Concrete (and reasoned) ideas for HOUSING.

[Thortxu]

Many years ago I started playing the first PC RPGs, and since then i`ve accumulated ideas of what kind oh "house" i`d like to have in that kind of game.

In this post i want to collect all those ideas with the hope that some may be made reality by Obsidian. Some of they are mentioned in other posts on the forum. All this ideas are not immutable, i asume some of them can be exactly make reality and other a base for other differents ideas.

Lets start:

 

0 - House or Castle/Fortress?

 

I pass some time thinking about that and i concluded that the best option is the castle. A house is in most cases a big trunk, a place to store, and store, and store ... and nothing more. I think there`re better choices.

A castle gives more opportunities to make things in the game, like buildings, environments, related missions and customization... On the other hand, a castle gives to the player a "medieval feeling" that makes easier to inmerse in the game and enjoy it.

 

1 - General ideas:

 

1.0 - The castle should be obtain in several ways:

 

* As a reward of a misión.

* Collecting the money to buy it.

* Discovering ancient ruins and rebuilding.

* Building from 0 with your own design (you`re the owner of some terrain ....)

 

1.1 - The fortress must be able to be attacked whether you're inside or not (monsters, adventurers, ...). In a changing world our decisions influences future events. Why will be our castle a place out of time? For example, if we attack a camp of ogres an some escapes, their tribe will attack our castle seeking revenge. Random attacks may also occur.

 

1.2 - If our fortress is victorius we could obtain the fallen enemies drop (arms, potions, ingredients ...), regardless the level of the objets. Not only high level drops. The we can sell, or use to equip NPCs, obtain special materials to forge hig level objets.... If the castle is defeated we could lose troops, NPCs, buildings and objets (due to looting).

 

1.3 - The Castle can be defended by the troops inside (regular troops, NPCs aren`t in the group in that moment, ...). So they can obtain experience, and drops. Should be possible to configure the defensive distribution?

 

1.4 - Would be nice to set traps around the fortress (to reduce the number of enemy attackers) and in the fortress rooms doors and chests (to prevent theft if access to the interior of the castle).

 

1.5 - Specialized storage objets. It`s not real to storage food, arms, shields and potions in a trunk.

 

* Trunk -> potions

* wardrobe -> clothes

* Dummy -> arms, armors

* Slotter support -> swords, bows, ...

 

1.6 - With so many people in the castle they must consume a lot of food. How they will feed? The food will be buyed automatically or must we produce the food inside the castle? Diferents kind of animals, vegetables, ...?

 

2 - Buildings:

 

2.1 - One different building for every class inside the castle walls. The NPCs that can`t go with us can be found there.

 

* Mage tower -> Mage

* Inn -> Bard

* Basement inside the castle tower -> Thieve

* Grove -> Druid

* Creek -> Dryad, Nymph

 

2.2 - Defensive buildings.

 

It`d be a great idea to make the castle "upgradeable". Start with a basic castle ang the upgrade it with new and stronger materials (walls, gate, towers), improvements (pit, ballista, ...). The resources to strong the castle (or manufacture certain objects) could find in mines, buying to merchants, as reward in missions ...

 

2.3 - Other buildings.

 

There are some kinf of buildings that gives a truer look of a fortress. When you see non-playeable NPCs making their daily tasks inside the castle ...

 

* Small house: were non-playeable NPCs live.

* Marketplace: (we can use too to sell/buy anything we need (or not need)

* Forge: (here we can make special objets)

* Well

* Stable: (if we obtain horses we can send them here, perhaps make cavalry units ...)

* Training camp/room: (for NPCs and/or regular troops)

* Pigeon house: (to send and recieve posts and news from distance places/people)

* Caves: access to the underdark (missions, explore, ...; Place to leave captured beasts ...

* Sea port: If there is an acces to a sea or ocean it`ll open a huge opportunities (owner of a ship, special missions, access to near/remote islands, special crew, special place ...).

* Fence: Stores farm animals to feed the people.

 

3- NPCs and regular troops.

 

3.1 - NPCs

 

* All the NPCs you can add to your group. Along the game we will find many companions. Some of them will join us an others can`t because we haven`t space.

 

3.2 - Regular troops

 

* We can train troops to defend the castle, patrol, .... They can gain experience but not else an NPC level. They must be equiped (general equipment like: poor/regular/better arms or with the drops we obtain in missions or durin sieges ti our

fortress).

 

3.3 - Other

 

* It`d be great to send to the castle characters you meet during the game and you turn them into friends, or people who have lost their homes and have no where to go. Then you could train to become warriors, farmers, ...

 

* Castle Butler/steward: to receive the information of the time we`ve been traveling.

 

* Innkeeper: could ask him to obtain aditional information of travelers and extra missions.

 

* Blacksmith: could make special war equipment.

 

Ok. I think that`s all i`ve written in my block.

Sorry for my english, i don`t speak very well, but i hope you have understood me.

Thank you all for reading this long, long, long post.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Thortxu

[septembervirgin]

 

I pass some time thinking about that and i concluded that the best option is the castle. A house is in most cases a big trunk, a place to store, and store, and store ... and nothing more. I think there`re better choices.

A castle gives more opportunities to make things in the game, like buildings, environments, related missions and customization... On the other hand, a castle gives to the player a "medieval feeling" that makes easier to inmerse in the game and enjoy it.

 

If they get enough money, they can have the time to show a simple stone mansion transform into a castle over a period of time.

 

If they can't get enough money, maybe no castle at all.

 

 

1.0 - The castle should be obtain in several ways:

 

* As a reward of a misión.

* Collecting the money to buy it.

* Discovering ancient ruins and rebuilding.

* Building from 0 with your own design (you`re the owner of some terrain ....)

 

Historically, we'd need to have permission of the local lord and have what the lord would view as an honorable claim to the land.

Past and present service along with an oath to serve would help.

Money would help.

Building there and letting people live there might help or might be seen as infringement.

If a character has a beginning trait or perk of "Nobility" or some such, they could have pre-established right to land, depending on their title (and the political situation).

 

1.1 - The fortress must be able to be attacked whether you're inside or not (monsters, adventurers, ...). In a changing world our decisions influences future events. Why will be our castle a place out of time? For example, if we attack a camp of ogres an some escapes, their tribe will attack our castle seeking revenge. Random attacks may also occur.

 

Random attacks? Also random beseeching. Am I paraphrasing someone? These replies seem familiar to me... Ah well. No harm, I hope. Random beseeching, where people would come with their problems, accusations, and wants. We've seen this process in Baldur's Gate 2, Dragon Age Awakening, and maybe some text adventures. The attacks are usually not entirely without warning. Tax delays and missing messengers. Obsidian might not have the budget to do their rendition of Fable nor SIms Medieval nor the unfinished Majesty Legends. So they'll probably have a simple system for noble leadership or leave it to a storyline. They might just have a mansion or ... a house.

 

1.2 - If our fortress is victorius we could obtain the fallen enemies drop (arms, potions, ingredients ...), regardless the level of the objets. Not only high level drops. The we can sell, or use to equip NPCs, obtain special materials to forge hig level objets.... If the castle is defeated we could lose troops, NPCs, buildings and objets (due to looting).

 

The widows and families of the deceased might desire their familial armor and weapons, any keepsakes that happen to be "dropped".

If the castle is defeated, it's likely many would be captured and kept hostage. Civil hostage-taking was considered honorable in some eras.

 

1.3 - The Castle can be defended by the troops inside (regular troops, NPCs aren`t in the group in that moment, ...). So they can obtain experience, and drops. Should be possible to configure the defensive distribution?

 

Assigning characters to duties (such as organizing the arms-at-men -- I mean men-at-arms) might also work. This can include provisions, toiletry, water, equipment, and other necessities. To simplify it all, just throw an experienced seneschal and a seasoned sergeant -at-arms to the task. It's best if the sergeant-at-arms is knighted, landless but well cared for. The seneschal is just to make sure it's done and things move smoothly now and then.

 

1.4 - Would be nice to set traps around the fortress (to reduce the number of enemy attackers) and in the fortress rooms doors and chests (to prevent theft if access to the interior of the castle).

 

"Traps set for wolves."

Be careful, the merchants might want to visit.

BOOM! "What? Was that an attack?" "No, just a merchant stepping on our defensive landmines."

 

1.5 - Specialized storage objets. It`s not real to storage food, arms, shields and potions in a trunk.

 

* Trunk -> potions

* wardrobe -> clothes

* Dummy -> arms, armors

* Slotter support -> swords, bows, ...

Sheer brilliance.

 

1.6 - With so many people in the castle they must consume a lot of food. How they will feed? The food will be buyed automatically or must we produce the food inside the castle? Diferents kind of animals, vegetables, ...?

 

Many forms of agarian life take place nearby castles for the sake of the castle. Groves, gardens, vinyards, butcheries and their suppliers, convents... these are taxed a portion of the actual goods which go to feed the castle-folk. I did read David Macaulay. Aberwyvern Castle. I don't remember an inch of it though. My own copy was thieved by some ass who lived a few streets down from me, along with a collection of toys and gaming books. Damn sorcerous toad.

 

2.1 - One different building for every class inside the castle walls. The NPCs that can`t go with us can be found there.

 

* Mage tower -> Mage

* Inn -> Bard

* Basement inside the castle tower -> Thieve

* Grove -> Druid

* Creek -> Dryad, Nymph

 

I get the idea. And in the mirror lives the fairest one of all. Llafoe Notseri Afeht, the Egyptian princess.

Of course where they live might have more to do with their personalities and where they are found might have more to do with the events in their lives.

 

I'll stop the commentary here. I think we all get the point that a game about castle-making could be enormous fun. And perhaps an edutainment game would be more interesting than a computer role-playing game. However, keep in mind these guys don't have limitless pockets and the game should be published by or around April 2014.

 

You made some really good suggestions! Keep in mind the expense though.

[NerdBoner]

Houses, mansions, Keeps and castles are merely so that retired adventurers can compare success once their adventuring days are behind them. (besides, everyone knows the truly successful adventurer has his own dimension)

 

An active adventurer will have little time for such things as selecting curtains, upholstery and hardwood floors with all the smiting, rescuing, dungeon diving and dimension hopping he'll be doing.

[Dragoonlordz]

Well you start off with one made of straw then progress to one made of wood and finally it upgrades to one made of stone.

[SirthOsiris]

I like the upgradeable ruins idea. I'm getting the image of the loading splash being someone mounted and cloaked while walking between foggy stones.

[PsychoBlonde]

But I wanted a high-rise apartment. With a pool. On the roof. Actually, that'd be more like a penthouse. Nvm.

 

Really, though, I don't see how a castle is inherently more interesting than a house. Houses get termites. And ants. And raccoons in the attic. They get invaded by the police. They get burglarized. They get burned down. People try to buy them off you so they can put in a new housing development. The neighbors put up a new fence that crosses the property line. The basement can flood.

 

Plenty of interesting and annoying stuff can happen with a house, particularly if your adventuring buddies all live there with you.

[Thortxu]

You made some really good suggestions! Keep in mind the expense though.

 

I realize that many of my ideas may not be made, but I spent a lot of time compiling and shaping them. It was great to see them written and think that someone in Obsidian have read the post. I'm content with that.

 

And thank you by all your comments. I apreciate them.

I`ll keep in mind the expense though.

[Klaleara]

Fortress plz/k/thnx, can't add too much now, will later.

[Paul D]

You made some really good suggestions! Keep in mind the expense though.

 

I realize that many of my ideas may not be made, but I spent a lot of time compiling and shaping them. It was great to see them written and think that someone in Obsidian have read the post. I'm content with that.

 

And thank you by all your comments. I apreciate them.

I`ll keep in mind the expense though.

 

I agree, great ideas, and if Project Eternity's universe was to model the real world at the moment you could probably borrow money at a near zero interest from some country, hire in labour from another country with 25% unemployment paying them next to nothing for privilege of building your house, and have plenty of your next to zero interest rate cash left over to throw one hell of a house warming party, inviting your thousands of Obsidian buddies over.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Paul D

[Humanoid]

A one-room shack in the city. If you're rich you might be able to afford to buy a house with a couple of bedrooms eventually, maybe even in the middle-class part of town overlooking the main throughfare from the second storey window if you're lucky - it might even be connected to the town's sanitation infrastructure. Luxury!

[Benjamin Breeg]

For me a castle is way over the top, since historicly speaking they were only built for miritalistic reasons, and not primarily as a place to live. And only by kings or lords of the land, not by ordinary people.

[Thortxu]

For me a castle is way over the top, since historicly speaking they were only built for miritalistic reasons, and not primarily as a place to live. And only by kings or lords of the land, not by ordinary people.

 

I`m agree with you, but we don`t know how the game history is going to be, or if we`ll be reach or poor, neither our social class.

The posibilities a castle gives to the player experience in the game (this is the most important thing in my opinion) are more than a house. That`s the reason why i prefer castle.

[Monte Carlo]

I can't *believe* nobody has thought of the ultimate adventure pad:

 

A caravan. Well, more of an armoured wagon. With rooms. And creatures to pull it. And upgrades, like a battery of small cannon or magical powaz or teleportation. The wagon might be like Doctor Who's Tardis or Baba Yaga's hut (bigger on the inside than on the outside). You wouldn't have to trudge anywhere to use it, just park it up near a town and go adventuring!

 

Yes, a Wondrous Wagon is my suggestion. Anything else is just too The Sims for me.

[alphyna]

Seems like you'd like to see a more strategic aspect to the house, what with all the class-specific upgrades and attacks. And while I agree it can bring an interesting angle to the game (and rebuilding is a very nice cosmetic touch), it also seems a bit distracting from the adventure at hand. Frankly, I would be torn between adventuring and having to keep in mind that my house/castle/whatever needs to be protected.

 

On the other hand, I would love to see it customizable for my companions. Not class-based, though, but personality-based. If I could assign rooms to them and they would decorate and rearrange them accourding to their ideas of a nice place, that would really be interesting.

[max8472]

A castle or a keep would be great but a more interesting idea could be the possibility to run commercial activities (something seen in BG2 but not-so-well developed)

 

Every adventurer -> magic items shop or a sort of museum

Thief -> thieving guild, shipping company

Bard -> theatre, inn

Mage -> alchemist shop, magic academy, book shop

Warrior -> mercenary company, private militia, training school

Cleric -> church, charity organization, hospital

Monk -> martial art school, monastic order

Druid -> erbalist, animal training

[Gecimen]

Troops? Attacks? I didn't pay for an RTS.

 

I can't *believe* nobody has thought of the ultimate adventure pad:

 

A caravan. Well, more of an armoured wagon. With rooms. And creatures to pull it. And upgrades, like a battery of small cannon or magical powaz or teleportation. The wagon might be like Doctor Who's Tardis or Baba Yaga's hut (bigger on the inside than on the outside). You wouldn't have to trudge anywhere to use it, just park it up near a town and go adventuring!

 

Yes, a Wondrous Wagon is my suggestion. Anything else is just too The Sims for me.

 

Amazing idea. Reminds me of Dr. Parnassus...

Edited September 25, 2012 by Gecimen

[Monte Carlo]

On the other hand, I would love to see it customizable for my companions. Not class-based, though, but personality-based. If I could assign rooms to them and they would decorate and rearrange them accourding to their ideas of a nice place, that would really be interesting.

 

Oh noes! Bioware Social Alert!!!

[Gfted1]

Well you start off with one made of straw then progress to one made of wood and finally it upgrades to one made of stone.

 

But what if a wolf came along before you upgraded to stone?

[Flying Magician]

On the other hand, I would love to see it customizable for my companions. Not class-based, though, but personality-based. If I could assign rooms to them and they would decorate and rearrange them accourding to their ideas of a nice place, that would really be interesting.

 

Uhm. Cool. Now maybe you will go back to your Sims. Or to watching Leliana singing at the campfire.

[Gecimen]

On the other hand, I would love to see it customizable for my companions. Not class-based, though, but personality-based. If I could assign rooms to them and they would decorate and rearrange them accourding to their ideas of a nice place, that would really be interesting.

 

Uhm. Cool. Now maybe you will go back to your Sims. Or to watching Leliana singing at the campfire.

 

What's wrong with Leliana singing at the campfire?...

[FlintlockJazz]

I agree with others, a castle is a bit over the top, and is used for ruling not living. A manor is more apt (and where still built to be defendable if thats your worry) fits more characters and more customisable (can take more forms and therefore fits more classes).

 

Or you could own your own tavern, gain an income and lure rival adventurers to their doom! Evil minion by the fireplace to send them off on suicidal quests...

 

Or if you're really set on ruling then how about a whole village? Though then you're looking more at some sort of medieval sim city game...

[Milten]

About housing concept in general. I'd like to see some basic part for all PCs and class-dependent additions which could bust PC's abilities and/or abilities of House NPCs in different ways. I think this is the best way not to spread resources making many content-poor houses and give it a personal touch in same time.

Discovering ancient ruins and rebuilding.

That's my personal thing, when I see ancient ruins in games I always have urge to rebuild them. Ayleid ruins, bah.

But as far as I see it's not really interesting for most of the people, so whatever.

3.1 - NPCs

...

3.2 - Regular troops

...

These two points made me think about something else. What if we could fill our party with our troops? They don't question you, they don't steal your experience (if it will be BG way), they don't need to be manually equipped, oh and they are totally mortal. This could be an option for someone who hates all his teammates but doesn't want to walk alone.

About Castle, yes it's a noble thing, but that doesn't mean that we can't have our little fortress without it.

[Loki Ador]

I am all in favor of having an upgradable home / castle / whatever it is.

 

However, I am against the very idea of actually managing it in term of:

-Managing troops, setting traps and defending against attacks

-Managing the castle economics, even at basic level, like ensurring the food supply

 

PE is to be a roleplaying game, not a castle management one. Let us not mix both.

 

A game that succesfully managed to implement some sort of castle management was Dragon Age Awakening: you would take some key decision (reinforcing the wall, setting the garison in the castle of making it patrol the land), react to some scripted events (like arbitrating disputes between vassals, reacting to a peasant uprise), but nothing that would come close to an actual simulation game.

[NerdBoner]

A castle or a keep would be great but a more interesting idea could be the possibility to run commercial activities (something seen in BG2 but not-so-well developed)

 

Every adventurer -> magic items shop or a sort of museum

Thief -> thieving guild, shipping company

Bard -> theatre, inn

Mage -> alchemist shop, magic academy, book shop

Warrior -> mercenary company, private militia, training school

Cleric -> church, charity organization, hospital

Monk -> martial art school, monastic order

Druid -> erbalist, animal training

i reary rike dis idea friend-o!

 

 

i like that traveling armored caravan too...makes a lot of sense for an active adventurer to have a home on the move rather than a stationary one.

[Cheffchantier]

Hi,

i have to say you have some great ideas about the housing.

and i don´t see why a castle is not possible and unrealistic? it all depends

on the storyline.

To be honest for me personnally i wish you would do something in the vein

of nwn2. I loved the crossroads and all the npcs, storyline´s, upgrading, etc that was involved with it.

i have never seen an equally dynamically fun home for your character then this. to be honest it was

the only home where it felt like the home for my character and i was always anxious of getting back to it, seeing what

had transpired while i was away. for example i thought that the camp in da:o was terrible(in a great game!) and i didn´t even want to go back to it. and don´t get me started on awakening, because that was a total joke. enough ranting, i just hope you make something equally dynamic as in NWn2 with the crossroads. sadly as i seen too often im in the minority with this wish:) at least i gave my opinion to look at.

 

best of luck creating the game^^