I really dont know what to do...

[Choose Username]

I would like to make a multiplayer dueling game.  At the beginning of the game, the player may choose from 3 different wands.  They begin with a basic stun spell, and then eventually earn xp and unlock more spells.  I would also like to have auto-attacking npc's.  Any suggestions on where to start

[monkey0506]

If you're asking questions on where to start, then no offense, but the best place might actually be the community of a program better suited to what you're trying to do. Pulling something like this off with AGS would require quite a bit of scripting and wouldn't be as simple to pull off as it could be with a more appropriate engine.

If you're insistent on using AGS then the best place for you to start would be the scripting tutorial in the manual.

[Charity]

I've been in the on-again-off-again* process of making a fighting system for a couple of years now, and it's tricky business.  I'm assuming you have visualized the battles to some degree, but it isn't very clear what exactly you are going for, from your post.  Is it real time or turn based?  Are the positions of the various combatants relevant, or will it be like those old RPGs where you just select an attack and a target from a list and then the game calculates damage?  If it is an action battle system, is it a side view like a platformer or fighting game, or is it a top down view?  This sort of information will help people advise you.  

My advice is just pick one of the features you want and try to script it.  Try implementing a health bar, if you intend to use one.  Make some global ints to represent things like exp, attack power, etc.  If you're planning to have a lot of different stats or more then a couple characters, I strongly recommend studying arrays and structs in the manual.  Also, read through the thread on making RPGs with AGS, at the top of this forum.  Even if that isn't the type of battle system you want, you might find some useful information in there.  Try to implement keybord movement for two characters simultaneously (there should be a few modules and other scripts floating around for single player keyboard movement - study them).  If you want NPCs to attack when your character gets close to them, you might want to try scripting a function to measure the distance between two points.  The more you script, the better idea you will have of what you need to script to have a working battle system.

*Mostly off or I'd have finished a long time ago.  It shouldn't have to take that long if you actually stick with it.

[Khris]

Since you want to do a multiplayer game (I assume LAN or Internet), choosing a different engine is probably the first step.
In theory it is possible, and there are plugins, but if you don't have any idea where to even start, I recommend learning how to program first.
Get a Java or C++ book and make yourself familiar with the basics.

There's no way you're going to make the game you have in mind with AGS without having to come here constantly to ask trivial or impossible questions.

And btw, Keyboard Movement is built into the current release of AGS in the form of a module.

[Charity]

And btw, Keyboard Movement is built into the current release of AGS in the form of a module.

Yeah, I should have mentioned that.  I kind of assumed he meant a hot-seat or two-people-crammed-onto-the-same-keyboard sort of multiplayer (as far as I know AGS does not support additional controllers/joysticks?).  But if he intends to move two characters simultaneously with the keyboard, he will need to either modify or duplicate the existing movement codes to allow for the second character.