So, I wanted to make my game be non-Linear, if not only for the fact that I didn't want to recreate the endless hallways of Final Fantasy 13. The problem is, how do you do this without the game being a cluster***k of stuff? I wanted to have most, if not almost all NPCs you talk to have a personality, as well as 1 to 5 sub quests to do, but the player isn't exactly instructed to go do these things, and are open for the player to do at any time they want. I also wanted many of the cutscenes to change based on how many of these sub-quests you have done.

Opinions on this...?

I like that idea. I actually had that idea (or something similar) a long time ago. I have been making a game on it even now.

Well, I didn't want any unneeded aspects in the game, even the general townsfolk will give you items and tell you things. And I wanted a sort of battle system that wasn't like "Hey, in 2 turns of casting spell X, I'll be able to kill this enemy and move on with the story!" Enemies will do things like raise their swords, where you have to use a Jumping attack to knock their sword out of their hand for a turn, and they will set-up shields and all sorts of stuff to make it more rewarding to use all your Character's skills instead of just spamming the strongest thing you have. You also get damage bonuses for using specific things on an enemy, like using a Thunderbolt on a water-based enemy will give you a damage bonus that will usually kill regular enemies, making it easier to get around random encounters.

If you want an RPG example of making a game non-liniear (shameless self-advertisement) try Words: http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=51319

It's got the NPC personality thing you mentioned and sidequests that change the plot as you also mentioned.

The best way to get ideas for your game is to see how other games use your ideas and how you can morph them into innovative material.