GORDAR'S PROFILE

author=Marrend
Also, I would highly, highly recommend reading Red_Nova's article about recruiting a team.

Good points, especially points 1 & 3 (I hope I was already specific (storywise) enough as far as point 2 goes).

I could make a demo of what I already have. It might not be a full game, but I hope it'll suffice to fulfill point 1 (show people what I can do). It may take me a while to connect all the independent stuff I already have, so I would like to ask you people to give this thread a rest until I'm capable of producing something worthy for you guys & girls.

About the frustration part: I know. The reason I finally decided to shout for help is because I was/am terribly frustrated. I know it's too much for a single person.

First of all, I'd like to warn you, this post became a bit longer than I initially expected it to be. My apologies for that.

Hi.

I have a bit of a problem, well, multiple problems really, but before I explain my problems, let me explain what I want to achieve.

Over the years (let's say 20 years) there have been many great RPGs. the Elder scrolls games, Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate (& II), Planescape Torment, most
other Black Isle isometric RPGs, the Dragon Age series, the Witcher series, the Mass effect series, etc. but IMHO nearly all of them lacked something. Most, excluding the Witcher 3, Daggerfall, Planescape Torment and Baldur's Gate, lacked cities of decent size. Other's lacked romances & yet others lacked diversion as far as different paths go.

I've discovered RPG maker a few years ago and came to the conclusion that if I want to have the perfect RPG I'll have to make it myself. The only thing
that'd still be lacking in my opinion would be graphics, but, I believe that an isometric view as portrayed by RPG maker creates a nostalgic feeling.

What I want to include is:

* Defining choices : The best example for this is your gender. Some parts of the game will be slightly different depending on your gender and your romancable
options will also be slightly different. Another example is which side you choose during a war. Both have good and evil qualities and the choice should be up to you.

Romances : 5 heterosexual male NPCs, 5 heterosexual female NPCs, 5 bisexual male NPCs, 5 bisexual female NPCs, 5 homosexual male NPCs, 5 homosexual (lesbian) female NPCs. That should be enough to make everyone happy. Still, depending on your choices, some might not join or even leave your party. I want to use a point system. Depending on your choices, certain characters that are either in your group or camp will get a +1, 0 or -1 rating/counter/variable. If you reach a certain rating with them, you can start a romance.

There will be lots more NPCs that aren't romancable at all, but once again, most will never join your camp or party as they'll be offended by your choices. (it'd be strange if an Elven mage willingly joined your crew if you just destroyed the last remaining Elven city, for instance)

Party interactions : Think of Baldur's Gate II. If you have two specific NPCs in your party at a specific location or when you perform a certain action, they will banter. This might be serious, this might be funny, this might be offensive, it all depends on who's currently a member of your party.

* NO main quest : Sorry for shouting the no, but I always disliked the way most RPGs handle main quests. The world my (hopefully ours soon) game is set in is a mess and I honestly wouldn't be able to say which quest is a side quest and which one is the main quest. You don't have to find your family (although you might, if you want to) and you don't have to defeat an evil God (once again, you might, if you want to). You do have to save a princess, but that's only a small part early on in the game, during which the player will find out what kind of a mess the world is in so that the player can then decide what to do (see scenario below for more info. It's not really spoilerish at all, since you'll already know most of it after a short time of playing). If you want to consider that to be the main quest, please do, but it's more of an intro than a main quest IMHO.

* a camp system : Lo and behold, I've already managed to do that... partially anyways. You'll need a consumable tent to enter camp and you can only enter
camp on the world map. Depending on where you are, the camp will look slightly different (see screenshots below). In the camp you can rearrange your party,
communicate with those people who will not join your party (only a few NPCs will join your camp but will not be able to join your party) and communicate with other NPCs, possibly to unlock their own quest or to progress a romance, etc. I want to inlcude inns to this system as well, but they can only be accessed in towns (by walking through the door and renting a room), unlike the camps. The price of a room would rise depending on the amount of camp members you have (by means of adding and/or substracting a variable when a party member joins or leaves the party). I might implement something like that for tents as well (not sure yet).

A housing system : Why not, other games have done it. Buy a house, buy furniture, etc. Of course you'll have to be a legal citizen before you can buy a
house in a city.

An evolving world : if you just conquered a city it'd be strange to see the original guards still standing there & it'd be even stranger to see the
original ruler still ruling the city.

* Cities : Like I've already said, most games have a few shops, a few houses and a castle & that's supposed to be the great capital of nation X. I dislike that. Daggerfall was a great example of a game with a real city, but it was a bit generic. After trying (multiple times) to make a city that feels nice & citylike, I decided to stop trying (it was a waste of time), but I couldn't let go of the idea. Then I remembers Baldur's Gate II, Shadows of Amn, more specifically, I remembered Athkatla. They solved the problem by creating a city map with enterable areas. I've tried something similar, but I want you people to decide if such maps are actually acceptable for a game or not. I've got 1 finished map and one is currently in progress, but I'll post them both (although the 2nd map is a bit spoilerish. Oh well, it can't be helped.). I'll come back to this in the problems section.