I''m developing futuristic rpg, so we can say that I''m a exception, but I would see one very big opinion leader, TSR. That bitching company which takes all rights to almost every game released and kills the competition. Let''s say they have most of AD&D rights (all?) they make hellamuch money with it and they want make even more money with it when they release bad computer games made by their sets... The reason why there are game companies is that they want to be rich so Fantasy RPG is easiest way to become one.

Hi Bomberman

There has already been mentioned a few reasons why people use Fantasy settings for RPG''s. Here''s some more reasons that I can think of:

In a fantasy setting it is quite easy to make up a story of an evil wizard destroying the world and then assemble a band of adventures to kill the evil wizard. It will then generaly be accepted by everyone that killing the evil wizard and his minions is ''A Good Thing''.

It''s a lot harder to come up with a similar setting for a ''realistic'' current time world. Assembling a band of adventures to go killing bad guys in a modern-day world is not generally acceptable by everyone. Even if the bad guy''s are criminal drug pushers or dictators of some (un)likely nationality.

Also there is the issue of designing a believable game world. In a fantasy setting people generally accepts that the world is limited because the characters have to walk or use other slow forms of transportation.

But in a modern-day or sci-fi setting the player would constantly stumble upon fast transportation like cars, trains, airplanes or spaceshuttles. Unless the game world is made VERY large the inability to use the means of transportation to go anywhere they want would constantly remind the players of their lack of freedom. And theirfore threaten to ruin their believe in the game world.

Regards

nicba

quote: Original post by aDasTRa

I would personally like to see some rpgs set in 20 and 21 centuries, and also definitely some set in greek mythology. There is only one (not too good) game set in this era...why? the wealth of stories and depth is over whelming...

Games set in the greek mythology (or maybe the nordic whichs is in many ways very similar) is an interesting idea.

But if someone was to do a game based on, say Homers Odysee, how would you then ensure that your player followed the Mythological story and not decides to let Odysseus sail of into another direction than the one dictated by the story? And without degrading the player to a ''push a button to continue'' non-interactive playstyle?

And even if you would choose a much looser setting where the mythology only provided some sort of ''background scenary'' to the game, you would be limited in your storywritting in several ways. You could not have your hero wandering about killing important mythological gods/half-gods/deamons or heroes, as this would mess up the mythology setting.

But still it would be interesting to do. Both the greek and the nordic (viking) mythology provides a very rich enviroment and you would be able to incorporate classic pieces of text (Homer, viking sagas and so on) to further illustrate and enrichen the game world.

Regards

nicba

Most game programmers are/were D and D geeks. It carried over. That and Star Trek, but programming those games will get you sued.

2 things.
1- Nicba, NORSE MYTHOLOGY RULES! Any one of the norse pantheon coulda kicked the whole greek/roman pantheon's asses, lets just face it.

2- Arch@on- TSR is not as well off as you seem to think. A few years ago, they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy (sp?) and were then bought later by Wizards of the Coast, the Magic:The Gathering company. (ironic, since WotC gets their name from the D&D group the founders used to be in)
Anyhow, if you're looking into D&D licensing, check out interplay's subsidiary, Black Isle. They have the license. (www.blackisle.com)



Where does the Landfish live? Everywhere. Is not the Landfish the Buddha?

Edited by - landfish on 5/2/00 2:37:45 PM

Somebody mentioned Shadowrun up there somewhere - there was a SuperNES Shadowrun game that was pretty cool, but I wouldn''t call it an RPG. You''re right though, that would make a cool PC RPG.

The problem with fast transportation is an interesting one, and it''s a good point. But I think a well-designed game can limit your options without making you feel too restricted. Sometimes I''m amazed at how linear and limiting parts of the Final Fantasy games are, but you don''t really think about it much when you''re playing. It''s all about how you present the world to the player. If you don''t give them any motivation to hop on a plane, then they''re not going to think about the fact that there''s no airport in the game. Shorter-range high-speed transportation (cars, subways, etc) is another story though, and certainly a present-day or futuristic RPG would have to feature a much larger world and certain modes of transportation that a medieval game would not.

Did you ever play Shadowrun on the Genesis? It was certainly an RPG (despite the realtime combat), but much like FASA''s other game Mechwarrior, you could certainly play the tabletop RPG off of the knowledge you get from the video game.

I was thinking of making a Super Hero RPG once I learn more programming.

Mariorox

the Cartoonist

I''m looking into maybe working on a networked shadowrun game. Lots of ideas. Dibs! It''s mine! Mine! Mine, I say!

-Landfish

(I mean, Mine once I get the license...)

OOOH! I''m a fanatic! Cool.

Uh, sorry.

Where does the Landfish live? Everywhere. Is not the Landfish the Buddha?