Borrowing a bit from a
different thread:
pmouse wrote:
I want to create a custom system where players need to grow the corps themselves, takes care of it and later enjoy harvesting it.
IMO the biggest feature in UO that beats every other MMORPG is it's philosophy (or was). From day one Lord British wanted an open ended world with very little restrictions. You can virtually do anything you want to. All the little details has been taken care of to simulate a real world, an no other online games focuses on this area. For example, I've seen no other MMORPG in which you can grow crops, milk cows, shearing sheeps, etc. This allows an enormous amount of role playing in the game.
I really agree with pmouse here. I don't like the aspect of unlimited NPC photocopies of any item you wish. I think the player economy has to be stimulated in all possible ways. We have to give players something to do other than doing utterly pointless "quests", fighting an endless supply of orcs, or whatnot.
Things really get interesting when you have potential to distinguish yourself from other players by focusing on an aspect of the game more than others, and reaping the benefits. UO has always been about that, and I think it could really be expanded further.
On the topic of unique features, taking Ultima Online as basis, a few features I would like to see added or changed include:
More sophisticated and interesting item creation
Example:
Item creation should no longer be a click-and-make process. This would help minimize the terribly tedious task of GMing blacksmithy or tinkering in UO today. Players currently must create thousands of useless items like chainmail gloves, katanas, etc, just to gain 10 points of skill, while all the items end up being dumped onto an NPC vendor. It really jades the entire economical look and feel of the game. You could perhaps get the same amount of skill by creating a lot less, more complex items.
Item Creation:
All the objects in the world which may be part of a user-craftable item, such as ingots, wood logs, bones, etc, should show the player all possible items that can be created from them, and all possible items they may be a part of.
Let's say you have created or found a wooden handle similar to a hammer's. By right clicking the wooden handle, you access a list of items you may create with it, and what ingredients you need to add. You may then make or purchase the necessary parts, and make the desired tool.
This process could also work for the creation of an engine, for example.
To create a 2-cylinder engine, you would need to craft or loot or purchase 8 pieces: the engine's "skull" or body, 2 cylinders, 4 valves, and a set of gears. In real life, it takes a lot more than that to build a fully functional engine, but for the purpose of the game, it adds a lot of depth. It adds a sense of accomplishment every time you manage to make an engine, as it won't be an easy task. The engine's power output or lifetime may be affected by its creator's skill level.
The engine could be used to automate very simple processes such as water-pumping for farms, and perhaps for electricity if it is ever introduced in game.
House Building
I think it would be great to work towards a system for designing your own house in game. I think players should be able to chop wood or make bricks from mud, and build a house from those resources.
I dont know a system where the player builds the house brick by brick from the ground up would be feasible, although it does sound cool. However, anything that elaborates the complexity of house building and personalization certainly is good.
Terraforming
Terraforming is something you don't see a lot in MMORPG's. There's probably is a server-related reason for that, though I still think it would make a great addition. If a player owns or has permission to edit a block of land, the player may change the depth level of the land (dig holes, make mounts) We could use this system to make rivers, used for farming.
Making rivers could work by telling each floor tile that it can only contain water if another cell to either 4 sides of it also contains water, and if it is below a specified altitude. That way only shorelines may be succeptible to flooding via hole-digging.
Finally, what are the limitations of the current graphics engine Ultima is using? Can there be higher poly items and player models? Are the concepts I mentioned above feasible? Does the Iris team have plans to introduce third-person walking animation, or introduce a smoother system than the tile-base one?
If anyone has any comments or would like to post your own ideas, feel free