So, you started a new game ("A how to begin your story" discussion)

[Zortik]

So, I'm looking for some widespread opinions / discussions on starting a new game. I'll post some subjects below, and share my personal opinions on them as well.

I'd like for this discussion to remain within the realm of being executable with RPG Maker (MV is the engine of preference, but feel free to chime in with the others). If you have to mention a major publisher / major title (IE: Chrono Trigger) please make sure that you keep your response on point to the subjects and don't allow the discussion to boil into a fangasm of who likes what title.

1. You have just turned on / loaded the game for the very first time. What are your expectations?
2. You've selected the option (or were forced to immediately begin) a new game. Below are some basic examples of how some games start. Which do you prefer / hate? How would you prefer to be introduced to a new game? The game begins nearly immediately with no background or less than a few paragraphs of narrative. You are now able to explore for the next story point / whatever. (This would be an example of giving the reigns to the player in the hopes that they can 'figure it out' and will explore a bit until a Story Event / MacGuffin occurs).
3. The game goes right to the main character. You get to see them go through some daily / scripted event that sheds a small amount of insight on the characters and spoon feeds what they need to do next to get the story going. (IE: Player is in school, the bell rings and as everyone leaves your best friend chats with you about [x] then reminds you that you have to see the counselor before going home today).
4. Long background of scripted events that tell of a history/lore point, possibly focuses on the major players in the story (characters / enemy / King MacGuffin). It could also focus on the past of the main character(s). This would take up several minutes (approximately) before carefully placing the character in a setting with an immediate followup of one of the above two options (giving the player free reign, or doing a short additional snippet to tell them where to go.)
5. The every changing viewpoint. This is where the camera scrolls through a town, then a mountain area, maybe a forest, how about that evil castle, maybe a school... and so on. The intent is to showcase what's going on in the world before an ominous scene that will blow it all up, or just blowing it all up... or maybe even for no reason at all? Eventually, you'll get to the character and will usually already be in some dangerous place (or just about to be) and will take the lead on diving in.

[*]What are your expectations on Music + Title Screen? (Please avoid the obvious answer of unique/custom and then leaving it at that).

My answers will be below.

1. I'm expecting the game to load fairly quickly. Maybe in about 5-10 seconds. If I don't start hearing music / seeing some images by this point I'll get concerned the application is frozen or something. The first thing I expect to see is a splash screen asking me to start a new game or continue.
2. For an RPG I'm expecting some story to get me into the swing of things. For me, give me a glimpse into what they're doing before I get to take over. So the ideal answer for me would be #2. If they are mischievous kids, show them playing pranks or going where they shouldn't. A warrior training to fight that evil overlord? How about a training bit, a war room meeting, him panicking because he lost the letter of invitation from the guard captain and they're totally meeting today and today only! And so on
   I really don't like being dropped into a game and then forced to talk to every person, animal, and dresser before I get a clue on where to go.
3. I don't want to poo myself with a sudden blaring of music as the splash screen loads. Being startled like that sets up a bad first impression for me. I prefer the music to match the title screen well, and for the title screen to mesh VERY well with the options for choosing a new game and what not. Ultimately, if everything plays nicely together I'll be starting the new game on a good note . I rarely stick around long enough for the music on the title screen to get going either. So if you want to impress me there, get my attention within the first 2 seconds or you might miss me.

 

[Cozzer]

About the beginning of the story, I think it depends on what the story itself is. If it's a "person finds himself in a strange world" story, just giving control to the player and letting him explore can work. Otherwise at least a small introduction would be probably better, especially if the story is about several main characters that need to be characterized.

The only option I think is always wrong is the history/lore lesson as soon as the game starts. The game needs to make me care for the world before that, and that's achieved with interesting and relatable characters.

Once I'm invested in the characters and the world they live in, I'll be interested in learning about the events that shaped that world. Before then, I'll just forget every bit of lore I come across.

About the title... again, it heavily depends on which tone the game is trying to set. Ideally graphics and music would work together to set a mood that would then be reinforced when I start the game.

 

[Kes]

On opening the game - this is what I have been doing in Ace.  As far as I know, there isn't yet a plug in for MV which allows precisely this sequence to happen, but I expect it will arrive one day.

- Opens immediately with the music, showing 2 brief splash screens, one for each of the game companies involved, (up until now that's Gemelle Games i.e. me, and Aldorlea) then to title screen with the usual New Game/Continue etc commands.  Usually if you have pre-title splash screens you don't have music.

- The player can skip that and go straight to the title screen by hitting Enter.

- I intensely dislike having the credits before the title screen.  If it's the first time I'm opening the game I do not care, if it happens every time, I could just walk away.

- I expect the title music and title screen to harmonize and give some indication of mood.

Opening couple of minutes (3 - 4 minutes maximum - I do not want a 10-15 minute cut scene, or a vast info dump about the terrible war which almost wiped out the planet 3,000 years ago.)

- Something which establishes the context and gives me at least some hint of what this is all about.

- I am clearly biased in this opinion, because it's what I do.  However, I have received a great deal of positive feedback for how I open my games, so I know it can work like this.

- I dislike being dropped straight into a fight, especially if the dev is using a non-default battle system, as I have had no time to orient myself/learn the combat system etc.  Nor do I like the classic "wake up, go and spend 30 minutes trying to find out even a hint of what's going on and why I should be doing anything about it" approach.

 

[Heartbreak61]

1.You have just turned on / loaded the game for the very first time. What are your expectations?

I would like to have a scripted event or a movie before the game show title screen. Of course it has to be skippable so I can go directly to title screen without having to wait the event to be fully executed. This event could be a background of the story, or preferably a short scene right before player enter a new game, for example the hero lost his horse on a trip.

If I intend to tell story background, I'll do it here rather than after title screen. It won't be universal background (i.e. war between two countries) but instead just a small portion of it (i.e. the hero is a mercenary that being hired by a country in war). Story is introduced piece by piece as the game goes on. For example, player will learn that there's war between two countries when the hero talk to the king.

Spoiler

Is there any MV plugin that enable us to transfer to a map and run events before title screen?

2. You've selected the option (or were forced to immediately begin) a new game.

Which do you prefer / hate? How would you prefer to be introduced to a new game?

Well, I prefer to be in the middle of crisis directly. For example, the hero walk across a forest and meet a group of bandit, then the battle begin. This is where developer give some explanation to the player about basic controls.

If new player wonder what is actually going on, then he'll regret that he skipped intro scene

3. What are your expectations on Music + Title Screen?

(Please avoid the obvious answer of unique/custom and then leaving it at that).

I... don't really care about title screen because it won't last more than 2 second when I play the game, I really mean it.

But speaking about RPG maker, I'll give a score 10/10 to any non-default title screen.

Any kind of non-RTP title screen is nice. But a hint about what will be your main conflict is great. For example, a silhouette about your hero hugs a dead girl while your main conflict is about a revenge.

About the music, it should represent title screen image. For example, meadow pics with "adventure"-ish music, sillhouette pics I've told before with "sad" music, or battle pics with "progressive rock"-music. I'll just make sure that my volume isn't too loud, even if it's a metalcore song with people sreaming and growling    .

But again, I don't really care about title screen 

 

[Milennin]

It's been a while since I started a traditional RPG that isn't already part of a series that I'm familiar with that wasn't an RPG Maker game. For a commercial title I expect a short (skippable) intro video that then brings me to the main title screen with epic music playing (Golden Sun The Lost Age had a pretty cool intro to the title screen (especially that music)).

With an RPG Maker game I don't have much expectations. As long as the music isn't hurting my ears and seems to fit with whatever the game is about it's fine, even if using RTP art or a random image taken from Google.

When selecting New game in a commercial title I'm expecting a short introduction to the world, or have it start on my main character and watch some event with dialogue, introducing maybe a few side characters or secondary team members before giving me control.

I have literally no expectations when selecting New game in an RPG Maker game. Sometimes you get huge walls of text with background lore, other times you can start playing right away without knowing what you're doing. I've seen it all by now. I prefer games that keep their intro short and to the point. It's fine if you need some event to give me necessary information, but don' go overboard with it.

 

[Ekanselttar]

You have just turned on / loaded the game for the very first time. What are your expectations?

Splash screens (Skippable of course and a small intro to the world.

You've selected the option (or were forced to immediately begin) a new game. Below are some basic examples of how some games start. Which do you prefer / hate? How would you prefer to be introduced to a new game?

A scroll through the world I'm thrown in.Fallout 3 did this the best way possible.That intro still sends chills down my spine.I do prefer seeing a brief overview of my character's day-to-day life,their backstory,and some tiny bits of lore.After that,the devs can blow up the entire continent.I don't really care.

What are your expectations on Music + Title Screen? (Please avoid the obvious answer of unique/custom and then leaving it at that).

I do expect the title screen options to be well organised and not thrown into a thousand menus just to change subtitle language or speech volume.And,I'm also a huge fan of menu options displayed in the environment  (Like LA Noire.Example under spoiler tag)

Spoiler

As for the music,I prefer calm,and immersive.Like Far Cry 4's ambient music.And it serves the immersion well to make each area or region have it's own music.

That's all I can say for now.

 

[Vox Novus]

1. I'd expect a splash screen and maybe an intro video/preview video in the case of console games. Seeing things like the cover of the game or preview screenshots before hand also set certain expectations about what the game will be about. I expect the game to reflect what is shown but sometimes those things can be misleading.

2. I'd expect something that shows off an aspect of the world and contains some minor narrative to get a feel for the premise. I'm fine with a non-controllable cut-scene but it should keep wacky names and things I can't relate to yet to a minimum. Another good method is a sort of cold start where you basically are given control of the player quickly with little to no introduction; this way is best suited for starting in a tutorial dungeon and giving the player backstory and narration as they go along through the area. Scrolling text intro's should be avoided, they often scroll at a different pace from the reader's reading pace and contain info dumps that the reader won't fully grasp or might miss something. That being said I don't thing there is anything wrong with a few brief non-scrolling lines to set up the next scene or to set up a tone.

3. I have one major expectation with title screens that was created based on some commercial rm games I've seen. The art on the title screen should reflect the art I am going to see in the game. I've seen many where they have this elaborate title screen that was professionally done but then don't have the same style for their characters in game. Apart from that I want the title to show me some aspect of the game; the characters, a scene from the game, etc...I want the music to set an appropriate tone for what I can expect from the game. Don't give me a heavy rock song and have the game be about someone delivering cookies to grandma's house.

 

[bgillisp]

@Vox Novus: Rats. There goes my plans to make the game Cookie Delivery, with the title screen music sounding like a hard rock jam.

Now for the OP:

1: None. I have learned that these days it is best to go in with 0 expectations. Maybe this is due to being burned many times on the heavily hyped games or something.

2: Options 1 or 2 work well for me. I won't remember a thing if you do the long lore option, and the ever shifting viewpoint makes me dizzy keeping up with it, and then just like 3 I forget about it and move on. However, I will say this: Whichever option you pick, make sure it belongs in the game. I recently started up an RPGMaker game that has a 15 or so minute playable intro that as far as I can tell has 0 bearing on the rest of the plot. So make sure it belongs too.

3: I really don't care about the title screen, because, like some other posters above me said, it will be gone in about 5 seconds, max.

 

[Zortik]

@Cozzer

I agree with you about the lengthy lore tidbit and getting to know the characters first.

In regards to your 'at least a small introduction would be probably better..." could you expand on this point? Feel free to make up a situation / setting if it helps. I'm curious what you consider small / simple and ultimately sufficient.

 

@ksjp

This might be what you're looking for. A script for pre-title events:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/49528-pre-title-events/?hl=title

How long do you allow your logo screens to last before advancing? Assuming the player hasn't mashed enter to skip them?

I also don't particularly care for the 'credits at the beginning' approach. 

For your game openings that you mention, do you try and give a tutorial at the same time? Or do you focus on story elements exclusively before giving control to the player (even if only for a bit)?

 

@Heartbreak

You seem to be fairly flexible with how a game begins. I rarely see that when reading forums / chatting with others. Most people tend to hate having to wait for any reason before they can gain control of their players. If you don't mind, how do you (who has an appreciation for the longer intro for a well done story piece) prefer that story? Do you want to see a lot of evented movement? Do you want to see a wall of text but written very compelling? Each story may need its own element, but I'd like you to maybe pick an example for the sake of it

 

Please see my response above for the link to the pre-title script.

 

@Milennin

You do seem pretty ambivalent towards how a new game is handled for an RPG Maker title. To expand a bit then, what about tutorials/instructions? How to play the game, use a unique function, fight in a battle, etc. Do you have any thoughts to share on this?

 

@Ekans

Thanks for responding! Setting aside the big publisher titles, what do you feel is important to be shared during such an opening as you mentioned? Try to tie it back into an RPG Maker situation (you can make up a setting / situation if it helps you explain). I'm curious on what scene you would start with and how it would progress, in sequence, before control is given to the player.

 

@Vox

I'm curious as to what you expect for a title screen... Would you, in essence, prefer the equivalent of an ingame screen shot? Maybe staged to look appealing / functional for a title screen, but ultimately avoids any custom art?

Do you see any possible issues with such an approach? 

 

@bgillisp

That's a fair point about ensuring that any opening (regardless of how it's done) provides some level of foundation for the story / gameplay mechanics.

 

[Shaz]

I've moved this thread to General Discussion (this is not really about a game mechanic). Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

 

[Cozzer]

Hmm... I'd say it's a "put your best foot forward" sort of thing. You have to know what the best characteristic of your game is, and throw that at your player. Are you good at writing nuanced characters and witty dialogue? Start with a scene where two major characters are disagreeing about something. Did you create a beautiful and interesting world? Start by focusing on an interesting place and its quirks. Did you create a very interesting battle system? Throw your player into a battle.

 

[ArcaneEli]

1. The game begins nearly immediately with no background or less than a few paragraphs of narrative. You are now able to explore for the next story point / whatever. (This would be an example of giving the reigns to the player in the hopes that they can 'figure it out' and will explore a bit until a Story Event / MacGuffin occurs).

*** I like this idea sometimes, but only if there is a clear goal like soldier A telling the player the trailer they've been hunting for 8weeks finally stopped are we ready to rob them?

1. The game goes right to the main character. You get to see them go through some daily / scripted event that sheds a small amount of insight on the characters and spoon feeds what they need to do next to get the story going. (IE: Player is in school, the bell rings and as everyone leaves your best friend chats with you about [x] then reminds you that you have to see the counselor before going home today).

*** This is my favorite way to start

1. Long background of scripted events that tell of a history/lore point, possibly focuses on the major players in the story (characters / enemy / King MacGuffin). It could also focus on the past of the main character(s). This would take up several minutes (approximately) before carefully placing the character in a setting with an immediate followup of one of the above two options (giving the player free reign, or doing a short additional snippet to tell them where to go.)

*** Mostly don't like this one cause I'm gonna forget that the town of Figureaux was in war with Totsellias and the king of Mo hired a slew of armies to kill them when a magically dragon appeared to protected Figureaux cause mages in Solosis were scared that Mo's armies might destroy Figureaux and the souce of all magic, and the dragon named No'Bakura turend on the mages of Solosis and ravaged the world. 2.5k years later in the small town of Figureaux-Totsellias the son of Mr. Goodman and Mrs Goodman was growing up just fine until the arrmies of King of Mo was revived by a Solosis mage named Kakabukaro who wishes to use the undead soldiers to get revenge against No'Bakura and accidently ran across the town of Figureaux-Totsellias and killed Mr+Mrs. Goodman leaving Main Character an orphan. (took 2-3min of continous writing for this, I guarantee you in 5minutes Ima forget EVERY name here.)

1. The every changing viewpoint. This is where the camera scrolls through a town, then a mountain area, maybe a forest, how about that evil castle, maybe a school... and so on. The intent is to showcase what's going on in the world before an ominous scene that will blow it all up, or just blowing it all up... or maybe even for no reason at all? Eventually, you'll get to the character and will usually already be in some dangerous place (or just about to be) and will take the lead on diving in.

*** I like this one if the scenes actually make sense. like seeing all characters of your future party before they join up with you and before you know who they actually are.

 

[Zortik]

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

I'm going to be using the input in this thread (and the input I've gained from other sources) to brainstorm how to begin my game. Seeing the opinions and suggestions here has helped me to refine what I should focus on as well.

To expand further on the discussion please read the following scenario and let me know how you feel about the way to execute it, and whether or not you would handle it differently.

Scenario:

Setting - Three party members are at a crossroads in a port town. One of them is determined to sneak onto a naval boat to cross the ocean and the other two think it's far too risky. They're already at the docks, and it's late. While arguing about it the one party member who wanted to go the most gets frustrated and just goes for it. The other two scramble after him and the scene continues as they deftly dodge sailors to get inside the ship and find a hiding place.

I would prefer to do the following option:

Disable the ability to skip text and event the entire scene with music / lighting / camera and event controls. This would mean I'm timing how long it will take for a slower reader to read the dialogue. However, I am able to fully control the scene outside of the wait times for the text bubble.

Alternative option:

minimize the movement / visuals of the event to allow the players to get through it quicker. Use fade in /  fade out techniques to rapidly move the players along to the more pertinent scenes of the event. This allows players to get through it much quicker.

Discussion point - 

How would you handle this setting without creating a situation where the player could break the event?

Which do you prefer?

Does it bother you when you can't skip text?

While the event I'm explaining is a situation that could occur later in a game, this could also happen just as a game is starting similar to the #2 option I provided...

The game goes right to the main character. You get to see them go through some daily / scripted event that sheds a small amount of insight on the characters and spoon feeds what they need to do next to get the story going. (IE: Player is in school, the bell rings and as everyone leaves your best friend chats with you about [x] then reminds you that you have to see the counselor before going home today).

In which the scene I described above get you into the ship, then you're given a task to accomplish once you're safe (Go steal some food! As an example)

 

[Kes]

Please note that General Discussion topics are precisely that - general, not project specific. If you want feedback on specific ideas for an individual project you have a couple of choices.

You could post in Featured Feedback, or you could start an Early Project feedback thread, if you fulfil the criteria in the pinned topic in that forum.

This forum cannot be tirnedminto an alternative venue for those types of discussion.

 

[Zortik]

@ksjp17

Yes, I know that we aren't supposed to turn these into specific project topics. However all I did was make a declaration that this topic is helpful and how I intended to use it before returning the topic back to its original point. Promise.

The setting was made up on the fly to further the discussion. A lot of people seem to prefer getting a good solid scene at the beginning of the game that tells them just enough to get going. My response is digging into the item I quoted form the original topic focusing on:

• How do you handle these scenes
• What do you prefer (I gave 2 options but welcomed alternatives)
• How you feel about dialogue that can't be skipped

 

[Kes]

Okay, I am persuaded. It can stay where it is.

 

[Cozzer]

I'm ok with unskippable text for very short portions of cutscenes, assuming that the cutscene actually needs it. If it's just two people talking without camera movements, timed music or whatever, unskippable text is just annoying, especially since I'm a pretty fast reader and slow text feels like actors taking a 2-second pause between each line (which is actually a horrible thing that happens in some voiced videogames ).

Still, I would add the option to skip the whole thing, for example by pressing ESC for a couple of seconds.