Game Time

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

As many of you know, I'm a programmer with way too much free time. Well, I'm finally gonna do something with it. I am making an rpg to, well, mock all there is known to man. I'm starting this tread to get ideas and input for my games. The characters have been created as far as skills and basic concept, but I do nead help creating items and such. Just contact me for more information.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

May 19, 2008 18:30:02 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

As many of you know, I'm a programmer with way too much free time. Well, I'm finally gonna do something with it. I am making an rpg to, well, mock all there is known to man. I'm starting this tread to get ideas and input for my games. The characters have been created as far as skills and basic concept, but I do nead help creating items and such. Just contact me for more information.

You couldn't just say it here perhaps? It's hard to get in contact with you...

[Dja Majista]

I knowz. Like suriousleh dude. I'll try to think of some stuff.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Alright, the game opens with a priest and a nun running out of a church with a brief case of money. They are getting yelled at, but what do they care, the just got rich. Time to hit the next town. They come to a rundown city, and decide to lay low for a while. Bacon.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Bacon, here's the basic map!

[Dja Majista]

Did you put a link, or am I just blind?

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

Beats me...

[Sinistrous]

Firstly dude, you need to upload your image to some image site. Linking to its location on your computer doesn't do much on this end.

May 20, 2008 19:06:06 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Alright, the game opens with a priest and a nun running out of a church with a brief case of money. They are getting yelled at, but what do they care, the just got rich. Time to hit the next town. They come to a rundown city, and decide to lay low for a while. Bacon.

Needing some details. Is this supposed to be a backstory / foreshadowing or is it set in the present? Who's the PC: the priest, the nun or someone else? What's the setting? Who's yelling at them? Are they old/young, decrepit/healthy, poor/rich, etc.? Is the briefcase fancy or is it one of those run-of-the-mill black ones (lol) that people are always mixing up in airports? Is the bacon crispy and enjoying a suspicious musical cue?

When starting with the storyline on a game, it's a good idea to fill out the details of the premise and opening before moving the story a long, at least in my experience. At the very least, you need to get the premise set up, it makes things a lot easier and gives you some direction.

[Dja Majista]

May 21, 2008 22:04:52 GMT -5 Sinistrous said:

Needing some details. Is this supposed to be a backstory / foreshadowing or is it set in the present? Who's the PC: the priest, the nun or someone else? What's the setting? Who's yelling at them? Are they old/young, decrepit/healthy, poor/rich, etc.? Is the briefcase fancy or is it one of those run-of-the-mill black ones (lol) that people are always mixing up in airports? Is the bacon crispy and enjoying a suspicious musical cue?

Why is the zebu sad? Is the boat made out of wood or aluminum? Sorry, couldn't resist veggie tales reference.
But I agree with sinistrious. A solid premise is a story writer's best friend.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Okay, my bad, kinda posted after my nap, so not exactly thinking straight with the whole image thing.

For the story the overall concept is that a rag tag group of idiots stumbles upon a plot to destroy the world, the first part of the game is introducing the characters and the second part is trying to stop the world from being 'sploded. So, since I'm making fun of the gaming genera in general, I figured a plot like this would work out fairly nicely. I need some character names...
Okay...
1 - Think Llyod Irving, but a little bit smarter and more sarcastic (Tales of Symphonia)
2 - Think Vash the Stampede (the idiot was kewl, I don't care what anyone says)
3 - Think Jade Curtiss... yeah... Jade (Tales of the Abyss)
4 - Think Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2)
5 - Think Anise Tatlin (Tales of the Abyss)
6 - Think Lulu (FFX)

[Dja Majista]

May 22, 2008 8:13:38 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Okay, my bad, kinda posted after my nap, so not exactly thinking straight with the whole image thing.

For the story the overall concept is that a rag tag group of idiots stumbles upon a plot to destroy the world, the first part of the game is introducing the characters and the second part is trying to stop the world from being 'sploded. So, since I'm making fun of the gaming genera in general, I figured a plot like this would work out fairly nicely. I need some character names...
Okay...
1 - Think Llyod Irving, but a little bit smarter and more sarcastic (Tales of Symphonia)
2 - Think Vash the Stampede (the idiot was kewl, I don't care what anyone says)
3 - Think Jade Curtiss... yeah... Jade (Tales of the Abyss)
4 - Think Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2)
5 - Think Anise Tatlin (Tales of the Abyss)
6 - Think Lulu (FFX)

So are you doing one of those really linear RPGs where you move around the world map like in Tales of World?
Anyway, regarding characters, I've found that those can get tricky. Along with identifying their personalities, you also have to define their relationships with other characters. And you have to know what they think of one another. Does person A trust person B. Does person C do everything in his power to kill person D yet to no avail?
Also importantly, who talks to who for the most part? Granted, that's not to say you will have characters that never every talk to one another. But with a moderate sized group like this, six people, it's very natural for them to "pair up" so to speak, meaning person A primarily associates with person B. Some characters might know each other from way back and will be more inclined to talk to those people when they have a problem. Now "pairing up" is not for everyone of course. Some characters are more sociable than others, and might speak to everyone, or they have a bone to pick with everyone. But a party full of extroverts can get dull fast. You want at least one or two introverts to make things interesting.

As for quirky characters, I do have a few ideas for you...

Perhaps an intelligent character, who always seems to make the right group decisions but nobody listens to him. For example, lets say you meet some mischievous character in town and he says a bridge is out or something. Despite Mr Intelligent's warnings that this guy is probably lying, your party blindly attempts to traverse the river. After crossing, they see that the bridge is up and simply say "ooh lookie!" Then somebody says, "it was for the best, we leveled up." Something along those lines.

Then I'm thinking a barbarian who is very quiet in person, but in battle he just freaks out. No I'm not talking about the sophisticated barbarian like in 8-bit. I just mean a very soft spoken one. Maybe he screams "Kombat time!!!" at the start of the battle, and everybody's just like, "Awkward..." You know sweat drop and all that jazz.

Now, in terms of your plot, I'd advise against compartmentalizing it so much. Introducing characters should usually be considered an aside from the main plot. I mean, they need a reason to join your party, and usually that reason should mean they're going to have the same objective as the protagonist throughout the game. In other words the starters should have already started engaging in their objective before characters actually start joining you. Now, there are ways of mixing this up too. Say, you start off with some irrelevant quest, someone joins you there, and then you all discover someone's evil plot to destroy the world. So the crew decides to embark on an adventure together then instead of before. But as a general rule, simply decide on the main plot as if your starting characters plan on saving the world all by themselves. Then, on their somewhat meaningful adventures decide where and how you're going to meet the others.

I'll try to come up with a good list of typical RPG absurdities that people tend to ignore these days, and you can make fun of the genre by looking off a working list that hopefully everyone will contibute to.
Ok I got the first one. Dungeons (like in Zelda) always seem to have the item required to beat the dungeon conveniently located in that dungeon.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Thanks for that idea. Character 3 & 4 are partners in crime, literally. They run a scam business. The game's opening, which I have finally clearly defined, starts with a cut scene in which char. 3 & 4 who are dressed as a priest and a nun are running from others of the clergy with the money from the donations. Then the duo escapes into the forest. You traverse through the forest, you are this duo, and learn the basics of the game. You come to the southern exit and find a run down town full of people angry at the government, which is where you meet character 1. He trust no one really, but is lulled into helping 3 & 4 steal money from the 'man'. Like I said, character 1 isn't too bright. You are able to pick up some basic supplies and you leave through the forest to the cave leading to the next city. The game is not necessarily linear, but that is how I have the map lain out so that it is easy to tell what is what.

By the by, anyone use ventrillo?

[Dja Majista]

May 22, 2008 10:43:32 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Thanks for that idea. Character 3 & 4 are partners in crime, literally. They run a scam business. The game's opening, which I have finally clearly defined, starts with a cut scene in which char. 3 & 4 who are dressed as a priest and a nun are running from others of the clergy with the money from the donations. Then the duo escapes into the forest. You traverse through the forest, you are this duo, and learn the basics of the game. You come to the southern exit and find a run down town full of people angry at the government, which is where you meet character 1. He trust no one really, but is lulled into helping 3 & 4 steal money from the 'man'. Like I said, character 1 isn't too bright. You are able to pick up some basic supplies and you leave through the forest to the cave leading to the next city. The game is not necessarily linear, but that is how I have the map lain out so that it is easy to tell what is what.

ok so are you operating on a world map which you can traverse freely for the most part?

By the by, anyone use ventrillo?

nope why?

[Sinistrous]

No, I don't use ventrillo. If you wanted to have a live discussion on this, why not just have all of us meet up? I'm sure me and David would be glad to help you set things up or even work with you on your project a bit.

May 22, 2008 8:13:38 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Okay, my bad, kinda posted after my nap, so not exactly thinking straight with the whole image thing.

For the story the overall concept is that a rag tag group of idiots stumbles upon a plot to destroy the world, the first part of the game is introducing the characters and the second part is trying to stop the world from being 'sploded. So, since I'm making fun of the gaming genera in general, I figured a plot like this would work out fairly nicely. I need some character names...
Okay...
1 - Think Llyod Irving, but a little bit smarter and more sarcastic (Tales of Symphonia)
2 - Think Vash the Stampede (the idiot was kewl, I don't care what anyone says)
3 - Think Jade Curtiss... yeah... Jade (Tales of the Abyss)
4 - Think Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2)
5 - Think Anise Tatlin (Tales of the Abyss)
6 - Think Lulu (FFX)

Are you sure this isn't just a disguised fan-fic?

How about just starting with something broad like this (mind you, I'm not particularly familar with half of those guys):

1 - Idealistic swordfighter with dead parents; goal for vengeance of said folks or whoever
2 - Childhood friend and tag-along of 1 - maybe a ranger type; goal to stay by 1's side
3 - Veteran mage in a mid-life crisis pulling scams with 4; goal to get back at "the man" for disbanding his long-time guild
4 - Young thief/martial artist girl working with 3; goal to get back at "the man" for some other reason
5 - Even younger girl with some bizarre "child prodigy" class; goal to fulfill her dime-a-dozen destiny and marry some rich hero type
6 - Cleric chick with a huge rack; goal to defeat some plague similar to the black death

Then you can just fill in the details. Maybe 6 has an obsession with fire and thinks it can be used to heal more wounds than it actually can. Maybe 1 and 2 have a "not gay!" thing going on about their "friendship". Maybe 3 is hopelessly addicted to drugs and is in denial about it. Maybe 4 and 5 are sisters and have a sibling rivalry but they try to keep knowledge of their sisterhood from the other party members for their own reasons (4 is ashamed of 5 and 5 is always claiming to be an only child).

Doing this early on will make it much easier to keep your characters consistent and believable, which will make things a lot more interesting.

May 22, 2008 9:16:36 GMT -5 Dja Majista said:

I'll try to come up with a good list of typical RPG absurdities that people tend to ignore these days, and you can make fun of the genre by looking off a working list that hopefully everyone will contibute to.

Ta-da:
project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Yeah, it's not a fan fic, that is just the closest people I can think of to the characters to the game. Naming real people, might have thrown you for a loop.
Thanks a million +2. That list will be abused so badly... bweh-heh-heh... it begins.
About, meeting up, I can't. I live in Louisiana now. Yeah.
Free range map, no. Think more like Pokemon, where everything is inter-connected. Also this map does not include bonus dungeons for pre-final boss fight stuff.

1 - perfect that is exactly what I was thinking, he still need to be dim-witted and untrusting
2 - uses guns instead of bows, but a great Idea
3 - Maybe lose the House part, and he's just sarcastic and mean spirited cause he is like that
4 - She is the brawn of 3 & 4's operation, she might even fall into a part animal category to explain her abnormal strength
5 - sister thing could work b/c 5 is even stronger than 4 and younger too
6 - actually #3 knows more of the healing spells, 6 is earth, ice, and water element magic with augmentation spells I wanted 6 to be like the smart one of the group that no one listened to. She's decent looking, but fairly reserved.

I'm trying to either make 2 or 3 the guy whom all the ladies 'love', like a Zelos or Cassanova (Cry if you catch the irony) and I mean this dude walks into town and all the ladies ask him what he needs. The problem is I don't know whether to make him, just used to the treatment and abuse it or to be incredible kind and heartfelt back.

[Sinistrous]

Gotcha. I forgot you moved, that's a shame.

As for the Cassanova thing, you're right, it could go either way between 2 and 3. Going with number 2 would probably make the most sense - chicks dig cowboys - but would probably play out too similarly to the cliches you're going to be making fun of. In that sense, I'd go with 3, especially if he's an older gentlemen like Jade Curtiss. It would give you an interesting opportunity to turn that cliche up on its ass and it'd probably end up a lot more funny. The only problem with doing that would be that you'd have to be a lot more careful on how often bring this element up, because it is a bit more ridiculous than it would be with 2.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

May 23, 2008 7:17:34 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Yeah, it's not a fan fic, that is just the closest people I can think of to the characters to the game. Naming real people, might have thrown you for a loop.
Thanks a million +2. That list will be abused so badly... bweh-heh-heh... it begins.
About, meeting up, I can't. I live in Louisiana now. Yeah.
Free range map, no. Think more like Pokemon, where everything is inter-connected. Also this map does not include bonus dungeons for pre-final boss fight stuff.

1 - perfect that is exactly what I was thinking, he still need to be dim-witted and untrusting
2 - uses guns instead of bows, but a great Idea
3 - Maybe lose the House part, and he's just sarcastic and mean spirited cause he is like that
4 - She is the brawn of 3 & 4's operation, she might even fall into a part animal category to explain her abnormal strength
5 - sister thing could work b/c 5 is even stronger than 4 and younger too
6 - actually #3 knows more of the healing spells, 6 is earth, ice, and water element magic with augmentation spells I wanted 6 to be like the smart one of the group that no one listened to. She's decent looking, but fairly reserved.

I'm trying to either make 2 or 3 the guy whom all the ladies 'love', like a Zelos or Cassanova (Cry if you catch the irony) and I mean this dude walks into town and all the ladies ask him what he needs. The problem is I don't know whether to make him, just used to the treatment and abuse it or to be incredible kind and heartfelt back.

I'd make the character do whatever isn't typical. That's the general rule of thumb.

[Dja Majista]

wow. Cordera's right, we should make sure the protagonist isn't one of those breathing types. Those are waaay to common.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

May 25, 2008 12:49:42 GMT -5 Dja Majista said:

wow. Cordera's right, we should make sure the protagonist isn't one of those breathing types. Those are waaay to common.

Unless they breathe out the ass.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

You're both idiots...
Complete idiots...
Well, all of the characters are a little off. I mean come on the 'white mage' is vendictive and sarcastic.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

So no butt breathing?

But I was making a good point, it's good to stray from the norm with fantasy creation. I know that first hand because I've been doing the stuff all of my life.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Alrighty then, now that we've traversed most of my flaws, I think it is time to get back to the matter at hand; names. If I can get some names that be great... maybe I can do some character art and post links on the forum, what do you think?

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

May 27, 2008 20:09:32 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Alrighty then, now that we've traversed most of my flaws, I think it is time to get back to the matter at hand; names. If I can get some names that be great... maybe I can do some character art and post links on the forum, what do you think?

I would like to see some art, I'm always interested in artists.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Here is Gunner Image 1.

He looks kinda like Zack from CC: FF VII and Sasu-gay <note: This was pointed out to me by my sister>. Remember; this is concept art. I am open to suggestions.

[Dja Majista]

oooooh, nice. You're getting really good Alex, seriously. His proportions are right on.

As for names, just start grabbing some Greek gods and start mixing and matching.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

I just got a musing. How about the name Mark Sharp, but he goes by his last name?

[Dja Majista]

that would be cool.

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

Hair color, anyone?
Black, Blonde, or Red?

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

Jun 9, 2008 15:42:35 GMT -5 Pyrotic Blaziken said:

Hair color, anyone?
Black, Blonde, or Red?

Black!! Duh...

[Pyrotic Blaziken]

I'll do one with black and one with red, see which works better.