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A TIME TRAVEL SYSTEM - TO THE PAST AND PRESENT.
Posts
Essenceblade
19
Essenceblade
View playlists
CloseWell, I've had this idea blooming in my mind and I've written it down after awhile. It's kind of like a "Past influences the future" thing. So basically in my idea I had something like this as an example:
(My idea is massive, so I've separated it into two sections so you get a full understanding of what I mean.
Simplified Version:
Elaborated Version:
So, any ideas?
(My idea is massive, so I've separated it into two sections so you get a full understanding of what I mean.
Simplified Version:
The party rests at a lodge and finds that one of their party members falls ill. The lodge owner says that the illness can only be treated by a now extinct herb.
The lodge owner says that the wizard who used to brew the potions hasn't left his house on the other side of the forest for ages.
Party seeks a wizard who died of old age recently. They have the idea to travel to the past and try and approach him in his earlier years.
They go to the past, and find the wizard in his former time (with obvious terrain and area changes).
The wizard speaks to you, and tells you that he cannot to anything because he lacks a certain flower which is thought to never exist in this region.
You head back to the present and let's say, you head to the "Far East" and locate that specific flower. This region wasn't even heard of in the past era.
You travel back to the past and relocate the wizard. He is baffled at how you found it, but creates it into a herb anyway.
You travel back to the present with the herb and return to the area your companion fell ill. They recover and the optional quest is complete.
This influences say things like, Bazaar goods, or the chances he offers your assistance later in the game / story or a mini quest is flagged.
That, is a crude example of it but it is a base explanation.
Now for storyline terms, I have taken this idea into further use and used it as a necessary part of the story. Whereas you go to the past by accident due to an enemy casting a spell on you. You are separated from your party and you find yourself in an area you re-know well. But this time it is differently coloured, the monsters associated there are vastly more powerful. You find that the terrain (as rocks and caverns, which were blocked or removed in the present,) is now drastically changed and you have more access to the area. The music is also different and the atmosphere is just totally different.
Now I'm thinking of making this a mid to low priority, and rather I see it as a "mini expansion" for quests and missions. It only appears as a essential part of the game a few times., and after that the player can freely explore between eras whereas they please.
The lodge owner says that the wizard who used to brew the potions hasn't left his house on the other side of the forest for ages.
Party seeks a wizard who died of old age recently. They have the idea to travel to the past and try and approach him in his earlier years.
They go to the past, and find the wizard in his former time (with obvious terrain and area changes).
The wizard speaks to you, and tells you that he cannot to anything because he lacks a certain flower which is thought to never exist in this region.
You head back to the present and let's say, you head to the "Far East" and locate that specific flower. This region wasn't even heard of in the past era.
You travel back to the past and relocate the wizard. He is baffled at how you found it, but creates it into a herb anyway.
You travel back to the present with the herb and return to the area your companion fell ill. They recover and the optional quest is complete.
This influences say things like, Bazaar goods, or the chances he offers your assistance later in the game / story or a mini quest is flagged.
That, is a crude example of it but it is a base explanation.
Now for storyline terms, I have taken this idea into further use and used it as a necessary part of the story. Whereas you go to the past by accident due to an enemy casting a spell on you. You are separated from your party and you find yourself in an area you re-know well. But this time it is differently coloured, the monsters associated there are vastly more powerful. You find that the terrain (as rocks and caverns, which were blocked or removed in the present,) is now drastically changed and you have more access to the area. The music is also different and the atmosphere is just totally different.
Now I'm thinking of making this a mid to low priority, and rather I see it as a "mini expansion" for quests and missions. It only appears as a essential part of the game a few times., and after that the player can freely explore between eras whereas they please.
Elaborated Version:
My idea was about the civil war and the discovery and struggle of a resistance. This is purely optional, but if complete, you uncover something say, valuable, and a worthwhile piece of information. Further exploration in the past allows you to access more areas which you could normally access in the present.
My idea of a past is several years ago, 30 years ago, was my idea, and time travel is rather more limited, where you must walk up to, say a "Maw Rift" which sucks you in by accident. You are put into the past of that area, and you can only access the present by re-approaching that Maw Rift. So for now, only that area alone you have access to.
To access other areas you need to explore more areas by walking to them manually forsay. And within those areas you need to locate a Maw Rift in those specific areas. Activating rifts in the past allows them to flow in the present, allowing you to access the past area of that specific location once activated from the past.
Areas such as towns and cities for example, play a major role in the storyline of the past. As you find out there is about to be a war between civilization and monster. I plan on it being set into the Medieval Era, so there are swords and shields ect. You have the option to join forces of a specific nation. (Which I would call a campaign battle for example.)
I also plan on making classes unlocked exclusively for accessing the past. Locating a city say, is a rough journey, but worth it, allowing you to trigger quests in that city. Some of those quests require you to travel outside the city again, but you are able to teleport to areas you've activated by speaking to Allied Reunion Sappers at outposts in specific areas. The outposts serve as strongholds while monsters--or beasts, rather--try to take over them. Battles take place there and you try and fend them off, this is how you do your part as an Allied Campaign Soldier for example.
My idea of a past is several years ago, 30 years ago, was my idea, and time travel is rather more limited, where you must walk up to, say a "Maw Rift" which sucks you in by accident. You are put into the past of that area, and you can only access the present by re-approaching that Maw Rift. So for now, only that area alone you have access to.
To access other areas you need to explore more areas by walking to them manually forsay. And within those areas you need to locate a Maw Rift in those specific areas. Activating rifts in the past allows them to flow in the present, allowing you to access the past area of that specific location once activated from the past.
Areas such as towns and cities for example, play a major role in the storyline of the past. As you find out there is about to be a war between civilization and monster. I plan on it being set into the Medieval Era, so there are swords and shields ect. You have the option to join forces of a specific nation. (Which I would call a campaign battle for example.)
I also plan on making classes unlocked exclusively for accessing the past. Locating a city say, is a rough journey, but worth it, allowing you to trigger quests in that city. Some of those quests require you to travel outside the city again, but you are able to teleport to areas you've activated by speaking to Allied Reunion Sappers at outposts in specific areas. The outposts serve as strongholds while monsters--or beasts, rather--try to take over them. Battles take place there and you try and fend them off, this is how you do your part as an Allied Campaign Soldier for example.
So, any ideas?
Avee
5794
You have to do some extra proof-reading and reflection when including time travel in your storyline.
Here you'd have to explain how can the wizard know about this flower if it never existed in his region and the "far east" has never been heard of. And then how can the people of the present know about this wizard being able to craft this specific potion if the wizard himself never had it in his possession.
These potential inconsistencies may be avoided by having the people of the present know only about the wizard's ability to craft wondrous healing potions (and not about the plant), and then having the wizard's stock of that plant simply exhausted.
It might also be more interesting to bring lots of plants to the wizard so he can harvest them. This could turn a previously barren field into a plantation in the present, and maybe even expand the wizard's life span so that he's now still alive in the present and can offer further assistance.
It's best to have a maximum of such changes in games about time travel.
This simplified version sounds similar to Chrono Trigger, while the elaborated version sounds more or less similar to Tales of Phantasia (I haven't played Radiant Historia yet so I can't name any similarity with that one).
Here you'd have to explain how can the wizard know about this flower if it never existed in his region and the "far east" has never been heard of. And then how can the people of the present know about this wizard being able to craft this specific potion if the wizard himself never had it in his possession.
These potential inconsistencies may be avoided by having the people of the present know only about the wizard's ability to craft wondrous healing potions (and not about the plant), and then having the wizard's stock of that plant simply exhausted.
It might also be more interesting to bring lots of plants to the wizard so he can harvest them. This could turn a previously barren field into a plantation in the present, and maybe even expand the wizard's life span so that he's now still alive in the present and can offer further assistance.
It's best to have a maximum of such changes in games about time travel.
This simplified version sounds similar to Chrono Trigger, while the elaborated version sounds more or less similar to Tales of Phantasia (I haven't played Radiant Historia yet so I can't name any similarity with that one).
Make a tree graph to help you track, if you haven't already.
For each branch, I'd link to some logistics notes.
It's very easy to lose track of details and produce plotholes.
I'm not doing time travel, but I have well over 200 characters in my game already, so I got all these relationship trees and word docs with all their backstories/motivations. Even an excel chart with a timeline of where they are at any given point in the game.
It sounds like fleshing out each 'time influence' separately might help you most. Putting together a structure early for your ideas goes a long way. Especially if what you're doing is complex.
For each branch, I'd link to some logistics notes.
It's very easy to lose track of details and produce plotholes.
I'm not doing time travel, but I have well over 200 characters in my game already, so I got all these relationship trees and word docs with all their backstories/motivations. Even an excel chart with a timeline of where they are at any given point in the game.
It sounds like fleshing out each 'time influence' separately might help you most. Putting together a structure early for your ideas goes a long way. Especially if what you're doing is complex.
Essenceblade
19
author=Sauce
Make a tree graph to help you track, if you haven't already.
For each branch, I'd link to some logistics notes.
It's very easy to lose track of details and produce plotholes.
I'm not doing time travel, but I have well over 200 characters in my game already, so I got all these relationship trees and word docs with all their backstories/motivations. Even an excel chart with a timeline of where they are at any given point in the game.
It sounds like fleshing out each 'time influence' separately might help you most. Putting together a structure early for your ideas goes a long way. Especially if what you're doing is complex.
Haha, this is what I was already doing, it is rather complex so I knew from the start that I needed to keep track of characters / data / events ect. I know exactly when I'm going to drop the idea of time travel into my game, and I know exactly how I'll execute it, as well as the balance between past / present with NPCs, areas and the like. And thanks to my already in progress graph chart and notebook, I can easily relate back to any past notes if I get stuck.
Overload
0
Perhaps you can get some ideas from the ds game, Radiant Historia? It also dealt with time travel (through the use of a book, I think) where the main character tries to prevent an oncoming disaster. The second game I've played that had time traveling since chrono trigger..
Well the first thing is to create plotholes. Everyone loves time travel inconsistencies but only if they can form many theories on their own as to why the plot hole exist and is invalid but most likely valid. That is to say, truth that might be lies and lies that might be truths.
The 2nd thing to watch out for is backtracking. Not just the length or the rate but also the route. Elegia Eternum (a NWN mod) had close to the exact premise as far as wizardry goes and it was often criticized for long backtracks because players' patience tend to be slim and fickle when moving through dimensions. They want quick and fast but they also see quick and fast as "predictable" so they want long and slow tunnels of discovery but then they hate the slimmest portal hopping. Drop someone into a wrong interval and they'd likely drop out unless they really love your game/RPG maker games.
The 3rd aspect is longing. Chrono Trigger (to me) was a bad JRPG but what captured many people's hearts was that in replacement for a direct melodrama about friends and family lost, Chrono had well designed areas that were keys to times that went and go. In each sequence characters should not be too alone but they shouldn't be allowed to have more than 5 scenes without feeling bleak even if you are making a cheery movie. Think Wall-E.
The 2nd thing to watch out for is backtracking. Not just the length or the rate but also the route. Elegia Eternum (a NWN mod) had close to the exact premise as far as wizardry goes and it was often criticized for long backtracks because players' patience tend to be slim and fickle when moving through dimensions. They want quick and fast but they also see quick and fast as "predictable" so they want long and slow tunnels of discovery but then they hate the slimmest portal hopping. Drop someone into a wrong interval and they'd likely drop out unless they really love your game/RPG maker games.
The 3rd aspect is longing. Chrono Trigger (to me) was a bad JRPG but what captured many people's hearts was that in replacement for a direct melodrama about friends and family lost, Chrono had well designed areas that were keys to times that went and go. In each sequence characters should not be too alone but they shouldn't be allowed to have more than 5 scenes without feeling bleak even if you are making a cheery movie. Think Wall-E.
Give me a game who you think is consistent and has no plotholes and if I played it, I'll point out to you where the inconsistencies and plotholes lie. I can't guarantee you will admit to it but it's there.
Everybody hates to admit this fact but everyone knows Lost, Inception, etc. movies hook you in with nonsense and plotholes and then after the movie - only then do you fill that gap.
It's why Hollywood movies sell more than documentaries. It's ingrained in our DNA.
Even the very design of time travel is inconsistent and is a plot hole as it is generally implemented in videogames especially the more you try to fit your narrative into it.
Even if you give leeway to fantasy, many time travel stories forget about paradoxes and conundrums that are textbook aspects of the concept. Some even are so inconsistent at this that you might as well replace time travel with alternate dimensions and few of your players will pick up on it until you spell it out.
Everybody hates to admit this fact but everyone knows Lost, Inception, etc. movies hook you in with nonsense and plotholes and then after the movie - only then do you fill that gap.
It's why Hollywood movies sell more than documentaries. It's ingrained in our DNA.
Even the very design of time travel is inconsistent and is a plot hole as it is generally implemented in videogames especially the more you try to fit your narrative into it.
Even if you give leeway to fantasy, many time travel stories forget about paradoxes and conundrums that are textbook aspects of the concept. Some even are so inconsistent at this that you might as well replace time travel with alternate dimensions and few of your players will pick up on it until you spell it out.
I didn't say there are no plotholes in great games.
I said that people don't generally like the plotholes. Those are flaws, not strengths. You try your hardest to limit them.
There's a big difference between keeping the audience in the dark about plot points versus blatant inconsistencies in plot points that the writer may have missed, which is how the term 'plot hole' is used.
Besides that, most people take on a suspension of disbelief when experiencing something as abstract and unbelieveable as time travel.
I said that people don't generally like the plotholes. Those are flaws, not strengths. You try your hardest to limit them.
There's a big difference between keeping the audience in the dark about plot points versus blatant inconsistencies in plot points that the writer may have missed, which is how the term 'plot hole' is used.
Besides that, most people take on a suspension of disbelief when experiencing something as abstract and unbelieveable as time travel.
No and generally don't like is semantics. You can easily decipher this by doing an opposite comparison.
There are areas of games with no flaws that people find flaws in.
There are games with no plot hole that people, because they over-interpret that there is a plot hole, find a plot hole and if enough people agree then it becomes official. Even when someone shows them wrong - they prefer to stay in the dark as long as there's no official announcement.
Especially for time travel, plot holes are strengths. It's a whole different thing from keeping audience in the dark.
The latter is an archaic technique that is still used today to show that the world makes sense even if it doesn't by creating a plot hole based on everything having a conclusion or what's commonly dubbed as a happy ending.
The thing with time travel though is that you know already what will happen. What you don't know is how it happened so how do you create a mystery for this? You create plot holes. You create flaws that serve to increase the doubt and curiosity of the player.
Take the transition from Terminator to Terminator 2. Why was Terminator 2 more remembered? Because it accentuated the flaws instead of the strengths of time travel.
Now take Terminator 2 to Terminator 3. Why did people hate T3 more even if it had the same amount of action and nonsense? Why did people see a plot hole in T3 whose ending is actually more logical than T2? Because people love flaws especially in time travel stories. Flaws make them feel like things aren't predetermined. Flaws and inconsistencies make them feel like maybe history just failed to rebuild the accurate events and that the game introduce them to the "actual events".
Of course that's not the only reason but the catch 22 is that the flaws accentuate the strengths. The strengths accentuate the flaws.
Think of it like this. Time travel is full of plot inconsistencies to begin with. The more you stick to limiting this, the more you're telling your audience to pay attention to the mechanics of the time travel rather than the dynamics of the story. Result? Someone is bound to say this is not good enough. Others are bound to say they enjoyed it if it's a decent game but they all look too much into the time travel rather than how time travel allowed them to get the perspective.
On the opposite hand look at Chrono Trigger who just threw you in or look at Memento who simply reverses the events and look at many of the many paradoxes that people often cite like grandfather paradoxes...what do they all have in common in terms of popular and oft spoken citations? They have plot holes and inconsistencies. Yes the ending is still a twist but that's the only consistent part. The road is often confusing because you're meant to be confused, not impressed that someone finally made an accurate theory of time travel. The result? People who don't look for the technicality, praise and forgive the flaws and are in awe of the basic themes and find them deep because of all the confusion and doubts you set in their minds. People who look for the technicality praise the developer even more if they work on limiting the flaws in the time travel while increasing the plot holes in the overall story because they don't care for the story. They are looking for holes but they are looking at it through encyclopedic glasses so the less you touch up on the time travel and the more you direct them to the idea that it's the story that's full of holes, the more they ignore what's wrong with the time travel aspect.
There are areas of games with no flaws that people find flaws in.
There are games with no plot hole that people, because they over-interpret that there is a plot hole, find a plot hole and if enough people agree then it becomes official. Even when someone shows them wrong - they prefer to stay in the dark as long as there's no official announcement.
Especially for time travel, plot holes are strengths. It's a whole different thing from keeping audience in the dark.
The latter is an archaic technique that is still used today to show that the world makes sense even if it doesn't by creating a plot hole based on everything having a conclusion or what's commonly dubbed as a happy ending.
The thing with time travel though is that you know already what will happen. What you don't know is how it happened so how do you create a mystery for this? You create plot holes. You create flaws that serve to increase the doubt and curiosity of the player.
Take the transition from Terminator to Terminator 2. Why was Terminator 2 more remembered? Because it accentuated the flaws instead of the strengths of time travel.
Now take Terminator 2 to Terminator 3. Why did people hate T3 more even if it had the same amount of action and nonsense? Why did people see a plot hole in T3 whose ending is actually more logical than T2? Because people love flaws especially in time travel stories. Flaws make them feel like things aren't predetermined. Flaws and inconsistencies make them feel like maybe history just failed to rebuild the accurate events and that the game introduce them to the "actual events".
Of course that's not the only reason but the catch 22 is that the flaws accentuate the strengths. The strengths accentuate the flaws.
Think of it like this. Time travel is full of plot inconsistencies to begin with. The more you stick to limiting this, the more you're telling your audience to pay attention to the mechanics of the time travel rather than the dynamics of the story. Result? Someone is bound to say this is not good enough. Others are bound to say they enjoyed it if it's a decent game but they all look too much into the time travel rather than how time travel allowed them to get the perspective.
On the opposite hand look at Chrono Trigger who just threw you in or look at Memento who simply reverses the events and look at many of the many paradoxes that people often cite like grandfather paradoxes...what do they all have in common in terms of popular and oft spoken citations? They have plot holes and inconsistencies. Yes the ending is still a twist but that's the only consistent part. The road is often confusing because you're meant to be confused, not impressed that someone finally made an accurate theory of time travel. The result? People who don't look for the technicality, praise and forgive the flaws and are in awe of the basic themes and find them deep because of all the confusion and doubts you set in their minds. People who look for the technicality praise the developer even more if they work on limiting the flaws in the time travel while increasing the plot holes in the overall story because they don't care for the story. They are looking for holes but they are looking at it through encyclopedic glasses so the less you touch up on the time travel and the more you direct them to the idea that it's the story that's full of holes, the more they ignore what's wrong with the time travel aspect.
I really love Time Travel as a concept, because it embodies one of my favorite philosophical arguments, Free Will vs. Fate, either
A) Free Will exists, therefore you can change the outcomes of events via time travels
OR
B) the universe is deterministic, you can't change events by going into the past, because it already happened that way. Free will is illusion.
So long as you pick one or the other, and remain internally consistent, you should do fine. Note that it's entirely possible that the characters believe time travel to work in one way, when it actually works in the other way.
I very much recommend that anyone aspiring to write a time-travel story read up on the various articles on the subject, particularly this; http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Principles_of_Time_and_Dimensional_Travel.html
also, as an addendum to Snodgrass this; http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotHole
is what most people recognize as the definition of 'plot hole', and it is markedly different from whatever definition you seem to be using.
As far as Time Travel and any relevance to plot holes, a well-written time travel story that remains consistent in the way by which it handles time travel WILL HAVE NO PLOT HOLES. Paradox, on the other hand, IS inextricably linked to time travel because it allows one to mess around with the basic nature of cause-and-effect event progression by 'tying knots in the timeline'. HOWEVER, the existence of paradox DOES NOT make plot holes any more required or welcome, and can be resolved in a variety of of ways such that the plot remains undamaged.
A) Free Will exists, therefore you can change the outcomes of events via time travels
OR
B) the universe is deterministic, you can't change events by going into the past, because it already happened that way. Free will is illusion.
So long as you pick one or the other, and remain internally consistent, you should do fine. Note that it's entirely possible that the characters believe time travel to work in one way, when it actually works in the other way.
I very much recommend that anyone aspiring to write a time-travel story read up on the various articles on the subject, particularly this; http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Principles_of_Time_and_Dimensional_Travel.html
also, as an addendum to Snodgrass this; http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotHole
is what most people recognize as the definition of 'plot hole', and it is markedly different from whatever definition you seem to be using.
As far as Time Travel and any relevance to plot holes, a well-written time travel story that remains consistent in the way by which it handles time travel WILL HAVE NO PLOT HOLES. Paradox, on the other hand, IS inextricably linked to time travel because it allows one to mess around with the basic nature of cause-and-effect event progression by 'tying knots in the timeline'. HOWEVER, the existence of paradox DOES NOT make plot holes any more required or welcome, and can be resolved in a variety of of ways such that the plot remains undamaged.
Um, sounds like a normal time travel game to me. Radiant Historia, Dark Cloud 2, and Chrono Trigger had pretty much what you described for the simple.
Same for elaborated. Though, I love time travel, so I'm not complaining. Just don't mess up your events by leaking things that shouldn't happen because you're dealing with time. Good to hear you were thinking about that. Good luck.
Same for elaborated. Though, I love time travel, so I'm not complaining. Just don't mess up your events by leaking things that shouldn't happen because you're dealing with time. Good to hear you were thinking about that. Good luck.
Essenceblade
19
author=Gourd_Clae
Um, sounds like a normal time travel game to me. Radiant Historia, Dark Cloud 2, and Chrono Trigger had pretty much what you described for the simple.
Same for elaborated. Though, I love time travel, so I'm not complaining. Just don't mess up your events by leaking things that shouldn't happen because you're dealing with time. Good to hear you were thinking about that. Good luck.
Funny thing is, I've played neither of them. It was just a thought. See I based my time travel on a major part of my story where I could really flesh out detail and meaning of it. Within that, it contains things like interesting discoveries about a certain characters classes. This is probably how I'm going to make the characters seem to have their story elaborated on, instead of random batches of text herein and hereout throughout the story. I thought experiencing it whilst in the atmosphere or the cutscene--and by that, I mean, area--will have a greater impact on the stories emotion sway.
I never really was a particular fan of characters having a past which you find out half way through the game, and the ONLY reason you know of this is because of cut-scenes and "flash backs". I though, why not experience this first hand?
I don't quite remember Chrono Trigger and I haven't played the others but if by "certain character classes" you mean their actual classes rather than their background as characters then I think your game would be different.
There hasn't been many games, time travel or otherwise, that went into details about a character's class unless it's tied to the characters. Even games like the Valkyrie Profile series that explained the Valkyrie class for example tied it to the characters and they executed this by doing half-way/end game type of revelations even the bits where time travel-like vents occured.
There hasn't been many games, time travel or otherwise, that went into details about a character's class unless it's tied to the characters. Even games like the Valkyrie Profile series that explained the Valkyrie class for example tied it to the characters and they executed this by doing half-way/end game type of revelations even the bits where time travel-like vents occured.
I've never been enthralled with the idea of time travel. Makes too many messes. Yet, somehow, alternate dimensions have a free pass. Go figure!
Essenceblade
19
I probably should've elaborated on the term of "classes" as I meant in two ways to be definite.
What I mean by class is a characters traits discoveries within themselves and their professions in terms of their behavior. Every personality in general has a class, "Silent" personalities can often bear "Blunt" or "Ignorant" class genres. Classifying a characters personality basically allows the player to adapt and understand what exactly that character was going through, And through gameplay or cinematics, may also open branches to new types of a characters behavior. Often called a Persona change. Be it minor of overwhelming.
As you earlier stated, yes. The characters are assigned a "class" that they choose to begin with, and by default, excel in that specific class. They can change classes, but their "true" class will be what they excel in. My plan is that you view past events whether it be in their childhood or a major event coursing them to choose the path they go down. Allowing them to see how and what made them choose a certain "class". You can partake in a side quest which allows the character to unlock an exclusive ability respectively for example.
What I mean by class is a characters traits discoveries within themselves and their professions in terms of their behavior. Every personality in general has a class, "Silent" personalities can often bear "Blunt" or "Ignorant" class genres. Classifying a characters personality basically allows the player to adapt and understand what exactly that character was going through, And through gameplay or cinematics, may also open branches to new types of a characters behavior. Often called a Persona change. Be it minor of overwhelming.
As you earlier stated, yes. The characters are assigned a "class" that they choose to begin with, and by default, excel in that specific class. They can change classes, but their "true" class will be what they excel in. My plan is that you view past events whether it be in their childhood or a major event coursing them to choose the path they go down. Allowing them to see how and what made them choose a certain "class". You can partake in a side quest which allows the character to unlock an exclusive ability respectively for example.
I think the first paragraph is definitely interesting. I haven't encountered anything exactly like it. Would definitely be curious how you pull it off especially with time travel.
I think for the second paragraph, it's still rare but not as original, so for the 2nd paragraph I think my idea would be to just be careful into turning the side quests into necessities.
Sometimes sidequests harbor too powerful of items (like the most powerful item a class can get) that it destroys the logic of things especially time travel where instead of players taking that optional route for 1 or 2 characters, they totally forego the plot just so they can complete the scenes. You may even have to shift the path from the plot into those items if you really want them to be seriously treated as sidequests like if you want them to gain an item in the end, instead of choosing a branch, the item is the branch and upon gaining the item...only then do they need to complete the quest to keep the item. That way the player has a more plot justified reason from breaking off on the path.
This isn't to say you can't do it in a more traditional side quest - reward manner (it certainly hasn't stopped time travel concepts from being ranked lower in popularity) but many time travel plots tend to destroy/devalue the actual time travel because of delays mainly because the hook is that, even without an actual timer, time travel rely on the suspense that you have to keep doing the next thing so if a flashback is too long or if a time travel is delayed simply because a powerful character chooses to get his favorite items...many of the immersion gets broken.
I do emphasize that this is only important if you actually insist on valuing the time travel aspect. This is one of those designs that many gamers especially JRPG gamers tend to excuse even praise because it means lengthier games. At the same time, this is also why many JRPG flashbacks can't execute the smoothness of flashbacks like those done in Kensai: Ronin of Kyoto and Max Payne or the suspense found in shows like the early seasons of Sliders (alternate dimension show but it did include a time travel/alternate dimension episode).
I think for the second paragraph, it's still rare but not as original, so for the 2nd paragraph I think my idea would be to just be careful into turning the side quests into necessities.
Sometimes sidequests harbor too powerful of items (like the most powerful item a class can get) that it destroys the logic of things especially time travel where instead of players taking that optional route for 1 or 2 characters, they totally forego the plot just so they can complete the scenes. You may even have to shift the path from the plot into those items if you really want them to be seriously treated as sidequests like if you want them to gain an item in the end, instead of choosing a branch, the item is the branch and upon gaining the item...only then do they need to complete the quest to keep the item. That way the player has a more plot justified reason from breaking off on the path.
This isn't to say you can't do it in a more traditional side quest - reward manner (it certainly hasn't stopped time travel concepts from being ranked lower in popularity) but many time travel plots tend to destroy/devalue the actual time travel because of delays mainly because the hook is that, even without an actual timer, time travel rely on the suspense that you have to keep doing the next thing so if a flashback is too long or if a time travel is delayed simply because a powerful character chooses to get his favorite items...many of the immersion gets broken.
I do emphasize that this is only important if you actually insist on valuing the time travel aspect. This is one of those designs that many gamers especially JRPG gamers tend to excuse even praise because it means lengthier games. At the same time, this is also why many JRPG flashbacks can't execute the smoothness of flashbacks like those done in Kensai: Ronin of Kyoto and Max Payne or the suspense found in shows like the early seasons of Sliders (alternate dimension show but it did include a time travel/alternate dimension episode).
Essenceblade
19
Of course in terms of side quest logic, I wouldn't create apocalyptic abilities or items. Simply persay, a "memory" take this as an example.
A person in your party is a bard. He never told you why he chose the way of a bard until you encounter it in person when you're in the past. You find out he chooses to become a bard because of his lost love. He and his love had an argument which then spiraled into them separating ways. To his digress, he sought to make up with her, only to find his love with another. He heard them conveying the words "The song of the lovebirds." and the two were playing harps in melody. In his sorrow, he began studying the basis and soul of music and its trend.
Now up until then, he hasn't thought to resolve his past and go in the endeavor, or even how his love met with another. As the party reaches the past, they discover the above story about their party bard.
This is where a series of cut-scenes and a "jigsaw" like convey commences. Allowing the player to his or herself fit the history events of a certain character together to their custom.
Obviously with the bard seeing the full concept of what was amidst, he feels slightly at ease (whether the ending be positive, or negative still) and visits the place wherein he saw his old lover.
Amongst it he writes a song into a cave wall about the Discovering a soothing truth.
Once the party return to that same area in present time, they read the same cave wall, and the bard obtains "A soothing memory". Which allows the bard to a new ability exclusively to them.
Or you could even use that Memory and visit a special temple or something which reforges it into a special Exclusive Harp or Flute, or something.
Nothing overpowering, while something worth doing, the best way for a justified side-quest. If the player gets some worthwhile information and something out of it as a nice momentum, that is a worthwhile side-quest.
A person in your party is a bard. He never told you why he chose the way of a bard until you encounter it in person when you're in the past. You find out he chooses to become a bard because of his lost love. He and his love had an argument which then spiraled into them separating ways. To his digress, he sought to make up with her, only to find his love with another. He heard them conveying the words "The song of the lovebirds." and the two were playing harps in melody. In his sorrow, he began studying the basis and soul of music and its trend.
Now up until then, he hasn't thought to resolve his past and go in the endeavor, or even how his love met with another. As the party reaches the past, they discover the above story about their party bard.
This is where a series of cut-scenes and a "jigsaw" like convey commences. Allowing the player to his or herself fit the history events of a certain character together to their custom.
Obviously with the bard seeing the full concept of what was amidst, he feels slightly at ease (whether the ending be positive, or negative still) and visits the place wherein he saw his old lover.
Amongst it he writes a song into a cave wall about the Discovering a soothing truth.
Once the party return to that same area in present time, they read the same cave wall, and the bard obtains "A soothing memory". Which allows the bard to a new ability exclusively to them.
Or you could even use that Memory and visit a special temple or something which reforges it into a special Exclusive Harp or Flute, or something.
Nothing overpowering, while something worth doing, the best way for a justified side-quest. If the player gets some worthwhile information and something out of it as a nice momentum, that is a worthwhile side-quest.
