Recently I've been inspired to do a monster capture game. They're simple, but they provide enough of a challenge in both scripting and spriting (Without too much challenge) to be in my skill range. They don't require amazing storylines, and can be focused on gameplay.
I've always decided that if I was gonna do a monster capture game I'd keep it more in style of Jade Cocoon than Pokemon, having a more feral look to the world and a less feel-good child oriented storyline.
I'm still working on the design. I'd love some ideas during this stage of development, mainly gameplay theory and setting ideas.
Examples of the kind of ideas I'm looking for:
Setting Suggestion - "I would like to see some undead monsters in your game."
Gameplay Suggestion - "I would love to see a feature where the Tamer can fuse with the monsters he tames."
No matter if you think it'll work or not, suggest it. If it's valid, it may be implemented.
4/15/11 I've made some independent progress on the setting. Here is the premise of the story. Input appreciated.
Edeth, the great tree of beasts. Located on the center of our world, Edeth provides sustenance and nutrients to the earth below us. It's also home to the many Beasts of the world, known as Eden, and is the source of where they come from. Together, the Eden drive humanity away from Edeth into the barren and infertile lands. Struggling to survive, the humans try to retain their foothold over fertile ground and avoid being overcome by the Beasts of Edeth.
They endured with no real progress. That was until a man synthesized a fruit known as the Fruit of Anima. This fruit tamed the indomitable spirit of the Eden when fed to them. Once tamed, they would grow accustomed to man, and begin to trust their caretakers. These subservient Beasts of Edeth became known as Aden. Using Aden to fight back, the tamers could reach a little farther into the lands of Edeth.
Over time man carved a path closer to Edeth, where the land was lush and minerals abundant. With great study they synthesized more varieties of fruit to tame the different Eden. Still, even now, Edeth is a long distance off and the great Eden create a wedge between her and humanity.
So the Tamers fight to keep humanity safe, and improve our lives. They flush Eden from their dens, known as Gardens of Edeth, and prevent them from nesting too close to humans. They care for Aden in the Gardens of Anima that are their homes. Without them, surely humanity would crumble . . .
You take on the role of a fledgling tamer. You have yet to tame a beast. So, with a few supplies, a Fruit of Anima and the support of your village, you head out to find your first Aden.
The following is a basic rundown of the first arc of the game:
Prologue & 1st Chapter
You are given a very short intro into the history of the game. You meet the character you play with no real backdrop of who he is yet, just what he's doing. You are in a Garden of Edeth, and your job is to find the right Eden to tame. After a few battles you succeed in doing so and return home.
Gardens typically contain Alpha Eden. These are great beasts that watch over and control the gardens. Fortunately your job has nothing to do with this, and you avoid running into the nesting ground of the Alpha Eden.
You return home, and get your first backdrop on the character and his village. It's a small village closer to Edeth than it is the barrens. You also meet your best friend, who congratulates you on your capture. You make plans to go explore a nearby Garden of Edeth later on in the day. You're treated to some snippets of gameplay in the meantime, and can gather some basic character info via the village. You must go talk to your village Elders and be initiated as a tamer to continue the story.
You gain your first real task at this point. Tomorrow you will go clear out a very small Garden of Edeth early in the morning. Since your Edeth is one of the stronger ones, this is a task you can take on alone while the other Tamers are gutting out the bigger Gardens.
So you join up with your best friend, explore a garden, and then return. You hit the hay, wake up, and get ready to leave. You head out, get into the Garden, and begin your push to the Alpha Eden's nest with your Aden. It's an easy task with the Aden you have.
About halfway through, the Garden begins to get really empty. Unusual, as most nests are well guarded with Eden closer to the Alpha den. You enter the room before the boss, and suddenly the wildlife pushes out of the surrounding and past you, followed by a few Eden that ignore you. Confused, but determined, you head inside the Alpha Den only to find it empty.
You return towards your village, and find a large number of Eden tracks heading in the same direction. A bit worried, you travel to your village only to find it wrecked. You don't get to explore long either, as a an Alpha Eden spots you. Not the one you were gonna fight either, this one is a serious one.
You run from it, only to have it corner you. Before it can get too close, your head is filled with a deafening noise, and you go unconscious.
At this point, you enter an unconscious dream state. A demi-human beast stands before you. All demi-humans are Beasts of Edeth, but can not speak human languages. This one doesn't have that problem though, and speaks clearly to you. It guides you around this place, and leads you to a girl. She seems to know you, but you have no clue who she is.
This ends the prologue and sets us up for the first chapter.
Before you can learn to much, a white flash of light fills the screen, and you begin to awaken. An old woman is tending to your wounds with the help of her grand son. Your first shock comes when you realize you're nowhere near your village anymore, but rather near the barrens. Your second comes when you realize you are five years older.
No one knows much more than the news that some Eden trampled your village a few years back. Number of survivors, name of survivors, if the village is being rebuilt, and all those other things aren't really known this far from the spot. Decidedly, you realize you need to head towards your village if you want any answers and be of help in rebuilding it. At the least people would like to know if you're alive.
Being a Tamer is all you know, and your only use at this point. Unfortunately there are not many fruits or very good fruits this far out in the barrens. A tree where the old location for the village still stands, and it bares fruit. It's been taken over by some Eden though. You head out and acquire the fruit, and then begin your trip towards your village. Using the fruit you can capture your first real Aden.
At some point the first chapter will end, and the second chapter begins which will include the following event.
Along the route, you run into a girl not at all different from the one you saw in your dream. Of course not wanting to sound like a crazy person and explain your life story, you find a way to become her acquaintance. Easy enough, since she's a Tamer as well. Eventually you help her out with a local problem, and she shows you the way to the next Garden that leads you in the right direction.
Before you're about to part ways, you decide to tell her about the dream. Fortunately she has some idea what you're talking about. Instead of parting with you, she agrees to let you back in the village and talk to her about this. This allows you to convince her to come with you.
Now, these chapters will somehow connect us to the ending game chapters which reveal the deeper plot.
The following is the deeper meaning of the plot, and are considered spoilers for the game.
End Game Plot (Climax)
Upon finally reaching your ruined village, you will uncover the origins of humanity and Edeth. These may be done with actual, physical clues or are done via a dream state like in the end of the prologue, triggered by the energy from your ruined town.
What you discover is that Humans are really Beasts of Edeth. Not only were they beasts, but they were the most powerful Eden. However, they committed a sin against Edeth. As punishment, they were stripped of their power and exiled, cast out towards the barrens where they were chased off by the Eden. Finally, the language of Edeth was taken from them, the language of the Beasts.
They struggled in the Barrens, and came up with their own language so they could communicate with each other once more. With time, they forgot they were ever Beasts, because after all, they no longer were. Eventually after their struggle they became efficient again, and were able to hold some of the fertile grounds along the cusp, where Edeths roots reached.
A scholarly, intelligent man had been studying Edeth and beasts and humans. He stumbled upon the discovery that humans were once Beasts of Edeths. Using this knowledge, he synthesized the Fruit of Anima. He was interested in giving humans the power they deserved more than anything, and taking revenge against Edeth. He grew the first Gardens and fed the first fruits to the Eden. He taught the first botanists, and gave rise to the tamers.
You discover that you and the girl (And perhaps one or two others in your party) are the missing link between the Humans and the Eden. In the five years you were unconscious, you were an Eden transformed by the will of Edeth.
Edeth calls for you to help her. She is in distress. You and your allies decide to answer the call, and go closer to her.
You discover more as you get closer. The man that created the fruit of Anima also discovered a way to transform himself back into a Beast of Edeth permanently without the will of Edeth. He did so, and entered into Edeth.
Now he lies within her core, rotting her away and attacking her from the inside. He is known as Anima. Your goal becomes to save Edeth and kill Anima.
Some ideas I'm mulling over in my head pertaining to the first chapter & some base gameplay. Could use some yays or nays on these.
Beginning Game Ideas
The main hero's older brother is a high-marks Tamer in the village. The main hero looks up to him. One of his hopes is that his parents and brother are still alive and so is his best friend as he travels.
I may make either his older brother or his best friend an acquirable party member in a later chapter.
Tamers come in a variety of flavors. The main hero is a Hunter style Tamer. The girl is a Bard style tamer. I will likely have a tamer who is a blue-mage type as well.
Some ideas that I'm likely to implement, but would like feedback first. These ideas DO contains SPOILERS.
Late game ideas
You can make a few choices in the game that determine if you get 1 of 3 endings. The endings and their influences are as follows:
Edeth Ending - You have shown all your Aden love and compassion. You have skipped most or all the battles with optional Eden. You have shown compassion for Edeth in your dialogue. Reward: The final dungeon is a lot easier. Anima is a lot harder. When the game ends, all humans are turned back into Eden, and are allowed to return to Edeth.
Normal Ending - You have been good to your Aden. You haven't indulged too many fights with optional Eden. You have shown interest for Edeth in your dialogue. Reward: When the game ends, your party is turned into Eden and you're allowed to live happily under her boughs.
Anima Ending - You have treated your Aden poorly. You have indulged nearly all fights with optional Eden. You have shown contempt for Edeth in your dialogue. Reward: Last dungeon is difficult, Anima offers you the chance to join him. Denying his offer makes for an easy fight, gives you the normal ending. Accepting makes the last fight the core of Edeth. Edeth dies, and Anima becomes the new, Twisted Tree of Anima. Eden are pushed to the Barrens, and Humans are allowed to reside above Anima's roots in their Eden forms.
Towards the end of the game as you approach Edeth, you find a Human tribe close to Edeth's base. While these humans still war with the Eden a few have been gifted the tongue of Edeth. They wear Eden masks, and try their best to harmonize with the Eden for survival. They are devout worshipers and followers of Edeth hoping to redeem themselves, and they have been given blessings by her. A small handful of them can transform into a few select Eden.
From this tribe you may acquire another party member.
If you're heading to the Anima ending, the Tribe of Edeth will not have an extra party member for you.
Along the way, you discover 'the truths about Anima' by pages and writings left behind by the man himself. He wrote them in the hopes someone would follow him and perform the ritual themselves. (You of course lack the supplies to perform the ritual anyways.)
I've been considering calling Humans in their Eden form Aeden.
You get to use your Beast form as an Overdrive skill in the latter game.
The following is what you can expect in terms of gameplay. As always, please weigh in on these.
Game Play
Tamer Features:
Tamers will have HP and MP, can use weapons, items, spells and equipment. Tamers can fight, but generally should rely on their monsters. Tamers are primarily for utility. There will be 3-6 Tamers composing your party. If your party of tamers die, it's game over. Tamers will have permanent classes. Currently planned classes are Hunter, Bard, and "Blue Mage".
The elemental system is currently planned as:
<> means they boost each other. +20% damage to one another. ~ means they are neutral to one another. No damage bonuses.
Stone > Lightning Lightning > Water Water > Fire Fire > Ice Ice > Wind Wind > Stone
Fire <> Lightning Lightning <> Wind Wind <> Fire
Water <> Ice Ice <> Stone Stone <> Water
Water ~ Wind Stone ~ Fire Lightning ~ Ice
Beast Features: 80% of Beasts will have an element. 20% will be non-elemental. Beasts will have species that will also effect their strengths. There will be a love attribute that Aden have. Low love will affect beast performance. Beasts will have 1 (or 2) accessory slots. Beasts will have passive skill slots.
The classifications of Eden are as follows:
Amorph - Slimes, flans, jellies, and blobs. Avian - Birds and Bats. Drake - Lizards and scaly things. Esper - Wisps that have denounced their element to possess objects. Faeling - Demi-humans that have a humanoid shape, but animal properties. Halfling - Eden possessing human body parts fused with animals. Insectid - Bug type Eden. Phibae - Amphibious Eden that are regarded as 'slimy.' Prowler - Medium to large feline, canine, boars and ursidae. Vermin - Eden that are generally small and gnaw away at things. Wisp - Formless Eden that are composed of elemental energy.
I will upload a dominance chart and link to the picture in the next few days.
General Gameplay: If you feed an Aden a Fruit of Eden, it's love for it's owner will rise. Aden can be check up on as you enter the different Gardens around the world. Remember to give your beasts rest! Gardens of Anima are where you interact with your beasts outside battle. They are also where you choose which beasts go with you.
Long-Winded Game Concepts Taming beasts will work as follows. Each specie of beast will have a fruit preference. An example would be Apples for Demi-Human, Peaches for Reptile, Plums for Aquatic, etc. Then the strength, or class, of the Eden will determine the quality of the fruit necessary. A rotten Apple will give a chance for capture on only the weakest Demi-Human. You use the fruit item on the enemy in battle in order to attempt a capture. Only Tamers can use items, so you must be attempting to use the tame.
The following system is a work in progress that outlines beast dominance and how to use it to your advantage. Aden will be able to equip passive skills. These skills will be attained by various means (Described below). Many of the Aden Classes will be limited on what passive skills they can equip. Amongst those, the finest examples are the Dominance skills. Dominance skills allow Aden to deal additional damage to Edens of another class. A fine example is Prowlers, which can equip Vermin Dominance, a skill that allows additional damage to be dealt to Vermins. However, Faelings and Halflings will never be able to equip Vermin Dominance, but they will be able to equip Prowler Dominance. This allows a nice, optional circle of power amongst the Eden.
Passive skills will be pooled together under the party, and be grouped and displayed similar to items. (They will likely get their own separate menu though.) You acquire them through things like mini-games, capturing rare monsters which have them, lucky normal captures, rare drops, defeating enough Eden with a skill equipped, and who knows how else.
I'm debating these ideas to be added to the taming system: Not all species obey these expectations. You may find exceptions to the rule, like a certain specie liking only rotten fruits but any kind of fruit. A specific condition has to be met for different species, like being above or below a certain health, or having a certain ailment on them. A success or fail roll even if all conditions are met. If I do implement a lot of these, I will have to make the item non-perishable on failure to avoid player frustration.
Fruit of Anima will not be easy to come by. At the start of game they will be rationed out slowly. Mid-game, you can acquire low-level Fruit in shops. Generally though, good fruit is gotten by special means. Bartering, questing, mini-games, and things of the like.
Some game terms include: Fruit of Edeth - A seedless fruit that an Eden consumes for sustenance. They are only found in the Gardens of Edeth. Fruit of Anima - A fruit synthesized by man to tame the Beasts of Edeth. There are many varieties of fruit that appeal to different beasts. Beast of Edeth, Eden - A creature descended from the Tree of Edeth. Hostile to humans. Aden - An Eden subdued by the Fruit of Anima. Garden of Anima - The small gardens where your Aden are kept. Garden of Edeth - A fertile ground for plants and minerals. They are the ideal home for Eden, and usually are controlled by an Alpha Eden. Alpha Eden - A very powerful Eden that exerts control over a Garden of Edeth. Boughs of Edeth - The layer of Edeth where the branches of the tree scrape the clouds. Roots of Edeth - Large roots that twist far beneath the ground. Above them the ground is lush and minerals abundant. Finding an exposed one is the equivalent of discovering a gold mine. Bone Collector - Someone who pays hunters for the spoils from Eden, and distributes them along trade routes for good profit. First Wave - A very skilled group of hunters and tamers that help humans settle closer to Edeth by being the first to fight and push Eden back. Second Wave - The group of hunters and tamers that secure the area for the settlers while the First Wave go on ahead. From there, the Hunters that stay or are members of the settlers becomes the Third Wave.
I could use help on what to call the tamers, if not just Tamers. I'm open to suggestion.
Titanhex
Apr 15 2011, 06:14 AM
Bump. Tons more content added. Would love some feedback.
Changelog:
Updated 04/28/11
Added the currently planned elements. Added the currently planned Aden classes. Added a detail on the passive equip setup and dominance.
v4/17/11 I've updated the first post with some gameplay features you can expect me to implement. There are tags that say Debating, which I'm hoping to recieve feedback on to help me decide the direction to take go in.
Progress Report
This is where you'll recieve updates on where the game is in development.
v4/28/11 Written up a few charts and diagrams for beast dominance.
v4/15/11 Uploaded several scripts. Currently using Tankentai's SBS with a majority of it's add-ons. First Priority: Figuring out the general layout of the interfaces and systems. Updating the SBS script and making adjustments for the game. Seeking someone to assist with the scripts. Doing minor script adjustments. Doing artwork for some of the interfaces. Hunting down various resources.
Knot
Apr 15 2011, 08:16 PM
I like this idea alot! I would have commented on this topic earlier but I only know that I like taming games and not why. Now that you have any idea of what your doing I have something to talk about! The world sounds amazing and has a real charm to it. I take it that you can tame more than one beast at once and switch them in battle? Otherwise this wouldn't be much more different than a normal rpg party.
Also, while it could be neat having customizable summoners (why are they summoners anyway if they only tame beasts? O.o), I think it's best if the majority of the focus was on the beasts themselves. What's the maximum size of the party anyway?
So, I take it that the beasts will have skill that affect each other and the environment? That way switching creatures for different team tactics or to deal with different situations could be super fun!
That's all I can think of at the moment, I'll add more if anything else comes to mind.
Titanhex
Apr 15 2011, 10:07 PM
Thanks for the reply
I figured people just didn't have an interest in the game, or this board is slow atm (Seems to be the latter)
Summoner was a place holder name. I changed it to Tamer. Thank you for reminding me!
The maximum party size hasn't fully been determined. I'm going to say the smallest max party size I'm looking at is 3 but I could increase that to 6 if I find validity in the idea.
Eden will be your primary means of victory, and the gameplay will be focused on them. Tamers add depth and flavor to it though. Here is a minor look at how Eden and tamers change the flow of battle:
A majority of the Eden you find will be tied to an element. The elements are yet to be fully determined, but expect your typical Light, Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, Dark pantheon. You'll see 80% of the beasts have an element and 20% are non-elemental.
All Eden also have a species. Something like Fish, Lizard&Amphibian, Vermin, Avian, Demi-Human, Spectral. Along those lines. Each species will be strong to one species and weak to another. Thus, having a diverse group will prove beneficial. There will be ways to compound on your strengths and remove your weaknesses as you focus on the development of a single beast.
Thus, Aden are your primary means of taking down Eden. However, you can fall back on your Tamers, who will have a number of utility skills such as healing, boosting, skill diversity, and advantages for when you don't quiet have that edge with your beasts. The thing is, Tamers are your most valuable thing, so putting them on the front-line is a risk that you have to weigh. You probably won't have any spells that heal tamers either, making items your only means of keeping them healed.
To further eliminate tamers from being on the battlefield, they won't do a lot of damage in comparison to Aden. Using them as damage is really a last resort.
I did actually have plans to give some Beasts environment affecting skills and combo abilities. It is something that will have to be worked on. One idea I had was the ability to imbue the battlefield with an element, suppressing all others and amplifying their own. So if you found yourself against a few enemies whose element you were neutral to, you could pump up the element and send out a team of all the same element.
There's other ideas, but in the end it's all about what I can become capable of doing. Right now I'm just worrying about getting the interfaces for the system to work like I intend.
Knot
Apr 16 2011, 02:27 PM
Yeh, making sure that skills arn't overpowered is always a hassle. What could be interesting is if your environment skills don't only boost your element but also boost the opposing element. That way you would have to be really cautious when you use it.
The Tamers sound cool, so you would effectively switch out one of the beasts and put in a tamer if the need arose? Would that also be how the Tamers have to catch fiends?
On a side note, I really like the names of things. I don't know why, they just seem to flow well xD
Titanhex
Apr 17 2011, 02:42 AM
Thanks Knot. Yeah, I was thinking of doing that as well, that way there's a deeper strategic use for the environment change where you're outweighing the pros and cons.
As for catching Eden, I'll probably lay down a spoiler in the main post that details all the current game design you can expect.
I actually like the names too, and the story seemed to fall into place very quickly and smoothly. This idea is actually less than four days old right now. Hopefully the momentum can be maintained.
Believe it or not, this game has some rather unique questions for a designer, since there aren't many Taming games that make use of a 3 party system.
Right now my current design decisions are:
Should Aden be available in a giant pool to the party, or should each Tamer have their own specific Aden they use? How many Aden per Tamer should be brought with them? Doing a pool system. It's easier.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
