I want to make a basic version of a game that i would like to make (though never will due to the fact that i'd need a pretty big team of experts to do it).
So first question:
1. Can i do experience levels in the game?

I want a game where i want experience levels, obviously

2. Can i do multiple different skill levels and new skills that i can use?

I want a game with crafting and magic and the like.

3. Can i make a game where i can shapeshift into any type of creature in the game and have a different experience level for each creature that i turn into

4. Can i also be shifted into one of those creatures and add experience to my main character's 'shifter leve'

Obviously getting too ambitious here and probably going outside the intended functionality of the game engine, but is it possible?

5. This should be easy if i can find a way to shapeshift, but can i make it possible to make small spaces or high spaces that i could only go into if i shifted into something small like a mouse or something that can fly like a bird?

I'd like this game to involve a lot of strategy alongside the normal go kill things theme of games with experience levels and shifting into smaller things, things that can fly, etc. would be a fun way to approach this

6. Can i make a 'perception level' where if i examine my environment it will do a check on my perception skill to check if i see the exit or object or whatever?

That way a newbie wont automatically see every possibl hidden object and exit in an area, it'll make the game more fun and a bit surprising when you go back to a newbie area and find an exit to some awesome remote location


And lastly, how much time would it probably take to do all this? my limited experience in programming is telling me this will take hundreds of hours, but the setup on this program seems much more user friendly

To answer your questions succinctly the answer is "Yes, if you script it."

As for how long it will take? There's no way of telling that, as it depends on many factors including your familiarity with Quest's scripting language and your ability to figure out how to implement things using it. From the sounds of it though, this game is likely a little large in scope for a first game. You'd probably be better off starting smaller, and as you become more familiar with Quest moving up to bigger projects.

hehe i am absolutely aware of that. I've done some programming in the past and large scope games like my idea are daunting tasks (of course straight out programming it goes from daunting task to I'll be old and gray by the time i just get a beta out).
Quest seems extremely user friendly though. It is obviously not built for an idea like this, but it seems to be capable of it. I think the most difficult part will be the combat system...

Really, I don't think combat systems are that difficult to implement in Quest unless the combat mechanics you have in mind are complex in and of themselves. I'm working on a little RPG demo to test some stuff out and it seems pretty straightforward, granted my mechanics are relatively simple. But that's how I like my RPGs... rules-light and easy to learn.

Well then a beta version of this game of mine shouldn't take too much longer :p. The more I use quest the easier it seems to be to use... already got most of the level system set up easy, got a plan for the combat system that shouldnt take more than a couple of hours to figure out and make a basic working model. After that I'll make a basic version of my game and put it up on this forum to see what people think and if they've got ideas to improve on the game and the coding.

I'm setting a quota for myself. A week from now I will post a small functional beta of the much larger game that I plan on making within a few months. The beta will include all things that I have asked about in this post along with a basic combat system that includes random loot... though I think they will not be nearly as advanced as i plan on making them in the larger game.

Sounds good! I can't wait to try it out.

maybe that was a little ambitious, been working 14 hour days this last week, not so much time. on the other hand maybe i can still pump it out on time.

I've got a basic combat system down, but i cant find out how to make a verb that will work with every seperate object and run the scripts that i want to for those objects. i could put a new script into every object's attack verb, but that would be a stupid idea when i know that this program has the capability of running a script that works with every object in the game.

Another problem i'm having writing the script for the attack function is that i am trying to write it as if it is going to work with every object, but if i type something like 'object.health' in a script, it says there is no object named 'object'. i need a script that can work with every object, and if i have to refer to each object individually i can't really do that... but i couldve sworn the tutorial had me do some things that you just typed ' + object.health + ' instead of ' + mouse.health + '

It's probably something relatively simple that's being overlooked. It would be helpful if you could either post your game file here, or at the very least paste the code for the attack script so that myself and others can look it over and see if we can figure out the problem.

Some things to keep in mind though. When you're talking about using something like "object.health", the "object" there is a variable representing the actual object being referred to. If Quest is giving you that error, then that means either the variable "object" hasn't been assigned to something, or it's been set to something that doesn't exist. For example, if I had an attack command with the pattern "attack #object#", then in game I typed "attack goblin", then "object" would be set to goblin. However, if there was no goblin, this would cause an error.