Plot and Character Feedback

[DemonAbyss10]

@DemonAbyss: I can tell you that a 'tile height' system is certainly possible - on a map pretty easily, in the standard battle system... not so much but would be doable.

I'm assuming you'd be using this for relatively small maps, but the concept scales: make a matrix representing the tile grid (probably implement it as an array of arrays, Ruby sucks when it comes to data structures) - then put the tile height value in each 'square' of the matrix. You could even do that part as a hashtable I suppose but that would be overkill.

For the battle system, you'd have come up with your own 'grid' for the actors and enemies, then have it work like above. Even a simple ability to move around the 'battlefield' would set your game apart from most.

The ending sounds very reminiscent of the ending to Diablo 2, where the Worldstone is destroyed. Aleister's Folly I'm assuming is a reference to the man of similar name - very interesting there.

I don't know though... maybe it's just the summaries, but I don't feel pulled in. There's a lot of strings being pulled and subplots going on (it seems like, anyway). Do all of them contribute to realizing the main theme of your game? If not, you may want to think about paring some down. Obviously feedback from people who have played the game will be more telling on this point than me looking at essentially the 'back of the box'.

Dark games are hard to do well (I'm working on one too though, so don't take that as a discouragement ). Shakespeare recycled a lot of plots in his plays: he was asked about this in an interview (he was a real celebrity in his day). Sometimes the plot would be in a comedy, and then it would show up again in a tragedy, or vice versa. He said, the difference between comedy and tragedy is that in a comedy the players see trouble/danger coming and take steps to avoid it, while in a tragedy they don't. Tragedies also generally have a point where the control of events passes from the players and is taken over by 'fate' (In Romeo & Juliet it's where they miss the messenger IIRC).

Another good read, though you can question how applicable everything is today, is Aristotle. You don't have to read the whole text of "Poetics", but some understanding of the principles he espoused can be helpful.

Be careful when giving characters the players control set motivations and goals. That tends to divorce the player from the character. It's fine for a 'guest' character, but if the player thinks of the character as part of the main party, but someone he's not really in control of, that's generally not a good thing.

All that said, it should be a good length game if you can get all that in there. If you can pull it off it could be something really special.

Thanksfor the input, and yeah, as for the battle systems map generation, I want to attempt them to be randomly generated depending on the area terrain, but if that isn't possible, I could always try going with a set series of maps that are area dependent (kinda like what FFT did too, not a free-roam world map, but locations and such could be discovered for side quests and the paths between as well as the more specific setting have a particular battlefield set to them..) If I have to I can borrow ideas from either chrono trigger or the Suikoden series for character movement, perhaps even Magna Carta. The goal is to make the player think in battle and not just mindlessly use the most powerful spell they have *coughultimapluseconomizerplusgemboxcough*. I want to have the player plot out actions for the long term so to speak, making character placement, combinations of actions and such key.

As for the overall message, it is more a call that humanity should seek unity, and a big part I am exploring is the horrors of war, especially those driven by ideological zealots (which is IMO definitely a message that needs to be spread, especially with the middle east being the mess it is.). And yes, there are a lot of interconnected subplots going on, and a large amount of character driven and developmental moments. As for character deaths and such, I am attempting to use it as a tool to try and make the players feel the emotions the characters and scenes are supposed to evoke, they just have to be scripted well in the literary sense.

I could change some of the party structure and plotlines a bit, I can agree. The direction it takes will be dependent on how things flow as I am creating it all.

And yes the Aleister's folly location is a specific reference. Kind of an easter egg of sorts with a meaning behind it.

The art direction is gonna be of a darker colour pallet and I am hoping to have more realistic character portraits instead of the more anime style. I already have an excellent pixel artist I know personally (who actually specializes in sprites and is pretty good at what she does. I just have to figure out the specific dimensions VX ace uses for the various types.). I can also do some of the soundtrack work myself since I know both keyboard and guiter, plus a drum machine isn't hard to acquire either. I am likely going to be using more of a ambient soundtrack though, and even with battles you wont always have a superfast and heavy BGM (which IMO is a bit overdone in games for battles.) . A large amount of the soundtrack will have a dark and foreboding feel to it. In the end, the soundtrack would depend on the mood I want to evoke in specific situations.

In the end, I am ultimately a writer and a creator of worlds, so expect plenty of world lore as well. I will likely have it revealed in various tomes and such that can be discovered (perhaps as a readable item that players can keep.)

 

[LucidDreamer]

It's been a while, but I posted an idea for a game that I wanted to make a few pages back, here. If for some reason you can't or don't want to follow the link, here's a brief summary: a modern day supernatural RPG in which dreams and reality are beginning to intertwine, and the main characters, known as Archetypes, must find out why and if there is a way to stop it.

Anyway, I've been working on it in my spare time, and while I don't think there's going to be anything I can show anybody any time soon, I still would like to share some ideas for the characters that I've been thinking up.

Main Party:

Spoiler

Matthew Black (Renameable): A young man who is sent to the (currently) unnamed city by his parents so that he can attend a prep school. He has always had lucid dreams (dreams in which he is aware of dreaming and has limited control over), and is the first to discover the dream world and begin to combat the threat that it poses. As the main character, a good chunk of his personality is decided by the player in dialog trees, however by default he is fairly laid back, in the beginning almost to the point of apathy. However, when faced with a problem only he and a select few others can address, he is quick to take it on.

His archetype is that of the Baku, a creature from oriental myth that can eat dreams, usually bad ones. He is the only required party member in the game, but makes up for it by being able to fill most any role in combat with Dreamcraft, consuming dreams to various effects.

Wilton Wright: A boy from Matthew's class, who due to circumstances is drawn into the dream world shortly after him, along with Bridget (see below). Something of a clown, he has been sent to the school by his parents much like Matthew, but chooses to simply waste most of his time with fun activities such as video games, comic books, and anime. When he discovers another world which allows him to use powers impossible in the real one, he jumps at the opportunity to become a hero like the ones he watches and reads about.

His archetype is that of the Gremlin, a creature of more modern folklore said to sabotage aircraft. While not as heroic as he might hope, it does make him fairly quick in combat, capable of stealing from and befuddling the enemy. He is also the first to gain access to Wind element magic.

Bridget Carter: A girl who attends the same school as Matthew and Wilton, and unlike the boys actually requested her parents to let her attend. Independent and an overachiever, she can be friendly to those close to her, which unfortunately doesn't immediately include the two boys. At first she doesn't want anything to do with the dream world, seeing it as illogical and a distraction, but realizes that it is a danger and reluctantly aids the others. It takes a fairly major upset in her personal life to cause her to wholeheartedly join in with the cause.

Her archetype is that of the Crone, an almost universal figure of wisdom and guidance. She plays a support role in combat, healing and strengthening the party, causing Wilton to jokingly refer to her as "White Mage Chick", much to her consternation (yes, that is the word that she uses). She is also the first to gain access to Mind element magic.

Eve (Renameable): A girl that the party finds in the dream world, initially in the service of Mr. Andrews (see Antagonists), referring to him as Master. She is defeated by the party and abandoned by her Master shortly after. In her distress, she clings to the first person that becomes available: Matthew, now Master Black to her. With few exceptions, she is exceptionally withdrawn, going so far as to only refer to herself in the third person (most often "this one").

Her archetype is that of the Golem, an artificial life form from Jewish lore. She is able to withstand great physical damage, but her mental state makes her susceptible to magical damage. She uses various Words of Power to affect her combat abilities. She is also the first to gain access to Earth element magic.

Support Cast:

Spoiler

Nathan Black: Matthew's half brother, an alumni of the same prep school that Matthew is now attending. Now a doctor, newly trained but respected by his peers. Has little concern with the threat that the dream world presents in general, but is protective of his sibling and hopes to aid him.

His archetype is that of the Psychopomp, a spirit responsible for guiding the souls of the dead to their final rest. Unable to aid in combat, Nathan can instead allow the party to travel between Memory Stones found throughout the dream world, and rescue the party should they be in dire peril.

Melody Dunkle: A quiet and reserved girl who the party saves in the dream world. Despite her wallflower nature (or perhaps because of it), she gets along well with the famously divisive cliques of Matthew's new school. This, and the fact that she likes to stay well informed about what is going on in town, make her an invaluable asset to the party.

Her archetype is that of the Fae, the diminutive fair folk. She is capable of understanding a great deal about the Phantasms (dream monsters), and communicate from great distances with her mind.

Nika: The "white rabbit" who first draws Matthew into the dream world, she is a music loving girl who rarely takes anything seriously. Oddly, Phantasms seem to have no interest in her as they do other people, a fact that she uses to have much fun. She seemingly knows a great deal about the dream world, but will often refuse to answer questions directly poised. She seems to want to help the party however, so they let her stick around... for now.

Her archetype is that of the Sirin, a bird of Russian folklore that is either the voice of God, or of heresy. She has control over the ambient music, which can have a great influence over the dream world, from changing the types of Phantasms encountered to opening up new pathways.

Ms. Dawson: The school therapist, an observant and understanding woman. She has become aware of Matthew's efforts in the dream world through unknown means. She aids him by providing Dream Recipes, allowing Matthew to combine the Dreams he receives from consuming Phantasms for different effects.

It is unknown if she possesses an archetype.

Antagonists:

Spoiler

Roy Andrews: A businessman who has somehow been using the dream world to bring success to his corporation. He is amicable and friendly, but not to be trifled with, because he is as ruthless in battle as he is in business. While he does not seem to bare the party any ill will, they inadvertently find a way to bring harm to his business, and therefore must be dealt with, one way or another.

His archetype is that of a Vampire, a bloodthirsty monster in human shape. He utilizes manipulative magic in concert with great physical power.

The Sandman: A criminal who is responsible for flooding the streets with a new drug known as Fantasy, which among its other effects can allow anyone who has imbibed it to enter the dream world- whether they wish to or not. Is apparently able to enter the dream world from any location. Wears a mask and hood.

This mysterious individual's archetype, if it possesses one, is unknown.

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

I'm working on a Planetary romance RPG named Moon and Star.

Rinzou (http://th07.devianta...lis-d5mwjer.png) has just graduated from college with his "best friend," Daisuke Chika. They studied to become Guardians: An army of space travelers who keep order around the known universe. The game throws you in a virtual reality as the first dungeon; no intro or anything. I planned the dungeon to take about an hour to complete. It's there to show off the custom graphics, battles, and general dungeon exploring - hopefully hooking the player to the gameplay, and making them care about the dialogue in later scenes. Rinzou is the only party member, while Daisuke Chika helps you by pretty much being the player's living tutorial and dungeon guide.

After the first dungeon, you wake up on a space ship known as the Reliable Source. There, you meet Rinzou in person, along with another main character tentatively named Sheena. Here’s some artwork of Daisuke Chika: http://rpgmaker.net/...locker/Chie.png

I still need to draw Sheena =3

The next 15 minutes is spent talking to NPCs about the new world they’re heading to, along with some hub exploring – buying items if the player wills it. You cannot talk to every NPC, HOWEVER, the NPCs you do talk to have their own somewhat unique faceset and spriteset, much like the main characters; details probably being a tad toned down.

Once you arrive at your apartment (the spaceship being the size of a small city,) Chika asks the main character to say a quick prayer with him. Here is where some character development comes in. You find out that Chika has no family – his mother and father being killed by an accident, and his sister dying of a sickness. Instead of right out telling the player this, I want to draw several pictures that show Chika’s devastated life, how he met the main character, and how he got into religion, in a world where that sort of thing is somewhat frowned upon.

Listen to this song, and think about what I just said.



After that somewhat emotional moment, Chika tells the player this:

“Rinzou… You’re my friend, and I trust you with many things. Please remember that I care for you.

I - cannot love you, but I’ll be there, as you will with me.”

Spoiler

Basically, this is the part of the game where I tell the player that gay and lesbian people exist in my world. Daisuke Chika is not gay, nor is he homophobic (homophobic characters being nonexistent in my world,) but he nevertheless cares for the main character; Rinzou being there to stop him from committing suicide over his lack of direction in life. I do not intend for these two characters to be lovers. Indeed, they both find independent love throughout the storyline.

And after that, the scene ends, and the player wakes up in their own room with a note from Sheena. She asks the main character to go to the market and buy some supplies with some of her credits. After shopping, you head back to the virtual reality training center and talk with Sheena. A lot of this character is W.I.P, but basically, I want to get across to the player that this isn’t a yaoi. She’s very tomboyish, with a pretty forceful, yet kind demeanor. Her character is also in contrast with other female NPCs, giving the notion that not all women are like this. The next dungeon is rather fun. It’s a world where not only you learn about Sheena’s class ( a gunmage,) but you also learn her personality. Just… listen to this.



And imagine an African woman dancing with werewolves. It’s a bit like one of my older illstrations, only ‘more awesome’ =3

http://rpgmaker.net/...2012_0HUe8R.gif

After character development through a “Werewolf Dancing Dungeon of Doom,” you follow Sheena up to the deck and meet the captain. I haven’t named her yet, so let’s give her the nickname Donna. At this point, you receive control of the Reliable Source in a spaceship mini game tutorial. After this you finally reach the planet of Cold Winds, where the game stops being so linear, and you meet the next main character –

Spoiler

who may or may not fall in love with Rinzou, and may or may not be a man.

After that, your party goes to many other worlds:- Planet of the Cold Winds 1

- Planet Atlurtalis 2

- Planet Maprepaious 3

- Planet Golden 5

- The Unbroken Twins 4

- Star City, Planet Cazin 6

You also go back to older planets for side quests, and, sometimes, wildly different continents.

With a lot of dungeon raiding, city exploring, artwork being forced down your throat, and emphasis on a lot of character romance. I plan for the main demo of Moon and Star to end after completing Planet of the Cold Winds. The rest of the game (hopefully,) reflects the content in this demo. And if you’re wondering what happens after exploring all the planets… well, let’s just say bad **** happens.

Spoiler

Think Final Fantasy 6's end game, IN SPACE ^o^

Hope you guys like it. Feel free to give CC. ;-)

 

[Lorenze]

I've been thinking of a story for a new game, but I'm not sure if I want to go medieval or sci-fi with it. Anyway,

I'm trying to take common cliches and twist them around a bit. Here's the gist of what I've come up with so far:

A 23-year old woman named Alyssa is living in the small mountain town of Lysander, and often dreams

of becoming famous. One day, she's called to the Temple of the Oracles where said oracles (named Eden and Sapphire)

await. They tell her that she has been chosen to defeat Malvagio (tentatively named), a being of destruction.

However, Alyssa begins to realize she really doesn't want to be the chosen one and risk her life. The oracles then

guilt trip her into accepting her quest (telling her that the entire world will be destroyed). To defeat Malvagio, Alyssa

must retrieve a sword atop Mt. Lysander and kill Malvagio with it. She climbs up the mountain (where some character dev. happens),

retrieves the sword, and heads south to Malvagio's lair (which is actually in the middle of a city, go figure).

Spoiler

When Alyssa arrives at his lair, she faces off with his minions, eventually culminating with a duel with himself.

However, when Alyssa tells him that the oracles sent her, Malvagio stops attacking. He tells her that he really

means no harm to the world, and that the oracles themselves are plotting to take over the world/galaxy (depending on the setting I chose).

Malvagio goes on to explain that centuries ago, one of his ancestors fought against the oracles and lost;

but not before weakening them greatly. He is the last one left in his family, and thus is the only one that can defeat them.

So far, he has been training and becoming stronger to avoid his ancestors' mistake. That's why Alyssa was sent to

kill Malvagio; so that the oracles could go on with their plan mostly unopposed. Knowing this, Alyssa decides to help

Malvagio defeat the oracles and save the world/galaxy from their wrath.

The story would use a few tropes such as "Light is Not Good", "Dark is Not Evil", etc. and would

also have a mix of drama and a bit of comedy. Like I said, I'm still not sure what setting I want to use either.

I'd appreciate any feedback from you guys. Thanks!

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

@ Miroku Osami

I quite like where you're going with this.

I tend to like stories that go into the realm of gray. Characters who are OBVIOUSLY good and OBVIOUSLY evil are weird, and not

realistic. Funny thing about Sci-Fi. I've been reading A LOT of novels before coming up with M&S, and now that the newest tileset was released, I almost feel as though 50% of the community is gonna start heading into a more futuristic setting.

I'm not complaining.

 

[Xenophil 2.0]

Ok so i had this idea for a standard "Hero Saves the World" type game.

The world is essentially a wasteland, with very little water and very few trees. After the villages resident water mage (guy who makes water for them ) passes away. Having known this time was coming the mage tells (before he passes, sorry if the order is all weird) the player about 4 magical beings known as Elementals. This beings control the world's climate. The mage had learned that these beings had been lieing dormant for centuries and must be awakened to turn the planet back into what it used to be. Hearing this the player sets out to wake these beings, though not to save the world, but to save his village.

This is just a breif description, I dont want to give to many details :x

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

@ Xenophil

This would be pretty cool, if collecting the elementals will affect the world, and make it more pretty. Otherwise, your world might be a bit boring. But that's coming from a guy who doesn't like Fallout's graphics, so take this how you will.

--

Back to Moon and Star, I've been thinking about my species a lot. One of the more unique ones is called

The Adapter, also known as The Child of Evolution.

This is an organism that is made of various colors of light, and can exist in almost any part of the universe - some being known for traveling from planet to planet with little trouble. In a way, picture gas floating from place to place- only it's a living creature with a certain 'animalistic consciousness'. Now the interesting thing about this creature is that it cannot be translated. Humans do not know why they exist, what are their motives, or if they can even die. Please note that this is a world where you can use technology to talk to plants, dogs, and what have you. It's a bit crazy, but hey - I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.

Now one thing the adapters are known for is their ability to co-exist with ANY animal in existence. This can only be done to animals who have not fully matured. When the adapter fuses with a creature, any knowledge the adapter has will exist within their new host. With that, the adapter may co-exist with that creature until it dies. Once that happens, it is said that the adapter absorbs their consciousness and repeats the process of finding new animals and living with them. This has the effect of making some animals VERY smart. Do I smell intellectual debates about politics with lions and butterflies? HELL YEAH, BABY!!11!

Now the main character is a human with an adapter inside him. The adapter being useful not only for the extra wisdom, but because it allows the main character to do some pretty unique attacks like stealing skills from an enemy, turning enemy skills into useable items, and what have you.

And to remedy a quick plot hole, the host does not know what the adapter is, only that it's there. One of the more interesting things that happens to hosts of an adapter is that they can have pretty vivid dreams of past hosts. This can go so far as to have the dead creature(s) talking to the newest host... co-existing in a way.

Yeah, this is very much a draft. I hope it made some sort of sense. ^.^; TLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDRTLDR~

EDIT: I forgot to mention that The adapters come from the planet Star City - Planet Cazin. It's a lot like saturn, with rings so thick, that it can hold cities with little trouble. The planet cannot be traveled into, because it will destroy "anything" other than an adapter with no host. But that doesn't stop humanoids from trying to setup camp, and study what they can. YAY FOR MID-GAME CONTENT! I'm having too much fun with this project.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Ok so i had this idea for a standard "Hero Saves the World" type game.

The world is essentially a wasteland, with very little water and very few trees. After the villages resident water mage (guy who makes water for them ) passes away. Having known this time was coming the mage tells (before he passes, sorry if the order is all weird) the player about 4 magical beings known as Elementals. This beings control the world's climate. The mage had learned that these beings had been lieing dormant for centuries and must be awakened to turn the planet back into what it used to be. Hearing this the player sets out to wake these beings, though not to save the world, but to save his village.

This is just a breif description, I dont want to give to many details :x

This really, REALLY reminds me of the plot for my game. We have "elementals" (known as Divinities) that control the climates of the world, and the main character must awaken them. And they too, have been laying dormant for many years.

Either we fight to the death about the plot, or one of us spices something up.

 

[Xenophil 2.0]

:I @strawberrii Perhaps we make them different periods in time? and my game can reference yours? As if your characters where the first to do this and mine were the second. Mine would sort of be the sequel to your in a way

@Clarein_Christopher It will, the mroe of he elementals you awaken the more vivid and fertile the maps become

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

It's too bad we already planned a sequel that's kind of different than the original game.

I'm terribly sorry.

 

[Choco-Elliot Wyvern]

Hey guys I think it's about time I post here!

This is just the starting sequence's text in the game...The main character Mordekai is walking in the desert and is very tired and he has been walking for days..The scene goes on to another oasis map but this is the first part

The scene shifts from a dark screen to the desert scene frequently and I'll also identify when that happens. While he's in the desert scene Mordekai keep's walking in a very slow pace.In the dark scene's you don't see him.He only talks.Just saying all of the text have a transparent background and are all in a middle position.Just saying so you can fully imagine the scene

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Desert)

“Water…Water”

(Dark)

Here I am…Mordekai Fellows…Eighteen Year Old, trapped in a desert of despair…

(Desert)

“Water…I…I need Water”

(Dark)

Running away from my destiny….Cheating death itself…Dying of thirst…

I hear them…The creatures of the desert…laughing at my dismay…The vultures circling overhead…Just waiting for my corpse to drop…

(Desert)

(After walking for a while Mordekai says

"Is that..."

(He takes one step forward)

"It is!"

"Water!"

(Mordekai run's of to a bunch of palm trees)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's the end of the starting scene...What do you guys think ?

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

@Choco-Elliot Wyvern

Cut down on the ellipsis. The background text doesn't need it at all. I edited some of the parts I didn't care for. Take what you will out of it, bro.

Spoiler

(Desert)“Water. W-water...”

(Dark)

Here I am. My name is Mordekai Fellows, an Eighteen Year Old trapped in a desert of despair.

(Desert)

“Water… I-I need Water.”

(Dark)

Running away from destiny; cheating death itself.

I hear creatures laughing at my dismay. There are vultures circling overhead, waiting for my corpse to drop.

(Desert)

(After walking for a while Mordekai says

"Is that?"

(He takes one step forward)

"It is!"

"Water!"

(Mordekai run's of to a bunch of palm trees)

Hope this helps. I'm not a very good writer, but still ^.^;

 

[Choco-Elliot Wyvern]

Thanks and yeah I tend to add lost of ellipsis...

I'll be sure to use the edits you made

 

[Fatalfugus]

I have a VERY general plot idea right now. But here goes...

Game starts with a flashback of our main guy, let's call him Lloyd, and his sister, let's call her Leena, at their father's funeral. Their father was a soldier who died in service to the young lord of their home city state. This effectively leaves them as orphans, but the lord promises to care for the two as his own. More flashbacks later, Lloyd is has grown, now in his early 20s, as has his sister, in her late teens. Lloyd is one of the right-hand knights of the now aged lord. Leena injured her leg at some point, leaving her somewhat disabled, but not in any way incapable. However, Lloyd has babied her through the time of their father's passing and now, leaving her feeling useless and only desiring to become more in the eyes of her friends and family. After some basic disperse the bandits and investigate the forest quests with his close friend and fellow knight, Garen, the real conflict starts.

The neighboring and much greater nation (yet to be named) invades their homeland. The lord and many soldiers are killed, and mass amounts of citizens, including Leena, are rounded up as prisoners and led towards the invader's nation. Lloyd and Garen lead a rescue attempt on Leena's batch of prisoners, which is successful, but Garen dies in the process, leaving Leena feeling responsible. They flee their now crumbling home, but find themselves hounded by agents of (evil nation) anywhere they turn, even breaking the sovereignty of other nations. After more plot advancements, a militaristic religious society (akin to the templars) exposes that Leena may be the key to fulfilling the "Rapture" of prophecy, an event where a single chosen individual, the "catalyst", will bring forth divine intervention to erase the wicked among humanity and bring forth a golden age. More plot advancement, and Lloyd hands guardianship of Leena over to these "templars". More plot advancement, probably involving a united front against (evil nation). PLOT TWIST! It's discovered that the Rapture is not the salvation of humanity, but the wrath of an angry and disgusted God seeking to wipe out his unworthy creation, and the catalyst is the key to bringing in his physical power. Now Lloyd finds himself having to fight against those he initially trusted; and his own sister, the last remaining relationship from his youth and sole product of all his life's efforts. More twists at the end of course, which I won't give away since I might be releasing a game with this plot lol.

Sorry for length and vagueness, it's just some core ideas I put together the last week or so. I want to play with the ideals of individual importance, wherein the main character's efforts have weight behind them because of the people you meet in the story. But, on events of a seemingly cosmic level, I still want the player to feel helpless. I know I don't really have the technical abilities to make the epic I want yet, but I'm gonna have this written down for future projects.

 

[Necrology]

@Fatalfungus

I have a VERY general plot idea right now. But here goes...

Ha, I wouldn't say it's VERY general idea; you seem to have a good idea of the overall structure of your narrative. The plot in itself seems to be good, and I like the satire of the "chosen one" cliché (or that's what I interpreted it as). In any case, I would be careful in dealing with the whole "chosen one" ideal. It can easily become detrimental to your game if abused to a great extent. In addition, I can see a good deal of issues that could arise from your intro. The amount of flashbacks is a bit excessive. As a rule of thumb, I try not to bog the player down with endless background information during the intro. Character development is not limited to the first ten minutes of the game.

@Clareain_Christopher

You have interesting ideas and, uh, examples. Overall, I think you could probably work on developing a cohesive plot structure (assuming this game is intended to be RPG of sorts). From reading your summary, it appears that the characters arbitrary enter dungeons, which leads me to my next question. Is the game intended to have an over-arching plot, or is the game simply intended to be a dungeon crawler? If you do choose to develop a plot, your previously posted idea concerning adapters could be a good starting point. In fact, I'm particularly fond of that idea, and it could possibly make a great "man against self" or "man against nature" conflict. Anyways, it seems like an intriguing idea for a story. There aren't enough RPG Maker games set in a futuristic environment.

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

@Necrology

A lot of the story is in draft, but I can say that it's not a dungeon crawler. For the most part, the main focus is the universe itself; exploring crazy worlds and meeting crazy people.

At least, that's what I'm going for.

The first dungeon is not all about gameplay. There's quite a lot of passive character development in the form of art assets, and a quiz given to you bytwo unknown women who are connected to the main character's past. I want to gather interest on the characters, while hooking the player via. gameplay, before throwing them in a town full of cutscenes and npcs for 35 minutes.

Based on my last game, there was the issue of not explaining the plot to my players. I hope to fix that in the first town hub, and not overflow people with endless streams of cutscenes.

Thanks ^.^

 

[Necrology]

Yeah, that's what I was leaning towards. Your idea of passive storytelling could work well, and it reminds me a bit of the environments in Dark Souls/Demon Souls.

 

[SebastianVega]

Hello. I have an idea for a trio of games floating around in my head since this morning, and it's been evolving to the point where I feel like my head will explode if I don't clear it out. I don't think I'll go too far into anything but the first game for the time being.

I haven't determined what setting I want to set the game in, but I'm leaning towards the modern era.

The story starts with the main character, you, witnessing your own funeral. You feel nothing as you watch your friends and family mourn openly about your loss. You watch the whole funeral service, and as the last person leaves, you hear an ominous voice thundering overhead. It's so loud that the only thing you can make out is "failure." After hearing the voice, you fall, overcome with fatigue, the first feeling you have since your death. You then black out, and when you come to, you're in a strange place with an eerie man looming over you. As soon as you see this man, you are overcome with fear and instinctively attempt to flee. He laughs, and with a seemingly impossible speed, he moves between you and the nearest perceived exit. "Ho? You seem to have suprisingly sharp instincts... for a human." the man says. As the fear begins to fade, you start to notice your surroundings. You seem to be outside, possibly on a plateou. There seem to be a few structures around, and a strange gate catches your eye. The man notices your gaze, and informs you that the gate you see is the only exit from this place. "But it is incredibly unstable, there's no telling where it'll take you." he states. The man then invites you into his home. As you enter his building, the first thing you notice is the abundance of food on what appears to be the dining room table, and then you notice just how hungry you are. "Since you're new," he says, "I'll let you in on something good. Food is scarce here, and only the strong have it. The problem is, you'll never become strong without it." He then offers you a seat at the table. After you two eat, you begin to inquire about where you are and the gate outside. "Isn't it obvious? You're in Hell." This sends you into a state of hysteria. "But I was a good person!" the man says as if he were reading your mind. This seems to calm you down for some reason. "It doesn't matter who you were in that other world, you all land here in the end." He then motions you back outside. "Yes, this place is a barren wasteland, but it's not so bad once you get used to it." He then goes on to explain the situation you're in, which I'm still workin out. Anyway, on to my gameplay ideas.

I want to make it where you cannot die, as technically you're already dead. But you can starve. When you lose a fight, you lose all of your food, and everything related to gameplay will revolve around food. It'll be the currency of the game. Food will also be the main source of your strength. This is where it gets dificult for me to explain, so I'm sorry if I lose anyone.

Hunger: Stat used to display how badly you need to consume food. Max will stay constant at 100. When this stat hits 0, you will start losing EXP. Dropping down to level 0 is the only way to lose the game, where as you can't die, you can still become too weak to move.

Stamina: Stat used to perform any battle action but Wait. The only ways to recover this stat is by sacrificing one Hunger point and through the Wait command. Wait produces very little gain, where as sacrificing one Hunger point will produce a full Stamina bar.

Consciousness: Basically HP. When it falls to 0, you lose consciousness, the enemy raids your food, and the gate spits you out.

Will: Basically MP, but you will not need this till very late in the game.

You'll use food to refill your Hunger stat, but the required amount will increase with level, making it increasingly difficult to retain your strength.

Anywho, you'll meet other people while exploring the gate, and you can choose to take them with you, but they will also be bound by the hunger rule, thus making it harder on your foodstocks.

I guess you'd classify this as a dungeon crawler, as there'll not be a whole lot of story progression until you get close to the end.

That's about it for now. I just want to congratulate/thank you for sticking with me this far. Looking back, that's a pretty sizable wall of text... I wouldn't read that myself... And this is just the first game. I'll save the rest for another occasion.

Inspiration for story I guess would be Shin Megami Tensei, Gameplay would be Disgaea because of the way you enter a "dungeon" and the food thing I believe to be original.

 

[RyanA]

I'm not sure I like the idea of losing EXP. Whenever I've experienced that in a game I've quit straight away, I've never particularly enjoyed that feature 3: Anyway, perhaps you could change Hunger so it effects the character's combat abilities, so the lower it is the weaker the characters stats and such become without punishing the player :3

 

[SebastianVega]

But it certainly adds an element of tension to the game, and it's not like, " Whoops, I'm out of food... OMFG!!! MY EXP'S GONE!!!" It's a slow drain. Or perhaps an exponential drain.

Anyway, been workin on the "Basecamp", threw down a healthy amount of starving skeletons for atmosphere, and a good reminder of just how scarce the food's supposed to be.

At first I was thinking of doing several sequential dungeons that keep returning to the same "Basecamp" but now I'm leaning towards one or two massive dungeons. I also don't want players to be able to convert food to hunger just anywhere.

I'm also thinking of splitting the story and grinding areas into two seperate dungeons, where the story dungeon is more like a long path with branching ways converging to the same point, and each path having seperate bosses and recruitable characters, and the grinding dungeon would be more like a maze with loads of good loot, increased exp gain and no food. Or perhaps no food on the story path, I'm not sure yet...

I don't want it to be difficult to gain strength, but maintaining that strength is another story.