WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT? (GAME DEVELOPMENT EDITION)

maybe you're overthinking it

maybe you don't need a blue mage

maybe there are better questions than "how do I force this mechanic into my game"

EDIT: And I'm at the top of the page.

I'm thinking about how I'm going to integrate story and gameplay, in terms of unveiling new chunks of the game/story. Right now my idea is as follows:

-You find a new dungeon on the expansive world map
-You do a "scouting mission" that utilizes a set party, usually including a guest character that you can recruit after completing the mission or later on in the game
-The scouting mission is a small version of the dungeon, involving the same enemies/difficulty to give you a taste of them, and ends when you find the Dungeon Card
-Throughout the mission, the set-in-stone party interacts in a linear fashion in order to progress their stories
-Back at the hub city, you can spend your Edifice Points that you earn by running dungeons in order to activate the Dungeon Card, unlocking the full version of that dungeon for replayable, randomized, open-party goodness
-There are three full-party dungeons that require you to have recruited a few specific characters and afterword open up new areas on the world map, meaning that you must have at least done the scouting missions for a few previous dungeons

I don't know if that made any sense, but it's what I'm thinking about/tooling with. The game is a non-linear adventure with a linear storyline, neither of which I'm willing to sacrifice.

There is a difference between thinking and overthinking. You've been struggling with this for some time. Occasionally, the answer is simply to let go.

At the moment, I'm making a basic enemy AI for my ABS in RM2K3. Right now, the enemy detects you within a radius of 10 tiles and ceases attempting to fight you if you go far away. They also begin attacking if you're in a 1 tile radius.
Might as well implement magic attacks for them later.

Next up: Basic party member AI.

author=Ashley_Lacure
@Yellow Magic: I demand proof of disgustingness.

You're the boss. (To be fair, I didn't do much more than simple recolouring, but even that turned out awful - oh man, the first character set)

@LockeZ: I don't really see what the problem is... So what if you miss a skill or two skills? The most useful ones would be very hard to miss if you make them common enough throughout the game. Besides, if there's a special skills that the player definitively needs you can always make them learn it trough a cut-escene or an evented battle. That'd be more interesting than just getting a freebie per area.

Or how about this. Who says blue mages have to learn spells? When they can learn -from- spells. Let's say you have a default Healing spell, but it get's stronger, or more complex the more you watch monsters healing themselves. By the endgame, your healing spell should be at least competent enough, even if you aimed to hastily disable/dispose of monsters. Shouldn't it? ...Dunno, just an idea.

@Craze: That sounds amazing actually. Very well thought out. I don't have much to say, really. But what if the uncovering of the dungeon were more gradual? Let's say that after your initial discovery and scouting mission, you "own" the dungeon, but have to invest on it in order to expand it. e.g. If it's a cave , maybe you can build a minecart line to reach deeper levels or something... nah, probably not.

@Nightowl: Isn't 10 tiles too much? Specially considering the screen is only 15 tiles high. What if I want to get past the enemies instead? 5 tiles (Not counting terrain or other obstacles) is a very narrow space to avoid being detected by the enemies.

edit: herrrrrrrrrrrrp

Thinking about all of the things in my life that are more important than gams design, and how much I wish that (most) of them weren't there. Because most of them are explicitly horrible.

I'm wondering about how to write up a topic to discuss pre-determined character traits - for example, you expect the frosty Blizzara chick to be... you know, cold and unemotional, or the redheaded rogue to be feisty. I'm not sure how to frame the discussion, mostly; possibly focusing on "are these important? Should they be fought, and why/why not?"

(my personal opinion: They exist for a reason, use the the hell out of them.)

kentona
so....Tropes? Like, why they are good to use, and some of the ways you can tweak them?

Yeah, but specifically for characters/what you immediately assume - and, going beyond TVTropes, how it actually affects the game. For example, you see the guy with long yellow hair and a white robe, and you assume he knows light magic/can heal; imo "breaking" that would hurt your game.

...guess I understand the idea enough to make that topic. I'll do so after class.

author=Max McGee
I am thinking about all the different kind of gams I mak and how I mak too many kinds of gams to mak all the VIDEOVIDEOVIDEO gams I want to mak.

Mak.

Stop making all kinds of games and mak the ultimate gam.