Cool RPG features you want to see again.

[Rune_74]

So, I was thinking...what mechanics have you seen in games in the past you would like to see in a modern game(well modernish)

I would like to see a modern version of Ambermoons 1st person combat engine wheer you can move position in combat on a small map as well as see the fight in front of you.

Also, jobs like in magic candle....

Maybe a decent relegion/ethics system like ultima....


any ideas guys?

These could be great inspiration for people like Basilisk to get new(old) ideas for future games. Why reinvent the wheel if someone has done it?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

A religion/ethics system could make for more of a role-playing experience if you chose a god/religion/alignment with a fixed set of rules, and your experience gains would be modified by how well (or poorly) you adhered to the selected dogma.

[Saxon1974]

Good topic Rune...I agree with those you listed and I would add:

1) Turn based combat obviously

2) World interactivity. Since the switch to 3D this is almost completely gone. Play Ultima VII or Divine Divinity and you can pick up almost any object and mess with it.

Im sure there are others but those are 2 I think of right away.

[CrazyBernie]

Item crafting. Not necessarily player created items a la mmo's, but something along the lines of: "Find and obtain these materials, and the blacksmith will forge them into a great weapon." Sort of like in Baldur's Gate. I guess you could call it "Quest Crafting." 0_o

Perhaps an Ultima/Fallout 3 style character creation system, where the player makes a series of choices to determine his character's class/skills. Rather than the traditional question/answer system, perhaps it could be incorporated into the very first "quest." I.E. The game starts off with a prologue that involves the character confronted with a series of challenges, and based on how he/she chooses to overcome these challenges, a class/skills/alignment combination is created.

I've always been a fan of real-time gameplay with turn-based combat. It could either be done Fallout 1/2/Tactics style on the same map, or via battle transitions onto a tactical map similar to console RPG's.

[Nevermore]

No alignment, a lots of moral and story choices.

[Rush]

While I enjoy solo character adventures, as a whole I prefer party-based RPGs. I also like being able to choose the name, gender, race and class of each party member. Er...add to that: being able to choose each character's portrait/icon is cool, as well. To me, what all of that and more equals...is an RPG Creator who is designing his or her game with the player in mind.

Anyway, a cool feature I recently came across went like this: Your characters do not gain levels. Instead, you spend your hard-earned experience points on raising their ability points and such.

---Rush.

[Rune_74]

Actually I'm not sure this works as a cool old idea but:

A modular system, built with all the basic rules in place, a continent with various provinces, but it only starts with one. And you decide as a player which one to buy to explor. Allowing the game to branch out as you play, you buy more provinces, which will include engine updates...to the point you get the whole world. Designed to what the player wants. It is ambitous but dangerous in the fact a non popular province would not sell...

You could minimize this by making it a city with warrens, like a hive world.

Interesting concept that would be hard yet rewarding to do....now if I could get a programmer to bring my ideas and rules to life...

[Saxon1974]

I like that idea Rune.

I think the main problem though is no developer is normally going to create these modules ahead of time not knowing if anyone will buy them....at least that would be the question.

I have always felt that the owners of D&D should make a game engine and them put it in the hands of D&D module writers to create modules based on that. So just like real D&D modules you could buy them and then play through the module with your characters (With the PC being the DM).

I think a game engine itself could last 3 to 5 years with some updates here and there, but think of how many modules could be created with said engine by module creators? They could make multiple modules for level 1-5 characters that way people would buy more than one for said characters.

Always wondered what Wizards of the coast would say to something like that.

[Rune_74]

I thought of this idea back when they were making a champions based game(super hero rpg) and thought geez, why do they spend so much time making one long game when it could be modular. Let the player pick if he would prefer a subterranian game, or military outpost....

The key here would be getting a robust enough engine to be able to create creative ideas quickly and effeciently so as to not be way outdated.

Another idea is to make it so the world joins together the way you decide when you purchase different options, although that would make it harder...

I could see a giant city based game where you add new buildings and areas to the overall quest idea, taking an open idea with it...that way you place the new areas where you want them....or perhaps you buy the buildings you want to add, and maybe enemies could be packs as well...and when you start a game it gives you the option to place things or randomly generates the city for you, creating plot lines and quests to suit it.

Hmm interesting idea.

[Saxon1974]

Seem like good ideas to me Rune. Now if only I didnt have a full time job and had money to fund a game we could start one!

[Iane]

Actually I'm not sure this works as a cool old idea but:

A modular system, built with all the basic rules in place, a continent with various provinces, but it only starts with one. And you decide as a player which one to buy to explor. Allowing the game to branch out as you play, you buy more provinces, which will include engine updates...to the point you get the whole world. Designed to what the player wants. It is ambitous but dangerous in the fact a non popular province would not sell...

You could minimize this by making it a city with warrens, like a hive world.

Interesting concept that would be hard yet rewarding to do....now if I could get a programmer to bring my ideas and rules to life...

You SOLD me on the Concept now all we need too do is sell the idea to BW Hint hint

[Rune_74]

You really could do a hive world idea with just the Eschalon engine and have it branch off like a flow chart...if you did it right you could even have it randomly done...and with good writing even generate random plot lines and quests. Hmmm modify the Eschalon engine to use scifi weapons and equipment(not really that hard, may have to beef up ranged) And add new graphics tiles. Create a random generator engine to run before the game runs....generating the world....I saw how this sort of worked with Din's Curse(quite well) but we would need it to be heavier(meaning more in depth with more checks to make sure things work, maybe a flag to say which items can be put together?) anyways, I have ideas flying:P

[Iane]

Edi has a New game engine coming out soon with the following Features

Code: Select all

event driven scripting 
subversion integration 
integrated one-click installer maker with dependencies; share your game the moment you've got something to share. 
a physics enabled world 
copy and paste ability of elements at every level of design. 
WYSIWYG design concepts 
a traditional adventure inventory 
integrated dialogue choice system 
XML based project storage; know that your project data is parsable should you want to process it with external tools. 
spatially aware audio system 
a class/instance architecture to allow component design. 
a robust scripting API with waitable functions for ease. 
programmable shaders 
localization editor for multiple languages, auditing dialogue and integrating voice talent. 
skinnable user interface 
video/cutscene system 
multiple output platforms: Windows PC/Web/OS X (with Flash, iPhone and XBox360 forthcoming) 
game object centric resource system; no resource duplicates or file name conflicts ever again, due to cryptographic hashing of resource data. 
game project local resource cache; no linkage to external resource import source. 
integrated instructions/tutorial system 
feedback system; users can provide voluntary feedback in the field through the game over HTTP to a web CGI 
error reporting system; users may report errors to you with a concise actions journal to better diagnose issues. 
statistical tools, script code line counter; code distribution stats and class/instance ratio

To my understanding the engine will be free to use for none commercial use and is geared towards making Adventure/RPG games.

http://edigames.freeforums.org/editech- ... ts-f4.html

[Luzur]

to be able to bake bread and make cheese? like in Ultima?

[Tyranthraxus]

Actually I'm not sure this works as a cool old idea but:

A modular system, built with all the basic rules in place, a continent with various provinces, but it only starts with one. And you decide as a player which one to buy to explor. Allowing the game to branch out as you play, you buy more provinces, which will include engine updates...to the point you get the whole world. Designed to what the player wants. It is ambitous but dangerous in the fact a non popular province would not sell...

You could minimize this by making it a city with warrens, like a hive world.

Interesting concept that would be hard yet rewarding to do....now if I could get a programmer to bring my ideas and rules to life...

Rune, love the idea, I think this is what Todd Mitchell-Porter had in mind with Knights of Legend.
Sadly, the series never got realised.

I have to admit to being a sucker for some of the classic designs:
the top-down adventuring of Ultima, turn based combat a la SSI Gold Box, (I like to stop and think, real time stuff detracts from my enjoyment), and the ethics system of Ultima was a very nice touch.

In two minds about plot lines, at times I quite like linear, but non-linear has its appeal too. Perhaps a mix, with a linear main plot, but lots of optional side-quests would be my ideal.
I`m a sucker for vast worlds, where most of the map is blacked out, just begging to be explored, and seeing a character develop throughout a series is very rewarding, rather than rolling up a new one for each sequel.