Fantasy Realms (working title); is all about short competitive/cooperative/singleplayer top down action rpg experiences, albeit in scripted isolated game worlds (not levels) hence the broad name and the usage of the word "realms". each realm/game world has; -4 to 6 playable characters each with their own unique identity and skillsets -a randomly created over-world of just 1 continent -at least 4-6 static towns, and 3 or more randomly placed but easily identifiable dungeons -and of course additional elements/features specific to the game world's unique design above all of the realms is an experience concept similar to the COD franchise and that applies to both online and offline play. which will allow you to make the character development in each game very simple streamlined and straightforward but provide depth from the players development side which can be very complex and have interesting effects on gameplay (a la killstreaks, unlocking new skillsets, unlocking special characters/realms/secretstuff ect) the experience is unique and kind of hard to explain. for starters its fluid like a dual stick shooter and not a strict d-pad specific "can only move in one direction at a time" top down action rpg. but it would have similar design elements to that classic formula and other then the fluidity of movement, the combat in the game would resemble a modern JARPG moreso then a typical DSS. the idea is to take the fluidity of movement and the ease of aiming prevalent in DSS and completely revamp the nature of combat ARPG style battle system; attacking and defending; -across the bottom of the screen there will be two sets of 3 on screen virtual buttons inside what looks like two widgets with buttons in them one on the bottom left and another on the bottom right -the buttons inside the widget can be tapped on to initiate the command assigned to them -also you can flick across the widget to initiate 2 or 3 of the commands simultaneously like a super special attack once you have unlocked it -the bottom left will be defsneive and the bottom right will be offensive -offensive will be a mix of melee attack skills, special skills, long range weapon or magic based attacks and some RTS skills as well for certain characters -defensive will be sort of like JARPG style deployables; such as a regen, magic barrier and RTS skills, ect -possible RTS skills could be "knights of the round" for defense which will call in magical knights that surround you then dissipate to where the swords only remain and from there just the swords will rotate around you attacking anything that comes into range and blocking/deflecting long range attacks -other possible RTS skills could be calling forth NPCs to attack in the direction you aim; amongst others -players will start the game with only 1 offense and 1 defense button active and earn new skills as they play -when a skill is unlocked you tap on the empty slot that appears and quickly choose 1 of 3 potential skills to assign and that choice is final and can not be changed -as you earn new skills (6 total) the widget will expand; so when you start out there will be a big button on the bottom left and a big button on the bottom right and this will break off into 2 buttons when you earn the next skill and finally to 3 buttons movement; -tilt option -floating VJ option; tap and hold anywhere on the screen, a VJ will fade in under thumb/finger and when thumb/finger is lifted off the screen the VJ will fade away aiming; -tap to set target area -tap somewhere else to set a new target area (replaces the previously set one) -tap already set target again to remove it, and when target area moves off screen it will auto-remove -when target area is not set attacks will initiate in the direction the character is moving -with a target area set you can in essence circle strafe an opponent as you can move in any direction and you character will only attack in the direction where the target area is set now that the basics are out of the way i can go into detail about what a real/game would be like. i have only designed 1 real/game to use as an example. characters; -a young noble prince sets out on a quest for glory and honor for the sake of glory and honor -mystical sage who needs to find X in order to rid his region of an ancient curse -kind and honest treasure hunter out on a quest to bring good fortune to his family and community -cursed soldier of an actient war that was ressurected by x who seeks an artifact on the on behest of the one who ressurected him to bring a great evil to the lands but the solider can choose weather to do as he was told or use the artifact to bring down the ending his life but riding the world of a great evil -i could go on basically when you play the game its a glorified capture the flag mode there is a single treasure and if any one character obtains it (which is difficult unless all skills are unlocked) and brings it back to their home world goes into a sudden death and if one character is able to take the treasure out of the town he can take it to his town and try to win or die in the process and have it reset. but once a player holds a the ultimate trease for X amount of time they win -players can cooperate and form a leader follower pact in which prevents damage from friendly fire, both the leader or follower can turn on each other simply be unchecking the pact -there is also a 2 additional subtreasures -a mission which unlocks the map and everything on it -and 1 side mission for each player to do for their home town in order to get special perks or earn a new skill and thats it for now... ill be back later to elaborate and clean up the text if need be kinda in a rush here
Good Idea Hey cubytes, I am working on a very similar idea myself and I have started putting a game together (on paper and excel) for a windows. Unfortunately for your current project; I am a pc user, but I am interested assisting your project in some capacity. Let me know if you want to talk about ideas and what not. - Zerogrifter
further reiteration; just to another run thru of the gameplay -hit the lobby -matchmaking begins -pick a character or select random character -game loads after lobby full -loading screen designed as quick but stylish intro -and your off i originally wanted the realm to be the size of a continent but im thinking about streamlining the multiplayer portion of it and going with a fully fleshed out single player version instead of trying to bring the best of both worlds together heres what im thinking for multiplayer: ctf sort of -just a really big open world area the center piece of that realm if you will -all of the modes/maps should have moving platforms and traps all over the place -in this mode your 3 skills will have to be "unlocked" -health will just recharge after not taking any damage -there will be 4 boss monsters hidden around the level take them one out to earn the next skill -there will be 4 scrolls scattered about collect all 4 to unlock the next skill -there will be 4 touch stone scattered activating one will unlock the next skill -bring the treasure back to your area to earn a skill -deplyables will be powerup based (more details below) -all boss monsters must be defeated and all 4 randomly scattered touch stones of some sort must be activated before the final treasure will appear -bring this treasure to your area place it on a shrine/pedestal and defend it for x amount of time to win about the realms -each realm will only have 1 multiplayer mode/map combo and of course a really deep fully fleshed out single player exp -this is to simplify the UX you either play it offline as a single player or online no additional menus needed -one realm could have a competitive multiplayer mode like the ctf i described above, another could just have a coop mode where all the characters team up to fight a series of bosses from the single player game, and others could have deathmatch ect redesigned battle system; -there will be only 3 attack skills in one widget on the bottom right hand side of the screen -deployables or rather the defensive skills will be powerup arcadish based instead of skill based -they will be randomized you just pick up a question mark powerup orb and it selects the deployable you get at random -tap on that icon to use the deployable -they will not be used in all the modes only some of them coop mode design; -hit the lobby -select 1 of 4 characters -each character plays a certain role and there are no deployables in this mode -each character has 3 skills some may be offensive other characters may be strictly support or sticly heath -take the bosses from the single player and redesign them to suit a 4 player coop boss fight -heath does not recharge only the support character can recharge health 1 on 1 deathmatch; -basically in this realm the story revolves around 2 characters who are in conflict with each other -this doesnt mean 1 is good and the other is bad in fact it should be more complex then that -the two characters are the final boss if you will in the game -they should have deep bonds and a tragic falling out between each other over an idealogical misunderstanding or an assumed betrayal ect -no deployables only kill/deathstreaks -here are some possible kill and death streak ideas -one of the characters could use summons as a one off thing when they get kill/death streaks -another character could use status effects as kill/death streaks like haste, slow on all enemies in vicinity, poison ect -and the two characters fight each other until the round is over -health does not recharge you have to find hearts scattered around the map but these hearts are limited -kill/deathstreaks will not be used in all modes just some team deathmatch; -in this realm there will be 2 characters casted as the bad guys and 2 characters casted as the good guys -the team part will play a central role in combat as 1 of the characters is more offensive in nature and the other is more supportive by nature -there should be only deployables no kill/deathstreaks -health will be done by support character all out brawl; -tons of characters only 8 can fight each other tho -tons of characters in the story almost like a suikoden but redesigned action rpg style in that you can recruit and switch out the characters you play on the fly some characters you have to unlock to progress past a certain point -there may even be a party concept (which will be used for the kill/deathstreaks) -each character has a natural relationship with the others in the game world -when you find them or unlock them in the game you get them in the multiplayer -you gain exp in both the online and offline game -this exp will level you up giving you more hp in both the single player and multiplayer -you only increase hp all of the rest of the attributes stay the same (they may increase in the single player tho) -in the multiplayer mode your health will regenerate -there will be deployables and kill/deathstreaks about the single player game; -most of them will take the zelda route with the exception of the one thats like suikoden -the suikoden one aka the brawl deathmatch one will be diff in that it will just evolve around recruiting characters and defeating a boss recruiting characters to use their skills/knowledge to unlock secret dungeons where you can recruit more characters until you make it to the final boss and beat the game -some of the realms will have interesting dynamics like 4 different storys played out in the same world where there is overlap and if you open a secret for one character you unlock a path for another ect -the suikode game will play off a party concept -others will be more like zelda where you have to find/purchase equipment and healing items are for emergencies only since there will be collectable hearts scattered about the party concept in suikoden; -i want this to replace items and invetory instead you swap party members or call on them and use them like an item basically -you can assign one party member to the on screen hotkey where you can basically swap on the fly or just use that character as an item/equipment as you would in zelda other details -the characters never really level up in attributes -you will find better weapons that replace the ones you currently use and you essentially just increase hp like zelda -in the suikoden one specifically you can swap characters and use a character as an item/equipment but there will still be hearts lying around and you only increase hp -in the ctf one all of the characters have the same access to all the weapons in the single player game but just have diff skills to use in the multiplayer you can change the weapon you use at the pedestal in your area -in the 1 on 1 same thing both characters have the same access to all the weapons only a diff in skills -in the coop each character is locked into a loadout/role -in the team death match characters are locked into loadout/roles -in the all out brawl (which is the suikoden one) each character is locked into a loadout and can not change it, some characters may have better loadouts then others but the exp is shared equally among all party members anyways all of these are just basic design sets and can def be tweaked further or the whole design can be changed up from the top down; nothing is set in stone these are just the dynamics that i imagine would lend to fun single and multiplayer experiences in a very simple pick up and play kind of way this reiteration will of course downplay the player development significantly it wont really effect gameplay all that much anymore but you can def throw in a callsign/tag/clan unlocking system tho and that could apply to all realms
appreciate it i didnt think anyone noticed this gem... re: you being a pc user... i know mobile is getting all the attention right now but the pc market is still huuuuge if you got skills i can def see something like this taking off as web game later ported to other platforms (xbla, psn, wiimarket, mobile, google/apple tv app ect) whats your skillset? -ops? -dev? -the art? drawing? writing script/plot? -gameplay design? <thats me i think... -music composer? -all of the above
