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Old Guard / IF Central Command Post / Out of Character / Only 96 Days Until RPG Maker 2!
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[quote][b]Remus (Oct 09, 2003 11:38 a.m.):[/b] [b]FEATURES[/b] It's time to gather together all the different ideas I have rolling around in my head into a semi-manageable pile. This features list will detail the portions of the game concept which I consider either integral to its vision or important to its implementation. [i]1. Epic Sci-Fi Plot[/i] This is probably the most important aspect. The game needs to have a certain feel to it. It needs to feel grand and sweeping; the characters need to be caught up in events greater than any of them. The dangers have to be real and immediate, and the consequences of failure important, catastrophic even. The people and places need to be believable within a sci-fi setting, and the social and political dynamics touched upon in the game need to feel plausible and authentic. [i]2. Massive Galaxy[/i] I want the players to be able to explore. I love to explore in video games, and I don't want the player to be locked into some carefully-planned terrain corridor which will funnel them along through the story until they get their "airship" (in this case, the Wetakkan). However, that exploration needs to carry some price. If the player can go anywhere too soon, exploration loses its mystery too quickly. So a job system (discussed later) will put a restriction on exploration that will be easy enough to overcome if the player wants, but will keep the less tenacious players from wandering away from the story path. [i]3. Memorable Characters[/i] I'm hoping to avoid some of the RPG archetype cliches so commonly found among party members, particularly among characters collected later in the game. Each character should have his/her own unique personality and history, whether those are plot elements or not. Even more important is the main character's portrayal. Xan needs to be handled very carefully in order to maintain player interest and sympathy. He is a highly atypical RPG hero, and if handled poorly may frustrate the player with his morals and politics. Tread carefully. [i]4. Extra Characters[/i] The total number of playable party characters in this game is 15, though the player will never have more than 11 available at any point in the game. Throughout the course of the game characters will join and leave the party as the plot directs. Six of the party characters will not be made available by the story path itself, however; they must be collected either during Chapter 5 or after the completion of the main game. The three characters available during the main game (Bredai, Orinn, and Hrayan) will each join the party and open a minor subquest somewhere in the galaxy. These will be short but challenging subquests which will have no real impact on the plot. The other three extra characters, who only become available during the open-ended game, will each have a greater impact on the game's plot (and that of a sequel, should one come about). Each has an associated subquest which can only be activated after the player has contacted a certain member of the main game's party (now no longer playable). These subquests will tie into a greater plot which will lead into the sequel, should one exist. [i]5. Open-Ended Game[/i] This section is poorly titled and needs to be renamed before it can be implemented, as it is not truly open-ended. Though the open-ended game has a more free-form feel to it, it does have an end which can only be reached by completing set goals. The open-ended game follows two characters from the main game's party, Eulik and Drone, in their quest for fortune and glory aboard the Wetakkan. In addition to fattening their wallets and battling pirates, the crew of the Wetakkan can seek out the other party characters from the main game, which will provide expanded denoument information and open subquests which will introduce three of the extra characters. The three extra character subquests all tie into the Patron's galactic empire from three separate angles: a thief recovering a dangerous artifact from a former employer, a terran spy in Commonwealth space with sensitive intelligence regarding military R&D, and a priest carrying an amulet sent to him by a former student. Upon completion of the third and final subquest, a cinematic will be presented in a cliff-hanger "To Be Continued..." fashion. [i]6. Custom Battle System (CBS)[/i] During development, RPG Maker 2's default battle system (DBS) will be used as a placeholder for the CBS I plan to implement. Due to the complications that would arise from attempting to code Ally and Enemy AI, a real-time Zelda-like combat system would be impractical at best. The turn-based system I plan to implement will allow four party members to face off against enemies using three commands: Attack, Ability, and Item. Abilities will vary from character to character; Xan and Rook will be able to use psionic powers, while other characters will have specific abilities of their own. Different actions will tax each character's stamina, so players will have to keep a close eye on this stat. Only characters with the "Unconscious" condition (Stamina=0) can be revived in battle; those who fall "Wounded" (Health=0) must be restored after the battle ends. [i]7. Psionic Abilities[/i] In addition to being able to hurl psionic flame and weild arcs of lightning at foes in battle, the player will be able to employ Xan's powers in the field screens as well. These will be handled through a menu called by the Square button, offering a list of Xan's field abilities. Some will be contextual, such as putting an enemy to sleep or burning through a barrier. Others, such as leap or levitate, will always be available to the player, opening up new areas to explore. [i]8. Empathy System[/i] One psionic ability which will constantly active is Xan's empathic sense of those around him. Represented visually as a soft color-coded glow around NPCs, the player will be able to use Xan's empathy as an extra source of information in interactions throughout the game. [i]9. Job System[/i] Prior to Chapter 4, the player's only means of moving through the galaxy (except when scripted events carry the player along) will be by ferry-hopping between systems, creating his/her own path to the next story milestone. Passage aboard ferries will, of course, not come free, and in order to finance his/her journey the player will have to work odd jobs on the planets and space stations s/he visits. There will be 50 star systems in the game, each with a planet or space station the player can explore. Each of these planets and stations will in turn have 4 jobs that the player can work. The player will be paid for each member of his party, so money will be easier to gather as the player's party grows.[/quote]
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