Features in a Turn-Based RPG

[Acetonide]

After looking around the forums it seems this is the best place to post this question.. pop the introduction and such I wrote originally into a spoiler since I don't think it technically should go here if I posted that. >.>; But you can check it out to see why I'm asking.

Any how, in a turn based RPG (pretty much the default system) what features would you expect in the game? And what would you want?

Mini Games? Fishing? Dating? Mining? Huge Open-World maps? Puzzles? Multiple currencies? Large parties? Character creation & customization? Selection from a set of characters? Genders?

Spoiler

So I had this as my status, but after some thought (I really don't want to do this though, I hate posting...) I decided this would be better as I would probably get more replies and it would be easier to review and revisit answers and opinions I was given.So I have a lot of different crazy ideas for games.. If anyone is interested I could give a broad outline of most of them and you'd be free to steal and borrow them and do with them as you'd like.. I'll probably neve get around to doing them all, and even if I did it's not like our end product would be exactly the same so I don't really care.

But back to the main point of my post. One of my ideas is making a game using nothing but eventing and the default system and the RTP (and maybe edits of the RTP, so editing various graphics a bit).. After some thought I decided I'll probably have to throw together more images if I'm doing what I'd like, and with all the eventing and such I'd probably have to do a lot of images.

Any how, so my question. What would I have to include to catch your interest and make you feel like playing the game.

Please don't say something like great graphics or great music. Besides being a horrible artist and being horrible at editing and altering graphics even, I'm a worse composer.. Moreover I'd like to stick as close to the RTP as possible for now (and character generator, as much as I dislike it).

In short:

What features would you want in a RPG if you were going to play it (in terms of gameplay elements)?

Feel free to post things that seem unreasonable such as a default battle system, it will help me gauge if I really should go and try making this game.

Also feel free to mention something someone else posted before you, it'll help me gauge how popular a feature is so I can focus my attention better.

Lastly, please feel free to link me to other similar posts about features in a RPG. Although I have searched and I am following other topics, I may of missed one that could be useful.

Thank you.

Please let me know.. Thank you.

 

[Julien Brightside]

Oh, I now one. A bar, tavern or so where party members can hang out when you are not adventuring with them. Granted if there's a max party limit.

 

[Reynard Frost]

All I require is an interesting story and gameplay elements that are fun and fit well together. An oversaturation of gameplay features just to have them bogs the game down and makes it terrible.

Also, you shouldn't refer to a game as Generic purely due to its combat system. Some of us enjoy turn-based battles because it's our combat style of choice.

You should call a game generic if its story and appearance blend in with a myriad of other games of its kind.

 

[tevak]

The battle system doesn't have very much to do with the question you're asking, seeing as you're asking for things outside of battle

 

[Acetonide]

All I require is an interesting story and gameplay elements that are fun and fit well together. An oversaturation of gameplay features just to have them bogs the game down and makes it terrible.

Also, you shouldn't refer to a game as Generic purely due to its combat system. Some of us enjoy turn-based battles because it's our combat style of choice.

You should call a game generic if its story and appearance blend in with a myriad of other games of its kind.

Hm.. You're right.. I have to agree with you there, but my mind is elsewhere today, and as I type things as I think of them rather than slowly editing and perfecting it I word things poorly at times. I'll fix the thread's name now.

The battle system doesn't have very much to do with the question you're asking, seeing as you're asking for things outside of battle

I was asking more for features in a game with a turn-based combat RPG, as opposed to features you may want in an action style RPG. It does differ for some people. They may not want certain elements within a real time game as opposed to a turn based one.

 

[RavenTDA]

Well what ARE your ideas? If you're already willing to share them why not just share them? ^^ I'm always interested in hearing about new things.

Anyways bar idea sounds pretty cool. I wouldn't have thought of that otherwise. But from playing games like Dragon Age I've found I really adore that kind of "home base" where you can just chill with your party members. In my game, all of the party members don't follow you around in town so you can "find" them hanging around somewhere doing something and you can talk to them. I love characters and any kind of character interaction is fun to me. Plus this makes it optional. So if people aren't into that type of thing they can just not talk to them. If they do all follow, you can still achieve the same effect by having a button option to talk to the party. Dragon Quest 8 did this, and not only was it fun to hear what the characters have to say, you also got a little reminder of where you needed to go. This was a cool combination of character interaction as well as providing direction to the player.

I'm a big fan of puzzles and mini-games in dungeons. I've noticed most times people have dungeons set up where you have to just walk through and beat up baddies or go find the key and that's about it. Puzzles and mini-games are awesome to have (provided that you stop random encounters when trying to do a puzzle as this can really frustrate the player). Giving another form of gameplay is always fun and makes the rpg more of a GAME than a visual novel which is so very easy to fall into sometimes. This would be especially helpful in an rpg that has a basic or default type of battle system as it gives another gameplay element in which you can make unique and customize as you please according to story and area.

I am not a fan of the usual mining, fishing, alchemy, etc. A lot of games have this but because so many have those basic alternate game play I just don't care for them any more. Unless there's some kind of elaborate twist or it heavily has to do with the story, I really am not interested. As for large parties... that usually breaks my brain out because I am one to like to play with ALL the party members and the bigger the harder it is for me. Anything having to do with character customization is only good for an open-world game. I really like games like that but I also enjoy the typical rpg. Both are fun. Both have ups and downs. But I don't care for customizing the main character unless I can customize EVERYTHING about them including their actions and dialogue choices and so on. In an rpg with a set character personality and story I don't even care to give that character a name. I just like it either all done for me or I can do it all.

 

[Stoic]

I think whatever features you go with you should first decide what the heart of your game is. Is your game going to be highly-complex with a lot of moving parts or a simple game that blends its systems together more elegantly? Once you know the core of your game you can then decide what features contribute to it and what are superfluous.

For example, MotW has a crafting system that requires you to gather certain items from monsters and then use them to make better armor using the base equipment. We thought it made sense storywise and gameplay wise to have this in the game because both the main leads worked an armor store and would have knowledge of how to craft better armor. They're also battling monsters so it added another element to combat. You'd want to fight certain monsters that dropped the items you needed.

We didn't go into the game thinking "Yes, we need a crafting system because other RPGs have that!". It emerged as we developed the core of the game.

 

[Acetonide]

Well what ARE your ideas? If you're already willing to share them why not just share them? ^^ I'm always interested in hearing about new things.

;o Wow, someone who wants to hear my ideas.. >.>;; I'm not used to this. D: Any who.. I decided to throw all my random (and more original) ideas for games into a blog post (assuming I can and find out how to do so) a spoiler in the About Me Section of my profile, and then just leave it at that since most of them will probably never see the light of day. I'd be leaving out all the story heavy ones though, such as the whole angels and God etc is more restrictive of rights and Demons are more based in freedom and etc and you chose the ending you want.. That's one of the things I want in pretty much any game I make.. Multiple endings, and some other elements common in VNs. Honestly my ideal game would be a RPG/Brawler/VN all mashed into one.. I think.. I mean, good dialog, story, art, and cut-scenes which you can skip if you want, and perhaps deep relationships and character development from VNs, stats, level building, a character you play as in a story, adjusting your abilities from a RPG, and real time action with different keys to create combos from the brawler.. D: If I found this to play offline with offline multiplayer I would be in bliss.. Well, if it were for PC. >.>; Any who.. Moving on..

Any how, I really like your view on things and I shall take it into consideration where I can. Perhaps I shall have to adjust many of my ideas. >.>;; Hm.. I won't reply to anything specific though, since I don't know what I can or will do yet. ^-^;;

I think whatever features you go with you should first decide what the heart of your game is. Is your game going to be highly-complex with a lot of moving parts or a simple game that blends its systems together more elegantly? Once you know the core of your game you can then decide what features contribute to it and what are superfluous.

For example, MotW has a crafting system that requires you to gather certain items from monsters and then use them to make better armor using the base equipment. We thought it made sense storywise and gameplay wise to have this in the game because both the main leads worked an armor store and would have knowledge of how to craft better armor. They're also battling monsters so it added another element to combat. You'd want to fight certain monsters that dropped the items you needed.

We didn't go into the game thinking "Yes, we need a crafting system because other RPGs have that!". It emerged as we developed the core of the game.

Hm... That's really good advice. I guess it may not apply to open world type goes but for a story heavy/oriented games (probably what I should do for now so I guess I better follow your advice) this is probably the best advice I've been given. Thank you. ^-^

 

[Helladen]

Lovable characters, deep story, and interesting twists to it.

You really need to make sure characters stay who they are, distinctly different from one another, and if they do change make it something that is worth changing over - don't just make them change for something random.

 

[Dark Gaia]

I'd be expecting any RPG to have a great story, good characters and interesting gameplay. Honestly, mini-games and extra features are a nice distraction, but the main priority is to get the basics of the game down. I don't really remember any RPGs I've played where I keep going back to play the mini-games, as they're really more of a side-show than anything. If this is your first project, I'd say just work on getting a good, solid basic RPG out - making it too ambitious means there's more chance of the game losing its direction.

 

[Kapik]

Gameplay features, you ask?

Well, there's one thing I really like: actual gameplay outside of combat. Exploration should be fun and rewarding. Dungeons shouldn't be just monotonous labyrinths connecting point A to point B with a boss at the end. Towns shouldn't be just places were you upgrade your equipment and learn where to go next. Generally, there should be a lot of "secrets" - notice some unusual terrain features, use the right combination of skills, get a small (or a big) reward. To achieve this, PCs should possess special skills used outside of combat. Puzzles in dungeons is a good idea.

Good examples: Golden Sun series, Lufia II, Zelda series.

 

[mystic0]

I agree with Acetonide with multiplayer. From what I've gathered PK8 is working on split-screen multiplayer, Lone Wolf has created a multiplayer single screen, and Mr. Mo (I believe his name was) created netplay plus for online play. However, I'm working on trying to combine all of them into a single coherent script. That way you could have 4 players from 1-4 separate computers. I'm having a bit of difficulty handling events though and overall story flow because this isn't going to be an mmo in anyway. Hopefully something like Kaillera for RM. If anyone knows how this could be achieved please don't hesitate to msg me.