[Freeciv-Dev] Freeciv as a planetary component in a RPG

["Brandon J. Van Every" <vanevery@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: Mark Metson [mailto:markm@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
>
> It is not the code I'd re-suse, it is the whole game as a running
> component regardless of its coding-language. Where I see it as having
> potential use is in a much larger game in which there are
> planets, where
> it might be nice to be able to generate a planet complete
> with history. I
> was thinking something along the lines of "Traveller" where
> you generate
> some basic stats about a planet - government type, techlevel,
> population,
> starport size, stuff like that. In "Traveller" you dont get much info
> about each planet, yet you have individual played characters that can
> potentially go planet-crawling, actually wandering around on
> the planet having individualised adventures.

Ok, some game design history / caveats / fair warnings by way of an
abandonware title called, "Emperor Of The Fading Suns."
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=367
EOFS is actually a Dune-like RPG, which Holistic Design made a 4X TBS
out of.  You've got a galaxy with about 40 planets in it, each with a
smallish but respectably sized map ala the 4X TBS genre.  You can land
units and move around on each planet, you could develop any one of these
planets into something as highly developed as a Freeciv game.  It is
rather much like playing Freeciv on a board that's 20 times larger.

In other words, it takes forever to play.  It's not basically playable
as a 4X TBS.  It might be useful as a RPG assistant, but it wasn't
written to be one, so you'd really have to use your imagination.  I
think you should play EOFS to see how you can fail at the "Freeciv as a
planetary component" idea.

From a 4X TBS standpoint, Galactic Civilizations does it right.  Each
star system is rather simple.

> A tool for generating planets in more detail would be handy.

Yes it would be.  You can buy those, there are several shareware / mail
order people who sell them for modest prices.  I'm not going to provide
links because (1) I'm lazy, (2) I haven't used any of them, so I don't
feel right about making recommendations.  But you should be able to
Google them easily enough.

Of course you could code one up, or crawl around looking for other open
source developers who have coded one up, and stick it into Freeciv
somehow.  I don't know of any myself.  When I went looking, I found only
the commercial ones.  So I started pulling plate tectonics papers, and
then shelved it until I've addressed higher priorities.

> FreeCiv still looks like it could eventually maybe be able to
> be used as a
> component in larger situations. So it is still of interest.

Freeciv is never going to give you that kind of game design capability.
You'll be able to do that sort of thing with my project though, if I do
it.  Provided you don't have anything against Python.  My project will
be for game designers and prototypers, not game cloners.

I find it interesting to hear how the project might be used for purposes
beyond 4X TBS.  Not that I'd spend time trying to be a RPG or a RTS, it
will be a 4X TBS project and stay clearly focused on that.  But, some
chunks of code can indeed be genre-independent modules.  And also, how
to make such modules usable in the real world, not just "Oh, feel free
to grab all the code and start your own project."  A lot of people don't
have the skill to pull that off.  A lot of people who do, don't wish for
life to be that much of a PITA.

> A long way off yet

It's not "a long way off yet."  It's something the Freeciv developers
will never do, because it's not their priority.  It's up to you, myself,
and likeminded people to do such things.  That's the true nature of open
source.  You can't make people do things, and you're a fool to wait for
others to do things that they don't want to do.


Cheers,                         www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.