172.16.0.1's site

Fortay 1.4: Release

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:24:53 GMT

Wednesday, September 16, 2008
This release was generally a small project to get me back into the "Fortay development cycle". There are mostly miniature graphic changes with very few new features.

Hopefully I can crunch down the size of this game�s resources by the next release. While talking about the next release, due to some map loading issues I could not get the map creation tool out. So I hope it will be done when 1.5 is about ready.

One thing you might notice is that I allowed users to subscribe to this game. For life time, the cost will be $5.00 for non members and $3.00 for members. Though, as of right now, there is nothing too extraordinary for subscribers, as you can tell by the hub. So if you are interested with buying a subscription, I suggest waiting for the 1.5 release.

Updates:

Update: Wins and Loses are now shown and saved

Update: Hub now displays sever champion and last winner

Update: Graphical Interface for room creation

Update: Unused maps will be deleted when no players are playing

Update: Users can now subscribe ($3.00)

New Map: (Plain Space) This is a open field map

New Map: (Lava Field) A maze which is surrounded by lava

New Faction: (ZipComs) For subscribers only

Adding in several new game modes will be harder than I took into consideration, due to my sloppy programming style. The same goes with the bots, which I semi-promised to be released this time. I may start from scratch very soon; I dislike the way this project is currently heading.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions; feel free to email them to ipaddict@hotmail.com. Please include either the game�s name or BYOND within the title. Or you can easily use the Forums.

Fortay: Map Scandal

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:14:42 GMT

I attempt to maintain Fortay�s development information a secret at times, but as I get farther with the production of Fortay version 1.4, I start to lose creativity. I can no longer think of �good� map ideas; I put quotation marks around good because my current maps aren�t all that great. Before I get too ahead of myself let me explain what Fortay.

Fortay is a turn based strategy game set in a medieval fantasy world. The basic story I created was, �You are a private contractor contending against the competitive game of war. Hire rejected soldiers (units) to do your dirty work of killing off the adversary.�

I have several maps already, which are the following:

Grass Lands � A nice yard filled with debris of what looks to be houses.

The Village � Cheaply constructed houses litter this land.

Moss � Small pond of water separates the land, only two small bridges to cross.

Wet Lands � Huge bodies of water, which fills half of the land.

Plain Space � A small platform in which easy and fast battles can occur.

I have run out of �good� ideas, I can consider simple maps such as a beach or a train station, but I want to develop on those ideas. Futuristic ideas would not hurt either, they would almost certainly fit well with the story I am currently working on. Please reply if you have any idea for a potential map.

Fortay: News Report (9/9/08)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:50:40 GMT

So far, I have added several new maps along with a faction currently being worked on. While creating on these maps I thought to myself, "I wonder what type of maps would come up if I allowed the community to create them?" So I am currently working on a map editor/maker for Fortay. While creating maps, users can select from any existing objects/turfs that are in the game. Anybody will be able to build a map, only BYOND members can upload them. I may possibly offer subscriptions that are around $2.00, so users do not have to dish out $18.00 just to user their maps.

While playing Last Robot Standing one day it came to me, the reason why this game is still being hosted within the current 'anime' crowd is because there is a 24/7 host. I highly doubt this game would be hosted by anyone; it would have the same fate as most original BYOND games. So I was thinking, maybe getting a 24/7 host is what this game needs to get people finally playing it. I gathered a few users at a time when I use to host quite often, but ever since I stopped I have yet to see a server which stays up over five minutes and has more than two people online. I really do not mind paying for a monthly server; I just want my money not to go to waste. So if no one was to still play this game I would not be too delighted, this cash could go somewhere more important such as school.

By the way, if anyone has any good tips with advertising games, please do tell, my dream of creating a great turn based game is slowly fading away.

Fortay: Prediction of the Future

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:15:35 GMT

I�m going to make this quick and short. With college coming up within just a few weeks I know I will not have too much time to commit to my hobby, programming. So I really need to get �cracking� on projects that are important to me. To be honest, I have yet to touch the A.I. portion for Fortay for a few weeks, and I doubt seeing such an update come before school starts.

Though I have not hosted this game as much, from previous testing I saw a runtime error randomly occurring which sometimes crashes this game. If anyone gets a chance, while playing the game please copy and paste this error on my forums. As with an update, as stated before I most likely won�t get to adding in A.I. but I may add in a couple of new maps and probably some new factions. I have ten alien graphics from a previous project of mine waiting to be used and I believe they could fit the Fortay style with some work.

I�m also getting engrossed with writing once again, the last time this happened I was around six and this �hobby� ended when I was about thirteen. I have some great concepts that could possibly work into games, so hopefully everything turns out well.

Red Cap by Lesbian Assassin

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:41:36 GMT

Gameplay
Red Cap is an extremely simple game to pick up and start playing for hours. Upon logging in the user gets to choose what fairy tale character they would wish to play as, ranging from Robin Hood to The Big Bad Wolf. The story is Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood) must deliver the basket filled with cures to a town stricken with a deadly illness. But there is not a path of gold leading you there as such enemies as the Wolf are trying to stop you in your tracks. Each night you do not transport such goods members of the town�s community dies. But you do have some good on your side such as the Archer.

The time of the day changes from daylight hours to hours of darkness, this gives certain creatures advantages. Thus, it would be to Red�s best to try and deliver the goods during the day time. The setting is in a forest-like area where the �Bad Guys� roam the town area. Each character possess different strengths which you could lead your team to success.

Presentation
The help guide is fairly uncomplicated but there is no reason for it to be advanced. The arrow keys are used to control your character while the center key is used to employ your �special� ability.

The graphics fit the game perfectly as they are quite cartoonish. What would make this game so much better is if there was sound, after playing for a while it would be quite neat to hear arrows flying past your head as you nearly dodge such a projectile.

Originality
The idea of sticking some of the most beloved fairy tales into a �war zone�, and their mission is to either deliver or stop the delivery of a basket is a great idea. This is probably the best non played action game on BYOND.

Overall
While Red Cap is over six years old, it still possesses the distinctiveness it had when it was released many years ago. Now there is no longer a subscription for this game so all users, new and old, can get the special features that was once was sacred. As stated before, the thing I wish this game had was sound effects, it would just give you the feeling of actually being in the game. It seems like Hedgemistress does not visit BYOND too often so do not expect to see any updates any time soon. But I would recommend this game to any user especially if you want to waste a few hours.

Night Fantastic by Zilal

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:33:52 GMT

Gameplay
Night Fantastic is a moderately easy game to get into and you can simply find yourself looking at the clock an hour later noticing that the time just flew by. This is personally my all time favorite survival horror games if not favorite game on BYOND. Night Fantastic puts you in the shoes of a person who stepped into the mansion to find out if the myth of a life form that haunts the mansion is factual. You enter the mansion after your partner does, as you do so the door shuts leaving you in complete darkness.

Unlike other survival games on BYOND, this one does not encourage any type of role playing at all. As you are thrown into the mansion you carry a radio and a revolver which has only a couple of bullets, so you must use it wisely. So do not go firing off into the hours of darkness as you can potentially kill your partner(s).

As formerly stated, the setting is inside a mansion where an unknown Entity, which inhabits it, is currently roaming the mansion committing murders. The difference between this game and the majority of other BYOND game is that you do no see the map while playing, but instead you must exterminate the Entity and navigate the haunted mansion by using your other senses such as hearing and touching.

Presentation
Though the help guide is extremely simple it accomplishes what it sets out to do, teach players how to play the game. Due to the straightforwardness nature of this game, users can start playing in mere seconds.

There are no graphics for this game as it is text based, though if you do die you will see a basic map of where all player(s) and Entity are.

The sound is what really makes the game one of the pinnacle games on BYOND. You can hear every footstep within an assured distance as well as people bumping into walls. Users can break windows in which you can feel a chill roll down your neck. You can also hear gun shots far away which makes you think, �Is my partner in trouble or does he/she have every thing under control?� One of the best sounds in the game is the Entity; you hear a heavy breathing once it is in a certain distance of you, which can potentially scare any user.

There is an action button in which you can use to feel the environment around you. You can potentially feel a body which gives you the creeps as you know the Entity can not be too far away.

Originality
The idea of being stuck in a mansion with a killer is not unique but the way the game was created, text based with sound, brings a unique style to it. There is no doubt that this is the top survival games on BYOND.

Overall
Night Fantastic is about five years old, yet there has yet been a game to match its sole frightening feeling and style of game play on BYOND, which made this an instant classic. Users can subscribe to the game to potentially play as the mysterious Entity. The only downfall I see is that Zilal, the game�s owner, does not visit BYOND as much which delays any sort of improvement to this game. But with how the game currently is, there is not much to improve on besides some bugs which randomly occur from time to time. I would recommend this game to any person on BYOND, even if they did not like survival games previously as this game is too good to pass up.

Murder Mansion by SuperSaiyanGokuX

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:38:03 GMT

Gameplay
As with a good number of games, there is a miniature learning curve for Murder Mansion mainly because there is not thorough help guide.

The controls are straight forward; you use the arrow keys to move and the left mouse button to do your basic actions such as picking up and using items to your advantage.

Some could consider this somewhat of a sand box type of game in which you can basically pick up most items and use them to your advantage. You are not constricted to just the mansion, but instead you can roam around on its property and even walk upon the roof.

While role playing is highly encouraged to get the most use from the game, there is only one game mode. In this mode one murderer is randomly picked and must exterminate the players in the mansion without getting caught. While the other players must identify who the murderer is, once you have a vivid thought on who the murderer is, you can use the phone to report him/her. If you are wrong you will automatically die by some mystical force.

The game�s setting is inside a mansion where the weather condition is always stormy and the time of the day is constantly night. There are numerous rooms in the mansion ranging from a restroom to a kitchen. As stated previously, users can go outside and potentially slip on the wet ground. They can also, but rarely, get struck by lighting.

Presentation
This game lacks a detailed guide in which tells you the basic controls for Murder Mansion�s interface. But due to the simplicity of the game, users can pick it up quite quickly.

The graphics are very nice besides the player model. It is quite dull with no sort of shading on it at all. But the style of it fits perfectly with the current graphics. The map of the mansion is portrayed so nicely that you can almost imagine a place actually looking like it.

There is an extensive assortment of sounds which immerses you into the game. You can hear lighting and wind outside and even footsteps by near by players.

Originality
Though the idea is not original as there have been countless short stories and probably movies of a murder in the mansion, the game was one of the top survival games for BYOND.

Overall
Murder Mansion is a great game with a pleasant role playing environment. Though the game is not as popular as it uses to be, when hosted, time flies by as you are left guessing rather or not you should pick up the phone and report a potential murderer. I highly propose this game to users who are into survival based games and are looking for a nice environment to role play in. The only thing I wish is that there was an active forum in which the community can participate in discussion about the game.

Chatters by Xooxer and the BYOND community

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:38:53 GMT

Gameplay(Quality of play experience, user-friendliness of interface)
Chatters has the potential of being great, but it falls short due to certain members of its community, the lack of being complete, and lack of being worked on. It is also an open source project in which users of the community can append changes to the program.

The experience is rather negative for newer users, particularly if they are not recognized in the BYOND community. Also, if your key includes some kind of anime associated subject in it you will be looked down upon. Most of the time you would then be greeted with insults and could possibly be vote muted.

There are also some members of the community who use racism and stereotypes as a joke, but nothing will be done to them if the Operators are �acquaintances� with them. So it would be best to ignore that user as if you try to argue with them you will get muted.

But do not get me wrong, even though if the community some times seems sour there are a few helpful users in there who will contribute their time into helping you with any troubles.

Presentation
Upon logging in for your first time you may be somewhat confused on what to do, mostly because the help guide for some reason chooses not to popup majority of the time. But at least, you can go to the bottom right hand side to view the guide, but beware, most of the features which are shown in the guide are not available.

Chatters does have a few nice features such as being able to fade your name, customize your login and logout message, and vote muting players (which does get ill-treated). But it still falls short of being a complete program. One reason is due to you not being able to create your own channel. If you wish to communicate privately with a few of your friends you either have to use the IM feature, which you can not use for group conversation, or you will have to host your own version of chatters.

Originality
Chatter is not original with being a chat program, as they have been around for countless years and has additional feature. But as with BYOND, it was one of the first programs in which users can freely communicate.

Overall
As said before Chatters had, and may still have, great potential but for the lack of being complete, disrespectful members, and �elitism�, it causes this program not to be the best chat program on BYOND, even though if it is the only one. The only way to get some kind of respect there is if you constantly use this program. If you are searching for help on any kind of topic I would recommend the forums as you will most likely get no help on Chatters.

Two Concepts Dealing with Space

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:11:10 GMT

--Concept number one--

Name: Open Space
Developer: Ryan Taylor
Date Created: Monday, July 14, 2008 (10:10 AM)
Platform: Windows PC
Setting: Outer Space
Year: 2012
Story: Not Available
Motto: Not Available
Genre: Multiplayer Online Real-time Sandbox Space Game (MORTSBSG)
Mode(s): Online (LAN or Internet Multiplayer)

CONCEPT:
This game will take advantage of the use of server side connecting. There will be numerous downloads for this game, here are the following:

Space Ship

This option will allow users to take control of a space ship, which can travel throughout the �Open Space� universe. They could perform trades with other users in which to gain money to either fix/upgrade their ship or give it to their potential owner or employed space station. When hosting this ship, users can directly connect to you to join your crew, if you do not like their presence you can kick them off or potentially kill them if it fits the role playing criteria.

When driving a ship, you will be connected to the master server. Here, you will see a non interior view of your ship (32x32 exterior). You can fly around and communicate with other users. If your ship was to be destroyed, all users inside the ship will most likely die as the server will be shut down.

Space Station

As with the space station, when downloaded you can connect to the master server so your station can appear. Users can also directly connect to your station.

When downloaded the station owner must build his/her own station, which is why trading between users is recommended. If you were to disconnect from the master server for that day the station will remain in space, so it is recommended to add security and personnel you trust.

Side Notes: If you connect your station to the master server you can not enter it if you are currently using a space ship, unless you dock on it. It is recommend to first build your station before you control your ship.

Master Server

When connecting to the master server it will ask rather or not you want to connect to an official one or just a user hosted one. Users can download master server just incase the official one ever goes down, though saved information may not load correctly on it.

MORE ABOUT THE GAME
Ultimately the object of the game is to become the most powerful person/crew in the �Open Space� Universe. The only way to do this is to build up a crew which will protect your assets when away.

I am not sure if having client side connection will be a good idea. It may confuse too many players and may be a waste of time to add as I could most likely do this all on one server. For example, new users will start off in the basic space station in which they can learn more about the world. If I did this way, I may still have the client side space station to reduce the number of objects within the game from potentially huge stations.

Another place I am stumped at is with death. I did want this game to be round based but it may be too big for such an idea, so what happens when you die? Do you start completely all over; can players revive you with certain tools? Before I start on such an ambitious project I need to get these problems straight.

--Concept number two--
Name: Odd Ball
Developer: Ryan Taylor
Date Created: Monday, July 14, 2008 (3:54 PM)
Platform: Windows PC
Setting: Outer Space
Year: 2012
Story: Not Available
Motto: Not Available
Genre: Multiplayer Online Real-time Space Game (MORTSG)
Mode(s): Online (LAN or Internet Multiplayer)

CONCEPT:
This game is probably much easier to create than Open Space; it is pretty much an expanded version of Space Station 13�s Traitor mode. There will be several different missions for the Odd Ball (traitor) to do depending on their occupation. Such as kidnapping a certain person, drugging someone, steal a gun, and more. For every five players online there will be one Odd Ball. So if there were 25 players the game would randomly pick 5 players. Each Odd Ball will not know who is who and will be competing to finish the mission for their faction and escape unnoticed.

Stealth will be taken into play as users can cut the lights to their advantage. I was also thinking about creating a special suit which is semi-transparent, which would be harder to see in the dark. The game would be round based, if every crew member dies on the ship before the mission could be completed then the game is over and no one wins. So the non Odd Balls need to be careful who they kill in order to win. Odd Balls will need to manipulate users into thinking they are normal crew men in order to complete a task. Once all Odd Balls are dead the normal crew wins and the game will be restarted.

As with character identification, would create a very detailed character creation system in which users could choose their characters species, race, gender, and other attributes.

--Final Word--
I am leaning more towards Odd Ball more than Open Space, more because it is a much easier task to complete such a game. Who knows, if I do pick Odd Ball it would be possible to use that engine on a later date to construct Open Space.

Have any suggestions, please feel free to post.

Space Station 13 by Exadv1

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:22:08 GMT

Gameplay
There is a huge learning curve for space station 13 and you will not pick the game up automatically on your first try. Though there has been a recent open source development which has created a new mode, properly named sandbox, which is a great place for beginners.

The controls are quite simple, the arrow keys are the basic movement while left mouse click controls almost everything else in the game such as attacking or picking up an item.

This game has goes moderately deep in depth as you can literally pickup or destroy approximately any item on the space station. But doing so comes with a price as it could potentially have an effect on the future conclusion of the current role playing experience. There are several different modes ranging from Extended/role-playing to Traitor. Though the game�s mode varies, the basic gist of the game is to keep the space station up and running and also survive.

The game�s setting is on a space station, which is divided into several quarters in which numerous occupations can be spawned to. Users can explore outside the boundaries of the station into the not known areas of space.

Each occupation contributes a modest portion to the game. The medics heal the injured and fatally wounded while the engineers keep the place intact. Before each round starts, if there is more than one player online, a captain will be randomly chosen to help guide the space station�s crew.

Presentation
The game seriously lacks a highly detailed guide for first time players; because of this the learning curve is increased. At the time you login you will be greeted with what one could say a character creation window. You can choose you�re character�s appearance, occupation, and even what diseases and disabilities they have.

The graphics consists of a non animated mob in which you can change its clothing according to your profession. Every graphic in the game is very basic but some how fits perfectly for the style of the game.

Originality
I have still yet to find a game which resembles space station 13, which saddens me. Role playing on a space station while trying to keep your crew together is a nice idea that most space related games should take into account.

Overall
Though Space Station 13 does have its downsides, it has a potentially great role playing environment. If you join the right server, you could have a role playing session which can last for hours. I highly recommend this game to users who are looking for an open source role playing community which is built on space enthusiasts. The game only gets better and better as the users contribute more.