Ukoku's Journal: Familiars

So I'm working on the Familiars site now, which is going to be a virtual pet site that works a little different than a lot of those other cookie-cutter sites. Or, at least, I hope it will.

I've got the login script all set, thanks to the wonderful tutorial by Jpmaster77 (which everyone should know by now). So yay for that. I've also started desiging the pets and the user avatars. I'm going to hold off on a fancy layout for now, because I frankly don't like the setup of a lot of other virtual pet sites. I'm going to wait until I have content before I decide how it should be displayed.

Note: To see the pets I have on other sites, go here and click "about the creator".

Anyway, here is my To Do list for Phase 1.

1. Setting up an alter ego.

This is one of the big ways this site is different from others. After creating their username account, the player needs to set up information about their alter ego - the version of themselves that lives in the fantasy world of Lemria. This includes basic info, sex, birthday, later perhaps choices of outfit and occupation, and most of all the species. There are five species of anthro-style alter egos a player can choose from: canine, feline, avian, reptile, or insect. I'm thinking of offering customizable avatars as prizes for donations later on.

2. Choosing a pet.

After a player's account is set up, they can adopt a familiar. This is the other huge difference between this and other sites: you can only have one pet! I want players to become attached to their Familiar and care for it like a real pet. You'll choose the pet's name, sex, where it lives in the world (which will determine where your alter ego lives as well), element (out of 8), a base personality, and at least one like and dislike. The personality details will determine the pet's responses in the game. There'll be a few other auto-variables, like birthday and address number, as well as mood, hygene, and how much the pet likes you - those will come into play later.

3. Finish the basic images.

Duh. 10 alter egos, one for each sex and species. 9 pets to start with - all have wings to show their status as Familiars, as opposed to regular animals.

And that's really it for phase one. After that I'll open beta membership to 25 players to test for bugs and make suggestions. Phase two will include creating the worldmaps and the inventory boxes.

I'll be sure to keep this journal informed of what I'm doing.