I want to implement the passage of time into my rpg, in fact I want the game to take place over the course of 4 or 5 years(in game time). Because of this most of the events will be time based and not action based. This will also mean that events will run parrel to each other. Making the player choose which events to particapte in, and causing them to miss other events entirely. I guess my question is will players mind investing the time need into a game like that. Since you won't be able to go from story event to story event like traditional rpgs. For instance the hertic uprising doesn't take place until year 3. Instead the player would have to occupy their time with other things. Exploring, character building, Earning money, sleeping and other daily task. I'd aim to provide lots of activites for the player to become involved in and there would events happening all around the world, that player could involve themselves in. Also it might be important to note that the game will be heavily story based game. It has a deep and rich story that develops throughout the course of the game. ----------------------------------------------------- Writer, Programer, Cook, I'm a Jack of all Trades Current Design project Chaos Factor Design Document [edited by - TechnoGoth on July 30, 2003 4:15:12 PM]

If you want to do that your design should preferably be a successful game with zero story or passage of time. It''d be like an Elite or Privateer, only with an FRP setting. Taking a page from Roguelikes might help with that.

Spiderweb''s Exile 3 used time passage very effectively, I heard(though I didn''t buy it to see for myself, only played the demo which didn''t go on long enough to tell). The idea was that the longer the player took, the harder things would get, as cities were destroyed and quests and items disappeared from reach; but even then the game would still be winnable, since none of the critical plot elements were removed.

im trying something similar in that major events are planned out ahead of time, but characters can involve themselves in anything else in the meantime. there will always be a ton of quests just waiting to be discovered and completed, but really major changes to the game world happen as programmed. so yeah, i would play it, if there was enough to do in the time between major events.

also, i am giving players the option of initiating some of these major changes. starting wars is a good example of a major change that can be initiated by a single character. if an element in my game, your heretic uprising could be spurred by the player himself.

this requires, however, that the player play not as a pre-determined character (the stereotypical hero who saves the girl, or the world, or both), but simply as a citizen just like any other, free to choose sides in any given conflict. as such it seems as though it probably wouldn''t apply to your design.

I kind of like this idea, however the problem I see with it is if you have 2 necessary events happen so close together that the player doesn''t realistically have time to go get enough levels to handle the next event. It all depends on how fast game time is proportional to real time, I guess.

If a squirrel is chasing you, drop your nuts and run.

hmm, well I think I set it up so that you could miss key events. which would have negative impact on the final outcome. But I think also that by having them close together espically near the end it adds a sense of urgancy to the game. the player having just lead a succful raid against the hertic hideout, Discover the head of the word is to be assinated during a cermoney in weeks time. The player know that it takes 5 days by train to get to the capital from here. Knows that must hurry if they want to get their in time to stop the assination.

Also part of the story deals with limitations on one person can do. There will be times when the terrible things will happen that and the player will have to make a choice. For instance while the character is busy helping prepare a small town from a flood he learns that his father's blimp has crashed. He will have choice wether to help save the town or go in search of his father knowing that many people may die if he leaves.

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Writer, Programer, Cook, I'm a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document



[edited by - TechnoGoth on July 31, 2003 5:54:04 PM]

The problem with time line games is that you need to ensure the user does not miss critical events. By that I mean tasks that they must perform in order to win the game.

If they need a particular sword to defeat the arch enemy and they miss the start of the quest to get it then they end up playing for hours/days at a game they can''t win - this is very frustrating for the player.

You either need to ensure that they get pushed onto the quest or that the quest can be started at any time (after the initial start time) or that there are other ways to get the necessary item.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

You could also cheat with the flow of time.
For example when doing some hard dungeon cruising to find that realy important sword to kick the arch villains ass, you could let the flow of time move from game time, to human time, or any scale you''d like.

Look at all the pretty colours!

You could also cheat with the flow of time.
For example when doing some hard dungeon cruising to find that realy important sword to kick the arch villains ass, you could let the flow of time move from game time, to human time, or any scale you''d like.

Look at all the pretty colours!

You could also cheat with the flow of time.
For example when doing some hard dungeon cruising to find that realy important sword to kick the arch villains ass, you could let the flow of time move from game time, to human time, or any scale you''d like.