kbf 01 5 xNone 5 xNone 21 x5 April 2006 7:37 PM 18 x15 May 2006 13:23 8 xVitenka 345 xx 61 1639 x'Locale' A locale is a script which determines a set of resources which are available, and the autoplay for them. It is, roughly, equivalent to a 'strip' in webcomics terms, or a 'room' in MUD terms. However, for sanity reasons; if the plot revisits a room later then I will have a second locale for that rooms new events. 'Episode' A number of linked locales, that are used as a block and make up something like a webcomics short-arc. Alternately, a town might be an episode. Or exploring the new UI might be. Generally, this is just an aid to navigation. I might release content an episode at a time - but it's more likely to be a locale at a time. Whilst plotting it, however, generally I'll write it at least an ep at once. 'Patch level' I felt like a fancy name for 'Chapter'. I might well, however, 'release' content in big chunks like this - for ease of testing. If I do, then I'll make sure that a 'test server' exists (which will just be an option in your settings) to get at the partial content, as well. 'Expansion packs' Major version number jumps in the patch level, this will be a fancy name for what webcomics call 'books'. Just putting a fancy name on 'this is a good point to pause and review'. 'W. tF' 'TB' 'Cat & Fox' Double-you the Fox, and Tee-Bee (Standing for 'that's bad') These are two little cartoon avatars who make out-of-game jokes (and also communicate via the in-game chat) - they are meant to represent fellow players, rather than fellow in-game avatars. They're kinda watching the comic over your shoulder and commenting. They are, of course, escapees from my first comic 'sKool of TFC' 12 xTerminology 0 4 0 1112 xMostly UI Thingies Panels Display text Display graphics Display mixed (HTML?) Pop-up / DIsmiss Scrollable (4-way for piccies...) User control Automation Buttons Cat and Fox ( "W. The Fox", and "T.B." ) Abilities / Spells pane (and effects!) Ongoing - more abilities Paper doll Inventory Mini-map (main map is just picture) Stats / creation pane (Fiddle with sliders etc.) Name entry / other text entry Physical appearence Main pane (large scrolling view. Perhaps Pseudo 3d?) Roll-ups (Including highlight on notify) Remember placement Quickbar (Dragging buttons from one panel to another) Battle system ANIMATION Mostly Back-end thingies Session Variables (and display) Login Stored variables News / Notes system Navigation Autoplay Preload / Streamload Chat (tothychat?) Making sure that story vars and session vars save ok Making / decoding URLs Quickie 'sod continuity' URLs Test system - able to easily set any/all vars (and quicksets appropriate for various points in the play) Decent backups system, keep all versions of scripts in case I need to rollback. 16 xTechnical Track 0 3 2 512 xThe first set of technical stuff I need is: a) The FRAMEWORK for streamloading. It doesn't actually need to do any prloading, but the various calls needs to be there, as does whatever multithreading model I'm using (event driven a la toothychat?) b) The ability to display text/graphics in some form of layer on a page. c) The ability to respond to clicks on things. d) Automation, with customisable speed. This is pretty much the absolute minimum to be able to display ANY content. This is needed pre E0001 12 xT001 Basics 2 10 0 234 xThe basic navigation framework (skip ahead/back play/pause) is needed before we can have a second locale. It doesn't need to be fancy, yet. The next step of this is forming the current locale into a URL (and loading back from one) 16 xT002 Navigation 2 9 0 113 xLoading sessions from a user database, and connecting to those sessions via login or cookie is needed for E002 10 xT003 User 2 9 0 147 xSprites that move around and don't appear in a frame are needed mid E003 ... it's actually easier to do this than to keep things within a frame! 17 xT004 Cat and Fox 2 10 0 155 xSession variables are needed for E004 These don't need to be remembered across sessions, but do need to be displayed across different panels (esp in E005) 18 xT005 Session vars 2 1 0 107 xGlobal (stored) variables need to be implemented before we start actual play in E006 (which is a LONG one) 17 xT006 Global vars 2 1 0 143 xStreamloading will probably be constantly improved - but really should be basically working quite early on - certainly before public release. 16 xT007 Streamload 2 1 0 95 xBASIC panels are needed for E004. All they need to do is appear and vanish, and have buttons. 18 xT009 Basic Panels 2 10 0 96 xProper panels, including notfication, are needed for E005 They need to scroll, quite early on! 19 xT010 Rollup panels 2 10 0 258 xThe inventory is an endless stream of jokes. It isn't NEEDED before we start filling in the gaps of E007, but it's nice to have ASAP. Individual items in the inventory will either get sub-entries, or their own entry if they're large enough to deserve it. 15 xT011 Inventory 2 11 0 139 xThis should probably go in very early - but isn't actually ever required at all. RThough we DO need to fake one up, using static panels. 17 xT012 Chat system 2 1 0 72 xNot needed particularly early, but 'game' can't be complete without it. 13 xT013 Ragdoll 2 11 0 143 xNeeded for a joke right at the end of E007 - you can't get to E008 without it. However, it's referenced in E006 - and the earlier the better. 24 xT014 Skills / abilities 2 1 0 68 xMeh. A nicety right now - I'm sure we'll have a use for it later. 11 xT015 Buffs 2 1 0 202 xThe ability to move buttons (copy?) from one panel to another is needed for this. That's hard - but really a requirement before we can say it's ready as a game. TODO: Argh?! Full dragon-drop system? 17 xT016 Quick panel 2 1 0 133 xShould NOT be implemented pre E008. Gaining it is a joke there. However, after that point, it's a must have for this kind of game. 14 xT017 Mini-map 2 1 0 158 xThis is a huge sledge of jokes in its own right. Give control of it to the player as and when - there's no story requirement on this yet. (Nothing pre 8) 24 xT018 Advancement system 2 1 0 48 xNo early req, but a nice source of system jokes 25 xT019 Physical appearence 2 1 0 16 xIs this needed? 15 xT020 Animation 2 1 0 323 xWhoops! I refer to 'dissolves' as early as E004. They're not an absolute req. but they need frameworking ealy on, and should actually exist quite soon (certainly, the rats jokes lose something without them.) ... IE offers this functionality really easily. Firefox can easily do fades. - unsure about combining the two. 17 xT021 Transitions 2 9 0 286 xNot actually a real webbrowser, but I need a panel/gump that looks a bit like one, so that I can pop up fake webpages. Probably want to useit for the EULA etc. It's really just a panel which has a text entry box and a few buttons and a border and scrolling (mixed) text and graphics. 17 xT022 Web browser 2 9 0 2927 xRoughly speaking, in this page - each paragraph is an episode. In episode pages, each paragraph is a locale/strip. The hook: A brand new MMORPG, with fully instanced content - everything personalised, adapted to your chaacters unique abilities and skills. You need never bump into another person hogging your quests again! * (* Indeed, the game portion of this game is ENTIRELY single player.) Of course, it's actually a comic. Sort of. 'Over seventy million zillion possible character designs!' - and then there's four - but you can choose from 10^7889 different (identical on your monitor) shades of blue. Joke: "Blue mage? BLUE?!" / "Well, Red is a prestige class." You can 'skin' the game to any genre you like. As long as it's fantasy or sci-fi. (Indeed, the game drops into different genres without warning) Be an deventurer! Explore distant caves! Kill rats! Kill more rats! Kill... rats with different names! The skinner-box is an actual in-game functioning item. It gives silly rewards, but less and less often. All stats are unimportant. The game just multiplies enemy stats up so that the plot works. Items are unimportant too (and, indeed, get mixed up a lot if you skip around the archives) - except for plot items. the inventory is HUGE and a disorganised mess - it randomly adds new items when you're not looking. (And in a joke strip, when you are.) Cat and fox - out of game avatars criticising it - and you. ------ Attempt at a linear plot. Splash screen. Loading. Patching. Ripping off the pop paper... EULA of dooooom. stuck at 98% etc. Hideous menu system as you attempt to log in. Create archetype? Choose name. Choose character name. WTF? (C+F first appear) The name filter. (Whatever you type isn't accepted. 'Buttslam nutfutser' is... Note - the rest of the game uses the name you actually choose at login, or something sane-ish. Heh - maybe the game just changes name on you randomly.) R U Gil farmer? U Buy gud now, chip shop? The tutorial. Introduce a nice cliched yendorian quest, here. (Heck, have a flat-out nethack joke) Skinning (Round about tutorial 4 - it starts begging you to be the guy who gives people the walkout. Shortly thereafter, he quits and you're on your own.) Log in. Click something. NOOOB! Log out. The FAQs. 1. Many many many MANT contradictory FAQs, all saying the otyhers are lying and/or out of date. (Auto-generate?) 2. FAQ-U joke. (FAQ university / say it aloud.) Character creation. Lots of random acronyms to slide around, values to tweak, points to total etc. The more you play, the more your 'expert' rating goes up - ending up at "muchkin" "twink" "uber" "ub3r" "ub4r" "ub5r" etc. Actual values are never refered to again (except as a "Didn't we have a stat for that?" joke, later on) And then the game And then the quest And then... rats. (And then, you know, a fun cliche plot....) 12 xStory Track 0 3 2 1277 xEpisode One. "Splash" This is mainly a test of my infrastructure (streamload won't be in, but I'll still be calling the bits of it - later on it'll be a test of streamloads performance on your system and setting default options.) Heroic music plays. Pictures (videos?) of a fantastic looking game show. (Steal them? Real games/unreleased game concept sketches?) A bunch of silly messages (Loading. Still loading. Loading some more. Unloading a bit. Unpacking. Opening boxes. Ripping off the pop paper. etc.) Progress bas fly all over the place (some of them you can slide to completion. Most of them just get to 98% and stall) Then, as things settle out - the music stops and you get the EULA of doom. It scrolls past at an incredible rate, and is mainly randomly generated garbage - including a bunch that's been put through various language filters (bork bork bork!) It also includes "I agree to sell my soul" type stuff. It then gives you "I agree" "Yes" "OK" "Continue" options - all of which trigger a seemingly infinite cascade of "Are you sure" "Really?" "Truly?" "Honest to god, tell no lie?" "Stick a needle in my eye?" "Hope to die?" popups. Whatever order you push buttons in, eventually it runs out of them and it's off to the next episode. 12 xE001 Splash 24 9 0 1663 xA pastiche of every bad 'create an account' website ever. Lots of glowy stuff nothing that obviously works. Lots of firing up alternate 'browsers', investigating source-code etc.? Finally, create an account. And it starts to ask for ridiculous details. MC Frontalots 'got a message, number 419' plays. (Assuming that it's creative commons) NOTE: Make sure the notes at the bottom explain that this is a joke and no data is actually being collected but anyway, if you type in YOUR credit card number you're an idiot. NOTE: C&F may make this joke, but the notes need to be there. Really. Enter name. Enter real (billing) name. Enter player name. WTF? (First arrival of TB) --> The name filters existence is mentioned here Why a credit card # for a FREE game? WTF? (And then it goes on, asking shoe size; date of last dentist appointment; date WITH that dentist; how long you've had erectile dysfunction (to the nearest hour); whether you've stopped beating your wife...) Now the name filter rejects you. And again. And again... Finally it accepts something truly stupid "Buttkiller soulshitter" This name is never mentioned again, your login name is used, except when it randomly makes funny ones up for effect. Rejoke: It rejects names that are automatically created by the 'suggest' button, sometims with "That name is obscene" soemtimes with "That name is already in use" and sometimes with "That name looks like it was randomly generated" About now the game warns "Hi! I'm still a bit buggy right now - but if you'd like to play me - go ahead!" The 'first time, tutorial' button, of course, crashes the game. So it's off to play you go. 11 xE002 Login 24 1 0 909 xLog in. Get a pretty screen (concept of what I intend the main interface to look like after I create it, perhaps 3d main view.) "R U Gil farmer? U Buy gud now, chip shop?" Press a key and/or click ANYTHING and you get "Noob! Noob! Noob!" scrolling over every scrolling surface. Log out again. FAQ hunting. Cat and fox again (making it clear you're outside the game interface still) Many many many FAQs (all in the style of various useless sites,, like IGN) Most want payment. Many want cash. Many more redirect oyu to others you've already seen. The rest flat-out contradict each other, are out of date and just plain wrong. Eventually you sign up for "FAQ-U", Frequently asked questions university. This does two things: a) answers your questions b) Shouts "Fack YOU!" repeatedly. Eventually you find the one questionyou TRULY need to know the answer to: How to make it shut up. Fade to black. 25 xE003 Just the FAQs, marm 24 1 0 1431 xOk, you're in the tutorial now (it rapidly skips over something LIKE the login process, clicks a hidden button and then clicks tutorial) (something something) with a tutor. Basic interface. (How much of the interface will I have working by this point? He can at least explain the workings of the archive bar. Or.... yes, I know.) Main game screen (for the first time in quite a while) Chat pops up. Newbie tutor: Want some help? You've come to the right place. Appears on main screen. Dissolve into nice battle interface. Tutor starts by saying that 'everything is done with single left clicks with the mouse' - when TB pops up, and - obscuring your vision of the help (which continues in the background, with tantalising hints and "What on EARTH?!?" tidbits) - proceeds to explain how the out-of-game navigation buttons work. By the time he's finished (which includes clicking 'next' a few times...) the tutor has 'done' TODO: Maybe some real 'tutor' type jokes in here? Also introduce the lame-o plot, with direct jabs at nethack and Ring-of-Time style recycling. TODO: Mention 'shift-skinning', and that - at first - you won't be in control of it. Tutorial ends with the tutor begging you to be the tutor for more newbies. "Sod you then" and kicks you out. To... the main screen. Which, having clicked the hidden buttons, is now active. You can choose "Create a character" (In fact, that's ALL you can choose) 14 xE004 Tutorial 24 1 0 552 xI'm giving this a whole episode just because of the techiness involved. There's a zillion silly acronyms, with no explanation. A hundred numbers, a handful of sliders and buttons - and at the bottom a 'rating' which just gets more and more uber no matter WHAT buttons you press. Cat+Fox get more sarcastic as you go, and the acronyms periodically change into other things! "UB4R" is the 'best' rating, though if you keep past that it just keeps incrementing the digit (but C+F are reusing their jokes at this point) TODO: Bunch of jokes for C+F. 23 xE005 Character creator 24 1 0 3380 xAnd the game begins. Pan across a crappy map. A village near a cave. Dissolve into 'battle scene' - your character and a village elder. With much pomp and ceremony (using those exact words) the great elder pronounces that you have a great mystic and/or warriors-path destiny ahead of you (possibly as some kind of sneaky ninja-guy or gal) There will be many dangers and perils ahead (and, entirely possibly, pirates. And monkeys. Everything is better with monkeys.) So, to protect you on your travels, oh destined one (where's my pomp? I need more pomp, dammit!) I bestow upon you this great weapon to protect you. *Hero got: Stick* We ask only that you perform for us this one task. De-ratify the treaty. {whisper whisper} Sorry. De-ratify the cavern of 'not so very much doom'. Thank you. NOTE: System. Rats have levels, and are announced as "Rat" "Ratt" "Rattt" "Rat-a-tat" "Rat-a-tat-tat" "Rat-a-tat-RAT" - and then "Rat etc. 2" etc. Zoom out. Your character walks to cavern. Battle-mode. A rat. (At this point, the player can take real control of the somewhat-limited game engine) A rat. A rat. And a sarcastic comment. A rat. Gain a level in "Rat smiting" A rat. (After this many rats) "You are tired, you need to rest." Back at the village, you are celebrated, given money (but the shop is closed) and given a "good five seconds sleep" A rat. Shift-skinning: Sci-fi! "It's all going to be different, now." A cyber-rat. You whomp it. In your underpants. (Player can stay and whomp rats until the cows come home; in fact, I'll use that joke a bit later.) (However, at some point he will, and the script does now, go:) Back to the village. Discover that 'rat smiting' is a typo for 'rat smithing' and forge "The great rat" What on earth am I going to do with a great rat? You fight it. Get "Great rat skin" Sneak into the cavern, wearing the skin. The rats are all squeaking about how they are bored and just waiting for the next stupid hero to attack so that they can go and commit suicide at him. Fight rats. Question "How long will I have to fight rats?" Watch as the cows come home. Destroy the caves (big button marked 'do not push unless you wish to advance the plot' with a popup 'Advance the plot? Are you joking?' and 'no' and 'yes' under the two questions. Whatever, the cave goes boom, and you escape. Back at the village you talk with the elder. He awards you the "Great sword of rat slaying" since you have proved yourself so worthy, by destroying every rat in the world. And then he sends you off to the big city, to rule the land, or to find the streets paved with gold, or to find a stray cat that will make you rich and famous, or to become a famous actor, or to become a street sweeper and discover a magical world of chalk paintings or to become a bum. Whatev NOTE: Joke for a later scene - attacked by a 'Rattion' First a megaman joke, then asking why the great sword of rat-slaying doesn't work on it. OBVIOUSLY because the great sword works on RATS, not RATTIONS. Completely different. (Note - same sprite. Not even a recolour.) NOTE2: Even later scene. You finally find a shop which will buy "Quest items you no longer have a need for." As soon as you sell the GSoRS, the rat god goes on a rampage and thwomps you good. "All sales are final..." (And this sparks a questy portion of the game) 10 xE006 Rats 24 1 0 16 x-- (nothing) -- 29 x-- here endeth patch zero -- 24 3 0 847 xAbout this point, we start playing with the various sybsystems. Youdiscover an inventory. (Jokes about dimensional pockets. Items with jokes. Skinner box. Technological-8-squall. Randomly changing contents) Hopefully various panels get introduced - with lots of "That would have been useful before" and "So how on earth did it work up till now?" Many many wilderness battles. The player can wander aimlessly around an infinite random map - with the origin on the village. Eventually, once I've done enough system jokes, the city appears the next time the player moves a screen edge. Commence cursing and "charname has mastered the 'detect city' spell" (With ars magica magnitude joke, when you go to its description...) Lots and lots of fights, so as to play with the abilities etc. And so I can use lots of creative-commons music. 16 xE007 Wilderness 24 1 0 252 xThat Frome plot I've got, where you try to get into the guild and fail and then find Sara and do lots of REALLY stupid quests and there's a tiger? Do that. TODO: When I get close to this, start plotting out the whole 'gnolls/witch/imegem' plot. 14 xE008 Big City 24 1 0 1077 xNumbering system seen in PUBLISHED comics will be: xxx00.yyy Where xxx is an episode number, and yyy is a locale number. yyy need not be full (gaps may be left for future expansion) and CERTAINLY won't be continuus - you'll often be able to skip around within an episode - and the technical jokes might all be present at once and discovered in any order the player chooses. However, the ordering will be the order that the autoplay uses (perhaps skipping some) The episodes ARE going to be run one-after-another (though, of course, the user can skip around the archives if they want) - and the added '00' is for future numbering (like old basic line numbers, you leave gaps), and to make the numbers go up quickly. Note that, generally, technical track things will need to exist before major versions. NOTE again: Full version numbering will be: ww.xxx00.yyy.zz 'w' represents major expansions, and is basically meaningless - it doesn't reset x. 'zz' is minor versions, and will increments when I update a locale, without adding major new content. (ie. bugfixes etc.) 9 xCombined 0 1 2 316 xI'm going to reserve this as a "For those starting reading this at the beginning" welcome message. Give VERY quick instructions on how to use the navigation, and suggest they hit the archive and start at the tutorial, before resuming. Of course, for now, it'll just be a flat page saying "Welcome, please wait...." 24 x000.000 The very start 34 9 0 326 xSee subpages - this has been fully split up Required Tech: Display images, music - maybe video if I can find any? 001.002 Popup and remove 'progress bars' 001.003 Automatically update (speed, timer) bars 001.003 Change text in a panel 001.003 Automatically scroll a panel 001.004 Popup boxes with *buttons* 001.005 16 x001 Connecting 34 1 2 68 xShould I have some joke about installation / copy protection here? 23 x001.001 Installation? 36 1 0 270 xRequired Tech: Display images, music - maybe video if I can find any? 001.002 Require: Technology - 001, 002. Is: Story - 001 Heroic music plays. Pictures (videos?) of a fantastic looking game show. (Steal them? Real games/unreleased game concept sketches?) 16 x001.002 Splash 36 9 0 1735 x Popup and remove 'progress bars' 001.003 Automatically update (speed, timer) bars 001.003 Change text in a panel 001.003 [A bunch of silly messages in a status panel thing] [Lots of progress bars] [No interactive stuff yet] {Heroic music plays} Status Message: Loading {progress bar 1 appears; goes up, to 47%} Status Message: Loading World {progress bar 2 appears} {progress bar 3 appears; goes up to 100% 3 times, fast, vanishes} {progress bar 2 advances to 5%} Status Message: Loading Objects {progress bar 3 appears; goes up to 50% fast, 98% slow, stops} Status Message: Reticulating splines (and, if possible, play that wav/mp3} [progress bar 2 advances to 33%} Status Message: Loading some more {progress bar 4 appears; goes up to 98%} Status Message: Unzipping {progress bar one goes to 59%} Status Message: Unpacking {progress bar 1 slowly progresses to 68%} Status Message: Opening boxes {progress bar 2 advances to 65%} Status Message: Tearing off the wrapping paper {progress bar 3 goes to 100%, vanishes} Status Message: Popping the little bubbles in the wrapping paper {progress bar 2 goes to 93%} Status Message: Getting your hopes up {progress bar 1 zooms to 99%} Status Message: Crushing your dreams {progress bar 2 goes DOWN to 2%} Status Message: Crushing them so hard {progress bar 1 goes DOWN to 2%} Status Message: Thinking... {long pregnant pause, both go up to 3%} Status Message: Taunting... {long pregnant pause, both go up to 4%} Status Message: Just being cruel, now... {long pregnant pause, 2 goes to 0%, vanishes, 1 goes to 0%} Status Message: Do you want to go today? {long pregnant pause} {and seamlessly move into next locale - bonus secret point for watching to the end rather than skipping} 23 x001.003 Progress bars 36 9 0 995 x Automatically scroll a panel 001.004 {Music changes to a death-march type of thing} {EULA pane appears, overlapping everything, other stuff removed} It scrolls past at an incredible rate (Starting off as a Starwars style scroll?), and is mainly randomly generated garbage - including a bunch that's been put through various language filters (bork bork bork!) It also includes "I agree to sell my soul" type stuff. TODO: Write text of EULA E. U. L. A. 4 A new End User Licensing Agreement It is the 21st Century, and you have just started 'Adventuring II' The old games have faded before the might of the MMORPG, and newspapers before the might of the webcomic. A potent combination of intelligence and stupidity has created this webcomicsinglegamemultiplayer THING, and everything is set for a good few hours of enjoyment. - but the power of the lawyer is not easily denied and on this computer screen; disaster is slowly arriving... {and then the insane legal mumbojumbo stuff...} 22 x001.004 EULA of doom 36 9 0 868 x Popup boxes with *buttons* 001.005 [Very first interaction - just buttins, but a lot of them] This is a technical bit. The automation is to just pick a button at random, and push it. The buttons ALL pop up the next question-box in order. (The order is randomly selected on the first one, though it retains 'depths' of silliness, the worst ones come later) and it doens't matter WHAT box you hit. "I agree" "Yes" "OK" "Continue" options - all of which trigger a seemingly infinite cascade of "Are you sure" "Really?" "Truly?" "Honest to god, tell no lie?" "Stick a needle in my eye?" "Hope to die?" popups. Once you've seen them all, it pops up the very last 'question': "Well fine then, be that way." with the answer "Well fine then, I will." (no other buttons) Hitting that ends the sequence, closes all the boxes and it's off to the next locale. 22 x001.005 Really sure? 36 1 0 647 x The main menu appears. It should display the version number, last update date etc. Although we see it now this isn't the REAL screen - so don't replace the intro-page just yet! The 'secret' click doens't work in this locale, it should be noted. So you've got two non-grey buttons. "Tutorial" "Options" (Actually, options MAY work, if I've written it by this point, but there's no requirement to) and "START" "Tutorial" 'crashes' the game, looking like a BBC MODE2 register dump (as in, big font, bad resolution) There should be a 'reload' button. So eventually the user (or autoplay) hits 'START' ... abd that's the end of the episode 22 x001.006 Menu screen! 36 1 0 1 x 4 x002 34 1 0 1 x 4 x003 34 1 0 1 x 4 x004 34 1 0 1 x 4 x005 34 1 0 3380 xAnd the game begins. Pan across a crappy map. A village near a cave. Dissolve into 'battle scene' - your character and a village elder. With much pomp and ceremony (using those exact words) the great elder pronounces that you have a great mystic and/or warriors-path destiny ahead of you (possibly as some kind of sneaky ninja-guy or gal) There will be many dangers and perils ahead (and, entirely possibly, pirates. And monkeys. Everything is better with monkeys.) So, to protect you on your travels, oh destined one (where's my pomp? I need more pomp, dammit!) I bestow upon you this great weapon to protect you. *Hero got: Stick* We ask only that you perform for us this one task. De-ratify the treaty. {whisper whisper} Sorry. De-ratify the cavern of 'not so very much doom'. Thank you. NOTE: System. Rats have levels, and are announced as "Rat" "Ratt" "Rattt" "Rat-a-tat" "Rat-a-tat-tat" "Rat-a-tat-RAT" - and then "Rat etc. 2" etc. Zoom out. Your character walks to cavern. Battle-mode. A rat. (At this point, the player can take real control of the somewhat-limited game engine) A rat. A rat. And a sarcastic comment. A rat. Gain a level in "Rat smiting" A rat. (After this many rats) "You are tired, you need to rest." Back at the village, you are celebrated, given money (but the shop is closed) and given a "good five seconds sleep" A rat. Shift-skinning: Sci-fi! "It's all going to be different, now." A cyber-rat. You whomp it. In your underpants. (Player can stay and whomp rats until the cows come home; in fact, I'll use that joke a bit later.) (However, at some point he will, and the script does now, go:) Back to the village. Discover that 'rat smiting' is a typo for 'rat smithing' and forge "The great rat" What on earth am I going to do with a great rat? You fight it. Get "Great rat skin" Sneak into the cavern, wearing the skin. The rats are all squeaking about how they are bored and just waiting for the next stupid hero to attack so that they can go and commit suicide at him. Fight rats. Question "How long will I have to fight rats?" Watch as the cows come home. Destroy the caves (big button marked 'do not push unless you wish to advance the plot' with a popup 'Advance the plot? Are you joking?' and 'no' and 'yes' under the two questions. Whatever, the cave goes boom, and you escape. Back at the village you talk with the elder. He awards you the "Great sword of rat slaying" since you have proved yourself so worthy, by destroying every rat in the world. And then he sends you off to the big city, to rule the land, or to find the streets paved with gold, or to find a stray cat that will make you rich and famous, or to become a famous actor, or to become a street sweeper and discover a magical world of chalk paintings or to become a bum. Whatev NOTE: Joke for a later scene - attacked by a 'Rattion' First a megaman joke, then asking why the great sword of rat-slaying doesn't work on it. OBVIOUSLY because the great sword works on RATS, not RATTIONS. Completely different. (Note - same sprite. Not even a recolour.) NOTE2: Even later scene. You finally find a shop which will buy "Quest items you no longer have a need for." As soon as you sell the GSoRS, the rat god goes on a rampage and thwomps you good. "All sales are final..." (And this sparks a questy portion of the game) 10 x006 Rats 34 1 0 1 x 4 x007 34 1 0 1 x 4 x008 34 1 0 470 xSplash screen, apologising that this is a work in progress and the author/artist/programmer/madman hasn't finished it yet. Say when the last update was and what the 'schedule' laughably is supposed to be. Thank them for reading/playing - point them at the links page Ask them if they've found all the secrets yet. (Make sure that the code checks a variable - but that it always looks for a higher value than is currently bereachable so never prints up the success) 22 x999.999 Please wait! 34 9 0 211 xNOTE: By the point at which the player can explore the world, most of the technical systems need to be functional. Luckily: a) not all of them b) there's some out-of game jokes and tutorial system jokes first 19 xRandom Notes/Ideas 0 8 2 972 xTODO: Have to decide the form 'out of game' game activities should take. Browsing the web etc. Should I present them as an in-game pane? That doesn't make a terribly huge amount of sense for things like browsing the 'how do I install?' FAQ, which happens before we're in the game. On the plus side, I can reuse the same "A gump that looks like a web-browser" tech. Don't bother balancing the game too much - a 'long' autoplay should play through fine with no unexpected battle deaths. A 'short' autoplay, or skipping around the archive, will use the skinner box (which, for the AI, always gains them levels to get to the right point) NOTE: Can have several other 'instant level up' methods. E.g. "And so, many rats were slain" (fade to black) as well as wands, boxes, rods and hats of "Wonder what this will do?" If the player is too HIGH a level - who cares? Fights where you are expected to lose are scripted to force it (and this is, in fact, the joke) 10 xTechnical 51 1 0 1049 xUse the 'Frome' background. It's nice and specific, but also hideously cliched and full of stupid stuff. Also, can have Margo wander in for cameos. 'W. tF' 'TB' 'Cat & Fox' Double-you the Fox, and Tee-Bee (Standing for 'that's bad') These are two little cartoon avatars who make out-of-game jokes (and also communicate via the in-game chat) - they are meant to represent fellow players, rather than fellow in-game avatars. They're kinda watching the comic over your shoulder and commenting. Although, of course, they are actually a part of the comic. They kinda break the 4th wall in that they acknowledge that there's a game (which all the in-game NPC avatars should not) and that it's a BAD game (which the in-game contacts with other 'players' etc. should not - after all, all the other players are addicted) However, they don't acknowledge that it's a COMIC. They will make veiled references that you're not the first person to play - but that's true of a game too. They are, of course, escapees from my first comic 'sKool of TFC' 6 xStory 51 1 0 92 xTODO: Links to supporting material, music etc. As well as sites that help with my coding! 13 xLinks / Help 0 6 2 1347 xTODO: Well, I *suck* at evilscript. And this project is gonna need a tonne of it. So, things I learn (including code snippets) go here. Cat and Fox might usefully use the position: fixed property. This causes them to stick to the window, rather than to the document. Book: O Reilly "Dynamic HTML - the definitive reference" by Danny Goodman. Is very very very coplete, though slightly out of date. Force downloading of fonts: