Text-Based RPG: Survival

[wall_fall_down]

I am familiar with VB to the point that I have made many simple calculators and arrangers for personal amusement. However, I have yet to develop a complex or large-scale program, and I've been struck with an idea.

It has long since been a dream of mine to create a text-based game. Since I am familiar with VB6 and "thinking like a programmer," I decided it would be easiest to just improve upon my understanding of the language in order to create the game.

I have pondered the possibilities of other languages, C++ coming to mind firstoff. If my idea for the game strikes you as easier for another language to hande, do not hesistate to suggest I make the change. Any input is welcome here. I would appreciate suggestions for coding in the following form:

"You mentioned [idea], and I believe it would be easiest to do with [script name]."

I do not know what you would call the "name" of a type of script, but I mean it in the way that "If-Then Statement" is the title/name given to the script itself. That might not make any sense, but it's most likely because I'm green, your average beginner-level programmer.

What I am trying to say is that I do not want you to supply me with code, I would rather you supply me with a relevant topic (or topics) to research. It is hard to learn when you have to do no thinking, and being given all the answers is my equivalent of cheating. I would much rather learn to code it myself than have the code written for me.



>My question is basically how realistic the idea of using VB is for this. I'm
>also asking if you guys know of any advanced topics to study that might
>make one or two of these ideas easier to work into the game. If VB doesn't
>seem like it will do the job I want it to, are there any other languages that
>you guys think would work better? And just the same, having a place to
>start learning that language (i.e. a certain type of scripting that would
>help accomplish one or more of the features I listed) and begin my research
>would be greatly appreciated. I'm just asking some of the more
>experienced users to throw some ideas out there for me to look into.
>I'm probably going to buy more books, but I don't want to buy a book
>and then find out VB just isn't cut out for what I am demanding of it.
>Right now I own a copy of "VB6 From the Ground Up" by Greg Cornell.




So now, onto the game. The window itself would contain little more than a short menu, a large (locked) textbox for displaying information, a one-line textbox for inputting commands, and a player status screen. The game itself...

The first thing required is a short breakdown of your character. It would ask for gender, height, weight, and age. It would also ask the player to distribute points among attributes (reasoning, strength, endurance, agility, and focus.) These would all affect gameplay by modifying the four statistics: health, consciousness (always a 0-100 scale), stamina, and core temperature (0 being normal, -7 being hypotherma and +7 being hyperthermia.) I would want these statistics to be interrelated, such as prolonged negative core temperature lowering stamina and health.

The game would be based around the (hopefully gigantic) map. I would like to somehow implement a player's map map that hides all areas that the player has not yet explored. Each tile of the full map would have a description as well as many hidden attributes (such as a short description for a "look [direction]" command and a separate one for a "look far [direction]" command,) and many would harbor static resources that would respawn annually, or become available for only one season out of the year.

On the map I would like to include wildlife that relocated depending on the time of year, and predators that would always remain within X tiles from their dens, prey, or other food source (such as a bear near the rivers.) The Again, the wildlife and the flora would provide a food source and a hide source that varied in quality and availability depending on season.

The land would also need to change per season. This might mean having four separate maps, but that is no problem. I'm not looking for easy, I'm looking for detailed. I don't care how long this will take me.

Weather would be very difficult to implement unless the weather was static seasonal, appearing at the same places and times every year. I would like the seasons to affect river levels and the player's ability to cross. For example, throughout hard winter snow there would be no possible way to escape a boxed-in high mountain valley, and you either have enough supplies and blankets to last, or you lose. Simple enough.

It is not my goal to make the game too difficult, however, and there would be an option to build a lodge, stay in one of several caves (and perhaps fight a bear for one!) or surrender food to a trade post for a winter's stay.

The player would have the option to manage the character strategically. They could seek out only those resources that were quick and easy to obtain, but provided a meager living. On the other hand, those resources obtained through more exhausting means would provide greater reward. You may need your energy for gathering firewood, building a shelter, or hauling an extra 50lbs of meat. You may decide to make camp next to your kill to save a walk, and risk being near a scavenging predator. Flexible gaming is the idea.

Any suggestions/necessary changes are very welcome. I am eager to take my notepad outline and begin building the actual program, but my problem is that I do not know where to start. Drawing the form and its necessary fields is no problem, but I am not knowledgeable enough about programming to make good decisions as to what scripting I should use for these ideas.

And as I said, if I need to move this into dev C++ and just use a DOS console-style game, sobeit. We can't always get what we want.

Also, any questions are very welcome if I have been unclear as to what I want the game to do. But if you're wondering what the primary goal is, it is survival. You're winning the game as long as it doesn't say you're dying or dead.