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Semi Textbased game

Started by Zambaku Dec 10, 2009 at 4:37 AM 2 replies 950+ views

Original Post

Dec 10, 2009 at 4:37 AM

I'm working on a semi textbased rpg. And I've come a long way. So far I have the overworld, a cave and a town. Basically it's a hack n' slash and loot collecting game. Pretty simple =) On the overworld you basically walk between the cave and the town. This is represented with 8bit graphics. While in town you navigate through a simple text menu. Example: Go to - The Inn - The Weapon Shop - The Magic Shop etc etc. The cave is built up in a similar way to the town, it's all textbased. As you enter the cave you get a random action message, telling you what is going on. Example: You bodly walk into the darkness or Strange noises echoes against the damp cave walls as you walk into the pitch black darkness. This is as far as I've gotten. I'm still working on what the player does in the cave...Or rather, his avatar. You see, you simply give the character a task and he does it automatically, example: Search for treasure - This makes the player look for treasure and avoid fighting. Or: Wander - This makes the character wander without any goal and pretty much anything could happen. You get into a fight, find a treasure or find an interesting room. And when the character finds something of interest I'm planning on having a small video show what happens. All in 8bit ofcourse =) I could use some help on what the players character should be able to do in the cave. So far I have: Wander Use Item (lets you rummage through your backpack and use an item)

xfront

Dec 10, 2009 at 8:08 AM

Interesting concept.

Well, if the cave is a real place (not an abstract area where you find stuff) you could have an option of doing a map. It could raise the chance of finding something and evading dangerous places. It could have a down side: while making map you are more vulnerable to attackers and maybe could miss a treasure chest. I think this wouldn't require a real maze generated inside the game, but just a variable, that rises your chance of finding something.

You could also lay down traps to catch critters or dig minerals, if asked by the town people. There are many possibilities.

WavyVirus

Dec 10, 2009 at 2:46 PM

Am I correct in thinking that currently the only graphical part of the game is traveling between the town and the dungeon?

This seems counter-intuitive to me - is the world map not the part of the game which loses the least by being text-only, and gains the least by being graphical? It would make sense to be presented with a simple list of world locations - what is gained by being able to walk around the world?

I can also understand the text-based town (i.e. shopping), but surely the "meat" of the game is in the dungeon and this is where graphics are the most vital?

Edtharan

Dec 11, 2009 at 7:16 AM

What are the challenges of your game?

Buy this I mean: What are the goals/purpose of the character in the game, what is stopping the character from achieving this and how does the player overcome these obstacles?

These are important questions. Without an answer to these you can't really design the rules of the game. Also, this is not the "plot" of your game.

For example: Chess

In chess the goals/purposes are:

- Eliminate your opponents King piece
- Prevent you King piece from being eliminated
- Eliminate your opponents other pieces
- Prevent you other pieces from being eliminated

What is stopping the player from achieving these is:

- The other player is attempting to do these same things
- The pieces have specific movement patterns that allow you move them around the board
- The pieces have specific movement patterns that allow you to attempt to eliminate your opponents pieces (which can be different to the normal movement patterns - like in the case of a pawn).

How does the player achieve these goals/overcome the obstacles:

- Using the movement rules the player can attempt to move their pieces out of harms way
- Using the movement and elimination rules the player can attempt to eliminate their opponents pieces and their king piece.

As you can see, this quite nicely describes the gameplay of chess (further details would be the specific rules of that variant of chess including how the pieces move, what pieces there are and the size and shape of the board).

From you OP, the main goals/purposes faced by the player are:
- Killing monsters
- Collecting loot
- Exploring caves

So the next step you need to answer: What is stopping the player from achieving these goals?

Then once you ahve answered this you can examine the last question: How does the player achieve these goals/overcome the obstacles?

Lastly you can then start to design the specific mechanics that will enable all this to occur.

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