The 2D RPG Mission
I am a computer programmer by trade; I started on C++ in 1997, moved to web programming, and have worked with Java, ASP (classic), PHP, and most recently Python in that capacity. Since picking up Python I've gotten back to my desktop roots, which rekindled my interest in a project I'd started in C++ in 2007 -- namely, this one.
The current incarnation of this venture is being handled with Python; it currently employs pygame, multiprocessing, and a couple of fun built-in TCP server, encryption and compression libraries. As though creating a game weren't enough fun, I'm learning and using all the great stuff I do from the command line (being a Linux guy) via wonderfully elegant Python interfaces. It doesn't get much better!
Background
For as long as I can remember I have loved RPG's. It started with some virtually unplayabe title on the Atari 2600 (I still have the system, though many of the games succumbed to poor storage conditions); it continued through the NES days and peaked on the Great and Mighty Super Famicom.
To be clearer: The greatest achievement in the history of gaming, as far as I'm concerned, was Final Fantasy VI.
That being said, it should make sense (whether you agree or not) that I've been yearning for an online title with the same charm and play style as that old gem. I want to move in one of four directions, I want to use a D-pad and six buttons, and I want my only keyboard interaction to be for in-game chat. Is that so much to ask? I don't think it is.
Goals
With my impressive bias in mind, the goal of this project is to create a client-server application which will allow an arbitrary number of users to populate a game world where happy little low-resolution sprites walk around and kill things so they can level up and buy items, which will be applied to their avatars in paper-doll fashion.
Obviously there's more to it than that -- for one, I intend to make crafting and other non-combat skills more than just amusing side quests, since they're the kind of thing I enjoy more than fighting -- but that's the basic idea. I just want to interact with other people in a low-resolution, low-FPS environment.
This is being developed on Gentoo; at very least, it will be built for x86_64 Linux and Windows XP (hopefully via py2exe, but I'll port the bastard if I have to; I know where my target audience lives). I'll be building for Mac as well if I can, but... well, quite honestly, I don't like Macs, so despite OS X being infinitely superior in most respects to Vista/7 and even XP, it's an afterthought unless I get it built and running on a few Linux distros first.