We design the game! Part 2: It's an RPG!

[Ynna]

So, turns out a lot of people wanted to make an Role-Playing Game. Over 40% of the votes went to that genre.
However, RPG's are every type of game that is specifically designed to let you play a role and where the outcome is (partially) decided by background rolls.

From Final Fantasy to Dungeons and Dragons. From Skyrim to Kingdom Hearts. From World of Warcraft to The Witcher, they are all RPG's.

So in this round we'll narrow it down. What kind of RPG are we designing? Each of them has advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons good parts and bad parts.

We will discuss this until Sunday, when we'll be voting again.

Note 1: Please keep your suggestion limited to a couple of words (so it fits in the poll) and bold them, so I and others can see it easily. You are of course free to explain what you mean by those few words in length.

Note 2: We're not choosing the online capabilities of our hypothetical game at this step.

Note 3: We're also not choosing a setting yet. You can use setting to explain your suggestion, but it's not part of this step.

Have at it!

The first thread can be found here.

[Adam Jensen]

Open world (like Skyrim) and storyline/character driven (like Dragon Age or Mass Effect)

[Yuanrang]

RPG that initially progress through a linear storyline (with multiple choices) that, at some point, ends up in an open world setting.

[Larynx]

>Open World
>3rd Person Perspective
>Real-time Action Combat
>Single Linear Storyline

[Ynna]

I'd personally like to see a Third Person Action RPG (TPARPG).
Action RPGs give room for a lot of different playstyles within the same game, which should broaden the appeal and make the game in general more fun. It also allows for choices through gameplay, which is something very few games do right.
It also allows for a more skill-based system, where the background rolls don't mean as much, which is what I personally like. I hate having to grind a couple of levels just to continue the (a) story.

I picked Third Person because I want the player to see his/her character. I want him/her to pick a distinct visual style for their character, because I believe this enhances the actual "role-playing'' throughout the experience. A character with simple leather garments will play and choose a lot different from a character in pitchblack skull-based plate armor.

Third Person Perspective also shows off animation (which is cool) and makes it easier to see telegraphed attacks, which once again, allows for more skill-based combat.

RPG that initially progress through a linear storyline (with multiple choices) that, at some point, ends up in an open world setting.

>Open World
>3rd Person Perspective
>Real-time Action Combat
>Single Linear Storyline

I don't want to be annoying, but I don't see how I'm going to fit that on the poll line

Finally, a question to other people: Do you see Open World, Linearity and such as part of a (sub-)genre, part of gameplay or part of the setting?

[Larynx]

I'd say gameplay.

[Poppincaps]

I'd say it's a genre in and of itself... The experience is unique to traditional RPGs. Anyways as I said before Open World with DA:O level of characters.

[saberon]

Finally, a question to other people: Do you see Open World, Linearity and such as part of a (sub-)genre, part of gameplay or part of the setting?

I'd say as part of gameplay. Open world can be applied to just about anything (NFS, GTA, Skyrim) so it's hard to really define it as a genre. Yet it is also more than merely a setting - it's how the game is played. So definitely part of gameplay.


As for my suggestion, Event-driven Open World

Event-driven - By this I mean that the "story" of the game (and the gameplay, to a degree) revolves around Events that a) Only last a certain amount of time, and b) Are progressive. For example, the "gathering" event (think AQ of Vanilla) lasts X days. At the end of that time period, you transition to the "battle" event which is modified depending on the actions taken in the "gathering" event. If you pissed off your allies during the "gathering" event, maybe they decide to join your enemies during the "battle" event, or vice-versa. The next event may be "rebuilding" - the extent/design of which may vary depending on what took place in the "battle" stage. It is a persistant world (it does not reset after/between each event). Furthermore, whilst the main aspect may revolve around various events, that does not mean you cant go off and do your own thing - you can! However, the events allow for the entire playerbase to work together to build something unique to them - If it was a multi-server game, each server would, after multiple events, have differing relationships with various factions, different cities, different "cultures". Each server would be its own unique world as created and driven by its playerbase.


Edit: May I also suggest that you a) Link this thread to the previous "Design" thread, and b) create a Meta-thread that links to each individual Part of the "design". That way, people can save just one thread and look through the various aspects of each part.

[vazar_da_priest]

-NO coookie cutter skills/talent/spell builds
-upgradable or customizable armor.

[Skelington]

Open world (like Skyrim)

That didn't take long.



Linear storyline
Few sidequests
No huge-o open world
Turn-based combat

[tehealadin]

Open world, exploration initially staggered, opens up as story progresses.
Player choice influences plot.
Diverse class system

[Deleted]

Day-and-Night cycles that are done well.

Harsh moral decisions, ala Deus Ex Human Revolution or Witcher 2.

A sense of scale even if the game isn't "big". For example, Skyrim is enormous but Imo it doesn't fell big as there is so little people there. If you look at Zelda or Assassin's Creed the cities there are crammed with people, people whom you don't really can interact with but do you need to interact with everyone? Do you talk to everyone you see on the street?

Big battles if there are any. Not the Oblivion gate finale in Oblivion... wow that was disappointing.

Good mature story with problems that players can relate to. We can't relate to a dragon destroying the world, therefore the emotional investment will be less than if it is about racism vs freedom as an example (the Nords vs Imperials line in Skyrim is vastly superior to the main line due to this) or remaining human or going beyond it (Human Revolution, the story is sooooo goooood).

Action based, realistic combat. You shouldn't be able to take on an army alone, every enemy should be dangerous and you should have to use your skills to the max to kill them. Magic is ok but imo magic should be about deception and illusion or simple things like setting your sword on fire or similar.

And maybe even horror elements. I am one of those who love Amnesia immensly and I'd like to see the same atmospheric stuff in other games. Doesn't have to be horror, but sound design is often lacking in RPGs and Amnesia got that right. Just listening to that game puts you on edge, more genres should be able to achieve that.

[Ynna]

DA:O level of characters.

What does this mean?

Snip

That's a cool write-up, and be sure to remember at the time we're going into the entire thing deeper. As for now, we're looking into what sub-genre of RPG we want.

[Deleted]

That's a cool write-up, and be sure to remember at the time we're going into the entire thing deeper. As for now, we're looking into what sub-genre of RPG we want.

Oooh, sorry, I have this bad tendency of reading the thread's name and going like "I'm gonna write some cool stuff!" and it doesn't always turn out so well.

Genre then: Action based, Dark Souls inspired, horror-tinted, slightly open world, story based, mature and epic ala DE:HR and TW2 RPG. Without the bad combat from TW2.

[Tragedia]

Open world RPG with a Main Storyline. Not linear though. No multiple endings either. All path's lead to the same place, the only thing that changes is how yo get there. Also multiple short storylines scattered around so that you can do them when you are bored. Some hidden while some are given as quests by people. Also includes companions because you can't take out a Dragon/Demon King/Old God/Alien Deity alone.

---------- Post added 2012-06-01 at 08:56 PM ----------

Day-and-Night cycles that are done well.

Harsh moral decisions, ala Deus Ex Human Revolution or Witcher 2.


Good mature story with problems that players can relate to. We can't relate to a dragon destroying the world, therefore the emotional investment will be less than if it is about racism vs freedom as an example (the Nords vs Imperials line in Skyrim is vastly superior to the main line due to this) or remaining human or going beyond it (Human Revolution, the story is sooooo goooood).

Also This.

[Adam Jensen]

What does this mean?



That's a cool write-up, and be sure to remember at the time we're going into the entire thing deeper. As for now, we're looking into what sub-genre of RPG we want.

I think what he means is characterization at the level they did in Dragon Age: Origins. Characters with depth and backstory and interactions with the player character (to possibly include romance)

[Yalingo]

Side scrolling isometric action rpg.

[Ynna]

Open world RPG with a Main Storyline. Not linear though. No multiple endings either. All path's lead to the same place, the only thing that changes is how yo get there. Also multiple short storylines scattered around so that you can do them when you are bored. Some hidden while some are given as quests by people. Also includes companions because you can't take out a Dragon/Demon King/Old God/Alien Deity alone.[COLOR="red"]

If you have multiple paths, but the same ending, you severely limit what you can do with those paths. We will probably discuss this at length in a future step.

I think what he means is characterization at the level they did in Dragon Age: Origins. Characters with depth and backstory and interactions with the player character (to possibly include romance)

Ah, thanks. I haven't played DA:O (yet) and I needed to know if it was some kind of specific gameplay (sub-)genre or if s/he was talking about the story/atmosphere/setting.

[icedwarrior]

Personally, I'd like a battle system similar to the Disgaea series (tile / turn based).

One thing I absolutely love about the Disgaea series is it's quirky sense of humor. The plot in Disgaea 3 is that you want to kill your father because he destroyed your gaming console. The plot in Disgaea 4 is that you're a vampire that doesn't drink blood, loves sardines, and upholds promises to the death. The silly concepts are infinitely more entertaining than saving the world from the impending doom. Oh, and amnesia. Avoid that like the plague.

Another thing I think would be great to capture is great characters, something that is in pretty much every Persona game. In Persona 4 there's Naoto who's a female, posing as a male so she can be taken seriously in her...police academy was it? The portrayal of a [i]real[/i] woman and her struggles in a "male dominated world" was a nice touch, as opposed to generic busty woman, or ridiculously macho woman . Another great character was Kanji. When you first meet him, he appears to be a typical thug, but the more you meet and understand him, he's a kind-hearted person, who turns out to be bi-sexual. Sexuality is rarely talked about in video games, let alone in an outstanding way as they did in Persona 4 .

It is imperative that in an RPG game -- or any game for that matter -- that you have a compelling story, and I feel that (well, obviously) a great story makes a good game great.

...wait, what were we supposed to be discussing? Oh yeah... my vote is for a Tile-based RPG game (or whatever the official name of it is).

[Ynna]

...wait, what were we supposed to be discussing? Oh yeah... my vote is for a Tile-based RPG game (or whatever the official name of it is).

I'm going to write that up as Turn-based Tile-based RPG.

For reference, the current list is:

• First Person Action RPG (like Skyrim)
• Third Person Action RPG
• Turn-Based RPG
• Side-Scrolling Isometric Action RPG
• Turn-Based Tile-Based RPG

If I missed something, or you want to add to another one, just post it in this thread.

Edit: May I also suggest that you a) Link this thread to the previous "Design" thread, and b) create a Meta-thread that links to each individual Part of the "design". That way, people can save just one thread and look through the various aspects of each part.

I just remembered that I didn't answer this yet. I've added a link to the previous thread. I'm not going to make a meta-thread, because I don't want to clutter the forum. I'm already glad that the mods have allowed me to make multiple threads for this, I'm not going to push it