Working on a Star Trek Webgame MMOG

[CaptainNet]

Hello everyone,

My name is Joel and I am a Disabled American. I fill my days by designing websites and making them freely available to the public.

I too am an avid BOTF player.

I have been coming back to this website for all my BOTF needs, the bottom line is that it is convient to have a Nexus of all things BOTF.

I have thought about designing BOTF mods before and have done such. Mostly just for private play.

Now is my time to give back to the community and become something more than just surviving.

It is my intention (of which I have the skill) to design a Star Trek BOTF MMOG, for play on the web.

The game would be designed entirely in PHP,html,css, and javascript.

It will be playable entirely from a browser.

There will be no turns, but instead everything will be handled in real time.

I am quite excited about the possibility of it all and have purchased the .com, .net, and .org TLD of the domain name I intend to use for the project.

Where I will need help is with things such as game art (ships,buildings, etc).

If ANYONE would like to be a part of this project, I would welcome the help greatly. Any help you could give would be beneficial.

With that said I am going to use the resouces of this site, and play a game or two of BOTF to get inspired.

Let's make this happen!

Engage,

~CaptainNet

[Flocke]

Hello CaptainNet!
Welcome to the forum.

It's nice you're interested to do so.
I believe you'll be welcome to the Allegiance BOTF-Browsergame project: http://botf2.star-trek-games.com/viewto ... =31&t=1752
http://botf2.star-trek-games.com/viewto ... f=5&t=1568

gl & hf

[CaptainNet]

Thank you for your reply,

I tried to register for that board, and the activation link was never sent. Apparently either the site is out of SMTP relays, or there is something else that is preventing the PHP mail function from sending me an activation email

In the meanwhile, I will be happy to post my progress with the game on this board in this thread.

(I hope that is okay)

Thank you,

~CaptainNet

[CaptainNet]

Oh I just remembered...


I forgot to mention that I have some experience with game theory, as prior to designing websites, I designed games. In fact the MyGamesWorkshop domain name is sold out in about 11 different TLD's (.com, .net, .org, etc) because I needed a place when the mood hits me to design roleplaying games to place them free for the world upon.

But that is another story.

Overall I think I have a well rounded skill set and am capable of doing this for the community. I will make all the source code for the project freely available.


Thank you,

~CaptainNet

(time to get back to whooping the galaxy's butt as the romulans)

[Flocke]

I tried to register for that board, and the activation link was never sent.

Some time back they had a problem with it, but I thought it would have been solved.
Try again or ask jigalypuff viewtopic.php?name=Forums&file=profile& ... ofile&u=12 for example.

In the meanwhile, I will be happy to post my progress with the game on this board in this thread.

(I hope that is okay)

Sure!

as prior to designing websites, I designed games

Nice, is there anything to show us? An webpage or some screens maybe? ^^
www dot MyGamesWorkshop dot com/org is resulting in an endless loop for me, switching between com and biz.

Greetz and good progressing

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit on the progress which is being made.

First off the site will be moving to another domain I have in order to make finding it a bit easier. And I apologize about the endless loop on the domain lookup. The smoke must have came out of the TLD when it came to forwarding. Needless to say the new domain will work much better.


The design work on the skeleton which will run the site has been worked up. I have decided upon the "how's" of making a realtime MMOG work which will still be in the spirit of trek BOTF.

Design on the database has began and should be completed in it's pre-alpha phase by tonight.

Now don't think that I will have screenshots to show just quite yet.

That will come sometime by next week.

One noteable thing I should mention is that it is a VERY BIG UNIVERSE (sorry about the yelling there). This means plenty of room to expand and start your own empire.

The universe will have wormholes, all the fun, and much more of the BOTF game.

I will not rest until this effort is well underway and people can begin to see the light at the end of the wormhole.

I was going through a touch of a "low" which is why I was unable to work on the game last week. It's just a part of the condition I suffer from.

But I have come out of that and I feel I am more than ready to start working on what I believe will be something more addictive than Romulan Ale!

I will keep you all aprised.

Thank you,

~Joel

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

Just a quick note, the new domain name is www dot shadowsofthefederation dot com. I will begin working on setting up the hosting and database here shortly

I just thought the name of Shadows of the Federation sounded good and could possibly have a story line. Plus it would explain why there would be so many empires running around;)

Thank you,

~Joel

[beepo]

Post back once you have it setup. it sounds real cool. I tried to check it out but was given the notice of under construction.

[stardust]

@CaptainNet

A touch of the Low...? not you too...it sucks...i've been there all too often for my liking....

looking forward to what you've come up with

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

Thank you all for your feedback on this matter. I had taken the opportunity this morning when my "running around" was done for food and soda, to get some much needed sleep.

Part of the condition I suffer from gets the dopamine levels in my brain all out of wack and the re-uptake of it askewed. The result of it is when I am going through a "low" I don't sleep. Even when I rest I don't reach REM.

When I recover and swing back up, I am able to sleep and normally take the opportunity to sleep for at least 8 hours no matter when it is that I last rested.

----Now for Info on SOTF

Storyline
In a divergent universe the year is 2622. The Federation and all of the other major empires have long since fallen due to war in one last stand to try to have galactic domination.

But old dreams die hard.

Remains of the great empires have set their sites on starting anew across the galaxy. Colony ships had set out for places where no one has ever been before.

The time is the present, and having reached their destinations the various seeds of the once great empires begin building upon strange new worlds.

Memories of the Old Ways haunt us like a familiar spirit.
The universe is our destiny.
Our time is now.
In the galactic game of total domination, can you afford not to play?

Progress
The database is being designed for the realtime (and rather complex) game. I hope to have the basic database designed here within about 4 hours.

I will begin scripting the game after that.

It is my goal to have the game ready for people to at least register to reserve usernames by morning CST or by about Noon UTC.

Design Notes

*everything is processed in "realtime", so no turns.
*The galaxy will be two-dimensional but will be very very large.
*Majors will include all of the Majors from BOTF (Cardassians, Federation, Klingons, Ferengi, Romulans) Plus the Borg as I know that a very beloved member of this board has an affinity for the Borg.
*There will be difficulty levels just in case you feel like having a "challenge".
*There will be random events.


I have taken over a half hour to write up this post so far (in between getting refills of my sacrement of diet pepsi to caffiene load).

I will wrap up by saying that everything is possible and expect the unexpected;)

Thank you,

~Joel

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

Just taking a quick break from the database design to let you all in on a bit of the game mechanics. The case which will be discussed is Glaxy Size and Travel.

The actual size of the galaxy will be limited to 300,000 sectors by 300,000 sectors That yields a total of 90,000,000,000 sectors. Now I know what you are thinking if you have a galaxy that big there are two questions which come to mind.

Q.What if I am put in Bumble, Iowa way out in a far corner of the galaxy and I won't meet another player for years?

A.The game will be limited in the beginning to start out all empires within +/- 5000 sectors of sector 0,0. (Although you may travel beyond)

The second question ...

Q. How long will travel time be?

A.Travel time will be less than you expect. If you have a travel speed of 1 (very low) you can travel 1 sector every 600 seconds. considering there will also be wormholes and (if tech level is high enough) Artificial Wormholes they travel time will be 1 second to cover vast expanses of space.

Just thought I would share that.

Thank you,

~Joel

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

I had taken my meds on a mostly empty stomach and they had a very unusual effect upon me. It was almost as if I was having a narcotic reaction to them, and felt "high". It was not intentional.

This hampered my ability to make all the progress I had wanted to make by this time, but I am determined to have at least the user registration/empire selection and world scripts written by sometime this AM CST (Late afternoon UTC at the latest)

I have taken my meds because i am a good little mental patient and do what the doctors tell me to do !

You will not see the default site under construction page when you visit the site now. Both the index script and the error script have been written.

This will mean that the game will be playable in all intensive purposes while it is being scripted. (Just some systems may be down at the request of Stellar Cartography)

I will also take the time to announce that the source code to the game and a blank DB sql file (along with the setup sripts) for ANY member of this Board.

I do this because the game will be completely designed with easy to translate language files. This means that if someone wanted to register shadowsofthefederation.de and put up a german language translation of the game, for instance, they would be able to do such and set up a game for that TLD and language.

Trek is truthfully universal and the dream that Roddenberry had was one of a future filled absent of greed (with the expception of the ferengi) for all Humanoid kind.

I believe to that the game should have the same spirit that he intended.

Therefore there will be no monopolies in this game. I do not wish to rule the code, but to merely play against all of my new friends from around the world who love the game of BOTF.

If you get the chance check out www dot shadowsofthefederation dot com.

I promise I will be on schedule of getting what I have promised done on time. I may get a little light headed from the meds (I am on about 6) but in the end you WILL be able to register for the site and select a race in order to start your empire.

Well with all 7 Seasons of ST:TNG on DVD in my possession I should be able to gain plenty of inspiration while I work on the site.

Remember, your feedback, however short, to this thread will only help me to stay focused and devote myself fulltime to this project. I only want to feel useful, and if by doing this I can capture a bit of that feeling, it will all be worthwhile.

Thank you,

~Joel

[beepo]

Hope all is well. Keep posting your results. I'll check out the site later today.

[Dr_Breen]

I'am allready addicted to you game, now that i heard what it will be about.

i'am currently learning java at the university of zurich(ok i just begun, im in the first semester ), can't wait to add some intresting suff to your game

by the way...will there be a way to fight 3d battles? let us know what datatype of 3d models you're going to use, i'll be happy to help you out with a few 3d models (even though i am not a professional 3d modeller i have some skills from creating ships for botf)

[CaptainNet]

Hello,

I am delighted to hear from you. It warms my heart like a chalice of Klingon Bloodwine.

I'am allready addicted to you game, now that i heard what it will be about.

It's not my game per se, but instead our game. This means that it is the game of the BOTF community. It is part of the reason I chose the name of Shadows of the Federation so that it could have a similar abbreviation (i.e. SOTF).

I have played many 4x space games (both programs and MMOG's) but I have always found myself returning to BOTF. There is just something about the game that is ultimately addictive.

I have seen many drawbacks of some browser-based MMOG's.

Namely they all seem to fall into the trap of being resource based and not population based.

All to often they turn into games of raiding other systems so you can get more metal, tribinium, or furry m&m's to build your next super-uber-starship.

That is one area that I hope to make this game different. The game will be population based with less focus upon resources.

by the way...will there be a way to fight 3d battles? let us know what datatype of 3d models you're going to use, i'll be happy to help you out with a few 3d models (even though i am not a professional 3d modeller i have some skills from creating ships for botf)

Well a browser based MMOG based upon PHP would not have this capability. Believe me when I say that if it did I would definitely work it in;)

The game could benefit if you have Javascript experience. It will be using a system of quasi-ajax goodies that I call simply jsfoo.

Mainly it's countdown timers and then screen loads of a html file when the countdown reaches zero for some iframes, but they will play a vital role in the game since it is all real-time and not turn based.

Which brings me to the point of why it is real-time and not turn based.

There are two reasons.

The first is that for a MMOG, trying to coordinate everyone actually getting their turns turned in on time would be a nightmare.

Secondly, it has to do with limitations on how long a PHP script has to process. It would be nearly impossible (even for a cron job) to get a turn processed for more than about 50 or so players per galaxy. In which case it wouldn't really be a MMOG.

Well enough of this.

I am behind schedule and have some goals to meet. I will be getting back to scripting the game. But I will gladly welcome your or anyone else's help with the game Dr. Breen.

Even your words of support are helping in immense ways.

Make no mistake about it, this will happen.

This game will be a reality.

Thank you,

~Joel