Will Fitzgerald III
Senior Game Designer
first star online
Overview
First Star Online was a 2D MMORPG that hosted thousands of players. When shutting down, all source files were released, for free, so others could host their own, smaller versions of their own Online RPG ideas.
It was created with Macromedia Director. Development was led by R. Mulvany. I supported the project via mapping, scripting, economy, and quest designs for nearly three years, part-time.
My contributions
Scripting
An accessible scripting system was built by Mulvany for us to use. Using it, we build out:
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Weapons
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Armors
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Magic Spells
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Consumable Items
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Currencies
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NPC's
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Quest Givers
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Vendors
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Monsters
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Harvesting / Gathering
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Crafting
We could also set up server-wide events, such as:
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World Boss Spawns
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PvP / Tournaments
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Bonus XP
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Bonus Gathering
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Bonus Crafting
Quest Editor
Quests were not instanced to each User. Instead, the first User that reached a quest giver and complete that quest would receive the reward. As our server was full-loot PvP, this would offer interesting interactions among the players.
Using text files, I created many quests that would be linked to an NPC in-game. In general, I would set up:
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Title & Description
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Requirements
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Collect Item
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Craft Item
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Collide with Trigger
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Defeat Monster(s)
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Defeat Player(s)
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Rewards
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Items
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XP
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Gold
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Level Design
Using the mapping tools provided, we were able to build hundreds of maps with 2D pixel art. In general, I would build maps that offered:
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Areas to obtain Quests
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Areas to interact with Vendors
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Interior and exterior monster zones
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Interior and exterior harvesting zones
Using the list above, I would combine those with the following biomes:
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Forests
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Plains
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Swamps / Graveyards / Wastelands
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Mountains / Volcano
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And Snow variants on the top layer of all the above biomes
My 2d rpg game engine Gallery
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