It seems the time has come to implement pets.

I have written a preliminary design document in the Wiki, and I was hoping to use it to collect your ideas and feedback.

Please have a look at
http://www.daimonin.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpWiki&file=index&pagename=Pets%20Design%20and%20Implementation

With some luck the pets will be finished for Beta 4, but it isn't a high priority.

Sounds really gd will be cool! hope it does come soon!

Looks really good

a few points tho

1. is it cha or int planned to affect number of pets, lvl etc as int has nothing atm but cha mentioned

2. For picking up stuff if pets are used for corpse opening that'll mean owner is never hit by poison, rof, disease etc again

3. When giving orders would it be like Ph weapons where you can have pet on "safe mode" or "attack mode" or even "defend mode" or is orders like /order pet1 attack mob1 going to be used? If mob has to be identified as most mobs share names e.g. skeleton fighter it'd be hard to tell them apart without selecting them. Commands to wait and go to certain area would be useful too.

4. One other issue is would pets be able to cast? e.g. a necromancer with an undead skeleton mage and would different commands be needed to tell to cast or automatic? Could in theory also lead to tactics where a pet which would be intensively trained in dp could heal you (or you could heal pet?) in battle or several pets trained in magic could help storm a mob down. Grace/mana cap would be essential like players have.

5. Would all pets have same XP or could different pets have different lvls?

6. Also something like an obedience skill might be implemented so that even if you had a high lvl pet, if you had low obedience skill he'd ignore you...

7. Another idea is how pets are acquired to start with, e.g. tamed, summoned, bought, raised from dead, found etc. Also different types of pets would have different characteristics and strengths and weaknesses?

8. Last idea is would pets need equipment?


These are just some of the ideas off the top of my head. Hopefully some of it will be useful for ideas on how pets are developed further although I don't want to cause too many headaches for the dev team. Apologies if I've slightly repeated what was posted in the wiki or stated the obvious

Ah, pets. There was a thread on this subject ages ago, so old it was probably on the old 'red' site. Was lots of stuff in there...

Well anyway, good stuff already in the wiki. One thing though, will a pet be roaming around like mobs, and how will they be charmed? Would there be food found from other mobs or bought in a shop what you could give to a pet to charm them (Cha could affect the success rate here).

Also how would a pet be maintained? Feeding your pet is an obvious idea, taking care of it when it is injured, making sure it has enough attention. Would be cool if you could play games with your pet too.

Another idea is that you could do things with some pets that would not be possible if you didn't have one. For example, some pets would be able to be ridden on for extra speed, others would act as a boat so you can ride it over water. Some flying too? Other pets could actually benefit your char by raising your attributes while it is around. Others could ward off some mobs.

Lastly, when pets die, will they stay dead or would they be able to be brought back to life again?

I've read the wiki, and what it describes reminds me very strongly of the pets in hack/nethack.  Since there are some similarities in gameplay, I think useful code may be found in those programs that might be applied and adapted to Daimonin (and then extended).  Just a tip for developers.

Could be cool in PvP to have an army of pets on both sides .

Okay just my take on the subject:

Being a former addict of Diablo II, anyone who has ever played a Necromancer in that game knows that creating an army of pets or summoned allies will cause a crippling lag to the system.  I can only predict the same will be the case if allowing numerous pets is implemented in Daimonin.  Remember the more things the server needs to keep track of, the more system resources it will take to maintain those items.

While I think it would be fun to be able to summon a golem or have a pack mule, any more than one at a time would no doubt result in negative consequences.

I think you should only be allowed one pet, and I've got a few interesting ideas...

Special items randomly dropped would be aquired, maybe some ring or something, that when applied would summon a permanent (until death) pet. Rare rings would offer better and more stylish looking pets.

They could be able to run errands, possibly remotely controlled... such as ordering a command and your player is left exposed, and you control your pet - can run around, talk, perhaps get items etc.

Another idea, pets could have a small inventory for carrying items, perhaps they can also wear one amulet or something to help them.

Pets sound great.

Thanks. I've updated the pets design page with some of your feedback and will answer some here:

- Pets are not mounts. I believe we should separate the two concepts. Mounts are in principle just vehicles and should be not be mixed with pets. It just gets too complex.
- Pets are not directly controllable, but rather has their own intelligence and mostly-free will. There will later be "golems" and a "mind control" spell/skill to directly control stuff.
- Physically, pets are just like any other mob / NPC. If a mob can use equipment, a pet made from the same arch will also be able to use equipment.
- Different pets will have different levels. But since the current codebase doesn't support mobs gaining experience we will not have pets gaining experience and level up anytime soon.
- I would love a pet system where a single pet can really build a bond with a player, but that is really hard both to design and implement. For now we should see pets as disposable...

I will work a little on a basic pet system (most of the stuff on the design page, except the "additional features") and with some luck I'll finish it before Beta 4 for more feedback.

Im going to go get me one of those cute lom loms hehe  
Which i doubt will be possible? what are the requirements for what u could control? i would really like the long term pet, which gains levels and is with u all the time, but if thats too hard, o well! what stops a level 1 going and getting a beholder or something like that?! lol
Is it that u can only control pets the same level or below the level of urself? or is it that it will take time to control the pet? coz then if its too strong it will come and kill u? and when is b4 out? (the unanswerable question to which i seek an answer! )

Pets! wooohooooo, that'll be well good, like you have to actually feed them play with them and keep them healthy and stuff like that, you could have trained wyverns haha fly around on a wyvern man that would be off the hook! or a bear! or you coud have a trained ice golem LOL or lava. =D

 .:*Future*:.

I'd love to design some graphics for pets, can you contact me with some basic animations you'd need for the average pet? I've got some good ideas

I would set it up so you would have to tame a pet.  But you are limited to what types of pets you can tame.  You don't want someone walking around with a tamed Dragon because it would be just to powerful.  Also the pets should follow the master around until told to attack something or if their master gets attacked have them attack who attacked teh master.  Also you should have the pets level with the player.  The pets should also have some skills of their own as well.  

Pets are really good if you used range attack becuase they keep the enemy at bay while you pelt it with arrorws, bullets, or even throwing items.  The only bad thing about pets is they can get killed pretty easily, especially if you are taking on a high level mob that is a few levels higher than you.  

Also some pets should have resistances and weaknesses.

Haveing played World Of Warcraft as a hunter with a pet i can say they are very nice to have but when you get into the large dungeons and end game instances they become more of a hassle becuase you haev to rez them about every other fight.  

Also you can have a call and dismiss pets command you can use to call and dismiss your pet.  

Another thing you can do is have "non combative" pets.  These are just litle level 1 critters that follow you around and do not attack and the mobs don't attack them either.  They are cute to have but they bascially do nothing.  

Just my 2 cents worth.

Lord SilverStone

There will be several ways of aquiring pets (or "companions"). Different guilds will offer some pets for their members, and some proffessions will have skills to summon tame or charm pets.
So basically your possible choice of pets depends on your profession.



Yup. This should work more or less with the current experimental implementation.



This works too.



I believe pets in Daimonin will have similar pros/cons.



Not implemented yet, but a good idea and something to think about. Not the easiest thing to implement though. And it also needs some sort of user interface (although "/pet call" and "/pet dismiss" should be enough to start with)



Good idea. The system probably supports it already, but I haven't actually tested this.

Will pets be tiny little things like rats and snakes that follow you around or sit on your shoulder or will they be big normal NPC sized things following you around (ugh). Im hoping not the latter, I would hate to see everyone walking around now taking up two blocks of area, doubling up on the lag...

Also you said that guilds would offer pets, for a price right? Or atleast a higher lvl (maybe 25) quest you have to complete before buying one. Just my suggestion.