Feel free to post here as well.
I've been toying with the idea of creating a Play by Post Forum for some time. However, not being a regular player, I only have a faint idea of what to include. I'm looking for ideas of what to include and will work on this in my spare time.So, here's what I'm looking for: A central location that will allow gamemasters and players a rich user experience capable of handling content and fun for the purpose of system specific and generic Play by Post internet games.
The forum is more focused on adding more game specific information into the experience. Some features include:
- Multiple characters per user account.
- Multiple aliases per character
- Generalized posting area with an "Action" area that will show actions taken by the user
- Stored die rolls
- Time based tracking
- Open posting and Initiative based posting
- Personalized Avatars
- Online maps with the ability to "map out" actions
- Ability to use different fantasy languages
- Character status and conditions
- Turn notifications
I'm interested in hearing what other people would like to see out of this. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome, including your takes on the items above (described below).
If there is enough of a need for this, I'd be interested in spending additional time to make this become a reality.
Thanks in advance, and enjoy!
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A more detailed rundown of the above items.
Multiple characters per user account - A person signs up for an account and can create multiple characters. When submitting a post, they are able to choose the name of the character. There will be a restriction that the character must be involved in the game to be used for posting.
Multiple aliases per character - GMs and players can post as different character names for whatever purpose. For example, a villain is masquerading as a beggar. The beggar's name will show instead of the villain. Anything that happens to the beggar also happens to the villain.
Generalized posting area with an "Action" area that will show actions taken by the user - Forums have an area for posting descriptions of what is happening. This area would have supplemental information that relates game terms to those viewing. As an example, in the d20 system, an attack action would look something like "[Player 1] attacks [Villain] [roll] and hits for [XX] damage. The normal posting area is not affected by this section.
Stored die rolls - Upon submission of a post, the die rolls are saved. The results are randomly generated. This frees up the GM and Players from having to post results.
Time based tracking - GMs are responsible for updating the time in the game. When a game is set up, a date and time is determined by the GM. The GM can progress the time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, or years with a simple action. When in combat, the system would automatically adjust time as needed. Actions of players may also add to the time (ex, taking 20 on a search, brewing a potion, etc).
Open posting and Initiative based posting - The GM can control how posting is processed. In times where there isn't an emphasis on "time" ("open posting"), posting can be done at any time by anyone. If there is a need to keep track of who goes, "initiative-based" posting takes over. The current and next characters in the initiative will be visible in the post title and on the page. A person cannot post out of turn in "initiative-based" posting. The GM can institute a "time limit" that will skip over people that do not post within the time frame (ex, 5 seconds, 3 days, or even 2 years). Depending on the option used, the player may be able to post as if he was using a "held action".
Personalized Avatars - Each alias has a picture available for viewing. This way the Beggar and Villain don't have the same visage.
Online maps with the ability to "map out" actions - Map fields with a background of the area are scaled for players to map out their actions.
Ability to use different fantasy languages - If a language is posted that a character doesn't understand, the post will reflect in the same way (random characters). Those that have the language will read it as normal.
Character status and conditions - As with normal forums, there is usually a location below the poster's name that has information about the posting person. This area will be used to show the character's statuses and conditions (ex, HP, Bloodied, Prone, etc).
Turn notifications - As described above, users can see who's turn it is with a quick glance at the thread.
This looks very interesting. Ambitious, certainly, and I'd be very interested to see if it could be pulled off. Might I assume you're using php? If so, while it's been quite a while since I last used php regularly I wouldn't mind lending a hand where needed.
Yes, Apache, MySQL, and PHP setup with planned JavaScript and CSS frontside. I have some notes and have been looking at different Forums for different ideas. I'll keep you in mind when things get started. If you have any other ideas, feel free to post.
The plan is to focus on d20 systems (3.0, 3.5, PFRPG, and 4e) to get the basic systems down. These are pretty much "action, reaction, and benefit" engines and use the same types of math and combat systems. All four systems are pretty much made for computer games.
The trick would be to make it generic enough. Technically, you're essentially adding flavor to "I roll a NdS and add/subtract X to reach Y." So long as the tables are set up right, the database will do most of the work.
The more complex things would be like Feats and Powers, but those are essentially stacking other pieces together. Ex, Helpless would be reducing DEX to 0 and -4 to Melee AC in 3.5 and granting Combat Advantage in 4e.
OK, enough rambling ; )
Sounds very interesting. Is there any specific area you could use a hand with? While I'm sure you could handle everything yourself, I wouldn't mind seeing this done as quickly as possible. I've not used MySQL much, but I learn fairly quickly, and I'm sure I could help with some of the back end PHP stuff, if you want the help, but I've never yet used Apache, so I'd be of limited use there.
It's still a bit early to start. I have very little experience with pbp, so it's important to get all the requirements before starting so that you don't end up with "This is an awesome feature" and then have to go back and recode. There are some good ideas that are popping up on the pbp Forum thread on Enworld.org. Nothing shattering to my ideas so far.
Honestly, the most useful would be the HTML/CSS/JavaScript side. The appearance of an application is always important, and this is my weakest area (I prefer function over pretty). A forum is pretty cut and paste from other forums. It's just how everything puts into the db and displays on the screen. That's not to say that the PHP code isn't important.
MySQL is basically a db. If you know SQL, you're golden. If you don't know SQL, a good resource is Teach Yourself SQL in 21 days. I keep that book within arms reach, just in case.
Apache server is more of an engine for the whole system. Also, websites don't usually let you mess with the server.
If you're interested in the AMP platform, check out XAMPP. This is essentially a WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin) server that's all ready to go.