Things to do around water

[Dymdez]

This is pretty basic, but I was wondering if anyone could share some ideas for what a player could do around water. I have some spots, like a secluded lake, or a pond, and I realized I am squandering them by not having some way the player could interact. In pokemon, they added the rods to the game to fish for pokemon, that was quite smart. Are they any RPGMaker things to do around water?

 

[Warpmind]

A swimming hole could work for a bathing cutscene or something... doing laundry... sitting down to dip the feet and relax with a drink or sandwich or something...

Depending on the setting, a secluded pond could well be used for long-range communication, in the way of Codex Alera, if you've read those...

Also, there might be a naiad or two to chat with...

Plenty of possibilities, it's just a question of what fits in the setting, and what you want the player to be distracted by...

 

[imascribble]

You can implement fishing into your game using variables, I'm pretty sure

 

[Dymdez]

+1 for naiad reference, Warp, thank you

You can implement fishing into your game using variables, I'm pretty sure

Well, I have not been impressed with any iteration of fishing that I have seen evented or scripted. If you have any personal recommendations, let me know.

 

[Dragnfly]

If you're really really good at drawing or know anyone who is you can get beautiful scenic artwork to flash up when you action on the pond (or any other scenic area) kind of to say "this is how the characters see it). I always wanted to do that but my art budget is too small and I'm untrusting of freebies.

My project has a talk topic by a river where two characters discuss the merits and flaws of fishing with hand grenades vs sniper rifle, only to have the biggest fish go to the guy who swatted it out of the pond with his hand bear-style. The one with the fishing rod got nothing.

The point of this is that all of the already-mentioned options can be expanded upon even further. As said, it all depends on your setting and also on how balls-to-the-wall crazy your game gets. Maybe fish up a monster to battle? Or fish up something that couldn't possibly fit in the lake? Dive into a pond and come up somewhere else? One of the ponds just being a really elaborate painting on the ground? Filling the water canteen? Filling the water canteen and then see a body float to the surface so the character throws the canteen away with a grumble? Any manner of water or nature spirit to chat with? See a dime at the bottom and decide it's just not with it for 10 cents. Checking the pond reveals that a ghost has been crying there for centuries and that the pond used to be much smaller?

 

[Warpmind]

...Try fishing, pull out the plug, and watch the pond drain away...

 

[Dragnfly]

Or some sort of puzzle or something where draining the pond floods the rest of the area. Because game physics

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

Sunbathe.  Beach/Pool Party.

 

[Dragnfly]

Mini pirates!

 

[Dymdez]

I just added fishing lol and "sifting" near streams. I can't think of how to make my fishing eventing very interesting though.... feel free to share ideas

 

[Dragnfly]

By sifting do you mean panning for gold? Because that'd be awesome!

And if your whole party is involved in the fishing you can make the fishing conversation-based. Either like the Grandia series meal-time where characters would chat it up over a huge feast at the inn, or make the dialogue part of the actual fishing minigame like the sword fights in Monkey Island. "You fight like a dairy farmer!" "How appropriate. You fight like a cow!"

I do the Grandia dinner talk thing mixed with Ar Tonelico-style talk topics (they happen over meals or other rest periods) and if your setting allows for amusing banter then that type of "relaxing down time" is great for it. And what's more relaxing and time-killing than fishing. Hell, you've got a better setup for this than I do.

 

[Dymdez]

Well, the game is a single player ABS.

Yes, I added two water functions. 1) Sifting with a sieve when interacting with running water (like a stream) and 2) fishing at still water (pond, lake)

Currently the fishing only gives fish and the sifting gives some goodies (low percentages of rare items/valuable items) but I was wondering how I could make them more interesting than just simple time sinks. I was considering an idea of befriending some water being that can offer sage advice or help traverse water at some point...

 

[Onomotopoeia]

Presuming (hoping, really) that your ideas aren't quite finished yet, I'm wondering if all your events at the water have to necessarily be party-driven. In communities large and small, there's always the potential for extraneous characters: the random "boy with a toy boat" playing at water's edge, a brother and sister chasing a frog, an overprotective mom calling the child(ren) back for a snack, general pets and animals loitering around the scene; and so on.


It depends really how much of a culture or civilization is around the particular body of water. And also how advanced or modern-day the setting. In medieval times, the boy could merely be trying to play with a piece of driftwood; in more modern times, the toy boat could literally be a toy boat, perhaps an expensive model boat his father paid good money for....


And just take it from there.

 

[Geoff Moore]

Mini pirates!

I wish I could like posts more than once. XD

Skipping stones across the water's surface, maybe with a nice little ripple effect would be a good one. Animation in RM is annoyingly long-winded though.

 

[Dragnfly]

Bevel's Paiting over on vgperson's website (sorry I don't have the direct address handy) has a very simple yet nice water ripple. It might've even been stock.