VILLAGES, TOWNS, AND CITIES.

author=Scribble link=topic=2462.msg44428#msg44428 date=1226859965
And often (More of a case with the RPGs that follow Dragon Quest) The only buildings worth going in are the ones marked with a sword/armour/staff/inn symbol.

author=tsimehC link=topic=2462.msg46724#msg46724 date=1227543765
Best towns for me are the ones in Dragon Quest games. They offer so much and you usually spend a lot of time just randomly trying to find the next mini medal.

I think this summarizes the topic pretty nicely. It is probably a matter of taste!

I like it either way, as long as the game design is good or the writing is good or there is something good that draws me in. In the case of Dragon Quest, for example, the NPC dialogue is usually pretty clever and there is always stuff to find hidden around. In the case of Fallout, the cities are huge and dynamic and you can have a significant impact on them.

author=harmonic link=topic=2462.msg46731#msg46731 date=1227545861

author=Scribble link=topic=2462.msg44428#msg44428 date=1226859965
Towns can be absolute nightmares when they're not done right (Which is often): labyrinths full of multiple-floor houses with absolutely nothing in them but the occasional 10G and an NPC uttering a random line about her husband's drinking problem, and only a vague indication as to what area you have to step in to trigger the next 'story event.' And often (More of a case with the RPGs that follow Dragon Quest) The only buildings worth going in are the ones marked with a sword/armour/staff/inn symbol.

I think you're a bit too picky. The above described RPG town is the only way to make several RPG towns in one game without losing your sanity. You have to take into account the patience and work ethic of the game creator, and making all these towns "living, breathing" towns is a monstrous undertaking, but hey, go for it. I think if the game had only ONE town, that living breathing option would be more viable.

Or you could actually work less in dungeons and more in towns (which to me have far more interesting elements to work with, including battles and puzzles if the creator wants). To my liking, dungeons should be really short, mission oriented and eventful, towns should be big, more open anded and fill about 70% of the game :P

author=harmonic link=topic=2462.msg46731#msg46731 date=1227545861

author=Scribble link=topic=2462.msg44428#msg44428 date=1226859965
Towns can be absolute nightmares when they're not done right (Which is often): labyrinths full of multiple-floor houses with absolutely nothing in them but the occasional 10G and an NPC uttering a random line about her husband's drinking problem, and only a vague indication as to what area you have to step in to trigger the next 'story event.' And often (More of a case with the RPGs that follow Dragon Quest) The only buildings worth going in are the ones marked with a sword/armour/staff/inn symbol.

I think you're a bit too picky. The above described RPG town is the only way to make several RPG towns in one game without losing your sanity. You have to take into account the patience and work ethic of the game creator, and making all these towns "living, breathing" towns is a monstrous undertaking, but hey, go for it. I think if the game had only ONE town, that living breathing option would be more viable.

THIS IS ME.

I came up with a strange idea not too long ago where the game is set in a town where everyone (the town NPCS) are turned into stone. The town is crawling with monsters since the guards are also turned into stone. You basically had to collect items called Un-Petrification Water, for each Water you had, you could take away the stone effect from one NPC. You can find the Water in a cave (a dungeon) to the north or in hidden spots of the town.

The interesting part about this design, is that if you revive say... the Inn keeper, you can rest in the inn. If you revive a guard, there will be less monsters running around, if you revive a shopkeeper, he'll open shop. etc. As you revive each NPC more and more, the town becomes brighter and the music changes overtime from a dreary atmospheric place, to an upbeat happy populated area.

I'm not sure if this was EVER done before, but this is something I came up with. I could never really get into making this idea into a project, because I couldn't make a cool story behind this idea to keep me interested. I probably could put this into full swing if I really tried, but I already have a project that needs to be completed before anything else. If anyone wants to steal this idea, feel free.

Of course this is over the top when it comes to making towns interesting. I'd just like to see towns that aren't set in really common places. I liked Chrono Cross for being started in a really small beach town that was really vibrant. I also remember an RPG Maker game where the home town was a BOAT. A town in the middle of a field or a forest is just boring, changing the setting can make it 10 times more interesting.

Towns are for sleeping and mysteriously just-a-tad-bit-better equipment... nothing more, unless there are mini medals.

author=Darken link=topic=2462.msg68486#msg68486 date=1238337432
I came up with a strange idea not too long ago where the game is set in a town where everyone (the town NPCS) are turned into stone. The town is crawling with monsters since the guards are also turned into stone. You basically had to collect items called Un-Petrification Water, for each Water you had, you could take away the stone effect from one NPC. You can find the Water in a cave (a dungeon) to the north or in hidden spots of the town.

The interesting part about this design, is that if you revive say... the Inn keeper, you can rest in the inn. If you revive a guard, there will be less monsters running around, if you revive a shopkeeper, he'll open shop. etc. As you revive each NPC more and more, the town becomes brighter and the music changes overtime from a dreary atmospheric place, to an upbeat happy populated area.

I'm not sure if this was EVER done before, but this is something I came up with. I could never really get into making this idea into a project, because I couldn't make a cool story behind this idea to keep me interested. I probably could put this into full swing if I really tried, but I already have a project that needs to be completed before anything else. If anyone wants to steal this idea, feel free.

Of course this is over the top when it comes to making towns interesting. I'd just like to see towns that aren't set in really common places. I liked Chrono Cross for being started in a really small beach town that was really vibrant. I also remember an RPG Maker game where the home town was a BOAT. A town in the middle of a field or a forest is just boring, changing the setting can make it 10 times more interesting.

this sounds a bit like that... uuuh, top-down action/rpg where you hack n' slash your way through a dreamworld in order to... recreate the town (and npcs). I don't remember much of it, much less it's name, but it was pretty damn brilliant. One instance, your character didn't have any name or character of sorts, but when you got back the lonely lady (or whatever), she "took you in" and treated you as her child (apart from healing/resting, it didn't have any gameplay relevance if I remember correctly, just some nice character interaction or whatever)

ALSO I like my sewers if they're done correctly and not just tedious. Not that I ever achieved this myself.

I have made living breathing towns so good that I get stuck in them myself with everything good. people have their own schedules, there are quests, witty banter, insight and so on.

Too bad no one cares. I have learned towns are get in, get out.

author=Eike link=topic=2462.msg70575#msg70575 date=1239662535
Also, Mr.Nemo, that game sounds fairly interesting. It sounds like it might be... Alundra? But, I never got too far in that, so I couldn't confirm it.

SOUL BLAZER

bahleted