im currently writing up an rpg, like a final fantasy game. I have about 220 pages done. But is an rpg usually like 600 or 700 pages?

Well I am pretty sure it is as long as you want it to be, I don't think there is a static number that is needs to be or maybe I don't understand your question.

Pages of what, exactly? Text dump? Script? Six or seven hundred pages is quite a lot.

Wordcount is usually a more accurate measurement than pages, unless you're using standard screenplay format in every detail such as font and line spacing. But I can tell you that the Final Fantasys are crazy long, comparable to an 80k word novel, which is double the length of a more standard RPG comparable to a 40k word novella or a 5-act play.

On the upper end of the scale, there's the Planescape: Torment length RPG script, which I've heard is estimated at around 800k words. That's... long (novels are usually about 60k to 100k, I think).

A good way to get a feel for the length would be to find a fan transcript of a Final Fantasy script on the internet and read through it.

Edit: Although I've never read one of those myself, so it's possible they only include the main quest arc. You'd also need to write all the tons of incidental dialog as well. That all adds up.

Oh sorry. Yea by script I meant dialog summary scenes all that good stuff. Not programming. 800K Holy wow I thought that would be reserved for a game like the Xenosaga series or something lol.

Um... could you divide your script up into scenes and then estimate how much time a player would be expected to spend in and between each scene? I think 40 hours used to be some kind of standard.

That should be 40 hours for the whole game, not 40 hours between scenes, I hope. ^_^; The Final Fantasys and recent Zeldas are 60-70 hours, assuming you have a walkthrough and go around collecting every possible bonus item and playing minigames and talk to every NPC. Although IMO the Final Fantasys are a bad standard for this measurement because they always had too high of a proportion of combat to plot, too long of gaps between plot segments.

Another standard is that a player who has played the game several times, who makes a speed run fighting only the mandatory monsters and skipping any side quests and cinematics, should be able to complete the game in 10-15 hours. If they can't the game probably has too much travel time.

It really depends on how linear your game is. If you have a linear 20 hour game, then you could probably get most of your screen writing done in several hundred pages (screenplay format). If you have a 20 hour game with various story arcs, the amount of writing needed will obviously explode.

I'd say 400 pages would probably be sufficient for your needs.

Thank you all for the input. I'm at 155K words, and I'm only halfway through the story. I'm good I believe for now.

I have only one last question. I've done sections on music, characters, controls, locations, NPC's, an executive overview, combat system, menus, sidequest (as story progresses), experience, camera, and working on story itself. Do I need a detailed explanation of every monster in my game, or just bosses? Or neither? Is it up to me or the game designer? Thank you again.