A new kind of RPG

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:45 am

So here it is, my great plan for a game.

Some weeks ago I was talking with my friends about how great it would be if some massive RPG, say, WoW (World of Warcraft) had the combat system of Severance (aka. Blade). I believe not many people here have played Severance, it's not too well known, so I'll explain a bit. It's a fantasy combat game with by far the best combat engine I have ever seen. You can do tons of different combo attacks and other special moves with different combinations of movement and attack keys and block or dodge attacks. However, the game is nothing else than hacking and slashing different enemys to pieces so it gets boring quickly.

So, what I though is to combine an RPG and this great combat system. I didn't start this topic earlier because I wasn't sure the game could be done with RF. Now, however, I'm sure it is possible. I got (probably) the hardest part, the inventory, working. Completely scripted, of course. The player is scripted too and he can perform a bunch of different attacks already, I don't believe that the combat part of the game will cause any problems.

I'm planning to make the RPG part something like this: In the beginning the player chooses his sex, male or female, and name. Nothing else, no character creation. The main character gains levels and each time he gets a level up the player can give him additional stats (Strength, agility, health etc etc...). Also, when fighting with all those evil creatures in the forests and caves the main character gains skill to that weapon which (s)he is using. The player can buy new skills and abilities, like different combo attacks or ability to dodge. The catch is, you can only use certain abilities and skills if you meet the requirements, like you need to have a certain amount of strength, you have to wear a certain armor, you need a certain amount of weapon skill or something like that.

I also thought that the main character could carry only one set of armor with him, armors would be put to three categories: leather armor, chain mail and plate mail armors. Leather armor protects little but doesn't limit movement at all, so if you choose to wear leather armor you can dodge attacks well and deal damage with swift counterattacks, sounds like a thief or rogue. On the other hand, if you pick plate mail, your movement is heavily restricted but it also makes you very tough and if armed with a big sword you would do deadly damage. I guess it would be the "warrior" or "fighter" in other RPG's.

So the main idea for this game is to let the main character evolve throughout the game. You always start with the same guy but end up with characters who have very different fighting styles, strenghts and weaknesses.

Sorry about the long post... if you don't want to read it, just check the screenshots and tell me what you think.

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:56 am

Terrific. Just terrific!! An incredible undertaking. As I have said, I am not a great scripter. How do you 'script' an inventory? It looks great, Juutis. You've modelled the actor and the weapons as well? Excellent!

I have a wonderful respository of photrealistic textures a good friend gave me, if you would like them. As i use one, I resize it and convert to bitmap. Right now they are in JPG, and even as JPG's they take up some room, because they are big!! Heck, I'll upload them and put a link. You can go and grab 'em.

I think you have the right idea that the great fighting engine needs to have some more tangible elements behind it. Not just slash 'em up. keep this out in front of everyone, and together we can help you as you need it!! It is always good to know the full extent of the end product so your helpers can aim in the right direction!!

I have made some fair trees in my day if you would like me to model one or two for your forest scenes.

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:09 am

Thanks! Any help, even a tiny texture or a simple model, is appreciated. I will accept any aid more than gladly.

And again, all models are made and textured by me.

That inventory sure was challenging. I spent almost a week scripting it 5-10 hours a day and man, I'm glad it's over.

It's so complicated I won't even try to explain anything else than that it uses flipbooks to draw those images on the screen.

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:15 am

... and now it's time for me to turn my brain off and go smash some orcs to the world of Severance!

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:53 am

I know smashing orcs always relaxes me. I'm just gonna get some breakfast though.

I'll post up those textures a little later. I'll work on some tress in a bit. I'll convert 'em to actors so you can just drop 'em in.

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:14 pm

Here is you tree in progress. I have to quit noe for lunch, and then sleep for work. But I will continue on it tomorrow morning.

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:39 pm

Looking great! Thanks!

LtForce · Post by **LtForce** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:11 pm

I think the main problem for creating a good RPG with nice fighting is that it takes a lot of time and it might never pay of

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:07 am

Glad you like the tree. I'll work on it more in the morning. My wife has to work all day tomorrow, as she is the only one in the office. My 4 year old is becoming jealous of the computer, so I will be dividing my time between him and it.

@ItForce - Oh yeah, it will take a lot of time, but the payoff will happen if it is a truly inspired piece of work, that comes from the heart. People will pick up on that, and the heartfelt inspiration can become infectuous!!

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:48 pm

Here is the tree for download. it's in act format.

http://www.savefile.com/files/5776010

I hope this works. I've never used savefile.com

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:25 pm

ThankYouThankYouThankYou veryvery much.

The download worked... it was awfully slow, 3-4 kb/s, but it worked.

And the tree looks GREAT! ... but ... 2868 polys

Having, say, 20 of these guys in my forest won't do good to the framerate.

I hope you don't mind if I modify it a bit. I think I can bring the polycount down to less than 500 by deleting the leafs and adding some partially transparent parts instead.

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:28 pm

My friend, you can do with that tree whatever you wish. It is yours. I'm anxious to see how you modify it. Would you like the bdy or ms3d file to work with? I can zip them up with the textures, if you like.

Sorry it was slow. Maybe I don't want to use that file service if it's that bad.

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:34 pm

No need to send those extra files. I already decompiled it and started working on it in MilkShape.

I really love the textures.

The slowness may not be the file service's fault, though... I noticed that the speed of my connection is slow right now... every page is loading slooooooowly.

steven8 · Post by **steven8** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:41 pm

Very cool.

I LOVE the decompile act tool.

Glad you like the textures. I can lay claim to the wood end of the tree limb and the leaf texture, but the bark texture is part of that collection I have.

Speaking of which, I hadn't realized just how HUGE that collections is. I'll have to upload it in chunks, then delete it when you guys each get it as you want.

Juutis · Post by **Juutis** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:28 pm

OK, I got the polycount down to 196.

It doesn't look as good as it used to, but now I can actually use it

!

So here it is...