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RateMyServer.Net => Server Discussion => Topic started by: Insomnia2000 on Apr 03, 2018, 10:05 PM

Title: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: Insomnia2000 on Apr 03, 2018, 10:05 PM
I posted this to reddit, but thought I would post it here too for any RMS people who like unusual server projects or wanted to add to the discussion. Most of it is copy-pasted from reddit. I did leave a link at the bottom for more info, but if that's not allowed in server discussion, or this needs to be moved elsewhere, that's all fine. I didn't think it belonged in advertisement since it's likely to never open. I mainly wanted to bring about some discussion of an RO remake idea that was started a few years ago.

I'll start off by saying this project isn't open nor is it likely open any time soon, if ever. I just thought some people would find it interesting to read about since there are so many RO spinoffs and cash-grabs. So, here was a project spinoff that wasn't intended just to make money off of the RO name and was started because of the love of the original and desire to bring more Ragnarok to Ragnarok fans.

What is Ragnarok: Asgard Legend?
This project is more of a remake than a sequel. Ragnarok Online is an old game and despite offering a lot of unique features seen nowhere else, it feels quite lacking compared to modern MMOs. The goal was to remake Ragnarok Online with the intent of keeping all of the aspects of the original game while fixing and adding things to the game that to make it more than just a grind from level 1 to 99.

The Project's Infancy
The team started with rAthena as a base and wiped all items, monsters, NPCs, etc. until we were left with just a means of login, character creation and server hosting. By starting with a clean slate, we were able to optimize, normalize a lot of features across all NPCs, and add more dynamics to the game itself. When you try to go back and add features retroactively, it usually doesn't turn out well. For instance, the new questing system for RO being mostly broken and working for some quests but not all. By starting with nothing, we can ensure that all features, like the quest window, work across the board and not just in some places. This applies to more than just quests and allows the game to feel more fluid all around Rune Midgard as opposed to feeling like one team handled one city and some other team with other intents handled the next city.

What's the Same or Similar?
The client and server backend are the same; I mentioned earlier that we started with a blank rAthena. The mechanics and calculations regarding most aspects of the game are pre-renewal based as we felt that pre-renewal mechanics were more unique to RO and allowed for more versatility. I say "based" because although they are similar, they are not identical. You could expect a lot of skills to function similarly, but maybe slightly altered for balancing purposes in some cases. You'll also see the same visuals, same towns, job classes, and monsters from RO alongside some new additions or changes. And this is about where the similarities end.

The result from keeping these things similar is retaining the original RO1 feel, while allowing for a lot of new experiences. The goal is to provide that initial fun, learning, and exploration feeling of playing a new game all while still feeling like the classic Ragnarok Online that we all love.

What's Different?
There's quite a bit different. For the most part, if it wasn't listed under similarities, expect it to not function the same as RO1. I'll try to bullet point as many of these things as I can remember. You'll notice a lot of features that make the world more interactive and dynamic overall as well as a lot of changes to how classes and features are handled. For us, this was a three step process.

Step 1.
When introducing a new mechanic, skill, or feature we had to first make sure that it was in-line with how the original RO played. This means that nothing is mandatory and players can build their character and play the game how they choose. The original Ragnarok Online is one of the few non-linear MMOs where the player's hand isn't held throughout the whole game, directing the player where to farm, what quests to do, and what skills/stats/equipment to use. Although there is more of an overarching storyline that can be followed from levels 1~99, it is designed in such a way that it is entirely optional. There are still plenty of side quests if you choose to learn the lore of Midgard/Asgard at your leisure, just as in RO1. This also means that no feature can feel out of place. I know this is pretty subjective, but the intent is that everything should be professionally done and well-thought-out almost as if the game was originally launched with said feature.

Step 2.
Secondly, features and adjustments have to be properly aligned and balanced with the rest of the games features and content. In our case, the aim was to not have any absolute bests or "crutch" features/content. This can be quite difficult to do without a lot of testing. RO1 had a lot of "crutch" systems where if you didn't do X or didn't have Y item, you were at a major disadvantage or were just intentionally making the game more difficult for yourself. These sort of "crutch" systems are nearly impossible to get rid of, but the goal is to minimize it as best as possible without making every class and every play-style feel exactly the same: one of the problems we had with renewal.

Step 3.
Lastly, implement and play through the content to analyze the feel of the content and make adjustments as needed.

Assorted Features and Mentions
Here are some assorted bullet points and a quick bit of information, as much as I can recall. You can find some images on the main site.

Current Status
In it's current state, Ragnarok: Asgard Legend is about 40% towards where we wanted to launch with Episode 1. The original plan was to have a progression of episodes like the original RO had, so the launch would have been Episode 1 containing enough content to play the game for many, many hours, but with plenty of content still to come.

This project was started about 3 years ago as a side-project amongst myself and two other admin/devs. However, the rest of the team besides myself have moved on with life and are no longer developing the project. It's a pretty massive project and currently only gets worked on or maintained sparingly by myself as it's very hard to find trustable and competent devs (not currently hiring). Besides that, I like that it's fairly stress-free for me to work on as a hobby when I'm not busy with grad school, work, or family.

Link for more info: https://www.asgardlegend.com/ (https://www.asgardlegend.com/)

Well anyway, I thought that since a lot of various RO projects and spinoffs pop up all the time, some people might find this old project interesting. I'm curious what people thought of something like this. A lot of the reason development stopped was because of real life, but the other big factor was that the project seemed like a lot of work for such a small audience that would play it. That's why the project is now just run by myself and worked on very, very, sparingly just for fun.

Just to reiterate, this project isn't anywhere near done, nor may it ever be completed at all. I just wanted to bring something else to the discussion table.
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: yennar on Apr 04, 2018, 05:41 AM
This looks awesome.
Really awesome.

But i don't think it is really doable for 1 person alone
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: Bue on Apr 04, 2018, 09:32 PM
Quote from: yennar on Apr 04, 2018, 05:41 AM
But i don't think it is really doable for 1 person alone

Nah, I think this can be solo.
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: PokemonRO on Apr 04, 2018, 11:33 PM
Quote from: Bue on Apr 04, 2018, 09:32 PM
Nah, I think this can be solo.

Agreed, I think it can be done. Just need to plan out which part requires source coding and which part requires script coding. Source coding would be the most time constraining part of it
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: BlankXF on Apr 24, 2018, 04:16 AM
Oh hey. Pretty good concept there, especially with redefining the purpose for each classes. I do have my gripes with what Gravity had done with Trans and 3rd classes especially.
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: Blinzer on Apr 28, 2018, 06:20 AM
Quote from: Bue on Apr 04, 2018, 09:32 PM
Nah, I think this can be solo.

what makes you think that i wonder :^)
Title: Re: An old incomplete RO remake project.
Post by: Adel on Apr 28, 2018, 07:19 AM
This kind of project can indeed be done as a solo project. However it will take quite a bit of time. I know, because I myself am working on a project very similar to this idea.