Notes: All of the content on this page is original and property of Sappho, copyright 2007.  Do not copy or redistribute this information without permission.  To ask for permission or apply to help create the game, contact saphosgolos@yahoo.com.  The game is designed for implementation with the Byond gaming system (www.byond.com), but the developer is open to creating it with other systems.

Farm Setup

A newly purchased farm will be broken down and covered with weeds.  In one corner is the house, a mere shack to begin with, but which can be expanded later.  The shack contains a bed, a small chest, and a small pantry.  Outside the shack there is a compost bin and loads of space for farming, which can be used however the player wishes.

The compost bin is essential.  Farmers can start of by composting weeds at a rate of 1 weed = 1 compost.  Tilled soil cannot be planted in until compost is added to make fertile soil.  The bin has two sides, input and output.  A player can add plants to the input and it piles up.  As long as there is something in the input, the output will produce one compost every five minutes.  This is a slow process, but farming is the source of almost all of the food in the community, so it is very important.  Any player can add to or take away from the compost bin.

If a farmer wishes to have people over, but doesn't want them in certain areas, it may fence off areas using posts made by a crafter from wooden logs.  Gates are also possible, which can be locked.

Any ground which does not already have something growing on it is subject to invasion by weeds.  The weeds are not unsightly, but not productive either.  Each square of land has a 1 in 50 chance of growing a weed each day.

Crops

There can be skill failure in tilling the soil, but not in planting the seed or harvesting the crop once it is ripe.  Only farmers may till soil and water plants.  Different types of plants require different care.  Watering a plant which is not in need of water (an icon will indicate if it is) will have no effect on anything.

Vegetable/Fruit seeds, once planted and watered once, will start to sprout immediately.  Seeds not watered immediately will die after ten minutes.  The icon will change to indicate that it needs watering fifteen minutes after it was last watered.  Thirty minutes after it was last watered (fifteen minutes after it starts needing water), the plant will wither away and die.  Sixty minutes after they were first watered, they will be ready for harvest.  Once the vegetable is harvested, the plant disappears.  A picked veg/fruit can be eaten, composted (1 fruit = 2 compost), or used to get more seeds (1 fruit = 3 seeds).

Grass seeds, once planted and watered once, will start to sprout immediately.  Seeds not watered immediately will die after fifteen minutes.  The icon will change to indicate that it needs watering twenty-four hours after it was last watered.  Forty-eight hours after it was last watered (twenty-four hours after it starts needing water), the grass will wither away and die.  Twelve hours after it was last watered, the grass will grow long enough to cut, after which it must be watered again or it will die in twenty-four hours.  Forty-eight hours after it becomes ready to cut (if it is left alone), it will go to seed.  The seeds may be harvested by cutting the grass at this point, after which it must be watered again or it will die in twenty-four hours.  Cut grass can be composted (1 bale = 5 compost).  Grass at seed will yield 3 grass seeds when harvested.  Animals need grass to live.

Flower seeds, once planted and watered once, will start to sprout immediately.  Seeds not watered immediately will die after fifteen minutes.  The icon will change to indicate that it needs watering forty-eight hours after it was last watered.  Seventy-two hours after it was last watered (twenty-four hours after it starts needing water), the flower will wither away and die.  Twelve hours after it was last watered, the flower will bloom and may be picked if desired.  This will not require it to be re-watered.  Cut flowers can be given as a gift, composted (1 flower = 2 compost), or used to get more seeds (1 flower = 2 seeds).

Tree seeds, once planted and watered once, will start to sprout immediately.  Seeds not watered immediately will die after thirty minutes.  Trees have three stages of growth, each occurring one hour after they were last watered.  The icon will change to indicate that it needs watering forty-eight hours after it was last watered.  Seventy-two hours after it was last watered (twenty-four hours after it starts needing water), the tree will wither away and die.  An hour after the third time it is watered, it will grow large enough to chop down.  This will revert it to its lowest stage of growth, and after it is watered again the cycle will start over.  A cut tree will yield 10 wood.  Ready-to-be-cut trees still need water at the same rate if they are not being chopped down.  Three hours after it is ready to be cut (or watered at the highest stage), it will produce seeds (or fruit, if it is a fruit-bearing tree).  After the seeds are harvested (three per plant), the tree can still be chopped down for wood.

Bush seeds follow the same rules as trees, except that if they are cut down, they yield brambles instead of wood.  Brambles can be composted at a rate of 1 bramble = 5 compost.

Farmer characters begin with a small selection of starter seeds.  These seeds include one of each of the following:
Tomato
Green Bean
Grass
Tulip
Pine

Other seeds must be foraged.  Any character can forage, but it must first buy a foraging stick from the tool shop in town.  It is expensive, though not nearly as expensive as buying a tool from another trade.  Foraging is done on the mountain, in designated areas.  Each time the player forages, there is a 1 in 1000 chance of finding a random seed.  Seeds include:
Corn (veg)
Lettuce (veg)
Blueberry (bush)
Apple (tree)
Peach (tree)
Rose (flower)
Yew (bush)
Cypress (bush)
Cucumber (veg)
Sugar beet (veg)
Grape (tree)
Potato (veg)
Plants grown from foraged seeds, if used to get more seeds, will yield only 2 seeds per item.

Hardwood seeds can only be obtained by chopping down hardwoods on the mountain, which has a 1 in 100 chance of yielding a seed.  Only mountaineers have axes strong enough to chop down these trees.  Trees growing on property have only a 1 in 250 chance of yielding a seed when cut down.  Each tree yields five pieces of wood.  This makes hardwood very valuable.  Hardwood trees need not be watered and will continue to grow until removed.  They have five stages of growth, and when cut down revert to the lowest stage.  If cut at the lowest stage they will be permanently removed.  Each stage takes twenty-four hours.

Livestock

Farmers can buy baby livestock in town.  In the warm climate of Prassomai, there is no need for seasonal shelter for the animals, so they always live outside, feeding on fresh grass.  They can eat tall grass or seed grass.

When an animal is dropped, it will not need to eat right away, but the timer will start.  Twelve hours after the first time they are dropped or the last time they ate, they will eat the grass they are standing on.  If they are not standing on grass tall enough to eat, they will look sick.  Twenty-four hours after they start looking sick, they will die.  If they are hungry, they will eat as soon as they are dropped.  One hour after they eat, they will grow.  Once at the adult stage, they will be harvestable one hour after they eat.  For cows, they can be milked.  Sheep can be sheared, and chickens will drop an egg.  Adult animals may be slaughtered for raw meat at any time.

Cows must grow four times before becoming adults.  Sheep must grow four times as well.  Chickens only grow twice, making them the easiest animal to raise.

Mountaineer's Homes

The plots of land inhabited by Mountaineers are very small.  They have a small shack, which can be upgraded as desired, and a small yard which is normally overgrown with weeds.  The yard may be cultivated by a farmer if the mountaineer so chooses.  The house contains a bed, a small pantry, and a small chest.

The Forest

The forest is full of hardwood trees, and a public area with tables and a permanent campfire.  The trees can only be cut down with a mountaineer's axe, and need not be watered.  (See the hardwood seeds section of crops under "the farm" for more information on hardwoods.)

Mountaineers can trap in the forest.  The trap is placed on open ground, and once per hour there is a 1 in 50 chance that an animal will become trapped.  Only the person who set the trap can retrieve it.  If the trap contains an animal when retrieved, the animal will appear in the mountaineer's inventory along with the trap.  The mountaineer can then use their knife to skin the animal, leaving a pelt and game meat.

Around the forest randomly grow mushrooms and herbs.  Any player can pick these items, useful for alchemy.

The Cave

Mountaineers can mine for ore and gems in the cave.  Using a pick axe on one of the walls will cause it to be dug out, leaving a space to walk on and an ore if the player has found one.  The space will fill back in with a wall after ten minutes.

Finding ores is random.  For each wall mined, there are the following possibilities:
Nothing: 1 in 2
Iron: 1 in 4
Copper: 1 in 5
Gold: 1 in 20
Emerald: 1 in 100
Ruby: 1 in 200
Diamond: 1 in 500

The Lake

This is where Mountaineers come to fish.  They do so by using their fishing rod from the dock, and waiting.  When a fish bites, an overlay indicates this, and the Mountaineer must react with the command to reel in the line within 2 seconds, or the fish gets away.

Artisan Way is the street in town where the crafters live.  Their homes are moderately sized, with a small yard.  Crafters start out with decent homes rather than run-down shacks.  They contain two beds, two small chests, and a medium-sized pantry.  They also have a stove which is always lit and ready to cook on.

Crafter Skills

Crafters begin the game with lots of tools and a small amount of money with which to buy their first raw materials.  They must train their skills to make more complicated items.

Sewing Kit: Used to make all clothing from wool.
Woodworking Tools: Used to make all objects from wood.
Metalworking Tools: Used to make all objects from metal.
Tinkering Tools: Used to repair all items which are worn out.
Alchemic Equipment: Used to do alchemy.

The respective tools can also be used on crafted items to scrap them.  Doing this has a 25% chance of recovering the material used to make it.

Sewing

All clothing is made from sheep's wool.  The wool must be obtained from a farmer.  The number of XP to raise the skill by one level doubles each level.  It begins at level one and requires 50 XP to get to level 2.  Then 100, 200, 400, etc.

Each time a crafter attempts to make an item, there is a 25% chance that they will fail and ruin the material.  If an item is scrapped using the sewing kit, there is a 25% chance that it will yield 1 wool.

Clothing items wear out over time and need to be repaired with tinkering tools.

A list of craftable items with required level and XP given is on a spreadsheet.

Clothing is for cosmetic use only.  Items will be available in different styles and colors, and player avatars will be paperdolled with selected clothing.  There will be no discrimination whatsoever about gender - players can wear pants, skirts, dresses, overalls, whatever they want, whatever their gender.

Woodworking

Wooden Items are made with varying types of wood.  The type of wood, rather than the item itself, determines how long it lasts before it needs repair, or deteriorates.

A vendor in town sells balsa wood, so that crafters can practice without buying expensive wood from other players.  Balsa items last 12 hours before needing repair, and 12 hours after that they deteriorate.

Farmers can grow soft wood on their farms.  Soft wood items last 7 days before needing repair, and 7 days after that they deteriorate.

Hard wood can be harvested by mountaineers in the forest, or if they are lucky, on their land with seeds they have found.  Hard wood items last forever and never need to be repaired.

Each time a crafter attempts to make a wooden item, there is a 25% chance that they will fail and ruin the material.  If an item is scrapped using the woodworking tools, there is a 25% chance that it will yield 1 of whichever wood it is made from.

Metalworking

This is the skill of working with metal mined in the mountain by mountaineers to make useful items.  Metal items do not wear out.  Different types of ore can be used to make different items.  The metalworking tools are assumed to include everything needed to melt and craft the ore, as well as to melt it back down.

A vendor in town sells soft ore, so that crafters can practice without buying expensive ore from other players.  Soft ore items do wear out - 12 hours before needing repair, and 12 hours after that to deteriorate.

Each time a crafter attempts to make a metal item, there is a 25% chance that they will fail and ruin the material.  If an item is scrapped using the metalworking tools, there is a 25% chance that it will yield 1 of whichever ore it is made from.

Alchemy

The art of alchemy is used to make useful items from gems, herbs, and mushrooms found on the mountain.  These items have a variety of uses.  For example, a gem enchanted with the proper reagents can be used by a farmer to eliminate an animal's need for grass for a day, or for a plant to go without water for a day.  Other gems can be used by a mountaineer to increase the odds of trapping an animal or catching a fish.  Even crafters can make use of these items to provide temporary skill increases and stamina boosts.

Tinkering

Tinkering is essentially the art of repairing worn-out items.  It may have other uses later on.

Essentials Vendors

We don't want the game to be unplayable when there are not members of every profession on at once.  It would be most unfortunate to have characters starving to death, crafters with nothing to do, etc. because things are slow.  For this reason, there will always be "essentials vendors" in town.  They will reside at the entrance to the marketplace, where they will provide the following items:
Rat Meat (red hunger)
Gruel (green hunger)
Balsa Wood
Soft Ore

Other vendors will be around to purchase the lowest-level items from players, to prevent the market from flooding with cheap junk and to offer a source of initial income for new players.  They will buy:
Tomatoes
Animal Pelts
Balsa Posts
These vendors will pay only 1 Marble per item.

The Market

This is where players can set up their shops.  An NPC sits at each stall to run the shop.  The player claims the stall at a cost of 100 Marbles.  If they decide to close their shop, they will get their marbles back.  Players add items to the shop and specify a price for each one.  If at any point there are not enough stalls, the market will be expanded either to a second floor or an underground level.  Marbles from player sales remain with the NPC until the player comes to claim them.

The Pub

You can't have a farming town without a good pub.  Players will be able to purchase alcoholic beverages here which add to hunger but decrease stamina.  It's a good public hangout.

The Park

A small park in the center of town with picnic tables and a bonfire which is always lit.  Good for get-togethers and parties.  Game events will be based from the park.

Tool Vendor

The most venerated, highly skilled craftsman in the land sells his tools here.  These are the class tools which can only be obtained by creating a character with the appropriate class, or buying them in this shop.  They cost 1,000,000 Marbles apiece, with the exception of the foraging stick, which costs only 100,000 Marbles.

Animal Shop

Here is where farmers can purchase baby livestock (calves, chicks, baby sheep).  The babies appear in the farmer's inventory until dropped on their land.  Once they have eaten once, they can no longer be picked up, and the only way to get rid of them is to slaughter them, which can be done by anyone.

Hospice

If a player faints due to starvation or exhaustion, they will wake up here.  The hospice will charge them 1000 Marbles for their care.  They wake up with 50 points in each bar.

Hunger

This is the reason why farmers are so important.  Hunger is divided into two parts, both represented by status bars: red hunger (meat) and green hunger (plants).  The red hunger bar decreases much more slowly than the green hunger bar.  Both have a maximum of 100 points.  The red hunger bar decreases by one point every minute.  The green hunger bar decreases by one point every thirty seconds.

Different foods will provide different numbers of points.  Meat must be cooked before eating.  Vegetables can be eaten raw.  All types of food will go rotten after one hour unless they are stored in a pantry.  Rotten food disappears from the player's inventory or the world map.

If both hunger bars reach zero, the player faints and is revived in the hospice.  The hospice charges a fee of 1000 Marbles for their service.  If the player has less than 1000 Marbles, they end up with 0 Marbles.  Otherwise, 1000 is deducted from their wallet.

Stamina

Each player has a stamina bar with a maximum of 100 points.  The bar decreases by one point every three minutes.  Stamina is regained by resting in a bed (verb under beds, player must be standing on it) at a rate of five points every thirty seconds, or sitting on a chair (verb under chairs, player must be standing on it) at a rate of two points every thirty seconds. 

If a player runs out of stamina they faint and are revived in the hospice.  The hospice charges a fee of 1000 Marbles for their service.  If the player has less than 1000 Marbles, they end up with 0 Marbles.  Otherwise, 1000 is deducted from their wallet.

Containers/Inventory

Certain items will act as containers.  They can be locked by a player (see keys) and kept private.  They can only be picked up by the player who owns them.  Players can add objects to them through a menu, and take out items, like a bank.  Marbles cannot be stored in this way - since there is no way to lose one's Marbles, there is no need to store them.

Inventory will have a set limit on the number of items which can be carried at once, making containers necessary after a while.  Like items will stack in a player's inventory. 

Buildings

Walls can be built by any player, but they must first purchase boards from a crafter.  The boards can be used to make a wall, window, or door (objects).  They can also be used to make wooden floors (terrain).  None of these items will wear out over time, but they can be torn down by any person who owns the property.

Land Ownership

Each player begins the game with a voucher for a land deed.  The deed is only usable for a particular type of plot.  They redeem it in one of two ways.   Either they find an abandoned plot of land of the correct type, and use the deed at the door in exchange for the deed, or they find an occupied plot which they would like to join, and ask the owner to be added to it.  If the owner consents, the new player's voucher disappears and is replaced with a copy of the deed.  The deed functions as they key to the front gate, which can be locked or unlocked as the owner(s) please.

If a player fails to log on for a specified period of time (say six months), they will lose ownership of their land.  Their deed will be replaced with a voucher, and they will be in the center of town when the next log in, with a message that their land has been confiscated due to inactivity.  The farm is now abandoned again, and can be claimed by a new player.

All property not already claimed will have its gate unlocked and will be open to the public.  This means that anyone can come on the land and use it as they please.  Squatting is perfectly acceptable.  If a plot has been confiscated, the items on the land are up for grabs.  If a player claims a plot and there are other players on it already, that player can evict them by right-clicking them and selecting the "evict" verb.  This will send them to the center of town.  Players who log off the game on a land plot will leave behind an image called their "essence" to indicate their presence, and they can be evicted with this essence, so players cannot simply log off on abandoned property, log back in, and loot the property.  Players can always leave the property (plots are separate maps from the town), but if the gate is locked and they do not own it, they will not be able to get back in.

Keys

Keys can be manufactured by crafters.  When created, a key is blank.  A player who purchases or otherwise obtains it and wishes to use it on a container can assign it to the container.  The key then becomes bonded to the item, and the player is prompted to give it a descriptive name.  The player can then use or give away the key as they wish.  The key can also be unbonded from the item by any player which has the key and the locked item within reach.  This will turn it back into a blank key, and the container will become unlockable until another key is made.

Items which can be locked:
doors
gates
chests

Harvesting

Harvesting can be done by anyone as long as a special tool is not required.  Anyone may harvest fruits/vegetables, grass/grass seed, mushrooms, herbs, weeds, flowers, and fruit from trees and bushes.  Wood and brambles require an axe to harvest.

Marriage

Two players can get married provided one of them has a special item to be defined later (the item will require input from all three professions).  The player with the item proposes, and the other player is given the option to accept or reject.  Either way, the item is used up.

If the player accepts, both players get an item indicating their marriage.  They are now linked.  They don't necessarily have to live together, but they share Marbles.  Also, whenever they are both online, the hunger and stamina bars for each of them slow down to half speed.

Marriage takes work.  After seven days, the marriage item (wedding ring perhaps) will start to be worn, and seven days after that it will disappear if not repaired.  The characters can repair their own items, but they must remember to do it or they will no longer be married. 

P2P Trade

Player-to-Player trade takes out the need for player shops.  Tables in the marketplace can be used for trades.  Each player uses a verb in the table to put down an item or amount of Marbles.  Once both players have put down items, they again use a verb in the table to either confirm or reject the trade.  After confirming, the first player gets a dialog that says to wait, until the second player confirms.  If either player rejects the trade, or if the first player to confirm changes their mind and cancels before the other player confirms, the trade is canceled and the items are returned to their owners.

Errands

There will be a variety of different NPCs in town who need a hand.  The aspiring new player who needs some starting cash can ask around for errands (similar to quests in traditional RPGs).  They will include:

Fetch an item (from another NPC or harvested in a public area)
Care for a pet for a set amount of time
Eliminate vermin from the basement (minigame)
Complete a maze

When a player completes an errand, they will be rewarded with marbles.

Events

As often as possible, in-game events will be held.  All participants will receive a reward of marbles, and the winners will receive a larger amount.

As the spirit of the game is social, these events will be key.  They will get the community together, help them get to know each other, and be a primary source of marbles for players.

Events will generally be held in the park in town.  They will include:

Races (minigame)
Trivia contests
Team games

Sprites

A primary source of income will be sprites.  These magical faeries appear randomly around the game world (never on private property) and can be caught with a net purchased for 100 marbles.  Once caught, a sprite will bribe its captor with marbles in exchange for its freedom.  They give varying amounts of marbles, and the faster ones which are harder to catch will offer more.  There are rumors that if one is lucky enough to catch the sprite queen, she will divulge the great secret of the sprites.

About Sappho

Sappho is the game designer.  She is a 22-year-old with a BA in comparative literature, minor in classical studies, and graduated magna cum laude and with honors this past May.  She is planning to go to graduate school after taking a year to travel.  She is skilled with writing, linguistics, foreign languages, and maps.  She can speak English, German, some Spanish, a little Italian, French, and Russian, and can read and write decent Latin and basic Ancient Greek.  She was recently a team member of a group of students and professors doing field research on the effects of coffee farming on mammals in Costa Rica's rainforest.  She has been drinking vodka for years and has never once gotten sick due to alcohol consumption.  She has been designing games since age eight, and has been trying to learn to code these games since age ten.

And whenever she tries to learn a programming languages, she gets as far as if...then statements okay, then, as soon as variables come into play, she has a minor nervous breakdown.

Despite reading endless online tutorials and even taking a high school course on Visual Basic, Sappho has never been able to learn the fine art of programming.  Something in her brain simply refuses to comprehend it.  She likens the feeling to trying to learn calculus in her freshman year of college - at first, the professor might as well have been speaking Chinese, the stress of which caused many nights of frustration, stress, and crying.  Eventually, it clicked, and she did well (she earned an A in MTH 141).  The next semester she dared to try Calculus 2.  She spent the entire semester in freaking-out-stressed-crazy-I-don't-understand-this mode, and managed only a C in MTH 142.

Basically, she either needs a programmer to write the code for this game, or a tutor who is capable of teaching advanced calculus to a linguist (this type of person would almost certainly be able to get coding to "click" in her mind).

Sappho can be reached at saphosgolos@yahoo.com - please don't hesitate to contact her with questions, comments, thoughts, inquiries, debasing insults, compliments, offers, and gratitude.

Phase One

Obviously the above-listed game information is a lot to do.  I'd like to start off by getting the essential basics of the game coded, and adding onto it from there.  Following is a list of things which need to be done before the game is released for alpha testing:

Tilling soil
Planting seeds
Harvesting plants
Mining ore
Crafting basic items (woodworking, metalworking)
Crafting skill levels
Item scrapping
Trapping
Property ownership
Locking/unlocking property
Basic containers
Essentials vendors (buyers)
Player shops
Building (walls, floors)
Weeds

And a list of things which can wait a while:

Item decay
Watering timers
Custom locks/keys
Alchemy
Fishing
Livestock
Hunger/stamina bars
Hardwood trees
Gems
Foraging
Tinkering
Essentials vendors (sellers)
Player-to-player trade
Marriage
Inventory limits
Sewing/paperdolling
Cooking meat
Reagents on the mountain
Offline "essence"
Evicting
Errands
Events

Final Thoughts

I am very proud of this game and think it has excellent potential.  I don't think most of these ideas would be too difficult to code (although of course a few of them could get complicated).  Again, if anyone can help me with the coding, please do not hesitate to contact me at saphosgolos@yahoo.com.  Thanks very much for all feedback.