Living Save Points?

[Lorenze]

Hey guys.

I was thinking about having the savepoints in my game be talking cats, each with a different name and personality rather

than generic orbs/crystals. However, I think people would think I would be ripping off Mother 3, since frogs were its savepoints.

I'm just asking if you think I should go along with it, or if you had any other suggestions for save points.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Daijou]

You should also avoid turn based / active time battles, naming stats something like "attack" and "defense," and a progression system where upon killing an enemy, you gain certain values, that when enough are accumulated, stats or attributes go up.

Don't worry about doing something another game has done at some point in time. How many other games can you name that have a similar system where a living entity is used to save the game? Not including inns and such since that's a common option. If I were you though, I'd try to give a reason towards having the cats act as the save point, and explain it at some point in the game. Done like that, and I think it'd be an interesting idea. You'd have to disable all other forms of saving then most likely, including overworld.

 

[Shaz]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it, unless the game is VERY well known and it's obvious your mechanic is a rip-off. Chances are most people playing your game would not have played the other anyway.

 

[voymasa]

Hey guys.

I was thinking about having the savepoints in my game be talking cats, each with a different name and personality rather

than generic orbs/crystals. However, I think people would think I would be ripping off Mother 3, since frogs were its savepoints.

I'm just asking if you think I should go along with it, or if you had any other suggestions for save points.

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't worry about being considered a rip-off. In FFIX moggles were your save points, while in Wild Arms 1 your save points were talking parrots.

 

[Chaos Avian]

Yeah, living save points aren't an issue. Dragon Quest used Priests/Nuns/Monks (not all were in churches/abbeys) for save points so I don't see an issue so go for it. Heck a VX game I played called The Witches House used a recurring black cat as a save point.

 

[Probotector 200X]

I thought this thread was gonna be about something a little different...

Like, say...save point characters. Like, one of your party members is a living save point! Maybe the save points are the VX/Ace hexagrams, (you know the ones) but one of them, when stepped on, well...it transforms into something that joins your party in a bizarre cutscene. With several moves related to saving, and preservation (and maybe the reverse). This would be a character that lets you save anywhere. I dunno, maybe I just wanted an excuse to share one of my weird ideas.

BUT, for your idea, I say go for it! It does remind me a bit of the Moogles in FFIX, who each had their own personalities (sorta, most of it is interpreted through their letters to each other) I think it's a great concept that could be explored further and expanded.

That, and in your game, the player would breathe a sigh of relief whenever they saw a CAT. That's just cool, really.

 

[Casia]

I thought this thread was gonna be about something a little different...

Like, say...save point characters. Like, one of your party members is a living save point! Maybe the save points are the VX/Ace hexagrams, (you know the ones) but one of them, when stepped on, well...it transforms into something that joins your party in a bizarre cutscene. With several moves related to saving, and preservation (and maybe the reverse). This would be a character that lets you save anywhere. I dunno, maybe I just wanted an excuse to share one of my weird ideas.

BUT, for your idea, I say go for it! It does remind me a bit of the Moogles in FFIX, who each had their own personalities (sorta, most of it is interpreted through their letters to each other) I think it's a great concept that could be explored further and expanded.

That, and in your game, the player would breathe a sigh of relief whenever they saw a CAT. That's just cool, really.

Hey, that's a pretty cool idea! Mind if I use it?

Anyway, I think cat save points would be very adorable. Go for it.

 

[Geekman]

Fire Emblem II had the Dragon statues that WERE living.

 

[Probotector 200X]

Hey, that's a pretty cool idea! Mind if I use it?

Anyway, I think cat save points would be very adorable. Go for it.

Go for it! That's one reason I posted the idea.

Anyway, a thought about cat save points. There better be lots of cat sounds! Meowing and purring, and the like, because...I dunno, why not? You talk to them "Meow!" And then you have a conversation. When the game is saving, maybe make a purring sound, lol I dunno. At the very least, the "save" sound effect should be a meow. Thinking RTP here...

 

[Tuomo L]

This thing has been done many times before, go for it. 
 

Silver had these mystic "recorders of time" who would disapear for instance after you've talked to them. 

 

[MyLordRobinson]

I plan to use "bard" kinds of characters who save your game for you. Sorta like the Nordic way they used to sing songs of heroes through the generations and things like that. Living save points adds a bit more to the immersion of the world. Crystals are cliche but they're cliche for a reason.

 

[Dalph]

I'm somewhat undecided between parrots (Wild Arms style) and fairies.

In Tales of the Drunken Paladin the creator used a magical drunken hobo as a save point, awesome.

 

[estriole]

Like, say...save point characters. Like, one of your party members is a living save point! Maybe the save points are the VX/Ace hexagrams, (you know the ones) but one of them, when stepped on, well...it transforms into something that joins your party in a bizarre cutscene. With several moves related to saving, and preservation (and maybe the reverse). This would be a character that lets you save anywhere. I dunno, maybe I just wanted an excuse to share one of my weird ideas.

How about removing the save command from menu. And to save you must go to skill menu. And then use skill name save .Nice idea btw.

 

[Probotector 200X]

How about removing the save command from menu. And to save you must go to skill menu. And then use skill name save .

Nice idea btw.

I considered that before...It's actually one of the ideas I got from working on a crossover fangame, really! Some of weird crossovers have NPCs, ones that aren't really adept in combat, as the party members. So I have to get creative with their moves. Like one of the two Operator girls (Jaune and Rouge) from Mega Man Zero 2. They tell you about the missions, warp you there "Trans-fah!" and also, let you save. In my weirdness, I thought about making one of them, Jaune I believe, a party member, so...she has a skill that lets you teleport to specific locations, a skill that gives you background information on some locations and bosses, and...a skill that lets you save anywhere! So, I got the idea from trying to work an NPC into a party member for a fangame.

But I never settle for just that, I have to adapt ideas like that for my own games, my own worlds, my own characters...