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Old 11-17-2002, 04:11 PM   #12
Julien
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Some things I've noticed about single player computer games whose storylines have been praised over and over. They assign you a persona. They have a beginning, middle and end. (eg. Planescape: Torment, Starcraft, Half-Life.)

It all adds up to a satisfactory conclusion because people are story hounds and willing to immerse themselves in a persona. In muds though, players make up their own RP persona. And muds continue for all time. This makes it very hard to create a good storyline.

I'm thinking the beginning, middle and end part might just be covered by "zones" or "areas" built with a specific storyline, as someone mentioned above.

It might help if the mud underwent "cycles" of story arcs, every 6-12 months, created by the admin staff. But this might mean neverending, frenzied building and coding for admin.

How -do- you build areas for players with their own RP persona though, without good AI or a human-controlled mobile? To use some broad stereotypes, one might be a devout paladin, another might be a sneak thief, and someone else an evil cleric. All three would probably react differently to a rich merchant asking them for help.

Can we just make mob programs with assumptions based on class and race, or is this too simple a picture? Should we try to code a sophisticated alignment system for mobs to react to?

Or is it possible to assign mud players personas for each area they are visiting...Or based on the organizations they're in? I've not played Anarchy Online myself, but reviews mention their "missions" in which you can receive a set quest from a particular organization, killing mobs and gaining experience along the way.

I've got no answers, but just throwing up some thoughts.
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