RPG Maker Forums

When it comes to the design of Skills, Items and Equipment within a game, the way that their information is presented is almost as important as what they actually do in terms of game-play.


What I mean by this is specifically the way that a description is written, and which way is the best.


Say we have one item from each Category:


A Skill - Firefall


An Item - Heaven's Tear


A Weapon - Mountain Blade


If we were to present these in the Detailed manner, we would have:


Firefall - A roaring cascade of flames crashes down on all enemies, dealing high amounts of Fire damage.


Heaven's Tear - A crystal-clear liquid created from purified light Revives a single Ally with 100% of their Max HP.


Mountain Blade - Forged from manasteel by an ancient Dwarven king. Deals Magical Earth damage and may Petrify enemies.


By presenting the information in this way, we can make the items and skills feel more real. It can be a way to add something to the


backstory of the game and it's world in a small, but noticeable way and can even be used to hint the players towards possible treasures or


leave them wanting to find out more about how a piece of legendary armour came to be, and who exactly made it.


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If we were to present these in the Basic manner, we would have:


Firefall - Deals high Fire damage to all enemies.


Heaven's Tear - Revives a single Ally with 100% of their Max HP.


Mountain Blade - Deals Magical Earth damage, may Petrify enemies.


By presenting the information in this way, we simply give the players the information that is important to them and tell them


exactly what the new item they got does, without concerning them with detailed fluff that some players may not want to read


and could therefore end up just not bothering to read through their items, as there is so much text on all of them.


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There's also the possibility of having an in-between manner, like this:


Firefall - Cascading flames deal high Fire damage to all enemies.


Heaven's Tear - Pure liquid light Revives a single Ally with 100% of their Max HP.


Mountain Blade - Forged from manasteel. Deals Magical Earth damage and may Petrify enemies.


This method allows us to add a little touch of flavour to our skills and items, while still presenting the information in a clear and concise way.


Somewhat of a "best of both worlds" approach, though you can say that it still has the fluff of the Detailed method without much room to add


bits of lore or hints to possible side quests or story elements.


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Or perhaps it's better to have the description of an item first, and then add flavour:


Firefall - Deals high Fire damage to all enemies. Bring roaring cascades of fire down upon your foes.


Heaven's Tear - Revives a single Ally with 100% of their Max HP. An ethereal liquid created from purified light.


Mountain Blade - Deals Magical Earth damage and may Petrify enemies. Forged from Manasteel by an ancient Dwarven king.


This method let's us provide players with the information they need first and foremost, then gives them the option to read the flavour fluff


afterwards if they wish to. Another "best of both worlds" approach, similar to the above, but avoids some of the downsides.


However in terms of a skill this approach does not make much sense, as you are providing the player with


the result of the skill: "Deal damage to all enemies" before the cause: "Cascades of fire".


A possible way to fit skills into this method is to include a "Flavour fluff/Lore quote" in place of a description of what the skill looks like, such as:


Firefall - Deals high Fire damage to all enemies. A devastating magick, created by the Archmage Arioth Leir to end the Great War.


or perhaps:


Firefall - Deals high Fire Damage to all enemies. "Great despair brings the need for even greater strength" - Arioth Leir.