Time Travel Server

zunath

I've been tossing around ideas for a time travel server for a while now. Someone on Facebook also recently mentioned the same idea, so I was curious if anyone had thoughts or interest in a project like this?

The way I would approach it would be to lift some ideas from Chrono Trigger. I'd set up a handful of separate time periods - Prehistoric, Dark Ages, Present, Future to start with. Players could travel between them at various "Gates" littered throughout the world. Then they would go on quests and adventures hopping through time to get the things they needed to progress.

Each time period would have its own distinctive feel using the various community assets. Present would use vanilla NWN assets, Future would use the D20 modern stuff and so on.

There's tons of ways to approach this. I'm just curious if there's any interest?

FreshLemonBun

It's an interesting concept but prohibitively complex for a multiplayer experience. You have no real way of adequately tracking and modifying states and readjusting time lines accordingly.

For example the method of handling a paradox or switching between time lines and adjusting character knowledge accordingly. One method would be to run concurrent time lines as an instance and then merge them once the old line has been properly vacated. Another problem is syncing alterations with the main time line, as well as returning to the same point or close to the same point in the past as a previous excursion.

No doubt it would require a lot of tricky scripting and extensive NWNX usage, a mountain of variable tracking, as well as perhaps multiple servers.

Alternatively you could opt for a more simple historical theme park approach where timelines remain static and have no influence over each other, more similar to self contained loops or simulations. The downside is that besides visiting a few pre defined periods many of the qualities that make time travel narratively interesting are simply absent.

zunath

FreshLemonBun said:

No doubt it would require a lot of tricky scripting and extensive NWNX usage, a mountain of variable tracking, as well as perhaps multiple servers.

I live and thrive on tricky scripting, extensive NWNX usage, and a mountain of variable tracking!

To give you an idea, this is what I've built on my existing server.

I've developed a custom leveling system, rewrote the magic system entirely, developed a firearm combat system and enabled players to build their own placeables. So I'm no stranger to the technical challenges something like this will bring.

One approach I've considered is adjusting the visibility of NPCs and other objects as you progress through changes in the timeline. By this, I mean it's possible to show or hide objects for individual player characters.

You can do a lot of things with this.

For example, you can introduce something akin to phasing which will change the state of an area solely for a single player based on that player's progress. Say you complete a quest which involves killing an NPC in the Dark Ages. Now, his descendant shouldn't show up in Present. All you need to do is hide the visibility for the descendant for that individual player.

It opens up a few more issues - such as what to do with players who aren't on exactly the same timelines. Do you prevent them from playing together by hiding their visibility towards each other too? Do you treat them as having some sort of "Time Traveler's Immunity" in that they can work with players across different time lines?

These problems are totally solvable. My point is: although it's a challenge, it can technically be pulled off.

For me, a time travel server would 100% require players to be able to change the time lines - even if those changes only affect players on the same time line. To do a static time line would defeat the purpose of it, in my opinion.