I don't know about you, but I personally loved Tribes 2. I have actually given much thought to the concept of a "Tribes" mmofprpg. I've been checking around and looking at other mmofps' that have existed, and it seems as though Planetside had the most "success" even though it has begun dying / has died. Unfortunately, Tribes basically died as well. I have also read about the Huxley game that is coming out in the near future, and it sounds as if it may have some of what I'm thinking about.

I apologize for the name being so close to World of Warcraft, but it's just to get the idea in one's mind as to what could be done.

The fact that Tribes always had such vast landscapes, was a huge plus in my mind. I enjoyed setting up defense systems with deployable turrets and sensory equipment to maximize tracking utility in Tribes 2 immensely. But I want more... a lot more. Imagine having to work in some resources / currencies in a Tribes atmosphere. Bringing a cost to weapons / gear / ammunition. (I never played Face of Mankind, but from what I can tell, they had something like this in effect.) The costs aren't meant to keep you and your tribe (guild / corporation / clan / etc.) from going out and having fun... it's there to make you think twice about wasting things though. I will take any chance to potentially cut down on the idiots found in a game. This would, unfortunately (or fortunately?), cause there to be some level of politics or subterfuge... perhaps not to the same scale as in Eve Online (not looking to have epic scams in this game). Ideally, as a new tribe of ~25 players, you could obtain a license for a plot of land to claim as your own to build upon. With the incredibly vast maps that players are accustomed to with Tribes... there would be ample spots for tactically placed bases. There ought to be some sort of "hubs" like cities or something. Way stations or whatever. Which would mean that there would also be a certain npc element involved. I honestly wouldn't mind having npc Derm marauders that roam around from time to time. Perhaps they could even be setting up bases of their own which could be taken down by the players. The could be certain perks of killing these npc's (i.e. currency / stockpiled weapons and ammunition or heading in and grabbing containers of refined minerals or other resources of value). I definitely want to see some caravan action going on with resource gathering excursions. Let's say you and four buddies head out with some sort of transport vehicle, and you spend some time acquiring resources... mining? gas harvesting? Geothermal vents charging your power cells? And while these processes are going on.. . a enemy tribe lays in wait for you to finish, so they can ambush your small caravan on its return trip and make off with the goods instead. Perhaps you're air-lifting these supplies back to your base, and two enemy shrike show up in pursuit. But you were prepared. On the ground, you have a few men with their missile launchers now acquiring locks on the enemy aircraft. They immediately down one of the shrikes, and the other jets out as quickly as possible so as to preserve the craft. (Everything has a cost now, remember?)

The thing that struck me about Tribes 2 was how they had the Control Circuit and sensors / turrets... with a ton of functionality, however... most of my experience when playing deathmatch or even ctf games, was that people wouldn't bother with those things so much... and were instead simply eager to get back out of the spawn area and mid-air some noob with a spinfuser disc. If I had the ability to program, rather than just having a creative imagination and problem-solving mind... I might actually be able to do something about the lack of this game idea existing. I'm sure you all know what I mean.

Oh and.. the story of the Tribes universe would have to be refined / elaborated a bit to back up a new game of course. Though, perhaps it wouldn't end up being as elaborate as say... what Lost Colony is planning on being. For sure. Yet it should still be rich and interesting while it sits there in the background and holds together the "believability" of certain game elements.


Please post constructive criticism or just any impressions or ideas that you may have yourself after reading this. I appreciate comments.

Honestly... I'm not sure if Sierra or SOE are up to the task of this game (or at least making it have any staying power, even if they could get it to launch).

And it wouldn't be the worst thing for it to not be affiliated with Tribes... though Tribes 2 had pretty much all the aspects of what would make the MMO version of it awesome. Would seem rough to try to make something new that was merely extremely similar to what tribes 2 was, and yet not be Tribes 2. *shrugs*

Your best bet is to storyboard the idea with what your primary idea is...having subboards for subplots. Use the storyboard to build in advancements and plan future developments. Look at other popular games get an idea from them how much the average server can handle (everyone wants 100 guns and 100 spells...but that just isnt happening) and plan out exactly what you want to bring to the table.

I myself loved tribes, get about 4 solid player classes, 2 jack of all trade master of none player types, and throw in some NPS targets for fun and I think you have plans for a good game.

It sounds like you've done this before. (I haven't) Storyboard it? Subboard? Do you have a certain template or example I could take a look at perhaps?

I am in the military so I have alot of practice organizing a pile of s&(t and making it look like silver.

A storyboard (or mainboard) will be your primary premise...what do you definently want your game to be like. Primary story, gameplay goals, end product vision will be here.

Sub-boards (or factor-boards) are where you group your individual items for incorperation into your primary board. Some of these items will be permanently moved onto the primary board (map layouts, primary characters, ect) Some items will always be sub-board items (like hardware and software)

Here is how my current mech game layout is going. This is a verticle chart...my board is actually a large whiteboard with ideas drawn out or fishbone charted into existence

PRIMARY BOARD
1 Storyline-the primary thread of the story that will not be drastically altered (think of it as overall status of the world)will have the subplot boards pointed to it
2 Game Goals-what type of gameplay you want to have (this will be affected by sub-boards software, hardware, and network capabilities) lines from the sub-boards will be pointing to this catagory.
3. Manpower-Who I will have working the game with me...I plan on keeping the core team throughout the life of the game, but will have a possible sub-board for contract work.

Thats it for the primary board...now on to the good stuff.

Sub-boards are like the bricks that make up the wall that will be your primary board here are just a few of my sub-boards...these are the details that will not only make up the game...but affect what kind of game I can make.

Hardware/Software-I keep this as a sub-board because my hardware capabilities can change very fast. This sub-board can be direct lined to every other board I have.

Graphics/Video-you would think this falls directly under hardware/software but it doesn't. Your graphics quality will be affected by the hardware/software board, but it will also be affected by play environment, quality control, available thruput and several others.

Items/equipment-I sub-board this item to have a good list of what I want in the game and the math involved with each item...every detail from damage/cost tables to graphics level and weapon effects are on this board.

Characters-NPC and PC characters are listed and compared here to give you a good look at what is in your world, and if you can afford to have that many...when you link this to your hardware/software and graphics/video sub-boards you will begin to see why so many MMO games are third person cookie cutter type damage games. Each character in a good FPS will have 9 zones standard damage (arm/leg/torso x front/back/side) plus the head being a special damage or "killshot" zone. Now do the math for distance, splash damage, armor, ect.

That is a small selection of what I have on my board right now. Most people use a circle chart with lines drawn to individual items...but I like to use the board concept to link a database to a primary catagory so I can keep everything straight easier.

Just get your ideas down on paper and get them organized...then start working out the details that will turn into a high quality game.

Thanks for your response. If I actually thought that my idea could really get taken up and eventually created ... I would see more reason for drawing out all of those sub things... like the hardware/software/graphics/manpower. Not that these things are unimportant at all. Quite the contrary. However, I am not personally well informed for these aspects... I AM however good at writing and I have a creative mind. I would totally write out a premise, and a more in depth storyline for the game. I'd also love to imagine the sorts of items to be used... the strategies that would be great to employ (and therefore what kinds of things would be needed to accomplish those strategies) and what goal I'd be aiming to achieve with this game.

Outside of the imagination and creativity/writing aspects... if I were being honest with myself, I just don't have the interest for the nitty gritties that aren't gameplay/storyline/items.

Ideally, I could find a more techie-type person to join up on the project who could handle those aspects that I'm not as good at... and I would handle the creative aspects that I would excel at.