HowToWriteAdventureGamesUsingArianne: Difference between revisions

In this document I will show, as an example of the development of a game, the development of the stendhal game.<br>

I will give more guidelines and templates to help you start your own game at the end of the document but please first read the stendhal example. It is essential to see a real working example of a game to fully understand the Arianne system.

Developing a multiplayer online game is a very complex task. In fact I would say that it is the most complex software development task that you can imagine. Arianne lowers that complexity level several orders of magnitude! However, there are still several things you need to have a knowledge of to successfully understand this game design example:

* Java: Everything in this example is coded using Java.

* Client/Server concepts: These will help you understand why things are done the way they are.

* Game design: Having a knowledge of game design will simplify the understanding of the overall document.

Just make sure you know the basics, i.e. you are able to write Java code and that you know a little about game design procedures.

Remember that Arianne provides a client/server middleware which needs extending and modifing to suit your game thus you need to think about both the server and client sides:

* Server: this is similar to the referee of all the online players. It tells every player what he/she sees and what he/she can do. It also determines the result of actions that players perform.

* Client: these are similar to a TV in that they use information from the server to provide a view in to the game. The client also takes input from the player and sends that to the server.

There are no other prerequisites to using Arianne technology and you should find nearly everything else you need will be explained in this document. So let's get started!

Before starting to do anything, think about the game you want to implement.<br>

Decide what your game is about, what features it will have, what will make it different to other similar games, what technologies

will be used in it, and so on... Try to plan your design well first to avoid problems later.

For our example we are going to write a game called stendhal.

Stendhal is a multiplayer online adventure game based on the Acorn, the first Worldforge game.<br>

Stendhal wants to look like Zelda and get the look of the game that rules the 90's.

Stendhal's plot is to grow sheeps by taking them with you to eat on the plains or the forest. The task is not simple because you will have to look after them because hungry wolves will try to eat your sheep: so be careful and protect your sheep.

Sheeps must be bought when small at Farm, and sell later when you grow it at the Village. For each Sheep you sell when it has grow up, you will get an extra income. You will need to spend money on getting new weapons and armors and healing potions to protect yourself and your sheeps of thieves and wolves.

As you see Stendhal is a minigame that try to push everything related to RPG:

* tasks

* actions

* areas

* Role playing

A first draft of the game looks like this:

http://arianne.sourceforge.net/wiki_images/Stendhal_Map.jpg

and the game should looks like:

http://arianne.sourceforge.net/wiki_images/Stendhal_GUI_detailed.jpg

''The GFX is not the actual ingame look''