Hi all, I''ve been mulling over this concept for a few months. Remember all the old console RPG games we loved back in the day like Final Fantasy 3 and 4, and DragonWarrior 1 and 2? Wouldn''t it be cool to play a game with old style, charming 2D graphics like that again? And wouldn''t it be cool if you could use a completely mouse driven interface like in BaldursGate (BG engine is called the Infinity Engine)? And since there wouldn''t be a massive overhead in graphics there could be all kinds of amazing spells, effects, and NPC interactions! You could implement very realistic, interactive environments such that if a mage isn''t careful he could burn down city hall with that fireball spell and a fighter with a +3 sword could hack through the Inns walls! But, wait here comes the town gaurd and Mage Marshal - 1000gp fine for destruction of public property! And finally, a very powerful mage could CREATE new areas of the game (just like in a MUD!) Does this sound like fun to anyone else? MMORPG? Don''t get me started!

I''m actually already making one of those games, with some pretty revolutionary features, check out the future of RPG''s article, which can be found in the articles & resources section, General Game Design, of this site. I''ve almost got the engine(top-down snes style, mouse control) running(made entirely in Delphi and runs pretty smooth).

Shadowcore-

Thanks for the link there is a ton of good information there!

I remember the good old days when we all were speaking about the future of RPGs, then dwarfsoft wrote an article based on what we said in the forums.

Many of the people that were there at this time seems missing today, maybe we have had such a brainstroming than some are still trying everything we talked about...

(okay I''m off topic, sorry)

-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

So none of the old timers feel like commenting because This is all old hat to everyone?

Old style, programmer artish characters. Ok.
Mouse Driven interface. Ok.

Isometric/topdown view. Ok.

Two examples of deformable terrain (AKA canned interaction). Ok.

Town guards much like those found in any mmorpg. OK.

Area creation. OK.

Did I miss anything?

My final verdict on that would be: "Depends on how fun it is."

Now, if you wanted to go more into depth on any one of those, I''d be happy to. For example: Given the idea that you can do damage to buildings, what sort of damage types would buildings need to be able to deal with? Would modeling buildings out a bunch of discreet segments, and having seperate attributes for each segment provide a more entertaining model than having a building made out of one piece?

It''s not that we dont'' want to talk about it because it''s old hat, but rather that:
1. There''s nothing to say. Try asking the right questions.
2. It sounds like a half baked idea. Show us you''ve put some real thought into it, and we''ll be more likely to talk with you.

i despise mouse driven interfaces. clicking to move seems so dull. i guess its a pc thing.

secondly, with art being 2d you cant create the "realism" and interactivity that you can with a 3d art. you have to create the walls in all states, instead of using deformation of the mesh. you must ensure your tile size is small (or figure anoth method to handle your world) or inn walls will seem silly to many players. by using 2d, you reduce the ability to have realism and interactivity. why the heck do you even need realism in a game?

ponder this. how will you handle dynamic lighting with only 2d art? dont even think about saying you will draw the sprites required, WAY to many for storage or an artist to create.

everything you say can be done using a 3d engine with less polgons then current engines use, even easier then using a 2d engine.

why do ppl not care about story, battle systems and other important GAMEPLAY stuff instead of silly "i want a realistic fully interactive enviroment". again, i guess its a pc rpg thing (go play some console rpgs, and rethink what you are really trying to do).

Console RPGs tend to lack in the gameplay department (not all of them, but a lot of them.) Interactivity adds as much (if not more) to gameplay as a decent story, which can detract from gameplay if it involves watching lots of movies or reading pages of text without any player interaction. In that case, you''re better off watching a movie or reading a book.

ThoughtBubble - Thanks

quote: Original post by a person
why do ppl not care about story, battle systems and other important GAMEPLAY stuff instead of silly "i want a realistic fully interactive enviroment". again, i guess its a pc rpg thing (go play some console rpgs, and rethink what you are really trying to do).

You see, this is funny to me, cos I would say exactly the opposite - to people who like console RPGs, I''d say to look at PC RPGs where there is actually some gameplay, not just being led by the nose through a linear story via a couple of million random encounters.

Everyone''s tastes are different, I guess.



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