3 replies to this topic

[Codetastic]

Hey, I'm looking to make a commercial RPG. I have some very experienced people behind me and I'm looking feedback on the state of the game design so far.

General Idea: The game will be a rogue-like platformer action rpg.

Possible Graphics Style:


Game Concept [Alpha Stage]

Basic Controls (for platformer)
W,A,S,D = Jump + Move
Left mouse = interact/aim/attack
Right mouse = Use skill/spell in quick slot on hot bar
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0 = Skills/spells/items on hot bar
Hold Alt key = Show items on ground
P = Player Panel (Top-Left part of the screen)
E = Equipment Panel (Top-Right part of the screen)
C = Craft Panel (Bottom-Left part of the screen)
I = Inventory Panel (Bottom-Right part of the screen)
M = Map Screen
Esc = Pause Menu

Interface
-Main Menu (New,Load,Tutorial,Options(Fullscreen On/Off,etc.),Quit)
-Pause Menu (Resume,Load,Options,Main Menu)
-Character Creation (gender, race, savior, specializations, attributes)
-Player State (Level,Health,Mana,Stamina,Experience)
-Hotbar on the bottom of the screen for spells and skills
Map (will show randomized world, towns and a red warning shader for player-creature level comparison)
-Character Panel (Attributes,Stats,Info)
-Diablo-styled Inventory with bag tabs to upgrade and Equipment Slots above
-Shop Interfaces ((buy,sell,repair)varies on vendor (you can also find vendors randomly traveling outside of towns)
-For trading and so forth, you will have the ability to import and export characters (and possibly weapons if you can keep people from duplicating(or possibly add a server just for an auction house))
Character
-Allied Creature Behaviours (Passive,Aggressive,Follow,Stay)
-Level Up System (level up attributes + skills)
-Hundreds of spells to collect and upgrade
Environment
Random Events (Randomized quests,bosses,clans)
-Randomly Generated World [every new game] (other than 4 towns randomly placed)
-200 Types of Creatures (including mountables ones) randomly generated in region specific areas
-Caves, Dungeons, Forests, Deserts, Mountains, Etc.
-Towns (Shops,Craft Buildings,Inn)
Systems
-Weather (Day/night + sunny,foggy,rainy)
-Home Owner (the player will be able to buy land and build a home + interior with a home builder interface)
-Mounts (allowing the player faster transportation)
-Salvaging (Break down items into basic ingredients to sell or use in crafts)
-Crafts (Blacksmithing,Alchemy,Inscription,Leatherworking,Tailoring, Mining,Skinning,Herbalism,Cooking,Fishing,Carpentry, Gemcutting,Woodcutting)
-Entertaining (the player can find a flute or a lute and play them in towns for money dependant on his/her level of skill as a musician)
Items
-Houses/Furniture/Lighting/Craft Workspace(anvil,cauldron,stove,desk)
-Hundreds of Scrolls/Books of magic
-39 Gemstones of 12 levels of quality (only the first 2 levels can be found(must be a Gemcutter to create a higher quality gem with 2 low quality gems)
-Endless Randomly generated armor and weapons. (quality,rarity,type) = (Cracked Godly Short Sword) (weapons can be socketed with Gemstones. Each weapon/armor has a chance to have 0-3 Gemstone sockets) (weapons can also be enchanted with enchant spells(fire,quickness,etc.))

When you export a character, it saves your selected living mount and your home aswell.

Edited by Codetastic, 02 December 2010 - 12:37 PM.

[snowyowl]

It's okay for your game not to have a fixed plot, but what is the player trying to achieve exactly? If you're relying on self-imposed challenges, what sort of challenges are they likely to be? What, when you get down to it, is the goal of the game?
Your interface seems needlessly complicated. Can't you just make it all mouse-controlled with a few hotkeys? It'll be much easier for new players or players with a strange keyboard layout to get the hang of.

[B Factory LLC]

Your concept is well designed; but what do you want? Are you asking for design help? Programming help? What?

[Dr. Zeus]

Basic Controls (for platformer)
W,A,S,D = Jump + Move
Left mouse = interact/aim/attack
Right mouse = Use skill/spell in quick slot on hot bar
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0 = Skills/spells/items on hot bar
Hold Alt key = Show items on ground
P = Player Panel (Top-Left part of the screen)
E = Equipment Panel (Top-Right part of the screen)
C = Craft Panel (Bottom-Left part of the screen)
I = Inventory Panel (Bottom-Right part of the screen)
M = Map Screen
Esc = Pause Menu

If your are looking for more of a fast paced game I would suggest reworking your control scheme.

Your move controls are good but your left mouse button seems to be doing a little bit to much. I would suggest making it simply aim/attack (basic attack?) and having a interact button.

I really like how much variety you give the player with the spells. Its always fun to have a wide range of abilities at your command, however it seems a bit cumbersome to use the number keys to switch spells, especially mid-combat. My Rpg coincidentally also uses 10 spells so I'll tell you what I did to solve that problem. I created a spell wheel that held all equipped spells. The player could press "F" or "R" to rotate forwards or backwards through the wheel. This allowed to player to quickly change spells however you still have the issue of rotating through up to 5 spells or accidentally rotating to the wrong spell so I added another function. If the player pressed "Q" they would pause the game and could then rotate to their desired spell and then unpause. While this does slow down gameplay a bit. It allows for super-quick casting and clarity for the player.

You currently have holding "alt" showing items on the ground. While there is not really a problem with this it is kinda hard to move using WASD while one finger is holding down alt. I would suggest switching it to a toggle feature, switch it to the tab button or do both.

As for the menus, you might want to combine them into one menu that uses tabs (look at the top of the page under the GM Banner for an example) to switch into the four different "Panels". However because these "Panels" are non-combat related it doesn't really matter how you set it up because the user doesn't need to use the menus in combat.

And it might be just me but escape seems like a weird place for the pause button.

Whatever you do with the control's make sure the player can easily access what they need when they need it. If you are going to use WASD for movement (and you should) then you should limit your key selection to tab, caps (if no typing), Q-T,A-G,C-V, and Spacebar. If you use any other keys don't expect for the player to be able to use that key in faced-paced situations because it is simply not ergonomical and the player will most likely lose their placement on the essential keys.

Anyway, moving on... Your Rpg sounds great but it sounds like a crapload of work. Start out small (the engine) and build up from there. Another thing you should probably come up with is a good story to drive the game and to motivate players to come back for more. While combat is always a very good selling point, and from the looks of it is yours, story is always essential. I mean come on, they are called Rpg's for a reason.

Well good luck on your game! I hope my feedback helped!