HODDMIMIR'S PROFILE

I've been reading up on a lot of forum topics and considering a lot of different games I've played while trying to decide what sort of game to make myself. One thing I've noticed a lot of is gimmicks or extras. What I mean is that games often seem to try and employ more and more customization systems, special abilities, added features, etc.. to make their game more appealing. What I am curious about is whether you all feel these things really make a game more appealing or if they just add a lot of clutter and muck up what would be good basic game?

Now I appreciate novelty very much, but I feel like these games with multiple classes, multiple resources to spend for abilities, talent systems, rune systems, weapon custimizations, 3 types of currency, factions to join, etc... can get to be a bit much. After all, can't many of these things be combined into the same basic systems we have seen for years?

I feel like the trick is subtlety. People don't want to do puzzles or mini-games in rpgs because it might as well be like pausing the game, picking up a sudoku book, and then resuming from where you paused. The puzzle needs to be subtle. Don't let them realize they are doing a puzzle at all!

Mazes are one of the easiest ways to do this if it is done well, but even they aren't perfect. If the maze is anything with a bit of difficulty to it then eventually they realize they are doing a puzzle. One way to improve that is to make the puzzle portion optional. Your player makes it through the dungeon to find that in the last room there is a treasure chest on a ledge with a doorway behind it... how to get that treasure chest? The exit is right in front of them but they may choose to go back in and do your maze to get the extra bonus.

Another way is to hide the clues to a puzzle (again optional if you like) in otherwise normal conversation. Two characters are talking about some topic and naturally that won't seem weird to the player. No disjointedness there. Later when the puzzle comes along they already have half the solution without having to work for it!

Something simple, like having a locked door that you need to get a key for can be a fun and subtle puzzle if you first show a rat running away with the key. Then the player knows how to solve it already. Find the rat and kill it. Maybe you give them an option though. They can just kill rats until they get it OR they can hit some levers to turn on the fans that waft the smell of that cheese they found earlier through the dungeon and bringing the rat to you. Not a perfect example of subtle but the point is that it isn't terribly complicated to figure out the goal and on top of that battles help disguise the fact that it is just a puzzle.

Minigame puzzles almost never do this. They are obvious and disjointed and that is the problem. If puzzles are disguised well, aren't too complicated, and give the player a KNOWN reward (Like an obviously visible treasure chest) they are FAR more enjoyable. At least that's my opinion. For what it's worth.

I feel I should retract my opinion somewhat for failure to give any useful examples of what I am saying. Chasing a rat is hardly a puzzle. So... do a better planning job then me and make subtle puzzles!

Hello everyone,

I am working on a single character rpg mostly as a learning tool but I can't seem to figure one thing out.

I am trying to allow the character to switch between 3 different classes during battle. I have created:

3 skills set to switches (One for each class)
1 battle event for the enemy group I am testing the process in that calls 1 of:
3 common events to change class that include a turn switch off clause at the end. (one for each class)

Each of the 3 classes has the appropriate skills to switch to the other classes starting at level 1.

THE PROBLEM: I can't find the skills to use in battle. I assume I have done something wrong but I don't know what it is. :( I would be very appreciative of someone who can help me figure the rest of this out.

You could try a semi-combination of the two styles. Make your character a set character. Personality, outlooks, goals, whatever. Build a character. Then present the player with choices that both fit that characters outlook. Somebody mentioned Mass Effect. I think this has an example of the kind of choice I am talking about. At one part you need to choose who to save and it is strongly suggested that whoever you don't choose IS going to die. So obviously there is not a right choice. There is not a choice that best fits your character. I think giving the player those choices might make it feel more like they are in control, help them get more attached to the main hero and the other characters, but still not force you to generalize your main character too much.

Maybe the hero has to search for the villain. He can start by searching in the forest or in the mountains or in the city of despair. What the player doesn't realize is that the villain will be at each of those 3 locations so he will have the final battle no matter what his choice is. Nevertheless he chose where to look and he found the villain. Something like that.

G

author=heisenman

Save points can be churches. (You get saved.)

Since all the ideas you are considering are taken from the old testament, temples might be more appropriate than churches.

:

Oh good point. Synagogues and temples would probably be better. Then again the class is more christianity based so the kids are probably more used to churches. Now I'm not sure! lol.

@Faenon Glad I could be of help. :)