This post could be included in some of the other messageboards but it is all theory now so I have included it here. This idea came to me while I was on the dunny (toilet, jon, loo, whatever you want to call it), and the basic premise is to give objects in an rpg "weight". i.e. make the shapes, or volume occupied by the shapes weight something so it will make the whole rpg more lifelike and believable.. i.e. no more swords flying in mid air upright etc. It will take some muscle to fully implement, but the only real objects that are going to need this attention are the one''s that are being manipulated by the player themselves, or other npc''s. So this weighting process shouldn''t take up that much time. An example of this is a sword, it is very heavy, and has a heavy handle, but not that heavy that it stands up like a stick in the ground, using this system the handle would have a weight value, as would the blade, and the total weight would also be included. These values would then be used for all different purposes, one of which would be to calculate correct, or more lifelike physics for the object for falling etc, unless it was perfectly balanced... Now how many of use know how to perfectly balance a sword on the ground? How does that sound? Dæmin (Dominik Grabiec) sdgrab@eisa.net.au

But would this level of detail really be needed in an RPG? This seems like something that would be more at home in a simulation.

Yeah, how does it affect the enjoyment of the game for the player, what is it opening up for the game?

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

quote: Original post by Paul Cunningham

Yeah, how does it affect the enjoyment of the game for the player, what is it opening up for the game?

If the game already has a decent physics engine, this would not be so hard to implement. (Semi-)realistic physics definitely add to the gameplay and immersion, as the world acts like the player expects. Also, it''s much easier for the designer to add convincing puzzles, as realistic behavior of objects doesn''t have to be scripted or predefined.

-Jussi

re: original poster
So everything (thats important) is being judged by it''s material composition? X size = Y weight for Z material.

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

not really, the basis is that every object in game has a weight value assigned to it, not jsut to thw whoile object but to parts or volumes of it... or vertecies if you want to...

i.e.

typedef struct{    int Weight;    Vertex list[];} object; 

etc... well tis just an idea. but like selkrank said in any half decent system it would bea easy to implement, if you wanrted to you could also add strengths to fibers etc so if an object of a heavy weight (lead sword) is put into a packpack made out of straw? it would break the bag, the player could be warned
"hrm, it might break the bag if I put this in there?"
etc...

Dæmin
(Dominik Grabiec)
sdgrab@eisa.net.au

Well when you finish it and make some money will you pass the source code on to me I like the idea a lot.

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!