Coolabah Map and Gameplay Features

NOTE: Much of this is purely speculative and based on the little information we currently have for what is currently developed/being developed on the new map.

Building Features

NOTE: I firmly believe that all these building features should influence the price of rent for their respective buildings.

• Secret rooms: The old map featured secret rooms which were nice additions to buildings although most were hardly utilised. What I propose is for hidden rooms to continue being a feature on the new map but implemented in a way where accessibility is more practical for use in roleplay and for the rooms to have roleplay purpose for their design and why it is in that specific location. They are to be designed in a way which if possible creates a very small gameplay advantage if any advantage at all. Some examples include a tunnel that is currently being dug out of a prison cell which is being hidden by a poster or rug (the tunnel is obviously meant to be both very short and a dead end but is a bit of cool lore for the jail. Players probably shouldn’t be able to fit inside here to hide either), a secret room in the church for cult activities, a secret room under the floor boards of a rundown or abandoned lower class house where criminals are hiding out or been conducting illegal activities (a gap in the floor board because of the poor state of the house where you can ever so slightly peek into the hidden room would make for a neat touch). If designed correctly I can think of so many possible ways they can be used by the player base and the great roleplay it can create.

• Hidden compartments: Hidden compartments are to be similar to secret rooms in the sense they are meant to be hidden but are not to be at all spacious and preferably fit 1-2 players at absolute max with no room to conduct other activities (no players being able to fit and hide would be preferred IMO for both gameplay and roleplay reasons but I’m unsure of practicality and difficulty in implementing and designing). These hidden compartments should be solely for storing illegal and valuable goods and I believe they would work best both gameplay and roleplay wise if they couldn’t fit any storage and you could only store money, guns, drugs, etc. The size of these should be created appropriately and relatively for its intended purpose and locations. Some examples include inside roof compartment that opens in middle-upper class housing to store dirty money and drugs, floor boards that lift that can solely store a couple of weapons, drugs, dirty money, etc, paintings that can be moved to reveal a small hole in wall to hide a very small amount of goods or even to reveal a secret weapon locker to store 2-3 guns. These hidden compartments are intended to be designed in a balanced way where you can’t just store and secretly stow away a ridiculous amount of illegal and illicit goods. They are to be designed in a way which is balanced and doesn’t create an unfair gameplay dynamic but also not only encourage better RP (mainly for criminals and cops due to nature of feature) but also create more immersive roleplay. Only one way amongst a massive variety of different ways it can be used in RP scenarios is for example; NSWPF have gained a warrant to investigate your building where you currently hold illegal goods. Instead of having to brute force your way out in a gun fight (a repetitive scenario) you quickly muster to hide the illegal goods in the hidden compartment and talk your way out of the situation. This would also encourage police to properly search the premises and actually engage in an immersive search and ask questions.

• Basements: How difficult and/or practical these are to design and implement is something I am unsure of, but would regardless make an excellent addition to buildings and properties in CityRP. The atmosphere of basements can vary and should be heavily influenced by the design and purpose of the building they are located in. One example is for a not so well looked after middle class home where the basement has been neglected. The basement can include a grimy atmosphere with stairs that have cracks, a single working light giving the room low ambience and dark corners, a pipe with a small leak leaving water dripping leaving puddles on the floor and even cobwebs along the roof and walls. This kind of location would make for a perfect room to bring captives/hostages or for players to run an underground gambling or drug operation. Another example which is a contrast to the previous is for an upper class home to feature a more lavish basement which can meet whatever extra space their richer lifestyle may want or require. This kind of basement would look maintained with maybe the odd spider web in the corner or rat trap on the floor but overall a nice room.

• Compound with high walls and gate for 1-3 mansions/upper class buildings and properties: On the previous map, compounds were highly effective for keeping people off your property, keeping your vehicles safe without needing a garage and also created a sense of safety for players, especially those conducting illegal activities. Compounds were highly desirable for all players and without doubt created a gameplay advantage for those who owned a property for one. Due to this gameplay advantage, to hopefully balance this the rent for these properties should be disproportionately more expensive than every other property and should be considered a luxury. This extremely high price should also serve as a status of wealth which I strongly believe benefits RP and is an excellent indicator for new players that these players mean business and “maybe I shouldn’t mess with them” and “I should try to have a positive relationship with these guys”. With my own respective bias, I found these compounds to be fantastic for Mafia RP and is something I would love to have returned to 1-3 upper class properties on the new map.

• Compounds for 1-2 high rent warehouses: This is continuing on from what was just said in the previous paragraph and can also serve as an addition to the previous paragraph as well. Compounds make for the perfect feature for a warehouse where a large-scale operation is being conducted (especially if illegal) and should also feature disproportionately high rent prices. Compounds in general but more so for warehouses should be very rare and to further balance if believed necessary in development be given an inconvenient location for players (this also further encourages use of other properties without a compound).

Roleplay Buildings

• Church: Although I believe strong religious and political beliefs (e.g. religious extremism, Nazism, etc.) shouldn’t be roleplayed, if done appropriately makes for amazing RP and character depth. A personal example from my roleplay is my character Francesco is a Christian and believer of Christ yet very easily argued a horrible Christian. When Francesco found out people were cooking meth in the church he lost it! What could be seen as an action of a good Christian in dispelling the drug operation in the church, was executed through his methods in what most would think is very un-Christian. Ultimately this kind of roleplay should and is completely optional, but I think it really makes for a great addition and option for those who choose to pursue this kind of RP and allows for fantastic opportunity to build both character and server lore which influences character interactions in a way which benefits RP. I think it is also very important to note that the church can be used in a multitude of different ways, such as the example I gave earlier can be used to run a cult (even without the hidden room).

• Shopping village or street stores for Beaumont: Many smaller towns and suburbs host either very small shopping centres (shopping village) or rather stores along the street as you walk. With the city having a large Westfield, stores along the street would most likely be better for the server but is not to discourage from a small shopping village have the player base or Dustinobot choose they rather have a shopping village in Beaumont. Additionally, because the city has the large Westfield I believe it is crucial for players to have at the bare minimum a Woolworths or IGA in the shopping village or amongst the street stores. I also think a clothes store of either an op shop or small clothing brand would make for a fabulous non-player store addition.

• Housing Type Locations: What I mean by “housing type locations” is for houses and the areas they are located to be segregated by socioeconomic and locational differences. For example you wouldn’t put farms in the city and a rundown hobo shack directly next to an upper-class house. Rather and quite obviously upper-class housing belongs in the city or near large properties in Beaumont with other upper-class housing, middle-class housing should be a bit further from the city or in Beaumont and with other middle class housing with the occasional upper class or lower class building next to or nearby. The concept is pretty self-explanatory and obvious but has strong implications on not just immersion but most importantly roleplay and gameplay.

• Identifiable landmarks: With no compass or map HUD (to my knowledge) a better alternative to actually give directions to other players as well has the players themselves be able to easily identify their location is to have identifiable landmarks. Identifiable landmarks can include things like graffiti, important infrastructure, something environmental which stands out like an exceptionally large rock or tree, a statue, etc. These landmarks give unique and identifiable characteristics to each and every location. These identifiable landmarks also are perfect for organising plans, deals, meetups, etc, really giving the world that extra layer.

• Off-road track and buildings along it: An off-road track located in or near an Australian town like Beaumont would simply just fit perfectly. This off-road track can even link to or go through the logging area, but it is imperative for the track to be a loop and relink with preferably a different road then the one it starts on although relinking with the same road would still suffice if deemed more feasible for the map design (The reasoning for the need of a looped road is expanded upon in a previous suggestion I have made and I recommend reading it if you require more context). Buildings along the offroad track would make for an excellent addition as well and really doesn’t need to be anything major or even ownable. Examples of buildings can be a wooden shack, tents, a treefort and a caravan. Burnt cars along the track would also make for an awesome immersive map feature, because who hasn’t gone camping and not seen a car that was burnt and abandoned.

Gameplay Features Associated with Buildings and Locations

• Multiple dealer locations which change: Each respective NPC drug dealer which sells and buys drugs should have multiple spawns which change after a certain amount of time or on restart. The locations which they spawn should also make sense in regards to their character. As an addition to Gunner Spark’s suggestion for player leveling, I think it would make a great gameplay addition and extra immersion to earn trust with each respective dealer where you can purchase the supplies off them for slightly cheaper and sell the drug for ever so slightly more. Another thing that can be earned as you level is their phone number. If a player uses the phone number to message them when they are yet to reach the required level would receive a response basically telling them to bugger off and can say something like “Is this the cops?” alongside other responses. If you have reached the correct level for their phone number you can message them where they will tell you their current location giving you a distinct landmark they are nearby. Eventually players will just learn all their spawns so this serves as some extra immersion and great quality of life.

• Pokies in the pub: I think this one is pretty self explanatory. If they can function and you can gamble on them would be a cherry on top and an abundance of fun, but even just having them in there despite not working gives the pub that tone and character of every good pub.

• Buildings that are under construction / construction sites: Construction is always happening, especially in cities and this should be reflected in CityRP. Construction sites can have many reasons to roleplay including unions and shady deals. As more updates continue to release these buildings can slowly develop over time and can be purposed for whatever the development team wants. The construction of these buildings can occur in 1 of 4 ways (although most of these solutions could be combined together).

1 - Players can work as tradesmen to earn money and contribute progress to the construction site. Once the bar is full there will be construction completed to the building in the next update. Players would obviously earn in-game money for doing this but I’m unsure of how to make this job fun, but I’m certain the community can provide good ideas.

2 - Players individually can contribute to a monetary goal with in-game money where the top donor when the goal is met would get to decide what the building will become or if it is predetermined what it is going to be (like a house) they get a say in the design of it such as wall material or colour. Other donors can also gain something from meeting a certain amount of money donated. This also helps flush money out of the economy.

3 - In the case real money is required for development, there would be a goal on the CityRP store where once again the top donor when the goal is met will gain creative powers in the development of the building itself. Other donors will also receive a reward of some kind when the goal is met.

4 - In the case CityRP was to gain a political system with a mayor the council can contribute money from their budgets/tax collected towards an in-game monetary goal to have this building constructed. Once this goal has been the building would be constructed with what it is to be decided by vote within the Coolabah council. This would serve as an additional issue for the council to balance with their budget to keep the people of Coolabah and Beaumont happy with the current members of council.

• Vehicle performance on off-road tracks: Unsure if this is even possible to implement, but off-roading vehicles such as four wheel drives should perform better than sports cars for example. Vehicles would not become better on off-road terrain but rather would become worse and worse depending on suitability. The off-road track would just in general be more difficult to drive on in all vehicles compared to when driving on actual road. I envision it working as a linear scale with something like the Toyota LandCruiser would receive little to no downsides to its speed and handling whilst on these roads whilst something like a Toyota RAV4 would receive small to mild downsides to its speed and handling, and finally a vehicle like an Audi R8 would receive mild to significant downsides to its speed and handling. Offroad tracks also typically can leave damage to vehicles, especially those not designed for offroading. Because of this, also following the scale with the examples I just gave, the LandCruiser would receive little to no damage to the vehicle, the RAV4 would receive little to mild, and the R8 would receive mild to severe. This exact logic can be directly applied to motorcycles. Dirt bikes would perform well and receive little damage whereas road bikes would perform poorly and receive mild to severe damage. Having this system in place also makes for the perfect solution to every player using the same vehicle/s which is deemed best. This would create diversity in choice of vehicles according to playstyles and even pre-devised plans made by criminal organisations. This would not only affect civilians but also would require the police force to drive a diversity of vehicles.

• Differences in clothing between city store and Beaumont store: Having two clothing stores; one located in the Westfield in the city and the other in Beaumont would not already make for a great addition to CityRP, but having it so you can purchase completely different clothes from each store which the other doesn’t have whilst still being able to purchase select items from both stores. This would make for amazing immersion and give each store their own uniqueness. This may seem like a more minor detail and gameplay feature but what clothing a player wears speaks volumes about their character.

Thank you all for reading! I know it is very long but I would absolutely love to hear your guys' feedback.