An Unexpectedly Green Journey (orc life-simulator) [1.5+ Million Words] OUT NOW!

Hosted Games
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@mihai899
Not yet, but I would like to be. The last year has been a time of transition and I’ve found myself with plenty of time on my hands. Thought I would try and make something entertaining with these extra hours.

@Sagario_Octavian

Glad you walked by to join the greenies. Every orc counts! Even the gittiest ones.

I thought exactly the same as you, that it would be unusual and, hopefully, interesting and entertaining to play as an orc. Too long have they been zapped by wizards and bashed by warriors! Now is the time for some vengeance, Krog-style!

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514

I think the odd job path needs a total overhaul. I feel like the orc should be a businessman/tycoon after doing enough odd jobs and earning enough money to start a small business. But is it possible for the orc to start a business?

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515

Hi Patrick,

That would be a fun idea but the odd jobs are meant for the less ambitious orc who still want to wander the land, the more ambitious orcs have other paths. However, in the old age section I would like to take account of your orc’s life, and they will need a chance to spend all that loot, after the tribe takes its share. Perhaps you can invest in opportunities. Maybe a diluted version of this idea would be something ideal for the old path!

I would say it is possible for an orc to start a business. The Imperial Orcs surely have a few entrepreneurs among them. Also, the Green Gentleman Tavern is part run by an orc. But it would depend on upbringing and is probably something beyond the ambitions and mental scope of 99% of plains orcs.

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516

OK then.

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517

Amazing WIP i enjoyed conquering the other races

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@Mo_b1

Thanks, Mo. Welcome to the tribe!

I threw my shamanic runtling knuckle bones and they told me that successful orcs are worth ten of the best humans. :smiley:

(EDIT: Perhaps 1000!)

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519

So the City Path is like a nerfed version of Sim City but with orcs?

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520

I always liked the idea of a fantasy sim city!

Although it won’t really be like that, a light textual parallel at the most. You’ll get to stamp your authority, build stuff and hire groups for your city. Engage in a little intrigue, perhaps civilise the orcs without all the massive battles and such. I think it might be something slightly different from other parts of the game. Still under development though so not entirely sure of everything.

Though the shaman city path has a firmer, narrative woven through it where battles both spiritual and physical must be faced.

EDIT: For the shaman path I am working with a simple ‘research’ option, where your disciples pray for your shaman to be granted with epic powers. You will be able to institute the Krogadins, the green paladins- (orcs found the name ‘paladin’ rather ridiculous so decided to improve it. YMMV)

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521

Okay, I’m going to say something controversial and, perhaps, a little ruthless. I think you should cut the adventurer, laborer and fighter routes entirely. This is a stupid thing to bring up now, given that they are all basically finished, but given their heavy reliance on (I guess you would call it procedural generation?), rather than a crafted story, I think they actually come out looking less polished when contrasted against the chieftain and dark paths.

I don’t mean this to be disheartening. I could definitely see those areas being used in a different project, I just feel (personally) they add bloat without adding a lot to the life of the world and in the finished project it would be better to stick with chieftain, dark, shaman and city paths and refine those to all be of a similar quality level, rather than also have to focus on the adventurers, the fighters and the laborers as well.

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522

Holy shit an orc life simulator? This is a dream come true lol

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523

Hi Lance,

I completely understand your view and very much take it into account. You have been with this project from the earliest days and I value your opinion highly The chief path is the real meat here, in terms of those looking for a story arc and wider narrative. I have, for some time, expected someone to say this.

Perhaps, knowing what I know about Choicescript and the community, if I started now the whole game would have been tightened into a guiding narrative (and have ROS???). Undoubtedly, if I worked for a company making these games, that would be the sensible opinion in terms of quality control.

I have cut back many of my ideas and am currently considering removing an independent city path- meaning if you become a shaman, you get your Krog Rock city and manage it, but only as a shaman. However…

My stubborn brain is determined to make a life simulator, a semi-sandboxy thing, though of course within restraints. The game was never meant to be detail-orientated- things which enliven the more mundane daily events, but a sweep through an entire life.

I feel this works well with grand politics and events which unravel over years, but to do full justice to a whole life of a less grand orc would require a truly massive game. I concede that I have been over-ambitious.

In a sense, the payoff for the mundane paths might be the old age section. I agree they can be considered bloat if you are seeking a tighter narrative but I always wanted to have options available for an orc who doesn’t do the grander things. Granted, many would play to become a chief and not care to do the other things which have little impact in terms of story. But they will be your orc’s story and the fact that they are there would, in my mind, add significance to a great orc’s achievements.

I am determined to keep the existing paths, they can be considered side activities and a player is free to not touch them at all if they wish. Above all, I feel I can justify them by not forcing them on the player: choice is king.

The wonder of Hosted Games is that it allows me to give free rein to my ideas and try to put them into action. On a personal note, I would feel that I have failed if I pulled all the paths from the game. I still feel the other paths are rewarding and entertaining but do lack the impact of the chief path.

Currently, I plan to move onto the old age section after the shaman path is completed. Then it will be hardcore tweaking and refining.

I hope you stay with this project until the end, we are nearly there now!

Cheers for your considered thoughts and continued support of the project!

@gamesrgreat

Glad you found it! Fulfil your dreams. Eat and kill and be a most marvellous orc!!! :slight_smile:

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524

So something similar to Kingdom management in War for Magincia?

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@Patrick_Cody02

Hi Patrick,

I’ll have to play that and see what’s what. The city will be developed to further Krog’s goals. Once I get it up and running and post it here, feel free to offer advice on improving various systems- though it will be moving on a narrative path. It will be different enough from the chief path to offer variety.

EDIT: You will be able to build and hire various things for your city. Every 3 years the various attributes of your city will be put through a subroutine to monitor law, defence faith and population level.

While this is going on you’ll get events to tackle and Krog will give you specific commands as opposing pantheons and religious authorities become wary of his sudden rise of prominence. Failure may mean ruling over a city in the demonic abyss.

The route to success will take you to realms beyond the ether in a battle of the gods or allow you to fundamentally recreate orcs into a, sort of, master race- although this is still being worked on.

The management level will not be overly deep and complicated- I don’t want to doom players if they create sub-optimal cities, but this will provide a framework to demonstrate the effect your player has on the world and to forward the narrative. There will be a stat screen to allow you to read about the growing city.

You’ll get to feel powerful and, if successful, you fundamentally alter the fate of the world- even more so than in the chief path, though not as much through marching armies and diplomacy.

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526

Totally understandable. I’ll admit, I was reluctant to give the feedback, given how complete those sections are, but felt the need to say it anyway. It’s not like they ruin the game or anything and I’m still 100% on board with what you have going on, just felt the need to throw my 2 cents in.

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These forums are designed to store 2 cents coins and all honest opinions are welcome. Praise is far more pleasant to read but constructive criticism is far more helpful for this or future projects.

I reread your post and would say that I am not a big fan of procedural generation and agree that it detracts. Those skilled with it can surely work wonders, but I use it to try and introduce some randomness to make the world seem larger and to reduce the word count. Sometimes it is the most practical way of approaching things. I am still learning so much as I make my way through the process of developing using choicescript.

Cheers!

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I had an idea for the shaman path which you may have already thought of/implemented but I was thinking maybe the MC could become a sort of like a Pope equivalent of a shaman, so a shaman that leads all the other shamans and sort of develops it into something a bit more organized like a religion where the MC is leading it like the Pope leads Christianity.

Hopefully this makes sense…

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@Okaymusician446

I think my thoughts have been similar to this and I have somewhat headed in this direction with what I have developed so far. You do get to decide some of the facets of the faith and will be considered the greatest shaman in the land. You become the focus of the entire Krog faith, similar to a pope, known as a Diviner.

The ultimate fate of Krog worship will be in your orc’s hands.
Once I have released the update, see what you think. I could definitely add more popish flavour if this is popular.

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530

Does something happen if we destroy enough warbands? nvm smth happened literally the next one I defeated.

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531

Hi Ravioli,

I might toggle the number of warband battles you need to participate in for events to trigger and add more achievements. There is a limit of 25 warband battles, though I might decrease this to account for an orc’s ageing.

I plan to have great raider bosses acknowledged in old age.

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532

For the arena fights, some pages don’t tell what the opponent will do. Does cunning increase the chance of knowing what the opponent will do or will it just sometimes do that?

Also can we be faster than opponents described as agile if we train enough or will we always lose to them in speed?

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