So, I've had a few games in production since....well, way back when. We'll just say that.
None of those games ever saw the light of day, aside from friends test-playing the demos and stuff like that.
So, I was thinking...what if I combined all of those great ideas into one game? I would have myself a real work of art via game form.

Now, I realize none of you know what I'm talking about. Let me explain myself here..and some ideas I have.

There are about three games worthy of mention that I've made, but have since lost, regrettably due to electrical storms, formatting, or etc. As for the titles, I don't remember them all. For those, I'll list as N/A. Now, on with this.

"N/A", Sidescrolling/exploration.
This game was my first attempt at a side scroller. I had a lot of cool ideas in this one, you purchased items in a store by pressing up at them, and by equipping them, it would alter your speed and graphic.

Let's say you bought the item "heavy armor" to enter a volcano, as it protected against heat. Your graphic would change to you wearing it, but your speed would be reduced by 2, as it's "heavy armor". That's what I wanted to with this game, but I never really got around to it.

You could get an item called a "Tundra Crystal" and use it at the mouth of the volcano. It would freeze it, making a once hot, hellish place, an icy one. It also allowed further access down into the volcano.

This game also had no combat system, as it was puzzle oriented for the most part. You get an item one place, take it somewhere else, and use it. That kind of game.


"Labyrinth", Dungeon crawler/RPG
This game had a system similar to zelda, it was puzzle oriented, but not as much as the game above. There was a combat system in place, although it wasn't like zelda. You touched an enemy, you had to fight it on another screen.

What I think is worthy of mention on this game is, I had side quests in place on this one, such as a tree-cutting game and a farming system much like harvest moon's...but much faster. I also had a blacksmithing system.

Also, the boss fights were given a little twist to make it more interesting. Upon defeating the boss, in order to truly win the fight, you had to press a sequence of keys at the right times, kinda like guitar hero. If you pressed them correctly, you would capture the monster. Otherwise, you would have to start the battle over again, but the monster would have 1/2 of it's full health.

If you captured the monster, you would then return it to "The Void" and unlock an ability.


"Arcane Wars", Dungeon crawler/RPG
This game had a lot of interesting cut scenes in it. One involved a tower sinking below the ground due to the main hero's evil clone...however, that wasn't the highlight of the game.

The most interesting thing I wanted to implement into this one, was a bit different. Once you defeated a boss, you would purify it into it's true form, an "Igami". The Igami were tainted by an unknown force, and it caused them to manifest themselves into a malicious form.

Once collecting the Igami, you could channel it's power and fuse with it, and become the version of the boss you had just defeated, and gain an ability. The more you fought as this being, the stronger it would get and eventually level up, giving you access to more of it's abilities.

To make it clearer, if you defeated a flying boss, at first you could channel it and be able to jump...level it up, and you'll be able to double jump. Other bosses included a crystalline statue that could increase your defense, a fish demon that would allow you to swim, a lizard that would allow you to cloak like a chameleon, and climb like a gecko, and a dragon that would allow you to fly and breathe fire.


I'm seriously considering combining all three of these games into one idea. Each had something interesting about it. Give me your thoughts on this, and possibly some ideas of your own.

Thanks,
-Andy

I don't disagree with your own thoughts, combining the best of all three for a puzzle rpg game sounds good. Your ideas seem pretty original, I like the first couple the best. Think about backing up your data more regularly if it gets deleted so easily, perhaps?

Yeah..I suppose that would be a good idea..but, you never know when these things could happen. However, there is no excuse for it, so I digress.

Have you ever played or heard of La-Mulana? If you have, I want this game to be like that in the puzzles aspect...and maybe like mega man or metroid fusion in the aspect of the Igami system I'm planning. It's still in debate. I've got a lot of planning yet to do, I just needed to know if this was worth going after.

I'm also thinking a side scrolling exploration/adventure/action RPG would be what this will turn out to be or evolve into. Thoughts? Suggestions?

They do seem pretty good. As for the taking bosses forms and all..it reminds me of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S64X_g_maPQ

Yeah..I had in mind somethin' like graffiti kingdom, except..the bosses you defeat return to their original shape and form, and when you fuse with it, it looks like a mixture between you and it. Think Totally Rad for the NES when you could transform into bird man or fish man...something along those lines.

Also thinking of doing this game in classic NES style. Although I'm capable of SNES quality graphics, I think NES stylings would suit it better.

Oh...okay!

Man, oh man, oh man. This is ollllld. However, I'm still working on this. This is Andy, by the way. Doubtful anyone's gonna really read this, anyway.

I had forgotten my info for this account and created another one, but as you can see, I've gotten it back. Neither here nor there, though. I've got a few monsters drawn up, I'll post a few images.

Treant:

Multiconid:

Myconid:

Sludge:

Should anyone actually lay eyes on these pictures, let me know what you think about them!

original? not necessarily. but originality, in all honesty, is overrated. It's all about execution. From what you described, none of those game elements seem to contradict each other, so I can totally see an enjoyable game coming from this.

Thanks, man. Hopefully I'll have a demo up and running if I keep at this pace.

I had written this on facebook prior to posting the monster pictures up there...it's some more ideas for this game.

So, I've got this idea. Several, actually. The game I'm developing will eventually have around 200 different monsters.. I have a billion ideas I could do. Would you like it if there are special conditions as to which the monster would become disabled, should a certain part of it become destroyed?

If so, there could be different weapons used to cripple a monster.. like say, you're going against a Fungus family monster, with different parts on it's body that can heal it. You'd use a sword to chop that part of it off, and prevent it from healing itself..but the chances at getting a rare item would become reduced.

Or, you could be going against a Mechanical family monster, that has a part of it that allows it to increase it's attack or speed. A hammer type weapon would be more effective against it's type, because of it's metallic body.

See the pattern I'm getting at?

I believe I'm going to base the more powerful normal monster battles in this fashion.

The boss fights will also take this trend, but if you leave it's parts and go straight for the 'core' of the boss, and manage to defeat it, your chances of getting an item only obtained from it (like Monster Hunter) would be higher.

I think I'll have an item creation system implemented as well, because I seemed to enjoy games with those elements.. and it would give the game an area revisit value, on top of needing to defeat a boss more than once to obtain a certain item, to make a weapon or piece of armor (again, like Monster Hunter).

That being said, what types of monsters would you like to see me make? I've already got the basic slime, plant, mechanical, undead, and fungus family monsters. Any idea would be appreciated, and credited at the end of the game.

So, questions...comments?

that last part I'm not as sure about. I mean, the monster parts idea is not a bad one, if a little overdone in FF games. But it works, so why not, right? That whole bit about item dropping is basically a subtlety thing, and to me less of a major feature. It however, works. What I'm not sure, however, specifying a weapon type to a part is a little iffy in my opinion. First of all, metal is not necessarily more susceptible to hammers, for example, but rather just force in general. (Heck, platemail was pretty much made obsolete not by hammers, but by long bows) Trying to match a particular weapon to the weakness by necessity feels a little arbitrary. Now, saying that a monster is just more susceptible (or inversely, has less resistance to) a particular weapon type or some such, that I think it's okay.

item creation system I'm not sure about though. For one, it needs to be fleshed out more fully for me to really understand the impact on the game. another thing is, technically, it can be a real pain to put together.

Well, as far as the weapon type weaknesses, you're right. I suppose some type of piercing weapon, like a spear, crossbow, or etc. would make more sense than a blunt weapon on an armored enemy. Also, swapping a weapon out just to deal damage to an enemy would become tedious, so I get what you mean there.

The item creation system isn't necessarily supposed to be a major feature. It does, however, add a bit of variety to a game. Let's say there's a weapon in a shop, and it's an astronomical price for the area you're in..but you really need/want it, and don't want to have to grind monsters to earn the money. So, you'd go to a blacksmith, who can make the exact same weapon, but for a fraction of the price. Only thing is, you have to bring that item's components in order for it to be made. Most of the components would either have to be collected from monsters, or mining/harvesting/etc.

I don't intend on restricting it to only items you can wear or fight with, though. Every item's game. This would give otherwise useless items a hidden purpose. Suppose a monster drops an item that you can't really do anything with, aside from healing 1% max HP, or discarding it. Normally, you'd trash it to free up your space, but in this game, combining that item with another would make it more powerful, or give a weapon or piece of armor various added effects.

I realize these ideas are kind of tired and used before, but I plan on doing it my own way. I don't want anything fresh or new, I just want to create something that I can honestly say I made, or helped to make.

well, the idea itself is fine, it's just that it requires some fine tuning to make it work. The appeal of an item creation system is trying to figure out HOW to create these items. (hopefully, without having to go online to find a guide or recipe book) So preferably, the items should be able to be combined in an intuitive way or have some way of illuminating what methods might actually work. (And then of course, you could always include items that are just really whacky)

To do this though, you would need to develop a huge database of items and how they combine together. While implementing it from a technical standpoint would not be that hard, getting all the content to go together will take some time. My suggestion? You first create a huge list of items you want to be the end products, and then start crafting items that can be used for each one around it. If you need help on that, I'm happy to lend a hand once you have the base engine up and running.

Yup. I'll get to writing a list of items, armor, and weaponry, and the items needed to make them. This list will be ever-growing, due to the other areas I've yet to think up, and the monsters that inhabit those areas, because monsters=items. Not entirely, though.

I'd like to implement a harvesting/mining system, where you have a specific set tool in order to mine or harvest something..maybe a random number handler to determine what item you get. I also want to have different grades of tools, so you can get better or more ore/plants, and a set number of uses before the item is removed from the inventory/destroyed.

..but, yeah. I need to start brainstorming on what items could combine into something else. I've already got a list a mile long on some possible combinations in my head.

well, don't go crazy with all the combos just yet. What you need to do first is to jot down categories. (And I really mean write down. Not just in your head. They need to put down in a document or else you WILL lose track) These categories don't have to be precise. You just need to get enough so that it makes it easy for you to do the next part: brainstorming.

brainstorming maybe 4-6 items for each category. Obviously, you might want to end up with more than that in the end. The purpose of this exercise, however, is to nail down the basics and start fully envisioning what it is you're shooting for. Think of it as prototype on paper. Obviously, as you think of more, you can start adding them on.

once you have THAT basic list. then you can start jotting down items that lead to them.

the mining/harvesting concept is not bad either. It actually feeds right into your item system anyway. Just brainstorming here, but here are some ideas for it.

three things determine what kind of ore you get: the location, the skill level, and the tools.

If you HAVE skill attached to it at all, that is. (i.e. you can either have a mining skill, or you can just have a character who is a miner and is the only one who can find the better ore)

Basically, to discover ore, you need to be at the right place, with the right guy who has the right skill level. (i.e. finding raw iron might be easy, but finding mithril might require a level 10 miner) When the player is in a position where all of these conditions are met, an extra doodad will be drawn on screen showing the ore itself. The player can go up to it and start digging. However, digging takes stamina (or mana, or whatever resource you want them to expend doing it). Each round you can only get so much ore on each dig. Meaning, there's a mana to ore ratio that you need to keep in mind. Better tools will allow you get more ore for less mana. (Or in some cases, let's get any at all) tools themselves might deteriorate or disappear. (or you can simply treat them like one use items to make it easier to manage. so a player who is serious about mining might end up walking around with 99 pick axes in his inventory)

This is a fairly basic mining model, but it has enough that there are still decisions that need to be made for it. You don't even need to do it by level. You could do it by category. i.e. a mithril pickaxe is need to even cut through the mithril mines. (maybe you can buy one from the dwarves) but the same mithril pickaxe will not work on a soul gem, which requires an Eldrich pickaxe to get. (which, if you want, can double as a crappy weapon with eldritch qualities)

from here, you can have a fairly decent mining system by just adding the following attributes
characters
mining skill level
items
tools
ore types
"damage" the tools can deal
ore locations
what ore is there
what level/skill do you need to see it
what is the ores "defense" against different types

I've done a bit of thinking while I was at work today, and jotted this down, and added onto it once I got home. What if I had an item for sale in a store, that read as one item, but when it's purchased, it gives 100 of the item, and instead of going through with variables and all that, have each item as a percent of the whole. This would make it easier to do a tool defense system, because each time you use it, whatever percentage that using said tool would be damaged, could simply be shown by deducting whatever number of items equal to the percent damaged from those 100 items.

..If that confused you, I apologize. I just needed to state that before posting the data I'd compiled today. It's quite a bit, so I apologize ahead of time.

----Mining----

--[Main Ores]--
Tin [Low Grade Ore]
Copper [Low Grade Ore]
Iron [Low Grade Ore]

Silver [Medium Grade Ore]
Gold [Medium Grade Ore]
Mithril [Medium Grade Ore]

Zephyr [High Grade Ore]
Umbracine[High Grade Ore]
Lumicite [High Grade Ore]


--[Secondary Ores]--
Rock Shard [By-Product of Mining a Low-Grade Ore]
Coal [By-Product of Mining a Low-Grade Ore]
Garnet [By-Product of Mining a Low-Grade Ore]

Catseye [By-Product of Mining a Medium-Grade Ore]
Aquamarine [By-Product of Mining a Medium-Grade Ore]
Emerald [By-Product of Mining a Medium-Grade Ore]

Ruby [By-Product of Mining a High-Grade Ore]
Opal [By-Product of Mining a High-Grade Ore]
Amethyst [By-Product of Mining a High-Grade Ore]


--[Ore Combos]--
Copper+Tin= Bronze Bar [Basic Item Needed to Forge]
Iron+Coal= Steel Bar [Basic Item Needed to Forge]
Copper+Copper= Copper Bar [Basic Item Needed to Forge]
Iron+Iron= Iron Bar [Basic Item Needed to Forge]
Tin+Tin= Tin Bar [Basic Item Needed to Forge]

Silver+Silver= Silver Bar [Medium Item Needed to Forge]
Gold+Gold= Gold Bar [Medium Item Needed to Forge]
Mithril+Mithril= Mith Bar [Medium Item Needed to Forge]

Zephyr+Zephyr= Zeph Bar [High Item Needed to Forge]
Umbracine+Lumicite= Reagal Bar [High Item Needed to Forge]
Zephyr+Umbracine= Shade Bar [High Item Needed to Forge]
Zephyr+Lumicite= Holy Bar [High Item Needed to Forge]
Mithril+Zephyr= Mana Bar [High Item Needed to Forge]


--[Upper Smelts]--
Mana Bar+Holy Bar= High Lumic Bar [Rare Item]
Mana Bar+Shade Bar= High Umbra Bar [Rare Item]
Reagal Bar+Mana Bar= Royal Bar [Rare Item]


--Mining Skill Specs--
Mining can be done anywhere there is a node, and as long as you have a tool with enough Damage Points. Each time you mine, the skill level goes up respectively as to what ore you are mining. Also, the damage value goes up depending on the skill level needed to mine it. Higher Tool ratings affect how much damage is done to the tool when mining on a particular node. Higher grade ores are restricted until you have the skill level to mine them. Secondary ores come as a tag-along item, as to what you get, it's randomly generated. Skill Points do not affect the damage done to a tool, the tool's type itself determines that. However, you do need to mine the materials needed to create a certain type of tool, thus keeping the system in check..unless you purchase a tool made of higher graded ores than you can currently mine.

[Tin] SP Gained: 1 SP Needed: 000,+015 needed to mine next ore
[Copper] SP Gained: 1 SP Needed: 015,+020 needed to mine next ore
[Iron] SP Gained: 2 SP Needed: 035,+030 needed to mine next ore

[Silver] SP Gained: 2 SP Needed: 065,+045 needed to mine next ore
[Gold] SP Gained: 2 SP Needed: 110,+065 needed to mine next ore
[Mithril] SP Gained: 4 SP Needed: 175,+085 needed to mine next ore

[Zephyr] SP Gained: 4 SP Needed: 260,+120 needed to mine next ore
[Umbracine] SP Gained: 5 SP Needed: 380 [Maximum so far]
[Lumacite] SP Gained: 5 SP Needed: 380 [Maximum so far]


--Damage Lists--
Damage percentages are per use of the tool, on the ore specified, out of 100%.

-Tin Pick-
Tin Ore: 10% Damage
Copper Ore: 10% Damage
Iron Ore: 10% Damage
Silver Ore: 30% Damage
Gold Ore: 30% Damage
Mithril Ore: 30% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 50% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 50% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 50% Damage

-Bronze Pick-
Tin Ore: 08% Damage
Copper Ore: 08% Damage
Iron Ore: 08% Damage
Silver Ore: 24% Damage
Gold Ore: 24% Damage
Mithril Ore: 24% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 40% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 40% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 40% Damage

-Silver Pick-
Tin Ore: 06% Damage
Copper Ore: 06% Damage
Iron Ore: 06% Damage
Silver Ore: 18% Damage
Gold Ore: 18% Damage
Mithril Ore: 18% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 30% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 30% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 30% Damage

-Steel Pick-
Tin Ore: 04% Damage
Copper Ore: 04% Damage
Iron Ore: 04% Damage
Silver Ore: 12% Damage
Gold Ore: 12% Damage
Mithril Ore: 12% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 20% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 20% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 20% Damage

-Mithril Pick-
Tin Ore: 02% Damage
Copper Ore: 02% Damage
Iron Ore: 02% Damage
Silver Ore: 06% Damage
Gold Ore: 06% Damage
Mithril Ore: 06% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 10% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 10% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 10% Damage

-Reagal Pick-
Tin Ore: 01% Damage
Copper Ore: 01% Damage
Iron Ore: 01% Damage
Silver Ore: 03% Damage
Gold Ore: 03% Damage
Mithril Ore: 03% Damage
Zephyr Ore: 05% Damage
Umbracine Ore: 05% Damage
Lumacite Ore: 05% Damage

If anything looks a bit off, or if anyone has any ideas that would contribute, let me know so I can polish this up and get it ready to implement.

wow, nice. I'll have to go over this later in better detail. But I think your method is fine. It's just that, you'll have to mess with the display if you want to do it this way. (or else it'll look like you just went through 67 bronze pickaxes for a handful of gems, and that would just look funny)

I plan on creating a custom menu system to alleviate that, but that means more work. However, I'd like to do it that way so I can make custom icons for the items as well, without having to fool with Ruby scripting, which I am oblivious to. I'm rooted in 2k3, and I've been using it for years.. I guess I'm pretty comfortable using it. Just gonna take a lot of variables, pictures, switches, etc.

well, I personally think scripting would be a cleaner solution, but it's your game, so your decision really.

It's still up for debate, I haven't even started work on this as far as mapping, coding, and stuff like that. I have a few monsters made, and a chipset done, but those could be converted to another maker. VX has a higher resolution, so that'd allow me to make more complex graphics. Anyways, I'm willing to learn.. or I could just get someone else to do the code for me, while I focus on the systems, graphics, and stuff like that. I know this game's gonna take a team effort in the long run..lol

BUMP.

I'm also working on the SP numbers of a smelting system, whereas you must refine ores into bars at workshops, in order to use them in one of the smithing skills, which I'm also working on implementing. After I get the numbers down, I'm going to begin on the two smithing skills I want to do. Blacksmithing being the main one, to create the armor and weapons used, and also an uncommon idea, I think; Whitesmithing. Learning this skill would enable the player to polish or file their weapons or armor to increase it's defense or attack. Using the skill would require one item to do an ATK+ or DEF+ buff, such as a whetstone or a piece of leather.

Perhaps only human characters could learn to whitesmith, and maybe only dwarven characters could learn to blacksmith, and whitesmith both. Still debating on whether or not to use a race aside from humans. I know there are going to be a race of semi-intelligent, tribal-esque mushroom humanoids, otherwise known as Myconids. For the main part, I'm not sure how that race being a part of the party would be of any benefit...I've only thought of them as monsters up 'til now. Maybe some nice poison attacks, or something like that?

..but, I'm just burnin' some midnight oil, and thinkin' too much, probably.. I'd better get to bed. It's 2:40AM here. Haha.

I say for now just focus getting core mechanics of blacksmithing and whitesmithing down pat first. Don't worry about the races just yet.

What you want to get to in the very end is sort of "pseudo-code" like precision where you know exactly how the numbers you have above are processed into actual results. That way, when you want to bring it over to turn into code or events, you'll know exactly what it is you're shooting for.

this is best achieved by writing "use cases", or more like scenarios. So, take the numbers you have above, and try to push them through a system of precise calculations.

Done more work on this.. I have the numbers down for mining and smelting, redid the lists into neater, easier to read charts. Starting on Blacksmithing SP, and item combinations using that skill. Gonna be a small list, until I get some more ideas rollin'. I'll edit this post with the new info later on.

Also going to start on a few other systems; herbology and/or horticulture. Gonna be much like Harvest Moon's farming system..or Boktai's. I've made it before in a past game, so it'll be easy to do.

I'm also openly recruiting..so whoever wants in on this, let me know via messaging on here. All positions are open except graphics. I want everything to be custom-made. Nothing RTP.

well, I'm more than happy to give game design advise and play testing later.

Sorry it's been a while, been going through the process of purchasing a new car, my old one kinda died on me. Anyway, here's what I've got as of yet..and be warned, there's a LOT of information. I couldn't directly post it to this forum, it made the format all wonky. I uploaded it instead. You may download it here: RPG System Notes [25.2 KB]

EDIT: It's best to view the file in Courier, with the font size as 10. Also word wrap. Otherwise, it will look like a hot mess.