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I've decided to try RPG Maker MV again, using some of my 3D Acheron Series models:

Map Size

Battler Size

I will probably also do some big Portrait size images for dialog, but I haven't done that yet.

I haven't touched RPG Maker in a long time while I've been making 3D things. I expected to teach myself some kind of 3D game engine, but I've mostly been making renders anyways and I don't like any of the 3D engines better than MV. But since it has been a while, I want to ease myself back into MV and keep this game simple.

There will only be the 4 main characters in this game. Axiom the Enfield, Fantasy the Kitsune, Puddle the Slime, Ravine the Orc. I might do some NPCs and boss characters as other Acheron Series 3D models, but for the most part, I'm going to stick to RPG Maker MV default enemies and try to keep the NPCs to a minimum.

In the spirit of easiness, the easy way to do these 3D models as 2D sprites is to keep the weapon graphic fixed to the character. So I thought it would be fun to come up with an equipment system where you keep your default weapon and just add things to it. I'm thinking of using Yanfly's Augment System to do this, but I'm open to suggestions.

In the past, I've tried using pre-rendered 3D maps, and I remember this being an enormous hassle, both to make and to work with in the game. If the first game goes well, I might try it again, but for now, I want to keep it simple and use MV's default tileset. I've been looking around, and I don't see any tilesets that look better than MV default, but if you know of any that would work well, I'd love to see more options.



When thinking about what I want to make, I went back to my old practice project from a few years ago called Grind Storm. You can download it and give it a try if you like. The main thing about Grind Storm is that it's super crazy hard. You're constantly confronted with challenges that seem insurmountable, and that makes it all the more fun when you finally succeed. I'm of the opinion that an RPG should be mostly G, gameplay is the most important thing.

One of the cool features of Grind Storm was its equipment system. Each character had 3 "equipment slots" and 3 "orb" slots. Orbs would mostly allow you to use a skill or gain an ability. So like, Fire Orb teaches you the Fire spell, Poison Touch adds a chance of poison to your attacks, Rage Receptor doubles your TP gain, etc. Most "equipment" was like accessories, they had some kind of + stats and -minus stats. Most of it came from monster drops too, so it was things like ratskin caps and bat wing circlets and stuff. For the new game, I think I want to use Yanfly's More Currency system to do a kind of synthesis system. I know Yanfly also has a straight synthesis plugin, but I wasn't impressed with it. So if you beat a rat, you win a rat-hide item and you can take that to a tailor or something to exchange it for a ratskin cap or cloak or whatever. The idea of the original Grind Storm was that there are a few super specific "Grind Items" that are turned into equipment by Sages, for example, the Ironwood Sage can turn Ironwood into items like the Sylvan Saber or Barkskin Armor. Since I'd have more leeway with the More Currency plugin, I'm thinking I'd rather have multiple kinds of grind items, so a Grind Item like Ironwood might be specific to the Ironwood Forest, but lots of monsters throughout the game drop simple Grind Items like Beast Pelt or Metal Ore. So then a Sylvan Saber could require Ironwood and Metal Ore to make, while a Barkskin Armor could require Ironwood and Beast Pelt.

I've been thinking I might switch to a more normal body slot system instead, so you've got your Head slot, Body slot and Arm slot, instead of being able to wear 3 hats and nothing else. On the one hand, it makes more sense and forces you to be more strategic with what items you try to obtain, but on the other, the generic equipment allows me to do things like Ancient Engine or Fairy Skirt that don't follow a specific slot pattern. There could just be an "odd-ball" slot for items like that, but I remember that the equipment menu gets kinda weird if you have more than the original number of slots. I could maybe get around this with the Augment system though. So for example, Barkskin Armor could be the main equipment, and then Fairy Skirt could be an augment that you attach to the armor's augment slot. Then Magic Orbs could all be augment items, maybe belonging to an "Orb Belt" or things that are placed on any equipment. Maybe an item like a Wizard Robe has more slots for Orbs. I'm not yet familiar enough with the Augment plugin to know if that's how it works.



I'm not sure what to do about a plot. I don't much care for the cliche RPG save-the-world-from-ancient-evil thing, I'd rather have something that is simpler in scope, like you're tracking down a thief who stole from your village, getting revenge on the man who killed your father, assassinating a brutal tyrant, that kind of thing. Since I'd prefer to limit the number of NPCs, I've been thinking that the main characters might get shipwrecked on an abandoned and dangerous island and need to fight their way to safety. I've also been thinking about a more Pokemon-like setting, where you've always wanted to join the Grind Knights and go on a Grind Adventure. Or a lone Grind Knight wanders into troubled town and sets things straight.

I do know that I don't like games that force you to wait a long time to get characters on your team. So I want to make sure that all of your characters join the team pretty quickly. Right now, I've been thinking that you start with Axiom and Puddle, who are some kind of newbie adventurers, Fantasy is a lone sorceress adventurer who either helps Axiom and Puddle when they get in over their head, or who gets in over her head herself and is rescued by Axiom and Puddle, and then Ravine maybe starts as a badguy and then switches to become a team member.

I've been wondering about doing a dating-sim or harem comedy element to this game. To be honest, I'm not a great writer, so I'm not sure if I want to commit to doing something that needs good writing like that for this game that's supposed to be easing into making RPGs. However, I do think it could add some replay value to the game, and a short RPG with good replay value is the kind of game that I like. I might add some gameplay tie-in, like going on dates with a girl unlocks her latent super powers. But I also like the idea of no romance, that a bunch of girls can just be on an adventure without needing to be the object of someone's affection. I also have an idea on backburner about a completely harem comedy dating sim RPG, so I might want to save ideas for that later.



Anyways, eager to hear any feedback or suggestions about the idea so far.