[COMPLETE] Afar | Online RPG

Started by mouse, February 06, 2011, 10:47:10 am

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mouse

February 06, 2011, 10:47:10 am Last Edit: April 25, 2011, 07:18:16 pm by mouse


What is Afar?

Afar is a free online RPG game with multiplayer elements. It is all about exploration, storyline, and battles.

Released in the last quarter of 2010, Afar has been in production since 2007 but kept falling back. The game was restarted from scratch as a PHP game in it's current state, and was quickly released. Since release it has ammassed 200 players, with a record of 100 online at one time.

The State of Afar

Since the game is constantly (as much as daily) updated, it is hard to keep a project thread organised, and so instead I am writing this semi regular newsletter to place in all my threads around the place.

Where is the game currently?

Last time I spoke, there was no battle system, inventories was a big thing, and we had about 20 players around the world.

Build 2

Build 2 greatly enlarged the screen resolution, specifically with future plans for apps in mind and based on player feedback.





The navigation system and random battles are a new feature. That's right, battles!

We now have a basic turn based battle system. At current all you can do is attack, and the view is head on, but there are some tactics to it all:

- Different equipment has different stats for how much damage will be dealt
- Choosing your profession gives you boosts in certain weapons
- Swords give you melee exp, which makes you harder hitting with a sword
- Bows give you sight exp, making you better with a bow
- Different enemies are weak to different things

This is just a shell however and not representative of the eventual goal for the battle system, which will have animated sprites rather than a front-on view.



The World

As it currently stands, this is our world map:



The marked off regions are not yet created, but are planned.

You navigate the world using the four arrows shown on the screenshot above, but you can also access some key areas via the world map, once you have unlocked travel to them.



You gain gold as you play or by defeating enemies, of which there are currently ten. I am not revealing the algorithms and they are ever changing as I tweak and balance the game. You can at current spend this money on items in shops.


You can also gain gold by referring other players; how to do this is shown in game on the main screen.




Structure

Afar is created using PHP and javascript, with phpBB providing a base for account authentication and forum posting. It uses graphics provided by First Seed Material and others created by myself.

The amount of my own code has risen a lot since last time I spoke to you. The battle system was created entirely from scratch for example, as well as various other systems. Most of the game aspects are my own code, with the phpbb backbone merely serving as a good base for authentication, forums, and moderation as well as the admin cp.


[marquee][/marquee]

Quests

Quests are under construction. You can complete most of the first one, but there is no reward yet. The second is in development and they will both be finished around the same time. The current "testquest" storyline revolves around vampires.




System Requirements

You must have javascript enabled for the domains:

vengeance-rpg.com (for now)
afar.ws
jquery.com

jquery is a javascript library, visit the jquery.com website for more information.

Otherwise your gameplay will be severely hindered. I may block users who do not have javascript activated in future because this may cause unfair advantages; it doesn't at the moment (other than making screens such as the inventory just not work).


High Scores

Because of our now large userbase we now have highscores. You are rated on either your gold amount, or your cumulative exp from all stats.

Stat signatures are available which update regularly:



If somebody registers from your sig, you get gold!


Accessing the game

http://www.afar.ws


Inspiration

The Netplay project for getting me into creating MMOs,
VDex for making me realise my old idea of making games using forums could actually work
W3schools for teaching me PHP
Tomas for helping me with javascript and showing me better ways of doing things
Everyone who helped me with Vengeance before <3

Wizered67

I didn't realize your the one that made vengeance. I actually already happen to be one of the 250 players. My in-game name is Viktor Lorks :).
To anyone reading this, you should at least try the game. Its pretty cool already and its constantly being updated. Good luck with the game making.

mouse

Oh, hi! I've been trying to work out who you were for a while :p

Wizered is currently #1 on the leaderboards by a very long way, someone else should join and try and beat him. :)

Futendra

Almost every image is broken inside the game and I dont really like it, not my style of game, I also dont have a Online feeling at all

mouse

I don't see how it could get any "more online" but ok.

tSwitch

I think he means online as in multiplayer.


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mouse

Eh, that's why I called it an "online RPG with multiplayer elements".  8)

- forums for chat
- global shop to buy and sell items to
- leaderboards
- friends lists

Soon to come:

- trading
- PvP battling

Blizzard

What online system do you use as backend? Netplay+?
Check out Daygames and our games:

King of Booze 2      King of Booze: Never Ever
Drinking Game for Android      Never have I ever for Android
Drinking Game for iOS      Never have I ever for iOS


Quote from: winkioI do not speak to bricks, either as individuals or in wall form.

Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.

mouse

This is entirely made in PHP/HTML. It is mostly my own code but using PHPBB as a base mainly for auth and for the admin panel and forums.

Blizzard

Ah, I see. So it is a Java powered browser game? Very interesting. How long did it take you to make it? How many lines of code do you have approx.?
Check out Daygames and our games:

King of Booze 2      King of Booze: Never Ever
Drinking Game for Android      Never have I ever for Android
Drinking Game for iOS      Never have I ever for iOS


Quote from: winkioI do not speak to bricks, either as individuals or in wall form.

Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.

mouse

I got the game done in a week, but very basic. From then I've been updating it daily. It didn't have much at the start, not even exploration or anything.

Excluding maps and such, my battle script is about 2500 lines and I have several files for items, leaderboards, etc which are probably about a thousand lines each. The battle system was the hardest to code. Battles are handled on the server in PHP and then a visual scene is drawn in javascript (so it isn't hackable or anything through that way).

Blizzard

As, I see. Yeah, I already thought the the game might have 5000-10000 lines altogether. :)
Check out Daygames and our games:

King of Booze 2      King of Booze: Never Ever
Drinking Game for Android      Never have I ever for Android
Drinking Game for iOS      Never have I ever for iOS


Quote from: winkioI do not speak to bricks, either as individuals or in wall form.

Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.