Where is GreaterMud headed?

[Speed]

It's a fairly broad and general question, but I'm curious.  I haven't played MMud in about seven years and I'm glad to see that GMUD has become an icon instead of vaporware.  I'm just curious about what the next steps are.  The game looks, from my low level, nearly perfected.  I don't really like the stock nature of it since it's a been there done that kinda game right now, but that's just my opinion.  Never really enjoyed the starting race because I just don't have the time to devote.  I've been reading through the forums a lot, but most things are several years old at this point.

Are you guys shooting for new areas?  Player submittable through Nightmare for review?
Higher levels?
New quest lines?
Remort system? (saw something about that in the forums)
Some sort of "end game"?

Or is it basically going to be short race -> script -> reset?

Do the devs have a list of things they'd like to see in the future?  Public release of an engine (not source code)? 

Thanks!

[twogirlz]

There is no level cap at the moment, i think eventually mod 10 would be great and with it additional spells up to something like 85 would be nice. Along with new areas/quests, not really sure if there is any need for new classes, there might be one or two that are potentially worth having and maybe tweaking some of the under used/imbalanced classes like warlock which really has limited use at the moment. Its really up to vitoc to decide the direction it will go after version 1 is released.

[Vitoc]

It's headed to v1.0 currently.  We still have some bugs and some missing functionality (mostly gang shops and a help system) before v1.0 will be official.

After that... I don't know.  I'm still on the fence as to whether or not we should distribute copies of the engine.  If we could keep what's left of the community together in one place under one umbrella (as more of an MMO), IMO it would be better long-term.  On the other hand, I know some people have been wanting to get their hands on a copy of the engine to host their own realms, and I don't want to let them down.

Content will be an issue either way.  I definitely wouldn't distribute the MMUD content without owning the rights or getting explicit written permission, so any copies of the engine would not come with content.

I have some ideas to "seed" a brand new massive set of content if we decide to do that.  I can create a content generator that can generate maps based on some configurable parameter.  Size, type (forest, mountain, desert, cavern, town, maze), fork-factor, dead-end factor, # of actual paths that go somewhere, mob density, etc.  The ends of the paths that go somewhere could be plugged into the other maps that are created.  The generator would be smart enough to embed certain things in the room descriptions (ie paths leading directions, ambiance, lighting, etc.).  This would only be to generate a base set of content.  Then we could have special truly original rooms and areas added manually, to decorate and enhance.

It's only one idea.  I just can't see someone (or even a group of people) creating a brand new set of content manually that will contain this number of players before they outreach the levels that content was designed for.  I also don't know that the community will even accept and embrace completely original content.  We all know and love Lance/WCC/Metro's content.

After v1.0, I do want to spend some time getting a web client working.  I believe that's the single biggest way to breathe new life into this game.  Yes, many would-be noobs will turn away at the thought of playing a text game, but if we provide shiny bells and whistles around it, progress/health/mana bars, graphical maps, perhaps some other graphical representations of contents/mobs/players in rooms, maybe it will be enough to encourage people to give it a try.

I'll post more thoughts on this this weekend.  I'm open to suggestions.

[Stalkerr]

It's headed to v1.0 currently.  We still have some bugs and some missing functionality (mostly gang shops and a help system) before v1.0 will be official.

After that... I don't know.  I'm still on the fence as to whether or not we should distribute copies of the engine.  If we could keep what's left of the community together in one place under one umbrella (as more of an MMO), IMO it would be better long-term.  On the other hand, I know some people have been wanting to get their hands on a copy of the engine to host their own realms, and I don't want to let them down.

Content will be an issue either way.  I definitely wouldn't distribute the MMUD content without owning the rights or getting explicit written permission, so any copies of the engine would not come with content.

I have some ideas to "seed" a brand new massive set of content if we decide to do that.  I can create a content generator that can generate maps based on some configurable parameter.  Size, type (forest, mountain, desert, cavern, town, maze), fork-factor, dead-end factor, # of actual paths that go somewhere, mob density, etc.  The ends of the paths that go somewhere could be plugged into the other maps that are created.  The generator would be smart enough to embed certain things in the room descriptions (ie paths leading directions, ambiance, lighting, etc.).  This would only be to generate a base set of content.  Then we could have special truly original rooms and areas added manually, to decorate and enhance.

It's only one idea.  I just can't see someone (or even a group of people) creating a brand new set of content manually that will contain this number of players before they outreach the levels that content was designed for.  I also don't know that the community will even accept and embrace completely original content.  We all know and love Lance/WCC/Metro's content.

After v1.0, I do want to spend some time getting a web client working.  I believe that's the single biggest way to breathe new life into this game.  Yes, many would-be noobs will turn away at the thought of playing a text game, but if we provide shiny bells and whistles around it, progress/health/mana bars, graphical maps, perhaps some other graphical representations of contents/mobs/players in rooms, maybe it will be enough to encourage people to give it a try.

I'll post more thoughts on this this weekend.  I'm open to suggestions.

We should touch base on what you think is left before 1.0.  In my mind there is a lot of major functionality missing.

[Gardner Denver]

We should touch base on what you think is left before 1.0.  In my mind there is a lot of major functionality missing.

I really wish you'd take over working with him then because we've reached the extent of my knowledge on the game and it's mechanics.  My ability to contribute further in the development of this project is at an end until Vitoc is ready to add in the slew of missing op features the game still needs.

[Speed]

Awesome thanks for the great answers.  I also agree that keeping the game under one umbrella would help keep the players in one spot.  Especially if the engine is released and there's no real way of adding in new programming.  Nobody is going to play a new engine if it doesn't have the original MMud areas and such.  It's a project that has been tried and failed a thousand times over the course of the years. People like their familiarity.

I'm not so sure about a web interface.  It's definitely a way to attract new players, but, you're going to need an interface on par with megamud (with scripting) unless you considerably drop exp tables and find a way to disable scripting.  Nobody is going to play this game by hand in a web interface as it stands.  A web interface with a simple GUI is a very large undertaking and just in my opinion your time could be better spent on improving the telnet game as it stands.  The current players may not be around in several years when a web interface is complete. 

I know it's just MMud and if people wanted to play MMOs they would, but I think that GMud could greatly benefit from high level instanced areas or fifteen+ player raid areas (picture three teams of five in separate rooms all attacking three tentacles, if the tentacles die in the same span of 300 seconds all players drop through the floor into a bigger area where they get a real boss whose health pool actually spans a 4x4 grid of rooms, he engages and drops a cloud of confusion in your room, you need to move out in any direction to survive, etc...).  Maybe some form of crafting for end game items.  I know this stuff should go in the ideas forum I'll probably post something later.

The game greatly needs some form of "end game" or something to do other than stare at your script and kill the same bosses over and over again after you reach 60+.  If it weren't for the race mechanic on a fresh reset, I think half the people that do currently play would drop out quick.

If a good class balance mechanic could be achieved, I would LOVE to see your world seeding idea come into play.  Creating a town or a specific dungeon style area is always fun for an editor, but creating the in between crap is the tough and boring part.  It wouldn't be very difficult to double the play time and up the content to at least level 100 with this idea.  Add in some customized quests that continue the storyline every ten to twenty levels and it's gold. 

New classes and races are definitely not needed at this time.  There's plenty of combinations to choose from.  The weak classes like thief/missy/lock could do with some tweaking, but it's exceedingly difficult to balance without overpowering them.  They'll always have that stigma of being a bad choice for a class.

I look forward to playing up to the next reset and giving my feedback.  I think you guys have done a hell of a job on getting this thing up and running and I just wanted to say thanks for keeping it alive.

[Vitoc]

Awesome thanks for the great answers.  I also agree that keeping the game under one umbrella would help keep the players in one spot.  Especially if the engine is released and there's no real way of adding in new programming.  Nobody is going to play a new engine if it doesn't have the original MMud areas and such.  It's a project that has been tried and failed a thousand times over the course of the years. People like their familiarity.

I'm not so sure about a web interface.  It's definitely a way to attract new players, but, you're going to need an interface on par with megamud (with scripting) unless you considerably drop exp tables and find a way to disable scripting.  Nobody is going to play this game by hand in a web interface as it stands.  A web interface with a simple GUI is a very large undertaking and just in my opinion your time could be better spent on improving the telnet game as it stands.  The current players may not be around in several years when a web interface is complete. 

I know it's just MMud and if people wanted to play MMOs they would, but I think that GMud could greatly benefit from high level instanced areas or fifteen+ player raid areas (picture three teams of five in separate rooms all attacking three tentacles, if the tentacles die in the same span of 300 seconds all players drop through the floor into a bigger area where they get a real boss whose health pool actually spans a 4x4 grid of rooms, he engages and drops a cloud of confusion in your room, you need to move out in any direction to survive, etc...).  Maybe some form of crafting for end game items.  I know this stuff should go in the ideas forum I'll probably post something later.

The game greatly needs some form of "end game" or something to do other than stare at your script and kill the same bosses over and over again after you reach 60+.  If it weren't for the race mechanic on a fresh reset, I think half the people that do currently play would drop out quick.

If a good class balance mechanic could be achieved, I would LOVE to see your world seeding idea come into play.  Creating a town or a specific dungeon style area is always fun for an editor, but creating the in between crap is the tough and boring part.  It wouldn't be very difficult to double the play time and up the content to at least level 100 with this idea.  Add in some customized quests that continue the storyline every ten to twenty levels and it's gold. 

New classes and races are definitely not needed at this time.  There's plenty of combinations to choose from.  The weak classes like thief/missy/lock could do with some tweaking, but it's exceedingly difficult to balance without overpowering them.  They'll always have that stigma of being a bad choice for a class.

I look forward to playing up to the next reset and giving my feedback.  I think you guys have done a hell of a job on getting this thing up and running and I just wanted to say thanks for keeping it alive.

Good post.  Thanks for the feedback and ideas.  :)