Rules - Ideas That Don’t Deserve Their Own Thread

I'm not sure if this is the right place but since it's a small idea and I don't have a game based around it yet it doesn't seem like it deserves it's own thread.

Basically I couldn't sleep so I threw together a demo for an idea I've had for a while, a first person dungeon crawler/shooter.
The demo is really basic as your "enemies" are basically just targets and don't fight back, and rather than a dungeon it's just a straight path.

The controls are the up and down arrow keys to move back and forth, and left click on targets to shoot. A few parts of the targets give different points.


Screenshot:

Demo:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ojIO_Sz0pKI2oCc5bxezAFaq9zqqsVdW

If it gets stuck on "Now Loading" just close it and reopen it. It usually works after a few times. I'm sorry I haven't figured out the problem yet, it seems to be something with the cursor script I'm using.

Credits:
Derek Chestnut (dbchest) for VariableDisplay
Tor Damian Design / Galenmereth for TDDP_MouseSystemEx

I was just thinking, what would you people think about a game project that was solely based off of assets created by the community for it and a story/gameplay which is chosen through polls and popular choice?

Basically how it would start is that we'll start off with a couple of prompt ideas, but then people can comment their own ideas. After a certain deadline the post with the most votes gets to be the base idea for the game and so on. Characters are each from the people participating and the ones who participate the most have the first choice in what role they'd like their character to have. I would keep the participants posted with updates to the games and changes as well as having a spreadsheet, documents, and slides holding all the info about the game open to the public to view. Overall the game would be free.

What are your opinions? :kaoswt2:

Sounds exciting! I'd love to see more of that. Isn't there like, a forum on here that circulates around a combined universe?

@captainette777 I suppose there is. Never noticed it before! Yeah, I'd love to see people get interested in the idea, after all community participation is important! :)

(Snipped the quote a bit to save space.)

That's not a bad idea, it reminds me of an old Sci-Fi novel I read, where one author would take the "hero" and put him in a bad situation, and the next chapter would be written by another author who would have to write the hero out of the first situation and put him in another situation. I seemed to remember in one of the later chapters the hero had to navigate the after-life to resurrect himself...

Back to the topic at hand, I think there would be some logistical issues here... I suppose some teams would have to be developed for the different phases, and somehow the community would have to settle on an engine. (that alone would cut some folks out, since if the game is done in engine A then anyone without that engine would not be a builder). I think the obstacles could be handled, but it would take a little doing to get there. I don't think it's a bad idea, but to start I would think a mod would have to get things rolling (due to the fact of likely needing an entire set of sub-forums to handle the project).

Hi there. ^-^

Thought this was the right place for this. I have an idea for a game mechanic in my game. As a reference I am using VN Maker, I still have never finished making a game, so I still consider myself a beginner. For this game mechanic it is my plan to strictly use eventing...if possible. I am aware any technical stuff would be better suited for the VN support section, so here I would like to know what people think of the concept. As a player, would it be enjoyable, maybe what I should add or take away? Anything would help greatly. :kaoluv:


THE MECHANIC- I call it Fright Night

@animesock52 So, you're thinking of using VN to do a game similar to Zork, The Guild of Thieves, and other old school text based games? You know, that might not be a bad idea considering that retro is a thing now. Also, a company called "Rainbird" made quite a few games like that in the past using images for the rooms, so having VN with scenes and characters talking to each other could really put a spin on it. I.E: "The room is dark, you can go north, west, east, or south." I think the concept would work, keeping up with the math for "Evasion" and "Calming" might be a bit of a chore, however.

@Mrs_Allykat Not the whole game, only the challanges or Fright Nights. For the most part its a normal vn, but with more free roam (no prompts for free roam). And maybe point and click, I like being able to click to move to next area. At night you explore the Mansion in this manner, but if you come across a monster, you are transported to a mini game like senario, The Fright Night. During that event is when things take on that kind of Zork format. (I know of Zork, but never personally played a game in that format)
Overall I wanted some sort of game play feature in my VN, but I decided RPG elements would'nt work, and making puzzles wasn't what I was going for either. I know in RPG Horror games, there are some fun and intense chase sequences, and I want something maybe similar.
I hope I can make the calm and evasion not so complicated. Perhaps making it less number focused and more focused on a visual meter would work?. Like a health bar, you just don't want it at zero pretty much. Or for calming have a heart, it beats intesnsly and looks bad when your calming is low.

Okay, it's time for me to pitch an idea around. I've toyed with it a bit, and right now it's just a setting idea. I would really like some feedback to see if this would be worth giving it a go. But, before I get into typing a long to-do... An image! (My thanks to @SmashArt for the border, the ship is Kadokawa, and this is the first variation of an opening screen...)


Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the time is nigh! The END is upon us.. Or, When Pigs Fly! (Hit the Spoiler!)



Port Phobos and the Aether Frigates
Prologue:

1859, that’s when it happened; that’s when the collective fates filled up every last creek with the refuse of the gods. That was when The Aether Wars began. The aliens, from Deimos invaded Earth. The Aether Wars derailed everything on our world, The American Civil War, and The Austro-Prussian War never materialized. All of those that thought we were fated for those calamities were wrong. We got something far worse. We got invaded by what was called Deimons, or demons for short. Those aliens weren’t really from Mars’ moon, however. They were colonizing Deimos, and were from some hidden world out in the Oort Cloud. The bloodshed we suffered at their hands was terrible, but we fought back. The peoples of Earth had a common foe, one that transcended race, religion, heck even culture. We overcame our differences, and we came together. We had to.


That was two scores ago, and we’re still fighting those things. They aren’t on earth anymore, and we are winning. The problem with winning though, is you get conceded. We discovered how to harness the aether for power, and for what even a reasonable gentleman would call magic. Then, we learned how to use ether as well, those steam-jockeys turned that into a way to leave the planet. First we used Zeppelins to get to the moon, and now we have sailing vessels to travel between worlds. Sounds like we had it all figured out, and we did. Heck, we even met the cat-people of Mars. Those poor folks were enslaved by the Deimons as certainly as any former plantation owner. The problem is, you have it figured out until you don’t. That’s exactly what happened too; it was figured out until some enterprising thieves figured out how to turn a profit by pirating from all the goods being transported. Don’t those folks realize it’s 1899, and that we’re still at war with the aliens?



Concept:
A steam-powered, space faring, and Victorian style background that is heavy in the Jules Verne style Sci-Fi as a setting. I don't have characters set up, or too many particulars. The question is, would anyone even care about giving a game of that nature a go? Before it's asked, I'm a long way off from ever selling a title -- so that is right out. The question is, would people be interested in the subject matter enough to try a game like that? (Obviously, the thing can be written, since I've no desire to rewrite the engine to force RPG Maker suddenly use Street Fighter mechanics!)

Terms:

• Aether - A universal energy that was introduced by aliens (will likely replace this with something else since it sounds like Ether)
• Ether - An invisible substance once believed to actually exist, but was proven wrong in the early 20'th century and was replaced by the waveform theory and radio.
• Breathing in Space - Prior to the 20'th century they didn't realize that air was stuck in our atmosphere... Then again, they didn't know what caused the bends either!
• Temperature in Space - Well, in the 19'th century and earlier they knew it would be cold, but they didn't realize just HOW COLD space would be, just like they didn't know of the "vacuum."

So, I'd like to toss out an idea that I've been working on since being inspired by a friend, trying to get a proper prototype up and running to demonstrate the mechanics. I don't have much in the way of story, art, or non-combat gameplay as of yet (which is why it's going in this thread). I'm planning on tackling that with the help of other people once I've finished the battle system prototype.

The basic idea is that of a rhythm-based combat system. The way I have it set up right now is that every measure of the battle music constitutes one turn, alternating between the player and the enemy. At the end of the player's measures, they will have a short window to make an input. Using the arrow keys, the player stores charges of elemental energy, with each direction corresponding to one of the classical elements (Air, Water, Earth, and Fire). If the player inputs the "ok" button on their turn, they will unleash the stored energy, performing a different skill depending on what elements they have stored. If you've ever played DOTA, it works about the same as the hero Invoker's abilities.

Here's where I'm at right now on the prototype:



Anyway, I'm looking to spread this around and get feedback from different people on the idea and its implementation. Any and all comments, critiques, or suggestions are welcome!

I've been brewing this idea around in my head for awhile now, so I think I'm ready to put it out:

RPG in a real-world location?

I'm pretty sure it's not a wholly new idea, but I was mapping out an overworld and suddenly had the funny idea to draw the whole of Europe in the map, as if the story was going to take place there, with real country boundaries and everything. The thought of a game happening in 1200s England or in the American Wild West reimagined as a fantasy seems exciting! Any suggestions?

So I'm trying to make an episodic game that follows a episode base story like any tv show you may watch but I'm struggling on fleshing out the mechanics of how such a thing would work.
I have a few ideas

A. Get rid of levels, have equipment\skills be the way the person levels up

B. Have a set amount of xp in each episode to ensure the lv is always consist

C. play test a bunch of times to get a idea of average lv at end of each episode and set the char to that each time


I like the idea of no XP\LV for my self but I am worried such a thing may turn off a lot of players. It may give me more options but it leaves the player with less and imo may turn a lot away after a few episodes.


Thoughts?

Ditching traditional leveling systems isn't unheard of, but you usually see it in Action RPGs. For example, the recent God of War game calculates your level based on the combined stats from your gear, with traditional experience points being relegated to a currency used to purchase skills rather than stat increases. In any case, I don't think it would be that much of a turn off to players in a traditional RPG, provided you provide enough gear and skills to both give the player options, and give them a strong sense of progression. An RPG without strong progression just kinda feels like busy work. Paper Mario: Sticker Star is an example of what not to do in this situation.

As for option B, it could work, but you'd need to figure out what you're going to do with regards to rewards for optional content. If you don't include any, your game might feel too limited or linear. If you include it and keep exp fixed for the whole chapter, you need to account for what happens if your player skips or misses some or all of it. The easiest way around that is to have a level cap for each chapter that the player is guaranteed to hit by the end, but can hit earlier if they do optional content.

Option C could also work, but it's a bit messy solution and still doesn't solve for the optional content issue the option B has. I'd avoid it, personally.

An additional issue that all three approaches to an episodic game would face is tracking non-experience based awards. If the player is ever given any choice in what gear or skills they receive, I'd imagine that the player would be let down not having those skills/gear in the next chapter, which is only further compounded by the optional content issue. This could of course be dealt with by proper plotting and writing, like in a Metroid game, but if that doesn't work for your story, you'd be forced to either A: make the final available equipment/skills of a chapter be the same as what you start with in the next chapter, or B: just roll with the inconsistency and hope the player doesn't mind that much.

There is also the idea of transferring saves between games, Mass Effect style, but RPG Maker just isn't built for that, and my research indicates that while technically possible, you'd have to both be extremely and unreasonably meticulous in your development process, and reliant on the player to be tech-savy enough to move the files around themselves. There might be better ways to go about it that I don't know of, since I only made some cursory searches, but I don't think it'd be a viable option in RPG Maker's current state.

Anyway, I ended up writing a lot more here than I thought I would, but it's an interesting problem to puzzle out, and I do like puzzling. Hope this helps!

So due to reading mythology and catching up to several manga series I got a fun idea. I kind of need to polish this but it's just a draft.

The battle mechanism would be multiple option for every interaction I guess. I don't really know since random battles annoy the hell out of me. I don't know whether to make this in VN Maker or in Vx Ace. If in VNM then I got to buy it as soon as i can~

18 year old orphan leaves the village that was their entire life to attend a college in the big city. When they arrive in the first stop they get confused and board the wrong train. It skips two stops and freaks out when they notice how the passengers change into monsters. They bolt out the train that changed appearance somehow and faint behind a pillar.

They wake up in a cell that 's attached to a very busy office. An individual notices the player gawking and promptly brings them up to date. The agent listens to the player tell their side of the story and starts to explain how they got there. The receptionist explains to the player that they boarded a train that automatically splits into the spirit world with its ayakashi passengers. After a brief while of several more individuals explaining the history of the coexistence of ayakashi among humans and what their specific agency does, the player learns they're a spirit-hybrid. They freak out.

Another agent in the agency escorts them to the mundane world and teaches them how to avoid accidentally phasing into the spirit world. The player then continues on their way towards college and enrolls. Few months pass while the player socialize with the ayakashi and try to make ends meet by doing part time in the evenings. During one delivery they run into an agent from the agency struggling with a rather angry halfie.

The player manages to settle the issue with the halfie and somehow ends up getting a part time job as the agent's partner. The player only accepted due to the pay being higher than the minimum wage. The duo train with other units to better themselves under the agency while the player keeps their regular life during the day.

Both agents now go around the city and resolve issues people have. Some cases start connecting and it leads to the discovery of underworld groups trying to get control of the city. I then got stuck here since I got too excited with ideas.

I've got something I'd like to run by the thread, and its just a character and basic game premise, so I'm mainly looking for feedback on whether or not this sounds like a playable game. Its something that I was going to write in novel form, but I think would actually work better as a mystery game, along the lines of Phoenix Wright or Professor Layton.

Here's my character:
https://pre00.deviantart.net/11b5/t...ell__star_sleuth_by_mystryl_shada-d9qm4sd.jpg
Obviously not a typical character, hence why I wanted to run the possibility by this thread that the average game player wouldn't mind running a cute/weird bug-boy from space. He has a disguise he uses (hard light hologram) to appear human, so he won't always look like this, but still . . .

The very basic premise is that he winds up on Earth (for reasons) and hides in disguise. While trying to unravel some mysteries relevant to why he is here in the first place, he also solves other mysteries he comes across, all while trying to avoid detection himself as an extra-terrestrial with the help of a few in-the-know friends. Basically, he's like an alien detective/spy.

I'm still new to game design, and I'm currently working on a project with other people, but I've been failing at writing this story as a novel, so I was wondering if it would work better as a puzzle solving, clue finding game? Or should I take another whack at it as a book series?


Maybe, to get around this save-transfer issue, can the game be updatable? "New episode, this week!" sort of thing. One would need to download the update, but it adds to the game that they already have. I'm new, so I can't exactly advise on how this can be implemented (or indeed, if it is possible), but I'm rather liking the concept of an episodic game too, so I'll keep my eyes open for other possibilities for this.

I really like this as a manga premise, it has potential. In gameplay though, how do you plan to balance the every-day life part? Will it be covered in conversation, like "Ugh, my classes just dragged today and I failed my quiz. It makes me happy to be at work." Or will you actually play through the whole day? Or maybe a mix? My main concern is that the daily aspect may be dull by comparison to the agent part, and will leave players thinking "Can I just skip to the part where I beat things up?"

Also, at what point in this narrative will the actual gameplay begin? I am a sucker for cut scenes, so I'll sit there watching pretty animation for longer than the average attention span. However, I know others who just want to get to the game. you may not want your opening intro to be too long or the player will be bored long before they can actually hit any buttons or keys.

I really am liking the idea of a half-spirit person involved in an agency like this; it reminds me of other fun series but with its own twist.


I'm all over this; I'd play it in a heartbeat and I don't even know the setting, lol. And this is coming from a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan. There's not enough historical works out there, so anything filling the void is welcome.

Personally, I think the world wars are done to death (even with the limited historical games out there), so try for something unique and original! Oregon Trail proved that games about the Wild West and settling can be really fun and interesting, so I think that idea of yours would be really amazing. I would personally love something covering a natural disaster from some point in history (a famous fire or earthquake from 100-50 years ago, for example); you see the best and worst in humanity at times like that and it would make for engaging gameplay (albeit could easily get dark; natural disasters are called disasters for reasons).

A village trying to bolster its defenses against a famous attacker, like Napoleon or Genghis Kahn could be fascinating as well. Covering a war that isn't as well addressed by gamemakers, like the 500 years war with England and France or even the conquring wars of the first Chinese Emperor could also prove not only fascinating, but also educational if done correctly. You could also try to realistically depict the infamous pirate era; there's enough adventure and locations there to fuel many games.

I think I can continue to run like a marathoner with the concept of RPGs in real worlds, lol. Hope I've helped give you some ideas, instead of intimidate you with a plethora of other potential possibilities.

[dpost]Mystryl_Shada[/dpost]

Okay, so I need a bit of feedback on the story and a basic idea for a mechanic:
(This is a very rough, erm, outline?thingy)

It is the year 3672, and the Galactic Commission has just renewed it's contract for the "Star Patrol Corporation", named Galactic Command (STOCK SYMBOL GalCom... not to be confused with GalCOM, Galcom, galCOMM, or the infamous penny stock G_A_Lcomm). As the game begins, our main character LORA has decided to join the Star Patrol. After answering a questionaire, she is selected for leadership school and after a year there she is assigned as a "GalCom Troubleshooter Leader (LX)". The problem is, she is inept as a leader and cannot understand why she was chosen for Leadership (this is due to the Peter Principle). Over the next FIVE MISSIONS, she will have to learn that being a LEADER takes more than guts and determination. It also takes psychosis, mood altering drugs, and a bit of mothering. Kind-of. If one can say they can mother a group of psychotic, psychotropic drug taking, former kick-murder-squad military-types with a penchant for blowing stuff up, now turned space-police officers.
The First mission is to acclimate herself to the Galactic Hub and rescue a new recruit from a heavily damaged space cruiser which was carrying a deadly animal called a Muldrox. Unfortunately the creature has given birth and the lot are infecting the ship. Also people are trapped, but they are EXPENDABLE, since the space cruiser's parent company has recently shorted GalCom stock. (The Dirty Pair kinda influenced me when I was younger... sorry.)

The Mechanic-kinda-thingy:
Over the course of the game, I would like the player to answer questionnaires as part of the debriefing process. How the player answers will impact the ending (the epilogue, more precisely) and will determine the fates of the party - similar to the ending of American Graffiti (or other similar films). But the answers will be on the irreverent side.

As far as all this goes, is this something that I can show-off as my first completed game? Is it offensive to people? How does all this sound as a beginning? (FYI: I had to trash my last effort, I was 20% of the way through and learned much about RPGMMV. I'm still a beginner, but I can do some pretty cool stuff with boss battles, cut scenes, using variables, etc. Scripting... I know JS but I refuse to use my knowledge just in case I do something stupid with it, like attempt a new battlesystem... (lol, yeah, right!) my focus NEEDS to be on the game alone!)

PS: (No SV crap - gonna kick it sega-style!)

im finally back after months of not posting. i'll be honest, i was kinda losing interest on designing my game, but im trying to get back into it.

i've redone the classes in my game a little bit. i made it so that there are only 12 classes. you start out with 4 classes but are able to unlock 8 more by doing certain things. each part of the world has an upgrade for 1 specific class and you have to collect them in order to unlock the classes most powerful move.

ive sorted the classes into 4 categories. damage, inflicter, tank, and healer. i may change which classes are under which category at some point, but the way i currently have them categorized is like this:

damage:
squire: basic swordsman who uses magical sword slashes.
mage: magical fighter with a variety of elemental powers.
gunslinger: a gunner who uses all sorts of elemental bullets and bombs.

inflicter:
ninja: attacks in shadows and tends to poison enemies.
bard: can play tunes to buff party members and debuff enemies.
gambler: has a chance to do random buffs and debuffs to friends and foes.

tank:
barbarian: big bulky fighter who get stronger the more damage they take.
paladin: holy warriors that can call forth heavenly spirits to aid them
dragoon: armored lancers with draconic powers.

healer:
cleric: priests with rejuvenation powers that wields a club.
monk: martial artists with restoration abilities.
amazon: tribal archers that can control nature. (can be male)

the class im mostly unsure about is the monk class. i wanna make a kung fu fighting class, but i cant find a good place to put them. i was gonna replace the paladin with the martial artist, but it wouldnt really feel right. i also dont really like to call them monks because monks in real life are all about peace and its only the shaolin monks that fight. also the outfit i gave them looks more like a kung fu warrior than a monk. \

ive also noticed that i didnt make each class represent each element that well. i have squire as water, mage as arcane, gunslinger as mechanica, ninja as poison, bard as electric, gambler as shadow, barbarian as ice, paladin as holy, dragoon as fire, cleric as life, monk as wind, and amazon as earth. the only reason why squire is the water elements is because that was the only one left for it. i never really made a water themed class other than swashbuckler which i got rid of. im not sure weather or not to replace a class with a more water themed one or to try changing around the other classes main elements. because every other class seems to represent their elements somewhat well. (by the way, if you were wondering what the difference between electric and mechanica are, its that electric is mostly lightning and stuff while mechanica deals with more like machine guns and stuff.)

if anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, please let me know. lawrdy knows i need it.

Since my post never got any love, I figured to pay forward - so to speak:
This is only an opinion: If you are concerned about an inhuman-looking character, don't be. Such a character can be used to reflect humanity than a human could. It's something classic Star Trek excelled in, and you could take a cue from that by showing he has more 'humanity' than the average person. I'd suggest reading "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein as a good example of a 'better than' type. (Or you could watch the "Bicentennial Man", but I'm trying to stay away from the I, Robot tropes).

As far as A Pheonix Wright game... I OBJECT!!!
"What is it now?"
"I, erm..."
A) For your first game, it would be difficult!
B) It may require extensive programming of common events to get right!
C) Many have tried and many have died, it is a fool's plug-in paradise out there!
<Show Evidence:>

In other words, I'd keep it more simple first time around. If you can write an interesting mystery - then you should do it! But keep the design simple enough for you to complete it. I don't think the poster above ever did. I think a simpler way would be to collect evidence via KEY ITEMS, but then again - I'm no expert! I'd take the easy way out and have the player remember conversational clues and come up with the answer through reasoning. Take a look at this for inspiration:


But by all means, create a game using the character! Maybe then, you'll come up with your novel! :)
***********************************************************************************************

OH! A drunken monk outcast looking for a good time would interest me! (A good time, as in freeloading drinks! And people could insult him and he'd kick their butts! A story of redemption, and martial arts!)
In other words, he could be a "Monk" in name only! Otherwise, your game sounds interesting!
(The spoiler is one of my favorite films! You should catch it on netflix or something...) :)


Oh, and water, erm, well, is traditionally a female element. Maybe the squire could be 'softened-up', so to speak! ;)

well, my game has a character creation thing to it. no character is really defined at all. i was just wondering if there was a way to fix all the problems im having with my classes.