Super awesome "mini"game!

[Deeth Irteen]

It'll take some time (and event code writing and stuff) but I think I can create a way to play a 20-or-30 hour short RPG within a 50-hour RPG. So far, I wou'd have to talk to some guy somewhere to play the short game, and here and there next to save points you'd talk to another guy "in-game" to return to the "world". It'll be a tough job, involving devoting about one-third of the cutscenes, monsters, and characters to the "minigame". If anybody wants to comment, or if they have some helpful ideas, i'm open for suggestion.

Oh, and I got another copy of RPGM3, so I can work on Parallel: genes for war again. Goody goody gumdrops (I always wanted to type that)

[Stormy]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

I remember a thread somewhere around here recently that gave me an idea similar to this.

Basically the idea was that in the "main" game the player is a child doing chores to hear more of a story from his/her (grand)father/(grand)mother. The story would be the "mini" game.

That way you can create suspense between parts, and break up the monotony of a traditional RPG experience with quirky little minigames that would be the chores the player/child would be tasked to do to hear more of the story.

You can use any of these ideas if you like. I look forward to seeing this project expanded

[hitogoroshi]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

RPGM games should almost always be shorter than real games. I would call 20 hours too long, not "mini" by any stretch of the imagination.

[Wavelength]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

It's kind of a neat idea at least, but what is the purpose in having so much of the game in the "second world," and is it optional or accessible at any point throughout the game? Those traits would definitely affect your design decisions.

[Ivan Rosenguard]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

Yeah. The God Gene will last probably six hours at the most.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

See, as a Mag reviewer that makes me happy.

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

Okay. The "mini"game (I call it that because it's technically shorter then the main game) can be accessed by talking to a guy in a town next to a save point. talk to him, and one by one, your characters are removed from your party until the main character is left, then the "mini"game main character is put in the party, then a beginnig cutscene plays, then the main character in the main game is removed, then the player is warpped to the starting point in the "mini"game. as the "mini"game progresses, there are statues next to save points that can warp you back to the main game, but first all your party members are returned to you.

I've still got problems to work out, like warping back to where you last saved in the "mini"game and getting back the specific party you had in the main game. But I'll work on it.

[Wavelength]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

Okay. The "mini"game (I call it that because it's technically shorter then the main game) can be accessed by talking to a guy in a town next to a save point. talk to him, and one by one, your characters are removed from your party until the main character is left, then the "mini"game main character is put in the party, then a beginnig cutscene plays, then the main character in the main game is removed, then the player is warpped to the starting point in the "mini"game. as the "mini"game progresses, there are statues next to save points that can warp you back to the main game, but first all your party members are returned to you.

I've still got problems to work out, like warping back to where you last saved in the "mini"game and getting back the specific party you had in the main game. But I'll work on it.

You can pull that off with variables pretty easily--just set a few variables based on where you were and who was in your party, and add them back via variable-conditional branches when you go back to the mini-game-world.

However, I still don't really see the point of that much "virtual" content in your game. It sounds a bit like a more free-form, fleshed-out version of the Laguna storyline from FF8, which most people (including myself) found more frustrating than interesting.

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

Well, wavelength, since I haven't ever played FF8, I don't see how that could be frustrating. I would think that an RPG within an RPG would be a cool idea.

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

im having a conundrum myself as to what im going to do about my game. i really have to work to keep it short and progress the story fast as well as eliminate needless time thats spent doing stuff that doesnt do anything. 6 hours is probably closer to max for a game, ive never played anything for longer then 2-3 hours though, nothing over 30 minutes if its random battles.

oh, i fixed your avatar to remove the white. please change it as it looks better.

[Wavelength]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

im having a conundrum myself as to what im going to do about my game. i really have to work to keep it short and progress the story fast as well as eliminate needless time thats spent doing stuff that doesnt do anything. 6 hours is probably closer to max for a game, ive never played anything for longer then 2-3 hours though, nothing over 30 minutes if its random battles.

Well, it's interesting. I've kind of got the opposite problem, personally: I've got a lot of content (either in there or planned) and a TON of data usage, but due to semi-nonlinear areas (e.g., get resource X by one of several different means) and little details, I'm going to run out of DU way before I can reach 10-20 hours of gameplay.

I've said a lot of times, and gotten a decent consensus, that the ideal length is however long the game can remain fun for. If you're talented enough, and add enough variety, to keep it fun for 40 hours (good luck getting under DU limits though, of course), you should try to make a 40 hour game. If your gameplay is ordinary and your story linear, you should probably keep it to 3-5. (edit: Karr, I don't want to sound as if I'm disagreeing with anything you said, I just wanted to express some thoughts I had.)

Nerd God, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's important to have strong links between the two RPGs. Otherwise it could get very disorganized and unsatisfying, and in that case you'd be better off making them two separate RPGs.

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

interesting dialog is hard to accomplish. i have a story board made out and ive been hammering away at it for many years and im still not there yet. i do have a lot of interesting ideas, but im wasting more of my time making useless junk that gets cut in favor of something more innovative or more interesting.

i guess people should remember that sometimes you got to make whatever you have and go back to fix it later (though fixing it later is a nightmare in most cases).

[IsaacLives]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

Commonly, Any story writer, especially authors, can fix that problem by using "fillers". However, It is funny (as an author) to try and find ones that author forgot to fix, such as side characters named Jim or even Bob. (It happens more often you might think.)

And as for game leangth, I think that almost any size is okay as long as their is MOTIVATION. Don't make me trudge through forty levels of dungeons playing a character I hate to save someone I barely know.

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

If I hit the ceiling in data usage, I could try to break the RPG (the main one) into several "episodes".

[Ivan Rosenguard]

Re: Super awesome "mini"game!

I can't say that I like this idea. If your new "virtual" world where this extra game takes place is distant from the main story, then what does it add to it? Why not make the games separate then and be better able to expand upon both of their stories?

At least games like Jade Empire and even most of the Final Fantasies have sidequests set within the world of the game, some of which help to expand upon the world they exist in.

That's what I'm going for with my game. Every side-mission in the game (though optional) will add to the story or to your understanding of the world you're exploring. Nothing is wasted. If its part of the same game, it should be part of the same story--that is to say, the grand story of the world you've painstakingly created.