ID:151321
 Aug 6 2011, 3:17 pm
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I've been commissioned to make an RP game, so I was wondering if there are any elements to an RP game besides the players that actually make it "good"?
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Aug 6 2011, 3:21 pm
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Albro1
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I'm not experienced in Role-playing at all, but I would say realism is key. Right now I am programming an ecosystem, one that changes seasons, changes all icons that are meant to change, and it will even have animals to work off the environment. (Deer eat grass, grass changes to look like it has been eaten. People walk on grass, grass changes to look worn down, makes less food for the deer to eat. Bears prey on deer and berries, and the list goes on and on.)
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I dunno if you need all of that in an RP game. I guess it would be pretty handy, but it sounds more like you're making a nature simulation. (Which I do think sounds rather amazing. I just wonder if all that work is really worth it.)
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Technically, all you need for an RP game is two verbs: Say and Emote.
The rest is polish. (Or what makes the game unique.) You don't necessarily need a map, but when there isn't one, the players have to explain more of what is happening around them. I think one of the most fun things is being able to interact with the environment, and make/build things. People like customization as well. They want their character to be unique compared to everyone else. | |
Albro1 wrote:
Bears prey on deer and berries, and the list goes on and on.) Albro1 sounds like some pretty awesome bears. Next I would like to agree realism. But instead of realism I would say Immersion. Make the players feel like the fantasy realm that has been created could be a possibility. Roleplay games where the player takes up the role of a hero going through the game are usually successful when the players feel as though they can imagine being the character. ... Now the confusing part. Role-play games...If this is what you mean then the players would need a good founding story to work on some sorta common goal or looming problem that can help draw the role-play of the characters together. Not everyone's role would be towards that even support roles are usually enjoyable. Either Roleplay(Taking a role) or Role-play(emoting a role) are both fun game styles which can be done thousands of ways. | |
I'd say it depends on a lot of factors.
Who are your players? Who are your admins? (That's been mishandled to many times..) How much are your players supposed to Role-Play? Will you incorporate numerous items and give them attack damage? What are you hoping your players are going to do? And will that require set things in the world, or just a text verb. I haven't exactly played a well done Byond RP to date, most of the time the game feels lacking/empty, perhaps that's because I expected more than just semi-pretty graphics. Don't know if it's a fangame or original, but I say staying realistic to the series (original or not) is a good way to go. Though it'd still be weird if you saw deer tackle a bear then begin to graze all of the bear's fur off. o.O | |
We all loved your Ecosystem thing Albro :P
Yes, it's a fangame. Surprisingly it's NOT Naruto, Bleach, or DBZ (or Pokemon?). I too find that the games that I play that are RP are missing something. Missing some sort of magical dust that makes it "bigger." This is the problem I run into with many RPGs. I mean, they're all the same, just different names, different monsters, and different magic! I am definitely going to try to make it as realistic as I can after all these posts. But I still lack that main ingredient. The thing that makes people love RP games. The ability to immerse yourself in the game. What makes games exciting? The ability to make you forget that you are playing a game and keep you on it. I'll have a few "thought boxes" with my friends and we'll see what we come up with. Any more input here on what would attract you to an RP game is great though! | |
Albro1 wrote:
Was that a joke at the end there sir? XD Yes sir, my brain forced me to humor.. xD Don't get me wrong though, that Demo is really neat. I can't pull of a "Kylez" (Kyle-ZX) where I can break everything down in an intelligent paragraph, but I can act it out and you can pull what you can from this: I see a Star Wars game and I immediately think about either lightsabers, the hum of a spaceship's engine, or a classic Star Wars planet with alien races. I log in and create my character...hmm...would I like to be a skilled bounty hunter like Jango Fett in the Classic movies? Or perhaps I should craft my way to riches and fame by collecting rare materials, then craft the best weapons in the Galaxy so people will know my name? Hmm..I guess I'll be a Bounty Hunter. I'll begin my adventure at the planet of Tatooine and perhaps I can work my way off this planet by hunting Krayt Pearls or stealing droid parts from those little Jawas. *I see and hear sand blowing in the wind every now and then. I also see people or aliens/NPCs in proper desert clothes.* *Walks past a Ship Port with ships taking off and landing.* They're loading their ships with shipments and those people look like they're leaving the port. They're wearing off-worlder clothes so they must be visitors. *Passes the Ship Port and enters a nearby Cantina, glasses clanging together and distant background noise of people talking. That guy looks like he's been here plenty of times, perhaps he'd know how someone could make some quick credits on this planet.* End Summary: I talk to guy, he gives me advice and I run into a player and help him out, we team up and buy a ticket off the planet perhaps to go separate ways or seek out our story together. Anything Star Wars tend to revolve around a group of people working towards a common goal, often with people going against them. For me, That would be very real and I'd feel like I'm actually at Tatooine in the Star Wars world. I do feel that sound effects would immensely help out an RP game with visuals to obtain a realistic feel. (With Star Wars, you'd have to experiment with music as well.) I hope you were able to dig 'something' out of that wall of text. | |
Something that I feel is extremely important to an RP, especially an RP set in a graphical medium(as in, not PnP/text RP), is that the players feel like their character is a part of the world. They need to be able to SEE that their character can and does have a tangible effect on the world around them. If they can't affect the world they exist in, then they aren't going to be as attached to it, and it becomes "just a game", when it should be something more important to them. A graphical medium is wonderful for this, because they can log in and SEE the changes that they have made, and the changes that have been made since they last logged out, to the world that their character is a part of.
tl;dr - The player needs to feel like their character is a part of the world, not just a person looking down at it, listening to the same repetitive drivel from NPCs. | |