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Tirnua Design Overview

G

Gilly

Guest
The Tirnua folks have posted a design overview for the game. Link

And for those who don't like to follow links:

Design overview
From Tirnua

The goal of this document is to share our main design direction for Tirnua.

You can take each paragraph below as a starting place of a design discussion in the wiki. At this point the team does not have a more detailed design than what we are sharing here, because we want the Tirnuans to design it!

(expect this page to be reorganized several time by the dev team)

Tirnua, high level design direction

Tirnua is a virtual world, designed by its community. It will consists of many locations owned by its users, and of several content creation tools developed by the development team.

The game will be freely accessible to everyone, and objects will be purchasable from Tirnua and from other players.

The locations will be accessible from many places:

1. by launching the Tirnua game and navigating on a map
2. by navigating to a web page from the persona book and entering a location own by that persona.
3. by installing an application in a social network and accessing the location through a simple flash application

The locations will consist of a selectable but non editable surrounding (the view) and a large editable space that users will modify and edit at will using the custom content tools. As Margaret described in her first blog post, the first surroundings will be dream places like islands, beaches, mountain tops, or forests. The locations will vary in size from a simple room to several kilometer square.

Objects will be added to the locations to make them interesting, and to enable the persona to do something. All objects will be trade-able between users. Everything in the game will be a trade-able object.

Objects will provide right management in the game. For example, if a 'ticket booth' is purchased and activated in a location, then only users with tickets will be able to enter that location.

The currency in the game is the TAU for Tirnua gold and is pronounced tao. There is no mechanism for persona to earn TAU from Tirnua, but they can earn it from other players.

The game runs an underlying simulation about the environment. It is our belief that something needs to be done to change human behavior towards nature and the planet, and we hope that Tirnua will help us all find solutions and change behaviors, even if Tirnua is a virtual environment.

Users are expected to create and upload custom content in the form of text, pictures, 3D objects, animation, music and probably video at some point. While we cannot accept any player under the age of 13, the content will be strictly limited to an 'everyone' rating.

The fundamental game reward is provided by Tirnua in the form of seeds. Seeds are a crucial way for Tirnuans to grow plants. Each seed includes unique DNA that will provide a unique plant. Through naturally occurring mutations, some of those plants will grow into rare plants that we believe will be very valuable to some Tirnuans.

Growing plants is a key activity for all Tirnuans. It is harder than it seems. Slowly more complex ecosystems will emerge. Where in real life, people need money to acquire items, it is much easier in Tirnua, since the virtual items are so much cheaper than in real life. While in real life the environmental cost of most goods appear to be free to people, in Tirnua that cost will be highlighted and will not be ignored.
There is a lot to chew on, in there.


Is it heading for Second Life...or not?
Is the environmental aspect do-able or an unrealistic dream?
Does the prospect of building the world from scratch, excite you or turn you off?
Can you see a way to have a goal oriented game within the outlines of the overview or is it too open-ended?
What would you like to see in Devs put in the game?

Let's talk about it! :scholar:
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
Sounds like a rip-off of Spore from that description, with a bit of Second Life and World of Warcraft thrown in for good measure.

In other words, nothing really new after all.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
Sounds like a rip-off of Spore from that description, with a bit of Second Life and World of Warcraft thrown in for good measure.

In other words, nothing really new after all.
LOL....that's like saying, if someone crossed a zebra with an elephant and a giraffe, they would not get anything "really new"....it would still be a four-footed mammal... :mf_prop:
 
P

Polly

Guest
Thanks for the link, Gilly, interesting stuff indeed.

Is it heading for Second Life...or not?
Is the environmental aspect do-able or an unrealistic dream?
Does the prospect of building the world from scratch, excite you or turn you off?
Can you see a way to have a goal oriented game within the outlines of the overview or is it too open-ended?
What would you like to see in Devs put in the game?
The customisation and building the world we'd live in sounds alot like SL yes, but thats no bad thing.

The prospect of building the world from scratch is very exciting and something I'm really looking forward to.

I don't think its too open ended for goals - for me it means that we can have unlimited goals. Of course it depends how tedious it is to collect or be rewarded with seeds and then how tedious it is to actually grow things, hard to say without knowing more, but it could be something that players find rewarding and open up a whole set of mini goals in terms of getting enough seeds to grow x, y or z.

Then of course there are the goals of finding a niche and making a successful business within the game, be it in designing new content that people want to buy, or offering some other kind of service.

I think the environment aspect is do-able, kind of depends what they have in mind.

The enviroment may have unexpected results on the plants/crop that you're growing? Much like rl, could a flash flood/hurricane/tornado/forest fires ruin everything you've worked for? That would be an interesting spin and add an element of risk. I wonder if there will be some sort of virtual insurance against the possible virtual environmental disasters?!

There is much publicity here at the moment about the amount of food we waste and throw away each day. Aside from the environmental impact of the waste, its pushing food prices up and adding to the already gloomy predictions about the economy. In the UK there is a lot more focus on the environment and carbon footprints etc than ever before. I'm sure its not just a passing fad and something that will not only gain support but will be very much apart of our culture and future education in years to come. Economically it will be a big deal too, as we'll end up being charged or taxed on emissions, waste and what we don't recycle etc etc.

Some may find the idea of a game focusing on environmental impact a tad strange, but maybe they're just way ahead of the game? (pun intended)

The various ways of accessing the game also seem to be based very much on the future of how we will interact. The creation of virtual meeting places - where you don't necessarily have to be an experienced participant in a game to interact with others in a social setting, rather then just a basic chat room seems to be very hip right now.

What do I want to see in game? Fabulous beaches with white sand and clear blue sea, jaw dropping sunrises and sunsets. Snow capped mountains, tropical rain forests, desolate but stunningly pretty deserts, rolling hills with deep lakes, coral reefs full of colour ..... If the game is to focus on the enviroment, then I hope that the graphics are truly awesome and show all the breath taking elements of our planet in true pixelated glory. It helps to appreciate the beauty of something in order to want to preserve and respect it.

I hope we can interact with the world itself and not just the objects we make for it. So we can go fishing in the lake, swimming in the sea, scuba diving on the reef ..... but please, please don't make me have to weed the garden and mow the lawn, I get enough of that in real life !!

Are you sorry you asked?!

Polly
 
C

CBrewton5

Guest
It's nice to have an idea of where they are heading, and I like the bit about being based on the environment and nature. Growing plants was one thing in the free shards of Ultima Online that I really liked, so it'll be neat to see what their plants look like, what kind of mutations can occur, and what cross-pollination generates if it is possible. I'm a little concerned about the notion of not being able to earn TAU within the game and having to get it by selling things to other players......that does sound sort of SL-ish. I wonder if this system will have a cash-in/cash-out system like the latter days of EAL?

Lots to chew on, indeed......I might just have to go register for the Tirnua blog. Looks like they are not even close to accepting beta members yet though. Even if it turns out to be something that *I* would not pay to play, I do like the idea of being in something from the ground up again the way I was for TSO.
 
T

TheCookieFamily

Guest
Scratch that!

Tirnua needs to be new and fresh. The Tirnua team has stated that it's going to be community centered. So they have provided us with a sort of starting point. It's going to revolve around nature, and the preservation of it. That's great start!

I hate the idea of uploading files from the hard drive instead of creating items in game. The Tirnua team should provide us with the tools to make amazing things, not the tools to upload some crap we made in Paint. No avatar book, no social networking sites, no web browser, just a Windows executable that unpacks itself onto your hard drive and loads information from a server.

Although the game revolves around nature, that doesn't mean our creative boundaries should be limited to tree huts and roofless boxes made out of twigs. We should be able to utilize features that show what can be created with recycled materials and also ways in which we can create a stylish lounge and yet be eco-friendly. I think that the exchange of seeds instead of money is great, seeds can do more than paper money if you think about it. Seeds can create plant life. Plants can be used as building materials for your home or business.

With the idea of nature in mind, I think it would be great if they also added a lesson about energy conservation. Obviously, using solar cell shingles to power your home and transportation instead of coal and oil will cost less, and will consume less of your resources that would be used for other things, such as building materials.

You can either consume the most energy and live with the fewest resources or consume the least and have the most available to you.

I commented on a blog entry a while back. I dislike the wiki, and have yet to even create a wiki account. But I did comment. Feeback is feedback, right? Well, this is what I said:

One major flaw in TSO was the fact that we were so limited in what we could design and build. It was hard to create a space where we just wanted to sit down and chat with our virtual pals. You were getting somewhere with Custom Content, however you would still be limited by the TSO's rendering engine and the 2-D perspective. With Tirnua, we are creating a whole new game from the start. We can now think outside of the boundaries that TSO set for us.

We should be able to create anything we want. We should be able to create our own pieces of furniture or anything else for that matter out of geometrial forms, such as cubes or cylinders or whatever. We could create our own beds, we could create our own sofas, chairs, toilets, plasma screen TVs, sound systems, games..we could use whatever colors we like, we could make our own designs for blankets and curtains and countertops. We could crate our own styles, like what you see on HGTV, only with Tirnua, you are only limited by your imagination.

I've always dreamed of being able to design someone's house. To design it around their dreams and their lives. I've always wanted to design my own house. With TSO I was so limited with what I could design, what I could build, what I could buy. In Tirnua I should have the ability to put my signature on everything I make. I shouldn't be stuck with a few wall paint colors or wallpaper designs or floor patterns or blanket styles...we shouldn't have to use a sperate application to create a simple wall paint color or wallpaper texture or blanket or roof or whatever. This should be offered to us in the virtual environment. If we implement a full color pallette such as what is included with MS Paint, then we could use whatever colros we like, wherever. Then we can shape it into anything we want. We wouldn't be stuck with the simple geometric shapes that are offered to us, we could shape them into anything we wanted. WE could transform a cube into a bed, or we could use the cube as the headboard and round the edges of another cube so we could create the mattress. Then we can shape even more cubes into the supports for the bed. Then we color these pieces whatever we want, put our own style of shets and blankets on the bed, put a flower or two of three on the headboard and voila...I have my dream bed!

But, the only problem with my dream bed is that space in my virtual house is limited. So I cut some pieces out of the headboard (which is a cube, btw, not flat, but it could be if i wanted), and create space for a bookshelf, a place for decorative plants, and a space for an alarm clock, and finally one for my photo album and seashells.

And if I also built the equipment to do so and was able to pay other virtual people to mass produce the bed in a factory which I constructed or bought, then I can get my bed design in virtual households everywhere. Essentially, I just designed my own bed, mass produced it for sale in stores, paid some workers, and creating a mini game for the workers, all at the same time. It would be like the robot factory 2.0.

---END---

So, even with this design overview they have posted, things can be manipulated and changed. The virtual world is ever changing.
 
G

Gracie Nito

Guest
"The game runs an underlying simulation about the environment. It is our belief that something needs to be done to change human behavior towards nature and the planet, and we hope that Tirnua will help us all find solutions and change behaviors, even if Tirnua is a virtual environment. "

Gah! Guess my plans of growing a forest and running a lumber mill is out of the question. I suppose they have plans for water rationing too! Don't expect we will be creating any vehicles running on fossil fuels in Tirnua. No hunting or fishing? World revolving around plants? Does that mean we are all Vegans too? Where's the beef?
 
F

fire_storm

Guest
"The game runs an underlying simulation about the environment. It is our belief that something needs to be done to change human behavior towards nature and the planet, and we hope that Tirnua will help us all find solutions and change behaviors, even if Tirnua is a virtual environment. "

Gah! Guess my plans of growing a forest and running a lumber mill is out of the question. I suppose they have plans for water rationing too! Don't expect we will be creating any vehicles running on fossil fuels in Tirnua. No hunting or fishing? World revolving around plants? Does that mean we are all Vegans too? Where's the beef?
But, animals are part of the environment too.

Another aspect that someone mentioned (tornadoes, fires, etc that could destroy the plants)...what if there were animals that could do that also? A herd of deer, a family of rabbits that could eat certain plants? It's all part of the eco-system, isn't it?
 
G

Gilly

Guest
"The game runs an underlying simulation about the environment. It is our belief that something needs to be done to change human behavior towards nature and the planet, and we hope that Tirnua will help us all find solutions and change behaviors, even if Tirnua is a virtual environment. "

Gah! Guess my plans of growing a forest and running a lumber mill is out of the question. I suppose they have plans for water rationing too! Don't expect we will be creating any vehicles running on fossil fuels in Tirnua. No hunting or fishing? World revolving around plants? Does that mean we are all Vegans too? Where's the beef?
Not true! We can run a environmental sustainable, renewable resource forest, where trees are selectively cut and replanted to sustain the natural resource forever...or.....we clear cut our land, and go broke in a year or two.

Wise water use, such as xerioscaping, anti-pollution practices and rainwater harvesting, prolongs our water supply and lowers our costs for water....or....we have to beg, borrow and sell our first borns for more water when ours is gone or too polluted to drink.

....and the beef is free-range and lean...:D

But, animals are part of the environment too.

Another aspect that someone mentioned (tornadoes, fires, etc that could destroy the plants)...what if there were animals that could do that also? A herd of deer, a family of rabbits that could eat certain plants? It's all part of the eco-system, isn't it?
Okay, the 'family of rabbits' totally reminded me of the soda commercial where they tunnel into the refrigerator to get into the cans of soda...:mf_prop:

But silliness aside, animals are key to a healthy environment....especially one that is harnessed to food production. One of the key organic farming methods, is renewal of crop soils with healthy farm animal manure, compost and crop rotation. Not to mention the birds and bees necessary for pollination and bug control.

The game could easily be set up to reward long-term and environmentally sound practices with prolonged usefulness of all resources, while still having a choice for those interested in the short-haul profit, at the cost of complete depletion of their property.

For example: Say we have a limited number of acres that we can own. We have choices of how to profit from those acres, and consequences, as well. If the game honors (and it should) environmental stewardship with greater end game rewards, then it becomes more of a challenge to get the most from your land while doing the least harm. All it would take, really, is to accelerate (to hours instead of lifetimes) the natural long term outcomes of each choice. I would find that an interesting game!:thumbup:
 
K

Katheryne

Guest
Is it heading for Second Life...or not?
Given the description so far, this is starting to sound verbatim like Second Life, with the added environmental twist.

This concerns me, as my chief complaint about SL is its strong focus on money without any in-game means of earning it. SL is making me feel very uncomfortable because of this, as the only way to really get anywhere in the game is with money, and the only sure way to earn it is to invest a lot of your time or RL money into the game. This places the game out of the reach of casual gamers, particularly those who are already holding down real jobs or cannot guarantee being able to log in at specific times to be able to meet your "virtual" job requirements.

IMHO, if Tirnua heads in this direction, it's going to get buried by SL and other more established virtual worlds, as there will be nothing of significance to make it break out from its older peers.
 
C

CBrewton5

Guest
Given the description so far, this is starting to sound verbatim like Second Life, with the added environmental twist.

This concerns me, as my chief complaint about SL is its strong focus on money without any in-game means of earning it. SL is making me feel very uncomfortable because of this, as the only way to really get anywhere in the game is with money, and the only sure way to earn it is to invest a lot of your time or RL money into the game. This places the game out of the reach of casual gamers, particularly those who are already holding down real jobs or cannot guarantee being able to log in at specific times to be able to meet your "virtual" job requirements.
Plus the FT powergamers that cannot create custom content as well.....or, to rephrase, probably could create custom content if they are able to acquire the programs necessary and have the patience to sit and learn by trial and error. I'd really like to see cc tools built into the game itself so that what people use is universal, and no one cc creator has an advantage over any other, except in terms of the level of their own creativity and commitment.
 
C

CherryBomb

Guest
The environmental simulation could be fascinating, and I am full of ideas. (I know, that's not all I am full of.) So far, the emphasis seems to be on the graphics. Which I can understand, but I am not so much into that. Give me a good simulation, and I will play it with stick figures. What I am wrestling with is how you run any kind of believable sim in parallel with a system that lets someone buy content with cash. Not a trivial problem.
 
L

Lucky Hawk

Guest
Interesting to read through this thread.

Well, I definitely look forward to trying this game out. It seems like it has hidden potential.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
Luc has updated the face builder he is working on, here, along with a dev progress report.

In the last paragraph he asks that we start designing the world map and decide if it is better to go with Tirnua being an "extra continent on earth" or planet of it's own?

My opinion is split about 60/40 in favor of a planet of it's own.

As a stand alone planet, I think we would have more leeway to be creative with the environmental cause and effect (speed them up unrealistically for more impact), without the usual arguements over if this is *real* or not. It would also allow for more divergence from earth-standard prototypes for flora, fauna and personas, making for some really unique and creative artwork opportunities.

On the other hand, an extra continent on earth might make the environemental effects more relevant and eye-opening.

What do you all think?
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
I'm not convinced that the concept will work for very long.

There's just something slightly ironic about an 'environment based game' that you sit in front of a computer, in an air conditioned room, for hours on end eating up electricity, whilst consuming junk food that generates lots of non-recycleable packaging... maybe if you have an interest in environmental issues, a better option might be to seek out a real life local group, or get some friends together and pick up trash in a local park or something?

I'm sure there will be a few people that get addicted to it ... but it doesn't sound to me like it has the action - or interaction - that many people crave in games.

We'll see, if a Beta ever appears.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
Thank you AJ, for your two cents. We can always count on you for a dismissive putdown of anything that is *not* your current favorite. rolleyes:


:next:
 
P

Polly

Guest
I'm not convinced that the concept will work for very long.

There's just something slightly ironic about an 'environment based game' that you sit in front of a computer, in an air conditioned room, for hours on end eating up electricity, whilst consuming junk food that generates lots of non-recycleable packaging... maybe if you have an interest in environmental issues, a better option might be to seek out a real life local group, or get some friends together and pick up trash in a local park or something?
Speak for yourself AJ, I'm not sitting in an air conditioned room stuffing my face with junk food generating lots of non-recycleable packaging.



And Gilly, I don't have any strong opinions on whether it should be a planet or a new continent, I can see benefits to both. I tend to agree that a new planet opens up more opportunity for extremes, there again our own planet can be fairly extreme at times !

I'd probably go 70/30 for a totally new planet.

Polly
 
D

Donavan

Guest
There's just something slightly ironic about an 'environment based game' that you sit in front of a computer, in an air conditioned room, for hours on end eating up electricity, whilst consuming junk food that generates lots of non-recycleable packaging...
Speak fer yerself.

I'm here using electricity generated by my forty dozen lemons, drinking organic soy beer and munching organic, free-range burritos.


ok the part about the beer is a lie..............ok.... the burrito is a lie too........alrightalrightalright! It's all a lie - I'm using electricity I suspect is being generated by burning Old Growth redwoods, eating home-made chips fried in lard, and even the beer is regular (not lite).


I'm soooo ashamed. :sad2:




ok, that's a lie, too. :mf_prop:
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
Thank you AJ, for your two cents. We can always count on you for a dismissive putdown of anything that is *not* your current favorite.
I tell it like I see it. Sorry. It's not a 'dismissive putdown', I just haven't seen any info yet about Tirnua that makes me excited. I've also not really seen anything that could make anyone excited except for 'woot yay it's Luc and the team doing something'.

... and we all know how useful the cheerleaders were last time we saw that.

Tirnua might become big. It might be something I choose to play. But one of the big things about any game is sales and marketing to encourage you to give it a go. That's one thing that seems to be a bit light on the ground right now.

My concern is their desire to turn it into a "buy game money to achieve anything" like they were going to with TSO before they killed it. I play WoW, and that only costs me my monthly fee. I play SL, which is possible to be played free or with a fixed monthly fee for land (you don't need to buy stuff, you can make it yourself), and I seem to recall that with TSO there was a lot of negative comments about how it might price itself out of the market if you had to spend lots of rl money to achieve anything.

Most games these days seem to be geared towards the 'younger' end of the market, which in itself is a different issue - but if you don't have your own income but have to rely on parents to pay for everything, that is not something many of the ex-TSO players are going to find easy. A $10 monthly subscription, sure, that's doable, but just providing a credit card number and being billed at the end of the month for whatever was spent? No way I'd let anyone do that to my card, and I very much doubt many parents would either.

Or at least the responsible ones that actually care and take an interest in their child's online activities... but that's another discussion.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
I would like to point out that you were not on hand for even the open beta on either WoW or SL, let alone the alpha stages and Tirnua is still in the very early alpha stages. You are making too many assumptions about the finished product, in your post, and your expectations of the game, are unrealistic.

1.) The only thing they have said about Tirnua money (Tau) is that it will *not* be generated by the game.....a lesson they learned from the economy destroying exploits in TSO and every MMO's ongoing battles with the gold sellers. If a game generates it's own money, the gold farmers will always find a way to exploit it....usually to the detriment of the game and it's players.

2.) Have you ever seen a 'game' or virtual world advertised before there was any kind of drawings, graphics or background story? The game has not been advertised, because it is not ready to be. All we have going is a word of mouth promotion.....to participate in these early stages.
This is a unique situation, one that no other game has attempted. Tirnua has invited us to be a part of the alpha stages and actually have input into how the game looks, feels and works. They are trying to tap into the awesome creativity of online players and enable them to participate in the creation of their own game. Where this ends up, is very much a component of who participates and how. Not everyone will stay for the whole journey, but it is the Player participation that makes it so intriguing.

3.) Luc and company learned some very valuable lessons from TSO, while trying to 'rescue' and transform the game, about the value of community, word of mouth (Facebook, MySpace) and player creativity, that they are already putting to use in Tirnua........but this is *not* TSO by a different name.

4.) At this point, much of the game is subject to change...the Design Overview is only a starting point for discussing where the game is going. What Tirnua ultimately turns out to be, is still very much, a work in progress.


Your criticisms are based on your own assumptions about where the game may end up and so are premature, if not completely off the mark. Please, at least base it on something real, from Tirnua, rather than presumed or projected from TSO.

Or better yet, participate on the Tirnua Wiki and help the game avoid the pitfalls you see looming. :D
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
It is their job to 'sell the idea' to me, and make me want to play.

Not my job to get all hyped up about something that not even you really know much about yet.

Do bear in mind that their idea of a 'community' is going to be very different from anyone else's, because they've got years of EA experience to start from, and we all know how much EA suck when it comes to online gaming and communities.

"So, um, we want to make a game, what do you guys want?" is not the way to go about it, and it certainly wouldn't attract investors which is exactly what TirNua needs right now. You can have the best team of programmers in the world ready, but if there's no capital behind it to keep it going until it turns a profit ... it aint gonna happen.

If this was a normal new game company starting out from nothing, they wouldn't be doing it this way. They're actually exploiting the fact that the die-hard Sims fans that are still reeling from the closure notice and were desperate for somewhere to go - and because Luc was the oh-so-wonderful 'saviour' that gave us almost another year of playtime before failing, people think the sun shines out of his butt.

All the makings of your typical cult... charismatic leader that everyone looks towards for inspiration and support. When Luc advertises for 'game testers' to come and join him in his desert compound... watch out :lick:

As for the 'wiki' ... I don't do wiki's. We established this when the EA-Land wiki was announced.
 

NikiKing

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Move over Lee and gimme some of that popcorn and you cant have all the rum sheesh!
 
R

rpsky3

Guest
I think we should just give this a try. AJ, come on, you were against SL for a while and were all for TSO. We are all just happy that someone is still wanting to do something. We should also be wishing them good luck and all the best in this job. I am personally not sitting here in a AC room, eating junk food or anything like that.. i am using electricity, just as you are to survive in real life... you make it sound like we are all fat slobs with nothing better to do then play games, ruin life and dont give a care about anything. well, i am here to tell you I am not doing that, i care about a lot of things. Good luck team... I am looking forward to trying out the beta days and help out with finding the bugs in game and hope to help find a squash for them!
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
The point is simply that a lot of people are getting enthusiastic not because of what Tirnua will be (because nobody knows) ... but simply because Luc is making it.

It may turn out to be absolutely wonderful. It may be a lemon. Nobody really knows yet.

Hype never made a game successful. It's the quality of the graphics and the immersiveness of the gameplay that will be its make or break. That's why I can't get excited about something we know little to nothing about.
 
K

Katheryne

Guest
*sits down next to Lee and starts swiping his popcorn*

The point is simply that a lot of people are getting enthusiastic not because of what Tirnua will be (because nobody knows) ... but simply because Luc is making it.

It may turn out to be absolutely wonderful. It may be a lemon. Nobody really knows yet.
And that's just it - Nobody really knows how the game is going to turn out; so to sit here and downtalk a game neither you nor anyone else really has any experience with is just simply counterproductive.

We all know (and perhaps share) your opinion of EA. However, this game is not being produced by EA, and just because former EA developers are working on it does not mean EA's legacy of mismanagement is going to carry through.

Say what you will about cheerleaders. But these cheerleaders are not standing on the sidelines rendering judgment about which they know nothing. Instead, they are getting directly involved with the game development.

Just food for thought.
 
A

ajdown@jp

Guest
Say what you will about cheerleaders. But these cheerleaders are not standing on the sidelines rendering judgment about which they know nothing. Instead, they are getting directly involved with the game development.
Or, another way you could put it, is that my opinions have as much value as anyone else's at this point.

Before we can 'offer advice' on the game ... don't we need some information first about what they want, and where they're starting for.

It seems that Luc has 'an idea' in his head about what the game is going to be, but at least as far as I've seen, hasn't communicated it in enough detail for us to advise.

I'll certainly be following this thing, regardless of what it turns out like, either way I can either have contributed and know my input had some value, or to be able to say 'told you so'.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
The point is simply that a lot of people are getting enthusiastic not because of what Tirnua will be (because nobody knows) ... but simply because Luc is making it.

It may turn out to be absolutely wonderful. It may be a lemon. Nobody really knows yet.

Hype never made a game successful. It's the quality of the graphics and the immersiveness of the gameplay that will be its make or break. That's why I can't get excited about something we know little to nothing about.
I don't think anyone is asking you to get 'excited' about the game, just to notch back some of your bitter assumptions about it and the company building it, at least until you have more substantial evidence of what the outcome is going to be.

It is true that little is known about the end product...mostly because there is *no* end product, yet. The excitement, for me at least, is not in what the game is going to be, but how it is going to get to where it is going. The unique aspect of this adventure, is the player participation from the ground up, in creating the game.

In the end, I may love *or* hate the results, but either way, I will thoroughly enjoy the process of seeing it created, however it turns out for my personal gaming future.

Seriously, take a chill pill and enjoy the ride, because *the ride* is what all the best of life is about, unexpected curves, dead ends and all. :D
 
M

MonkeyPantz

Guest
LOL....that's like saying, if someone crossed a zebra with an elephant and a giraffe, they would not get anything "really new"....it would still be a four-footed mammal... :mf_prop:

hahahah that made me laugh :D
 
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djhawk

Guest
is this game going to be web based or like TSO where you download the program and login and it loads like TSO did?
 
G

Gilly

Guest
is this game going to be web based or like TSO where you download the program and login and it loads like TSO did?
This is what they say about loading the game:

From the Wiki:
The game will be freely accessible to everyone, and objects will be purchasable from Tirnua and from other players.

The locations will be accessible from many places:

1.) by launching the Tirnua game and navigating on a map
2.) by navigating to a web page from the persona book and entering a location own by that persona.
3.) by installing an application in a social network and accessing the location through a simple flash application

The locations will consist of a selectable but non editable surrounding (the view) and a large editable space that users will modify and edit at will using the custom content tools. As Margaret described in her first blog post, the first surroundings will be dream places like islands, beaches, mountain tops, or forests. The locations will vary in size from a simple room to several kilometer square.
From the Tirnua blog, The Path Ahead post:

First of all the Tirnua world will be visible from several different viewers. Users will be able to see that world in 2.5D (isometric) in a browser (using flash), but also in full 3D in the Tirnua application, or in an installable browser plugin which will also deliver 3D.

If we are going to have a 3D world, why do we bother with a 2.5D world?

We learned that most casual users do not install easily plugins in their browsers, partially for security reasons, but also because it is an extra step in viewing the content. That’s why the facebook applications are so successful, they really are flash applications. Because YouTube requires Flash, and because Flash auto-updates, most users already have Flash installed in their browser.

As a user, for example, you will be able to show a simplified version of your rooms in your persona web page, or even in your social network profile. At the same time, you will be able to manage your world in a full 3D environment.
This is all that has been posted at the moment.
 
D

Donavan

Guest
LOL....that's like saying, if someone crossed a zebra with an elephant and a giraffe, they would not get anything "really new"....it would still be a four-footed mammal... :mf_prop:
Pshaw!
I be seein' them Girelebras alla time. :)

Especially around 3am when the bars close. :thumbsup:
 
T

TSOTori

Guest
Well, to me personally, the excitement for me is that, SOMEONE out there thought of people like me who was getting booted to the curb by EA - and is actually doing something out there for "me" - and with it being a community based game meaning they will actually listen to our ideas and possibly place them in the game, is truly awesome - we are being seen as real people with voices, not numbers on a "score board".
 
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Gracie Nito

Guest
I like the idea of a new planet as long as it is similar in environment to Earth. There are enough fantasy and sci-fi games out there already. I'd like to see initial plant life based on plants from Earth. There is a vast knowledge base of plant life here that we can draw upon for inspiration. How Tirnuans manage to mutate and create hybrids from those will be most interesting to see.
 
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Gracie Nito

Guest
Well, to me personally, the excitement for me is that, SOMEONE out there thought of people like me who was getting booted to the curb by EA - and is actually doing something out there for "me" - and with it being a community based game meaning they will actually listen to our ideas and possibly place them in the game, is truly awesome - we are being seen as real people with voices, not numbers on a "score board".
I'm happy they are creating something for you. I have yet to determine if they are developing a community based "game" for me. The key word for me is game. I'm not interested in another virtual world to inhabit unless it involves an actual game to play. So far, everything is concentrated on creating that virtual world and little has been said about playing a game.
 
T

TheCookieFamily

Guest
It would be lovely if I knew just exactly what to do....the controls are confusing and I'm not quite sure of what it is.

What is it? *looks confused*

Give me something to play with and I'll play with it, but there is nothing to play with unless you give the game money. And then once you do that, what exactly are you paying for? Making ur avatar look pretty? I can do that with Yahoo! for free.

Just sayin...

It's the inner-AJ coming out of me.
 
G

Gilly

Guest
They have made a lot of progress on game play. There are now goals to pursue in the game. http://www.tirnua.com/site/welcome.php

Goals:

Farming: There are three different fruit trees to grow, (with a score, for the competitive) and and can be sold, once grown. Amoung the seeds are random rare trees.

Jobs: We now have jobs, that we get paid for doing. Basically they are mazes to complete. Not a lot of money, but these are just begining jobs, too.

Stores: There are licenses for stores, giving a discount on volume purchases. (The pricing for sale is very similar to TSO's.) Licsenses for deeper discounts will eventually be available.

Gambling: We have two video poker games and a Liar's Poker game, with payouts. (Brag: I had the first official Royal Flush in the game! :D)

Quests: There are now several quests packages in our inventory, this week, to help new and old players learn all the features of the game, and increase the size of thier lots for free.

This has been an amazing week for new developments....we now have communities on the map and the ability to move our lots.....check it out, it is not your old Tirnua! :p
 
K

Katheryne

Guest
Sounds like things have really come a long way!

I still can't get in using Firefox on Linux, but it still sounds pretty exciting!
 
G

Gilly

Guest
Sounds like things have really come a long way!

I still can't get in using Firefox on Linux, but it still sounds pretty exciting!
We have players using Linux for the game, Kathryne. Perhaps you should ask in the Community Forums (http://www.tirnua.com/forum/) how they are doing it? :)


UPDATE:

I posted in the forum, and Greg said that all you should need is Flash for Linux....do you have the latest Flash loaded?

If you do and it is still a problem, give Greg the details in this thread on the forum, and I am sure they will be able to help. :)
http://www.tirnua.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4871&sid=d197634b0b074bd0bedec468ee6598e5
 
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