[Slamajama]

Court Cases
by Mod Nancy 05-Nov-2009

When I wrote King's Ransom over two years ago, we introduced a judicial system to RuneScape, by way of the Seers' Village Court House. It seemed a shame that you only get to use it during the quest and the rest of the time it just sits there.

I've been toying for quite a while with the idea of involving the Court House in either another quest or possibly making a minigame out of trialling cases. No quests I worked on really needed a trial, though, and a full-on minigame seemed as though it would be difficult to code and very boring.

This month, my workload finally cleared up enough that I had a chance to start concepting a new Distraction & Diversion to take place in the Court House. I wanted to use a lot of the same mechanics we had in King's Ransom, but add some new ones and give it some spice.

Getting the format of the D&D wasn't hard, since I had King's Ransom to work off of, but I hit a roadblock when it came to what cases should be about. Who in RuneScape should go on trial?

I happened to mention this idea to Mod Osborne and Mod Srowley (the RuneScape editors), seeing as they create the Postbag, and they had tons of ideas! I also went through the website's area guides to see what interesting characters from all over RuneScape might have an issue they'd want resolved in court. You'll see a lot of familiar faves in court including a few that used to be familiar, but were recently retired...

I've coded a prototype case involving a certain 'Mugger (level: 6)'. Mod Mark played through it and loved the gameplay, so I've been given the go-ahead to code the rest of the project.

Currently, you'll be given a case and get to choose whether you want to prosecute or defend the accused. Then you read a few documents on the background of the case and do a bit of sleuthing. When you feel ready, you start the trial and present all your findings to the jury, just like you did in King's Ransom, but with a few new surprises...

In a follow-up blog, I'll hand you over to the RuneScape editors who are going to be writing a few of the court cases.

[Aragon]

Ooh yay - a use for that court Looks somewhat interesting.

[The duck]

If they make it as good as the Phoenix Wright! games on the Gameboy Advance or Nintendo DS, this is going to be fun!

[Findiee]

Hmm. I'm remaining dubious about this one - it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that is interesting enough to do more than once. I'll remain ready to be pleasantly surprised though...

[Maxman]

I completely forgot it exhisted since they moved the party hall.

Hope this turns into something interesting, to say the least.

[Obelisk]

This was a cool blog. :)

[Djw]

Oo sounds very interesting.

[fiOWNya]

Hmmm, I like the idea. Can't wait to see how they'll pull it off. =)

[Dylan]

Honestly, that sounds sort of cool.
I've always wanted to go to court in a video game!!
Oh wait..
~Dylan

[Christley]

look nice but the gameplay sounds really boring. are you supposed to read some text and then get to choose from some pre-chosed options?
that sounds really boring in the end. i sure hope the reward is good enought for me to bother going there

[Man Bon]

This daily/weekly D&D or however they plan to execute it better be worth it It would be a shame to see them flop this one, since the concept is actually pretty cool.

[robin105]

Looks very cool tbh. Can't wait to see how it turns out lol.

[Jed1590]

I personally think it sounds gay tbh but time will only tell upon its release

[J36miles]

Sounds interesting.
Just depends on how they implement it.

[Shauly]

Well, this certainly has potential. I think it would be good if they made a new case every week, and you had to use logic to win the case. If it is easy, and can be done with a guide, I do not think it will be very popular.

Shauly

[Lee S]

Hopefully there will be a reward to it that is benificial.

[Tomorrow50]

Its important to be a serious Runescape player.
We'll have to redefine serious cus your taking it to a whole new level.

I dont see the point.

[Wristé13]

The idea seems interesting - what will be the true test is if the gameplay is fun, and the rewards make up for the time spent.

I'll be interested to see how this works.

[Man Bon]

If there really is a new case to review, say, every week, would this mean everlasting quest-like activities?!

I love quests and logic, so I'm really looking forward to this.

[lBRADl]

When I saw the blog's name I though that Jagex was getting sued and there would have to be changes ingame

But I think it's about time that there's a new D&D. It'll be good if it has decent rewards I'm not sure what skills could be used, though. Maybe thieving if you're representing someone who you know is guilty