So I've decided I'm going to try and make a game in a month, because I've had MV for almost two years now, haven't accomplished bupkis with it, and just want to finish something. To that end, I'm mulling over two different ideas for a general story.
Gameplay-wise both ideas are simple RPG dungeon crawlers that consist of a town and a single, multi-part dungeon. The focus would be more on the plot and characters, with a predominantly female cast because...well, that's just what I like.
Idea #1: Rei is a shrine maiden in the town of Deburia; once a great capital, now a smaller town that has seen better days since the castle was abandoned for political reasons centuries ago. Her otherwise relatively unexciting life starts to change when the priestess Ariel strolls into town and requests her assistance with a matter: within the old castle is a great seal, said to hold back a powerful light. Ariel wishes to release this seal and rejuvenate the world with its power. Just one problem: the castle's become a nest of demons in the time between when it was abandoned and the present day. While Ariel is also an accomplished demon hunter, she needs assistance. And what better assistance than a fellow woman of religion?
Rei agrees to the task. After also recruiting Deburia's governor-general and a thief-turned-adventurer who just wanted to come along for the ride, they set out for the castle. In exploring it, they find that things might not be what they seem, and that the so-called "demons" might know more about the Seal's true purpose and Rei's own destiny than anyone realizes....
I'm not entirely sure what I'd do with this one gameplay-wise, but I do know the combat system would revolve around learning what enemies are capable of and thus knowing when to go on the offensive and when to go on the defensive. Perhaps with an extra emphasis on the Guard command to reduce or even null incoming damage entirely; kind of like the best Mario and Luigi recreation I can manage without action commands.
Idea #2: Maya was born the daughter of a pair of prominent scientists, who studied robotics and biology. For a time her family life was happy, but then she was found to be a rare example of a natural Psionic. Her family life devolved quickly after that as her parents quarreled over it, to the point where the second she figured out how to take care of herself Maya abandoned them both and struck out on her own.
Since then Maya has had a relatively comfortable life in the capital of the futuristic science-fantasy world she calls home alongside her best friend. However, that's due to change when her parents' former mansion is taken over by an android who poses a threat to the entire city, if not the world. She agrees to assist in subduing the android, and in the process deal with the remnants of her parents' legacy and her own issues brought on by it all.
This game's battle system would revolve around a simple elemental weakness system, with the main thing setting it apart being that it's a system both the player and enemies can take advantage of. For the most part what the player's resistances and weaknesses would be decided by equipment, but Maya would be able to change her elemental affinity on the fly by virtue of her skillset.
At first I was going to go with Idea #2 and save Idea #1 for a future project, but after looking over what I had for Idea #1 I think I might be able to pull it off as well. After spending a little while waffling over it, I remembered this topic and figured I'd ask here to see which idea would be more interesting/plausible.
Pros of Idea #1:
- I have a game design document partially filled out for it, so I have a better idea of the characters, enemies, etc. than I would otherwise.
- It's a standard fantasy setting, so I can make use of VX's, VX Ace's, and MV's RTPs and the resource packs I have purchased, and finding additional resources to supplement them would be easier as well. I should note I'm the sort of person who struggles with making basic RTP recolors; even if I had the patience to learn how to go beyond that, there's no way I'd be able to create something half-decent looking within a month at my current skill level.
Cons of Idea #1:
- I'm not entirely sure on what I'd do to make combat more interesting, or if it even needs more spice than what I have now.
- Character development would be a massive focus, and that's not just for the major characters. Giving all the NPCs changing dialogue as the story goes on would add a lot of extra work.
Pros of Idea #2:
- More modern/sci-fi esque RPGs aren't that common, which is a plus.
- The story would be less a big epic and more personal (think any one of Octopath Traveler's individual tales), another thing that isn't so common among RPGs.
- In accordance with the above, I'm thinking I'd opt for a minimalist cast of just Maya and her party, the antagonist, and Maya's parents (who'd be posthumous as of the story's beginning), which would save some time.
- I have a slightly better idea of how to make the combat interesting than for Idea #1.
Cons of Idea #2:
- Modern/Sci-Fi resources are a bit more difficult to find. MV comes with Sci-fi battlers, and there's a few resource packs available that I can afford right now, but past that I feel like I'd start running into shortages.
- I pretty much came up with this idea yesterday, so it's nowhere near as developed as Idea #1's.
