Property owning mechanics

[Yougotsomechocolate]

If you've played Fable 2, You'd know what i'm talking about. I'm wondering, how would you define a good House/property owning system? I was thinking of making one and I wanted to ask what you think about this mechanic?

Example:

Spoiler

Player gets enough gold/money/whatever to buy an property, they can then earn money from it by renting it or some other mechanic. or they could turn it into a different type of building (Sorta like sims)

Spoiler

Please excuse me if this is the wrong area to post this.

 

[fallenlorelei]

Sure, why not!

You could have a map that acts as a neighborhood, and have lots of different styled houses. The user could pick the style they like and have to spend like 5000 gold to purchase it. That could be just a typical Switch, like, House B On, after paying the gold.

Or - you could have the houses set to different types, like Small, Medium, and Large, and have the user buy a "Deed for Small House" or whatever at an in-game store. Then go up to the house and use the deed on it, which consumes it, but then you've unlocked the door.

The layout inside the house would depend on the style of house you bought, but you could place furniture in pre-designated spots easily enough using pictures or event graphics. It may be a little more difficult placing furniture in non-pre-designated spots for RPG Maker, though.

Sounds like fun

 

[Yougotsomechocolate]

Sure, why not!

You could have a map that acts as a neighborhood, and have lots of different styled houses. The user could pick the style they like and have to spend like 5000 gold to purchase it. That could be just a typical Switch, like, House B On, after paying the gold....

Sounds like fun

Thank you for the input. I'm also talking about owning businesses/empty property/etc. Like owning building right in order to build more houses or stores or etc to make more revenue.

 

[Wavelength]

I would define a good system of this sort by the player feeling good about each upgrade they make - feeling like it's useful to them forever, but not abusable. Some of the Harvest Moon games do a good job with some of their upgrades (while others feel gimmicky, useful only once) in this regard. I think that in the right game, with the right theming, you could also tie a system like Skill Learning into something like home upgrades.

I always advise designers against anything like "investment property" in anything resembling a traditional RPG, because it tends to be abusable and completely break the game's economy. Time is not a valuable in-game asset in most RPGs, so when you can spend time to accumulate more money, without doing anything else, there's no longer any purpose in gating any valuable tools (like high-level equipment and consumables) with money anymore. The player can just sit there and earn as much as she wants.

 

[Yougotsomechocolate]

I would define a good system of this sort by the player feeling good about each upgrade they make - feeling like it's useful to them forever, but not abusable. Some of the Harvest Moon games do a good job with some of their upgrades (while others feel gimmicky, useful only once) in this regard. I think that in the right game, with the right theming, you could also tie a system like Skill Learning into something like home upgrades.

I always advise designers against anything like "investment property" in anything resembling a traditional RPG, because it tends to be abusable and completely break the game's economy. Time is not a valuable in-game asset in most RPGs, so when you can spend time to accumulate more money, without doing anything else, there's no longer any purpose in gating any valuable tools (like high-level equipment and consumables) with money anymore. The player can just sit there and earn as much as she wants.

You do raise a good point, another example from fable 2, you can change the date back and fourth to get loads of money. Mean less to say some players use this. I may want to create an game that's not an rpg exactly with the property mechanic, but this is not the board to talk about that idea.

Also with the upgrade system,Do you go with stat boosts or long term helpfulness? (Such as HMDS:GB Protagonist's House with a built in spa and bathroom that can only be used once per in game day)

 

[Wavelength]

You do raise a good point, another example from fable 2, you can change the date back and fourth to get loads of money. Mean less to say some players use this. I may want to create an game that's not an rpg exactly with the property mechanic, but this is not the board to talk about that idea.

Not only actual cases of cheating like setting the console's clock forward, but also "legitimate" abuses of the system, such as walking around doing little or nothing for a few hours while you rake in the money passively. This is actually encouraged by interest-bearing systems such as renting property (as long as time isn't a valuable in-game resource), and some players will do this - it's not fun nor engaging but it works, which is why you should try never to encourage such behavior with your design.

Also with the upgrade system,Do you go with stat boosts or long term helpfulness? (Such as HMDS:GB Protagonist's House with a built in spa and bathroom that can only be used once per in game day)

I tend to like long-term usefulness, especially things that you couldn't get in any other way, because they really make it feel special to complete that upgrade. However, stat boosts and such can also be of long-term usefulness by making them percentage boosts rather than one-time bumps.

 

[Yougotsomechocolate]

Not only actual cases of cheating like setting the console's clock forward, but also "legitimate" abuses of the system, such as walking around doing little or nothing for a few hours while you rake in the money passively. This is actually encouraged by interest-bearing systems such as renting property (as long as time isn't a valuable in-game resource), and some players will do this - it's not fun nor engaging but it works, which is why you should try never to encourage such behavior with your design

So if the game is timed (Like 1 in game month) it would be "okay", (but not recommended) to include this, but everywhere else use the upgrade system instead.

I tend to like long-term usefulness, especially things that you couldn't get in any other way, because they really make it feel special to complete that upgrade. However, stat boosts and such can also be of long-term usefulness by making them percentage boosts rather than one-time bumps.

Percentage boosts like EXP or cheaper prices, and a bed which will recover Hp and give you a slight advantage in battle. I get the idea now, thanks.