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WOULD THIS IDEA BE BETTER AS A LINEAR OR NON-LINEAR EXPERIENCE?
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UPRC
5516
UPRC
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CloseThought about making a blog post out of this, but I suspect I'll get better/more replies in this forum so here I go.
The project I'm currently working on is a valkyrie game. I'm trying to distance it from others such as Valkyrie Profile, and it's taking a bit of thinking to accomplish this. The overall tone of the game is pretty lighthearted and a few other things set mine apart from others, but there's one specific thing I'm debating how to handle.
Now, I've structured the story in a way that it could be really non-linear or as linear as most RPGs are. New party members are all Einherjar that the main hero gathers, which is pretty similar to Valkyrie Profile, but here's the thing... VP uses a very non-linear approach to its gameplay and various characters can be recruited at different times and such. My original idea was to go with this, but I could also go with a plot driven story where the valkyrie heroine has to venture around the world to specific dungeons or towns to progress the story and Einherjar could be found at these locations.
I'm trying to decide which approach to take. Which one sounds better?
1. Non-Linear: Main story takes a back seat as exploration is encouraged. Go anywhere you want whenever you want. Find Einherjar in various locations and recruit them in any order and at any time. The recruiting of Einherjar would be completely optional and some characters could very well be missable.
2. Linear: Experience is heavily plot driven. Player can still venture anywhere right away, but must go to locations in a specific order to progress the story and obtain Einherjar. The recruiting of Einherjar would be storyline events. No characters would be missed except one or two who would be completely optional.
The project I'm currently working on is a valkyrie game. I'm trying to distance it from others such as Valkyrie Profile, and it's taking a bit of thinking to accomplish this. The overall tone of the game is pretty lighthearted and a few other things set mine apart from others, but there's one specific thing I'm debating how to handle.
Now, I've structured the story in a way that it could be really non-linear or as linear as most RPGs are. New party members are all Einherjar that the main hero gathers, which is pretty similar to Valkyrie Profile, but here's the thing... VP uses a very non-linear approach to its gameplay and various characters can be recruited at different times and such. My original idea was to go with this, but I could also go with a plot driven story where the valkyrie heroine has to venture around the world to specific dungeons or towns to progress the story and Einherjar could be found at these locations.
I'm trying to decide which approach to take. Which one sounds better?
1. Non-Linear: Main story takes a back seat as exploration is encouraged. Go anywhere you want whenever you want. Find Einherjar in various locations and recruit them in any order and at any time. The recruiting of Einherjar would be completely optional and some characters could very well be missable.
2. Linear: Experience is heavily plot driven. Player can still venture anywhere right away, but must go to locations in a specific order to progress the story and obtain Einherjar. The recruiting of Einherjar would be storyline events. No characters would be missed except one or two who would be completely optional.
Hoddmimir
200
I tend to like more non-linear games but for this one it seems to me that it would be better if it was a solid mix. Final Fantasy 8 also comes to mind for me a bit because you can collect almost all of the summons optionally, so you can miss tons, and can roam large parts of the world in any order you like but to progress the story you have to go to the right place. I suppose that is true of a lot of Final Fantasy games though. I liked it that way a lot. SO personally I prefer a mix of your two options.
Option 2, Experience is heavily plot driven. Player can still venture anywhere right away, but must go to locations in a specific order to progress the story.
With...
Option 1, Find Einherjar in various locations and recruit them in any order and at any time. The recruiting of Einherjar would be completely optional and some characters could very well be missable.
Option 2, Experience is heavily plot driven. Player can still venture anywhere right away, but must go to locations in a specific order to progress the story.
With...
Option 1, Find Einherjar in various locations and recruit them in any order and at any time. The recruiting of Einherjar would be completely optional and some characters could very well be missable.
I would also say a good mix is the best : probably not that easy to pull off well though, what's linear and how much, same thing for what's non-linear.
Dyhalto
7536
Neither idea overly excites me. The linear aspect feels more FF4-style while the non-linear feels like a VP fangame.
If you feel ambitious, you should try a non-linear sandbox which affects the linear aspects of the storyline.
An example : If the Valkyrie had a choice between a dungeon and a castle (totally separate and unrelated places) and she chose the dungeon, she could thwart the dungeon bad guy while the castle bad guy is able to step up his evil plot a notch.
If you feel ambitious, you should try a non-linear sandbox which affects the linear aspects of the storyline.
An example : If the Valkyrie had a choice between a dungeon and a castle (totally separate and unrelated places) and she chose the dungeon, she could thwart the dungeon bad guy while the castle bad guy is able to step up his evil plot a notch.
Hoddmimir
200
author=Dyhalto
Neither idea overly excites me. The linear aspect feels more FF4-style while the non-linear feels like a VP fangame.
If you feel ambitious, you should try a non-linear sandbox which affects the linear aspects of the storyline.
An example : If the Valkyrie had a choice between a dungeon and a castle (totally separate and unrelated places) and she chose the dungeon, she could thwart the dungeon bad guy while the castle bad guy is able to step up his evil plot a notch.
I like that idea a lot. :)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Both ideas are perfectly reasonable, and nothing you've said about your game seems particularly suited to either one (though this is mostly because you've said very little about the game). More info about the game might shed further insight?
If you prefer one style over the other, you almost certainly want to do the one you would prefer playing, since you'll make a more fun game that way. Otherwise, if you think the game seems better suited to one or the other, you probably want to do that one.
If you prefer one style over the other, you almost certainly want to do the one you would prefer playing, since you'll make a more fun game that way. Otherwise, if you think the game seems better suited to one or the other, you probably want to do that one.
UPRC
5516
Alright, so I've got it figured out.
World map is completely open at the start, so the player can go anywhere they want. However, they will be given directions/instructions in Asgard every now and then to tell them what to do next. There will be plenty of optional locations to explore, which will provide lots of optional characters and such as well.
So a linear plot in a non-linear world. I guess that would be something like Elder Scrolls games in terms of how the story progresses.
World map is completely open at the start, so the player can go anywhere they want. However, they will be given directions/instructions in Asgard every now and then to tell them what to do next. There will be plenty of optional locations to explore, which will provide lots of optional characters and such as well.
So a linear plot in a non-linear world. I guess that would be something like Elder Scrolls games in terms of how the story progresses.
Good sandbox games show you the cool things without bluntly saying... this is cool go there. Instead they say... deliver this package to a town far from here or come with me to X or Y.
That way people can still do as they wish, but they're told what to do.
That way people can still do as they wish, but they're told what to do.
I also advise a mix in this case. Exploration is very important, but I also find that if there isn't any real direction in an RPG, players tend to lose interest. I'd have the story triggered by plot points which the player can trigger when they are ready, as others have said. This provides ample opportunity for side quests, and still allows the player to just play through the game as one normally would, skipping extras.
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