Game Idea: Farmer by day, Hunter by night

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I was browsing the forums and this idea popped into my mind. A game where you are a farmer by day and a hunter by night. What do you think? I think it's like Persona 4 where you live as a student by day then go on dungeons by night, just that on this one you're a farmer instead.

 

[Randommerade]

Sounds like a cross between Harvest Moon and, like you said, Persona 4...

I love it.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

yeah something like that... I was thinking of making an HM game using the farm pack when I get to buy it but I feel like I need to add something more to it... though right now, I still need to think about how the two roles will be connected...

 

[Randommerade]

yeah something like that... I was thinking of making an HM game using the farm pack when I get to buy it but I feel like I need to add something more to it... though right now, I still need to think about how the two roles will be connected...

Hmm, I have a few ideas.

- Main character is happy (or miserable, whatever) on a farm, but during the night wolves come and eat his crops and other animals. So s/he hunts them during the night.

- Main character is still happy (or whatever emotion you desire) on a farm, but s/he doesn't get paid nearly enough to get by. So s/he hunts animals or other people for NPCs as a way to earn extra money.

Just some ideas to get those gears running.

 

[MektiKwiiger]

Alternately the main character could love hunting, but farm to get enough money.

Or the parents are from the two different ways of life, and the character tries to follow in the footsteps of them both.

Or the farm could be a security net in case of damaging injuries or lack of prey in cyclic periods of time.

Perhaps an evil curse renders a farmer with an inability to sleep at night and great boredom leads to exploration of the dark forest and hunting ensues.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

It's more of the first one... my idea is that you're like Iron Man or Batman which uses the money you gain from your business to fund your huntings...

 

[shiori4me]

Just make sure it doesn't play like Rune Factory Frontier! Hahah. I kid.

My game features group/ group item management and a mix between open-ended/situational and storyline-based gameplay, but something I am excluding is farming. My heroes don't have the time for that. They use victory/spoil/reward money and spend more time gaining Essence.

Galv is working on a farming/rpg game with someone else and look how much of his time is being used now. Heheh.

So it would depend on how important and complex the farming system is and how much time and effort you're willing to dedicate. If it's something like Pokemon's berry system then it shouldn't be as hard.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

What's Rune Factory Frontier? Is that your game?


I saw that game by Galv, it's really nice... though it's far more grand than what I want to do... I will probably just keep it simple

 

[Randommerade]

What's Rune Factory Frontier? Is that your game?

I saw that game by Galv, it's really nice... though it's far more grand than what I want to do... I will probably just keep it simple

Rune Factory Frontier

It's quite a popular series.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

ahh... MMV and XSeed... so it's like Harvest Moon: The Adventure RPG edition?

 

[Deceius]

This will be an awesome game if ever made. Who would've thought that the farmer who gave you his crops will be the same hunter you'll hire to hunt something... or someone? Geez.

*faints because of excitement* 

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Toby's Island (the one being made by Galv and company) and the Rune Factory linked above seems to do it though, so it's nothing new really... if you have Wii, maybe you can try that Rune Factory, I do think it's nice seeing as how it's made by MMV and XSeed

 

[Probotector 200X]

When I hear an idea like this, I immediately think of a "fantasy" scenario.

A farmer who does farm stuff during the day. But at night...werewolf time! Make sure you get away from your farm as fast as possible when you turn into a werewolf or you might be tempted to go after the prey in a cage, also known as your own livestock.

I dunno.

 

[whitesphere]

I love the Rune Factory series, which is basically what you describe:  You are a farmer by day, but have a true RPG experience, with skills, levels, dungeons, storyline, etc, at night.

Now --- why would the player do this?

The player starts with farm animals, and they sometimes vanish at night.    

Some of the farm animals are carnivores, and you must feed them fresh meat or they will eat your other farm animals.

The player is a werewolf, and the hunting is to keep the town safe ---- BUT s/he cannot be spotted by townspeople when in wolf form, or s/he'll be hunted down.

I like the last idea best, but it could be combined with the other ones.  Perhaps the player is a werewolf and is, well, growing a horde of other horror movie monsters to take on the Big Evil.  Said monsters need to eat meat or blood, too...perhaps to heal.

Also gives you a Pokemon flavor --- other party members become the farm animals, and grow through battling.  

 

[aozgolo]

I'm making a farm themed RPG myself, I am reluctant to compare it to Harvest Moon, though some similarities are bound to be there. While I am considering hunting in my game (as in hunting wild animals) I haven't considered any sort of combat system. I would caution that while it's not a bad idea, you should be prepared to give both aspects, both hunting and farming considerable development time, nothing is worse than a game with a tedious boring mechanic that you HAVE to do in order to enjoy the more fun enjoyable one.

Definitely also provide a good reason for why the player is doing this double-life.

Oh and don't worry about competition, my farming RPG is nothing like yours ^_^ lol

 

[shiori4me]

A time of day system isn't as hard as you'd think. A really tedious part though is setting the tint taking into consideration

time of day + season + weather + map the tint is occurring at (top of the mountains would be different than a valley or poison forest)

And it depends on how dynamic you would want to go with it. 

It could be like Zelda, where no specific time passes with the rising and setting sun

You just use Yanfly's Field States for the weather, as well as

http://www.himeworks.com/2014/03/16/conditional-effects/

and

http://victorscripts.wordpress.com/?s=trait+control

(or your own scripts)

in case different battlers are affected by the weather differently (like a wolf's vision aka hit rate isn't affected by the dark and neither are fire or light battlers as long as their MP is above 0)

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

@Aozgolo - I'm not even sure if I'll really make this one (or at least soon)


@shori - yeah. All it takes is a simple common event... XD

 

[aozgolo]

@Aozgolo - I'm not even sure if I'll really make this one (or at least soon)

@shori - yeah. All it takes is a simple common event... XD

I'm not even to the point of starting myself, I have a lot of experience on game design, not so much with RPGMaker and I'm still learning the program with simple projects but definitely something I want to aim for.

My other thread where I discussed a time-slice system was actually for this specific project, if you use that sort of system you don't need to concern yourself as readily with tinting concerns from each time period. Though it really depends on how you want to go about it.

 

[shiori4me]

Difference is, neither Galv's nor Rune Factory's combat is turn-based. 

active time battle is something that's hard to predict in terms of time and who's up next so it's generally about reacting to your situation, whereas your standard turn-based RPG is about using the most efficient actions and not really about hanging on edge and trying to keep alive. Boss fights are about healing and buffing faster than they can kill you. 

It's up to developers to come up with their own formula or utilize familiar methods in a way that feels fresh with their game. Or if it's a personal project, they make the game based on what they personally like, even if not everyone else will like it.

When I hear "by night", I think of someone who has a secret life. They grab a lantern and run on pins and needles trying to fight off enemies. When you aren't battling, you're growing crops and gaining items, so you're always kept busy, and the two lives of stark contrast to one another.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

A time system complete with tinting is one of the first common events that I ever made...


@Shiori - that reply is for whom? I can't see it's relation to the immediate upper posts especially since the first statement was about "the difference is that ... not turn based" when there's no data on what battle system this project ,if it goes on, will be using.