Alright so i want to start diving into game design. I enjoy programming and playing games of all sorts both video and tabletop games so i am an avid gamer. I have devised a game concept called Realm. Though I am new to game programming i am half decent at programming. Overall my design philosophy is that this is a side project for me, i want to make a fun and enjoyable game.

Right now i'm working on a design overview before i begin the first text-based pre-alpha code. The game will include graphics but text based to get the basic methods ready and working. Before I begin working i would like a bit of feedback

The game Realm is a Baldur's Gate style of game in essence it is an RPG on computer in the most general sense. The idea of the game is that the player creates a character and will play through a campaign of my design. I play D&D, CoC, and other RPGs so i have had experience in writing stories. Back to design one of the things i want to implement is a well formatted Co-op and Adventure Creator so other people can create their own campaigns for their friends to play with them. Even allow the creation of different worlds. Far Future, Apocalypse, High fantasy, any setting can be made if enough time and effort is put into it (of course i wouldn't be able to create all libraries however the game would be open to the Mod community and encouraged to make such content). Above all i want to be different, new and innovative but i also want the game to be enjoyable, fun and easy to pick up for anyone who enjoys genres of games of that sort.

I now have a direction i want to take my game it is going to be a 3D turn based game in mechanics however currently it might use a QTE mechanic to give combat and things of that nature more interest because that is often the problem i find with turn based games is that the games often become button mashers. I want to avoid that. Because its an RPG i want players to make meaningful decisions and that what they are doing has impact. I think the main campaign adventure that i create to come with the game will be a Fallen High Fantasy Setting basically the setting is that things like elves, magic, and all those things were once in the world but now they have come to pass and the world now contains few if any of its ancient remnants. I'll have to work more on the story but i think i have something in mind.

Thank you all so much in advance.

Since it's a hobby you should go for your strength(unless you feel there is something new out there you wish to learn)

your game sounds more like a game-engine, btw

That might be the case, i might make my own engine or mod one that is currently out there i don't have a set schedule on what needs to be done. All i know is that i want the game to be mod friendly and be open to the community for content. The benefit of course of writing or heavily modding an engine to be my own is that it would be relatively easy to come up with content and keep using the engine to expand on the initial game. Even if the work load is heavier initially. However unlike an engine i would say that it would be less open to script mods and utilization of the Dev Kit like the skyrim dev kit would be ideal.

I still don't know if i want the game to be Action vs Turn based and the perspective i want to use. I might make it turn based but make combat a bit more action with the need of keypresses to create combos. Either with your own character or other party members.

My recommendations are based on differentiating your game from what else is out there. Unless you see something out there that you can improve upon, I think it's smart to look for gaps in the marketplace and filling them.

That being said, everyone seems to be doing action/realtime battles now in crpgs. While a lot of people think this is because it's what the audience wants, I would disagree. I think the audience is just tired of turn-based systems that offer meaningless choices and random battles that are just frustrating and get in the way. Most of the time, these just turn into button-mashers because it winds up being a zero-sum game where the best answer is just to bash "attack" mindlessly. If you can come up with a way to incorporate interesting, meaningful choices (without just becoming a cliche turn-based tactics game ala FF Tactics) there is an audience that will really dig it. This could be really interesting with the opportunity for players to create their own campaigns because it allows them to really play with enemy encounters to create a game play experience rather than just filling it with meaningless, button-mashy random encounters.

I also have to say that keypress combos sounds a lot to me like the dreaded QTE. If this is going to be a big part of your game-play (Typing of the Dead, Legaia series, Curse of the Necrodancer), just make sure to be wary of it becoming more irritating than fun.

Lastly, I'd suggest considering an engine like Unity or Gamemaker, or even something more simple like LimeJS or Pygame. These are going to make it much easier to start with graphics (which are going to be necessary unless you're aiming for the Roguelike/Angband/Nethack crowd) and allow you to focus on game design rather than engine programming.

Either way, it sounds like a fun idea and I look forward to seeing what comes out!

Hey Thanks for your comment, i think i will go for a turn based style of game and thanks for recomending Unity. All i'd want the engine for is graphics nothing else. I think i will go more 3D because it is turn based and there will be a lot more interesting ways to create campaigns in those sorts of situations especially if I include high amounts of detail in the places characters can go.

I will have to find a way to use the QTE to make it interesting and fun rather than boring and annoying. That i think will be the hardest part of design. a Turn based enviornment also gives me more freedom with a choice and character impact mechanics.

If anyone has any good ideas on how to do QTE mechanics so that they are fun or what they find frustrating about them please let me know and how that mechanic can be used to greater benefit. thank you for your insights McCheesy