Wav, one question I have is are you thinking that once a prescripted event occurs, there would be custom-made reactions? Or would it be more of an approach of there being some basic high-level actions that can be used throughout.

As we all know in PnP games players can potentially come up w/ some abstract unusual ways to overcome an obstacle. The computer is not smart enough to handle the infinite possibilities to handle a situation. So, the only real solutions are to have pre-made, custom solutions to a problem that would be available for that particular event and would change according to what event is happening. The other option would be for there to be a certain number of ways to interact w/ the environment that can be used in various ways throughout the whole game but are not presented blantantly to the player and are not incredibly particular.

I tend to like the latter option.


Need help? Well, go FAQ yourself.
What a plight we who try to make a story-based game have...writers of conventional media have words, we have but binary numbers

Shenmue?: Scripted time based action sequences. Buttons flash on screen for a short while, so you can carry out the action (haven''t played it though.).

Zelda:TOOT has icons on screen that flash up when u can do a particular action. Other games are now borrowing this.

Metal Gear Solid (Game Boy) demonstrates that you can do subtle games with several options.. even on primitive equipment.
Ie. It caters for both stealth & lots of shooting.

Deus Ex.. had choices of actions which would help to "define" the character that you were: via what you did, and the way that the characters would react to that. It also combined this with flexibility of method. Non-lethal stealth, or a rampage?
Check out the demo for a good example of this.(and buy the full game ). You can take moral stances in conversation trees. And whether you decide to rescue your captured comrade & your actions create different attitudes to you.

Quote Wavinator: "Right. Though, some choices you''d probably get, regardless (like running away)."

Well in the context of a proper CRPG. But in the context of an action-puzzle-RPG-adventure style game?

In Zelda you cannot "run away" from the boss encounters.. you are locked in the room with them. Keeping a similar focus it would be possible add dramatic sequences, whilst still keeping the focus.

Ie. The giant spider is lying wounded.. (pause for choice) the Thief character asks if you want to use his rope & grappling hook to gain a height advantage. Or do you want to bravely fight man vs. spider?

Or a "Mummy" style sequence where you run away through the tunnels. Being chased by the spider.

It could be a lot of fun.. and still allow for some light character defining action.

yeah, general combat sim sounds good.

And yet again the discussion has fallen down on combat!

Combat is such a small element of the bigger picture if you are looking at it from the context of interesting decisions to make.
What choice does combat usually represent? In most games I''ve played, the reason you face combat is either "I have to go over there, but these guys are in the way" or "these guys have something I want". ( Note: I''m not talking about the decisions made during combat, but rather the decision to enter combat ).
The elementary choices are then "Do I want to go there?" and "Do I want that particular item?". When you look at them like that, there suddenly seem to be a lot more choices. Sneaking through to the place you want to go. Bargaining for the item you wish to obtain. Therefore, combat is just one of your options.

Even when in combat, it makes a large difference. If you''re in the "I want to go over there" situation, you "win" the encounter as soon as you''ve managed to run away in the right direction, and shake off your pursuers if any. If you are in the "I want that object" situation, you have succeeded as soon as you can get away with that particular object, regardless of the current mental or physical state of your enemies. I''m thinking along the lines of "puny thief kicks enemy in the lower abdomen area, enemy drops magical sword, puny thief grabs sword handle and legs it."

Starting from the choices makes the victory conditions interesting.

I suddenly am not sure if this had anything to do with the thread Sorry if it''s off topic.


People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
Mad Keith the V.

Pacing, as previously alluded to, is also key. The frequency of player input should be proportional to the pace of the game.

Separating the user from the time crunch of minutia also suggests that deeper strategy needs to be designed.

Bad MKV, getting off topic like that!

Anyway, (and I hope I didn''t miss this in the posts I skimmed) I think it will eventually come to a toss-up between whether you want free-formed gameplay or to tell a story. I guess it is possible to do both, but will it be fun ? Daggerfall let you do pretty much whatever you wanted to, but the inherent problem with that open-endedness was that if you got sidetracked doing things your own way, you may not be able to complete the game--the first set NPC encounter gave you 1 month to respond, and if you missed it, you might as well restart, because you can''t make contact with her again.

On the other hand, since RPGs are going to be used for telling a story, I think sometimes it really is better to give the player only set choices that the story revolves around, rather than having a dynamic choice-generator that may end up allowing the player to go waaaay off your intended course. What if, for instance, in FF7, the characters could choose to go around the Forgotten City a different way? Sneak up behind Sephiroth, do something to him, or at least restrain him from killing Aeris. Suddenly, you''ve changed the entire course of the game! At the end, you don''t have that burst of energy to free yourself from the forcefield, saying "For Aeris" (or whatever), or for that matter, if you backstab Seph, then *gasp* the story is done, 20 hours ahead of time. And that throws it back to the first question: is that fun ? To play for 15 hours and have two free coasters?

That might steer the conversation a slightly different direction, or you may all point-and-laugh at me, but that''s my $0.02.
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Dan Upton
Lead Designer
WolfHeart Software