Roleplaying

Jedisar · April 2002

<div class="IPBDescription">No, not mmorpg style!</div>I've played quite a few FPS games and combat sim games, and since I'm an avid roleplayer (Being one of the twenty founders of the Rhy'Din chatroom based roleplaying game, which aol claimed ownership of before we could copyright it) I tend to roleplay in a lot of games like this.

If you've read the Tutors thread, you probally have read my idea for a training map..

This in itself could also help roleplay...

For instance, you finish fragging some aliens, and you decide to return to HQ. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> So you head into the planetside HQ, and the planet could be partially infected with Aliens, so the aliens could have the stuff outside the base, you know, like a cave or something, and the marines could have the base.

Anyway, this would allow in-game chatting, as well as introducing Roleplay to a FPS-type game.

You guys might not be interested by this..but..*Shrugs* I am. Very much so.

It basically kills two birds with one stone. Roleplay and Training.

shoven · April 2002

You mean like Everquest? A bunch of people standing around in caves? Sounds exciting...
Although I do like Everquest <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Graheim · April 2002

I'm a big roleplaying fan myself, (the name Graheim is from a pencil & paper game) but I really don't get what you're driving at here. Do the Marines just stand around and chat to develop characters? In the meantime what are the aliens doing?

Alien 1: Grunt, grunt - I want to taste man flesh.
Alien 2: I want to upchuck slime balls and spit on them.
Alien 3: How do we tell who's a female around here anyway?

I suppose you could run a Marines only roleplaying game on IRC or something.

"You see a flying thing."
"I shot it."
"Role." 01 "You cack your buddy."

Personally, I 'd rather save that for an existing roleplaying game and just kill Marines on NS.

Jedisar · April 2002

No, not really anything like that. I'm talking about going into the "Training Map" on the "Training Server" and basically sitting in game, walking around, taking target practice, etc. You know, that type of thing, and using the chat system to roleplay. Meanwhile newbies get to take target practice, Practice being a commander, Etc.

And, basically, there would be invulnerability on everyone everywhere on the map, EXCEPT a section between the caves and the HQ, you know, where the HQ and the cave would kinda..meet, and there aliens and Marines could practice combat.

Meanwhile, all the Oldbies could roleplay in there..like so..

*Smirks as he watches the new recruits training and nods lightly to the instructor*

Instructor: *Nods towards the Marine,then looks back to the new recruits* Next you will learn to be a commander..Follow me.

It would basically be like that.

Hida_Tsuzua · April 2002

So you want a FPSRTSGRPG? That's more letters to choke Bob! <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> I do get what you're saying though.

Jedisar · April 2002

Exactly.

FPS RTSG RPG.

We can do it quite easily, if we get this mappy made <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

And it will also make a map just for training newbies.

Dark_Side · April 2002

Sounds fun.Currently I am running a RPG on a forum as well as playing 4 others on other forums.. If I can I also play RPGs outside of Computers,Like D&D,AFMBE,Birthright ect ect.

I wouldent mind doing that.. I would be a alien probly <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

FireFro · April 2002

Well if the training map you describe gets made then it would provide a good setting for such roleplaying. Remember that if you have newbies coming in to train they probably won't know about this and probably won't participate in it. BUT, if you can get the teachers all talking to them in character, than you'll definitly have a RP feel and maybe a few would join.

All you really need to do for this is make the tutorial map you talk about (which btw, I think sounds like a good idea) and then try and convince the teachers to talk in character. From there the amount of RPing you do is up to you.

Still, don't know how much the alien's will be able to do. Other than creep around and try to look all threatening and... bug-like.

Alien newbie: Oh wise one, teach me the ways of the acid spit.
Alien Sensei: *Hork*
Alien newbie: That's disgusting.

Moleculor · April 2002

You wouldn't need to go all out with character stuff and all that... Jedisar's got a great idea here.. create a place that has both marine and alien sides, just like he described, and pretend it's a base of sorts for both. It would add a great feel, and I almost think that the RP aspect would come naturally...

n00b appears in readyroom. (Hey, the readyroom could have that extra-planar feel, sorta a greyish mist and nothingness type thing! )

Secretary is there with two gates (Alien Training (essentially Join Aliens) and Marine Training (Join Marines)) that the n00b can pick from.

Hey, you could have multiple readyrooms, with a single spawn point in each (or are 32 tiny readyrooms too much?), with the 'secretary' as a scripted hologram sequence! S/he could say somethin' along the lines of "Welcome to the NS training center blah blah here we train n00bs how to pull triggers blah blah join the side you wish to become more experienced in." and stuff.

And the people running the server could teleport between different locations and such using commands (would we need new entities for this?) and greet the player when they enter. Heh, trainers could probably switch models at will... if we had models such as sargents and stuff, but we don't.

(Hey, there's an idea! Have skins designed for trainers! And they could appear in normal games as well, so they'd be people that others could look to for advice and such! )

I like this idea! A 'persistant' seeming world/map.

Rymdkejsaren · April 2002

Hmmm this certainly sounds interesting. Basically it's a three-dimensional hangout instead of some boring chat room. Of course, to make it better, dialog should only be heard by those standing close to you. Hmmm... it's a nice idea but I wonder if it's not too much work, work that could be spent on the actual game-play instead.
I myself love roleplaying, and if this idea were to be realised I'd definately spend time in the bar of the Marine base getting to know the new players and talking about old battles.

Graheim · April 2002

The training environment sounds great. Practically speaking it would have to run on a server with a LARGE player limit. Much bigger than a normal game. You need space for all the trainers and students. Say 1 trainer for every 5 students. You get 15 newbies to a side (considering they probably all wouldn't be involved in a battle at one time, some would be off on the shooting range or in wall climbing class) and that's 36 players. More if you wanted more oldies floating around.

Hydro · April 2002

Dont forget about the people that are going to be fighting in the middle with the aliens so..... that's a lot of people can the server handle that?? your looking for around 40 people almost in the server.

XTS_Highlander · April 2002

What can I say? All the ideas here have me tearing my eyelashes in anticipation. Plus the added 'status' of being a trainer would be pretty neat to have, kinda like being a respected and looked up to member of the community. If I were to attain such a position, I know I'd enjoy roleplaying as a trainer very much. Of course there are the obvious difficulties: the idea may not catch on too well, as some people just wanna get in and frag something. It'll have to be tackled in such a way as to not force new players or existing players to go through training or roleplay, because then the mod loses some appeal. Sure, all of us here seem to embrace the idea, but rest assured there will be those who do not.

Hydro · April 2002

i can say this almost everyone that has come to this forum seems to be mature so if they dont like the map i assume they will just leave and go to another server while the rest of us enjoy or roleplaying map <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> and thats why we have admins too <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

Moleculor · April 2002

I dunno if we'd be able to do something bigger than 32 players... HOWEVER....

We could have two kinds of servers, both running similar maps.

The training servers could have NPC (that's 'computer run, scripted bots that stand there and do what they're programmed to&#39<img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> 'Veterans' in the Bar area and other places, just to give it that 'feel'. Some of them could even be named after some of the forumgoers, and mappers and such. And if we did name them after people here, those people could be given the option of writing several scripts for what they'd be doing/saying (if anything)/whatever. And then there'd be the trainers and such helping the newbies. Those'd be real people.

Then you'd have the other servers, where the people at the bar and such would be real, and the trainers/trainees would be NPC's. At least those doing training. Some trainers could actually be by the bar and such too.

Graheim · April 2002

Very cool counterpoint of ideas happening here. I LIKE the two level concept. Brings the servers down to managable numbers and lets people further customize the kind of experience they want to have. Training or hanging out, your choice.

We've still got an interesting question though.

What about Bob?

Does Bob have a bar? Belly up to the joy juice pod? Would this be any fun for the alien half of the game?

FireFro · April 2002

It's questionable if the aliens would have any fun roleplaying... indeed if there would be any roleplaying done on the alien side. But, if you took advantage of the training map to make the alien's caves (or what have you) very interesting, then that could be the point of interest to them. It sounds to me like there will be a lot of things to train for as an alien (climbing, flying, building, different kinds of attacks, as well as the fine art of sneaking around and being stealthy) so you could take advantage of this map to make an alien playground of sorts. You could make the caves very expansive, with plenty of tunnels to explore, and lot's of different rooms for the different skills a bug would learn. A bug won't do any 'roleplaying' as far as conversation (as we've parodied earlier with our 'clever' remarks), but kind of like in AvP, the roleplaying an alien does is just getting into the role of the hunter, stalking prey in the darkness. Giving them a home environment condusive to that feel (or flava, if you will) gives the aliens a place to get into character themselves. Which is fun (if you've played as the alien in AvP, you know how into the role you can get when sneaking around ceilings and vents and such).

And when they get bored of that they can come to the middle area and snack on some marines.

Dark_Side · April 2002

We,thair can be a bit of a roleplaying conversation as a alien.. just a loghta snorts,grunts,screeching and body language. Its a bit differint I know,but I had to roleplay a char that could not talk once.. IT WAS HARD AS HELL!

I could not say what I rolled (for damage or what ever) I had to write it down and send it to the Game Master.

Moleculor · April 2002

With the two level thing, the parts of the base that aren't for what you're there for can be 'sealed' off, such as doors with windows that simply won't open for you, or two windows facing each other with a bit of the outside between them, or such things as that.

Jedisar · April 2002

Exactly, and, Flayra Willing, I'd like the ability for the Trainers to turn themselves to and from holograms. Let me give you an example..

A Player Spawns in the Marine Training Half.
A Holographic version of a young TSA marine approaches him.

Holographic Marine: "Hello, New Recruit, I am Drill Master Tailbot. I'm Sorry I could not be there today to assist you in person, but I was able to get some away time to transmit this holographic here to assist you. Please follow me and we shall conduct our first type of training, building."

It could make for some memorable moments. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

I am also hoping for some "Social" Areas, where people can just sit around, roleplay, and hang out. While Roleplay wouldn't be an enforced thing, those that wish to do it could..

And as for Aliens, Believe me, I roleplayed a wolf for 8+ years, and it's not that hard to roleplay using only body langauge and the ilk..Besides, the Aliens do have their form of communication with each other <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

All we need to really get this started is some help from some good Mappers..

Jedisar · April 2002

lol, forgot to add..Hopefully, We can have some NPC marines for the Aliens to practice attacking and some NPC aliens for the Marines to practice attacking...In Three forms...

Stationary
Moving/Dodging
Half Concealed.

Hellocke · April 2002

I really like this RP and Training idea... Nothing to add really. But I'm wondering if this 'RP' part of the game would be incorporated later? I mean, we could do the basics for training... But I'm just thinking about the NS team. For the aliens, I'm thinking they'd have to do a medium amount of work for the Aliens, for them to be able to RP successfully. I mean, it could be done, right now, but just to make it more interesting... Training's almost a need, though. Ah well. Don't listen to anything I say. I'm just the every day forum n00b.

Jedisar · April 2002

Nah, the staff actually doesn't need to do a thing for the Roleplaying...We can do that in what I have loveingly termed "Action Bubbles"....which is basically * * or :: ::

Like
::Ducks::
*Smirks*

All we need is the chat system..very simple.

Graheim · April 2002

The roleplaying aspect would be something that the players did, ther's really no work needed on the part of the team. Except for designing the massive training map of course.

Flayra · April 2002

There are lots of neat ideas whizzing about in here. Before anyone gets their hopes up though, I just want to play the always-serious one and mention how much work this would be to do properly. Adding NPCs would require bots, adding automated trainers would require special map hooks to tell when a player has completed a task, and the whole thing should really be hooked into NS properly for it to become popular.

Don't let me bring you down, I just want you guys to know this is a lot of work and it isn't to be taken lightly, or without a lot of planning and forethought. Some of these ideas will be present in our training servers, but that's down the road as well.

- Flayra (The Downer)

Jedisar · April 2002

I was hoping on getting this map incorporated into the training servers for the specific purpose of players being able to train and roleplay in the same place, every day, all the time..

The automated things could easily wait, but the basic map is all I want to get done.

Basically, I'd rather start with just a stationary NPC that isn't destroyed, but gets hit and maybe a bit of blood spray, like it would if it were a player.

Graheim · April 2002

Always the realist. I guess that pays when you're designing a game. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> How 'bout a compromise? Training servers without bots that people can still monkey around in and roleplay in. Then only the map is needed and a server to run it.

Bob_the_Alien · April 2002

you guys want a game that goes on over multiple map!?

one simple command

changelevel2 (or changlevel_2 I forget >.< )

probably the MOST underused highest potential command
in HL

all your stats from the last game are transfered over to the new one!

Jedisar · April 2002

nah, we want a consistant map for the training servers.

Bob_the_Alien · April 2002

jediser, maps can only get so big....

Jedisar · April 2002

I know

Roleplaying

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