Re: [Once development] Design needs infromation

[Cirilo B. <be...@tp...>]

Jon 'ResQuad' Davis wrote:
> I know all the lists have generally slowed down to a standstill - but 
> I'm back and attempting to kick content design back into gear.  One 
> problem is - I dont know what we can and can't design.  So to the Active 
> developers - What kind of restrictions are there from the programming 
> side?  Few example questions below:
> 
> Are we still talking about the entire country side being one big 
> continus zone (at least from the users POV)?
Not sure - ideally we should try to break it up into smaller sectors for 
loading, but you have to be sure that the edge has the same height + 
materials as the adjacent sector or else you will end up with a tear in 
the terrain.

> Are the cities going to be in their own zones?
We can easily do this for cities with gates or at least with limited 
entry points - I prefer high walls and gates in this case.

> Can we install instance zones?  (For dungeuns and the like)
This is not in the specs and not currently in the plans. When doing 
instancing it is better to have multiple servers, but Once is a 
single-server design at the moment.

> Can we put teleports/warps in?
Yes, no problem at all with that - if it is a permanent teleporter, just 
make a portal.

> What kind of trigger control do/will we have?  (If you cross a cerntain 
> point, something will happen - or - You read a "book" and you will get a 
> quest pop)
That hasn't been decided yet, and it needs a lot of thought.

> Do/can/will we have some way of creating ingame cutscenes?  (In 
> otherwords locking the controls for a time - and controlling the camera)
No reason this can't be done - it's just not in the design docs.

> Is there any limitations on what NPC's can say/do?  (Can we give the 
> NPC's different responses based on if a certain quest is 
> active/completed/etc - Will they be able to walk around?  Will they be 
> able to follow you - provided certain conditions are met?)
There is no NPC intelligence whatsoever yet.  I imagine we start out 
with immobile NPCs for quests and as the intelligence system is 
developed etc, then we can do whatever we like.  Most quest NPCs should 
be immobile.


- pinniped