Intro Hello guys, I'm Konstantinos! (A technically not late introduction) :)

[KonstantinosD]

• Name: Konstantinos Dimitriou
• Social: https://github.com/dklgd although I only recently made an account there so you won't find much right now. I am planning to work there immediately though
• From: Athens, Greece
• Skills / Tools: 3rd year of chemical engineering. Fortran, matlab, c++ and currently learning java (which I have already got the hang of as the general logic is basically the same.
• Found via: GSoC and a gaming channel on youtube
• Interests:
  • Im a veteran Mincraft player so I know the in' s and out's of it as well as the strengths and weaknesses of this type of game, which will help improve the game.
  • Computer science and programming, hopefully I will be able to combine it with my current studies.
  • Tennis player for the past 7 years.
  • Psychology (doubtful that it will help here much).
  • Lastly I enjoy writing stories on my spare time, which I really hope it can be a useful skill here (so you can say I'm into literature)
• Extra: So what i would like to work with in this project is not as technical as game physics but a bit more substantive in the essence of the game and the possibilities it has to offer to the user. I would like to work under your proposal of "Write a new gameplay template / some new content" similar to the Lost but at the same time very different. I'm not talking about a puzzle game with a bit of story but a lot of story that is captivating and interesting with a spoonful of puzzle that can keep the interaction with the player at a sufficient level so that he can really understand that he is a part of a game and feel like he is living it.
  
  If I had to be a bit more specific I would suggest that you add another type of "gamemode" that could be called something like "Stories". Basically my idea is to add 2-3 stories on release that are essentially a premade custom game with preprogrammed NPCs that react differently based on how much you have progressed the story. For example it could be similar to pokemon games where the npcs are standing somewhere and when you talk to them they give you some info and you could answer back with 2 or three prewritten answers. Solving puzzles or giving the correct answers to the right NPCs progresses the game.
  The stories don't have to be too long, I'm thinking something around a couple of hours, that have a compelling plot for the player (something like a mystery, crime, supernatural events etc). That way you have something new for your game that can expand whenever you want.
  
  
  Aside from my proposed "Stories", I have found great interest in working on the integration of Genome into SimpleFarming as I understand is an open topic on issue 82, https://github.com/Terasology/SimpleFarming/issues/82. Depending on the need of the development I could redirect my focus and expand my ideas on this area!

 

[Cervator]

Welcome to the forum, good to see you here

If you haven't checked out Lost yet then you should. Grab the Alpha 8 zip, which is a bit aged, but includes a save game that starts you with a small story: https://github.com/MovingBlocks/Terasology/releases/tag/v1.5.0

There is a good amount of interest in story, lore, narrative, and so on. Search around in the forum for some of the related bits and reply with your thoughts!

Expanding Lost further is one of the GSOC ideas, but really any sort of content setting could use more story. Do keep in mind though that GSOC is about code, and technically story and such doesn't count, but logic that helps support telling a story does.

Likely modules of interests would be Tasks & QuestExamples, Dialogs, Journal, Books, and anything that helps bring some direction and text for story telling into the game

 

[KonstantinosD]

Ok, so the way I see it the Lost is basically very similar to what I was thinking, so I understand that you would prefer to do something different in my own project.

Would it be better to work on the Lost and improve the narrative with additional features and mechanisms or implement these features on a new story (or even both )? I realise that coding is the main part of the work I will be doing, so you can consider the story part to be outside of the GSoC and I will be doing it just because im an enthusiast!

Now to the main part. After doing some research on the way Lost is now and some brainstorming I have narrowed down 3 main features that we can work with to improve the story telling.

• Living Structures: As the name suggests there could be some structures or buildings that are created, moved or even deleted as you move on with the story. Consider it part of the puzzles that could be upgrated/changed.
• Auditorial Narrative: for example when you enter a building, an area or completing a task, there could be some line of voice guiding you or giving you general information(Something like The Stanley Parable)
• Mini boss: A unique type of antagonist boss that copies your movement like a mirror to trick you in fight but also has its own AI when needed. That one probably will be the hardest to implement but I'm sure that we can find a way.

Do you think that these kind of changes are viable and if so would you be interested in adding them to The Lost? Or should I focus on another area completely?

Thank you in advance

 

[Skaldarnar]

A warm welcome also from my side

On our trip to Zurich for the Ludicious Game Festival we had the opportunity to see and try some awesome games which put focus on story telling and narratives. Narratives were also a topic in a bunch of talks there, so improving in this area would have a positive impact on the whole project. In particular, I'm thinking about how to enable story tellers to tell great stories with Terasology?

From your suggestions, the _auditorial narrative_ is one example that's waiting for a technical solution. Other examples migth be _cut scenes_ (might be tricky as it potentially enters render-land and 3D-wizardry), general concepts for _player-npc interaction_, etc.
Furthermore, afaik we still don't have a technical solution for shipping pre-generated or hand-designed maps with a game mode and reload/reset them (as you would expect of a level). Also, how could multiple levels in a game mode be handled? Along this technical enablement, you might want to consider improvements to module selection and _game modes_, i.e., restrict the module selection for a specific game mode.

To sum it up, think about technical problems you can solve to make creating those game modes easier for others. Living strucutres or mini bosses could be part of your project to demonstrate that these features are possible, but they should not be the meat of you proposal.

 

[KonstantinosD]

First of all let me say I'm really greatful for all the assistance that both of you Cervator and Skaldarnar have given me. You have been to the point every time, and I think I'm pretty sure where I should focus from now on in order to upload my draft and await your response.

I would like to ask if the following final suggestions are aligned with your vision of the work that could be done in the GSoC.

• Finding a solution for the implementation of the Auditorial Narrative I suggested in my previous post and actively adding it into the game (preferably in a pre-made game module)
• Redesigning the main menu, specifically after the singleplayer option, as it seems a bit chaotic for a new player. Adding the option to reload/reset pre-generated maps as it should be a must for this kind of game. Effectively handling the multi-level problem in a single game mode(I think i found a pretty simple way to solve these)
• Adding into the engine two extra features that could evolve the gameplay (Living structures, mini bosses)
• After these, if there is enough time creating my own story driven game module (something similar to The Lost), that intergrates all the above features and displays the extend in which they can be used.

Thank you in advance. I am going to continue writing my draft for now and I hope my ideas can be of some use to you!

 

[Skaldarnar]

The points you mention sound like a solid foundation to me. Looking forward to your proposal. Don't take too much time, there is not much time left

One additional aspect that came to my mind is game (and especially UI) customization. Our UI system NUI has basic capabilities for skinning and reasonable set of UI components it provides. However, adjusting the look and feel of dialogs and screens provided by other modules in a top-level gameplay module is tricky currently. Investigating in that direction and enabling proper skinning and look-and-feel adjustments by game modes would be another valuable addition.

 

[KonstantinosD]

I will be working towards this goal as well! Thanks a lot for all the ideas and the guidance! Im very enthusiastic about this project, so I hope I can bring this enthusiasm into my proposal