HALCYON (DISCUSSION / UPDATES)

>> TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRO
2. THINGS TO KNOW
3. LINKS
4. TASKS
5. FAQs

>> INTRO
This thread is devoted to discussions between Halcyon members, regular Halcyon updates by yours truly, and an abbreviated list of current members.

>> THINGS TO KNOW
If you're a Halcyon member, haven't been online for a while, and haven't given a reason as to why you've been offline for a while; I will have no choice but to kick you out of the collaboration unless you have experienced dire circumstances and explain them to me.

Our situation with inactivity isn't bad per se, but certain members are contributing more than others and I feel that it's leading to an imbalance between members' contributions (that isn't quite fair). If you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, then ask!

For all those international Scratchers: I would like to let you know that most of our members are from the USA, and you might not be able to receive the same kind of speedy discussion times that some of us Americans have among each other. That being said, we welcome Scratchers from all nations, provided you can speak English to a legible extent (not to be exclusive; I can only communicate in English and would like to oversee all that goes on in my collaboration, seeing as I lead it).

>> LINKS
Recruitment Thread – Studio for recruitment and member bios.
Headquarters – Studio for discussing and releasing content.
File Cabinet – Studio for posting/discussing ideas.
Fan Projects – Studio for posting fan projects.

>> TASKS (inspired by AonymousGuy)
>> PROGRAMMING
Work on and expand upon the Space Engine.
Work on and expand upon the Ship Builder.
Optimize (clear up lag / consolidate scripts) all programming projects when they are not currently being worked on.

>> ART
Draw modular spaceships and modular spaceship parts.
Brainstorm ideas for character and setting design.

>> STORY
Refine and/or finalize a rough plot for the game.
Brainstorm ideas for character and setting design.

>> MECHANICS
Definitively figure out which mechanics and gameplay elements should be in the game and which should be excluded.

Firedrake969 wrote:

BTW, I'd name the other thread Recruitments so people know that.

Firedrake969 wrote:

So far, what are all the ideas from each member?

Firedrake969 wrote:

Something like Upgrade Complete as in some sort of game involving lots (and lots [and lots]) of upgrades

I'm assuming FTL is a space-based game. Maybe we could have some sort of space station tycoon thingy (conquering planets/solar systems/galaxies) with sidegames? That could potentially combine them all.

Firedrake969 wrote:

Dungeon adventure in space? :3

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

Something like Upgrade Complete as in some sort of game involving lots (and lots [and lots]) of upgrades

I'm assuming FTL is a space-based game. Maybe we could have some sort of space station tycoon thingy (conquering planets/solar systems/galaxies) with sidegames? That could potentially combine them all.

I see. Upgrades will definitely keep the player coming back for more, but we should also allocate some of the replayability towards plot immersion and other story/art aspects.

FTL is a space-based micromanagement game with hints of combat AFAIK. While I think the tycoon idea isn't too bad, I kinda want the game to be a bit more linear in the sense that our player goes on a certain adventure and that the main genre is dungeon exploration with a lot of genres thrown in the mix. Of course, this is the discussion thread, so we can have a look at what the other members have to say! c:

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

…

> Braxbro wants to recreate FTL.
> Specter22 and I would like a mix-in of different genres.
> Angel thinks a platformer with minigames separating each level would be good.
> Fire (you) thinks something like Upgrade Complete would be cool.
> Everyone else either hasn't submitted their ideas or have had their ideas overlooked by me.

Asjali wrote:

>> NEWS
Specter22 has been promoted to the role of Advisor! Congratulations, Specter22! Your assistance and guidance shall be truly vital for the future of this collaboration, as the assistance and guidance of all our members.

If you're a Halcyon member, haven't been online for a while, and haven't given a reason as to why you've been offline for a while; I will have no choice but to kick you out of the collaboration unless you have experienced dire circumstances and explain them to me.

Our situation with inactivity isn't bad per se, but certain members are contributing more than others and I feel that it's leading to an imbalance between members' contributions (that isn't quite fair). If you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, then ask!

I will open Halcyon for recruitment this coming weekend (and shall notify any Scratchers on the waitlist about said opening by tomorrow night the latest). If you are interested in signing up, either submit an application form on the Recruitment Thread (link below) before the end of the coming weekend or comment on my profile so I know you're interested (and can then lead you through the steps). Thanks.

For all those international Scratchers: I would like to let you know that most of our members are from the USA, and you might not be able to receive the same kind of speedy discussion times that some of us Americans have among each other. That being said, we welcome Scratchers from all nations, provided you can speak English to a legible extent (not to be exclusive; I can only communicate in English and would like to oversee all that goes on in my collaboration, seeing as I lead it).

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

Something like Upgrade Complete as in some sort of game involving lots (and lots [and lots]) of upgrades

I'm assuming FTL is a space-based game. Maybe we could have some sort of space station tycoon thingy (conquering planets/solar systems/galaxies) with sidegames? That could potentially combine them all.

I see. Upgrades will definitely keep the player coming back for more, but we should also allocate some of the replayability towards plot immersion and other story/art aspects.

FTL is a space-based micromanagement game with hints of combat AFAIK. While I think the tycoon idea isn't too bad, I kinda want the game to be a bit more linear in the sense that our player goes on a certain adventure and that the main genre is dungeon exploration with a lot of genres thrown in the mix. Of course, this is the discussion thread, so we can have a look at what the other members have to say! c:

FTL needs a whole mess of upgrades to your ship in game!

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

…

> Braxbro wants to recreate FTL.
> Specter22 and I would like a mix-in of different genres.
> Angel thinks a platformer with minigames separating each level would be good.
> Fire (you) thinks something like Upgrade Complete would be cool.
> Everyone else either hasn't submitted their ideas or have had their ideas overlooked by me.

Hmmmmm…. Let's see… How could we mesh these… PLATFORMER… Minigames… *Mentally assembles the parts…* Um… Anyone want to hear my behemoth of an idea? AND NO IT IS NOT JUST FTL. I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE THAT QUOTE IF IT WAS. So different places would be a trigger point for a minigame/game that decides the outcome of your choices. Like for instance, if there were giant spiders in a space station and send your crew in, you would have to fight them off and any crew that dies is gone from your ship when you get back to that screen. Unless you cloned them with a Clonebay. (One feature of FTL I intend to keep, because it helps save your crew from TOTAL catastrophes. Though they do get a skill penalty when cloned…) So after each event, if there are hostiles, there is a run game after it. So like in the spider example, you will avoid tables and other equipment while staying ahead of the spiders. And you could get your dungeon crawler, Asjali… And, Specter, you could get whatever game element you want… With this, everyone will be happy and proud of themselves! Because EVERYONE had a part in it's creation AND its gameplay!

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

>> NEWS
Specter22 has been promoted to the role of Advisor! Congratulations, Specter22! Your assistance and guidance shall be truly vital for the future of this collaboration, as the assistance and guidance of all our members.

If you're a Halcyon member, haven't been online for a while, and haven't given a reason as to why you've been offline for a while; I will have no choice but to kick you out of the collaboration unless you have experienced dire circumstances and explain them to me.

Our situation with inactivity isn't bad per se, but certain members are contributing more than others and I feel that it's leading to an imbalance between members' contributions (that isn't quite fair). If you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, then ask!

I will open Halcyon for recruitment this coming weekend (and shall notify any Scratchers on the waitlist about said opening by tomorrow night the latest). If you are interested in signing up, either submit an application form on the Recruitment Thread (link below) before the end of the coming weekend or comment on my profile so I know you're interested (and can then lead you through the steps). Thanks.

For all those international Scratchers: I would like to let you know that most of our members are from the USA, and you might not be able to receive the same kind of speedy discussion times that some of us Americans have among each other. That being said, we welcome Scratchers from all nations, provided you can speak English to a legible extent (not to be exclusive; I can only communicate in English and would like to oversee all that goes on in my collaboration, seeing as I lead it).

Everyone should get only what they work to put in the game put in the game… P.S. I speak a little Spanish. And I can't really construct sentences… So um, yeah… But, there is GOOGLE TRANSLATE (the only part of Google I use)! Or a translator in general.

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

Something like Upgrade Complete as in some sort of game involving lots (and lots [and lots]) of upgrades

I'm assuming FTL is a space-based game. Maybe we could have some sort of space station tycoon thingy (conquering planets/solar systems/galaxies) with sidegames? That could potentially combine them all.

I see. Upgrades will definitely keep the player coming back for more, but we should also allocate some of the replayability towards plot immersion and other story/art aspects.

FTL is a space-based micromanagement game with hints of combat AFAIK. While I think the tycoon idea isn't too bad, I kinda want the game to be a bit more linear in the sense that our player goes on a certain adventure and that the main genre is dungeon exploration with a lot of genres thrown in the mix. Of course, this is the discussion thread, so we can have a look at what the other members have to say! c:

FTL needs a whole mess of upgrades to your ship in game!

Depending on how integral an FTL-inspired game portion will be to the entire game, we as a group could determine how many upgrades are needed to justify players using and optimally enjoying the ship upgrade system. If we just use ships for travel between dungeons and absolutely nothing else, there's little need to mass upgrades; but if they become involved with combat, trading, or other activities then more upgrades would make sense. Again, the game's going to be a lot more than just FTL if we follow the path of our ideas as a collective unit (I think you're aware of this already anyway).

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

…

> Braxbro wants to recreate FTL.
> Specter22 and I would like a mix-in of different genres.
> Angel thinks a platformer with minigames separating each level would be good.
> Fire (you) thinks something like Upgrade Complete would be cool.
> Everyone else either hasn't submitted their ideas or have had their ideas overlooked by me.

Hmmmmm…. Let's see… How could we mesh these… PLATFORMER… Minigames… *Mentally assembles the parts…* Um… Anyone want to hear my behemoth of an idea? AND NO IT IS NOT JUST FTL. I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE THAT QUOTE IF IT WAS. So different places would be a trigger point for a minigame/game that decides the outcome of your choices. Like for instance, if there were giant spiders in a space station and send your crew in, you would have to fight them off and any crew that dies is gone from your ship when you get back to that screen. Unless you cloned them with a Clonebay. (One feature of FTL I intend to keep, because it helps save your crew from TOTAL catastrophes. Though they do get a skill penalty when cloned…) So after each event, if there are hostiles, there is a run game after it. So like in the spider example, you will avoid tables and other equipment while staying ahead of the spiders. And you could get your dungeon crawler, Asjali… And, Specter, you could get whatever game element you want… With this, everyone will be happy and proud of themselves! Because EVERYONE had a part in it's creation AND its gameplay!

It's not a bad idea (that's for sure!), but I'm a little confused as to how it would play. From what I see of it, it would play like Oregon Trail or Frontier Skies but with events being triggered along the way (with the events being platformers, minigames [I don't see how the dungeon crawler mixes into it]). I feel like it's also a bit too specific (mention of the Clonebay when we don't even know if the player will share his spaceship with crew).

I do agree with the suggestion that “different places would be a trigger point for a minigame/game that decides the outcome of your choices.” That should be easily integrated into both the FTL and dungeon crawler sections of the game (FTL with traveling between planets, dungeons, traveling through space, etc.; dungeon crawler with special tiles and certain places in the dungeon where something happens, etc.). But I do agree that everyone should get something that they wanted in the project to be in the project.

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

>> NEWS
Specter22 has been promoted to the role of Advisor! Congratulations, Specter22! Your assistance and guidance shall be truly vital for the future of this collaboration, as the assistance and guidance of all our members.

If you're a Halcyon member, haven't been online for a while, and haven't given a reason as to why you've been offline for a while; I will have no choice but to kick you out of the collaboration unless you have experienced dire circumstances and explain them to me.

Our situation with inactivity isn't bad per se, but certain members are contributing more than others and I feel that it's leading to an imbalance between members' contributions (that isn't quite fair). If you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, then ask!

I will open Halcyon for recruitment this coming weekend (and shall notify any Scratchers on the waitlist about said opening by tomorrow night the latest). If you are interested in signing up, either submit an application form on the Recruitment Thread (link below) before the end of the coming weekend or comment on my profile so I know you're interested (and can then lead you through the steps). Thanks.

For all those international Scratchers: I would like to let you know that most of our members are from the USA, and you might not be able to receive the same kind of speedy discussion times that some of us Americans have among each other. That being said, we welcome Scratchers from all nations, provided you can speak English to a legible extent (not to be exclusive; I can only communicate in English and would like to oversee all that goes on in my collaboration, seeing as I lead it).

Everyone should get only what they work to put in the game put in the game… P.S. I speak a little Spanish. And I can't really construct sentences… So um, yeah… But, there is GOOGLE TRANSLATE (the only part of Google I use)! Or a translator in general.

Having our members being able to speak English just makes it so much easier to communicate. Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work). Even if they don't speak English perfectly, as long as I can understand the person a lot of the time it should be fine.

Depending what people (including me) do for the game, I will credit them as such. If I only brainstorm ideas, that's all I will put down for my credits when the game is released. I should be no better than anybody else here, because that's not how a group effort flourishes. I'm here to manage paperwork and make sure nothing gets out of hand so we can work to make this game the best that it can be.

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

Real-time? FTL IS A PAUSEABLE REAL-TIME GAME! So if we kept that feature…

braxbroscratcher wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

Real-time? FTL IS A PAUSEABLE REAL-TIME GAME! So if we kept that feature…

Got a headache yet?

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

Real-time? FTL IS A PAUSEABLE REAL-TIME GAME! So if we kept that feature…

Got a headache yet?

Yeah, pretty much.

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

Real-time? FTL IS A PAUSEABLE REAL-TIME GAME! So if we kept that feature…

Got a headache yet?

Yeah, pretty much.

LOL.

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

Asjali wrote:

braxbroscratcher wrote:

In Spanish: Creo que deberíamos clonar FTL y mermelada en el rastreador de la prisión, de plataformas, y todo lo demás se añadiría en como las cosas que pasan por hacer una elección. Así que un juego de plataformas sería algo, para, tal vez, que en secreto la invasión de un buque o algo por el estilo. Y un rastreador calabozo para cosas como el gigante evento arañas Ailen … Y los juegos funcionan para escapadas … ¿Quién sabe? Hecho con google traductor.

If you could reply to me in English, that would be great. Let me reiterate: “Having to use a translator would lead to communicative inconveniences that I'd rather not have seeing as I have an ever-expanding, ever-growing collaboration to run (and let me tell you, it's been a lot of work).”

As for your reply (which I had to go out of my way to translate):
I don't think we should clone anything. It should “smoothly mesh” different elements of gameplay from different kinds of games into one great adventure. As to how we provide that adventure, it shouldn't be based on just one game, and the different gameplay elements shouldn't act as just triggers but more as transitions into themselves, if that makes sense. If we were making more of a Trail-esque game I'd understand the use of triggers, but I'm thinking of the gameplay as being something a little more real-time.

Real-time? FTL IS A PAUSEABLE REAL-TIME GAME! So if we kept that feature…

Got a headache yet?

Yeah, pretty much.