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- Feb 3, 2007
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Basics of an RPG
In an RPG, there is usually three bodies. They are
Selection
The Body
and the Ending
I will go into them into more details further on.
When you combine these three parts, you have to do it smoothly. You can't
just go from the Selection Stage to the End automatically. Niether can you have the body before the selection. In this tutorial, I am hoping to be able to inform you on how to use these.
Selection
The selection stage is vital. It is where players will choose their characters. These might be as simple as a hero arena, or as complex as a hero builder. When creating this stage, there is a few things to remember.
Third, add in any other things you require. Like pets, mounts, or maybe side-classes and occupations. Make sure you add stuff into your RPG to make it stand out. You don't know how many D3f4nc3 rips I've seen. Make your RPG unique at the beggining.
The Body
In each RPG, there is a body, or the main part. This is where you would layout dugeons, quests, etc. Towns and landmarks appear here. A few tips for creating towns.
Terrain is a big issue for an RPG. I use a term the three S's to describe this. They are simplicity, being straightfoward, and space.
Simplicity defines what it looks like. An elabarate terrain versus a simple but well done terrain in a multiplayer map doesn't work. High ammounts of detailed terrain do not work, because they lag. Now, if you are on singleplayer, elaberate terrain maybe will fit. Make sure you have atomsphere and mood to your map.
Being Straightfoward is to get to what you want. When you are making a mountain that looks rocky, don't pile rock upon rock upon rock until you have it. Make it to the point, don't try to beat around the bush to get it more detailed. We want to see a mountain, not a pile of rocks.
And lastly, space. I learned this earlier when I released a screenshot for Starshatter. It was too crowded and jammed, that I felt horrible when I heard the comments. So, let's say it now. DO NOT EVER CRAM DOODADS TOGETHER, but the only exception is enviromental doodads like bushes, grass tufts, etc. Keep it evenly spread out in a layout, rather than shoving them in a tight circle, square, etc.
Finally, Dungeons
What makes a dungeon fun is three things: challenges, puzzles, and rewards.
To accurately create a good dungeon, follow these guidelines.
Hopefuly by now you have sort of an idea about creating RPGs. Now, to wrap the game up. I have a few strageties for ending.
In an RPG, there is usually three bodies. They are
Selection
The Body
and the Ending
I will go into them into more details further on.
When you combine these three parts, you have to do it smoothly. You can't
just go from the Selection Stage to the End automatically. Niether can you have the body before the selection. In this tutorial, I am hoping to be able to inform you on how to use these.
Selection
The selection stage is vital. It is where players will choose their characters. These might be as simple as a hero arena, or as complex as a hero builder. When creating this stage, there is a few things to remember.
- Be open on classes. It's no fun just to have warrior, mage, assassin, etc. for every race. Mix it up. Add a special class or two for each race.
- Think of races. Its boring just being human. But, remember, there is a limit. You don't want too many races, nor do you want too little. I like to even it out with 4 or 5.
- Define your races. Would a human have the same archery skills as and elf? Would a demon build better machinery than a dwarf or goblin? Add racial bonuses along with your customized classes to each race. It will make the RPG better.
- Create a system. This can be interperated in several ways. I will give you what I think is important.
-
Events
-
A hero gains a level
-
Conditions
-
Triggering unit's level = X
-
Actions
-
Unit - Add X ability to triggering unit
Third, add in any other things you require. Like pets, mounts, or maybe side-classes and occupations. Make sure you add stuff into your RPG to make it stand out. You don't know how many D3f4nc3 rips I've seen. Make your RPG unique at the beggining.
The Body
In each RPG, there is a body, or the main part. This is where you would layout dugeons, quests, etc. Towns and landmarks appear here. A few tips for creating towns.
- Use your races as different town settings. Create an elven forest village or a high-tech dwarf citiadel. You get my point
- Always put in a source of healing in your town. Whether it be a simple fountain of mana or an elebrant temple, make sure that the towns are refuges
- Tying with the tip above, create guards stationed near the entrance(s) of your towns. If you have a giant city or capital, you might want to create more guards to lower the chance of creeps coming into the town and spawn-killing you over and over again.
- Put shops and other buildings such as a bank or another source of extended inventory (Stash). Make sure that your shop prices are accurate. I don't want to pay 1000 gold just to get a +6 dagger. That is stupid.
- Make sure that , if it is a 2 teamed RPG, that cities are "raidable". This means put moderation into guards' attack, HP, and such to make raids challenging, not impossible. Add a mega boss too. Such as the king of the Angels in the giant cathedral in the High Elven fortresses. You get my point.
- Make sure that the quests are multiplayer friendly, if not a campaign. Make sure, that if it is a faction quest, that raiding people cannot do the quests that only the other tream can do.
- Create depth into your quests. Have your quests build into your story.
Terrain is a big issue for an RPG. I use a term the three S's to describe this. They are simplicity, being straightfoward, and space.
Simplicity defines what it looks like. An elabarate terrain versus a simple but well done terrain in a multiplayer map doesn't work. High ammounts of detailed terrain do not work, because they lag. Now, if you are on singleplayer, elaberate terrain maybe will fit. Make sure you have atomsphere and mood to your map.
Being Straightfoward is to get to what you want. When you are making a mountain that looks rocky, don't pile rock upon rock upon rock until you have it. Make it to the point, don't try to beat around the bush to get it more detailed. We want to see a mountain, not a pile of rocks.
And lastly, space. I learned this earlier when I released a screenshot for Starshatter. It was too crowded and jammed, that I felt horrible when I heard the comments. So, let's say it now. DO NOT EVER CRAM DOODADS TOGETHER, but the only exception is enviromental doodads like bushes, grass tufts, etc. Keep it evenly spread out in a layout, rather than shoving them in a tight circle, square, etc.
Finally, Dungeons
What makes a dungeon fun is three things: challenges, puzzles, and rewards.
To accurately create a good dungeon, follow these guidelines.
- -Create mini-bosses in each dungeon as a sort of checkpoint. Once you kill Miniboss 1, a gate opens to the next room, etc.
- - Use puzzles involving elevators, levers, and foot switches. For easy dungeons, make it fairly simple. However, the higher level the dungeon is based on, the harder the puzzle. Blizzard's examples in the last few Undead campaign levels of TFT are great examples.
- - Make the dungeon worth it. Have rewarding loot at the end. Don't have a mega-hard dungeon and give the people crappy stuff. That is what we call 'stupid'. If you don't want to add items, you can add 'points' in a system.
Hopefuly by now you have sort of an idea about creating RPGs. Now, to wrap the game up. I have a few strageties for ending.
- Complete the plot. If a demon steals a sacred artifact, kill the demon at the end to get it back. Simple.
- Destruction. If the RPG is a two or more teamed, (I would stick with 2 teams and go no higher) you might want to create team leaders to kill to win the game. The Horde has to kill the Alliance King. The Alliance has to kill Thrall.
- Freelancer. This can be optional or added on after someone wins. Its where it doesn't really end, but rather just 'continues' in a loop. WoW and most MMOs are this type, where it is updated frequently but you can never win it. After a game finishes, it might go into 'Freelancer' mode so that players can just mess around and do quests to improve their characters.
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