Text inputs in battles

Hi,


I'm a computing teacher at a UK school and I have had a rather odd idea.


You see, I teach 8-12 year olds and I would like to make a RPG in RPGMakerMV (I got an idea from an Anime I was watching) to help make maths and other learning fun. Ideally I want to replace enemy attacks with simple math problems (e.g a goblin asks you 7x5, you input 35 and he takes damage, incorrect answers get player damage). 


But before I invest in RPGmaker (which would sadly come from my own pocket), can I ask...


1. Is this doable?


2. How easy would it be to do?


I have some limited knowledge of code but I fear this would be very tricky.

You could do it with force the battle action and a conditional statement. For ex.


If Math Answer =  35 then force action from player to index 1.


Else:


  Goblin force actions attack player.


Sorry for the example with code is bad, as I am at work right now. But it would not be to hard to do.

Wow, thank you so much for your response :) okay-I think I'm ready to take the plunge :) just one more question before I start.


Would I have to code  questions for every single enemy encounter? Or could I create a file of maths questions that could be random?

No you not have to code, you could do a event base system. Which is like visual code, I will post more for you about this when I am home from work.

Yep, I agree with 2DGameStudio's approach, though I'd note that you'd want to run a common event from either the skill or a troop event that will ask the question and force an action appropriately.  RPG Maker is a pretty good platform for this kind of thing.  You will definitely need to play around for a few hours to make this work, but it is not that hard (and there's a great community here if you get stuck).


Also, you can get a 30-day free trial of most of the Makers (such as VX Ace which would be my pick for making this kind of game) to make sure that you're not throwing away your money, or you can download the VX Ace Lite version which, while limited and not fully-featured, is free and might have everything you need to make the game you're thinking of.

I was thinking of going with the MV version as i'd like to port it to a free app for my students as well so they could practise it at home, and MV looks like it's a pretty good version for us beginners.


I'm going to try the trial version now and see how I get get on

As far as the answering goes, something like the picture below would be your best bet, I think. Make a skill called "Solve" that calls this common event when used.  "input" and "solution" are both variables. It'll enable the player to input a number, setting the value of "input". If the number matches the solution (determined by the question asked), the enemy takes the damage. If it doesn't, the player takes the correct answer worth of damage, showing them their mistake. Or you could do it equal to their input value, or just force the goblin to attack. Many options.

@MrTeacher I'm an elementary school teacher myself, and have been exploring the use of RPG Maker for similar (educational) purposes.  I think it has great potential for this kind of thing. Good luck!

Please let me know what you think of it. I was very skeptical myself, but am having a blast now! Although you do have a specific goal in mind (and not just "free styling").


I find it admirable that you're possibly taking the time to put together a mini game for mathematics. Not only is this wise, but also very much a genious idea (kind of jealous), haha.


Good luck on the project!!!

I too am enjoying learning the ins and outs of RPG Maker and would recommend it to anyone that appeared interested in this sort of thing.


There is another option that you might want to explore in addition to RMMV. It's called Scratch. It's a neat little visual programming language that can be used to make simple games of all types. You could potentially make a simple shooter game where your students have to shoot the correct answer while avoiding the incorrect ones, a platformer that works much the same way. If you're familiar with the types of games on the old Leapster handheld, you can probably make custom versions of those with little effort (short of watching some YouTube tutorials). It's also a good tool to use to introduce programming to your students if you happen to have that kind of professional freedom. It's worth checking out, at least.

Why don't you just make a battle system with fixed damage and a very simple damage formula? You could also have various skills with math based effects (like an attack that crits if the enemy's HP is divisible by 3/5, one that hits twice for -2 damage...). You should also have an instant skill that lets you see the opponent's stats so those calculations are doable (feel free to add a minor MP cost that rewards remembering the stats).


This way, you're making the battle system about math rather than putting math problems in front of the battle system. You could even make the dungeons and enemy types be about different math problems and the stat increase by levelling up (maybe only via winning boss fights) lets you do math with higher numbers fluently.

@LightningLord2's ideas are excellent and brilliant ways to teach immersively.  No doubt about that.  However, unless you have significant game design experience, I would recommend against attempting such a system, because it can be difficult to convey the relevant mechanical information to your students (players) and would need to be exquisitely balanced to create something that isn't frustrating yet also doesn't allow a player who is completely missing the point to progress anyhow.


Simply putting the math problems in front of the player as part of the combat system may not be as fun, and may not be the ideal learning experience because it breaks immersion, but it's a lot easier to design correctly for clarity and balance.

@MrTeacher Not gonna add anything else, than what's already been discussed here. Just gonna add that it would be fairly easy to do and that this idea of yours is absolutely awesome! Wish more teachers could have fun interactions like this to motivate the kids better, and have them learn in a way that's more suitable and enjoyable to them.


Just wanted to give you creds to the idea, cause It's rather lovely :)