Need tips.

Hello, im currently working on an RPG map where you have alot of character to choose from. But i need more functions to fill out the maps with.

i've added an system where you can create your own items, by using different types of materials.

Someone got an tip for me ?

Would be greatful

quests

unique items systems

unique gameplay like requiring: sleep, eating, popularity

morphic gameplay ie. what action you do effects other things and people.

depending on what rpg you would like to make... maybe a save system, if so maybe a scratch-made one.


those are just a few

Varied quests. The same type of quests over and over get boring fast. Also, putting quests in context of a background storyline makes them more interesting.

Challenging, but not overly difficult, gameplay.

I do not advise having systems that require sleeping and eating. At first it may be novel but it quickly becomes tedious and frustrating to have to constantly sleep and eat. An alternative is to make sleeping and eating have beneficial effects. Example eating food grants you temporary speed increased; while staying at an inn grants you temporary increased hp regen.

maky u require food but if u have like 20 hp left if u sleep at a inn it could heal it

You can also make so that you need to read some kind of a book to learn, for example at first you can't combine itams so that there would be some cool itam, you need to read an alchemy bood for example. Or you can make the same with spells you need to buy books to have new spells (the spells can be in the books, but that is how you want)

Make sure to avoid quest ideas that have been done to death. No "find the missing dog" quests unless it's important to the story in some way.


Plot twists are your friend, even insignificant ones. This can make even overused quest ideas interresting again.

For example, Random Villager #1 tells you that his brother, Random Villager #2, has been kidnapped by the orcs. So you sneak into the orc encampment, only to find out that the brother is not kidnapped at all, but is in fact an orcish spy. So the quest changes, and your new objective is to kill him.

In a later quest a wizard might ask you to kill the orc shaman in that same orc camp to steal his Wand of Mind Control - and all the players suddenly realize that they killed an innocent villager.

Also, if you have dialogue, try to make it interesting. It kind of bugs me when the guys are like "Please go save my dog," or "Help, my granny's sick! Bring me a wakkaloopy-whatsit plant and I'll reward you!" Add some feeling and personality to it, so if you're going to do the typical 'bring my dog back' quest, at least make it like "Hey, man, my stupid mutt ran off. If you see him somewhere, grab him by his mangy collar and haul him back here for me," or, depending on the type of person, "AHHHH *sniff sniff* my poor koos-koos ran off into a dark cave! PLEASE GET HIM BACK FOR M-- *slap* Thanks, I needed that."

Another thing: Try not to make everything so predictable. For instance, the little girl up top saying "My granny's sick and she needs a wakkaloopy-whatsit plant." How does she know her granny's suffering from wakkaloopiness and not a bad case of the flu? She's just a little girl! It's not like she has a doctorate in ficticious diseases and ailments. Make it so the hero has to go around and if he happens to find a peculiar-looking plant that may cure her granny, and brings it to her granny and feeds it to her, she'll then get better to everybody's amazement. Or, maybe she'll flop over and die because you accidently picked a Deathlilly instead of a wakkaloopy-whatsit plant ^_^

Just my 2 cents ;)

First and most important... Over ALL of these other tips. DO NOT MAKE ANOTHER DAMN OPEN RPG!

I swear to God if I see one more open RPG made, then I'm going to kill someone's sick grandmother and their lost dog! I am sick of these open pieces of crap that get boring to the sensible player in 5 mins, then have B.Net MORONS playing them for 4 weeks! Open RPGs are boring BECAUSE they are open. Open as in... No main storyline... No purpose... Random creep killing for three hours to get the 'Full Swing Hammer' that you had to collect three mithrils a dog tooth to create after buying the 'item create' ability book. This is all a sensless RUN AROUND!

Ok now that all that stuff is out of the way... Here's the tips:
1. When players pick their Heros, add the heros to a specific group. Then throughout the campaign during dialogues and intense moments... Have the heros actually say something using a 'Transmisson from random unit in unit group'. This way it only picks a hero from the heros that were chosen by the players. This also allows the players to see another side to the character they chose, and allows them to identify with it/him/her better.

2.Take the time to make EVERY ability custom in some way. Also don't just have an ability say "Damages units in a line" and call it "Line unit damage". Like someone said before, put some feeling into it. I feel that an approach like the following is an awesome way to make custom spells/abilities:
Name: (This is just a 'for example') Battle Orders
Base Spell: Battle Roar, modified so that it gives all nearby units +damage and something else (to make it less like the original, more custom).
Description: (This would be good for an AOS style map) In the heat of battle you see a weakness in the enemy lines. Being the commander of the Alliance, you act on this weakness. You shout to your men orders that tell them when and where to attack. Your men follow your orders, and the enemy line crumbles.
(than at the bottom of the description put the stats on the spell/ability in yellow)Grants nearby allies with 10 bonus damage, and increases their HP regen by 1/sec.

What you just did with that spell is put storyline into the spell itself. Now everytime the play clicks that button (if he read the description) he will visualize his unit shouting to the units around him, and the units around him converging on the location he pointed out. This makes the player feel as though he is more realisticly tied to/ and in the game.

3.Like has been said before, make original quests that twist. Have the main quest (for example) be something like: At first you are sent to kill a necromancer that is trying to resurrect a powerful being to aid the undead against the alliance in your neck of the woods. When you reach and mortally wound the necromancer, he reveals to you that he is a rogue that was conjuring an army to lauch an attack on a nearby undead base that is about to crush YOUR village. Then you have to help the necromancer back to safety and get him healed, from then on he is your ally and helps you ultimately defeat the undead.

Anything in this post you are free to use, I hope I helped with that gawd-awfully long post. Thank you for your time!

-MadBagOfHorses

Calm dawn man, you don't need to play it if you don't want to...

hmmm well it would be good to have something that nobody else has done. Scince GPG is such a common category, its hard to do something that really sticks out. Id suggest rtrying to make it so that even the people that dont like RPG's Can play it as something diffrent.. The idea of a RPG packed with minigames comes to mind (Urther party). Its really up to you and the way you want to make it. With the world editor you have practically limitless oppourtunity for creation and uniqness. Make something interesting.... and make custom spells! You have the tools to make pretty much ANYTHING happen with the World Editor... Use It!