PythianRealms

[Scratso]

This thread is all about my suddenly highest-development project PythianRealms. PythianRealms will become/is a cross between Construction sandboxes and RPGs (Role Playing Games). It is being developed in Python and is currently in Alpha stage with releases for general feedback and suggestions. This thread will have a link to the project, along with some development and game information such as game mechanics etc.

PythianRealms is a "multi-realms" construction sandbox. In many other games "realms" would be known as worlds, dimensions, etc. but PythianRealms aims to be unique from the general idea of sci-fi and rather leaning towards more medieval ideas with hints of modern/future ideas. You start in the bottom realm, for realms are on top of each other, like layers. Each realm has better and more advanced stuff, but each realm will also have harder challenges to overcome before you get to the "building chunks". Each realm is made up of 15 chunks with the player defaulting to the top-left chunk when they move between realms or start the game. Access to each realm is guarded by a portal located on the realm beneath it, which will teleport you to the new realm, which will contain new blocks and new NPCs - some friendly, some neutral, some with quests, and some hostile. Most storyline-critical NPCs will have different sprite graphics and other not-so-necessary ones will have generic textures based upon key information. Some chunks in realms (known as "Wild Chunks") are completely randomly generated whilst others will have been made by me. Chunks which are wild can be completely modified to your heart's content - building mansions, villas, whatever! - Whilst chunks that are part of the storyline, and thus built by me, will not be editable. These chunks will not be editable due to issues with a player, for example, building over an important castle or ravaging a gold mine for no reason, which could potentially break their game.

You may be wondering, "okay, you're obsessed with realms. Step back a little, what's the endgame here??" and I understand that - most of the game will be centred around realms, chunks, and stories. But the endgame is that you ascend to the highest level. The highest level of what, you may ask. Well, it is half-building! The intention of the game is that as you collect blocks from the wild chunks of the realms and get more and more objects to use at your disposal, 3ou will eventually ascend to the highest level in the game - the final realm. I haven't decided yet how many realms there will be, but I have decided that whichever it will be will end with building. In all the other realms wild chunks are either equal or minority to pre-defined chunks, however, in the endgame realm there will be a majority of wild chunks all clustered around one area, designed for large scale builds that span across chunks.

Now, let's talk NPCs!

* Hostile NPCs are all based on storyline or suspense, and they will rarely spawn in wild chunks. Wild chunks are intended for building and for breaks from the storyline… and places where you can save safely and log off. Wild chunks attempt to be disentangled from the storyline as much as possible, since they will have anti-NPC codes which prevent any npc from graphically rendering there or having any effects on there. However, hostile npcs will be located at every portal, and portal npcs will be ruthless, for they will be the same difficulty as the weakest npcs of the next realm... which will be a lot stronger than the average npc on the current realm.
* Neutral NPCs are basic. They roam the world and sometimes will have something to say. However, they are not useless! If they have something to say, don't ignore it. Neutral NPCs do not take sides, so they are neither for you nr against you. As such, they will sometimes have some help for your journey - be it some angry muttering or some singing in the trees, they are centred around being clues that are hidden in plain sight.
* Quest NPCs do as they say on the tin - they hand out quests! All quest npcs are just addons to the game, in effect, since they will not help the storyline at all - the storyline in itself, is a quest. Just check that they don't mention anything about portals, snakes, or angels - if they do, it's a good idea to do their quest, because they WILL have help.
* Friendly NPCs are on your side, and should always be taken seriously, unless stated otherwise. They have valuable information that won't be shared unless you initiate a chat with them, since they're your friend - but they're not psychic! Just be careful that a friend does not betray you, for some are intentionally thrown in as curveballs to the plot, since you can't go killing people with your friend blabbing his mouth, can you? Only one way to silence him…

How do realms work?

I've been contemplating this and have decided that it will consist of a folder for each realm. Each realm's folder will contain maps for the blocks on each chunk etc and will be the base data storage system for PythianRealms. There will then be a further "chunk.txt" in the realm folder of the realm you're currently in, which will mark your chunk (from left to right, top to bottom. Like reading) and a realm.txt in the main data part which will record the realm you're in… But cheating doesn't win you anything! Try and take on the big boss with only the experience of 5 minutes and you'll die. GG.

So how can you help?

Since this game is being built from the ground up and I'm only one guy, I need suggestions and inspiration. In order to help me develop PythianRealms, all you guys need to do is give suggestions and follow the game's updates and progress. Each suggestion will be listened to and ones that fit well with the game will be implemented. This thread also only currently contains preliminary notes that I wrote up as a base, and some things won't be done and some things will be done that aren't in these notes - they're just base development notes. Update 3.0 will involve NPC work and bug fixes, whilst update 3.2 should involve chunks.

[Latest Release - v3.8](http://1drv.ms/1IR97ql)

(Also, I do need some graphics work done. If you could do any graphics work for me (and get due credits for said graphics), PM me on here. Thanks :) Edit: Mappers also welcome.)

Screenshot(s):

>! 
[](http://imgur.com/2WZoZSd)

Donations: Programming PythianRealms takes time and effort. In order to pay other bills, I thrive off donations. If you have the spare change to donate, please feel free below. Furthermore, if you PM me that you've donated (through Indie Rising), I will give you the choice of:

* A custom NPC in the next update and onwards.
* A custom message (subject to my approval) shown in either the welcome message or at a point in the game specified.
* A custom item (subject to my approval).
* Credits in the game.
* Or, if so inclined, nothing.

Feel free to ask about items and messages before donating if so desired. All options include an official "thanks" on this thread, unless explicitly stated, or the option "nothing" is selected. If the option nothing is selected and you do want the official thread message, tell me.
[](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7PQKQVQH8LMHY)

[Scratso]

And 3.9 is out. Next update is 4.0! Woot!

Anyways, overview:

* Moved craftable items list to the right of the game window.
* Added "chat" bar. This replaces the area where the craftable items list once was and NPC chats will now go there. It also now has a nice startup message  Since the purpose of this was to move away from tkinter entirely, tkinter has then furthermore been removed from imports.
* Bug fixes.

Enjoy. 

Download: [http://1drv.ms/1IR97ql](http://1drv.ms/1IR97ql)

[Officer Johnson]

looks interesting man :)

[Scratso]

> looks interesting man :)

Thanks! It's appreciated. :)

[Officer Johnson]

any ideas on a release date?

[Scratso]

> any ideas on a release date?

The official release of the game should be this year… I'm pretty sure about that. However, I don't plan to release it officially until I get it fully developed - coding out of the way (mostly - and get a mapper and graphics artist. When I get them, the actual storyline will begin appearing in each update as more maps get developed.

[Officer Johnson]

Sounds good :) can't wait to see more progress

[Scratso]

Hm… Progress would speed up exponentially if I had graphics artists and mappers since I'd then only need to code things...

[Officer Johnson]

Have you checked around the talent center you could prob find some artists their

[Scratso]

Woops, completely forgot about this thread. :P

Anyway, PythianRealms 0.5.9 was released recently. You can check that out here: [http://indierising.net/community/index.php?topic=23.msg1418#new](http://indierising.net/community/index.php?topic=23.msg1418#new)

Also, you can now support PythianRealms on IndieGogo! [http://igg.me/at/pythianrealms/x](http://igg.me/at/pythianrealms/x)

Thanks. :)

[BeNjO]

-snip-

downloading it