Dropping battles and weapons in favor of a non-linear game ?

Hello,

So I decided to drop battles in my game because they have no relation with the story and I decided to implement an evented "Reputation System" to make the game non-linear.The story and reactions from the citizens and other people will change according to your Rep.Is the battle system worth dropping for this feature ?

If the battle system contributes nothing, but this new system does, yes.

@Hotfirelegend : The BS contributes nothing.Except adding some optional brawls.

Yes, definitely. You should remove any aspect that is not needed in your game.

There are a lot of games that do not use the battle system.

What you are aiming for is more of an adventure or visual novel style game.

I do like the idea that you are implementing a reputation system that changes the story and people's reaction to the character depending on its level.

Then don't bother with the BS.

Exactly, that's why it's called "Bull S***".... :p

moving on...

Drop the battles! Most of the games I am working on (4 in the engine itself, 2 in developing story/plot concept) use battles as just a minor aspect. In my main project, i want 0 battles, and all stealth. The other games have maybe 1 or 2 battles, though I may drop them altogether.

And I am with Susan, I like the idea of a reputation system. That could be fun.

@Susan: Though aren't visual novels more involved with choices?

@philteredkhaos : This isn't a visual novel It's an adventure game.

 

^ For some reason, I find it really cute to see Ultim's post with that avatar, and with those specific words. ^^

@ philteredkhaos :

A conventional visual novel would appear to have a lot of choices via using message boxes, but choices aren't just restricted to message boxes.

Your actions count as choices.

For example : if you see a kitten shivering in the rain, you can either choose to bring it home, make a shelter for it, or ignore it altogether.

In a top down RPG, this type of choice can be visually implemented with physical interaction or via key items, or through conventional message-choice text boxes.

In a visual novel using pictures, this is usually implemented using message-choice text boxes.

But as Utim mentioned, this is not a strictly a visual novel game, it is an adventure game with mostly a top down perspective. There are a lot of ways to apply 'choices' in the game to increase or decrease your reputation, among other things. ^^

I'm actually working on a similiar concept where people react differently depending how well your stand is in that particular faction.

Not every game has to have battles. Either make a battle system one of the core features of your game or don't bother with it at all, is my opinion. A battle system should not be an afterthought or tacked on.