Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Fenrir]

I didn’t want to make this topic until there was actually code, but I’ve been both busy and a little sick lately, so I decided to ignite discussion about features and the direction of the project during the wait.

Here’s what I was thinking about: would the project benefit from dispensing with avatars and characters and just serve as a sort of RPG overlay on your life (you’re playing you, not a character)? or is it more motivating and valuable to the class of people that use HabitRPG to actually have a character that gets stuff and dresses up? I feel like the first idea might make it easier to take seriously, but at the risk of being less fun.

This is just a poorly explained idea to spark discussion until I get to the actual work. Feel free to let the discussion roam as you please.

CHANGELOG

2014-08-24

• Implemented user account creation

[Elephant Parade]

I think that characters are a good idea.

[Greiger]

I like the characters myself.  Though I imagine many people find them less interesting.

One feature I wish HabitRPG had was a weekly task thing.  I know you can set up a daily that only highlights certain days of the week, but for an example I need to do laundry once a week so I have clean clothes.  I often forget to, but I actually have a bit short of 1 weeks worth of clothes.  If I set a daily in Habit RPG I'm essentially doing the laundry at the last second. Because the day I run out of clean clothes won't always be on the same day.

A set of tasks that can be checked off any day of the week, but stay completed until Sunday morning, and don't count as missed until then would be great.  Or perhaps if you could set a task to stay cleared for a few days when clicked, but I'm not sure how you would identify a miss for that.

[Sappho]

Thanks for starting this, Fenrir! I agree that the avatars and equipment are a big part of the motivation. Otherwise it's just a to-do list that you could keep on paper.

I think there needs to be a primary focus on long-term goals and group activities. I'm starting to lose focus on HRPG because it just doesn't seem to have much point anymore. I've already bought everything I can buy without spending actual money, and all my gold is useless now. There should be mega-projects that require loads of gold to complete. More emphasis on group quests (NOT only to be bought with real money - maybe we can work towards earning quests with a separate progress bar for "fame" or something). A better system for challenges, and the option to duel with someone (though the mechanics of this would have to be carefully designed for balance).

[hops]

PTW

[MaximumZero]

Also PTW.

[Fenrir]

I’ve been writing up some features to start with, and I’ll get some mockups done as soon as I can.

This is my least favorite part; I’m complete shit at planning this kinds of things.

[Sappho]

I'm pretty good at the planning party, actually, although I have very little experience with or knowledge of coding. What exactly do we need to organize? I suppose we need to agree on a critical features list. I think we also need to figure out who's able and willing to do what.

How many coders do we have who are willing to put some spare time into this, and what languages are you proficient in? What language/tools are we going to use to make the game? It should be something that runs fast, is not too obscure, and is easy to modify/add to later.

How many artists do we have, and what kind of art? We probably won't need much of this, especially at first, but it's good to know what options we have. I can certainly help with this, though I'm not exceptionally talented.

What other skills will we need to put this all together, and who has them?

What things will we have to buy with cash money, and how much should we expect them to cost?

If anyone has the patience to share code with me as it's written and walk me through what each line does, I will quickly learn the system and be able to help more. But that initial period of walking me through bit by bit might be tedious for some people. : )

[DG]

I think it should be called Habit Quest, in no small part because it then gets shortened to HQ.

I also think a sci fi setting would be a good idea, mostly to differentiate it from Habit RPG. There is heaps of scope for progress in a sci fi settng, from personal space ships to space stations for guilds.

I have no real talent to offer to the cause, though.

[MaximumZero]

Really, the only thing we should need to pay for is hosting the site. I can do a little bit of Illustrator, Photoshop, and Apophysis work, and as said before, I write.

[Fenrir]

I suppose we need to agree on a critical features list.

This is what I’m trying to get right now. It’s the only thing between me and writing code.

How many coders do we have who are willing to put some spare time into this, and what languages are you proficient in? What language/tools are we going to use to make the game? It should be something that runs fast, is not too obscure, and is easy to modify/add to later.

I’m currently unemployed and looking for work, so I’ve got plenty of time to put to this. I get the feeling that it’s just me for now, or, at the very least, I need to be the momentum behind this project for it to get done, so I’m just going to use what I’m trained to use: Ruby on Rails. I also want to use Angular.js.

So, yeah, I’m appointing myself emperor lead developer unless someone more motivated and equally proficient comes along.

If anyone has the patience to share code with me as it's written and walk me through what each line does, I will quickly learn the system and be able to help more. But that initial period of walking me through bit by bit might be tedious for some people. : )

I’ll try to keep you in the loop as much as possible. There may be things that come up that require skills or time that I don’t have, so I may need your help as this grows.


So here is what I’m going to do. Over the next few hours, I’m going to throw together a little demo of whatever core features I can put together in that time. I’ll post a link here by the end of the day (Pacific Time), and we can discuss and build from there.

* Fenrir has made a pact with the lower boards!

[Worldmaster27]

* A deep and low rumble echoes around the forums

* Many voices speak as one as the trembling subsides

A pact made
in the deepest board
a plan will be laid
and our lord
the great One Toad
will enforce this pact
of a game to code
and it will become fact
lest Fenrir be thwacked

PTW

[Fenrir]

Heh, I overestimated both the time this takes and my own willpower. All I got up was user account creation, so it’s not deployable.

Yes, that means I procrastinated working on a HabitRPG clone.

* Reality casts Situational Irony.

* The pact is rent asunder!

I’ll update the OP with a changelog.

[Worldmaster27]

* Worldmaster thwacks Fenrir

That's fine, anything is better than nothing at this point.

[Elephant Parade]

I think that one of the main problems with Habit RPG is that it doesn't actually have that many RPG mechanics.

Perhaps there should be some sort of world map, or at least multiple locations? Different locations could have different drops, but also inflict more/less damage on the player. Multiple areas would allow levelling up to significantly boost the player's stats, while still ensuring that the player needs to be careful not to miss too many tasks.

Speaking of tasks, to-do lists should have optional due dates. You should be able to assign both soft and hard due dates; soft due dates would inflict a bit of damage every day past the due date, while hard due dates would inflict heavy damage and delete themselves once reached.