Mix mechanics from different games and make your ideal one!

Hello, everyone!

I don't know if something similar has been discussed here before. In any cae, I think it wouldn't hurt to have a thread like this once in a while.

The proposition is as the title says. Just mix different mechanics from different games in order to create a new game that you think would be really fun. The mechanics don't necessarily have to be from an rpg, but they should be able to be featured in a turn-based 2d rpg. We're talking about rpg maker games development after all.

The mechanics can be related to dialogue, battle system, crafting, leveling up, etc. If you don't feel like listing a lot of mechanics in order to "create" a new whole game, just provide an example of a really good mechanic that you think would benefict an rpg.

Well, that's all. I hope I see many answers here and that those answers can inspire someone.

Actually, this is usually not a good idea, as the problem with may RPGMaker games is they shoehorn mechanics from every game under the sun and in the end it looks like garbage. I'll leave it open as it can be a good discussion of how to mix mechanics well, but posters beware that you will probably have others criticize your mixed mechanics due to how often others have done it poorly here on the forums.

So if you don't want a critical analysis of a mixed mechanic, it might be best to not post it here. Remember this forum is about discussion and that will include criticism

Post away.

I tried doing this with my current project. My game is based around firearms and the ammo system works well enough, though its hard to balance since guns are far stronger than regular attacks. However the other big gameplay idea I wanted was for the game to be non linear like Demon Souls or Mega Man. Turns out it was missguided since you cant get by on skillful play in a turn based RPG like you can in an action RPG. Balancing 5 areas to be of assending difficulty but beatable in any order didnt work out, so the games linear now.

I think they are some plugins that base the enemy's level off of the party's level. Did you try those?

@Grunwave Please remember that this is a Discussion section of the forum and not an implementation one.

Yeah, I'm aware of how mixing mechanics from completely different games often lead to bad gameplay if good game design is not taken into account. But that is up to the developers to think what mechanics will go well together.



You can autolevel the enemies so they always present a challenge to the party. Darkest Dungeon has a similar mechanic; when choosing what mission to do next, the areas available mostly don't change, but they have enemies with levels matching your party's.

For difficulty scaling i prefer introduction of new enemies rather than auto level simply because enemy that auto level with you feels not rewarding, like, why am i even care if enemies scaled with ours?

Practice of "analyzing the competitor" is nothing new and is used in business world daily.
But I would like to think that while the idea is a good one, how it is questions to put in practice is not sound.

I'd like to repraise a bit: Use mechanics from different games as an inspiration for your own.

The answer to that is yes.
Copying something is, in my opinion, a boring approach to a project. Yes, I know that taking something that work usually saves time... but creating a game should be fun for playing and creating it too. If the creator learns nothing in the process and has no fun making the above-mentioned game... What is the point of dedicating all that effort to being a glorified copy-cat.

The issue with autoleveling is it makes the choice of where to go lose the risk reward factor. If a games non linear but everything is the same level then its going to feel a lot more bland which is why I find the combat in Bethesda RPGs so dull and boring. It might work for some peoples projects, but I have a rule against implementing ideas and mechanics from other games that I dont enjoy all that much.

This is true in many cases. I've even found myself doing this same thing during the initial stages of my game's development. I had to scale back quite a few features in order to keep my project from being feature-bloated.

One thing that helped me was focusing on a select few core mechanics from my favorite games. The question I asked myself was:

"How can I improve this?"

In other words, how do I improve certain features without making them more complex? You'd be surprised what features you come up with.

Replayability runs forefront for me.

I think FFI did this best. With 6 classes, you have 360 group combinations.

Same. Replay ability is a must for me.

As for the topic at hand, hmmmmmmm…. I always felt town management works great with RPGs. It's hard to implement, but when done properly, adds a lot to a game.

The point is to stand on the shoulders of those who came before you and work in concepts that are proven to sell. If you dont care about profit this might not matter to you but doing what works is a massive time saver to those looking to be efficient and effective.

@lianderson : You mean you still got time to replay your games? :o

@Grunwave : Are you allowed to do something silly in FF1 like make a party of all fighters or all Red Mages? If so it might even be higher then.

@bgillisp it's more economical to have replayable game tbh, you can stay in one game longer and no need to buy or try other games. Just stick to one and be happy :p

You can do that. There are only two top tier suits of armor in FF1 though, so once you add the third heavy armor wearer--they are less functional.

That is another mechanic I have enjoyed in games: not having enough top tier equipment to go around. It feels like it matters even more.

I'm planning on eventually attempting to make a small collect-a-thon style game in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie or Super Mario 64 but top-down with RPG mechanics. Interested in how the two could be mixed together successfully.

I'm also planning on trying to do a Legend of Zelda 1 style game with RPG mechanics as well. This one would probably simpler to implement since LoZ has always teetered on the edge of being an RPG without ever quite being one.

Anyway, that's just a couple but I tend to think of all kinds of crazy games I could be working on instead of my current project. LOL

Wouldnt zelda be concidered an action rpg?

This is an idea that I am applying, the game that I am developing and I have finished implementing some mechanics (field Skills and some stuffs) based from Golden Sun / Golden Sun The Lost Age, Pokemon and Zelda. I just need to be able to jump through platforms that can be moved manually (pushing it).