- Very Limited Load Screens
With our game design, players should expect to see very few load screens to interupt their gameplay. Running from the wilderness, into a town, into a shop, will be all load screen free.
- Dynamic Forests
Enviroments in games should change over time, and our Living Forest will be no exception. Players will be able to cut down trees, watching branches fall off, as the tree slams into the ground. Trees will be able to roll down hills, crush other players, so be careful of this dynamic environment too, players and monsters arn't your only worry.
Trees that are cut down, will leave a stump, that stump will rot away after a certain amount of time, in the mean time, a sapling will grow in a nearby location, slowly growing into a new tree.
This adds new features never before seen in gaming.
- Resource Gathering/Skills
All great MMO's have resources of one kind or another, VO (Vortex Online) is no expection.
Players will be able to fish for food, mine for ores, collect leaves for potions, hunt for meats and furs, and even chop down an ancient oak tree for some wood.
Skills in most games force players to get a certain level in a skill to be able to accomplish something. With VO (Vortex Online), players can try to gather any resource, but with increased risk and a lot harder of a time.
Take fishing for example:
Go to the nearby black water lake, get your pole set up, add your lure, and get ready to catch Bass. Your fishing Level is only level 3, and Bass are suggested at level 25. You cast your line, and get a nibble. You snag the fish, and before you know it your line is broke. Your chances of catching these fish are low, mostly because you don't have better string, or know the technique to catch them.
Add ons like better string, better lures, better rod are still level dependant. Your best idea is to train fishing until you can add on new attachments to your rod.
Without a Level Requirement for Add ons, players could on day one have the best armour, best food, and best everything else. We have just made it so players can do gathering of Raw Resources like Fishing, Mining, Woodcutting, Cooking, Crafting, & Smithing.
Mining a ore with a lower than suggested level may cause cave ins, explosions, and othe disasters.
Trying to fish for a fish without the suggested level can cause a higher chance of line/rob breaking.
Trying to chop down an ancient oak may take a lot longer than you want to wait, but still is possible.
Trying to cook a food you dont have the suggested level for can cause you to burn it more often.
Trying to craft armour without the correct level will result in a failure and lose of supplys.
Trying to smith armour you don't have the suggested level for will cause you to possibly injure yourself, others around you and fail the armour causing a lose of supplys.
- Large World (100 SQ KM at full launch)
We feel that a large world, with one to explore is better than having a smaller instanced world. At full launch, players will be able to explore over 100 SQ KM of detailed terrain. As our game grows, so will the world, so who knows how large it may be in a few years time.
Our Player Testing area where players will always be able to explore new conent, will be 25 SQ KM.
- Dynamic Town Supply Lines (New feature for gaming)
These supply lines are vital for the games world, not only in the way players use it, but the NPC's themselves.
Example:
Ores from a nearby mine, are sold to a towns smith, who forges the ores into a weapon, who sells it to the weapon shop, who then sells it to the players. These weapons can be used to supply NPC guards to help defend attacking Bandits* during village and town raids.
These supply lines arn't just limited to weapons and ores, but food too. The players will have to defend passing caravans, carrying food to a northern village, who without it, the NPC's will move away or die.
This form of gameplay will let NPC's, on their own, travel from town to town if their needs arn't met. Possibly taking their assets with them.
An example:
Sero, the village of blackwater's tailor, is in need of a steady supply of hides for his business, without the hides being sold to him by players, or delivered with the supply lines, sero may move to another nearby village. His shop would now be empty, empty of all his tools. Now that his tools are gone, players can no longer use his shop for armour, forcing players to restore Seros former supply lines, or move to the nearby town and do all leather work there, possibly at a further location from a bank, taking longer to gain XP in this skill.
- Crafting
Crafting in Vortex Online will let players open a new area of MMO Crafting. Players will be able to repair armour, remove added on pieces, and add on better pieces.
This form of crafting will help alleviate the market being flooded with lower level gear. With players being able to build "Base" armour, then add on more protection parts for increased durability and strength. Players will be able to do a vast aray of things than leather working, like creating lures and fishing rods.
Most Items in Vortex Online will be Player made, with very few being NPC made only. What that means is that even though a NPC sells this item, players could also make it, one way or another.
- Town Raids/PVP
Town Raids are a feature that we plan on adding that lets the world change a bit more past our Living Dynamic Forests. In VO(Vortex Online), Players can be good or evil, and that will be based on the players actions, as everyone will start off neutral. Players that help people in need, gain karma that adds them to the Good side. Players that Steal, decieve, or kill town guards/citizens, will be removed from that town, have a bounty placed on their capture/death, and be forced to live in exil. These players become the bandits.
Bandits must live outside of the towns they are exiled from, forcing them to set up "camps/outpost" all over the world. These are the Bandits safe havens, where they can help expand their name. These bandits lack some main supply lines that the towns have, that is why they must Raid towns/villages.
These Raids are vital for the bandits, as a greatly defended town will prohibate the bandits from gaining needed resources. Raid Leaders are the "evilest" bandits based on the karma system, and must be online at the time of raid planning and raiding.
Leaders set up what to do for each group of bandits, from players that take out towns defenses, to looting the shops and recovering the resources needed.
More information about Raids will be released when we get closer to prototyping this.
- Fast Paced, Realistic Combat/Medical System
A well designed combat system is what ever MMO needs, which is why we started with what works and doesn't by researching our games.
-Players and monsters will have HIt Boxes that determine finer tuned damge received.
-Damage will be calculated on what Hit Box was hit, and what armour the player has on that body part.
-*Players will be able to learn combo attacks (Not with an ability Bar)*
-Attacks can be blocked
-**Players/Monsters can become injured from hits, causing bleeding, lose of movement, reduced movement.**
*Players combo attacks may be activated by clicking (Swing[Left/Right Mouse Buttons] and moving mouse in paterns, instead of at random.)
**Bleeding can be healed after battle, Reduced movement may cause player to walk with limp with no run, at a slower pace, lose of movement may cause player to be unable to walk or defend oneself in battle. Other players can assist falled players, or players will have to wait until able to move agian.**
An example:
2 players are attacking a dragon boss, and the one player gets too close and get smashed back, flying into the wall. This players legs are broke, along with their arm, this players only hope is to crawl into a nearby crevice and wait till better, or wait for the friend to help.
Also, these players have to worry about a new monster spawning.
These are only a few breakdowns of some of our planned Medieval Content.
