Gahbreeil
Scholar
tl;dr - BGETO.
tl;dr2 - Best Game Ever Thought Of.
Date of delivery: Four years
Genre of video game: Simulation in the style of Role-Playing Games and Real Time Strategies as well as Adventure Games
Genre of plot: Medieval fantasy with the possibility of an industrial revolution
Setting: The world of Archei, pangaean continent of Archei
View: Isometric 2D or 3D, bird's eye view
Game Framework: 2D or 3D world, painted retro-style 2D or 3D models with fluid and vivid animations in advancing real time, 2D interface, an advancing twenty four hour light and darkness system, advanced AI
System requirements: Next generation of Personal Computer. Advanced graphics card, CPU and copious amounts of RAM
Concept: Sorcerer is an open-world simulation that allows for the type of freedom never before experienced when playing a video game. It is set in a fantasy world with a strong foundation in reality. In life it is work that creates societies and allows them to thrive. The simulation is meant to allow to see whole societies in actual gameplay rather than some form of storytelling which is bound to create a vivid experience for the player. Heroics and brigandry will have a great impact on the world as each character's action has consequences and can affect all characters in the game.
The Player Character is essentially the same as each Non-Playable Character as all characters in the simulation use the same conversation system to talk to each other, have the same massive set of skills which represents all the characters might do, use the same equipment sheet and can perform the same array of actions. Except for sorcery which can be mastered and used only by a few.
In the ongoing quest for supplies, food and drink as well as equipment is a driving force in the lives of the characters as they trade, live, sleep, fight, work and travel the world in order to achieve their goals and fulfill their everyday needs.
Realms can rise and fall into ruins based on the lack of supply of goods while increasing demand enforces growth and the simulation is meant to let the player see this happening through travelling amidst all the societies present. If a hamlet is attacked by brigands while no guard is present the town won't be supplied with grain and mercenaries will be dispatched to deal with the brigands. If they fail, the scenario might repeat and the town might become abandoned as people seek better lives. If they succeed, both the hamlet and the town will be saved.
Hunters might bring back wolf skins to allow their people to craft boots and the event will lead the savage humanoids dwelling in the wilderness to roam into different lands in search of leather for armour, fangs and claws for jewellery and meat to sate their hunger as the forests might become bare of fruit and roots through lack of experience in gathering. Eventually the tribe might settle for good as they are knowledged enough in all manners of life to build their own stronghold.
Sorcerers rule this world either from towns which they protect or through wandering the world in search of interesting events, ruins to discover or artifacts and scrolls to study in their abodes, towers, on the road or at one inn or another. Sorcery is the ultimate power granted to mortals by the Divine for their deeds during their mortal lives. There is no limit to this power as one needs merely to think and perform ceremonial movements of hands, fingers.
A storyline exists in the simulation and it is meant to take the player on an adventure which will allow to travel three realms covered by wilderness and dotted with hamlets, towns, farms, mines, caverns and strongholds.
Concept of the plot: In the world of Archei where day and night last for twenty four hours within a nine day week, on the pangaean continent called the same name by it's people, much is about to change as a no one without any past, work or ties to any place is to become the ninth sorcerer. Or rather be cast into the events that will take him there by arriving in a hamlet called Creel northwest of the town of Virell. The story of this nobody will be a long one as he or she is cast into events far beyond the imagination of mere mortals. The journey will take this hero or heroine to face darkness itself and hopefully prevail against the force that opposes the Divine and the life of all those who roam Archei. For the eighth sorcerer is unknown to all for a long time by then and his Humane mind has yearned for power for far too long to be considered human. Yet it will take time, up to seven years if at all to achieve what is to be achieved or shy away from the quest at hand as the hero or heroine might prove to be a simple landowner and a farmer or the keeper of an orchard, guard of one of the towns or a brigand, blackguard and a thief. The sorcerers are the almost omnipotent beings that can control the world at thought and whim, casting sorcery based on the elements that define the world. From conjuring weapons, food and drink to casting thunderbolts and icicles hard as steel at their foes. Above them stand only the demideities anointed by the deity of Archei and it's creator. It is the demideities whom decide when a new sorcerer or sorceress might appear. The ninth sorcerer will be replaced. Destiny awaits.
Content: The combat works based on a six sided dice system in which hitting a target and damage is represented by dice rolls. Armour acts as a barrier to damage and has it's own durability points as opposed to the percentage of health. The dice number is the first of the 1d6 acronym, in this example it means one six sided dice.
4d6 are rolled to pass skill checks including hitting a target. Small one-handed weapons deal 1d6 minus 1 damage, the lowest score being 1, regular 1d6 damage and bastard weapons as well as bows 2d6, two-handed weapons deal 3d6 damage.
Leather armour has 40 points of durability and absorbs 2 points of damage loosing durability and in the case of wooden weapons it absorbs 3/4 of the damage from each strike, not loosing durability. Further on is the chainmail, with 90 points of durability which acts as half of a barrier, absorbing 1/2 damage of an attack against the wearer while wooden weapons simply do not affect the durability of the chainmail while causing halved damage. And at last is the plate armour with a 140 durability points which acts as a full barrier and absorbs all damage until destroyed, wooden weapons cannot affect this armour, it hinders dodging. Weapons have the same range of durability, from leather and wood to plate and two-handed.
Casting sorceries involves a skill check as well and it is based on SAEIS or Strength, Agility, Endurance and Intellect as well as Sense. The five are what governs the skills of the characters. The skills are based on the basics of movement, combat, dialogue and work. Scaling as well as hiding, silent movement, physical endurance, melee and ranged combat, diplomacy, lying, sorcery with it's five divisions and work skills to name a few.
Sorcery can be defined through five groups which are telekinesis or psionics, weather powers such as thunderbolts, light, darkness, conjuration of water, power over electricity and fire. Further on prolonging and shortening of life, as in, healing and harm which are respectively green and red, conjuration of mundane objects as well as artifacts and thought exchange.
Countless adventures await based on random occurences or events happening based on the AI's travels and work. This includes animals, beasts and all sentient life represented within the simulation. These events exist beside the actual quests which form the plot as well as an abundance of side quests which can merge with AI created events within the storyline. For example, the antagonism of two characters leads to a side quest appearing while it may also not appear or disappear within the passage of events and advancing time.
Knowledge is divided into groups based on how it was earned as well as general knowledge gained in points and is spent on obtaining new skills and improving those already learned. Emerging victorious over a group of bandits allows a character to gain some SAEIS Knowledge Points.
The generic conversation system which works based on the Eight Pointed Star: People, Lore, Directions and Work, Friendship, Romance, Trade as well as Grouping. All of the aforementioned continue into lists of topics that have descriptions and can lead towards further lists of topics. Chosen topics affect available future topics as does the relationship system. Group conversations exist for up to five people as characters learn new topics simultaneously.
Characters stop their loitering to talk to other characters in their free time and stop their tasks to talk when in need to do so. The Player Character encounters characters wanting to speak to him or her and stopping beside to indicate the possibility of a conversation through a marker.
Humans, beasts, animals and other sentient life forms such as the draivad, tall humanoid goats without horns and the graykin who look as if undergrown humans and whose skin is gray like ash exist in the world of Archei and on the continent. Language is one of the skills based on Intellect, even the language of animals.
There is tobacco and drink, flirting, merriment and rejoycing, dancing amidst many other activities for all characters to enjoy. Thirst and hunger exist to further define the world. Health and Endurance to complete the four percentages that rule life within the setting.
Equipment is sorted into singular clothing and armour, cloaks and coats and helmets in items worn as well as supplies, weapons as well as items of multifold or single use in general equipment. Crafting is possible at workshops and campfires.
Twelve occupations define medieval life. As it is farming, herbalism, fishing, tailoring, mining and blacksmithing, hunting, leatherworking, sword-for-hire as well as thievery, carpentry, innkeeping and ownership of land. Land is a plot of land slot or a building. All of these can occupy both the player and the NPCs.
The journal or memory is shared as a system by all characters including the Player Character. Locations as well as people, work, notes and so on are scribed automatically within to allow the AI to perform it's best.
The simulation offers fluid animations and an array of movement within the video game, walking through crowds, jumping and running, skimming between characters as they collide.
Using the left mouse button is meant for walking while the right click for combat. The third mouse button brings up a list of possible interactions to apply to either mouse button while the game is paused.
The combat is based on slashing from sides or from overhead, thrusting or swings and two-handed strikes in cases of bastard weapons as well as single-handed swipes with two-handed weapons which are possible based on the third mouse button unless the player prefers a generic attack.
Ingame time of the thirty three hour day of the setting would equal from two up to four real life hours during which the player can do literally anything. Unique places as well as generic buildings to visit. For example the ruins of the Morgrayn castle and the buildings within the Morgrayn hamlet. The world is inhabited by many people and so holidays such as medieval festivities centred around religion or lack of work exist. The nine month year represents autumn and spring. Each month has four nine day weeks.
There are three realms to wander, work and adventure within. Load screens between the realms, while entering cities and buildings. Only the realm in which the player is in is the one in which all characters move and act while the other ones are simply calculated as if it was happening. Similarly all places behind loading screens. If a realm becomes depopulated characters from other realms as well as from the realms not depicted might travel within.
Seemless loading between tiles that would average in ten game screens, the one the player is in and all the surrounding ones to allow for travel between tiles. In the outside world there are two levels to the isometric world which are the ground level and the rooftops. Caverns and mines as well as buildings have many levels as well when designed to be as such.
Many possible endings to the game as well as the side quests. A branching storyline that may be affected by the random events and the player character's actions within the video game's timeline.
What is Archei: Archei is a world large enough to have a twenty four hour day. Only the moon exists and it as large as a sun would be, giving more light in day than night. This means everything in the world is quite pale although not unwelcoming.
The pangaean continent sprawls the entirety of the world, or planet, of Archei leaving the Oversea on all of the borders of the classical mercator map.
It is a place inhabited by humans, animals, beasts and monsters such as the draivad and graykin. Monsters in the eyes of the humans as in their humanoid forms they resemble both themselves and beasts. These monsters are still sentient beings and can create societies just as much as the humans can.
All humans are slightly vampiric because of their ancestry as in the past humanity of the world did not know how to farm or forage succesfully and so hunted, wandering the continent. In a few generations humanity adapted to forage as well and eventually became settled and started to cultivate the land. Eating raw meat and drinking blood affected the race forever.
Analysis: Mundane and exciting experiences in an advancing world. Simulation of societies, economy and characters. A plot that drives the player towards achieving the ultimate goal of performing sorcery at whim in order to defeat the wicked sorcerer.
An RTS in which one governs and attempts to work within an economy while controlling only one character. Endless gameplay and a massive scope. An RPG with love, revenge, overcoming obstacles, helping as well as selfishness and everything else that a simulation of real life in a medieval setting warrants.
Choices to make and consequences of actions. A brand new combat system based on dice rolling as well as skills. Skill system based on four six sided dice.
One immense sandbox map to cover the area of approximately thirty square kilometres or eighteen and a half square miles, a compressed part of the pangaea of Archei, approximately three realms.
From four to seven years of ingame time allowed within the video game. Advancing time through events.
Branching storylines within the main quest and the side quests as well as events and quests generated by the AI's movements and actions within the world. A memory system in which the computer processes journals ran simultaneously. Dialogues based on the eight pointed star and lists of possible topics with descriptions.
Possibility of multiplayer in the future of the simulation's development as well as neccessity for a demonstration version of the game to see how adding more characters and more locations affects the player's computer in order to discover how big the scope of the game can be on the next generation of PC and console gaming.
Patch Note I
Additional content: Flanking other characters guarantees a more fleshed out combat system where additional points, up to 6, are granted when standing beside another character in order to realise the concept of a battle in which characters surround themselves. This warrants attacking from behind a character as well, commonly known as backstabbing in case of daggers and shorter swords. The advantage becomes bigger the further a character is in degrees from the front of the character starting with 90. 180 to represent the back with 45 degrees each side to allow for backstabbing. Rushing is using the run ability as in the general experience in Sorcerer yet within combat to allow for standing directly beside another character. It can only be done at the end of a 2 metre circle around every character. Upon a succesful rush 3 points are added to the initial attack.
Intense swordplay in form of dueling, dodging and counterattacking. A duel is a process that involves different combat rules applying to the duels, strength becoming more important than agility as dodging becomes annuled and instead one has to rely on parrying, all characters can escape a duel through stepping backwards upon a succesful counterattack or attempting a roll of three dice in order to escape by stepping back succesfully while dodging is a skill that hinders the attacks upon a character using dodging by up to 6 points. Counterattacking is performed upon an attack on a character who tries to defend himself in one of three ways, dodge, counterattack or parrying. Upon an attack on the character in question a parrying attempt is based on a dice roll as well as a skill unless the character has a higher skill in dodging which works just the same.
Counterattacking is a derivative of parrying and so the skill requires the previous one and can only be performed upon a succesful parrying roll. After a skill check a character with the skill might be granted an attack.
Alcohol inebriates the character who uses it. Not only does the character who has partaken lose some social skills, they also receive a penalty to all dice rolls within the system. The status of inebriation starts after a character has drunk a bottle of hard drink or four of a softer variant. The penalties all vanish in time or through sleeping. One cannot decide how long one sleeps as when sober, it is always the maximum value of a one night sleep while characters that are not drunk can nap as well through deciding to sleep less than the maximum resting period of 12 hours. There are no benefits to being drunk even though it is a popular activity.
Tobacco drains endurance and offers nothing else except for being an activity that characters enjoy partaking in same as alcohol.
As for hemp, it raises the maximum endurance while draining the current amount the character has besides being an activity as well. It is a peculiar substance that is not used by most yet it allows for a deep waking rest and so has it's place within the world of Archei.
Exchange of goods and construction works are perhaps the most vital part of the life of a society. The PC can buy or build warehouses, obtain goods and even sell them. This means shops can be built or otherwise acquired and taken care of by the PC. By the work option within the EPS one can also hire people to take care of buildings. This warrants revenue out of shops and safe warehouses. Based on the events within the video game a thief might enter a shop owned by the PC where the player is the actual shopkeeper and he is away adventuring. In the case of the hired shopkeeper the events might work similar as the shopkeeper falls in love or gets drunk taking up all of his time for the day. This means he does not show up at the shop and the player might not ever find out about the thief who has taken goods from the PC if the player does not check the shop's wares.
However what would make a loyal and well paid worker abandon his duties? Self defence and defence of the closest ones. Above that his or her personal whims as they exist as of the AI continuing to shape a character's life based on the actions recorded in the journal at the start of the storyline. In example after a few weeks of gameplay the chivalric guard might become a brigand if luck is really not on his side as he lost his entire family and no longer desires to earn enough money to house them but instead enough to house himself. The character desires no social contact for some time and so does not fit his or her work as well.
Sense is a variation on sanity and wit in speech merged into one. It is the valid reasoning of social behaviour and norms, even the world past intellect which constitutes knowledge and natural predispositions. Sanity takes it's toll through gaining stress in combat, work and life. In diplomacy and deceit all is possible through exactly wit and cunning which are sense.
Apart from that there is the natural predisposition to selfish decisions and it's opposite, innate kindness and compassion. Adding to this the ordinary day conversation we have all the dialogue required for the completion of the EPS. Through multiplying the eight points in the EPS by the amount of dialogue that might be expected in an adventure game which is a basis for any role-playing game there is the conclusion that at least eight branches to each branch eight times are required for the conversation system to be varied in it's nature. These will be one or two sentence long for a quick exchange of words, sense skills will of course allow for different options instead of the generic similarly to intellect skills or the situation and stress.
Sorcery is, as stated through the lore and setting, a matter of thought. It is constructed by a human in order to achieve a goal. The thoughts become harder to complete for various reasons as the sorcery grows stronger in it's nature and so, skills affect and allow for branches of the initial sorceries a sorcerer or a sorceress might perform. The damage a harmful sorcery might inflict range from 1d6-1 to 13d6.
The twelve occupations merge with the crafting system which allows even for the painting of walls. To craft means to combine items.
Clothing is one object, all other objects are singular in nature excluding arm and leg armour which function as single objects as well. All characters share no nudity and wear basic clothing unless they acquire different clothing to replace it.
In skills the player has to reach mastery of a skill in order to unlock further skills including skills that overlap between statistics. 35 skills per each statistic totalling in 175 skills. Experience is earned and is automatically distributed evenly into all skills which are based on the action which earned the PC the experience.
Skills are as follows:
Strength: 1. Construction 2. Mining 3. Carrying weights 4. Applying physical forces 5. Movement
Agility: 1. Movement speed 2. Dodging 3. Thievery 4. Keeping balance 5. Sneaking
Endurance: 1. Withstanding pain 2. Body Health 3. Sprinting 4. Holding breath 5. Stamina
Intellect: 1. Thought 2. Memory 3. Understanding 4. Reading 5. Sorcery
Sense: 1. Charisma 2. Stress 3. Wit 4. Sanity 5.
These are the basic 35 skills which lead towards the further skills.
Sorcery works through right clicking and accessing the list of known sorceries and then left clicking to incant it which takes up to a few seconds of ingame time.
Usable skills as well.
The adventure game within Sorcerer is narrowed down to the dialogue system which functions as an innovative way of presenting in-game conversations to the player and the point and click adventure that exists within the simulation. Looking, applying force, opening, closing, climbing and so on.
Dialogue example:
People->1. Can I ask thee of (?), 2. Tell me of (?), 3. Thou shall speak of (?), 4. Revert back into EPS., with choosing 1. -> 1. I thank thee for telling me. 2. Is there anything else thee can say of (?), 3. I do not think thee are saying the truth.
Dialogue in reverse example:
I wish to learn of (?). 1. I cannot speak of the man/woman. 2. Not right now. / 1. I know a thing or two I can tell thee. -> Please do. 1. Entry based on journal/memory.
tl;dr2 - Best Game Ever Thought Of.
Date of delivery: Four years
Genre of video game: Simulation in the style of Role-Playing Games and Real Time Strategies as well as Adventure Games
Genre of plot: Medieval fantasy with the possibility of an industrial revolution
Setting: The world of Archei, pangaean continent of Archei
View: Isometric 2D or 3D, bird's eye view
Game Framework: 2D or 3D world, painted retro-style 2D or 3D models with fluid and vivid animations in advancing real time, 2D interface, an advancing twenty four hour light and darkness system, advanced AI
System requirements: Next generation of Personal Computer. Advanced graphics card, CPU and copious amounts of RAM
Concept: Sorcerer is an open-world simulation that allows for the type of freedom never before experienced when playing a video game. It is set in a fantasy world with a strong foundation in reality. In life it is work that creates societies and allows them to thrive. The simulation is meant to allow to see whole societies in actual gameplay rather than some form of storytelling which is bound to create a vivid experience for the player. Heroics and brigandry will have a great impact on the world as each character's action has consequences and can affect all characters in the game.
The Player Character is essentially the same as each Non-Playable Character as all characters in the simulation use the same conversation system to talk to each other, have the same massive set of skills which represents all the characters might do, use the same equipment sheet and can perform the same array of actions. Except for sorcery which can be mastered and used only by a few.
In the ongoing quest for supplies, food and drink as well as equipment is a driving force in the lives of the characters as they trade, live, sleep, fight, work and travel the world in order to achieve their goals and fulfill their everyday needs.
Realms can rise and fall into ruins based on the lack of supply of goods while increasing demand enforces growth and the simulation is meant to let the player see this happening through travelling amidst all the societies present. If a hamlet is attacked by brigands while no guard is present the town won't be supplied with grain and mercenaries will be dispatched to deal with the brigands. If they fail, the scenario might repeat and the town might become abandoned as people seek better lives. If they succeed, both the hamlet and the town will be saved.
Hunters might bring back wolf skins to allow their people to craft boots and the event will lead the savage humanoids dwelling in the wilderness to roam into different lands in search of leather for armour, fangs and claws for jewellery and meat to sate their hunger as the forests might become bare of fruit and roots through lack of experience in gathering. Eventually the tribe might settle for good as they are knowledged enough in all manners of life to build their own stronghold.
Sorcerers rule this world either from towns which they protect or through wandering the world in search of interesting events, ruins to discover or artifacts and scrolls to study in their abodes, towers, on the road or at one inn or another. Sorcery is the ultimate power granted to mortals by the Divine for their deeds during their mortal lives. There is no limit to this power as one needs merely to think and perform ceremonial movements of hands, fingers.
A storyline exists in the simulation and it is meant to take the player on an adventure which will allow to travel three realms covered by wilderness and dotted with hamlets, towns, farms, mines, caverns and strongholds.
Concept of the plot: In the world of Archei where day and night last for twenty four hours within a nine day week, on the pangaean continent called the same name by it's people, much is about to change as a no one without any past, work or ties to any place is to become the ninth sorcerer. Or rather be cast into the events that will take him there by arriving in a hamlet called Creel northwest of the town of Virell. The story of this nobody will be a long one as he or she is cast into events far beyond the imagination of mere mortals. The journey will take this hero or heroine to face darkness itself and hopefully prevail against the force that opposes the Divine and the life of all those who roam Archei. For the eighth sorcerer is unknown to all for a long time by then and his Humane mind has yearned for power for far too long to be considered human. Yet it will take time, up to seven years if at all to achieve what is to be achieved or shy away from the quest at hand as the hero or heroine might prove to be a simple landowner and a farmer or the keeper of an orchard, guard of one of the towns or a brigand, blackguard and a thief. The sorcerers are the almost omnipotent beings that can control the world at thought and whim, casting sorcery based on the elements that define the world. From conjuring weapons, food and drink to casting thunderbolts and icicles hard as steel at their foes. Above them stand only the demideities anointed by the deity of Archei and it's creator. It is the demideities whom decide when a new sorcerer or sorceress might appear. The ninth sorcerer will be replaced. Destiny awaits.
Content: The combat works based on a six sided dice system in which hitting a target and damage is represented by dice rolls. Armour acts as a barrier to damage and has it's own durability points as opposed to the percentage of health. The dice number is the first of the 1d6 acronym, in this example it means one six sided dice.
4d6 are rolled to pass skill checks including hitting a target. Small one-handed weapons deal 1d6 minus 1 damage, the lowest score being 1, regular 1d6 damage and bastard weapons as well as bows 2d6, two-handed weapons deal 3d6 damage.
Leather armour has 40 points of durability and absorbs 2 points of damage loosing durability and in the case of wooden weapons it absorbs 3/4 of the damage from each strike, not loosing durability. Further on is the chainmail, with 90 points of durability which acts as half of a barrier, absorbing 1/2 damage of an attack against the wearer while wooden weapons simply do not affect the durability of the chainmail while causing halved damage. And at last is the plate armour with a 140 durability points which acts as a full barrier and absorbs all damage until destroyed, wooden weapons cannot affect this armour, it hinders dodging. Weapons have the same range of durability, from leather and wood to plate and two-handed.
Casting sorceries involves a skill check as well and it is based on SAEIS or Strength, Agility, Endurance and Intellect as well as Sense. The five are what governs the skills of the characters. The skills are based on the basics of movement, combat, dialogue and work. Scaling as well as hiding, silent movement, physical endurance, melee and ranged combat, diplomacy, lying, sorcery with it's five divisions and work skills to name a few.
Sorcery can be defined through five groups which are telekinesis or psionics, weather powers such as thunderbolts, light, darkness, conjuration of water, power over electricity and fire. Further on prolonging and shortening of life, as in, healing and harm which are respectively green and red, conjuration of mundane objects as well as artifacts and thought exchange.
Countless adventures await based on random occurences or events happening based on the AI's travels and work. This includes animals, beasts and all sentient life represented within the simulation. These events exist beside the actual quests which form the plot as well as an abundance of side quests which can merge with AI created events within the storyline. For example, the antagonism of two characters leads to a side quest appearing while it may also not appear or disappear within the passage of events and advancing time.
Knowledge is divided into groups based on how it was earned as well as general knowledge gained in points and is spent on obtaining new skills and improving those already learned. Emerging victorious over a group of bandits allows a character to gain some SAEIS Knowledge Points.
The generic conversation system which works based on the Eight Pointed Star: People, Lore, Directions and Work, Friendship, Romance, Trade as well as Grouping. All of the aforementioned continue into lists of topics that have descriptions and can lead towards further lists of topics. Chosen topics affect available future topics as does the relationship system. Group conversations exist for up to five people as characters learn new topics simultaneously.
Characters stop their loitering to talk to other characters in their free time and stop their tasks to talk when in need to do so. The Player Character encounters characters wanting to speak to him or her and stopping beside to indicate the possibility of a conversation through a marker.
Humans, beasts, animals and other sentient life forms such as the draivad, tall humanoid goats without horns and the graykin who look as if undergrown humans and whose skin is gray like ash exist in the world of Archei and on the continent. Language is one of the skills based on Intellect, even the language of animals.
There is tobacco and drink, flirting, merriment and rejoycing, dancing amidst many other activities for all characters to enjoy. Thirst and hunger exist to further define the world. Health and Endurance to complete the four percentages that rule life within the setting.
Equipment is sorted into singular clothing and armour, cloaks and coats and helmets in items worn as well as supplies, weapons as well as items of multifold or single use in general equipment. Crafting is possible at workshops and campfires.
Twelve occupations define medieval life. As it is farming, herbalism, fishing, tailoring, mining and blacksmithing, hunting, leatherworking, sword-for-hire as well as thievery, carpentry, innkeeping and ownership of land. Land is a plot of land slot or a building. All of these can occupy both the player and the NPCs.
The journal or memory is shared as a system by all characters including the Player Character. Locations as well as people, work, notes and so on are scribed automatically within to allow the AI to perform it's best.
The simulation offers fluid animations and an array of movement within the video game, walking through crowds, jumping and running, skimming between characters as they collide.
Using the left mouse button is meant for walking while the right click for combat. The third mouse button brings up a list of possible interactions to apply to either mouse button while the game is paused.
The combat is based on slashing from sides or from overhead, thrusting or swings and two-handed strikes in cases of bastard weapons as well as single-handed swipes with two-handed weapons which are possible based on the third mouse button unless the player prefers a generic attack.
Ingame time of the thirty three hour day of the setting would equal from two up to four real life hours during which the player can do literally anything. Unique places as well as generic buildings to visit. For example the ruins of the Morgrayn castle and the buildings within the Morgrayn hamlet. The world is inhabited by many people and so holidays such as medieval festivities centred around religion or lack of work exist. The nine month year represents autumn and spring. Each month has four nine day weeks.
There are three realms to wander, work and adventure within. Load screens between the realms, while entering cities and buildings. Only the realm in which the player is in is the one in which all characters move and act while the other ones are simply calculated as if it was happening. Similarly all places behind loading screens. If a realm becomes depopulated characters from other realms as well as from the realms not depicted might travel within.
Seemless loading between tiles that would average in ten game screens, the one the player is in and all the surrounding ones to allow for travel between tiles. In the outside world there are two levels to the isometric world which are the ground level and the rooftops. Caverns and mines as well as buildings have many levels as well when designed to be as such.
Many possible endings to the game as well as the side quests. A branching storyline that may be affected by the random events and the player character's actions within the video game's timeline.
What is Archei: Archei is a world large enough to have a twenty four hour day. Only the moon exists and it as large as a sun would be, giving more light in day than night. This means everything in the world is quite pale although not unwelcoming.
The pangaean continent sprawls the entirety of the world, or planet, of Archei leaving the Oversea on all of the borders of the classical mercator map.
It is a place inhabited by humans, animals, beasts and monsters such as the draivad and graykin. Monsters in the eyes of the humans as in their humanoid forms they resemble both themselves and beasts. These monsters are still sentient beings and can create societies just as much as the humans can.
All humans are slightly vampiric because of their ancestry as in the past humanity of the world did not know how to farm or forage succesfully and so hunted, wandering the continent. In a few generations humanity adapted to forage as well and eventually became settled and started to cultivate the land. Eating raw meat and drinking blood affected the race forever.
Analysis: Mundane and exciting experiences in an advancing world. Simulation of societies, economy and characters. A plot that drives the player towards achieving the ultimate goal of performing sorcery at whim in order to defeat the wicked sorcerer.
An RTS in which one governs and attempts to work within an economy while controlling only one character. Endless gameplay and a massive scope. An RPG with love, revenge, overcoming obstacles, helping as well as selfishness and everything else that a simulation of real life in a medieval setting warrants.
Choices to make and consequences of actions. A brand new combat system based on dice rolling as well as skills. Skill system based on four six sided dice.
One immense sandbox map to cover the area of approximately thirty square kilometres or eighteen and a half square miles, a compressed part of the pangaea of Archei, approximately three realms.
From four to seven years of ingame time allowed within the video game. Advancing time through events.
Branching storylines within the main quest and the side quests as well as events and quests generated by the AI's movements and actions within the world. A memory system in which the computer processes journals ran simultaneously. Dialogues based on the eight pointed star and lists of possible topics with descriptions.
Possibility of multiplayer in the future of the simulation's development as well as neccessity for a demonstration version of the game to see how adding more characters and more locations affects the player's computer in order to discover how big the scope of the game can be on the next generation of PC and console gaming.
Patch Note I
Additional content: Flanking other characters guarantees a more fleshed out combat system where additional points, up to 6, are granted when standing beside another character in order to realise the concept of a battle in which characters surround themselves. This warrants attacking from behind a character as well, commonly known as backstabbing in case of daggers and shorter swords. The advantage becomes bigger the further a character is in degrees from the front of the character starting with 90. 180 to represent the back with 45 degrees each side to allow for backstabbing. Rushing is using the run ability as in the general experience in Sorcerer yet within combat to allow for standing directly beside another character. It can only be done at the end of a 2 metre circle around every character. Upon a succesful rush 3 points are added to the initial attack.
Intense swordplay in form of dueling, dodging and counterattacking. A duel is a process that involves different combat rules applying to the duels, strength becoming more important than agility as dodging becomes annuled and instead one has to rely on parrying, all characters can escape a duel through stepping backwards upon a succesful counterattack or attempting a roll of three dice in order to escape by stepping back succesfully while dodging is a skill that hinders the attacks upon a character using dodging by up to 6 points. Counterattacking is performed upon an attack on a character who tries to defend himself in one of three ways, dodge, counterattack or parrying. Upon an attack on the character in question a parrying attempt is based on a dice roll as well as a skill unless the character has a higher skill in dodging which works just the same.
Counterattacking is a derivative of parrying and so the skill requires the previous one and can only be performed upon a succesful parrying roll. After a skill check a character with the skill might be granted an attack.
Alcohol inebriates the character who uses it. Not only does the character who has partaken lose some social skills, they also receive a penalty to all dice rolls within the system. The status of inebriation starts after a character has drunk a bottle of hard drink or four of a softer variant. The penalties all vanish in time or through sleeping. One cannot decide how long one sleeps as when sober, it is always the maximum value of a one night sleep while characters that are not drunk can nap as well through deciding to sleep less than the maximum resting period of 12 hours. There are no benefits to being drunk even though it is a popular activity.
Tobacco drains endurance and offers nothing else except for being an activity that characters enjoy partaking in same as alcohol.
As for hemp, it raises the maximum endurance while draining the current amount the character has besides being an activity as well. It is a peculiar substance that is not used by most yet it allows for a deep waking rest and so has it's place within the world of Archei.
Exchange of goods and construction works are perhaps the most vital part of the life of a society. The PC can buy or build warehouses, obtain goods and even sell them. This means shops can be built or otherwise acquired and taken care of by the PC. By the work option within the EPS one can also hire people to take care of buildings. This warrants revenue out of shops and safe warehouses. Based on the events within the video game a thief might enter a shop owned by the PC where the player is the actual shopkeeper and he is away adventuring. In the case of the hired shopkeeper the events might work similar as the shopkeeper falls in love or gets drunk taking up all of his time for the day. This means he does not show up at the shop and the player might not ever find out about the thief who has taken goods from the PC if the player does not check the shop's wares.
However what would make a loyal and well paid worker abandon his duties? Self defence and defence of the closest ones. Above that his or her personal whims as they exist as of the AI continuing to shape a character's life based on the actions recorded in the journal at the start of the storyline. In example after a few weeks of gameplay the chivalric guard might become a brigand if luck is really not on his side as he lost his entire family and no longer desires to earn enough money to house them but instead enough to house himself. The character desires no social contact for some time and so does not fit his or her work as well.
Sense is a variation on sanity and wit in speech merged into one. It is the valid reasoning of social behaviour and norms, even the world past intellect which constitutes knowledge and natural predispositions. Sanity takes it's toll through gaining stress in combat, work and life. In diplomacy and deceit all is possible through exactly wit and cunning which are sense.
Apart from that there is the natural predisposition to selfish decisions and it's opposite, innate kindness and compassion. Adding to this the ordinary day conversation we have all the dialogue required for the completion of the EPS. Through multiplying the eight points in the EPS by the amount of dialogue that might be expected in an adventure game which is a basis for any role-playing game there is the conclusion that at least eight branches to each branch eight times are required for the conversation system to be varied in it's nature. These will be one or two sentence long for a quick exchange of words, sense skills will of course allow for different options instead of the generic similarly to intellect skills or the situation and stress.
Sorcery is, as stated through the lore and setting, a matter of thought. It is constructed by a human in order to achieve a goal. The thoughts become harder to complete for various reasons as the sorcery grows stronger in it's nature and so, skills affect and allow for branches of the initial sorceries a sorcerer or a sorceress might perform. The damage a harmful sorcery might inflict range from 1d6-1 to 13d6.
The twelve occupations merge with the crafting system which allows even for the painting of walls. To craft means to combine items.
Clothing is one object, all other objects are singular in nature excluding arm and leg armour which function as single objects as well. All characters share no nudity and wear basic clothing unless they acquire different clothing to replace it.
In skills the player has to reach mastery of a skill in order to unlock further skills including skills that overlap between statistics. 35 skills per each statistic totalling in 175 skills. Experience is earned and is automatically distributed evenly into all skills which are based on the action which earned the PC the experience.
Skills are as follows:
Strength: 1. Construction 2. Mining 3. Carrying weights 4. Applying physical forces 5. Movement
Agility: 1. Movement speed 2. Dodging 3. Thievery 4. Keeping balance 5. Sneaking
Endurance: 1. Withstanding pain 2. Body Health 3. Sprinting 4. Holding breath 5. Stamina
Intellect: 1. Thought 2. Memory 3. Understanding 4. Reading 5. Sorcery
Sense: 1. Charisma 2. Stress 3. Wit 4. Sanity 5.
These are the basic 35 skills which lead towards the further skills.
Sorcery works through right clicking and accessing the list of known sorceries and then left clicking to incant it which takes up to a few seconds of ingame time.
Usable skills as well.
The adventure game within Sorcerer is narrowed down to the dialogue system which functions as an innovative way of presenting in-game conversations to the player and the point and click adventure that exists within the simulation. Looking, applying force, opening, closing, climbing and so on.
Dialogue example:
People->1. Can I ask thee of (?), 2. Tell me of (?), 3. Thou shall speak of (?), 4. Revert back into EPS., with choosing 1. -> 1. I thank thee for telling me. 2. Is there anything else thee can say of (?), 3. I do not think thee are saying the truth.
Dialogue in reverse example:
I wish to learn of (?). 1. I cannot speak of the man/woman. 2. Not right now. / 1. I know a thing or two I can tell thee. -> Please do. 1. Entry based on journal/memory.
