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Ammon77
Village Dweller
Joined: 06 Aug 2002
Posts: 21
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| Mists of Angra-Mord is under development |
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MISTS OF ANGRA-MORD
All the following is copyright by Daniel Dee Stott.
Digital Worlds Productions (c) 2001. All Rights Reserved.
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HIGH-LEVEL FEATURES
-- high fantasy, high adventure computer role-playing game
-- introduces the World Simulacrum Engine
-- 16-bit graphics mode at 1024 x 768 pixels
-- professional WAV sounds
I personally am enamoured by RPGs. I was, like many of you, an avid table-top RPG player since a very early age (I think I was about 9 years old). Nothing beats an exciting battle to the death in a fictional realm, in my opinion. I have studied C++ programming, artificial intelligence theory, and artificial lifeforms for years. It is time my learning is taken into the field. I desire to put my learning into practice. For these reasons and more, I have concocted Mists of Angra-Mord. Massive in scope, yet realistically feasible from programmability, design, and artistic standpoints, Mists of Angra-Mord is more than an RPG: its a realistic simulation of an entire world. I do not shudder by saying this game will take years to develop: the end product might be revolutionary. Granted, it wont have the best graphics and it might fall behind in a few areas, but when it comes to content, immersiveness, addictiveness, and replayability, Mists of Angra-Mord will truly shine.
Understandably, a concern you might have, if you choose to apply for this project, is that it appears too ambitious. Steps have been taken to ensure that it is reasonably ambitious, but not impossible. (I have nothing to lose in its creation except for the time that could have been spent playing other peoples' RPGs, along with a little bit of money.) Because it is so large in scope, I have assessed which features should be left out and which should be included for maximum effectiveness in presentation and content. The best decision was to make it 2D instead of 3D, thus cutting the time to make graphical content by roughly 90% and probably cutting away 300,000 lines of 3D programming code. (We all know 3D modeling and coding takes a lot of time.) Another decision was to purchase royalty-free, professionally recorded WAV samples and sound effects for the game which can be spliced and diced any way I wish, thus eliminating the need for lengthy and often hard-to-find resources for sound content. Another bonus is that I have gathered all DirectX components into fully functional classes featuring mouse and keyboard input, WAV sound playing, and best of all 16-bit high-color graphics at a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels. Before considering applying, be sure your machine meets the minimum requirements for testing the game, which is a Pentium III 800 mHZ (or equivalent) machine having at least 256 mb RAM and a currently standard video card (mine is a GeForce2 with 32 mb memory btw).
I grow weary of the current crop of RPGs -- even the MMORPGs -- wherein nearly everything you do is only reflected in the world by hard-coded events. Their systems dont appear sophisticated enough to warrant the term 'simulation,' so hence they are termed role-playing games. But what use is a quest if it is not unique and changes nothing in the world other than the gaining of an item or experience levels? Such things grow old; of course, I am not saying they are not fun, I am saying that for me they serve no real satisfaction. Always, there is the drive for more money and higher levels, better skills, for your character, but to what end? I feel that actual satisfaction at accomplishment is a reward unto itself, but what most players want is a fun time. So what makes any RPG great? "Content, immersiveness, and replayability!" is the motto of my company.
It is taught in university cybernetics theory that a self-contained system, artificial or natural, that is self-perpetuatingly complex enough to be dubbed an engine, will, remarkably, pass beyond known human control and/or understanding, and its inner workings will fall into unique grooves of their own volition and it will resemble sentience, an intelligent system. Mists of Angra-Mord is my experiment to construct such an artificial engine, in the hopes that (what I call) "a sentient simulacrum" will emerge. Add to this simulation a host of smart NPCs that have genetic makeups (being artificial lifeforms), are born, work, marry, have children, and die; which have skills to hone and crafts to practice; all being varied activities dictated by a sophisticated system that responds to the NPC's personality and environmental circumstances; and there is much more to it than all that; take these thing together you have a real simulation of a world that exists not only on your computer, but also in the minds of the players.
It is true that some modern-day RPGs have non-linear storylines, but things can be better. The perfect RPG has yet to be written. I envision an RPG program that is so immersive and intelligently variable that it is like reading a dynamic, interactive work of fiction. MMORPGs have taken a step in this direction by introducing real-life players into a digital environment, but the worlds they have created so far, apart from the guilds of players they have created, are not really 'true' simulations.
I introduce the World Simulacrum Engine (c), a huge simulated world for a single-player in which events within the world are realistically believable and ever-changing. Its event history is itself recorded to data files in an efficient manner and may be referenced to and learned from by the artificial citizens that inhabit the simulacrum. It is a world in which whatever the player's party does, no matter how small, makes actual changes within the Simulacrum: consequences and reactions. Over the course of a PC's long artificial existence, battles will have been fought as is usual in an RPG, but this time with a real purpose:
The King of the kingdom your character party is aligned with has warned you, via a fowl messenger, that an outpost is under attack, to which you are very near. You run your party to the outpost, seeing a tribe of invading orcs circling the compound. After dispatching the tribe, you enter the outpost and the commander gives you 50 gold coins for your help, thanks you, and initiates a dialogue in which he mentions that the orcs came from the south along the foothills of the mountains. After buying extra arrows and rations, you head to the south and find a newly constructed dungeon enterance. Upon entering, you are immediately attacked by a band of orcs, some donning plate mail armor. It is a tough battle; et cetera, on and on...
The player will be presented with incredible detail and immersiveness from the outset: the player is presented with 3 main pre-made characters whose purposes are to unfold the evolving storyline (yes, in this game there is such a thing as Fate variables, which are randomized at the start), and then the player can initially create up to seven (7) more custom characters. The custom character creation screens grant a diverse choice of over 18 character races to choose from, most of which races contain over 3 seperate breeds (racial skins), and this is followed by a profession choice, of which there are many paths to follow (currently there are over 30 professions, each with specific abilities and proficiencies, and there are bound to be more).
Granted, the system within Mists is not dauntingly complex from the viewpoint of the player: the majority of this code functionality lies hidden within the Simulacrum, but manifests itself to the player as rich and evolving gameplay, a truly unique role-playing experience, perhaps rivaled only by pen-and-paper gaming sessions.
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GAMEPLAY FEATURES (subject to improvement and expansion)
EDIT -- sorry, but i needed to remove the design document for wise purposes. i would be hard-pressed if someone stole those ideas before i got them into the game and had them completely protected. thanx for your interests, however! 
All above is Copyright by Daniel Dee Stott in 2002. All Rights Reserved.
Last edited by Ammon77 on Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:53 pm |
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Seth
Last Man Standing
Joined: 23 Jan 2002
Posts: 1008
Location: Faerun |
One word
"impressive"
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Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:05 pm |
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Ekim
Eagle's Shadow
Joined: 27 May 2002
Posts: 2365
Location: Montreal, Canada |
Yes, VERY!
Hope it all works out! I'm a bit overwhelemed 
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Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:21 pm |
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ButtOfMalmsey
Village Idiot
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 785
Location: Mississippi |
Sounds like a lot of work. Good luck!
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Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:35 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
Sounds really good ... keep us posted on developments.
And when you need testers ... you know where to ask for volunteers ... I would volunteer now, but my PC is only a 450.
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Fri Aug 16, 2002 4:01 pm |
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Ammon77
Village Dweller
Joined: 06 Aug 2002
Posts: 21
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quote:
Originally posted by Lintra
Sounds really good ... keep us posted on developments.
And when you need testers ... you know where to ask for volunteers ... I would volunteer now, but my PC is only a 450.
Thanks! I will likely keep everyone here posted, although not much anywhere else (this site is da best! plus I only give attention to one place anyway, its easier!). Also, the time will come for beta testers! Not too soon, but when the time comes I am hoping to get a few testers familiar with the game. So far I think the elements of the Simulacrum will be more tailored toward hardcore CRPG players -- the game is actually being made for those people, not for the average user i imagine. Hopefully, I will have a testable version (pretty much barebones stuff) available within a year, and I will certainly count in as many testers I can get when that time comes! Cheers!  |
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Fri Aug 16, 2002 11:38 pm |
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Lysander
Protector of the Realm
Joined: 09 Apr 2002
Posts: 265
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I would also be happy to test. I have a P4 2.26GHz w/533fsb, 512mb PC800 RDRAM, Geforce4 Ti4600 128mb, and EAX 4.1 sound, running WinXP Pro.
Have you considered making this a mod, instead of trying to do the whole engine, texture, models, etc. by yourself? I hear the Aurora Toolset for NWN is easy to use. |
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Tue Aug 20, 2002 5:50 pm |
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The Omen
High Emperor
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 489
Location: Greenville,SC |
Sounds great, keep us posted.
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Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:25 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
The project Mists of Angra-Mord has officially found a publisher! I am about to sign a contract that will seal the deal. This publisher (I wont give out their name yet though) has got connections in the industry that will elevate Mists of Angra-Mord to a spotlight that I didnt dare hope for. As for the project itself, work is underway on the design document and also on the 2d DirectX engine. Things are going along nicely. Perhaps in the future I will get a website up to promote the game. Until then, I will keep you all posted. The giant stone is rolling! |
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Wed Sep 04, 2002 7:12 am |
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Myrthos
Spoiler of All Fun
Joined: 07 Jul 2001
Posts: 1926
Location: Holland |
That's awesome. Be careful though, publishers have a nagging ability to put a lot of stuff in the small print, that only becomes clear when you get into trouble.
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Wed Sep 04, 2002 11:47 am |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
Good luck.
I second Myrthosīs warning. Donīt sign anything without having every single line checked by a lawyer. These publishers can be really tricky when it comes to things like payment (fixed sum against royalties and stuff), copyright (for product, sources, brands, sequels, localisations, merchandising...), milestones and penalties for missed milestones (missing one milestone inevitably means missing all milestones if they arenīt pushed back)...
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Wed Sep 04, 2002 2:33 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
EDIT -- The project is cancelled.
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Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:33 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
nm |
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Sat Jan 18, 2003 6:58 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
quote:
Originally posted by Ammon777
nm
nm = ? 
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Mon Jan 20, 2003 1:22 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
sorry |
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Tue Jul 08, 2003 6:33 am |
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