| CharlesShoults |
| (Private) |
| 06/12/07 09:11 AM |
| 64.47.54.5 |
|
Re: New game in development - Battletech Live
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AI is something that I've thought about for some time and something that I'll have to determine the practicality. The other things, I can answer now.
It does include a simulation of the board game, but there is a lot more going into it. There are basically two phases to it all: Offline and everything else.
Offline:
Most people know what "The Drawing Board" is and have seen other things like "The Vehicle Factory" and a number of others. Battletech Live will include a designer (Mech Lab) that will enable users to load and print any standard 'Mech design from 2750 - 3060. Basically, anything I can find in a book is going into the game. But, the game will also include the ability to create BattleArmor, infantry platoons, ground vehicles and some vehicles. (I'm including VTOLs but not fighters). Users can then create any other 'Mech configuration they want, using an existing chassis as a base, or create a new one and all will work fine as long as they save it out with a unique serial number.
Users will also be able to browse through a wealth of material taken from a number of the Field Manuals and Sourcebooks. The way most of that works is that the user will need to be connected to the Internet initially. When they choose to view a particular document, the engine will check a local folder to see if the text exists. If not, it goes to my server, copies the text and then creates a local document. The next time they look at the same page, it reads it locally instead of from the server. It will have a built-in flush so that when I release updates to the application, it makes fresh copies of documents.
Online:
Once everything is done and it's all up and running, registration will go active and be free. Registered users will be able to create up to 4 (?) characters using the creation content from MechWarrior 3rd Edition. There will be an economy system in play, players will be able to hire NPCs in the form of basically anything they can think of; individual MechWarriors, tank drivers, VTOL pilots, infantry Platoons, BattleArmor squads and such. The player will control the NPCs operations on the battlefield but outside of the battle. All they have to do is keep the NPC alive and outside the battlefield, keep them paid. A players reputation, charisma and social standing play a role in the NPCs opinion. They longer they go without being paid, the more disgruntled they become and if they fall below a certain point, they may quit employment and go back up for hire.
The actual battle sequences will work very similar to the standard board game except that double-blind rules will be built in and the majority of all rolls are handled automatically. All the player has to do is decide what to do and when. Before firing at a particular unit with a given weapon, the engine will show you what your % chance is and then you decide whether you want to try it or not. The game will plot your sensor range. If you have LOS to a unit, you can click on that unit to get information about them. If you don't have LOS but sensors detect a unit, they'll show up as a blip. If firing through trees, you'll have a chance of catching those trees on fire causing fire and smoke. If you crater a hex, the next time that battlefield is used by someone else, that hex will retain previous battle damage. Trees will regrow after time and if there are structures on the field that take damage, you might visit the battlefield later to see that those buildings are being repaired.
After the battle is over, the victor must hold the field during the period while they are performing salvage, whether that means performing salvage on the field or bringing in vehicles to haul units away. Other players may appear on the battlefield to try to steal kills.
I'm working on how to set up a marketplace. The purpose is to sell salvage that you don't need, buy new or upgrade items for refit, hire NPCs as well as buy / sell / trade equipment with other players. I'm not completely sure how matches for money will be handled. I'm going to have a staging area where players can start new battles, join battles in progress and such. I might make it so that any given battle is worth a certain amount of money based on the tonnage put into the battle, so that even though there may not be a contract or an employer, there is still some incentive to fight.
If anyone has comments or suggestions, they're very welcome as they help with the development process.