One such game which does this is The Last Story. It combines the story telling of JRPGs with gameplay mechanics from Western RPGs. The game is very much story-driven and centres around around a party of seven characters. The personalities of these characters develops through the story. Although you control mainly just one character throughout the game, different party members will accompany you during different parts of the story. Combat is heavily based on Western action games. It's in real time, it's fast-paced, and even has a cover-system as well as 3rd person shooting mechanics. This might be a good game to get some ideas from.

Seiken densetsu 3

I'll be sure to give these games a go considering the fact that they both have concepts that i can adapt from. although they seem simple, i can still get an idea on how i can start my story. Pros n Cons lol

I would also consider creating an overarching story that is essentially the same throughout the game no matter which path you choose. The problem with the story progression you described earlier is that it never builds to something greater - it's just a series of unrelated events that happen one after the other with no clear goal in mind. To drive the story forward you need a clear goal from the very beginning. Many unrelated events can happen in between for sure, but you always need to remind the player what their main goal is.

In many RPGs (or any game, for that matter) this main goal is often about stopping some kind of global threat. This could work well in a game with many branching story paths. You could meet different people depending on where you explore and who you talk to. These people would have the same goal of stopping this global threat, but may approach it in very different ways. And of course, all of the in between events that occur along the way would be completely different depending on who's in your party and what decisions you have made.

I would also consider creating an overarching story that is essentially the same throughout the game no matter which path you choose. The problem with the story progression you described earlier is that it never builds to something greater - it's just a series of unrelated events that happen one after the other with no clear goal in mind. To drive the story forward you need a clear goal from the very beginning. Many unrelated events can happen in between for sure, but you always need to remind the player what their main goal is.

I actually did consider that! :)

So a solution at this moment would be to have a background story of the world you are in and it's up to you to adapt from it

obviously, i described something different than making an overarching story line. But i basically mentioned the fact of some kind of overarching story line. But as Erik stated in #5:

Sounds like a good premise. The main problem that I see is that it simply becomes too big before it can fill an open world the size of Skyrim's. There will need to be such a large decision-tree that it will be very difficult to manually create all the branches.

Having an overarching story will need to happen, but with the concept i'm going for, i think making all those decision trees along the line of the story would take a large amount of branches from what i got from him. Doesn't mean i won't do it if all else fails. I was thinking of having an ''ultimate goal'' come from your party than from the actual story.If that makes sense? or would that just confuse things?

I was thinking of having an ''ultimate goal'' come from your party than from the actual story.If that makes sense? or would that just confuse things?

Perhaps it would confuse things, but it would certainly multiply the workload of writing the story. You will essentially be writing an entire story line for each ultimate goal you plan to have. It would also make your game seem like it's several games in one, which may be a good or bad thing depending on what you're going for. I think it would be much easier to write a story line with a single goal in mind, then work your way backwards by creating branching paths which lead up to it. You should also consider making some of these paths converge, so even though the events near the beginning of story can be radically different depending on the choices you make, they may end up reaching a similar point halfway through the story before splitting up once again.

I think it would be much easier to write a story line with a single goal in mind, then work your way backwards by creating branching paths which lead up to it. You should also consider making some of these paths converge, so even though the events near the beginning of story can be radically different depending on the choices you make, they may end up reaching a similar point halfway through the story before splitting up once again.

Do you mean working backwards so no matter what happens i'd end up with a few ''ending'' possibilities? and by ''converge'' wouldn't that make a dna effect? meaning it'll branch out then come back in then branch out again?

Do you mean working backwards so no matter what happens i'd end up with a few ''ending'' possibilities? and by ''converge'' wouldn't that make a dna effect? meaning it'll branch out then come back in then branch out again?

Yes, exactly. By having the events all come to the same few endings it will really make the game come full circle rather than feeling open-ended. And yes, converging events would create that effect.

Another thing which would greatly help the sense of unity is to create several large scale events which occur in the world and are somehow tied to the overarching story line. These large scale events would occur no matter what path you're on, but the path you've chosen will effect how you interact with those events. For example, imagine that at a fixed point in the timeline there's an army which attacks a city. Depending on your current branching path, you may find yourself in a number of positions. Perhaps you're at the front lines of this attacking arming, or maybe you've enlisted in the militia of the city and are defending it. Or maybe you just happen to be strolling through the city at the time of attack. Or perhaps you're in a distant land altogether and you only hear word of the attack. Or maybe you've found a way to prevent the attack before it even happens, such as by helping form a truce of some kind.

Yes, exactly. By having the events all come to the same few endings it will really make the game come full circle rather than feeling open-ended. And yes, converging events would create that effect.

Another thing which would greatly help the sense of unity is to create several large scale events which occur in the world and are somehow tied to the overarching story line. These large scale events would occur no matter what path you're on, but the path you've chosen will effect how you interact with those events. For example, imagine that at a fixed point in the timeline there's an army which attacks a city. Depending on your current branching path, you may find yourself in a number of positions. Perhaps you're at the front lines of this attacking arming, or maybe you've enlisted in the militia of the city and are defending it. Or maybe you just happen to be strolling through the city at the time of attack. Or perhaps you're in a distant land altogether and you only hear word of the attack. Or maybe you've found a way to prevent the attack before it even happens, such as by helping form a truce of some kind.

Taking my concept in mind, i went over it with a few friends interested in the concept and they told me of doing a ''banishment'' or ''redemption'' story. Where you have lost respect of the community and so you are banished from there, but at the end they need you back or something. most of the characters you meet hate you because of what you have done. And so you go on with these characters trying to understand each other as a group etc. Which i felt went with my modern theme and party attachment core element. but what do you think? i figure it sounds a little superhero-esqe

Probably the reason there were no replies the first day was because Thanksgiving.

I'm interested in designing this kind of hybrid RPG. I'd probably describe it more like "interactive story core + sandboxy customization peripherals" rather than j+western. Skyrim is a pretty good place to start, but so is WoW, if you consider things like the starting quest chains per race that do some character development, and the core quest chains for each class where you unlock abilities of that class, another bit of character development. Other MMOs may have core quest chains per profession or faction that the player chooses to join during the course of the game, corresponding to the Stormcloak vs. Imperials quests in Skyrim.

I'd consider my WildWright MMO design and my + collaboraters' Xenallure single-player RPG design to both be this kind of hybrid. And the older single-player RPG concept Gimmie Those Wings, though it has less sandbox/crafting elements.

Probably the reason there were no replies the first day was because Thanksgiving.

Ahh I totally forgot about that because most people in the UK (that i know of) do not celebrate thanksgiving so that theory totally slipped my mind! haha

I'm interested in designing this kind of hybrid RPG. I'd probably describe it more like "interactive story core + sandboxy customization peripherals" rather than j+western. Skyrim is a pretty good place to start, but so is WoW, if you consider things like the starting quest chains per race that do some character development, and the core quest chains for each class where you unlock abilities of that class, another bit of character development. Other MMOs may have core quest chains per profession or faction that the player chooses to join during the course of the game, corresponding to the Stormcloak vs. Imperials quests in Skyrim.

I'd consider my WildWright MMO design and my + collaboraters' Xenallure single-player RPG design to both be this kind of hybrid. And the older single-player RPG concept Gimmie Those Wings, though it has less sandbox/crafting elements.

Although i'd probably describe it to be an interactive story core + Sandbox customization peripherals myself. I wouldn't want to take this concept down a MMO path, since MMO's are quite lazy in a sense that most people don't play it for the story and secondly MMO's take a long time to complete. Don't get me wrong, games in general take a considerable while to finish but MMO's are just not ''up my alley'' to create. Even though i've played quite a few of them. (Tera, Aion and WoW - The other's are just copycats to WoW)

I want to take my story into a more serious territory and immerse players into the game for the story rather than the quests and other things to do. That's why my concept right now requires heavy decision trees etc. Because my core element is the STORY then the GAMEPLAY.

Although it doesn't mean i won't put any effort into GAMEPLAY. I want my gameplay to be a fun aspect as you enjoy the story obviously.

Probably the reason there were no replies the first day was because Thanksgiving.

Ahh I totally forgot about that because most people in the UK (that i know of) do not celebrate thanksgiving so that theory totally slipped my mind! haha

Yeah, approximately 2/3 of Gamedev's posters are in the US so a lot of us were in turkey comas or on the highway or at the house of parents who live in the stone age with no wifi, lol.

I'm interested in designing this kind of hybrid RPG. I'd probably describe it more like "interactive story core + sandboxy customization peripherals" rather than j+western. Skyrim is a pretty good place to start, but so is WoW, if you consider things like the starting quest chains per race that do some character development, and the core quest chains for each class where you unlock abilities of that class, another bit of character development. Other MMOs may have core quest chains per profession or faction that the player chooses to join during the course of the game, corresponding to the Stormcloak vs. Imperials quests in Skyrim.

I'd consider my WildWright MMO design and my + collaboraters' Xenallure single-player RPG design to both be this kind of hybrid. And the older single-player RPG concept Gimmie Those Wings, though it has less sandbox/crafting elements.

Although i'd probably describe it to be an interactive story core + Sandbox customization peripherals myself. I wouldn't want to take this concept down a MMO path, since MMO's are quite lazy in a sense that most people don't play it for the story and secondly MMO's take a long time to complete. Don't get me wrong, games in general take a considerable while to finish but MMO's are just not ''up my alley'' to create. Even though i've played quite a few of them. (Tera, Aion and WoW - The other's are just copycats to WoW)

I want to take my story into a more serious territory and immerse players into the game for the story rather than the quests and other things to do. That's why my concept right now requires heavy decision trees etc. Because my core element is the STORY then the GAMEPLAY.

Although it doesn't mean i won't put any effort into GAMEPLAY. I want my gameplay to be a fun aspect as you enjoy the story obviously.

I agree that it's more practical to want to make a single-player game than an MMO. I just personally love MMOs and find them an irresistible challenge to design. But single-player RPGs are interesting to design also.

I think, if you want the core element of your game to be the story, you need to find a core story concept before you worry too much about the details of what exact features should or shouldn't be in your hybrid blend of gameplay. What is your game going to be about? Is there a mystery beneath the surface of the world or explaining the initial surprising events of the story and subsequent discoveries of new abilities and goals that become available to attempt throughout the game? Is there a buildungsroman dynamic where an initially young, poor, uneducated, or etc. person gains skills, wealth, possessions, and social standing including romance? Those are usually the two things I start with. Some games go more for fighting a great evil, getting revenge, retrieving something that has been stolen, escaping imminent danger from persistent bad guys, etc.