Entirely hypothetical poll (Game discussion)

Say someone were to make a game similar to, for example, TEF or FH, in the fact that it's based around animals and community. What sort of animals would you like to see? Should it focus mainly on one animal, or have multiple creatures to play as? Should there be some sort of theme? Would more realism or fantasy be more interesting? What are your favorite features of similar games?

Again, this is all entirely hypothetical and probably nothing will come of it. But it's some fun thoughts to toy with!
I've included a voting system this time for each idea, every vote will be marked with a |. There is no limit on how many things you can vote on, as long as they don't clash with each other.

Ideas to discuss in the comments:
Non-chat based interaction(Body language, facial expression, etc) { | }
Non-chat interaction + chat { ||| }
Difficulty-based servers (Ranging from No challenge/Peaceful to Hardcore) { }
Realistic wing movement and flying
Fall damage { | }
Reluctance to go certain places { | }
Replacement for invisible walls (Mountains, strong tide, rough wind currents) { |||| }
NPC hunting in place of players being hunted { ||| }
Hunger/Thirst/Health system { || }
Sleep system { ||| }
Ability to play as a child { || }
Ability to go through a lifecycle, up to adulthood { || }
Singleplayer challenge modes { }
Ability to turn certain aspects of the game off { | }
Pregnancy { || }
NPC mates { }
Player mates { || }
Stamina { }
Optional wings for all creatures { | }
Singleplayer + Multiplayer options { ||| }
Fantasy and Realism servers { }
Unrealistic markings+colors { }
PvP area and/or server(For hunting/being hunted) { }
PvP options(Can be toggled on/off) { }
Status tags(OOC, AFK, etc. Can be toggled) { | }

Suggested themes:
?

Suggested animals:
Dragons { | }
Gryphons { | }
Various birds { || }
Horses { ||| }
Donkeys/Mules { | }
Canine { | }
Deer { || }
Feline { | }
Hybrids? { }

Bump.

Bump.

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Waning-Sun's picture

Personally, I love a mix of

Personally, I love a mix of fantasy and real creatures, especially the flying ones, since few games have mastered the art of flight. I love Dragons, Owls, griffins, equines, cervines and so on. Smaller birds would be awesome as well.
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I didn't even think of flying

I didn't even think of flying things! There are so many creatures that fly, like birds, bats, and dragons... It'd also be lovely to have a game where the wings look like more than just a couple pieces of paper stuck onto the body as an afterthought. A lot of games are guilty of that.

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Waning-Sun's picture

Yes! Wings that moved like

Yes! Wings that moved like genuine wings.

I always thought that a game that took you into the mindset of an animal would be fun. One that utilized the concept of body language, what specific sounds meant, let you live their lives. The hitches I found though would be the different commands needed to do just that, and nit make it overly complicated. Oh, and a game that gives the character some form of intelligence: like they might he hesitant to go swimming, wander into a dark place, or jump off a cliff. They wouldn't outright fight the player, but they'd give just enough resistance to make you second guess the action.
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Inufur's picture

Well, there is Arokai. There

Well, there is Arokai. There will be dragons, griffons, and barn owls.
Left.
Waning-Sun's picture

If Arokai is completed...

If Arokai is completed... It'd be the closest game to date that is a beautiful, semi realistic MMORPG game.
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Sun: Mm, I was thinking that

Sun: Mm, I was thinking that using body language, expressions, and sounds would be a fairly good system. Even better if it was without a chat, because it seems to work really well for TEF. I find that it's easier for me to approach people if I don't have to worry so much about language boundaries and such. They even have body language and expressions incorporated into the more chat-based games, like FeralHeart.
Hmm, like instead of just hitting an invisible wall, they might slow down a bit? And maybe look around warily a bit?

Inufur: Well, until I see that Feesh is working on Arokai again, I'm considering it a dead project for the most part. And this is more of a "What do you think would be fun?" kind of thread.

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Waning-Sun's picture

Goodness, I hate invisible

Goodness, I hate invisible walls in games more than anything. I understand that a playable map is only so big but maybe make it a physical barrier over an invisible one. Maybe really tall mountains. Though I don't know what you'd use for flying characters or swimming ones. The ocean could only stop them after so long. And yeah, sort of acting wary. They could stop and take a few steps, side step, slow down, veer or stop entirely to look up at the player with a "Are you sure?" look. I see it as a system of actions and consequences. Go ahead, jump off the cliff, just don't expect your character to survive unscathed-or live at all- when you reach the bottom. I like the games that make you think and form a bond with your character.
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Poppyflower's picture

YUPYUP ^ I think it would be

YUPYUP ^

I think it would be really nice if there was a game that let you live out the entire life of, say, a wolf or a deer. You could pick their species and gender and such, and that could be the basis of the entire storyline. Maybe you could unlock new species as you go along? Your animal could have certain characteristics and behavior based on their species. The choices you make could immensly impact the game.

If there ever a muiltplayer like this, I wouldn't want it to be chat-based; maybe based on body movement and sound, since that's the way these animals comunicate in reality.
~Poppy~
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I love Poppy's idea.... I

I love Poppy's idea.... I have always wanted a game like that. Where you start out as a baby & live a realistic life like that species would... I'm all for realism.

Sun: Well, for the swimming

Sun: Well, for the swimming creatures, I imagine that you could make it seem like the tide is pushing the character back, and the flying creatures could have very rough wind currents. Or, you could just make it a little planet and have it loop forever.
Yeah, it kind of bothers me how in so many games, you can fall from the top of the world, and land without so much as a scratch. Especially ones that have any sort of health/combat system.

Poppy: I imagine that even in a multiplayer game, it wouldn't be too hard to add game modes, or something along those lines, to be able to play the life of a creature. I remember that Impressive Title had little minigames built into it that were separate from the multiplayer bits.
The only problem I'm having with the concept of a non-chat based game is that I wouldn't want ANY text in it other than options, and I'm having trouble with ways to identify people without blatantly ripping off pictograms. I've thought of things like tribal paint, but that's not really an 'on first sight I know who it is' kind of system. I also thought of constellations, but that's too much like pictograms.

Ems: I was thinking that there should be baby versions of each creature! Maybe have them go through a life-cycle, up until they reach adulthood. Baby, teen, young adult, adult... And each stage might affect gameplay.

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Waning-Sun's picture

I agree, Poppy, the chat

I agree, Poppy, the chat would just ruin everything. And yeah, you should be able to start at a young age- or adult if you don't want to fuss with younger animals- and be able to literally run through the creature's life, from a young age to old age.

Even taking a mate- or multiple, since creatures actually do that- but that borderlines many many religious and other types of problems from the start. Parents might not like that idea, religious people might have a problem with that, and trollers can have a blast. We could always make the mate aspect of the game an NPC too.

I like the idea of strong wind currents and ocean currents, Mag. That would be a way to stop them from going too far, without it being an invisible wall. The idea of a lack of chat anywhere in the game is interesting, but I'm not sure how you would get around the concept of identifying someone, either. It could have both a single and multiplayer...maybe...but that doesn't do anything to help identification.
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Poppyflower's picture

Yep! There`s only one

Yep! There`s only one problem, though... Most of an animal`s life is foraging for food and such. Or so I think... then again, that within itself could be a challenge. Finding food isn`t easy (:
~Poppy~
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Inufur's picture

Waning-Sun; superfeesh has

Waning-Sun; superfeesh has came back. She made a reply on one of the forums like yesterday. So I doubt the game will be dead.
Left.
Waning-Sun's picture

Food isn't an easy thing to

Food isn't an easy thing to come by. Some hunt, others are hunted. Some defend their territories, some invade. Some roam constantly, others stay put and survive in an ever changing ecosystem. They have lives, exist, just as we do. Just because they don't have hobbies doesn't mean they are rather boring. It'd be like the forest. Sometimes peaceful, but mostly just a beautiful game that makes you contemplate your own existance and the world around you. That means that the graphics would be gorgeous and it would just be a sandbox type of game. There are goals, but they are set entirely by you.

Whoa, really there Inufur? I don't go on the forums, so...I don't know these things. I just go by what I come to understand. It would be wonderful to see that game up and running some day.
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Sun: To be fair, even games

Sun: To be fair, even games like TEF, which are in concept very family friendly, go against religion, and the community can be very... Un-PG, to say the least. Pretty much anything one can do could offend someone, somewhere. So why ruin everyone's fun by trying to do impossible things?
I'm not entirely sure of an NPC mate, unless it was in single-player. I've played multiplayer games that have NPC characters for mates, and they tend to glitch rather badly. The most common one is just them disappearing for no apparent reason, leaving you juggling four+ NPC babies and not being able to keep them or yourself fed.
Plus it kind of takes some of the fun of human interaction away.

Poppy: I'm kind of contemplating the ability to turn on and off the need for food, the ability to hunt/be hunted, and such. That way, if you don't feel like doing much of anything one day, you don't have to! Or have it be related to which server you're on, one for more realism, one for more relaxing.

Inu: I know that Feesh is back, but she hasn't actually DONE anything yet, so I'm kind of wary about her continuing the project until she actually shows some progress. She's been gone for an entire year, and she only seems to be back because of the recent hacking on the forums and DA group.

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Oh that sounds like a great

Oh that sounds like a great idea Mag about the turning certain things off
Waning-Sun's picture

True true...I've had the same

True true...I've had the same thing happen, or they get stuck somewhere and turn into more of a nuisance rather than a help. That would be nice, to turn off the bars for food and drink. I mean, you don't die the second you get really hungry or really thirsty. You can at least stick it out for a little while before you find a glass of water or something to eat.
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Poppyflower's picture

Hm.... like Minecraft`s

Hm.... like Minecraft`s Peaceful Mode XD
~Poppy~
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Sun: I imagine that a good

Sun: I imagine that a good food/water/health system would be to remove a couple points of health per minute that the food/water bar is empty. You'd have enough time to get to whatever you need, but there's a threat of the character dying.

Poppy: Haha, kind of! That gives me ideas for level of difficulty servers, rather than just realism/not servers. It'd probably be a bit of a hassle to mess with, though...

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Poppyflower's picture

Maybe! I do like the idea of

Maybe! I do like the idea of perhaps a more relaxed mode, where perhaps you can go a bit longer without the things you need. Then, there could be a more hardcore mode- quoting Minecraft again here XD- which is based on really realistic aspects.
~Poppy~
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Waning-Sun's picture

Or the animal could just

Or the animal could just start deteriorating after a few game days without food or drink.
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While I like the idea of

While I like the idea of hunting for food, being hunted, etc.(under the circumstances), I played a game similar to that. I believe it is called I, Predator. The problem I had is I must not have been any good or perhaps it was just too hard. I would end up dying really fast and that was frustrating because I couldn't really do anything about it.
Waning-Sun's picture

I've looked into I, Predator,

I've looked into I, Predator, and I remember being put off by the fact that, though beautiful in so many ways, it needed the complexity to be toned down. I have a tendency to not catch onto a system of controls where the slider bars have to be exact, or a specific command must be executed in that right moment of time. I wonder if there is way to make it somewhat...difficult, but not so complex that you want to break down into tears and quit the game.
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Poppy: That's a pretty good

Poppy: That's a pretty good idea!

Sun: That works, too.

Jinxy: To be fair, I, Predator has a really really bad setup and system. A lot of the mechanics weren't very well thought out. Like one of the levels, you were supposed to play as a gazelle, and gather a herd while you were being hunted by a cheetah. But the other players were too busy squabbling about territories and fighting each other for herds to care about the cheetah, and everyone died most of the time. It was complex in all the wrong ways.

Also! Just for fun, could you all give me one creature you'd most like to see in a game? I want to test a couple of things...

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Waning-Sun's picture

Gryphons. I love gryphons. Or

Gryphons. I love gryphons. Or a bird of some sort. But...gryphons...


And really? That's hysterical and pathetic at the same time.
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Echosong's picture

It would be nice to have a

It would be nice to have a game thats a mix between fantasy do-whatever-you-want and survival. A while ago I was wishing there was a multiplayer game that allowed you to play as an animal. Then I found The Endless Forest and I was happy. Smiling But it would be awesome to have a sort of environment/ecosystem, survival based multiplayer game, where you could interact with other player's animals, but not altogether a "eat everyone else" game.... pretty complicated to explain.

Lets see... owls, wolves, deer, or dragons. I can't pick just one!

Sun: Any specific type? Or

Sun: Any specific type? Or just standard Eagle/Lion gryphon?

Echo: I'm guessing you mean something where you have the option to fight/hunt, but there's more of a sense of community and not everyone fights?
And I'll choose owls out of those options. Not nearly enough owls around.

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Personally I'd like to see

Personally I'd like to see more well-developed bird games. Owls, doves, kingfishers, sparrows, robins, eagles, hawks; any avian really.
Waning-Sun's picture

Yeah, your standard eagle

Yeah, your standard eagle lion. Though I like the ones with lion paws over the eagle talons...
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Hehe, it's pretty much

Hehe, it's pretty much entirely avians at this point. I might personally add in horses, just to give more of a ground-balance.

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Waning-Sun's picture

Horses are awesome, donkeys

Horses are awesome, donkeys or mules haven't really been in games either.
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That's a really good point.

That's a really good point. But, there aren't many games where horses are playable, either. Usually it's taking care of them...

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Waning-Sun's picture

I agree, I'd love to run

I agree, I'd love to run around as an actual horse.
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Inufur's picture

@Mag, Well.. let's see about

@Mag, Well.. let's see about this. If you made a game which you nearly have all the models done. Then you disappear for like a year and then you stop working on it? That would be a waste of work. Or she could just stop working on it and let someone else work on with with the rest of the team.
@person who was talking about i predator, I played that game a lot. There were many glitches. And whenever your a cheetah the gazelles just keep ramming you. Like 20 gazelles. Which is very annoying.
Left.

I would prefer it if she

I would prefer it if she stopped discussion of Arokai. That's not what this topic is about, and I'd like for it not to get derailed into a massive argument. I have my opinion, you have yours.

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Inufur's picture

Aren't we sharing our

Aren't we sharing our opinions? That comment of yours would PROBABLY start an argument. I don't want to get rude. And Aro'kai is kinda like the discussion you guys are having. A fantasy like game, but Aro'kai doesn't have survival.
Left.
OrinocoFlow's picture

I'd love to see one that

I'd love to see one that actually follows the laws (hunting, raising young etc) but you can only hunt NPCs
You do not have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.
~ C.S. Lewis

Inu: Honestly, it's not

Inu: Honestly, it's not really. I was getting people's opinions on what they think would be fun in a game. This is not a thread to discuss existing or in-development games. Just interesting game mechanics. Please, I'm asking you nicely to drop the subject.

Orin: That's what I was thinking. People might get a bit upset if their characters were hunted and killed without their consent, which is what it would eventually boil down to.

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OrinocoFlow's picture

Yeah thus the "hunt NPCs"

Yeah thus the "hunt NPCs" only. Or as deer there are player deer and Npc deer. otherwise it would be like tef where you can't harm others or something
You do not have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.
~ C.S. Lewis

I like the idea of a game

I like the idea of a game that isn't chat-oriented, and I'd love to see more games like that, so I agree with the body language/sound communication thing.

Maybe running a lot or doing things that require a lot of energy would deteriorate your health faster? Still very slowly, but enough so that you need more food? I like the idea of it taking a few days for you to be in danger of starving.

There could be an optional "challenge" mode where you can be hunted by other players or something, maybe.

Inufur's picture

''There could be an optional

''There could be an optional "challenge" mode where you can be hunted by other players or something, maybe.'' Play Primal carnage. Except you can talk. <_<
Left.
Inufur's picture

@Mag; Sorry..?

@Mag; Sorry..?
Left.

Orin: I think an NPC deer

Orin: I think an NPC deer just wouldn't have any identification, to help tell the difference between the two. They would also be very generic and boring in appearance.

Rains: Running burning off energy would be fairly interesting! A challenge mode could be a good idea. I'm thinking it might be something that could be incorporated into the difficulty-based servers idea.

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OrinocoFlow's picture

Yeah that makes sense. and I

Yeah that makes sense. and I like the energy part. Honestly a very realistic game is what I'd like to see.
You do not have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.
~ C.S. Lewis
Inufur's picture

'' This is not a thread to

'' This is not a thread to discuss existing or in-development games.'' Also, you could of said that BEFORE I made the Aro'kai post.
Left.
Poppyflower's picture

I do like that idea of

I do like that idea of burning off energy as you go; I've played somethihg similar to that. It should be based on the amoumt an animal can go without real food, perhaps?
~Poppy~
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What do you guys think of

What do you guys think of every creature being able to have wings? It'd be more work, but I know a lot of people have winged characters other than the standard avians. Plus, it'd set the game apart more from some other similar games, because wings on more than birds, dragons, and such were shot down for being "too unrealistic". I don't think that's really an issue when you have giant flying lizards and eagle-lion hybrid things.

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Waning-Sun's picture

Winged deer. I love owl deer

Winged deer. I love owl deer so much. Or bird deer. I like that idea.
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Poppyflower's picture

Perhaps there could be a more

Perhaps there could be a more "realistic setting"?

But sure! I love owl deer! <3
~Poppy~
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