RMMV Seven [DISCLAIMER: Contains Elements of Christianity/Religion]

[Coleton707]

I have a vision for a Christian RPG that is actually fun for everyone to play. A game that is NOT basically a "Pound Scripture into your head" game. In fact, the main Character, who the game is named after, is an Atheist. Here are a list of key components I would like to hear feedback on. Please be as critical as possible.

1. Story:

The idea was and still is to make a game that is fun to play, but also represents the character of God, and the character of an actual human being with feelings, and not just dehumanize all atheists, like most "Christians" do. I understand just because a person doesn't believe the same way I do, doesn't mean we can't work together. I wanted the story to reflect that ideal. The ideal that everyone, no matter who or what they are or believe in, can get along.

The Story Based Mechanics I need feedback on are as follows:

a) A Skill/Miracle Based System:
When first deciding the game concept, I decided to skip out on Magic and have an entirely physical skill based system, with later game equivalents known as Miracles. The idea is that once Seven reaches the Late Game, he decides to test God out, and subsequently unlocks a new skill type he can use, well two actually. "Prayer" and "Miracles."

Physical Skills make the meat of the game, with skills based on weapon types, skills based on Survival, as there is Sorta Permadeath. I say sorta because there is a Miracle in the late game that allows to bring back a fallen ally, and one that brings back all allies.

What I need to know is:

1. Is my in game reason for no magic good enough?

Basically, according to the story, the Dark Lord of the JRPG-Style World, siphoned off all of the magic in it for himself. Leaving no one else with any source to use magic. Of course none of the other Worlds have magic, the Scifi world has Tech, pretty advanced stuff that may look like magic, but that's about it.

2. How do I make Seven a believable and relate-able character to everyone, including Atheists.

2: Depth of Gameplay:

Other than the story, which is a huge chunk of the game, I've also decided to make the companion characters have important roles to play. Also, I plan on making everyone of my Characters significant in some way. Any advice on how is appreciated as well as any other general advice you could offer that you think would make sense in this sort of game.

3. The Maps:

There will be at least Seven Overworld Maps in total, and at most Ten. Each will represent a genre of fiction writing, such as Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, and so on. I would also like advice on how to pull this off properly, also any ideas of genres that you like the most, as well as general advice needed to implement them as part of a story.

I'm a story creator, that's pretty much all I'm good for. But I can make some pretty epic Ideas, I just don't have the skills to implement them on my own. As such, I will be posting in the "Recruitment" forum about this idea in more detail if it peaks your interest.

 

[NinjaKittyProductions]

1. Is my in game reason for no magic good enough?

Basically, according to the story, the Dark Lord of the JRPG-Style World, siphoned off all of the magic in it for himself. Leaving no one else with any source to use magic. Of course none of the other Worlds have magic, the Scifi world has Tech, pretty advanced stuff that may look like magic, but that's about it.

Your reasoning sound perfectly fine. However, the complication is going to come from the delivery to the player as to why this has happened... if it is disclosed to the player at all.

2. How do I make Seven a believable and relate-able character to everyone, including Atheists.

One of the best ways to make Seven believable is to talk to an Atheist friend of yours. If you do not have an Atheist friend, join a forum for Atheist or read Atheist news letters. They will help you understand a bit more about being an Atheist in a mostly religious society.
As an Atheist myself, I typically do not care about what others choose to believe, as long as they do not hurt anyone in the process. There is no reason we all cannot get along and respect each other. Whether you are a Christian, Satanist, Pastafarian, Atheist, or any other religion, we are all in this mess together .

any ideas of genres that you like the most

I have always been a big fan of sci-fi fantasy and wild west fantasy. Cowboys with magic guns ^_^!

 

[Coleton707]

Your reasoning sound perfectly fine. However, the complication is going to come from the delivery to the player as to why this has happened... if it is disclosed to the player at all.


One of the best ways to make Seven believable is to talk to an Atheist friend of yours. If you do not have an Atheist friend, join a forum for Atheist or read Atheist news letters. They will help you understand a bit more about being an Atheist in a mostly religious society.
As an Atheist myself, I typically do not care about what others choose to believe, as long as they do not hurt anyone in the process. There is no reason we all cannot get along and respect each other. Whether you are a Christian, Satanist, Pastafarian, Atheist, or any other religion, we are all in this mess together .



I have always been a big fan of sci-fi fantasy and wild west fantasy. Cowboys with magic guns ^_^!

Thanks for the reply! I plan on disclosing this to the player by means of events. NPCs, Bookcases, etc. As well as making an integral part of the story. Towards the end of the game the player has to face the Dark Lord, and to find a way to cancel out his magic.

As for newsletters, I honestly hadn't thought of that. I must do the proper research.

I love Sci-fi and Wild West Stuff! In my personal opinion you can combine the two to make something epic. Because Science after a certain point looks indistinguishable from Magic. You have to admit a cowboy and a robot teaming up to face an alien is cool. Well, at least depending on their characters.

Of course as a Story Creator, there are plenty of genre combos that would be fun to implement in the game.

 

[Coleton707]

Thanks for the reply! I plan on disclosing this to the player by means of events. NPCs, Bookcases, etc. As well as making an integral part of the story. Towards the end of the game the player has to face the Dark Lord, and to find a way to cancel out his magic.

As for newsletters, I honestly hadn't thought of that. I must do the proper research.

I love Sci-fi and Wild West Stuff! In my personal opinion you can combine the two to make something epic. Because Science after a certain point looks indistinguishable from Magic. You have to admit a cowboy and a robot teaming up to face an alien is cool. Well, at least depending on their characters.

Of course as a Story Creator, there are plenty of genre combos that would be fun to implement in the game.

My only question is, how early is too early to reveal to the player that there is no magic in the game? If I was playing it, I would want to know before my first battle. That way I know to plan ahead. Stock up on potions, status heals, etc.

 

[Coleton707]

As for newsletters, I honestly hadn't thought of that. I must do the proper research.

So I've been looking through a few testimonials, and have come to a conclusion. Most of what I've seen so far is the result of people who call themselves Christians pressing their beliefs on someone else, a few times it's parents with their children, however, when these "Christians" do such a thing, it is not in love, like the bible says to do, but in spite due to the fact that they don't believe the same way, and they try push their beliefs on someone else. That's wrong, that's not what the bible says to do at all. I think I've got a pretty good backstory in mind for Seven now thanks to all of this. Thank you very much.

 

[NinjaKittyProductions]

Glad that testimonials were able to help you. Do be careful of faux Atheist. These people tend to push Atheistic points of view onto others just as the "Christians" do in your mentioned post.

My only question is, how early is too early to reveal to the player that there is no magic in the game? If I was playing it, I would want to know before my first battle. That way I know to plan ahead. Stock up on potions, status heals, etc.

It should be apparent from the beginning of the game if the game is set in modern times. Especially when the player looks at the status of the character and the items available. If the game begins in a more medieval setting, I am not sure how to relay to your player the lack of magic... at least at the beginning of the game. I know you said you want the characters to later use Prayers and Miracles, which to some's point of view is a form of magic or magic-esque abilities. Some might consider them super-natural in nature so it should be clear through dialog and over world building what you are wanting the player to know about Prayers and Miracles (that is whether they are magic, super-natural, or gifted abilities by a deity).

 

[Coleton707]

It should be apparent from the beginning of the game if the game is set in modern times. Especially when the player looks at the status of the character and the items available. If the game begins in a more medieval setting, I am not sure how to relay to your player the lack of magic... at least at the beginning of the game. I know you said you want the characters to later use Prayers and Miracles, which to some's point of view is a form of magic or magic-esque abilities. Some might consider them super-natural in nature so it should be clear through dialog and over world building what you are wanting the player to know about Prayers and Miracles (that is whether they are magic, super-natural, or gifted abilities by a deity).

I was thinking of what I wanted to do in regards to how the player with start the game. I've decided to start in the MC's home town(Modern Day Earth and eventually have him transferred to Memoria(The JRPG-style World). I'm going to use the intro as a sort of dream sequence to foreshadow some key events. As for Memoria, i'm planning on telling the player very early on in the Memoria World of how the Dark Lord stole all of the magic in the world, but this time i'm planning on having a separate character called the JRPG Hero(Placeholder name for now) defeat the Dark Lord with a Holy Sword as part of the background story for Memoria. This story would be told by npcs, and read about through events. Since the JRPG hero defeated the Dark Lord by slaying him, no one got their magic powers back. I just need to know if that will cut it. Do you think that's a good enough way to solve the problem of letting the player know early in the game?

Also since I need to start the player off in MD Earth, I plan on having a MD Earth Map he or she can explore. And also make it part of the post game. For that I just need to know if that is a good enough mechanic to implement for post game. Of course their would be events-a-plenty to keep the player entertained.

 

[MagicPizzaGuy]

I don't know if you know who Brandon Sanderson is, but to shorten it, he is a famous writer. Recently I have watched one his classes and he talks about one thing and I agree with his point, I remembered about this thread when I saw.

Please be careful when you have already your vision about one thing and you write about someone with a different opinion, because you MUST know the reasoning of both sides and their arguments or else your characters with the opposite opinion of yours will feel flat, uninteresting or DUMB and that will 100% anger many players. Unless you are confident on your writing or you have a lot of preparation behind I would prefer to avoid doing this.

But I'm interested to see how your game will go, please keep updating as you go!

 

[Coleton707]

I don't know if you know who Brandon Sanderson is, but to shorten it, he is a famous writer. Recently I have watched one his classes and he talks about one point and I agree with his point, I reminded about this thread when I saw.

Please be careful when you have already your vision about one thing and you write about someone with a different opinion, because you MUST know the reasoning of both sides and their arguments or else your characters with the opposite opinion of yours will feel flat, uninteresting or DUMB and that will 100% anger many players. Unless you are confident on your writing or you have a lot of preparation behind I would prefer to avoid doing this.

But I'm interested to see how your game will go, please keep updating as you go!

Thanks. That is exactly why I feel the need to do extensive research on atheism. I feel like that might not even be enough to accurately represent seven's character.

 

[Kupotepo]

I have a vision for a Christian RPG that is actually fun for everyone to play. A game that is NOT basically a "Pound Scripture into your head" game. In fact, the main Character, who the game is named after, is an Atheist.

Do you do individualized Christianity or authority Christianity in this game? Plus different denomination of Christianity. A lot of reading, I hope your game is a success.
According to sociology general terms, individualized Christianity means Christianity which defined by an individual's ethical dilemmas and authority Christianity means Christianity based on an individual is stick to a church doctrine from word to word.

Atheism is a very diverse group of people who do not believe in God or gods. Atheists can generally be separated into two general groups: super scientific mind persons or renounce from his/her faith persons. Some reasons for renouncing their faith might be an abuse of authority, find a better explanation for things or conflict of the doctrine with personal ethics.

Note: I get this from world religion class. I believe every sacred scripture could teach about morality, but people who in power like to mix religion and politic might cause scary things to happen.

 

[Coleton707]

Do you do individualized Christianity or authority Christianity in this game? Plus different denomination of Christianity. A lot of reading, I hope your game is a success.
According to sociology general terms, individualized Christianity means Christianity which defined by an individual's ethical dilemmas and authority Christianity means Christianity based on an individual is stick to a church doctrine from word to word.

Sort of a mixture of both, leaning more towards individualized. Like most things involving an actual human with feelings, or a group of them, it's complicated.

Atheism is a very diverse group of people who do not believe in God or gods. Atheists can generally be separated into two general groups: super scientific mind persons or renounce from his/her faith persons. Some reasons for renouncing their faith might be an abuse of authority, find a better explanation for things or conflict of the doctrine with personal ethics.

There are both types in the game. Seven is the an atheist of the latter. Johanson, a follower character from the Steampunk Mystery Genre world is more of both.

I believe every sacred scripture could teach about morality, but people who in power like to mix religion and politic might cause scary things to happen.

Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. Right? I'll be care not to be corrupted with the power to create worlds and people to fill them.(Rpg Making)

EDIT
Just learned about the PEPSI method of character creation recently, trying to apply that to Seven.

Also just realized how long this might take me on my own. I planned on recruiting when I had more than just a story, but that's all i'm good for. Tried making custom clothes for the Generator, realized I'm not very creative in the fashion designer department. I planned on making my own custom everything, minus some sound effects I downloaded and am going to abide by the terms of use for as well as some tilesets from steam.

At this rate Seven might take Seven years to make. Or more. Any advice? Particularly how to pitch only a story. Of course I plan on doing my part in making music, tilesets, events, and mapping, as well anything else besides scripting. I don't do scripting.

I'm good for a great story, but everything else, not so much. Maybe I should offer my skills as a trade. I don't know where to begin.

 

[Finnuval]

One thing you must also consider when it comes to character building for a game like this is there is a large variety of Atheists as there is variety of Christians (and any other religion for that matter) so you'll need to decide what motivates the MC to be an atheist to begin with. Also taking into account that some of the more fringe religions in today's society (like paganism for example) is considered by some religiously inclined people a form of atheism while it clearly is not...

The premise here is a good one, imo but something that needs to be approached with due caution I think as not to overshoot your own goals

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Coleton707, please avoid double posting, as it is against the forum rules. You can use the "Edit" function on your posts to add additional information you've forgotten or respond to multiple people. You can review our forum rules here. Thank you.

If you want to add something after you posted, please use the 'Edit' button to do so. I've merged your posts together.