I was cruising the forums recently as I obviously only lurk here once in a while, but I was looking into all the recent "MMO Burnout" and was reading what everyone is saying. Then I came across this post.
Definitely very interesting and reminds me, oddly enough, of a very old comic/story in an issue of Gamepro probably 15 years ago now? It was about an insect RPG where you were an ant, if I remember right, and had to go out and fight to get the ant princess back or such. There would the "Blade of Grass" as your weapon, the acorn top as your helm, the glob of honey as a healing potion, and other assorted things that I can't remember anymore. Though even with all the time that's passed I've still remember this little article, so it definitely left it's mark on me and I always wanted to see something similar.
The only thing "close" to this would be like SimAnt or something. But as far as an actual game where you'd individually playing a certain insect and doing whatever there isn't really any of those that are RPG like. Thri-Kreen (mantoids) are in D&D in the Dark Sun series though. With 4 arms and making those hardened spit shurikens and such.
The insect idea definitely could be an MMO or at least an RPG of sorts. The kind of idea that is great but no one has the balls, or probably the skill to make.
It's funny with some people mentioning in this thread, "Well, what would you do? Collect food for the queen?" Sadly, this wouldn't be much different than most MMO quests these days, at least it would be an "honest" fetch quest eh? As opposed to dressing it up with all this grandoise language when it's really just retrieving some item from a dungeon for Lord X.
Anyhow, good idea.
---------------------------- "Hero of Time! Face me!"
I think it would be better as an MMORTS, a insect mmorpg would be cool too....but here is my idea of one that I posted long ago. Actually, I posted it back in 2005 on an old account I don't use anymore...but here it is, and its old so some features might need to be changed or added or something, but you'll get the general idea...oh and it took me like 30min to find it again. This is the OP I made awhile back thats kinda like a mmorpg, and then I'll reply again with something thats more like a mmorts
here it is: (note: I didn't change anything from it and yes, grammar and spelling could be wrong...but this was when I was awhile ago, so bare with it)
We've all seen these fantasy sword swinging, magic blasting mmorpgs...we've seen futuristic mmorpgs..and some different ones like, city of heroes...and the soon to be auto assault.
But what about a new genre for mmorpgs? What would it be called? Who knows...
It would be based on being an insect, you can be either an: Ant (Worker, soldier, maybe winged ant?), a termite (same caste as ants pretty much) bees and wasps.
Ants would live underground, now as a worker your job is to find food for the colony, take care of the brood, dig tunnels to expand the nest and take care of the queen.
Soldier ants would be good at attacking other species, they can also dig and find food for the nest...but they wouldnt be able to take care of the brood (Why you ask?) will, because their powerful jaws would destroy the brood.
Termites about same as ants, but just need wood to live...much weaker then the ants, but have more numbers .
Bees would be similar, not sure how this would be implemented...they live in hives and are very strong, but not many in numbers.
Wasps are basicly like bees but live in the ground and hunt insects too.
enemies too that you cant play as, spiders that take many ants to kill. (no humans, humans in sim ant were SO annoying, that means no bugspray, or any human type thing) there would be birds that would come down and eat you, ant eaters that eat ants but can eat termites too. More others, but too many to list
Now how would this game work? Will, it be like a MMORTS, sim ant and empire of the ants combined.
You start out somewhere, maybe near another ant nest...or far away from it. The world is huge compared to you, so unlikely you'll be near anyone else. You start with a winged female, which you must find a good nesting area and start digging a colony and laying eggs. Now, not sure on how bees/wasps/termites work...I mostly know ants, so work with me here icon_smile.gif I'll do ants as an example first
Now, the chambers you'll have to dig and you will actually have to put the dirt outside your nest. Unlike empire of the ants where you put a huge part of the nest down...you make your own chambers and tunnels...not already made ones.
Now once you get your first workers (you can lay soldiers first, you can choose which you want to lay...but then your colony most likely wont survive, I'll explain this in a bit) you'll need to direct them to start digging and immedietly finding food (I'll explain food later) and help take care of the brood.
Now soldiers can conquer other ant colonies, but you probably wont have many of these...workers will make a big chunk of your force and help fight wars. But soldiers help a lot when defending/attacking a nest. They can dig and help find food, but if they take care of the brood, the brood dies because the soldiers jaws are so big that they crush the eggs (brood)
Winged ants (also called Alates) will be made later when your colony is established, you'll get the option to start laying alates after a certain amount of ants are born. Not too sure how alates will be handled. I have a few ideas if you want to comment on them, one is, you'll just control one big ant nest so one person doesnt get too strong and alates that successfuly make a colony will be like an ally to you.
Or, the alates that make a colony you can control both colonies and you can spread across the land (one person MIGHT become to strong so) but remember, most ants fight each other reguardless of species, so not too sure...give me ideas. A rts you do conquer stuff, maybe you can capture other nests or something...like I said, give me ideas.
Termites are pretty much like ants, but need a moist place constantly, a lot more in numbers (breed faster) but are much weaker and slower then ants. They just eat wood.
Bees/wasps-Bees will live in hives, harder to reach them...fewer in numbers but much stronger then ants. Wasps will live in the ground and are very very strong, but have a lot less in a colony.
Now food, bees get flowers. Wasps get other insects to eat mostly (ants/other bees and insects that you see somewhere in the world)
Ants will eat a much variety of food, making it somewhat easier and somewhat harder. Unlike termites that just need wood and moisture to live, ants need a lot more. Ants will need a sugary food (honey from flowers or other bee hives) and protein for the new born ants and brood. Protein is pretty easy to get, since you can travel in numbers and kill an insect you find in the world.
Now, the bee you'll be using would be the honeybee.
Ants-Not sure what species could be ingame, maybe Fire ants, Harvester ants? ETc
Termites-Subterranean termites are most common, not sure what else there would be.
Wasps-???
Maybe there would be different subspecies for each insect you can be, which would be somewhat better then just one choice for each species of insect.
This would be a great mmorpg that I would even pay for depending if it was done well. Give me your thoughts opinions, if you like it enough...show this link to your friends or other sites.
That was the MMORPG version, here is the MMOTS version (somewhat similar, but some things changed) also, most of it is about ants since that is what I know most about, I hate them so (I'm allergic) but they are interesting and I've learned a few ways to avoid them or get rid of them from my research, I actually went to the hospital because I got bit by a Fire ant and went into shock. But anyways...
We've all seen these fantasy sword swinging, magic blasting mmorpgs...we've seen futuristic mmorpgs..and some different ones like, city of heroes...and the soon to be auto assault.
But what about a MMORTS based on insects?
you can be either several species of ants, several species of termites, bees and wasps. Each would have disadvantages and advantages, although like in the wild ants have more different ant species than bees/wasps/termites do. Not sure how one would balance it out, but oh well. Why ants/Termites/Bees and Wasps? Well each are unique in the insect family as they are all social and have a queen. Unlike other insects they work together for the colony/hive and are far superior than other insects.
Ants would live underground of course. It could be like Sim Ant, or Empire of the Ants (The RTS game) you control one ant and other ants (NPC ants) would crawl around looking for food, caring for brood and digging tunnels. All this would be automatic. The same would apply to bees/wasps/termites.
Ants species could include: Harvester ants, Fire ants, Carpenter ants etc. Harvester ants would only have one size in their caste like they do in the wild and eat only insects/seeds. Fire ants would eat insects and human like products. Fire ants would also have minor workers/workers and major workers. Carpenter ants would only nest in wood and eat insects or sugar substances. I'm sure there could be someway to balance them all out.
Enemies too that you cant play as, spiders that take many ants to kill. There would be birds that would come down and eat you, ant eaters that eat ants but can eat termites too. Humans could also play a part in some areas, like if you are nesting near a town or a house or building that a human lives in your colony could get destroyed. But like if you had a nest deep in the woods, then its almost impossible for a human to wander by and step on you (still possible, but not likely at all).
You start out somewhere, maybe near another ant nest...or far away from it. The world is huge compared to you, so unlikely you'll be near anyone else. You start with a winged female, which you must find a good nesting area and start digging a colony and laying eggs. Now, not sure on how bees/wasps/termites work...I mostly know ants, so work with me here, I'll do ants as an example first.
Now, the chambers you'll have to dig and you will actually have to put the dirt outside your nest. Unlike empire of the ants where you put tunnels automatically down like bricks...you make your own chambers and tunnels like Sim Ant.
Now once you get your first workers (you can lay soldiers first, you can choose which you want to lay...but then your colony most likely wont survive, I'll explain this in a bit) you'll need to direct them to start digging and immedietly find food (I'll explain food later) and help take care of the brood.
Now soldiers can conquer other ant colonies, but you probably wont have many of these...workers will make a big chunk of your force and help fight wars. But soldiers help a lot when defending/attacking a nest. They can dig and help find food, but if they take care of the brood, the brood dies because the soldiers jaws are so big that they crush the eggs (brood)
Winged ants (also called Alates) will be made later when your colony is established, you'll get the option to start laying alates after a certain amount of ants are born. Once your Alate(s) fly somewhere and successfully makes a nest without being eaten or killed by enemies or a number of disasters, you control that nest and your starting nest, and you slowly spread. But many number of things can happen if your colonies get too many (not enough food, poisons, drought, parasites etc) and you can slowly die if you are unlucky. Also, other ant nests controlled by players can attack you, humans can destroy lots of your nests if you are living in a town/city, bees/wasps can decide to attack you and termites can wage war on you from underground.
Termites are pretty much like ants, but need a moist place constantly, a lot more in numbers (breed faster) but are much weaker and slower then ants. They just eat wood. Also, the soldiers can block tunnels and stop ants from getting in.
Bees/wasps-Bees will live in hives, harder to reach them...fewer in numbers but much stronger then ants. Also bees in defense can group together in the hive creating it very hot inside to kill intruders. Wasps will live in the ground and are very very strong, but have a lot less in a colony.
Now food, bees get flowers. Wasps get other insects to eat mostly (ants/other bees and insects that you see somewhere in the world)
Ants will eat a much variety of food, making it somewhat easier and somewhat harder. Unlike termites that just need wood and moisture to live, ants need a lot more. Ants will need a sugary food (honey from flowers or other bee hives or human food) and protein for the new born ants and brood. Protein is pretty easy to get, since you can travel in numbers and kill an insect you find in the world. Ants can also use formic acid as a weapon to spray other ants or enemies/insects with.
Ants-Like I said, Fire ants/Harvester ants/Carpenter ants and other types.
Termites-Subterranean termites, and thats the only termite species I know of.
Wasps-I am not sure what species there are.
This would be a great mmorpg that I would even pay for depending if it was done well. Give me your thoughts opinions, if you like it enough...show this link to your friends or other sites.
I saw a show yesterday on the Discovery Channel about killer bees. Here in America they are feared because of their aggresiveness and danger they pose to humans and other animals. But it turns out there is a bee species in Africa that is capable of defeating the African killer bee. It's called the Cape honey bee, so named because it lives only along the cape of South Africa. The two species never came in contact with one another until humans crossed their territories in order to see what would happen.
It turns out the docile honey bee defeats the killer bee and does it in a very cool way. Worker honey bees infiltrate an African hive and try to pass themselves off as a killer. Most are discovered and immediately killed by the African bees. However, every once in a while a honey bee is able to slip by the hives defenses. Since a honey worker bee is a female it then lays eggs in the hive. These eggs are unfertilized since they do not mate with any of the the African bees. But that simply means that they are guaranteed not to become male bees. They still hatch as exact clones of the bee that laid them. But before they hatch, the killer bees care for the eggs and for some reason give them special treatment. This means that they will be bigger and stronger than the African bees own eggs. So when they hatch, they become kind of a pseudo-queen. As a result, African worker bees become confused and kill their own queen.
Soon anarchy reigns and the bees begin to neglect their duties. They no longer gather food and eventually the hive starves to death.
Why am I posting this? Well after I saw that show, I remember this thread from last month about an insect MMO. It made me think about how cool it would be to have this kind of battle take place in this type of game.
There is already an insect race in the Darksun universe, forgot what they are called, Katkhlans or somthing. They had some equips but their main thing was you could quadruple wield weps. Their strength wasnt as good as the halfgiants but they were still cool.
Also there was an mmorpg in development, think it fell through though, you were gonna play all alien creatures and some were very insect like.
This thread reminds me of the scene in the movie BIG where they are talking about transformers that turn into buildings.
JOSH Well, there's a million robots that turn into something. And this is a building that turns into a robot. So what's so fun about playing with a building? That's not any fun!
PAUL This is a skyscraper.
JOSH Well, couldn't it be like a robot that turns into something like a bug or something?
PAUL A bug? JOSH Yeah! Like a big prehistoric insect with maybe like giant claws that could pick up a car and crush it like that!
You can't have equipment, you can't have any magic, you can't have almost everything...
All you'd do would be: "Get Food! Build Hive! Feed Eggs/Larvae!"...
Well, your typical level based MMO is "Get quest, kill mobs, get reward, rinse and repeat". So orc, elve, ant, bee...really not much difference in the repetitiveness other than the context it is implemented in. Most all of MMO lack tools and freedom for players to use creativity.
But back to the topic. Sounds like a neat idea. I remember playing and enjoying Sid Meir's Sim Ant on SNES---wow that was a long time ago--. It was actually interesting to see how much you could in Sim Ant-- building, maintaining, and expanding your colony, protecting your colony from outside threats both human and other invading ants, etc.
MMO based on insects could be based on "survival of the fittest" where you select your insect type and then do what insects do build colonies, reproduce, gather food, attack and defend against other insects. Perhaps the goal is to exterminate the other insects. Would make for fun PvP with player controlled insects trying to wipe each other out. Of course there probably will be need for embelishment to give your insects enough abilites to make for interesting PvP and colony building but I'm sure it could be done easily.
Interesting idea and the possibilites are endless.
I think many people would be too grossed out to play a game like this, unless they made the graphics really, really cheesy and cartoony.
But otherwise, wouldn't it end up as the same thing, only with different labels? "Go and visit 20 flowers to get pollen." "Defeat 20 ants from the enemy colony." "The Queen has been kidnapped! Gather friends and get her back."
Has to have real time combat. I think the combat should be like playing the aliens in Alien vs Predator. Fast movement, crawling on walls, pouncing, etc.
You can't have equipment, you can't have any magic, you can't have almost everything...
All you'd do would be: "Get Food! Build Hive! Feed Eggs/Larvae!"...
Do you have any creative ability at all... Seriously.
But, something that might suit you is in the works already: Spore.
Not a classical MMO.
You are right, it`s not a classical MMO, because it ISN`T an MMO.....
To the OP, a very good, creative, original idea. Props to you. I would suggest however to not just simply go the "armour" and Magic route but to seriously contemplate what could be done differently. No need to make an entirely different world if the same old dry mechanics are at use. Good Luck.
I agree. If you were departing so radically in genre, why stick to the same old conventions (armor, hit points, magic, etc). Personally, I think an insect MMORPG would work much better as a more social MMORPG. Not that there wouldn't be combat--anyone who's observed insects in their backyard or watched a nature documentary knows that the insect world is pretty brutal and dog-eat-dog or bug-eat-bug. But I think the key gameplay element that would make an insect MMO intriguing would be that balance between primal survival and the intricacies and complexities of their social structures/hives/colonies. Much more similar in play to a game like Civilization, Sim City, or even Utopia (I'm going way back) than a hack-and-slash or FPS.
As long as you have an I-Net connection, your Species is being Uploaded to a Spore Server, and Species from other Players are being downloaded, and integrated into your World as it fits. (
That is incorrect. The species are not added to your world. Other players planets with their species are added to your galaxy and if and when you achieve intergalactic space flight, you may visit the A.I. controlled other worlds. Plus, Spore was pushed back to 2009 (no quarter announced - this was just a possible year as they may suspend Spore indefinitely).
I think they should make a "My Littel Pony" MMO. It would be awesome. Pick your pony, level it up to get your wings and unicorn horn of power.
Where in the world did that come from? Go find the stables thread. This is the microgarden thread here. lol
But seriously, My Little Pony is a good idea for a kids MMO. Heck, I wouldn't mind taking a look myself just because it brings back memories. (Yes, I liked My Little Ponies way back when. Scoops was cool, has her own ice cream shop.) The classic cartoon would be hard to incorporate though, considering the direction the ponies franchise is going now. I'd say it would be more community than adventure, with dressing room and fashion show contests. The adventure quests would be more on the side with emphasis on getting items for the personal wardrobe.
Start your own thread put out some ideas, maybe you can start something.
Instead of focusing on a world, thinking what species to assign as mages and such. Think outside of the box. Or think inside a bugs box instead of a fantasy RPG.
Think, an ant lives with other ants in a colony. Players who become ants would have to integrate themselves in to a colony. How would a single ant be individualized while still conforming itself to the group principles and activities? Are "rebel" ants possible? My first reaction before was to get players to form a colony but that's just plain dumb in the number of players needed. And as stated before most players don't go for the hive mind thing unless they themselves are the hive master, which is why so many people are suggesting the insect MMO be an RTS hybrid instead.
I'd say larger picture-wise, we'd have categories of bugs. Say, hive and predators.
Hive would be the ants, termites, and bees.
Predators would be the bug eaters, like the powered up praying mantis and spiders.
Dung beetles and earthworms can be service bugs.
With hives, most fellow ants say would be NPCs (NPBs? ;p) and individuals may either be drones or specialized workers. Maybe that would deter from the hive mind conformity requirement. Army building may skew the bug universe though. So unless other categories of bugs have their own means to defend against hives then we may have a problem.
Or maybe some categories or species should be all NPCs.
Long as I can play a Phorid Fly, and reap death upon the teaming masses of ants as my implanted larvae use their bodies as a hatching ground.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Hemingway
Any setting that provides for a faux social system can work for an mmorpg.
To be engaging and successful, they need to have an intrinsic connection to "adventure": combat, exploration, "treasure" hunting and the like. They also need an gradually unfolding progression of "cool things you can do" along the way. Many folks are obsessed with the need for "cool things you can get/sell/buy on ebay" but City of Heroes has survived for years without a dropped item catalogue being central to the game, so you can survive without one. More important is a set of accomplishments that are difficult and provide peer status opportunities: "My group killed <special epic elite superuber creature> in only seven hours!" or "I've climbed every mountain in the world, and got this certificate!"
These requirements rule out some environments: Not much combat in a shopping mall, and no, slashing prices doesn't count. You can easily see how fantasy became the defacto offical rpg setting... easy to fit combat, exploration, etc into a fantasy setting. Plus, with the justification of "magic" it's a no-brainer to make up new "powers" for characters, new things to fight, and new "stuff" to collect/sell/stick on your head.
I do get tired of hearing about how every game needs fireballs and magic swords, though. They most definitely do not. I'm also constantly amazed at how prevelant the opinion that you NEED a healer class, a ranged class, a magic damage class, an armored warrior class, etc. It's as if all games have become Gauntlet, Blue Wizard needs Food Badly! There are all sorts of ways to differentiate characters, and provide for differing abilities. This division, although easy because so many players are used to it, is not the only way to do things.
An insect setting could easily work, and work well, as long as you were comfortable embracing new paradigms of gameplay. Instead of worrying about classes, simply have 15, 20, even 30 starting species. Each species would have its own strengths and weaknesses, a fly is agile and quick, but isn't going to take a praying mantis in a stand-up fight. Gnats are about as feeble as you can get, but they have lots of offspring, and a short life means faster evolution. Yes, instead of "levels", an insect world should have "generations". Insects don't learn things, they don't get any better at anything once they reach the adult stage. Therefore, all advancement comes with offspring... and as a "level up" kind of experience, depending on how much you did in your life, what sort of things you ingested, and other goals reached, you get more and wider variance in your offspring.
When the day comes for you to pass on, you simply choose the pupa you want, and morph into a new adult. The new adult could have thicker chiten, longer mandibles, better poison, be faster, stronger, larger, smaller, or even have new abilities. The length of time between generations, while depending on your species, would be measured in gameplay hours, with some flexibility... it wouldn't do for you to drop dead in the middle of the epic quest for the half-full pixie stick on the kitchen counter.
If you wanted to make it a fantasy insect world and I don't mean Lord of the Rings with Fleas, think the bug cultures in A Bug's Life, you could easily add insect societies: ants could be some sort of Cold War socialist group, wasps like daredevil pilots on a test range, bees could be like japanese corporate culture...
As with any game, done right, with engaging gameplay, plenty of quality content, attractive art direction, and the right kind of marketing, this could succeed. Miss a step, though, and Auto Assault.
I really woudn't want to play "Bugs Online". then again, picnic raids could be kind of fun. Imagine if that was a non-instanced thing instead of a group, you would wait in a que(I dont think I spelled that right.) and once 200 or so are in, you could go and have this massive siege on... bug stuff i guess. A game like this would have to emphesise large teams and no one being able to advance by themselves.
This is something that sounds nice i like colonys alot and you can do it what you want to make it to i mean you can make is a fantasy pvp like wow some maby heard about nerubians i think they called that and in ahn'qiraj that fantasy based or you can do it like a new way of roleplaying build a colony and survive game or something but you can still roleplay in it i think x3 i got some classes if it was what you were looking for: Ants colony: Queen ant: She start the colony by finding a place and try survive from maby waspes or bees when she land she begin to make the first room her mission is that she needs to breed eggs (some people think its fun i do and becous its you who started the colony if you dea the colony dea so i like being a queen) so that could be a class she could also help breeding/nursing (some queens do that) and if you think its boring then i can say no i think its the most fun of the game if you can play as a queen.</p> <p>Commander ant: he got the command of the army and are the one who are making the war and can make disisens whit the queen or something like that (it could be cool if not only 1 player played as the hole colony i mean if like 1 were queen and mabt 2 commanders it could be so cool if more could be in 1 colony but of course only 1 could be queen) commanders should also be able to help get food for them self or for others.<
Worker ant: I know some players like to build the colony and help take care of the eggs or maby get food for the colony if a player played as a worker i think it could be nice if he/her got control of a group of workers so he could build tunnels faster or carry more food home to the colony workers can also attack not that good but they still can defense the colony or take some eggs or flee (if the colony got attacked by others and there are no other way) Soldier ant: Soldier ants are strong ants who fight or spy on the enemy the can help worker ants get to were they can find food or they can help other hurt ants back to the colony (if a player get killed and not eated maby they could heal him/her in some way its only a idea) Termits are most likely other than the queen not starts whit wings and the live of wood but there is 1 other class as a termit: <p>King Termit: The king termit is the king xD he defense the queen and is a lot of stronger than the others he mostly is near the queen but some times he maby could lead a war he make the colony stay in ordor and he choose if its a great idea for maby a commander termit to lead a army into a war. (that is only a idea and can't find anymore xP) Bee Hive: bees are slower then waspes becous they are bigger then waspes i mean like big in round big xD but they are also aggrasive if they feel like danger</p> Bee queen: She starts building her hive in the air maby on a tree or something then shes mostly like the other queens other then she mostly not are setting still she usely walks. there are only a king in the termits.</p> Commander bee: i don't know if i can say so but u try xD its most likely other commanders other then they are not always in a big group the can fly for them self</p> worker bee: like others helping build hive and get food from flowers the olso are soldier but usely do not war others.</p> ..... Wasp hive: like bees other then waspes are smaller and more aggrasive if there queen dea they do not feel like living and are attacking all that can move and starts whit killing the hive and then flying off to kill others. <p>that was a idea i got ITS ONLY A IDEA so please think of it. and if you don't like it then you don't like it xD but good luck whit the game i hope you can make a game like that i only played sim ant and i won in like sec -.- xD and i played as the queen x3
I think just having a good insect raceto play would be a good start. I've been asking for this for years actually. A cool mantis or ant hybrid would be great. Jumping ability or a special chat channel thats only shared with your own race like a hive mind/communcation. It just hasnt' been explored propely yet.
Comments
Class: Poomancer
Special Abilities:
Poo Fling: Adds +10 damage to any short ranged poo attack.
Super Charger: While below 30% health a mound of poo is summoned and rolled towards nearby enemies.
Eat Corn: Restores 20% health, 5 minute cooldown
Eat Peanut: Restores 20% mana, 5 minute cooldown
What? it has potential
I was cruising the forums recently as I obviously only lurk here once in a while, but I was looking into all the recent "MMO Burnout" and was reading what everyone is saying. Then I came across this post.
Definitely very interesting and reminds me, oddly enough, of a very old comic/story in an issue of Gamepro probably 15 years ago now? It was about an insect RPG where you were an ant, if I remember right, and had to go out and fight to get the ant princess back or such. There would the "Blade of Grass" as your weapon, the acorn top as your helm, the glob of honey as a healing potion, and other assorted things that I can't remember anymore. Though even with all the time that's passed I've still remember this little article, so it definitely left it's mark on me and I always wanted to see something similar.
The only thing "close" to this would be like SimAnt or something. But as far as an actual game where you'd individually playing a certain insect and doing whatever there isn't really any of those that are RPG like. Thri-Kreen (mantoids) are in D&D in the Dark Sun series though. With 4 arms and making those hardened spit shurikens and such.
The insect idea definitely could be an MMO or at least an RPG of sorts. The kind of idea that is great but no one has the balls, or probably the skill to make.
It's funny with some people mentioning in this thread, "Well, what would you do? Collect food for the queen?" Sadly, this wouldn't be much different than most MMO quests these days, at least it would be an "honest" fetch quest eh? As opposed to dressing it up with all this grandoise language when it's really just retrieving some item from a dungeon for Lord X.
Anyhow, good idea.
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"Hero of Time! Face me!"
I could carry some sand out of the nest for the queen.
get some XP in sand carrying.
hehe
here it is: (note: I didn't change anything from it and yes, grammar and spelling could be wrong...but this was when I was awhile ago, so bare with it)
We've all seen these fantasy sword swinging, magic blasting mmorpgs...we've seen futuristic mmorpgs..and some different ones like, city of heroes...and the soon to be auto assault.
But what about a new genre for mmorpgs? What would it be called? Who knows...
It would be based on being an insect, you can be either an: Ant (Worker, soldier, maybe winged ant?), a termite (same caste as ants pretty much) bees and wasps.
Ants would live underground, now as a worker your job is to find food for the colony, take care of the brood, dig tunnels to expand the nest and take care of the queen.
Soldier ants would be good at attacking other species, they can also dig and find food for the nest...but they wouldnt be able to take care of the brood (Why you ask?) will, because their powerful jaws would destroy the brood.
Termites about same as ants, but just need wood to live...much weaker then the ants, but have more numbers .
Bees would be similar, not sure how this would be implemented...they live in hives and are very strong, but not many in numbers.
Wasps are basicly like bees but live in the ground and hunt insects too.
enemies too that you cant play as, spiders that take many ants to kill. (no humans, humans in sim ant were SO annoying, that means no bugspray, or any human type thing) there would be birds that would come down and eat you, ant eaters that eat ants but can eat termites too. More others, but too many to list
Now how would this game work? Will, it be like a MMORTS, sim ant and empire of the ants combined.
You start out somewhere, maybe near another ant nest...or far away from it. The world is huge compared to you, so unlikely you'll be near anyone else. You start with a winged female, which you must find a good nesting area and start digging a colony and laying eggs. Now, not sure on how bees/wasps/termites work...I mostly know ants, so work with me here icon_smile.gif I'll do ants as an example first
Now, the chambers you'll have to dig and you will actually have to put the dirt outside your nest. Unlike empire of the ants where you put a huge part of the nest down...you make your own chambers and tunnels...not already made ones.
Now once you get your first workers (you can lay soldiers first, you can choose which you want to lay...but then your colony most likely wont survive, I'll explain this in a bit) you'll need to direct them to start digging and immedietly finding food (I'll explain food later) and help take care of the brood.
Now soldiers can conquer other ant colonies, but you probably wont have many of these...workers will make a big chunk of your force and help fight wars. But soldiers help a lot when defending/attacking a nest. They can dig and help find food, but if they take care of the brood, the brood dies because the soldiers jaws are so big that they crush the eggs (brood)
Winged ants (also called Alates) will be made later when your colony is established, you'll get the option to start laying alates after a certain amount of ants are born. Not too sure how alates will be handled. I have a few ideas if you want to comment on them, one is, you'll just control one big ant nest so one person doesnt get too strong and alates that successfuly make a colony will be like an ally to you.
Or, the alates that make a colony you can control both colonies and you can spread across the land (one person MIGHT become to strong so) but remember, most ants fight each other reguardless of species, so not too sure...give me ideas. A rts you do conquer stuff, maybe you can capture other nests or something...like I said, give me ideas.
Termites are pretty much like ants, but need a moist place constantly, a lot more in numbers (breed faster) but are much weaker and slower then ants. They just eat wood.
Bees/wasps-Bees will live in hives, harder to reach them...fewer in numbers but much stronger then ants. Wasps will live in the ground and are very very strong, but have a lot less in a colony.
Now food, bees get flowers. Wasps get other insects to eat mostly (ants/other bees and insects that you see somewhere in the world)
Ants will eat a much variety of food, making it somewhat easier and somewhat harder. Unlike termites that just need wood and moisture to live, ants need a lot more. Ants will need a sugary food (honey from flowers or other bee hives) and protein for the new born ants and brood. Protein is pretty easy to get, since you can travel in numbers and kill an insect you find in the world.
Now, the bee you'll be using would be the honeybee.
Ants-Not sure what species could be ingame, maybe Fire ants, Harvester ants? ETc
Termites-Subterranean termites are most common, not sure what else there would be.
Wasps-???
Maybe there would be different subspecies for each insect you can be, which would be somewhat better then just one choice for each species of insect.
This would be a great mmorpg that I would even pay for depending if it was done well. Give me your thoughts opinions, if you like it enough...show this link to your friends or other sites.
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I have a Youtube channel for video games! http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendayn
We've all seen these fantasy sword swinging, magic blasting mmorpgs...we've seen futuristic mmorpgs..and some different ones like, city of heroes...and the soon to be auto assault.
But what about a MMORTS based on insects?
you can be either several species of ants, several species of termites, bees and wasps. Each would have disadvantages and advantages, although like in the wild ants have more different ant species than bees/wasps/termites do. Not sure how one would balance it out, but oh well. Why ants/Termites/Bees and Wasps? Well each are unique in the insect family as they are all social and have a queen. Unlike other insects they work together for the colony/hive and are far superior than other insects.
Ants would live underground of course. It could be like Sim Ant, or Empire of the Ants (The RTS game) you control one ant and other ants (NPC ants) would crawl around looking for food, caring for brood and digging tunnels. All this would be automatic. The same would apply to bees/wasps/termites.
Ants species could include: Harvester ants, Fire ants, Carpenter ants etc. Harvester ants would only have one size in their caste like they do in the wild and eat only insects/seeds. Fire ants would eat insects and human like products. Fire ants would also have minor workers/workers and major workers. Carpenter ants would only nest in wood and eat insects or sugar substances. I'm sure there could be someway to balance them all out.Enemies too that you cant play as, spiders that take many ants to kill. There would be birds that would come down and eat you, ant eaters that eat ants but can eat termites too. Humans could also play a part in some areas, like if you are nesting near a town or a house or building that a human lives in your colony could get destroyed. But like if you had a nest deep in the woods, then its almost impossible for a human to wander by and step on you (still possible, but not likely at all).
You start out somewhere, maybe near another ant nest...or far away from it. The world is huge compared to you, so unlikely you'll be near anyone else. You start with a winged female, which you must find a good nesting area and start digging a colony and laying eggs. Now, not sure on how bees/wasps/termites work...I mostly know ants, so work with me here, I'll do ants as an example first.
Now, the chambers you'll have to dig and you will actually have to put the dirt outside your nest. Unlike empire of the ants where you put tunnels automatically down like bricks...you make your own chambers and tunnels like Sim Ant.
Now once you get your first workers (you can lay soldiers first, you can choose which you want to lay...but then your colony most likely wont survive, I'll explain this in a bit) you'll need to direct them to start digging and immedietly find food (I'll explain food later) and help take care of the brood.
Now soldiers can conquer other ant colonies, but you probably wont have many of these...workers will make a big chunk of your force and help fight wars. But soldiers help a lot when defending/attacking a nest. They can dig and help find food, but if they take care of the brood, the brood dies because the soldiers jaws are so big that they crush the eggs (brood)
Winged ants (also called Alates) will be made later when your colony is established, you'll get the option to start laying alates after a certain amount of ants are born. Once your Alate(s) fly somewhere and successfully makes a nest without being eaten or killed by enemies or a number of disasters, you control that nest and your starting nest, and you slowly spread. But many number of things can happen if your colonies get too many (not enough food, poisons, drought, parasites etc) and you can slowly die if you are unlucky. Also, other ant nests controlled by players can attack you, humans can destroy lots of your nests if you are living in a town/city, bees/wasps can decide to attack you and termites can wage war on you from underground.
Termites are pretty much like ants, but need a moist place constantly, a lot more in numbers (breed faster) but are much weaker and slower then ants. They just eat wood. Also, the soldiers can block tunnels and stop ants from getting in.
Bees/wasps-Bees will live in hives, harder to reach them...fewer in numbers but much stronger then ants. Also bees in defense can group together in the hive creating it very hot inside to kill intruders. Wasps will live in the ground and are very very strong, but have a lot less in a colony.
Now food, bees get flowers. Wasps get other insects to eat mostly (ants/other bees and insects that you see somewhere in the world)
Ants will eat a much variety of food, making it somewhat easier and somewhat harder. Unlike termites that just need wood and moisture to live, ants need a lot more. Ants will need a sugary food (honey from flowers or other bee hives or human food) and protein for the new born ants and brood. Protein is pretty easy to get, since you can travel in numbers and kill an insect you find in the world. Ants can also use formic acid as a weapon to spray other ants or enemies/insects with.
Ants-Like I said, Fire ants/Harvester ants/Carpenter ants and other types.
Termites-Subterranean termites, and thats the only termite species I know of.
Wasps-I am not sure what species there are.
This would be a great mmorpg that I would even pay for depending if it was done well. Give me your thoughts opinions, if you like it enough...show this link to your friends or other sites.
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There, that is the MMORTS version.
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I have a Youtube channel for video games! http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendayn
I saw a show yesterday on the Discovery Channel about killer bees. Here in America they are feared because of their aggresiveness and danger they pose to humans and other animals. But it turns out there is a bee species in Africa that is capable of defeating the African killer bee. It's called the Cape honey bee, so named because it lives only along the cape of South Africa. The two species never came in contact with one another until humans crossed their territories in order to see what would happen.
It turns out the docile honey bee defeats the killer bee and does it in a very cool way. Worker honey bees infiltrate an African hive and try to pass themselves off as a killer. Most are discovered and immediately killed by the African bees. However, every once in a while a honey bee is able to slip by the hives defenses. Since a honey worker bee is a female it then lays eggs in the hive. These eggs are unfertilized since they do not mate with any of the the African bees. But that simply means that they are guaranteed not to become male bees. They still hatch as exact clones of the bee that laid them. But before they hatch, the killer bees care for the eggs and for some reason give them special treatment. This means that they will be bigger and stronger than the African bees own eggs. So when they hatch, they become kind of a pseudo-queen. As a result, African worker bees become confused and kill their own queen.
Soon anarchy reigns and the bees begin to neglect their duties. They no longer gather food and eventually the hive starves to death.
Here's a link that tells a bit about it.
http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/us/battle_of_the_bees.htm
Looking for the link, I ran across another one that shows another battle that takes place in Japan. This one is bee versus hornet.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1012_051012_hornet_video.html
Why am I posting this? Well after I saw that show, I remember this thread from last month about an insect MMO. It made me think about how cool it would be to have this kind of battle take place in this type of game.
Sim ant was a pretty cool game back in the day.
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There are some great ideas posted. And yeah SimAnt, although far to easy to master, was a fun game for its' time.
There is already an insect race in the Darksun universe, forgot what they are called, Katkhlans or somthing. They had some equips but their main thing was you could quadruple wield weps. Their strength wasnt as good as the halfgiants but they were still cool.
Also there was an mmorpg in development, think it fell through though, you were gonna play all alien creatures and some were very insect like.
This thread reminds me of the scene in the movie BIG where they are talking about transformers that turn into buildings.
JOSH
Well, there's a million robots that turn into something. And this is a
building that turns into a robot. So what's so fun about playing with
a building? That's not any fun!
PAUL
This is a skyscraper.
JOSH
Well, couldn't it be like a robot that turns into something like a bug
or something?
PAUL
A bug?
JOSH
Yeah! Like a big prehistoric insect with maybe like giant claws that
could pick up a car and crush it like that!
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Id pick a Giant Mantis, but im sure id get nerfed after i wipe out the server
.
Well, your typical level based MMO is "Get quest, kill mobs, get reward, rinse and repeat". So orc, elve, ant, bee...really not much difference in the repetitiveness other than the context it is implemented in. Most all of MMO lack tools and freedom for players to use creativity.
But back to the topic. Sounds like a neat idea. I remember playing and enjoying Sid Meir's Sim Ant on SNES---wow that was a long time ago--. It was actually interesting to see how much you could in Sim Ant-- building, maintaining, and expanding your colony, protecting your colony from outside threats both human and other invading ants, etc.
MMO based on insects could be based on "survival of the fittest" where you select your insect type and then do what insects do build colonies, reproduce, gather food, attack and defend against other insects. Perhaps the goal is to exterminate the other insects. Would make for fun PvP with player controlled insects trying to wipe each other out. Of course there probably will be need for embelishment to give your insects enough abilites to make for interesting PvP and colony building but I'm sure it could be done easily.
Interesting idea and the possibilites are endless.
I think many people would be too grossed out to play a game like this, unless they made the graphics really, really cheesy and cartoony.
But otherwise, wouldn't it end up as the same thing, only with different labels? "Go and visit 20 flowers to get pollen." "Defeat 20 ants from the enemy colony." "The Queen has been kidnapped! Gather friends and get her back."
Has to have real time combat. I think the combat should be like playing the aliens in Alien vs Predator. Fast movement, crawling on walls, pouncing, etc.
I agree. If you were departing so radically in genre, why stick to the same old conventions (armor, hit points, magic, etc). Personally, I think an insect MMORPG would work much better as a more social MMORPG. Not that there wouldn't be combat--anyone who's observed insects in their backyard or watched a nature documentary knows that the insect world is pretty brutal and dog-eat-dog or bug-eat-bug. But I think the key gameplay element that would make an insect MMO intriguing would be that balance between primal survival and the intricacies and complexities of their social structures/hives/colonies. Much more similar in play to a game like Civilization, Sim City, or even Utopia (I'm going way back) than a hack-and-slash or FPS.
I think they should make a "My Littel Pony" MMO. It would be awesome. Pick your pony, level it up to get your wings and unicorn horn of power.
That is incorrect. The species are not added to your world. Other players planets with their species are added to your galaxy and if and when you achieve intergalactic space flight, you may visit the A.I. controlled other worlds. Plus, Spore was pushed back to 2009 (no quarter announced - this was just a possible year as they may suspend Spore indefinitely).
Where in the world did that come from?
But seriously, My Little Pony is a good idea for a kids MMO. Heck, I wouldn't mind taking a look myself just because it brings back memories. (Yes, I liked My Little Ponies way back when. Scoops was cool, has her own ice cream shop.) The classic cartoon would be hard to incorporate though, considering the direction the ponies franchise is going now. I'd say it would be more community than adventure, with dressing room and fashion show contests. The adventure quests would be more on the side with emphasis on getting items for the personal wardrobe.
Start your own thread put out some ideas, maybe you can start something.
Instead of focusing on a world, thinking what species to assign as mages and such. Think outside of the box. Or think inside a bugs box instead of a fantasy RPG.
Think, an ant lives with other ants in a colony. Players who become ants would have to integrate themselves in to a colony. How would a single ant be individualized while still conforming itself to the group principles and activities? Are "rebel" ants possible? My first reaction before was to get players to form a colony but that's just plain dumb in the number of players needed. And as stated before most players don't go for the hive mind thing unless they themselves are the hive master, which is why so many people are suggesting the insect MMO be an RTS hybrid instead.
I'd say larger picture-wise, we'd have categories of bugs. Say, hive and predators.
Hive would be the ants, termites, and bees.
Predators would be the bug eaters, like the powered up praying mantis and spiders.
Dung beetles and earthworms can be service bugs.
With hives, most fellow ants say would be NPCs (NPBs? ;p) and individuals may either be drones or specialized workers. Maybe that would deter from the hive mind conformity requirement. Army building may skew the bug universe though. So unless other categories of bugs have their own means to defend against hives then we may have a problem.
Or maybe some categories or species should be all NPCs.
Long as I can play a Phorid Fly, and reap death upon the teaming masses of ants as my implanted larvae use their bodies as a hatching ground.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Hemingway
Any setting that provides for a faux social system can work for an mmorpg.
To be engaging and successful, they need to have an intrinsic connection to "adventure": combat, exploration, "treasure" hunting and the like. They also need an gradually unfolding progression of "cool things you can do" along the way. Many folks are obsessed with the need for "cool things you can get/sell/buy on ebay" but City of Heroes has survived for years without a dropped item catalogue being central to the game, so you can survive without one. More important is a set of accomplishments that are difficult and provide peer status opportunities: "My group killed <special epic elite superuber creature> in only seven hours!" or "I've climbed every mountain in the world, and got this certificate!"
These requirements rule out some environments: Not much combat in a shopping mall, and no, slashing prices doesn't count. You can easily see how fantasy became the defacto offical rpg setting... easy to fit combat, exploration, etc into a fantasy setting. Plus, with the justification of "magic" it's a no-brainer to make up new "powers" for characters, new things to fight, and new "stuff" to collect/sell/stick on your head.
I do get tired of hearing about how every game needs fireballs and magic swords, though. They most definitely do not. I'm also constantly amazed at how prevelant the opinion that you NEED a healer class, a ranged class, a magic damage class, an armored warrior class, etc. It's as if all games have become Gauntlet, Blue Wizard needs Food Badly! There are all sorts of ways to differentiate characters, and provide for differing abilities. This division, although easy because so many players are used to it, is not the only way to do things.
An insect setting could easily work, and work well, as long as you were comfortable embracing new paradigms of gameplay. Instead of worrying about classes, simply have 15, 20, even 30 starting species. Each species would have its own strengths and weaknesses, a fly is agile and quick, but isn't going to take a praying mantis in a stand-up fight. Gnats are about as feeble as you can get, but they have lots of offspring, and a short life means faster evolution. Yes, instead of "levels", an insect world should have "generations". Insects don't learn things, they don't get any better at anything once they reach the adult stage. Therefore, all advancement comes with offspring... and as a "level up" kind of experience, depending on how much you did in your life, what sort of things you ingested, and other goals reached, you get more and wider variance in your offspring.
When the day comes for you to pass on, you simply choose the pupa you want, and morph into a new adult. The new adult could have thicker chiten, longer mandibles, better poison, be faster, stronger, larger, smaller, or even have new abilities. The length of time between generations, while depending on your species, would be measured in gameplay hours, with some flexibility... it wouldn't do for you to drop dead in the middle of the epic quest for the half-full pixie stick on the kitchen counter.
If you wanted to make it a fantasy insect world and I don't mean Lord of the Rings with Fleas, think the bug cultures in A Bug's Life, you could easily add insect societies: ants could be some sort of Cold War socialist group, wasps like daredevil pilots on a test range, bees could be like japanese corporate culture...
As with any game, done right, with engaging gameplay, plenty of quality content, attractive art direction, and the right kind of marketing, this could succeed. Miss a step, though, and Auto Assault.
I really woudn't want to play "Bugs Online". then again, picnic raids could be kind of fun. Imagine if that was a non-instanced thing instead of a group, you would wait in a que(I dont think I spelled that right.) and once 200 or so are in, you could go and have this massive siege on... bug stuff i guess. A game like this would have to emphesise large teams and no one being able to advance by themselves.
This is something that sounds nice i like colonys alot and you can do it what you want to make it to i mean you can make is a fantasy pvp like wow some maby heard about nerubians i think they called that and in ahn'qiraj that fantasy based
or you can do it like a new way of roleplaying build a colony and survive game or something but you can still roleplay in it i think x3
i got some classes if it was what you were looking for:
Ants colony:
Queen ant: She start the colony by finding a place and try survive from maby waspes or bees when she land she begin to make the first room her mission is that she needs to breed eggs (some people think its fun i do and becous its you who started the colony if you dea the colony dea so i like being a queen) so that could be a class she could also help breeding/nursing (some queens do that) and if you think its boring then i can say no i think its the most fun of the game if you can play as a queen.</p>
<p>Commander ant: he got the command of the army and are the one who are making the war and can make disisens whit the queen or something like that (it could be cool if not only 1 player played as the hole colony i mean if like 1 were queen and mabt 2 commanders it could be so cool if more could be in 1 colony but of course only 1 could be queen) commanders should also be able to help get food for them self or for others.<
Worker ant: I know some players like to build the colony and help take care of the eggs or maby get food for the colony if a player played as a worker i think it could be nice if he/her got control of a group of workers so he could build tunnels faster or carry more food home to the colony workers can also attack not that good but they still can defense the colony or take some eggs or flee (if the colony got attacked by others and there are no other way)
i hope you can make a game like that i only played sim ant and i won in like sec -.- xD and i played as the queen x3
Soldier ant: Soldier ants are strong ants who fight or spy on the enemy the can help worker ants get to were they can find food or they can help other hurt ants back to the colony (if a player get killed and not eated maby they could heal him/her in some way its only a idea)
Termits are most likely other than the queen not starts whit wings and the live of wood but there is 1 other class as a termit:
<p>King Termit: The king termit is the king xD he defense the queen and is a lot of stronger than the others he mostly is near the queen but some times he maby could lead a war he make the colony stay in ordor and he choose if its a great idea for maby a commander termit to lead a army into a war. (that is only a idea and can't find anymore xP)
Bee Hive: bees are slower then waspes becous they are bigger then waspes i mean like big in round big xD but they are also aggrasive if they feel like danger</p>
Bee queen: She starts building her hive in the air maby on a tree or something then shes mostly like the other queens other then she mostly not are setting still she usely walks.
there are only a king in the termits.</p>
Commander bee: i don't know if i can say so but u try xD its most likely other commanders other then they are not always in a big group the can fly for them self</p>
worker bee: like others helping build hive and get food from flowers the olso are soldier but usely do not war others.</p>
.....
Wasp hive: like bees other then waspes are smaller and more aggrasive if there queen dea they do not feel like living and are attacking all that can move and starts whit killing the hive and then flying off to kill others.
<p>that was a idea i got ITS ONLY A IDEA so please think of it. and if you don't like it then you don't like it xD but good luck whit the game
I think just having a good insect raceto play would be a good start. I've been asking for this for years actually. A cool mantis or ant hybrid would be great. Jumping ability or a special chat channel thats only shared with your own race like a hive mind/communcation. It just hasnt' been explored propely yet.
I don't think many would like to play the game as INSECTS. Not a great idea. Therefore why necroposting?
NEW IDEAS that can refresh the STALE state of MMORPGs