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Creativity: Thinking about "Experience/Leveling Systems"
Going with a variant of the 'talent tree' option.
Character has some number of 'slots' into which a 'tree' option can be fit - slots, once filled, are permanent. Each 'tree' has some set of skills, abilities, and/or stat boosts. It costs nothing (other than the slot) to add a new 'tree' to the list - purchasing entries within the tree costs exp. Yeah, the stuff that normally grants level-ups. I'm working on trying to toss the 'level' mechanism out on its ear; a character who does nothing with their earned exp will have the same stats, skills (if any) and abilities at the endgame as they did at the time they first appeared. The logic is that the 'exp' cost is a measure of time spent practicing/training, using what happened while earning the exp as a marker of what to practice in order to do better next time. Someone who doesn't bother to train, no matter how often they get into fights, won't get better.
Character has some number of 'slots' into which a 'tree' option can be fit - slots, once filled, are permanent. Each 'tree' has some set of skills, abilities, and/or stat boosts. It costs nothing (other than the slot) to add a new 'tree' to the list - purchasing entries within the tree costs exp. Yeah, the stuff that normally grants level-ups. I'm working on trying to toss the 'level' mechanism out on its ear; a character who does nothing with their earned exp will have the same stats, skills (if any) and abilities at the endgame as they did at the time they first appeared. The logic is that the 'exp' cost is a measure of time spent practicing/training, using what happened while earning the exp as a marker of what to practice in order to do better next time. Someone who doesn't bother to train, no matter how often they get into fights, won't get better.
Alternative to battles
post=130000
If you have some good ideas for a battless RPG (or some weird alternate "battle" system) do it.
That can get pretty bizzare. Never played either of them, but I recall reading about a pair of RPGs with that kind of mechanic inherent to them. Both were sports-themed; in one, 'random battles' became 'random drag races' - the other had 'random hockey games'. Do those count as 'battles' for the purpose of this discussion?
What do people care about?
Given all of the 'amateur/indie' breakdown, I'd like to point something out.
I can't speak properly on indie; I assume the word to be short for 'Independent', and therefore meaning something not affiliated with any of the current 'major' game design entities.
Amateur, however, I can speak for somewhat. It's best defined in terms of the related 'Professional' - aka 'Pro'. To most people, 'Professional' sounds better than 'Amateur'. To an extent, perhaps, this is the case - but only because the Pro commands an outside stimulus the Amateur does not. Normally, this stimulus is money - the Pro gets paid for what he's doing. Yes, he's probably better at it than most people, because those who are willing to spend money generally want a good return on their investment.
An Amateur is someone who does not command that outside stimulus, of whatever sort, but instead commands an internal stimulus - that is, someone who takes pride, joy, or pleasure (the three are related, but not the same thing) in what they do. I feel it is possible to be both Professional and Amateur (as witness the creation of the second game in the Megaman series), but I find it highly unlikely that most users of the RPGMaker series will be able to cross the threshold of Professional - and while, as I said, I cannot speak for that, I believe that it is at this threshold most 'indie' arguments occur - someone who might be able to command that outside stimulus, be it cash, public accolades, etc.
Being an amateur is not necessarily a bad thing. In some ways, the drive to complete a project can be stronger in an amateur than a professional - doing a task for the joy of it, or the pride in it, seems to be a better motivation than simply expecting some form of acclaim afterwards.
</Philosopy>
I can't speak properly on indie; I assume the word to be short for 'Independent', and therefore meaning something not affiliated with any of the current 'major' game design entities.
Amateur, however, I can speak for somewhat. It's best defined in terms of the related 'Professional' - aka 'Pro'. To most people, 'Professional' sounds better than 'Amateur'. To an extent, perhaps, this is the case - but only because the Pro commands an outside stimulus the Amateur does not. Normally, this stimulus is money - the Pro gets paid for what he's doing. Yes, he's probably better at it than most people, because those who are willing to spend money generally want a good return on their investment.
An Amateur is someone who does not command that outside stimulus, of whatever sort, but instead commands an internal stimulus - that is, someone who takes pride, joy, or pleasure (the three are related, but not the same thing) in what they do. I feel it is possible to be both Professional and Amateur (as witness the creation of the second game in the Megaman series), but I find it highly unlikely that most users of the RPGMaker series will be able to cross the threshold of Professional - and while, as I said, I cannot speak for that, I believe that it is at this threshold most 'indie' arguments occur - someone who might be able to command that outside stimulus, be it cash, public accolades, etc.
Being an amateur is not necessarily a bad thing. In some ways, the drive to complete a project can be stronger in an amateur than a professional - doing a task for the joy of it, or the pride in it, seems to be a better motivation than simply expecting some form of acclaim afterwards.
</Philosopy>
RPG numbers (level, damage, XP, etc.).
Not sure it's "Wrong", but it might not be a good idea. From the outgoing damage values listed, the odds are pretty good only a small %age of rounds will be spent on actually dealing damage - pretty much every turn will be spent healing someone who was just fine until that last attack, but is now in serious trouble, or healing the team, or reviving the team because the boss got to go first and sent HP somewhere into the -50% range, or frantically trying to come up with something that can defend against the boss, or...
What do people care about?
But it's not on the correct axis for the comparison you're drawing, as far as I can see. I'd personally use 'mechanism' or 'method' for what you're trying to describe.
What do people care about?
Is 'genre' the right term for what you mean here? I've always associated the term with literature - horror, romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc...
Any one of these could be told, however well or poorly, in an RPG.
Or in a sidescrolling action game.
Or in a text-only adventure.
As to what I care about on the site, I'm not honestly certain. I simply enjoy my own game work, and seeing what others have done with the engines I use. And sorry, but in my case that is the RM series. I tried Game Maker once, but couldn't really get into it beyond modding a couple of the default games a bit.
I think half of what I've enjoyed about RMN is that it is, for lack of a better term, alive. I've been on three RM development sites in the past: Skytower Games, War of the Magi, and Ultima Island. Skytower and WotM are dead, UI appears to be in the last death throes at the moment. I'm hoping that's not the case, but...
RMN, on the other hand, has a living interaction to it - the others had that in their time, but gradually, people drifted away, the topics stopped getting answered, and eventually, posted - finally, the site itself dissappeared from the net (UI excepted). RMN is still alive, growing, in ways the others weren't by the time I came upon them. I hope it remains that way here.
Philosophical enough for you, Kentona?
Any one of these could be told, however well or poorly, in an RPG.
Or in a sidescrolling action game.
Or in a text-only adventure.
As to what I care about on the site, I'm not honestly certain. I simply enjoy my own game work, and seeing what others have done with the engines I use. And sorry, but in my case that is the RM series. I tried Game Maker once, but couldn't really get into it beyond modding a couple of the default games a bit.
I think half of what I've enjoyed about RMN is that it is, for lack of a better term, alive. I've been on three RM development sites in the past: Skytower Games, War of the Magi, and Ultima Island. Skytower and WotM are dead, UI appears to be in the last death throes at the moment. I'm hoping that's not the case, but...
RMN, on the other hand, has a living interaction to it - the others had that in their time, but gradually, people drifted away, the topics stopped getting answered, and eventually, posted - finally, the site itself dissappeared from the net (UI excepted). RMN is still alive, growing, in ways the others weren't by the time I came upon them. I hope it remains that way here.
Philosophical enough for you, Kentona?
Release Something! X marks the spot!
Pizza Panic: Very old project - designed to test build something for another project, which, in the grand tradition of RM games, never amounted to anything. This one's pretty much complete, though.
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1930/
Note: Just managed to upload the actual zip file; not sure when it'll be available.
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1930/
Note: Just managed to upload the actual zip file; not sure when it'll be available.
TRCPirate.png
No, defence is what you have around dehouse to keep dedog from getting out into destreet.
I played the Blue Contestant. I'll have to see how this one matches up.
I played the Blue Contestant. I'll have to see how this one matches up.
Party Size
Appropriate party size (as opposed to pool) depends on where/when you are, as that tends to define what you'll be facing. In my own current project, for a fair portion of the time you'll have exactly one character to mess with - at those times, that's all you'll need. At the far end of the spectrum, there are other times where you'll (potentially) have 2x(4|2) - two toggled parties of four, plus two reserves in each party. And I intend to make it clear that that at least the two parties really ought to be full...
As for total party pool (all playable characters, period) - I'm going to be trying something I read about a while back, that kind of takes Kentona's 'no legendary hero' logic to its ultimate conclusion: If the hero's hometown is threatened, why wouldn't the entire town plan how to fight back? Party pool consists of somewhere between 40-48 characters - including the shopkeepers, the village elder, the blacksmith, etc...
I've gone crazy, haven't I?
As for total party pool (all playable characters, period) - I'm going to be trying something I read about a while back, that kind of takes Kentona's 'no legendary hero' logic to its ultimate conclusion: If the hero's hometown is threatened, why wouldn't the entire town plan how to fight back? Party pool consists of somewhere between 40-48 characters - including the shopkeepers, the village elder, the blacksmith, etc...
I've gone crazy, haven't I?
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