SCUBE -- SBURB in Minecraft Tekkit -- ON HIATUS

[WillyDeWulfe]

I know what you're thinking. "But Willy, so many people have already attempted to mod Minecraft into SBURB! It's just too difficult!"

Well, yeah. That's why I'm not proposing that.

What I am proposing is a series of videos chronicling the journey of four SBURB players using Minecraft, Tekkit, and a few other mods as a medium. The players won't know what's in store for them and there will be several builders doing things behind the scenes to make it look like the game is changing the world. If you've ever seen the Yogscast's Shadow of Israfel series, I want to do something like that.

Here's a proof-of-concept video I made to demonstrate how it might work. Keep in mind this is proof of concept, so it's not polished at all (no homestuck textures, a few details glossed over, etc.) and the actual project will have other people with the players interacting with them and keeping them on track. This was just me and some computers.



Here's another video and an adventure map for you to try. Prospective players should do the adventure map to get a feel for the possible challenges and to make sure Tekkit is correctly installed:

show spoiler

hide spoiler

LoFaT DENIZEN ADVENTURE MAP!

The video kind of spoils the map's ending, so I recommend playing it first.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Becoming a Player

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Players will be recording their playthroughs of SCUBE and talking to each other. (Probably through Skype). They should be able to record in high FPS for maximum quality. To be a player, you must fill out this form:

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Name: First and last Name. First should be four letters and last should be 6/7 like the cannon kids.
Gender: I'd prefer the binary M/F, but I suppose the others are acceptable.
ChumHandle: We'll probably use Pesterchum, so your character needs a chumHandle.
Title: "of Whatever" must be cannon, but the class may be unique. Class should sound medievally-y (Prince, Bard, etc.) (i.e. Scallawag of Breath is ok but not Thief of Serendipity)
Land: Pretty much any two nouns you want. Bonus points if it has a funny acronym! It may be cobbled together from previously created texture packs, so the best way to get it to look exactly how you want is to help with your own textures!
Consorts: Some sort of animal we can reskin villagers to on your planet.
Guardian/Ancestor: Not sure if we're actually going to have Guardians be a thing, but it would be good to know just in case. Put their name and a short description.
Preferred Weapon: Tekkit has a ton of regular weapons, as well as a lasers and transforming swords and things.
Introduction: Like this. List your interests and things so we can figure out how to make your room.
Skin: A human minecraft skin. Can't be one of the 8 cannon kids or trolls, but pretty much any other human who is not obviously old is fine.
*BONUS*
Video: Any video of you playing Minecraft, preferably with you talking. This is to check how well your computer will run under recording conditions.

Due to school starting soon, I may not have time to do this. Then again, I may. I need to get a feel for my schedule first. Right now I'm making this thread as a way of checking interest and planning.

Below is a list of what we need to make this possible, spoilered for size.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

A New Name:

show spoiler

hide spoiler

SCRAFT was the best I could come up with in the span of a few hours, but it seems so...bland. Anyone got a better name?

Texture Packs:

show spoiler

hide spoiler

This is probably one of the biggest things needed. Several texture packs will be needed, one for each of the four planets and a default for earth. There's probably enough space on each pack to fit in Prospit and Derse, but maybe they'll need their own packs as well. Not every texture in every pack will have to be replaced, but most of them probably will.

Builders

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Creative people familiar with Minecraft and Tekkit. They will be making the planets, consort towns, etc. Familiarity with Lua/ComputerCraft is a bonus, as we'll likely be using that for a whole lot. I can probably do most of the programming we need in this respect if no one is better at it. I only actually learned like two days ago, but it's really easy

Game Masters

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Probably the same people as the builders. These people will be on the server with the players triggering events and being interactive NPCs.

Server

show spoiler

hide spoiler

A private Tekkit server with a few mods will be required. I suspect I might just be able to use my computer since it won't need to be on all the time, but if someone wants to volunteer that'd be great!

Players

show spoiler

hide spoiler

The stars of the show! There will be four players with their own lands, title, etc. Players will be filming and talking while they play, so they must have high fps. Players need a human skin (Pretty much whatever you want so long as it's a human), a title, and a land. To apply to be a player, post an introduction like this along with your skin, title, and land. Remember there has to be a Space and a Time, but the others are up for grabs. (Swiftwolf"s basically let's you do the windy thing, so a breath player could have some pretty cool abilities pretty easily)

Mods

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Tekkit has almost everything needed, but I know other people have made some Minecraft Homestuck mods that might be useful. We'll probably need Mob Disguise and something that lets admins log in with different names. If there's a mod you think would be a great addition, post it!

Other Stuff
I'm probably forgetting something...

Ok, so how's it supposed to work? Why the magic of Tekkit of course!

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Alchemization

show spoiler

hide spoiler

This is where most of these types of things run into problems. You need a system to turn grist into items. Tekkit has Equivalent Exchange, which turns items into other items! It's like a grist widget, totem lathe, cruxtruder, alchemiter, and punch designix all in one! No reason to break all that apart, just make things a little easier for the player to create items. The alchemy tablet (I think that's what it's called) will probably be the main thing because it lets you "learn" items to create later (like if you learned the captcha-code), but the energy condenser would be useful later connecting it up energy collectors and calling it grist torrent.

The only thing is combining items, a big part of SBURB. Perhaps there could be a system where a turtle takes items and grist from the player and takes it to a GM who will give the player some item based on the combination?

EDIT: Actually, I thought of a system that prints a code to a floppy disk that you can use to get an item. It'd be kind of huge because you'd need a chest for every item in Minecraft, but I think it would be doable. I'll see if I can make a proof of concept...

Server Player

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Without specific Mods I don't think it's possible to get a server player exactly like the one in SBURB, but I think we can figure something out. Have the client put grist/items in an antimatter relay. This goes through several other relays to a platform where the server player spawns/warps in/etc. There is a chest there with a Kilen Star, a mercurial eye, a destruction catalyst, a swiftwolf's rending gale, maybe machines(don't know how that's going to work yet), and one block like the main building material of the house.

The server player much charge the Klien Star at the antimatter relay using Grist provided by the player. The Klien Star powers their ring(for flying), the ME, and the DC. The MC lets them make flat planes like in SBURB and the DC removes them. With those items, you get something a lot like the server controls powered by EMC/Grist

Communication

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Just have the players use Pesterchum. It'll be quick simple and easy. I could possibly whip up a thing on computer craft that would work as a rudimentary chat client, but it would be terrible and have a short range. Better to just give everyone and item reskinned as a PDA and call it done. When players are in the same room/world (not client server, actually there) they can have the same Skype channel thing and actually talk to each other.

Appearifier/Deappearifier/Transportalizer/etc.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

There are teleporters in Tekkit, so this should all be possible.

Levels

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Minecraft has levels, so just use that. Maybe we could reskin 1 2 3...etc. into echeladder names. They could enchant weapons and armor just like in MC, though other than giving them a reason to gain levels I'm not sure exactly what that relates to in SBURB

God Tier

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Players have to die on their quest bed just like in the comic. There will probably be some relogging to change skins and then they will respawn wherever their dreamself happened to be and given items. Players will get different items based on their title, but they will probably also be given a Swiftwolf's for flying. However, only an "of Breath" will be allowed to use the ring's r function (the windy thing). They will also be given a fully charged Klien Star (The biggest one) to power it all.

Denizens

show spoiler

hide spoiler

At some point the players will probably meet their denizen. The denizen will be someone in a skin in a room with a ton of deadly machines. Players have the option of talking to the denizen or trying to kill him. If the denizen doesn't like what the player says, he can attack them.

Denizen battles consist of the denizen stepping back onto a stone pressure plate and turning on the machines that will start destroying the player while firing a laser/bow/throwing dynamite themselves. Killing the Denizen stop the machines because there will be no one on the pressure plate.

Successfully completing the denizen challenge results in several stacks of the highest quality grist.

Black Queen

show spoiler

hide spoiler

We'll probably have someone play as Jack and guide the players through a ridiculous side quest to kill BQ. I don't have all the details, so I'll have to go back and reread that part. Maybe it will be compulsory, maybe the players will have the option to ignore it. I'm not sure yet. To be honest, if a guy with a Jack skin came up to me and started greet-stabbing I'd probably just kill him and fail the whole quest.

Black King

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Reskin the Ender-Dragon and have the players fight him together. I think there's currently a bug that produces dragons for every player on the server, so that will add some challenge and then we can say he has some sort of duplication power.

Lord English

show spoiler

hide spoiler

NO.

This is supposed to be a relatively easy successful session. I don't want it to go on for three years. It will be a regular game of SBURB: No LE, no Bec Noir, no problem.

[cannabalisticJusticar]

Sounds Amazing! Sounds. I would love to help, although my schedule may not permit so. I could help with basic building and such.
Sounds like a great project! Sounds.

[AndIMustMask]

seems cool.
on one hand: get better actors.
on the other: get better computer.

textures: there's lots of SBURB-themed texture packs floating around--halfblood2000's made a pretty decent set hint hint, as well as.... something... western? i forget his name, but he's got some troll planet ones made iirc. unless you're talking textures for original worlds your players get, in which case i got no idea.

builders/players/game maters: and while i'd love to help this out, i lack both a decent computer and a proper minecraft account.

that said, i am INCREDIBLY interested in seeing where this goes.

[legacySystems]

I would, Maybe as a silent character, or one that doesn't get much screen time. But unfortuanately, when ever I try to run tekkit, it says "Java directory not found" and I have no idea how to fix it. :/

[ExKirby]

So is this going to be like FLARPing? I guess I'd be willing to help out, though I know nothing of Tekkit.

[SuperPsyhic]

I'm so interested in this...

I can't really program due to the fact that my attention span pretty much bans me from focusing on tutorials and such...
I'm not the best at building, but I'm pretty good at it. (Meaning I could probally help build worlds)
And if none of that works, I could at the very smallest bit be a Player... Though I think I would screw that up...

[AndIMustMask]

I'm so interested in this...

I can't really program due to the fact that my attention span pretty much bans me from focusing on tutorials and such...
I'm not the best at building, but I'm pretty good at it. (Meaning I could probally help build worlds)
And if none of that works, I could at the very smallest bit be a Player... Though I think I would screw that up...

you seem to be hemorrhaging self-doubt, sir. we're all friends here, no need for that.

[WillyDeWulfe]

I've made a proof of concept video for a possible alchemy system. I will post it once it finishes uploading.

For alchemy there are basically three options:
1) The system demonstrated in the video currently being uploaded.
--Could probably simulate actual alchemy very well.
--Slow
--Requires someone in the chunk(s) with the grid to make sure the turtles keep working and the chunk(s) stays loaded.
2)Behind the scenes Game Master taking items and replacing them with something else
--Easy
--Requires someone to be there doing stuff instead of automation
--Not fancy
3)We get incredibly lucky and someone makes a mod that does all this
--Not going to happen

Replies:

seems cool.
on one hand: get better actors.
on the other: get better computer.

textures: there's lots of SBURB-themed texture packs floating around--halfblood2000's made a pretty decent set hint hint, as well as.... something... western? i forget his name, but he's got some troll planet ones made iirc. unless you're talking textures for original worlds your players get, in which case i got no idea.

builders/players/game maters: and while i'd love to help this out, i lack both a decent computer and a proper minecraft account.

that said, i am INCREDIBLY interested in seeing where this goes.

I looked up half blood's texture packs. They're good, but they're outdated for even regular Minecraft and certainly don't have any Tekkit textures. They might be a good starting point though, unless the players want completely unique worlds.

ElectricWestern's texture pack is kind of old as well, but we don't need Alternia anyway.

I've also seen Skaicraft. That's old too, but it could go a pretty long way towards making the Battlefield.

Glad you're interested! Interest is what gets projects moving! Also work, but interest usually comes first.

So is this going to be like FLARPing? I guess I'd be willing to help out, though I know nothing of Tekkit.

I suppose you could look at it like that in the sense that GMs would be like Clouders directing the game. An actual game of FLARP probably won't be included in the story though, because that's a troll thing and these are humans.

If you want to help but don't want to download Tekkit, you could help with texture packs. I would suggest downloading Tekkit anyway though, because it is allllllll kinds of fun. All of the kinds.

I'm so interested in this...

I can't really program due to the fact that my attention span pretty much bans me from focusing on tutorials and such...
I'm not the best at building, but I'm pretty good at it. (Meaning I could probally help build worlds)
And if none of that works, I could at the very smallest bit be a Player... Though I think I would screw that up...

Most, if not all, the programming we'll need is the lua stuff for Computer Craft, and I can probably do all that.

We do need builders though. Ever since I started playing Minecraft I've pretty much always built underground. As a result, I never learned how to build a proper house, as you can tell from the first video. I'm sure you'll be a fine builder!

[SuperPsyhic]

you seem to be hemorrhaging self-doubt, sir. we're all friends here, no need for that.

Well I was being honest... I can't really do much besides Test for glitches/Bugs and Build semi-decently...

[WillyDeWulfe]

BEHOLD! I come bearing an alchemy system.


I'm not sure we want to go through the trouble of building this though... Because of the way chunk loading works, someone always has to be watching it. Since someone has to be watching it, it would be easier, faster, and perhaps better to just have someone receive items and return an item that seems combined.

[Electricwestern]

ElectricWestern's texture pack is kind of old as well, but we don't need Alternia anyway.

I actually updated these just a few weeks ago, but it appears Minecraft went and updated on me again. Ah well. I don't think any of mine would fit your project anyway, unless you wanted someone to do specific lands or something, I could be convinced to help with that.

[miracleWordsmith]

Oh hey, here I am throwing my support in for this. I could do some work on texture packs and building the worlds, although I'm not really familiar with all the stuff Tekkit has to offer and how it might change things. Consider me someone that would happily help with both if needs be. Also maybe someone who helps with the story as it unfolds, if that is a thing that we need?

As for alchemisation, I agree that it would just be so much easier to have someone take the items then spit them back out. Either way you're wasting a guy to do it, so they may as well be doing it as quickly as possible and then getting back to something useful like live world-building, right? All the teleporting and moving parts just to make a few items seems like overcomplicating the process, especially if it's something the players are going to be doing a lot.

[WillyDeWulfe]

Alright, sounds like things are coming together!

As for Alchemy, I've been notified that a World Anchor will keep a chunk loaded with no one around, meaning that the fancy system is possible. However, simple and fast probably trumps fancy and slow.

What we need now are Players. Since SBURB is supposed to be designed around the players, we can't really design anything until we have someone to design for! To apply to be a player, use this template:

Name: First and last Name
Gender: I'd prefer the binary M/F, but I suppose the others are acceptable.
ChumHandle: We'll use Pesterchum, so your character needs a chumHandle.
Title: "of Whatever" must be cannon, but the class may be unique. (i.e. Scallawag of Breath is ok but not Thief of Serendipity)
Land: Pretty much any two nouns you want. Bonus points if it has a funny acronym! It may be cobbled together from previously created texture packs, so the best way to get it to look exactly how you want is to help with your own textures!
Guardian/Ancestor: Not sure if we're actually going to have Guardians be a thing, but it would be good to know just in case. Put their name and a short description.
Introduction: Like this. List your interests and things so we can figure out how to make your room.
Skin: A human minecraft skin. Can't be one of the 8 cannon kids or trolls, but pretty much any other human who is not obviously old is fine.
*BONUS*
Video: Any video of you playing Minecraft, preferably with you talking. This is to check how well your computer will run under recording conditions.

As previously stated, Players will be recording their play-through so they need high fps. They should also speak clear English and have a sense of humor.

Players may help design texture packs, but they CANNOT be GMs or builders.

-----

I actually updated these just a few weeks ago, but it appears Minecraft went and updated on me again. Ah well. I don't think any of mine would fit your project anyway, unless you wanted someone to do specific lands or something, I could be convinced to help with that.

Oh, I just thought it was old because the thread I saw was from last December. I also just saw your Thought and Flow pack, which looks awesome. Glad to have you aboard!

[ExKirby]

I'll be a player if you are absolutely desperate, but I can GM and Build much more effectively. Going to have a look at Tekkit-if I recall, last time I tried it I broke Minecraft.

[SuperPsyhic]

If you need players I'll be one, though I think being a builder would probally be more productive.

[GiovanH]

This is incredible. Are you going to release this for SP?

[Nephirin]

I wouldn't mind hopping on to build sometime.

[Coo]

This looks like a fun idea, if you need an average builder then I guess I could help you. Of course the matter of school coming up soon would be problem... But yeah, if you need any help building I would volunteer myself.

[GiovanH]

I volunteer to play. I have the time, and I have minecraft, so this should work out great.

[WillyDeWulfe]

I volunteer to play. I have the time, and I have minecraft, so this should work out great.

Great! Post your character info like in the form in my last post. You will also need the Technic Launcher for Tekkit. It's basically Minecraft with all the necessary mods already installed in one nice neat package. It's safe, according to everyone who's ever used it to my knowledge. Here's the site.

Anyway, I've been busy all day building a deployment system. What I mean by that is that the Server Player has to deploy machines (the Alchemiter, maybe the Cruxtruder) at some point. In this system, the Server Player types a command, a wall opens up, and the machine rolls in from a secret room. After having finished this, I now realize it might have been easier to make it come up from the floor.

The video will be up shortly/tomorrow.

[Alphadin]

World Edit would be a wise choice for the builders.
It lets people swiftly create useful stuff.
EDIT:
I'm quite experiences with Tekkit and such.
I could take a stab at game master or builder.

[Alphadin]

Double Post for a Cause.
I'm about to do something so shocking.


I'm going to help out
I intend to discover to make blocks so we can have an infinite number of Textures that suit the locations. This could allow us to have a great choosing of blocks, Minus the limits of editing a texturepack.
I'm also starting to invent locations for the Four Kids to Start in. Unless You have your own plans for locations?

[WillyDeWulfe]

So there I am rambling about Server Players sending Alchemiters crashing through walls.

Double Post for a Cause.
I'm about to do something so shocking.


I'm going to help out
I intend to discover to make blocks so we can have an infinite number of Textures that suit the locations. This could allow us to have a great choosing of blocks, Minus the limits of editing a texturepack.
I'm also starting to invent locations for the Four Kids to Start in. Unless You have your own plans for locations?

Great!

As for making blocks, I don't think that will be necessary. There's plenty of blocks we won't need that we can edit into other things. The real problem is that we need natural materials (stone, grass, etc.) to look like one thing in one place, and then to look completely different in another place, kind of like worldwide Biomes.

Sphax BD (maybe it's part of Tekkit, I don't know) uses different skins for the same mob. If you want to write a mod, maybe you could look into using that to give the same block different textures?

As for building the kids' houses, I wanted to wait until we had our players. The idea was that it was supposed to be designed around them. Now that I think about it though, we could build like four generic houses and just not decorate the kids' rooms until we have the players.

ALSO: I'm going to try to set up a server for a few hours. Let's see if I can get it to work...

[GiovanH]

Name: Rick Devant
Chumhandle: actingGambler
Gender: M
Title: Lord of Space
Land: Land of Fire and Frogs
Guardian/Ancestor: Some kind of first guardian I guess
Introduction: Rick. He really doesn't think of himself as cool, but he pretty much is. His interests include Literature and Engineering.
Skin:

Video: I don't have a video, but my computer records really well. I can run minecraft on Far with Fancy graphics, too. Smooth shaded.

[Kingleo]

I dont know if it was on purpose, but that video is private. I can't watch it.