[project1dev] Re: first things first
- From: Chris Riccobono <crysalim@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 05:29:40 -0700
This is an awesome foundation document. Good job writing this up, Eric. :)
There's so many things to build off of in here. I really like the
telekinesis archetype.. it's a good way to include magic in the game
in a unique way. It'll also be great for storytelling purposes! As
for the control thing, we should definitely think about analog sticks
for later on (which can easily be done with the mouse on the pc)
Legend of Mana on the ps2 had a great system that let you change the
psychics of things after you grabbed them with a whip by using the
analog stick. We could create a skill implementation of that with
telekinesis, where you can grab objects and manipulate them in the
world using the mouse.
Messing with the speed of the movement gave a great sense of gravity
too, so you felt like you were actually throwing something around.
Using randomness here helps too.
On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 9:26 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Game objective: to provide an amazing experience to gamers by fusing action
> adventure elements and traditional rpg gameplay - with the extra twist that
> only WE can provide.
>
> Theme: the overall theme of the game is a new mythology. I picture more like
> greek myths, old folklore, etc rather than modern fantasy like lord of the
> rings. It is really important we establish our own creatures, stories,
> myths, monsters etc. Obviously we can be inspired by things we think are
> great (zelda, oldschool ff's, modern rpg's) but we want it to be in the
> universe we define and design. In my head, the characters, npc's, etc. are
> mostly real down to earth ppl with real problems, but they live in subtly
> surreal world with all sorts of wonders and dangers that don't exist irl. I
> think a major key here is to remember-less is more. If you have one
> magician, he's unique and interesting, if you have 100 (like harry potter)
> magic becomes common place and loses its *ahem* magic. If we want stuff to
> have an impact, it is smart to keep it's mystery and rareness. Supply and
> demand, etc. You all took economics.
>
> Setting: this game is set in a yet unnamed world. In the beginning, there are
> the pocket "worlds" - each representing its own self contained little world
> of various size, including town/towns, landscape settings, etc. A world
> might be an island or a dessert world. These worlds are connected by doors
> that progress forward towards an unknown 'final world' in a linear fashion.
> there are two doors hidden in each world - one forward to the next world and
> one back towards the beginning. When NPC's go through the doors they turn
> into crazed demonic creatures called karzi. For an unknown reason, the main
> character can freely transverse through the doors - the first half of the
> game will mostly involve the quest forward to the final world. The second
> half of the game is after the main character reaches the final world,
> something happens that causes the borders between the worlds to crumble
> creating one large interconnected worlds made up of the lands that the
> character went through and some he didn't. While to the character it was
> only mere moments between the event in the final world and his arrival in the
> new one, it is 10 years later in the now combined world. New empires have
> formed, aliances made, and new adventures to be had.
>
> Character skill/stats:
> The stat system is going to be deep and interconnected with other systems and
> stats in the game. Things like speed will affect both overworld movement and
> combat speed. Besides the standard stats like strength, quickness, speed,
> constition, etc. there will also be auxillary stats involving the character's
> will power. These stats are aggression and discipline - these stats affect
> things like going berserk, getting scared, etc. which will have influences on
> combat.
>
> Stats:
> Strength: influences damage, lifting ability, critical hits.
> Quickness: influences dodging, rt, speed running
> Constitution: affects HP, stamina, lifting ability
> Will: influences discipline/agression system, magic abilty
> Charisma: influences ppl's reaction towards you, ability to recruit, some
> magic, also influences faction stuff. (Maybe there's order charisma and chaos
> charisma and some ppl are attracted to either or neutrality)
> Perception: influences dodging, also makes things like traps, secret doors,
> hidden treasure, etc glow.
>
> Skill intro:
> There are basic skills, master skills, and perks. Basic skills are the skills
> everyone has.. Things like parrying, swinging a weapon, dodging, swimming,
> jumping, etc (all affected by stats) and then there are master skills which
> basically is how classes are defined. Master skills are skills that "level
> up" and give bonus perks and abilities in combat. An example of this would
> be like final fantasy skills like swordtech for cyan or blitz for saban.
> Another example of a master skill is magic. Perks are things that can affect
> overworld or combat, like a quickdraw perk that gives you first strike more
> often, lockpicking, an ability to sense if certain creatures/characters have
> magic ability... There can be a ton.
>
> Ahhh magic:
> Yes there will be magic. It will not be like magic in normal games. Magic.
> in this game is all about imposing your will on the world around you.
> Instead of using the elements, etc. Magic will be used to do telekenisis,
> mind control, mentally destroying the enemies, and bend physical reality etc.
> Now that's not to say we can't have crazy bad ass spells, as mages can warp
> reality and the world around them using the power of their will... Causing
> rock spikes to burst from a boulder, etc. Also telekenisis can be used in the
> overworld, its range and strength varying on will power and magic skill.
> Perhaps further power in magic would allow time manipulation, etc. Very very
> few ppl in the world can use magic, and it is secretive and looked at as evil.
>
> Movement in the world:
> The main character can run, jump, climb, etc. Exploring is going to be an
> adventure, with things like ropes to swing across, places to jump, things to
> dodge, etc. I am picturing indiana jones type of things with giant boulders,
> darts shooting from the wlals, spike rooms, places to swim, etc. Just a lot
> of cool actiony things to challenge the gamer.
>
> Combat:
> Combat is initiated by bumping into or being ambushed by an enemy. It will
> change screens to a combat screen like a traditional rpg but it will not be
> standard turn based action once in. What it will be is something I have
> termed the "slip strike" system. Basically combat will be like a bizarre
> chimera of mike tyson's punchout, gemstone and final fantasy. Basically you
> control your character by selecting a command and then deciding when to
> execute it - while waiting you will actively control a block/parry/dodge
> defense and when you see an opening you'd execute. I can see this system
> being awesome, but perhaps overwelming. Maybe the beginning will be standard
> atb combat and only at the end is this... We'll have to play with it and find
> what is fun. Status effects like being maimed, etc will affect dodging and
> can either be made via critical hits or damage inflicted by overworld
> obstacles/etc.
>
> Important notes, re: combat -
> To grind or not to grind, that is the question... Basically, there are going
> to be two kinds of areas in this game, explore areas and grind areas, now
> grind areas can have adventuring and explore areas can have combat and
> enemies, but we want to keep in mind the theme of the area. Basically it is
> my belief that every battle should be dangerous and challenging and pose an
> actual threat to the player. Rather than make the game a war of attrition as
> the main character plows through an endless horde of weak enemies, all the
> fights in an adventure area should be meaningful. Less enemies, more epic
> fights basically. There will, of course, be grind areas too where you can do
> battle for the hell of it.
>
> Party member:
> Two quick things here... This is subject to change depending on how the
> combat system plays out but basically you'd either control your group
> actively like ff or dq or issue them general commands. This will need
> tweaking once we get in. The other aspect of party members that is important
> is this... I want death to be meaningful - losing a party member is easy to
> ignore if you can just ressurect them in battle or right afterwards, there is
> no concequence. My solution is this: if a party member dies, they go to a
> node and you have to go to the node to jail break them out and have them
> rejoin your party. We could have these nodes in various places and it could
> add an element to gameplay. Obviously, this will need to be balanced out,
> etc.
>
> Character creation, the first level:
> Basically you pick your face and general looks and the screen fades and your
> character appears in a black void. An NPC (character in hat/cloak) explains
> that its time to test you and you are put through (I like 3 randomly ordered
> with a secret 4th one that pops up occasionally and maybe imbues special
> powers or only 4th test ppl can learn magic). How the player plays out the
> tests gives them a general starting point for their stats, skills and perks.
>
> THE TRIALS:
>
> Test 1 - cave - you are shoved through a door, tumble down 1000 steps and
> arrive at the foot of a cave. The cave has treasure and a warning not to
> touch it. There will be various ways through the cave (like going through a
> trapped tunnel, dodging the traps gives appropriate bonuses, also just being
> a crazy mofo and walking through does too. There is no way to lose - its a
> test of character). I also like barriers you could smash down or try to pick.
> Also I think there could be an avarice/generousity system which would balance
> by ppl liking you or finding more loot. At the end of the cave there is a
> door leading to the next quest. There is a lot of neat stuff we could do here.
>
> Test 2 - you come out the door and are on a ship. The ship is a warship.
> You make choices depending on information you find by talking to crew
> members, items you find, and talking to the prisoners. The outcomes could be
> things like... You free the prisoners, there's a mutiny, you escape via
> lifeboat, you join the crew of the warship. We can flesh this out but what I
> have in mind is that there's conflicting stories which makes the outcome seem
> morally ambiguous and maybe the best solution is only revealed if you're
> super perceptive and find the right clue.
>
> Test 3 - the tower - the tower is basically a spiral tower upwards with
> traps, monsters and treasure but no real storyline. This will just help
> flesh out the character stats.
>
> Remember, these tests are random so no specific order...
>
> Test 4 - you go through a door and end up in the cloaked man's room. He asks
> how you got there, you answer some questions and he decides whether to teach
> you magic and maybe what kind (physical magic that helps enhance physical
> skills ... Maybe an example would be double jump or jedi like stuff, mental
> magic which was discussed above, or a hybrid) magic probably comes at a
> prohibitive cost so that it balances w/ non magic players (I.e. The path of
> magic is harder but had awesome rewards ... It isn't for everyone). Maybe the
> cloaked man asks you what you sacrifice from a list we can develop.
> Afterwards, he pushes you out the door and end up in either one of the
> untaken tests or the exit .
>
> The first world: we'll need a town and storyline for this, and include the
> cave we are making now... The rest of the storya nd environments need to be
> developed but I figure by the time we get to the first town, we'll be rolling
> along pretty good.
>
> This is basically just an overview... Obviously many things need to be
> fleshed out, decided, tested, perfected...but I figure this would give a nice
> starting platform to work off of.
> Things like the mechanics of skills, stats and the perk system will need to
> be laid out in more detail but I think this is a nice start.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Eric
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Other related posts:
