[size="7"] Introduction

Hello there! I have just started learning OpenGL and I'm competent in C++. I have created this post for feedback on my "soul project". For most beginners in game development it seems that they want to make an MMO of sorts. I consider my idea an MMO (networking won't come until much later) but really it will have a client/server architecture where someone hosts a server from their computer and can invite a few friends or hopefully a lot more people(I would like to achieve at least 30 players online at a time but that depends on how well the server code goes, how much my game can handle, and how good the person's server is). I'm starting to ramble about networking which isn't a huge focus at all for my project(yet) so I shall skip to the point!

My idea is a block building game. It isn't really like minecraft if that is what you are wondering, but rather like playing with Lego! You can build your game then play it as a character. Some games have done this pretty well but I think it would be really fun to make and I could offer some things that they don't. I made this thread because I want feedback on what YOU would want in a block building game.




[size="7"] Features


I'll just list a few ideas that I have and hopefully you can offer me some feedback:

-Build with blocks, pyramid/triangle type shapes, and even spheres! You can change the size of them, manipulate physics properties, and apply cheap graphical effects to make your creations look awesome
-Block physics! I plan to implement bullet or maybe another physics engine so you can have fun destroying everything and messing around with rigid body physics.
-Scripting! I plan to let users manipulate object properties through scripting(possibly Lua) to make endless possibilities. Players will have fun creating their own games!
-Cheap dynamic lighting to allow for nice effects without too much of a performance cost
-Networking(not in the near future) to play with others
-Play and share your creations
It will kind of be like a physics sandbox with all the blocks you could ever want. Most of my more specific ideas are related to the actual objects in the game. I will add a customizable particle effect object creator, 3D rendering on a 2D surface(think security cameras), simple raycasting for the user, among other things.
-Tutorial
-Small single player fun games created by me that can be easily accessed from the main menu(assuming the other mode is online or creating stuff offline)


[size="7"] Feedback

I hope you can grasp my idea and offer some feedback on my ideas or what you would want in a block building game. How would you want to be able to build and manipulate objects? What kind of objects would you want in the game? I know how big this project is and I'm prepared to spend months working on it while creating smaller games. It's the kind of project I will keep adding to and eventually it will snowball in to a great game as I learn more about OpenGL. Thanks for reading and hopefully I can get some good discussion going.

In most of the building games I can play I like to make forts. I also like to see how my fort can withstand against certain disasters. Most of the time these are waves of monsters or in the Sim City they are actual natural disasters.

It would be fun to build creations and put them under different kinds of stress to see how they'd deal with those situation.

Thanks for the feedback! Survival is usually very appealing to people in dynamic games like this. Players will mostly have power over this through scripting but I sure can help them along. For example, players could instance objects above your fort(meteors) or even make boulder/spheres if your hill is conveniently placed beside a mountain. I could help people by adding weather effects like rain, snow, fog. They might also be able to achieve the desired effect using the particle creator.

A few other ideas I have are being able to create user GUIs(display ammo, inventories, menus, etc.), and add some character effects like motion blur.

One other thing I should mention is that you switch between first and third person mode, however you should be able to go free cam or use an editor so it's not as tedious.

You may want to have a look at OpenSIm. It pretty much already does what you are talking about (including fisr person and 3rd person as well as free camera controls and physics). I run my own personal version of OpenSim and I do enjoy building with it.

However, OpenSim is not a game (you can make games in it). For a game, you need some type of conflict (conflict here does not necessarily mean combat or violence - Bejeweled, Tetris and such all have conflict but not violence or combat). SO just building things does not have conflict.

It would be easy to add conflict, such as puzzles where you have to build a certain structure with a given set of blocks and/or time limit. You could have players trying to build while someone or something is trying to knock it down, or many other such additions.