Evolution Online: Basic Game Design

Since the world of Evolution Online never stands still and all player characters are always active (except for those four in-game hours during which they sleep – which are four real-life minutes) there must always be something to do for them. To make things interesting and thrilling, there need to be a lot of activities and things-to-do.

Characters have the standard rpg attributes that determine how good a character is at chopping wood, collecting herbs, mining ores and so on. Instead of using experience points (like in conventional rpgs) to raise these attributes, the character will get better through actual use. So after chopping down some trees for wood, their strength might rise, or if they craft items a lot, their dexterity might rise.

There are also skills that characters acquire and which are raised through use as well. All of the skills are tied to a corresponding attribute. Skills rise much faster than the inherent attribute so that every action the character takes in-game will show some result and progress in character development.

When a player first logs in, they can determine which behaviour pattern their character will follow. Should he or she be aggressive, passive, or defensive? Should they collect resources, hunt small (or large) game or search for a good spot to build their house? As your character ages and experiences more things in the game the player will have more and more choices for their character’s behaviour.

Now when the player logs out, their character will keep doing what they were taught and the next time the player logs in, an interface will pop-up and show what key experiences the character had while her/his player was logged out of the game.

Tomorrow I will go into more detail of what options the player has when training and teaching their character. Please leave your thoughts and ideas via comments and I’ll pick up on them.