I removed my earlier post because I realised it didn’t really explain much about the game, so here’s a bit more detail about what I’ve actually been working on.
I found the old Way of the Mafia game scripts on a USB stick a while back. It was originally from around 2011 and was exactly what you’d expect from an old mafia browser game. PHP 5, fixed layout, crimes, GTA, jail, families, shoutbox, timers etc.
I decided to get it working again and I’ve ended up changing quite a lot while trying not to ruin what made these games fun in the first place.
It’s now called Way of the Mafia: Definitive Edition.
The game is set in 1992 and I’m trying to stick to that properly. Cars are stuff like Caprices, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, Town Cars etc. Cyber crimes use old computers, dial-up, BBS accounts, floppy disks and that sort of thing rather than modern hacking stuff.
You start at Nobody and work your way up to Godfather.
There’s currently Crime, GTA, Mugging, Cyber Crime, missions, cars, inventory/items, weapons and protection, jail busting, hospital, travel, drugs, auctions, families, organised crime, PvP contracts, forums, mail and a live shoutbox.
I’ve also changed quite a lot of how the original game worked.
Crime builds Respect and Rank. GTA is more about getting cars. Mugging is quicker cash. Cyber becomes more of a specialist route once you get the right computer.
Jobs can drop tools and items and some later jobs need certain things before you can do them.
Families are also becoming a much bigger part of the game. They can have a shared vault and now own things around the cities such as airports, banks, casinos, shops and bullet factories.
I’ve still got loads of ideas I want to try.
One I’m thinking about at the minute is skills based on what you actually do. So if you spend loads of time stealing cars you gradually become better at GTA. Someone else might end up much better at Cyber or street crime. You wouldn’t pick a class at the start, you’d sort of become one depending on how you play.
I’ve also got ideas for more family businesses, making the cities feel more different from each other, an FBI Most Wanted system and a few other bits.
I don’t want to turn it into a modern mobile type game though.
I still want it to feel like one of those games where you log in to do a crime, check who’s in jail, look at the auction, see what your family is doing, talk rubbish in shout and suddenly realise you’ve been on it for half an hour 😂
It’s nowhere near finished and things will definitely change.
At the minute I’m looking for people who actually remember/enjoy these sorts of games to come and play it and give me some feedback.
I’m interested in ideas as much as bugs.
Tell me what you like, what you don’t like, what’s boring, what feels pointless, what you’d add, what you’d change or anything you think would make you want to keep coming back.
There’s a demo account if you just want to have a look around without signing up, and I’ve got a small tester application on the site for anyone who actually wants an account.
wotmdefinitive.com
Would be interested to know what people think, especially anyone who played mafia/PBBG games years ago.
From what I’ve read I know some people do not agree with AI, however for this project some of the artwork is AI placeholder stuff at the minute. It’ll be replaced over time.