University

[BlueSenshi]

This seems to be the place to post game ideas. This is more of a Sim than an RPG, so it doesn't have a strong story. It's also in the beginning stages, so I apologize for not having some of the details worked out.

University

You are Sammich, a freshman in college. Your ultimate goal is to graduate with a degree... any degree.

Choose a major - or be Undecided for a few semesters. If you don't like your major, stop by the Registrar's Office and change it!

Learn your way around campus - Find your classes at the beginning of the semester. Meet other students in the dorms. Stop by the food court for a bite to eat. Enjoy a play or two in the theatre.

Go to class - That's what you're here for, right? You can skip once in a while if you want, but don't miss out on important test dates!

Make friends - or don't, it's up to you. Your friends can help you with homework or studying. Or maybe you'd rather go drinking and cheat on your finals... Just don't get caught!

Get a job - you lazy bum. Unless you're rich or you can get enough financial aid (grants, scholarships, and loans), you're going to have to work to afford school. While your job won't be interactive, it will have side effects.

Instead of HP, you have MT - Motivation. As you go to class, do homework, and go to work you lose MT. If you lose all your motivation, you'll flunk everything for the rest of the semester. Recover MT by sleeping, eating, and hanging out with friends.

Instead of MP, you have IQ. As you go to class and do homework, you gain IQ. You can lose IQ by drinking, skipping class too often, and possibly from working a boring job. When you take tests or turn in projects, your IQ affects your grades. Keep your IQ high or you'll fail!

Instead of monsters, you get to fight your projects and tests! You only have a certain number of rounds to complete each test so make sure you're prepared! Use Specials like Extra Credit, Cheat Sheets, or your Lucky Eraser.

As you complete classes, you get Credit Hours instead of EXP. Your Credit Hours determine your class standing (freshman, junior, etc.). As you get older, you gain levels which increase your MT and IQ.

Get scholarships, grants, or loans, or start working! You need money to pay for classes, and unless your parents are rich, it isn't free. You also need money if you plan on eating or bribing that smart kid to help you with your project!

Special events can affect your MT and IQ in positive or negative ways. Be careful what you decide to do, especially at key points during the semester.

Let me know what you guys think! I'm going to try to have a demo ready by the end of winter break. No promises, though.

[Rodak]

Re: University

This has great potential.

I was considering various ways to make an Organic Chemistry Game where you synthesize compounds after learning some basics.

But could not decide on a format.

This may be the answer...

Anyway, I assume this is for RPGM2. Am I right?

This would be a mess to create on 3. But possible.

Good luck with it.

Peace.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: University

Seems good, although I think you should scrap the idea of "fighting" your test. Using the RPG2 battle system would seem rather out of place, not to mention the difficutly of getting test sprites/models (I forget which...)
Good luck!

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: University

You also need money if you plan on eating or bribing that smart kid

I really like how you wrote that!

Anyway, so you're saying that intead of actually answering questions on homework and tests (which of couse would require thousands of questions), you simply "fight" your tests? Then I assume causing more "damage" would mean a higher test score.

[AbstractOrigin]

Re: University

Nice idea for a game.

I can't wait until you have it all worked out.

[Sage of Creation]

Re: University

Love it! I'd pay to play it if I could.

[WilliamKirk]

Re: University

I hate it. It sounds like any other sim game, except like my own dull, boring life, except even more dull because the people aren't actual people. Sims are fine, but I think you can do better than a school sim. School's the prison we've spent 15+ years of our lives in doing tons of **** we don't want to do and don't care about. I can't be alone here. Basically, there's a reason why games are filled with action and adventure, and that reason is school.

[WilliamKirk]

Re: University

It's not neccessarily that. It's that in a game, he'd be taking away what makes school not so bad - friends - and replacing them with little rpgm2 guys with 5 pre-recorded messages, yet keeping all the things that make school suck - classes/tests/etc. It's the worst of both worlds: the negative from a sim game being that there's never enough interaction to keep things fun, and the negative from real life, school and work. Again, I can't be alone on this.

[BlueSenshi]

Re: University

Ok, I'll try to respond to everyone individually here.

Rodak: I meant to mention that it was for RPGM2. I don't have RPGM3, and I'm not sure if I'm going to get it. An Organic Chemistry game sounds fun, but then I'm making a game about college. Ha. And I agree that this has potential.

hito: Right now, I'm going to have a modified battle system to handle the 'battles'. I considered making the player actually take tests. That idea lasted about half a second. You don't want to actually go to class and take tests. I want to come up with a better idea, but until I sit down and draw it out you're stuck with the battle system.

Dray: I didn't even notice how I worded that. I was a bit tired when I posted. And you assumed correctly. The more damage you do to a test, the more answers you complete. Your IQ is used at the end of the battle to modify your 'score' and give you a grade. So answering all of the questions correctly (defeating the test within the time limit) with a low IQ will still result in low grades. Just because you can finish the test doesn't mean you did well.

Kumo: Thanks. I can't wait, either. I mean literally, I have to go back to classes about the second week of January. If it's not far enough along by then, it's going on the back-burners while I'm taking classes.

Sage: Thanks! I have an X-Port, so if I get a demo going, you'll be able to try it out.

Will: Since this is a game, I plan on having some unrealistic things happening, so it's not going to completely emulate school. That WOULD be boring. You won't actually have to sit through lectures, obviously, but you will have to decide if Sammich wants to, if he even has enough motivation.

School's the prison we've spent 15+ years of our lives in doing tons of **** we don't want to do and don't care about.

I care about the stuff I do in school, because that stuff is preparing me for a career so I can quit my lame ****ing fast food job. Also, I like 75% of the stuff I'm learning in college, so it's not too bad. And the stuff I don't like, I can usually find a practical application for.

there's a reason why games are filled with action and adventure, and that reason is school.

Again, I disagree. I HATE my job. I would rather go to classes and do homework over going to work any day. I think the reason games are filled with action and adventure is because work sucks.

Will (part two): I think I can add in things that will make the game fun, despite its school theme. If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.

[Rodak]

Re: University

Just out of curiousity...

What will the tests look like when fighting?

And about the Organic Chem game idea; I only thought of it when I found how easily molecular modeling is done in the VFX Editor. A game seemed like a good idea at the time, I don't know. Organic is a bit much.

And William; Not only is school fun (I want nothing more than to be able to afford to finish my education, but I can not get that kind of money), but I always took "Anti-Social" as a compliment.

[BlueSenshi]

Re: University

I don't know what the tests will look like while fighting them. I haven't decided for sure on a battle system for the tests. If I can program something outside of the default battle system, it'll be easier for me to edit and probably flow more easily. Since I plan on the tests depending more on your IQ and preparation, the battle system isn't even necessary. Keeping track of everything would be just as easy using the regular variables, and without having to muck through the battle system scripts, it'd probably be a lot easier. Plus, the stats Atk, Def, Agl, and Int wouldn't be as useful. Atk, Def, and Agl aren't used during tests, except in Phys Ed classes. And Int is already accounted for in IQ, so I can change it more easily. So maybe P.E. classes will have tests in the Battle System and other classes will have different methods of determining test scores.

Imagine: Dodge-Ball 4 on 4 in the battle system. Haha. At least the VFX would be simple. One hit kills, chance to dodge, only the Dodgeball item is available to do damage. Only 4 balls in play at once... Sounds like a fun battle derivative. Possible, at least.

Also, I thought about having puzzles to solve for projects. Since we already know we can work with Timers (and I was one of the first to implement them, along with several talented others), I could even have some that depend on finishing under time pressure. I'd have to get creative, though. Not that that's a problem.

Now, onto some things I haven't posted yet:

Majors
Your major will affect how well you do in certain subjects. For example, Computer Science majors will do well in computer and math classes. Biology majors will do well in physical and chemical sciences. English majors will do well on reading/writing and analytical tests. Art/Design majors will do well on creative/inventive projects. I'll try to have enough majors to provide a nice balance and not give too many projects that favor one major. You won't be able to change majors in the middle of a semester, so you'll have to choose wisely between semesters.

Grades
Basically, answering questions will simply be a matter of reducing the number of unanswered questions to 0 within the time limit. If you don't, the percentage of remaining unanswered questions is reduced from 100%. Then a random modifier is applied based on your IQ. A high IQ has a high chance of increasing your grade by a small amount. A low IQ has a high chance of decreasing your grade by a lot. The modifier will determine the percent of questions answered that you got right. However, a high enough IQ can increase your grade past the maximum percent possible given the number of questions answered. Just assume that those questions were worth more, there was a curve on the test, or something. I might even have a message to that effect when the modifier is high enough.

Items
Items can affect how many questions you answer on a test, your IQ, or your MT. The items that can affect how many questions you answer will have properties that make them better or worse depending on the test. For example, studying for a Biology test might net you a couple of Life Science items that you can use on a Biology test to complete more questions and boost your IQ a little so that you have a better chance of getting a good score. However, if you try to use the Life Science items on a Computer Science test, you won't complete many questions (if any...) and it won't boost your IQ at all. You'll get items like these from studying, doing homework, and possibly from related projects (like writing a paper on Biology in a Composition class could net you an extra Life Science item).

There will also be cheating-type items. These items will allow you to answer more questions, but won't increase your IQ. They might increase MT instead. They'll also have a chance to fail and cause you to answer no questions or even get you in trouble and fail the test entirely.

And finally, there will be special items, like the Lucky Eraser that won't answer any questions, but might increase your IQ and MT. After all, if you go back and fix a mistake, you're more likely to get the question right and be motivated to keep working on the test.

I'll post more later. It's late.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: University

Well, I read your stuff, and I had a brainstorm, although it's pretty much what you've been planning.
When you study, have battles (or whatever your 'battle system' is) but rather then getting EXP (or IQ, or whatever), you get items, and recieve EXP for the test itself.
Not much, just thought I'd offer a suggestion.

[Jamos' Old Account]

Re: University

I don't really like school (I've had some issues there), but I think this is an interesting idea. Sounds very original, I just hope your willing to go through with it. I kind of like the idea of fighting the test because I can think of many times I wanted to beat the **** out of my tests. Good luck.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: University

I flat-out hated school. *insert long paragraph describing why I hated school*
*seriously*
*then delete it because it gets way off-topic*

Anyway, as long as I'm able to beat the crap out of any "bullies", I'll enjoy it.

[jvrlopez]

Re: University

May I remind all those who have posted, "OMG I HATED SCHOOL" that this game is titled, "University," NOT "High School"

I think bullying and social castes aren't as big as a deal nor that widely present in higher education.