Quest and Crafting System

From EQUIS Lab Wiki

Quest and Crafting System

Group Members

• Xiao Feng Qiu (Eric)
• Jeffrey Yim

Background

Quests are a key component in role playing games (RPG) that make the gameplay interesting. It is basically a task or set of tasks that requires players to spend some time and effort to complete. Upon completion, an award is typically given to make the player stronger. These rewards usually come in the form of leveling up, receiving new items or equipment, or learning new skills. This provides the player with a sense of progression as they get to know the game better. These quests also act as an incentive to continue to play to discover more quests and secrets. In some instances there are specially crafted quests in massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). In the popular game World of Warcraft (WoW), there are massive quests that require groups of 40 people to complete. Quests that draw such devotion from players display the appeal of a well made quest system.

Goals of Project

We would like to add a quest and crafting system (time permitting) to the existing game. Currently the game world is so open ended it is difficult for players to find purpose in the tasks they perform. Therefore the quest system will act as a guide for the player. With the system in place, a series of tasks such as, speaking to specific characters, traveling to certain locations, and gathering specific numbers of resources, can be linked together.

Currently we have the following quest types:

• Location Quests
• Character Quests
• Collection Quests
• Action Quests

Location Quests require the player to travel to a certain location. Character Quests require the character to speak to a particular NPC. Collection Quests require the user to collect a certain number of some resources. Finally, Action Quests require the user to perform some action, for instance, press the 1 button or pedal the bike. Quest creation should be modular so future quests may be added with ease.

After completing a quest, players may be rewarded with various things, such as blueprints of hidden buildings, which can be used for adding new buildings in the village. These unique objects can then be placed in the village to continue in the creation of an expansive village.

How our changes will appear to the player

The quest system will introduce a few new visual elements to the game. The GUI will be modified to include some area to display the current quest. The text displayed will describe what the player needs to do next. Since it is possible to speak to non playable characters (NPCs), some type of dialogue system must be in place. This could be as simple as displaying text in the same area as text for quests, or we may overlay text near the character that is speaking. Finally, if quests require the player to travel to a particular location, some sort of arrow or line is needed to point the player in the right direction.

Models required for the project

The crafting system would require a wide variety of objects. Currently the objects that may be crafted do not provide any functionality. Their purpose is to act as a reward to show off in the village for completing a quest. Items that may be crafted can be anything from statues to abstract art. On the other hand, the quest system will not require any new models since it is a backbone upon which quests may be created, and interpreted.

Technological Issues

The quest system will be divided up into a variety of components. The quests themselves will be entirely separate from the main Life is a Village (LIAV) code. However, upon generation of the quests, a quest interpreter will be needed. This quest interpreter will communicate with the LIAV code via triggers to update the quest states accordingly.

Triggers Issues

An issue is determining exactly how these triggers work within the existing game. We must determine if such triggers exist. If current triggers exist, we must modify them or make new triggers to match our needs. Similarly, depending on whether NPCs stand still or walk around, different proximity triggers must be created to prompt the player to speak to an NPC.

GUI Issues

As mentioned before, quest status must be displayed on screen so we must modify the existing GUI to accommodate an extra window. Also, if NPC dialogue does not appear in this window, a method must be developed to allow text to appear near a speaking NPC. An arrow or indicator must be drawn on the screen to indicate where a player must go for certain quests. As a result we have to look at how to create on screen indicators. If a craft system is implemented, we need to look at how LIAV currently handles the importing and placement of new objects.