Hey, guys. Thats right I am making a game! For a while now I have thinking about trying to create a rpg style game, due mainly for my disdain at all the crappy ones being mass-produced.
Today I decided, what the hell I'll do scope out whats on the net. I found this great directory where it gave a bunch of game engines (some free some not).
Some of the engines (that where free) looked promising so I downloaded them.
But one in particular caught my eye.
Sphere I believe is its name. What caught my eye though is it claimed to have graphics like that of the old school final fantasy games (they great games if I do say so myself). So I downloaded it and installed it, and lo and behold what they said was true. Played a small demo and nearly pissed myself in excitement.
This would work great with the ideas I had in my head. I always wanted to create my own game (who dosen't?) and now I can. Hell I even made a map for my game way back when (looks like shit though). Now I can create a non-linaer world full of detailed characters.
So without further ado this is what my game is going, hopefully, to be like:
Story: Your basic save the kingdom crap. You know, the one where if you had not been born the world would have gone to shit in a handbasket kinda deal. You will play a young lad (who, if I can do it, actually "ages" in the game) who will start off as a farm hand (or some such) and work his way up in the world to become either a Paladin for the temple, knight for the kingdom, Rogue for the thief guild (you bet your ass theres going to be thiefs and none of that nice steal from the corrupt rich crap), or the mages guild (if I can get a good working magic system in the game).
Setting: The game will be based on the map I drew so long ago (hooyah). The map took about ten minutes to draw during chemistry (what a boring class) so there will likely be a lot of changes. One change will be wizards Ilse, thats getting moved. Also there maybe another country that takes part of the east side of the empire. To the north are the barbs (think vikings), to the south are the nomad desert people (who do have a few cities, think aiel for Robert Jordans books or if you don't know that series think ancient numdia but with a highly trained and devoted army). The marshlands will house swamp reptiles (like those in Morrowind), also the swamp waters are poisonious to those that don't call that home. Isle of the Damned is where evil resides. Undead walk the day and night and nothing is able to live on that burnt piece of rock. To the east are pirates who live on a small group of islands. They, of course, raid and pillage the eastern shores. Also there is going to be a lot less cities then on the map. Sorry but if this is going to be a one person show then I there is no way I can make that many even if I C/P'd them.
Also just to clairify some things with the map.
- Those circles are cities, bigger the circle the bigger the city.
- Dotted lines mean roads.
- Weird circles in middle of map means lakes.
- Broken triangles mean mountains.
- Square with circle in it mean guard station.
- The fruity thing on Isle of the damned is probably (hell even I don't know its original purpose) a large volcano (makes sense with all the burnt rock)
- No friggen clue as to what those circle things are in the middle of the ocean. Probably little islands, ya those aren't going to be in the game.
Likely this game will be broken up into sections, and not released all at once (be waiting for years then). It will probably been the empire, then add the barbs, then the marsh land, then isle of magi, then pirates, then dessert, then finally land of the damned. There might be mroe additions that will be after all the aforementioned.
Link:
http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scan5px.jpgCharacters:
Well this really is done during game making but I will have a few here at first and update more later.
- Protagonist: He is the unlikely hero who will save the day (or end it depending on his choices...)
- Emperor: An old and but powerfull leader for the empire. He is currently afflicated with some sort of unknown mallidy that the temple seers are unable to cure. It is believed by some to be the work of treacherous scum.
- Prince harold (?): The older of the two princes, he is much like his father and is widely respected and loved throughout the kingdom.
- Prince Kronan (?): The younger of the two, he is more agressive then his brother. Privatly he believe in glory over peace, and seceretly despises his brother and the how he will get the post instead of Kronan.
- Princess- Young and naive, but kind and gentle too. o.O Betcha didn't see that one coming?
- King of Thieves: Values gold or lives, he is never shy of taking it to a new level if it brings in more profit.
- Head of the Knights: Loyal and dedicated to whomever holds the throne. He has a nature charismatic way with him that inspires those that follow him.
Many, many more (would be here all day if I tried to write them all out).
Plot: While yes it is about saving the kingdom or bringing it down, there is more to it then that (surprised? no, didn't think so). I want to make a world where there are many things happening and that the character only gets to take part in a portion of them depending on the choices he makes (ie unable to do thieves missions if your a knight). I know some games out there, like morrowind, allow you to take part on all sides at once (well pretty much), I have neither the time nor the will to make it so with this game. Your just going to have to replay it differently (go replay value!!). I personally am tired of the stupid, go kill a cave rat missions when your the hero of the world crap. Which is another reason why you can only do missions for one guild. There will always be two main story lines for any game. One the central story line save or defeat the empire (or something like that) and your guild missions. Also there will be many 1 liner quests (ie bring me a axe+1 and I will give you 3,000 gold for it style).
Guilds:
- Knights of the Empire: As you may have guessed it, the knights or the empire are the best of the best a cut above regular soldiers. Training is brutal since the empire is surronded by enemies (mostly because of her doing). This area will likely have the most missions since there are so many possibilities you could go from there.
- Thieves Guild: This group works almost completely in the empire. They are rogues and assassians who value money more then anything. There will be a fair amount of quests with these guys and none of them will be "help Mrs. fiffer with planting her garden" type. No, they will more likely be "Kill the whore Mrs. fiffer and bring back all her loot, and be quick about it!".
- Merc Guild: I am unsure weither I will add this guild in the game, but if I do it will be an agency for those who like to fight, but not always for right. Also I may make this guild so that you can join it and do its quests even if your in another guild. This guild may also be for bounties. In the end you get to choose which missions you want to do and which ones you don't.
- Magic Guild: If I can implement magic into the game then is guild will be there. This will likely have the second largest amount of quests in the game, because, common magic is cool. Unlike most other games I have played, the magic guild quests will almost always involve magic (none of that bring back the ring of power from this certain dungeon stuff, but more like create a new type of spell or create a golem, etc.). Also if you want to do magic, this is the only guild that looks into that area with any depth.
- Temple Guild: If you love or hate religion you must admit that it is a force to be reckoned with. In fantasy games more so, because of magic they receice from their gods. Here I may branch it off to two different areas or merge them depending on how much I can do for each side. Here you will be a paladin or maybe you could choose to be a clergy man (sword or magic). A fair amount of quests will be for this guild.
- Pirates Guild: This will be a sub guild in that you can also be a thief too (not a knight or any other as of now). As a pirate you will raid the coast and do what pirates usually do. Unfortunatly you will be a landlocked bastard since I seriously doubt I will be able to implement ships in the game. There will be some quests with these guys but not a lot.
Thats about it for guilds, there may be a barb or evil cult guild depending on who well the other ones do.
Features in the Game:
- Its an RPG, so a fair amount of talking quest doing, and weapon hunting will be here. Money makes the world go round and this will be the case in this game.
- Many npcs, since face it; it gets boring talking to joe blow all the time.
- Multiply quests since replay is well and good so long as the game isn't over in an hour.
- Fast Travel- either by horse or by the magic of a talk option. The thing, besides bugs, that kill a game the most is the time it takes to get to point A to B.
- Save anywhere, anytime. Don't you hate it when you have to go out and there is not a save point in sight? i do, true it makes it more difficult, but if the game makers are using that as difficulty then they are doing something wrong.
- Build!!!!!! By the gods, this is the single most thing I wanted in rpgs since the dawn of time. To be able to build your own city. You guessed it you can build your own little city via point and click options (they are going to be basic since, face it this is freeware). Some point in the story your character will take over a sleepy hallow and be able to turn it into a major city via quests, shamless promotion, and gold (<< big influence). Note that you will not see all of you city since I can only do so much, but each building you have affects a certain city stat such as population, food, income, etc.
- Promotions (not the same meaning as the aforementioned): When you go up in ranks so do you! Better living areas, better equip (free from the guild, you may find better on the road though), harder quests, more friends, better options or new options for you city (which will also be based on the guild you choose ie Huge temple or sparring area, or thieves nest or pirate tavern etc.). Also with promotions you will be able to order to some guys around. Note that I doubt there will be sidekicks in the game... I fear it will be a solo experiance you can choose options for you henchmen do, like thieves guild in BG:SOA.
- Bunch of weapons, though likely to be only swords at first :(
Ya thats about it. I know its ambitious and likely most will never be done but if your going to aim make it high.
Besides this is mostly for myself, but I also would like to share it you guys too.
Please, got ideas give them. I have no shame when it comes to stealing other peoples idea ;)