORPG functionality has been created by myself. Community resources and scripts are used for other aspects, but the core system is of my own design and creation. as such, if you would like help in planning your own MMORPG, while I do not have time to do your work for you, I am happy to answer any questions and offer my thoughts on your systems and their design.

Afar is intended to be what I call a Cooperatively Created World Game. What that means is that the actions of players affect all players. If you beat up a merchant, that merchant will be unavailable to other players, unless they heal them. This expands to an entire world level, and if players are on average losing to vampires, vampires take over more of the world. This is not yet implemented, but keep in mind that this is the end goal.


Afar has a lengthy history starting with my first RPG Maker projects back in 2004. I won't bore you with the details, but it is the spiritual successor of relatively successful games Vengeance Online RPG and Afar, the latter of which I have continued the name of (and which I will now call Old Afar). Old Afar was online for five solid years and amassed 1,500 players, being created in JavaScript and PHP. It was not a fully graphical game and while complex had various issues that meant people didn't stick around for long.

I am presently working on the battle system.

The above image is a mockup only.


We currently have two maps you can walk around. In one of them you can interact with trees to harvest resources. There are NPCs you can talk to using my own message system.

There is an in-game forum, in-game chat system, in-game Wiki-like user guide, server-side inventory, and server-side saving of position, looks and game variables.


There is a character creation system hooked up to a visual equipment system, again of my own creation.

Below is a pretty up-to-date screenshot of meta windows (overlain menus, basically).

Currently Implemented


Chat: talk to players in a built-in IRC chat interface.


Forums: discuss the game with other players in an in-game message forum.


Ghost Players: see other players walk around their map with computer-controlled mobs which use their looks.


Character sheets: view other players' profiles.

Future


SimPvP: fight against computer-controlled versions of real players.


Trading: trade items and gold with real players.


Tat Exchange: a secondhand store.


Private messaging: send IMs to other players.


Group quests/dungeons: play alongside other players to complete complex dungeons and quests.


Group events: join other players in mass events that require wholesale participation.


Guilds: organise with your friends and own a Guild Hall.


Coop World: the world shapes around your actions as a player.

Afar is updated every week day (with some small weekend updates but with no guarantee). These updates can be of any size or importance. There is a long term plan for schedule of updates but this is a closely guarded secret (unless you have access to my head).

Current short-term plans:


- Finish and release battle system


- Fill the world with roaming enemies


- Create first dungeon and quest based on this dungeon


- Create shops, items, merchants


- More maps to explore

Long term plans:


Old Afar had an extensive world to explore which I wish to recreate in Afar.

The currently implemented maps do not even cover the space between the Port and Tiben. That is roughly:

Afar uses a soundtrack composed of various chosen pieces of classical music. It is nowhere near complete, and there is a risk of it sounding like a Best Of CD, however I want to stick with this as it is something I am passionate about.


Currently the only two in-game tracks are edited from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, although they need a lot of work.

You will find a comprehensive credits list on the in-game credits page which can also be accessed here:


http://afar.ws/forums/guide.php?page=credits


(Please note this page is designed to display in-game in a small window).

 

[Nirwanda]

I don't really play mmorpg, I'm more of a singleplayer/local co-op gamer, But I want to congratulate you on your game thread, this project looks really interesting and wish you the best of luck.

 

[Bakuda]

So excited to see this progressing =D


Looking forward to that early release to see it for myself. 

 

[Ghost of Christmas Kloe]

Ooooooh! That looks really cool, I'd love to play this when it's done! MMORPG Maker! Yay! 

 

[PyroclasticMayhem]

Looks really nice!

 

[taistelusopuli]

Me like! I hope you get all the pieces together and the remaining problems solved. What you have presented here really sounds and looks great

 

[Zeriab]

Good work so far Amy. Looking forward to seeing your progress :3


*hugs*


 - Zeriab

 

[gRaViJa]

Looking forward to the progress! About the music, there's plenty of royalty-free music you can us instead of rtp music. I'd like into it

 

[Ellie Jane]

Once the game is going steady, I am hoping to commission some pieces, so for now anything music wise is just a placeholder. I certainly want a custom title sequence and then some motifs to go through the game with. Costly though, so I am leaving that until a bit later and will probably use things such as the RPGMaker.net pack that I used in the previous form of Afar.


At this stage in a project I normally end up getting too roped up in setting up a website, so I have thrown one together quickly and I will not make any other changes to it (probably). Now I can just concentrate on the game. (Today is a "day off" in my schedule so I haven't eaten any development time to do it).


www.afar.ws


I just stretched a background image, added a play and register button, and then did a fade effect with some further information should anyone need it before starting.


One last thing. So you have a detailed view of what I have done each day, when I sign off at night I will be adding a brief synopsis to my last post, like so:

Today's focus has been connecting systems together properly that were created in the past week as certain linkages were missed out.

• Created a new website for the game, www.afar.ws
  
• Fixed bug with player initialisation
  
• Stopped players accessing systems without being logged in via url editing
  
• Login and register now take you into the game after doing so (did take you to the forums)
  
• Disabled forum access from outside of the game
  
• New players are prompted with the character creation screen on first log in
  
• Began to implement music to the game
  
• Rationalised images for lower resource usage
  
• Began to plan the next game maps: interiors for the port town, and the Tiben Woods
  

The game is not online yet, but thanks to today's updates it could be released at any time, as all key systems link together and are visibly complete and coherent.


I've fleshed that out somewhat (today isn't an official development day) but you get the idea. It keeps me accountable and is useful for working out how much work I am or aren't doing for myself.

A Sunday so again today isn't an official development day. Nonetheless I have been cracking on. Back full swing tomorrow.

• Visual Equipment is now fully implemented, testing and working. So you now play with your selected graphics (hair colour and style, default clothes, skin colour, and then equipment overlays).
  
• Began planning the game world (or, rather, planning how to adapt the world from old Afar).
  
• Began mapping the next map, Tiben Woods, which links the Port to the Town.
  
• Mapped two feature hotspots for the Tiben Woods map. The first is a resting traveling merchant:
  

The second is a more difficult to find camp, which is hope to many poor dwellers. This was the landing spot for new players in old Afar, so in this game it acts as a kind of hidden feature that gives some lore about the game:

Both still need work and stuff around them.

• Began working all the tiles I own into a coherent structure so that they are easy to pull from
  
• Fixed the website for iPod/iPhone
  
• More minor bug fixes here and there
  
• Began to structure my development with source code management and other software
  

I didn't realise today was a bank holiday so my family had plans and I still had to go to work. I've only had a tiny amount of time to work today. Today's progress just looks like this plus a few bug fixes.

 

[Marsigne]

Nice updates 

 

[Ellie Jane]

Thanks!

Today has mostly been a mapping day (basically once all the important stuff was set up last week, the first task of this week was to expand the world).


This is the first large map, connecting Port Tiben with Tiben Town and Elmgate.


It is rather large, just to warn you! It is not finished, but it is at a reasonable stage.


The aim is that every game window sized bit should have a feature point. That could be a scenic bit like a river crossing, or something more interactive like a house or NPC event. There are beaten tracks, less traveled pathways and then there are the more hidden routes.

I've tried to go for a lot of contrast. There are two main paths through the map from Northwest to Southeast; both have river crossings, both have inns, but both are very different areas.

 

[Ellie Jane]

Occasionally something's added to the game that completely turns RPG Maker on its head. This is one of them. It is something I have wanted to implement in RPG Maker ever since I started using it, and that is Internet Relay Chat. That's the standard protocol for web chat.


Afar uses built-in IRC Chat. (That's not a misuse by the way, IRC is a protocol and used for more than just chat, so "IRC Chat" is a legitimate term, just to appease the pedantic).

Here's some details. This is a powerful system.


- Ban, kick, silence, different levels of channel operator, etc. out of the box


- Actions, such as *Amy dances


- Ability to send server messages


Because IRC is such a standard system, if you play on a large monitor and want the game space you can close the chat window and use your own client. Hexchat, mIRC, Chatzilla, Mibbit, KiwiIRC, Colloquay, etc.


You can even connect to this chat room via your phone using Colloquay, if you want to just talk to people without playing the game.


Connect to the chat room now


The chat room is already set up, so if you want to join before release feel free to use it.


Server: irc.slacked.org 6667


Channel: #afar


Channel ops: Amy


Actually, realising how to implement this has brought forward the release of the game substantially, as a chat interface is enough for the game to be released, as then there is something interesting To Do. Still waiting for more content though before release.

1st and 2nd June have been spent mostly mapping again. Here is our progress, which you can compare with the post above to see what two days of mapping is like (actually only really one, as a weekly driving lesson really eats my time). WARNING: large image.

Other Updates


Was running around in circles for a few hours as visual equipment suddenly decided to stop working. Found a missing semicolon. Question is, though, why did it work before if it was a syntax error? *X-Files music plays*

On top of the above, progress on the in-game forums. They're all set up, it's just skinning them that is the issue now.


I am working on a super lightweight theme for such a small space. At current I have done the forum index and topic list pages.

Note: Marsigne doesn't show in the online players list because they aren't connected via the game.

It's an intentionally limited and lightweight skin. Nothing but what is absolutely necessary.


Edit: further work.

 

[cyberwaffle]

This looks like a very interesting concept and idea. I am very interested to see how well it will go and I'll definitely try it out!

 

[Ellie Jane]

Because of some bugs* it feels like I have done nothing today. While it's a Saturday, so not officially a development day, I could have got so much more done. The trouble with being productive is that when you have a bad day it really sets you back.


So I would like to at least explain the concept I am working on.


Ghost Players


Ghost players are how other players are seen in Afar. You do not see other players live. You see, essentially, where they have been.


I call them ghosts because while you can interact with their player through them, they are detached, roaming around disconnected to the player. They are computer controlled bots that do their own thing.


Why have them at all?


Ghosts are there to provide the feeling that you are playing alongside hundreds of other players.


They are nodes that you can use to initiate interactions: trading, battles, private messages, guild join requests, etc.


How are you going to make them?


Each map has a bank of blank events. When you enter a map, that map's players list is drawn from the server. This list is used to turn those events into representations of real players.


Each map has a set number of these players. This is so that you can enter small buildings without being overwhelmed by hundreds of ghosts, and so that some maps can have no players at all (like a boss battle).


How far have you got?


- Created a bank of events in each map


- Game draws a list of players in your map from the server


- Randomised this list


- Removed player from the list


- Game builds this into an associative array linking player id with event id so that those events have a player id attached to them


- Modified player graphic generation to take a player id


What needs to be done next?


- Game gets that player's sprite and downloads it, transforming its associated event visually


- Game generates some text for the ghost to say when spoken to (this is based on what progress that player has made in the game, they will have a somewhat relevant conversation with you when you talk to them)


- Game creates a show choices list of options for the player to choose from


What options will there be?


Current plans are for:


1. Talk: initiates a computer generated conversation


2. Trade: opens the trade window where you can send a trade request to the player


3. Challenge: starts a simulated player versus player battle (computer controlled representation of that player)


4. Send Guild Invite: invites that player to your guild


5. Send private message: allows you to send that player a PM


6. View character profile


Any other ideas are welcomed and much appreciated.


When will this all be ready?


With the exception perhaps of trading and guilds, this will all be ready in a basic form for game launch. (Yes, that includes SimPvP Basic).


Basic?


Yes. The battle system for Afar is going to take a while to create. So initially there will be a basic battle system and basic SimPvP to go alongside.


How will SimPvP be made interesting?


You fight an enemy which has the looks, equipment and skills of a real player.


Eventually it will also borrow from their play style. If they favour a certain spell, so will their ghost.


Players will build up a bestiary of beaten players as trophies.


So what was the *bug?


...


I am dual coding in JavaScript and PHP.


JavaScript concatenates strings using "+". PHP concatenates strings using "."


Damnit.

In fairness I did get *some* other work done today. Not much. Bit of map editing.

I have also been improving my workspace. I now use two monitors, so can get more done and more easily.


I have reorganised all of my files, set up shortcuts, managed everything properly, etc.


I am now using Visual Studio for file editing. I was using Notepad. Me Dad wants me to learn Visual Studio as it's a requirement at jobs like his. Anyway, it's a major improvement over, ahem, Notepad. I don't know why I didn't switch to *something* better, even Notepad2.

 

[Golden Unicorn Gaming]

Super impressive so far and I hope that it turns out as well as possible!

 

[Ellie Jane]

An update on ghost players...

OK, I could have been more imaginative setting up the players themselves. But those are real players, and the graphics they chose. Limited options available at the moment.


The speech bubble appears as you get close enough and lets you know that this is a player you can interact with.


They don't currently do anything yet other than bring up a blank show choices event command. But they exist.

 

[Banquo]

I prefer SP games or LAN parties with friends. MMORPGs aren't really my cup of tea, but these ghosts sound very interesting, and make me want to give Afar a try!


Keep up the good work!

 

[Ellie Jane]

Have had a productive couple of days. Here's some of it.


Message System


I have created my own message system, using the same "bbcode" style tags that the user guide uses. It is done outside of the game in a floating div, for technical purposes, but this also proved a challenging Thing to Do.

This includes a replacement for "show choices" which is much more dynamic.

That's one layout it can have put I can put the options anywhere, including inside each other if I really wanted to. (Which I don't).


Customisation Expansion

We now have:


15 hair colours
8 hair styles
6 skin tones
9 basic clothing styles


Inventory System


As you can see in the above screenshot, the inventory is now live. At present you can't use items, only see what you have, although I have now implemented another big feature.


Item Combining / Recipes


If you click an item it "selects" it. Once an item is selected, if you click another item, the game will attempt to do something with them. This action could be anything, such as bringing up a message, or just doing nothing at all. But what it can do is combine the items together, if a recipe exists. (It doesn't matter what order you click the items in).


Clicking the same item again deselects it.


You can also use these items on things in the game. For example if I wanted to use a pickaxe on some rocks, I would click the pickaxe to select it, and then click the rocks. I'm not saying that's a thing you could do, it's an example. Haven't got that far yet. But the system behind it is working.


The first recipe is, thanks to The Mighty Palm, the mighty Pickshovel. It's a shovel and a pick and a walking stick all in one.

Some recipes include the deletion of one or more of the base items.


So for example:


Shovel + Pick = Pickshovel, losing you the shovel and the pick and gaining you a Pickshovel.


Wood + knife = carved wood (example), losing you the wood but keeping the knife.


UPDATE:


You can now select items in the middle of a conversation.


For example, you might be talking to an NPC and they'll say "can I have one of your items?". You click one, and they take it.


Hack Proofing


Item combining is performed and tested server-side. You can only combine items that the server thinks you own. Thus editing the scripts won't get you an AwesomeSword (or a more awesome Pickshovel).

 

[KōhīPlus]

I can't get over how brilliant this is! Definitely waiting to see more of what happens. I find it really interesting to watch the development of Afar.

 

[Ellie Jane]

Interactive Scenery


A big thing in Old Afar was that, as there wasn't much in the way of graphics, anything that was graphical you could interact with. This meant you could cut down any tree you saw, for example. I want to replicate this in the new game.


I'm starting implementing the first bits of interactive scenery, now that the above is done. You can now harvest materials from any tree. You won't cut it down, because that brings complications for parallax mapping with passabilities and just managing it all. But you can harvest from them. At the moment you just get wood, but there will be more materials later.


You need an axe in your inventory to do this, and you have to click the axe before the tree. (But you can do this from far away as if you're moving. Click the axe, click the tree, and your character will walk to the tree and then start cutting it.)


There wont be a set list of what is and isn't interactive on a map, nor will there be a list of what tools you can use and where. It's all about intuition and being rewarded for it. So if you find a junk item don't be so sure it's junk. It might be a tool, or it might be an ingredient in a recipe!