i am working on an online RPG (not massive, i''m not that much of a fool), and i am thinking about whether i should implement line-of-sight... in theory it sounds like this: the game is 2D overhead, using tiles. any area not yet seen would be blacked out, and anything in the player character''s LOS would be displayed. in place of areas already explored, but not currently in the LOS, would be displayed but dimmed, and any action there would not be seen (i.e. if there was a chest of gold and no monsters there last time the character saw it, it would look the same as before, even though the gold might be gone and a monster might be standing there). i''m not sure if most people would enjoy this added realism (and if i am the only one who likes it there won''t be many players). it would allow for other neat stuff though, like players making maps of areas they have explored and selling them to other players (so that player now gets the dimmed "i''ve already been here" memory-sight for the area), or spells/items for seeing through walls, or to far-off areas. does anyone have any opinions on this?

Well, that sounds somewhat similar to the LOS* system of Diablo 2. I think it is interesting, but you should really decide what is easier for you. I was a big fan of Diablo 2 and so I stick by the added realism of that system. I say go for it! Well if you want to, but I highly reccomend it.

*Correct me if I''m wrong

Hope this helps,
Trang (I will get an account today or tommorow)

I think that would be a great feature. Of course I''m biased since I''m going to implement the same kind of thing in my own tile-based game. But I wouldn''t do it if I thought people wouldn''t like it.

this is the second time this week someone has told me an idea i had was similar to Diablo II... maybe i should just give up programming for a while and buy that game

krez, don''t worry about Diablo II. Sure, it''s a great game, but what I want to say is to keep on programming your game and don''t stop because you might lose interest if you buy Diablo II (might give you some ideas though).
It is a bit odd that you have similar ideas to Diablo II, but I don''t think it matters.

Don''t ask me what the point of this post is, because it is strange but i felt like replying

Trang

It''s a feature that has been in hundreds of games before Diablo2 I have no doubt, at any rate (for instance Jagged Alliance, or UFO:Enemy Unknown).

i wasn''t serious about quitting, and i figured they didn''t invent the idea either! i shoulda used "ima joking" tags or something...

I hate the idea. It seems to imply that you have no clue what goes on behind you. I can tell if someone if following me just by listening.

--------------------------------------------
Optimus Prime: Private Investigator!

Oscar Mike Foxtrot Golf! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"
Well Mr Saturn, if that IS your real name...

quote: Original post by krez
the game is 2D overhead, using tiles. any area not yet seen would be blacked out, and anything in the player character''s LOS would be displayed. in place of areas already explored, but not currently in the LOS, would be displayed but dimmed, and any action there would not be seen (i.e. if there was a chest of gold and no monsters there last time the character saw it, it would look the same as before, even though the gold might be gone and a monster might be standing there).

It sounds pretty good in theory, I was going to do a similar effect in one of my past games. However, while testing it I found it better that instead of "blacking out" the surroundings that you can''t see, it would be better to simply make NPCs, objects, etc "invisible" and keep the geography visible.

This would save frustration on behalf of the players part. If you really want to go the full mile, as the player gets closer, those NPCs, objects, etc would become "semi-translucent" until finally fully opaque.

AnonymousPosterChild: it would be 360 degrees, so behind the character wouldn''t be blocked, just behind walls and such... also, if the game rules dictate that the character should be able to hear someone off around the corner or something, there would be an indication of such (although the exact nature of the sound-maker wouldn''t be apparent until it was in sight).

forsakenMarz: the already-seen geography would not be blacked out, just slightly dimmed (to indicate it isn''t currently in view), and the creatures and such wouldn''t show up in those sections.