The quest system would start out as a tutorial for beginning players.   When the player first enters into the game, their first quest will be to colonize a planet.  After that their quest will be to build up the infrastructure on their planet, etc.

To go about the Quest system I have created a table in the DB for the quests.  The table will contain the quest file, the owner, and if it has been completed or not.  The quest file will be a quest object.  The object will have a checkCompletion() method which can be used to see if the quest has been completed.  This is a basic questing system, but right now it appears that it will work for my game.

More to come.

• Tweeked the universe layout and how locations are handled.
• Tweeked the Explore feature.
• Added support for Ships.
• Added support for Fleets.

The location of any ships will depend on the location of the fleet.  Ship location = its fleet location.

There will be one ‘Primary’ fleet.  This primary fleet can only consist of Capital Class ships and is the only fleet capable of being controlled via the explore feature.  All the other fleets will be used for defense and PVP.

Exploration Mechanic

Sector and Solar System Mechanics

Note, those numbers might change.

I spent a good amount of time today re-writing the exploration mechanic code.  So far I have it set up to generate a new sector, save it in the DB.  Then load that same sector and any later arrivals to that sector.  I have also re-worked the way that the map is stored in the DB, and several other things to increase performance.  It was more of a total re-write then anything.

Here are some features.

• Your goal is to colonize planets and make in game money.
• To achieve the goal you can wage war discover new systems, life forms, etc.  But you can also mine, build, research, or/and sell technology and/or resources.

There will be three unique mechanics to the game.

1. Exploration.  You will be on the fringes of the known universe, so there will be a lot to find out there.  The current fight prototype will be modified into an exploration mechanic.  As the ruler of your worlds, you will get a capital ship in which you can explore the universe.  In the universe, you can find friendly and hostile enemies, planets and nebula containing new and rare resources, and you might even get to have a dog fight with an alien species.
2. Tech Research.  Instead of the usual pre-defined research tree found in most games, your research will, for the most part, be largely random.  I plan on using the current random weapon generator and modifying it so that it is a random technology generator.  The more time you research something, the better your results will be.  The higher the level of your research team the better the results.  You might even be able to find alien tech, and research the alien tech to create new tech for yourself.   This will create a very diverse universe.
3. Aliens.  To make the universe feel more full and diverse, I plan on adding a bunch of AI.  The AI will be relatively simple at first.  They will be friendly (trade with you) or hostile (declare war on you).  They will also try to expand their empires, and fill the universe.  This means that every so often the server automatically give the AI a turn, in which they can expand, trade, or attack you.

Also, I am working on a simple list of the basic features of the game.  Once that list is complete, I focus on those features.  Once those features are finished and I have a working prototype of the game, I will open the game up to testing.  And from there I will add more and more features to it.  This was a major flaw in my planning the last time around.  I had so much I tried to get done that I never actually accomplished anything.  If I stick to basic functionality and a good time-line, then I should be able to get the game off the ground.

Your thoughts would be nice.

• Mail system
  • Created a mail system, to send personal messages to other members.  This is account based, not character based.
  • It uses a ‘thread’ style. Meaning all the messages in one topic are grouped together in the database. Kinda like gmail.
  • Still need to create the ability to message multiple people, and groups of people at once.
• Little things
  • Added functions to format account names and timestamps.
  • Edited the style of a few pages, etc.
• Worked on the story
  • Had a few friends over to help brainstorm a story line.
  • Created the Name, theme, and several details for the universe.

The game will no longer be zombie based, and will have a new name.  Once I get some money I will buy a new domain for the game, with an appropriate name and then transfer the game over to the new domain.  At that point I can continue to focus on the back end collaborative system, which will allow for people to add their own input and details to the universe, such as characters, technology, worlds, etc.  I need to wait to let people sign up for the game, even for development purposes until I have a domain secured and finalized URL.

I want there to be a strong story behind the game, with an immersive universe.  Thus I am getting some friends to help with the story development process.

To do this I want to be able to keep a detailed record of all the story elements, characters, worlds, species, subPlots, missions, etc.  I want multiple people.  I want the writers to be able to create their own elements, edit those elements, and rate/comment on other peoples additions.

Thus, I have started on the development on this.  I added an admin panel, where you can add/edit parts of the game depending on your user level.

I also added a main plot section, where you can propose new main plots, edit the main plot, view the main plots, and a few other actions.

I am still getting the framework for all of this down, and its taking longer then expected. =(

Once I get enough of it working I will start to invite friends to the game so that they can add their input.

Each location will contain certain things, such as:

• Sub locations (explorable areas, ‘dungeons’, and mission areas)
• NPCs (non-player characters)
  • Learn more about the story via the NPCs.
  • Get missions via NPCs.
• Player controlled areas

As you can imagine, there will eventually be a huge set of these locations, and each one will be unique.  Thus they will need a unique ID.  type_locationName

Here is a link to the bug: http://desertstorms.net/zombienations/mantis/view.php?id=1

Yes, I do plan to continue working on it.

I just need a ‘vacation’, and some time to think.

I may start working on it again later tonight, tomorrow, in a week, or in a month.   I don’t really know.