Zelda games are traditionally a giant foozle (see the dictionary at gamedev.net for definition of FOOZLE). If you just want to borrow the interface, avoid overfoozling.

Traditionally, you go around trying to find the next item to serve as a piece in the giant puzzle. Just once I would like to see a discussion interface with options and possibility of failure to convince someone of something. That way, instead of being sent to find an item, you must convince someone of something, and that serves where the "item" used to to furthur the plot. Now that would be a cliche breaker, for a Zelda Game.

Avoid two dimensional villains. This doesn''t mean we have to sympathize with the bad guy, just that he isn''t being evil for the hell of it.

Most of all, don''t do something for no reaosn, chances are that''s a cliche.

Another cliche: the main character is totally adherent to his righteous & honorable principles. Just once I''d like to see the main character see a giant evil monster, yell "screw it!", and run like hell.

lntakitopi@aol.com - http://www.geocities.com/guanajam

Or how about the hero *be* the giant evil monster and crush those around it... well, how about an evil hero who doesn''t realise it? (shameless plug) "A new outlook on rpg''s..."... my Learning Experience

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

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Here to more cliché

1) Player can always walk arond town in full armor and with their weapons out for combat, and no one semm scare! And more than often they are stranger!

2) Player are never afected by hot temperature, even in armor it dont get to hot!

3) Player always start with really cheap equipement (often only the smalest weapons of the game), even if they are send by a king!

4) The monster near the player native town are weak....but they get more and more powerfull with distance!

5)All tombs are full of undead

6)Townsfolks never move!

7)Monster are never scare! Even if they know they have no chance!

8)The player is the only one who can save the world!

9)There is treasure in every cavern

10)Female always wear sexy armor, with no considaration for temperature or security!

Hey ten of them..not bad

Delisk

I disagree that all townsfolk stand still... in Diablo II they wander around, but not much .

As for sexy armour on the women? whats wrong with it... I have found the game quite entertaining when you can comment on your friends a$$!

Treasure is NOT in every cavern, just a majority...

Armour is definitly crap at the beginning. Shouldn''t be ..

I would like to see the characters wear something over their armour at least when in town... I am trying to have a long dark robe for that...

NPC''s always respond to characters, even though they are total strangers! Totally a crap implementation! Fix it!

Player isn''t the only one who can save the world... I have seen games where it specifically says that the player is going to die (and this is by the good guys ).

I have ranted enough


-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
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made due to popular demand here at GDNet :)

Wow! Thanks for all the posts! These are all great ideas, and I am definitely going to use them! I think I''ll have a start where the PC and the Villain start out in the same town, but the Villain is labeled "The Chosen One" instead of your character, and you have to figure out some way of subverting him or something, making him the villain! Of course, since this is a branching story, you could choose not to subvert the villain, and just race him to completing it or something... I don''t know...

Idea sounds good... Or could the player turn into the evil villain and try to kill "The Chosen One", because I would love to see that kind of choice in a game

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~dwarfsoft/
Check out our NPC AI Mailing List :
http://www.egroups.com/group/NPCAI/
made due to popular demand here at GDNet :)

Hmmm, cliques...

1) Monsters are for some reason unable to pick up the sword laying on the ground or empty the chest.

2) The boss always leaves his powerful weapons and health increases just where you need them so that you can solve a difficult puzzle.

3) The boss has thousands of weak evil henchmen whose main goal in life is to show you the sharper part of your sword.

4) Every puzzle has a solution. Think sometimes, just sometimes, maybe there isn''t a way to get inside the treasury.

5) All the henchmen are two-dimentional beings who do nothing but go between two spots all day until they spot an enemy.

6) The way to defeat the boss is to kill him is also a clique. What if, instead, you caged him in a forcefield, or destroyed his source of power. Which brings me to 7

7) Sources of power, another clique. Ganandorf and his triforce for instance, can also be a clique if done wrong. A lot of games are this evil guy is trying to get a powerful artifact so that he can rule the world stuff.

8) Stupid villians. What kind of villian would take the only person capable of stopping him and then stuff him in an inadequately guarded dungeon? As opposed to just simply killing the guy.

9) Villian kidnaps girlfriend of chosen one so that villian can
force the girl to marry him.

10) Your bombs can take down a castle, yet you can''t even blow up a small rock in your path because the programmers didn''t give you that option.

-Blackstream

"See you later, I'm going to go grab a few Bytes. I'm so thirsty, I could drink a whole data stream."

Actually, I like the point about player being the only one able to save the world. What if there was one or NPC:s that progressed in parallel with hero thru the game, determined to save the world too!
They take the superweapons and ultraarmours and save those villages before you, unless you move your sorry "hero" ass more quickly.
Damn, that should really piss the player off!

To prove a beaten point: games can''t be too close to reality. No fun.

Ah, RPG cliches... here we go:

1) Dragons! The most over used creature in RPG history! In the same vein...

2) Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Goblins, etc, etc. All of the "used-one-thousand-times-too-many" creatures.

3) Save the princess plots.

4) Any of those boring plots in which the hero of the game is some poor boy who turns out to be destined to save the entire world.

5) The skewed Medieval world that games like Zelda take place in.

6) The main villain is an evil emperor or, again, DRAGON.

7) Gaining money from killing baddies. To me, that doesn''t seem very noble...

Um, that''s all for now. But there are tons more. Please avoid as best as possible.

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