Features Feedback

You can make the classes be gear-locked, as in the types of gear, so there is no problem there.


But, if you are asking design-wise... If they are still the same, just getting extra things? I'd suggest a proficiency system - like this one - so that when they are using a Memory they get better with the weapons the Memory is good. What your friend is suggesting is less of a class change and more of a transformation into the person of the Memory.

Thank you, Waterguy :)

Thank you in advance for you help and opinion.


I have an idea to have each character in my game to have a free skill with and minor benefit to the group.


Example:


The White Mage has a minor group HP Increase


The Black Mage has a minor group MP Increase


One character has a minor TP Increase


Question is do you have any ideas for other skills.


Thank you again for you help and opinion.

This is not really a discussion about Game Mechanics.  


I think the best place is to merge this with Features Feedback.

Anything that buffs group attack or defence for 1 turn. Reduce MP/TP costs for all skills for 1 turn. Gain Taunt for 1 turn (shielding the rest of the group), double the effect of free skills for 1 turn.

Hi there fellow RPG makers!


 Been playing RPGs for years and attemped to use RPM before with lazy results, but now having a lot of spare time and would like to make a serious RPG game of my own as a personal goal. So keep in mind this is my first game, but Im watching tutorials as of right now, and also years or vintage RPG experience, and watched a lot of RPG maker playthroughs on youtube (also for bad RPG's lol which is totally like a genre).


 So well my idea is to make an all audienced game, simple yet hard  blending of survival with scavenging, with just one character, and keeping classic turn battles, but being 1 on 1 encounters a feature of the battle system, simulating the use of lone characters in survival games. To avoid a dull "Enter slamming festival" for battles all enemies will have very specific ways to be wiped or taken care off, same to emulate the fact that is better to run from battles that most survival games will have.


 I want to strand away from conventional RPG storytelling, meaning epical fantasy worlds or so on. Id like to emulate the basic setup of like Zelda in which you set a guy to quest his way to the next objective, rather than being carried by the events as in lets say any Final Fantasy. So you will literally be beating dungeon one after another, scavening and questing for hidden secrets to enhance your character, or "unlock" other areas, or being able to beat a certain enemy. So imagine a Link entering the world of RPG turn battles, he doesnt really does level up, as he enhances his abilities or getting the right item to make certain enemy vulnerable...


 The idea of the game is to be easy to lose, but at the same time you can tell there is something else you can do to endure the game, as long as you figure how to beat the dungeon and beat the boss. There should be a balance of grinding and beating the scenario quick, as in most survival games is better to take what you need and leave, or enemies might consume more resources than what you obtain from them. So it should be intended for speed run junkies, and RPG challenge lovers with characters using secret items or abilities to beat hard bosses 1 on 1. Also add the replay factor of survival games of replay with enhancing items, to take revenge on those creatures that were very hard to kill.


 ....Featuring scavening / crafting  system, to adapt to game circumstances as there is only one player, and similar with customizable exp points on the areas you would like to increase the level individually as long as affordable, to addapt to the game or your own playstyle.


Frustrating and scary 1 on 1 battles that you would normally just run at first, slowly gaining cost of oportunity to battle. To avoid just hitting the attack button and then heal over and over a feature of the battle system would be enemies usually susceptible to certain skills, items, etc, so the player has to find outwhat it takes to wipe some enemies, or if maybe he is not ready to do so yet.


 Different endings according to actions/hidden secrets and backup timer so lets say if beaten before X time to get a certain ending, same to encourage people to try to get to the dungeon levels over and over to search for more answers about the character or simply beat more secrets.


 I know I need some scripting to do most of whats here. Sothere is actually a tab with a script tutorial on youtube, so aside from scripting mostly my request would be any general comment, question, any good example of a game with similar features, any heads up for newbs etc as Im taking this very seriously and its great to share a hobby with a community with the same passion!


 So I think that is it so far, please let me know if there is something off or if I didn't explain myself somewhere.


Thanks beforehand! 

I've been developing a game where you own your shop.  Unfortunately, there really aren't any games to compare and get ideas from besides maybe Recettear.  Anyway, I thought I would share my ideas and get some feedback.


The game is mostly based around owning a shop which you sell your items.  In order to get items you will either gather and craft or buy them and resell them.  However, to be unique I wanted to make the game have much more depth.  I didn't like the idea of completely random customers or even specific types of customers where the warrior generally wants a new weapon or the kid wants some candy.  So I came up with randomly generating the towns with npcs that each have traits and personalities such as if they like expensive items, if they can spot a good/bad deal, or if they are likely to steal instead of buy something.  This would make the player learn who lives in the town and their personalities and base decisions on that rather than hope the random shopper that showed up wants what they are selling.


Another big part I am adding is an economy of sorts.  Everyone has money which exchanges between the npc and the player or npc they are buying/selling with.  I never liked that npcs had unlimited money and just bought random things over and over.  This idea should allow me to fluctuate wealth and since npcs are actually competing with the player, the player can try to force npcs out of business or instead play a role in keeping the town flourishing by putting money back into the local shops.


I think those are the major points that I've come up with.  Everything else are additions to add on to these ideas such as hiring workers to gather for you or run your shop,or buying a pack animal and guards to escort you on a trade run to another town.


Any thoughts on if this sounds like a fun game?

What's the winning condition (ie. goal) of the game? What's the obstacle/conflict? I don't think you've actually described what the "game" is; you've only listed some of the mechanics involved.

Oh sorry, didn't even think of adding that.  I was thinking it was going to be more of an open sandbox style. Something like Stardew Valley where you don't exactly have an end goal you just build up your farm and relations, but as this isn't a farm game you would be attempting to own the largest shop and have max popularity (highest rate of customers coming into your store).  Or I suppose your goal could be to run every npc out of business and monopolize every market.

What is an 'all audienced game'? I'd be careful by trying to please too broad of an audience and not really hitting one.




What exactly is the end goal of the game? What is the player working towards, so to speak?




How do you plan on making the grind in your game bearable, considering how many people tend to dislike having to grind?




What kind of ideas do you have for your 1 on 1 combat system? Not saying it can't be done, as it has been done before, but making an engaging 1 on 1 battle system isn't an easy task.


What do you mean with enemies susceptible to certain skills or items, like an elemental weakness system, like Pokémon's? How is the player going to find out how to wipe enemies? Trial and error, or are there hints given to the player in some way?




Best advice I can give you is to make something small and simple as your first game. By that I mean: think of something small and simple, and then make it 10x smaller and more simplified as your first thought. for your first game, I would stay away from using scripts, unless you're 100% sure it benefits your game and you know how to make use of it.

There is the Atelier series.

Its great to have those type of questions! so let me elaborate on those points


-All audienced means no use of profanity, foul language, any sort of adult themes, violence gore, etc...meaning to keep it PG13


-The goal is to escape dungeons with a backround story, best example is Zelda. So you need to explore the areas, look for secrets, figure things out in order to go further, but resources will be scarce and you will have to evaluate the cost of spending too much time in a certain area before you run out of inventory. So if you haven't quite figured how to proceed then you will have to endure and keep on looking what goes next. With a save option disabled most of times, this will force you to think your strategy to beat the area quick, and not just wander around susceptible to game over.


-Now as for the grinding, you dont grind as much for exp or gold as you do to get something out of an enemy. Featuring an individual parameter leveling system, you can administrate your points whenever you like if affordable, and not just having to wait for the character to accumulate points to reach the next prefixed level.


-About the battles.Directly answering your question about defeating enemies Id say it will combine try and error, but part of the hints will be in the story also the player will gradually start to get this logic thus finding ways to exploit enemies will be easier allong the way. And the zenit of this will be each dungeon boss. Now don't imagine Zelda like dungeons, thats an example, imagine like Final Fantasy dungeons, that they usually show you the way, but you can tell there are hidden things if you look, so if you master the dungeon you will be able to find what you need quick, without wasting resources.


 Now going a bit further with the battle system I guess my best example would be like Pokemon. 


My idea is to make it engaging through the fact you only have one character and you are really having a hard time getting rid of enemies, so you are constantly striving on not getting KOed by any regular cave bat, so Im thinking on adding attacks with added effects like confusion, blind, berserk, etc so many of the times you arent just hitting enter. Or an agreeable bit of an accuracy check for most moves for battles to have that "gambling" factor of a battle for your life.


-My idea is that in the end most of the emotion, as in many other RPG will come from the fact that by going further and questing you can defeat enemies easier, but first starting from very hard to maybe not so hard, and not so much focused on the battles, as focusing on exploring the maps for hidden stuff to help you! so you can actually feel excited about using a new item ir find out what its good for. Imagine the overall dungeon is the enemy to beat, and the more you try it the better you become at it.


So easiest way to put it is Link got into some Sqaresoft game with a Pokemon battle system, with some survival like features. The idea of the game is to be hard, unfair, targeting rpg junkies looking for challenges so its all there with the 1 on 1 battles against hard bosses, speedrun option for replay factor, and many hidden secrets with no official FAQ.


Thanks for taking your time to read!

Very small question. I have this skill description, but I don't know if it's clear what it's supposed to do, or if there's a better way of writing it. Using the default font, it sits at the absolute character limit, so I can't add anything or make it longer if it requires change:


Strike a foe 2-5 times. Lower the foe's Defences by 5%


for each successful hit. Resets when used on same foe.


What it's meant to do in more detail:

My last time with Eremidia didn't ended up well, and after months of hiatus, I decided to back into development again, on clean slate.


So, I've made concepts about the mechanics, but I'm not sure about the features it'll be brought.

• The main concept of the game will be an adventure-survival: player's characters will traverse the dystopian, post-apocalyptic steampunk-ish world with limited supply and most of time they'll scavenge for some goods (preserved foods, first-aid, potions, bullets, even gears and weapons) in the wilderness to survive. 
  
• Yes, controlled characters will have necessities parameter like hunger, thirst and fatigue, as well as mental and radiation-equivalent conditions. These will affect character's performance in travel and battle alike. Besides, it'll be good to see characters having some slices of bread, cheese, sausage and light beer along their journey.
  
• When traveling, player will find some special hot-spots called anomalies. Most of anomalies are detrimental to the characters player controls, either by ether (radiation-equivalent of the world setting) poisoning, burning, electric shocking, gravitational pull, or space-time imprisonment. These anomalies will spawn artifacts in indefinite time, which often deemed valuable and/or salable. Planned that selling anomaly-born artifacts will be an easy way to make golds in the game.
  
• The world will be infested with various monsters, mostly mutated or altered by ether. Surviving folks will stand among them, make dwelling in ruined towns and live their life in such conditioned world, manufacturing food, shelter and makeshift equipments as well as salvaged ones.
  
• In certain time, characters should take cover in nearby shelters, for a lethal phenomenon—ether emission—will occur shortly after sudden change in local climate. 
  

• The story will be linear, but player may opt to explore areas before making progress. Of course, some places will be inaccessible without proper equipment and/or story progress.
  
• Character's progression and decisions will be recorded over time, mostly in major events where decisions will affect the ending. 
  
• There will be some more characters joining party, each comes with their strengths and weaknesses. Unlike main characters, these 'side characters' may experience permadeath, and affects the ending.
  

• There are some factions player will stumble upon, with various intentions but will make use of player's status and willingness to do some chores as well as pointing them out to main quest.
  
• There will be affiliation point, which means some factions will have different treats while others may turn hostile, and totally affecting in-game features like access to particular items/places or services.
  
• Despite of this feature, player will be deemed as free, independent person no matter their affiliation with every factions present.
  

• Character's parameters like HP, strength, endurance etc. will be fixed by default, but can be altered with artifacts.
  
• Equipments will play major roles in the game as a mean of protection; not only against enemies, they'll also grant protection against ether pollution, anomalies, even certain effects that uncommon in most of the time. Keeping the equipments in good condition is a must.hr
  

There will be more to come. I've done the storyline as well as some brief explanations of the characters. Will post them in General Discussion and link it here if asked to.


And yes, I'm looking for feedback as well as suggestions for this concept.


Cheers~

Game Mechanics Design is not for feedback on specific, individual projects.  


Merging this with Features Feedback.

@ksjp17 Sorry for posting in incorrect place, and thanks for appointing me into appropriate thread.


Anyway, updated some features in my post.

@Milennin How long does the debuff last? (As a general rule, I like to include that in the skill description if I can).  Because that would partially determine how I the player would interpret that "Resets when used on same foe."


If the debuff lasts a couple of turns, then I would interpret it as meaning that it removes the previous debuff and inflicts a new one, which gives me, the player, the risk that I might get a lower debuff this time round.


The explanation in your spoiler introduced the possibility, though still not clearly, that it might be stackable.


Which is the correct interpretation?

@ksjp17, it lasts until the end of battle, but I can't find a way to fit that into the description without leaving out other details. I might have to look into a smaller font...


But yeah, you do get the right idea of how the skill works. It's a gamble, but it has a low MP cost, so it won't cost you a whole lot if end up rolling lower on a second use. How would you improve the description for this skill that fits within the limits of the text box to make it easier to understand?


I grabbed another font, giving me much more room to work with, then used that extra room on adding an additional effect instead, lol. :D It only barely fits like this.

@richter_h, because multi-quoting on this forum is a godawful nightmare.


Yes, controlled characters will have necessities parameter like hunger, thirst and fatigue, as well as mental and radiation-equivalent conditions. These will affect character's performance in travel and battle alike. Besides, it'll be good to see characters having some slices of bread, cheese, sausage and light beer along their journey.


How will you make this feature work without frustrating the player? Because from my personal experience with hunger/thirst/fatigue mechanics in RPG Maker games, it usually drastically lowers the fun factor of the game. Having to constantly keep an eye out on some gauge, because if neglected, it'll make the game much more painful to play (causing flashing screen, slower movement, warning texts etc).


When traveling, player will find some special hot-spots called anomalies. Most of anomalies are detrimental to the characters player controls, either by ether (radiation-equivalent of the world setting) poisoning, burning, electric shocking, gravitational pull, or space-time imprisonment. These anomalies will spawn artifacts in indefinite time, which often deemed valuable and/or salable. Planned that selling anomaly-born artifacts will be an easy way to make golds in the game.


Can the player idly wait for these to disappear, or are their disappearances linked to the player's progress in the story or whatever?


In certain time, characters should take cover in nearby shelters, for a lethal phenomenon—ether emission—will occur shortly after sudden change in local climate.


What if the player doesn't take cover in time? How will it be made clear what functions as a shelter? What if the player is lost on the map, without knowing the location of any nearby shelter?


There will be some more characters joining party, each comes with their strengths and weaknesses. Unlike main characters, these 'side characters' may experience permadeath, and affects the ending.


Does the player at least get the gear back that that character wore before he died so they can sell it off? If not, chances are players will reset the game to strip the character of their game before replaying the event.

@Milennin Agreed. The quote system is sometimes frustrating for me as well  :guffaw:


Anyway, 


How will you make this feature work without frustrating the player? Because from my personal experience with hunger/thirst/fatigue mechanics in RPG Maker games, it usually drastically lowers the fun factor of the game. Having to constantly keep an eye out on some gauge, because if neglected, it'll make the game much more painful to play (causing flashing screen, slower movement, warning texts etc).


There will be no gauges, no flashing screens, warning texts; only icons shown, yet these statuses will slightly affect character's speed and reflexes. These parameters won't directly affect characters' performance, and the thresholds between full, empty and everything in between will be spanned much longer. However, player should notice whenever the icons shown on character's tab, it'll be good to let them consume some food/drinks. 


And don't worry if the player didn't pay attention into this feature so much. Drinking potions will quench thirsts, while eating food will heal some health. Win-win solution.


Can the player idly wait for these to disappear, or are their disappearances linked to the player's progress in the story or whatever?


No. Players can't wait for it to disappear because anomalies last in relatively long time.


Anomalies will be there for some time, and there's no viable means to get rid of them; mostly will disappear without notice, but this is one of anomalies' rare behaviors. Best way to deal with anomalies is to not approach one of those ether-created pockets of wild, unexplained phenomenon.


Artifacts, however, can appear and disappear in unexpected time around anomalies, and will stay around once picked away from their domain.


In the story, there's one man-made anomaly which holds a key role in the journey, and player will have a quest to turn it off and continue their progress.

What if the player doesn't take cover in time? How will it be made clear what functions as a shelter? What if the player is lost on the map, without knowing the location of any nearby shelter?


When emission/blowout occurs and player couldn't take shelter in time, their characters will suffer massive mental and physical damage, and die in matter of seconds.


Any building with enclosed walls and roof can be a good shelter place as well as caverns, bunkers, enclosed ruins and underground tunnels. There will be little chance to not getting shelter, because there are several abandoned buildings as well as ruins that qualified as emergency shelter.


There should be enough time for player to take shelter once the climate change heralds the emission, but if player didn't make it to find one: the end. 


Does the player at least get the gear back that that character wore before he died so they can sell it off? If not, chances are players will reset the game to strip the character of their game before replaying the event.


Gears and items from fallen ally will be distributed to the others, unless all of party members are overencumbered.


Forgot to say that each character will have their own inventory capacities, and can be modified by certain gears and artifacts.