I recently was looking at Steam sales and some "programming kits for non-programmers". One allowed people to create first person shooters.
That got me thinking (as I use Maptools to run a Pathfinder game with friends across the country)...it would be an interesting (and perhaps exciting) experiment to transform the game to a first person perspective. You could cast evocations, have percentile chances to charm/confuse, could buff, could melee, could be an archer, etc.
On top of that, I've bought all the adventure paths since the beginning, but we've not gotten to most of them. It would be exciting to "program" a first person perspective and build the adventures so that players could go through them (admittedly somewhat linearly) perhaps with DMs running boss NPCs or being able to control groups of NPCs in real time.
I'm wondering if anyone has thought of this, and if they have or haven't, if anyone has advice to someone who doesn't know how to code but is fairly savvy with computers?
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I think your answer is "Neverwinter Nights Toolset," to be honest. You might also want to look at RPG Maker.
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You'll be ecstatic to hear about this. As a reference that company was the one to make Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights II (and all of its expansions) and South Park and the Stick of Truth which, say what you will, was a very mechanically sound RPG.
I think the OP is talking an honest to goodness FPS. Which would be awesome.
On top of that, I've bought all the adventure paths since the beginning, but we've not gotten to most of them. It would be exciting to "program" a first person perspective and build the adventures so that players could go through them (admittedly somewhat linearly) perhaps with DMs running boss NPCs or being able to control groups of NPCs in real time.
Though for this, Lilith is right. NWN Toolset was awesome for this kind of thing. If Obsidian can recreate that for PF, it will also be awesome.
To be frank, you're going to be very limited in what you can accomplish with any tool set that does not require you to write code of any kind. Even things that may sound superficially trivial to you (causing a "charmed" condition a certain percent of the time when hit by a specific attack) is very likely something that would need new code to be written to make it functional.
I have good news for you, though: Learning to write code is something that you can do.
Note that I didn't say it was easy to learn to write code, and that's because it isn't easy. It requires you to learn a new way of thinking about things. But that's really cool! Learning to approach problems from a different perspective is the sort of skill that makes you a more effective person at just about everything, so even if you don't expect to be writing code professionally, you will see it pay off in other ways.
http://www.codecademy.com/ is a good place to start. Don't be daunted by the wide array of programming languages out there. Pick one and learn it (JavaScript or Python are good choices). Once you've become fluent in one language, picking up a new language is actually pretty easy! (most use the same underlying set of object-oriented programming principles)
Coding is a very unique skill set in that it is a) in incredibly high demand, b) can be learned on one's own time, for free, c) lets you do some pretty awesome things, and d) proficiency can land you a job that pays very well (though if you're pursuing the latter I'd suggest enrolling in a bachelor program at a university).
Good god, no! The last thing this world needs is another first person shooter.
I disagree with the above. There used to be quite a few fantasy-themed FPSs. Though admittedly the only ones I've played were the Heretic/Hexen series. (Corvus is the most badass elf ever. Screw you, Legolas.)
There's more than enough modern military FPS's, and quite a few Space Marine style, but I don't recall any fantasy style FPS's released in recent memory.
There's Lichdom: Battlemage.
It's pretty fun.
There is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, as well. It has nothing to do with the rest of Might & Magic, apparently, but it's a pretty good game.
Thanks all...
There actually is a good(ish) per reviews fps called Lichdom: Battlemage, which, combined with "use these systems to program" got me thinking. (I bought it over the holiday sales but haven't had time to play it, so don't blame me if you buy it and it sucks). ;)
EDIT: I somehow missed your post about it Rynjin.
I'd want to do it for me and my group, not for sale. I thought it'd be awesome to program all the adventure paths for much faster play that we'd actually GET to...my group takes forever to finish them and they come out faster than we play.
I'm envisioning something like Skyrim meets Zeno Clash (a first person melee). But I would want to make it true to a "dungeon crawl" or rpg feel. There I'm thinking a feel like Fallout 3 or New Vegas, or even going as stealthy as Dishonored.
I'd definitely not want a "run and gun" game (though barbarians would probably feel like that amongst the rest of the party).
(I realize I'm mixing in some 3PS, but you guys get the idea).
Alternatively, if anyone knows someone at Obsidian, and they want to partner with Paizo to use the Fallout engine to make the adventure paths in a first person mode, sign me up as a kickstart backer (or simply someone who will purchase the games).
There are old games like Hexen and Heretic that are fantasy based FPS with a little rpg thrown in.
There are old games like Hexen and Heretic that are fantasy based FPS with a little rpg thrown in.
Hexen II is my favorite of that bunch. And yes, it's a FPS with limited RPG mechanics (experience points, level progression, improved powers). The hands in front of you while casting in Battle Mage is dead on for the look in Hexen II playing the Necromancer. The nice things about Hexen II included four classes (five with the Portals of Pravus expansion), partially destructible environments, and multiplayer including a Siege game type using the Hexenworld client. The classes were the Paladin, Crusader, Assassin and Necromancer. Think Fighter, Cleric, Rogue and Wizard and you won't be too far off. The added class in the expansion was the Demoness. The code was released by Raven software a few years ago (It's Quake engined). The game is available on Steam and there was a small dedicated mod community years ago (not sure about any now and haven't checked on the Steam community for it). There were additional classes, maps, game types etc. developed for it. Fun game.
I disagree with the above. There used to be quite a few fantasy-themed FPSs. Though admittedly the only ones I've played were the Heretic/Hexen series. (Corvus is the most badass elf ever. Screw you, Legolas.)
There's more than enough modern military FPS's, and quite a few Space Marine style, but I don't recall any fantasy style FPS's released in recent memory.
I don't know if you would count Skyrim. It plays like an FPS, although with more sluggish combat than most.
Although if anyone is gong to make a frst person pathfinder game, I hope they'll take a page out of either Flying Wild Hog's Shadow Warrior or Chivalry, or maybe a bit of both, for the melee combat. First person swordplay can be done right and those are the only games I know that did.