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[Javin98]

#TheWilderness Project

Disclaimer: I've seen many getting confused, so I will clarify here. I am NOT making this game. It's just ideas for what could be an interesting concept if executed well.


Edit: From feedback in this thread itself, I have trimmed a few features to prevent this from being a bloated mess.

Hey, GAF, earlier today, I posted this in the RPG Maker forums, but the forums are so slow that I just couldn't wait anymore. So I basically copied and pasted it here.

Before I begin, I should clarify that these are simply ideas for a project in my mind. Why? Because the scope and ambition of this project is simply too risky for even the biggest studio now. It would be nice to get feedback regardless.

First off, a short introduction of the setting of this project. A tropical island set out in the Pacific Ocean cut off from the rest of civilization in the 1800's. The island has been isolated for hundreds of millions of years. As such, dinosaurs were able to evolve and become even more fearsome creatures. Ice Age animals were also able to survive extinction on the island. Think of it as being inspired by Skull Island from King Kong.


Now, some key features of this project:

-Open world RPG

-530 sq. miles map

-Tropical island setting with jungles, swamps, grasslands, oceans, mountains

-Dynamic ecosystem with prey-predator interactions

-Over 35 species of wildlife, consisting of dinosaurs, Ice Age mammals and modern day animals

-Dynamic day and night cycle

-15 different tribes

-Several villages and towns of various sizes

-Complex dating system, leads to marriage

-10 bachelorette to choose from, each with different backgrounds and personalities

-Explore dungeons and mines for ores

-Dialogue system

-Combat system involving humans and animals

-1800's weapons, including swords, spears, bows and simple bombs

-Simple, yet effective crafting

-25 hours long main quest line

-60+ side quests, over 50 hours gameplay

-Mounting and taming system

-Form hunting parties

There are some other features I'm still planning out and will post if this thread gets enough replies. Criticism is more than welcome.

Just to add, obviously there are heavy inspirations from other games such as Harvest Moon, The Witcher 3 and Far Cry Primal

A mod can move this to the right place if gaming discussion is inappropriate. I'm not even sure where to post this.

Edit: Since the main criticism of this thread is how barebones the OP is, I've decided to use my later elaborations of the mechanics in the OP, so most people can picture it better.

A bit of clarification on the genre:

It would be kinda hard to pinpoint the specific genre, since my scope seems to be encompassing several aspects from a few genres. Hell, the 'dynamic ecosystem' may as well spawn a new 'ecosystem simulator' genre entirely. But to simplify, I'd say by and large, it is an RPG more focused on action. Exploration is entirely up to the players.

More info on the tribes and bachelorettes:

I always pictured them as groups of people with different ethnics and economical lifestyles. For instance, one tribe who make their living of hunting animals are nomadic by nature and are typically temperamental. On the other hand, another tribe that trades materials with other tribes are wealthy and live in a massive city. As such, the personalities of the bachelorettes reflect the tribe they come from. I haven't thought of the story, but I've been thinking about rivalry among some of the tribes and it's up to the player character to quell it or pick a side.

As for the large theropods levelling the towns, I think it could work as a randomized event and the player will be notified when checking the bulletin board. This would then work as a side quest. The towns don't have to be fully destructible. Just as long as some random villagers are being tossed around and eaten, I think that will suffice. Anyway, if the player fails, the town and its villagers are desolated. In the grand scheme of things, the bachelorette will be unavailable and the tribe won't be involved in the main story line, in which they could be helpful or enemies.

More info on the ecosystem:

The 'dynamic ecosystem' bit is probably the most complicated and ambitious part, though. I always wanted a game where the animals react realistically like they would in the wild. I will describe another example to try and re-illustrate my point. A pack of raptors slowly stalk a lone bull mammoth. When they strike, they work in unity as a pack. Dynamic is probably not the right word to describe it. Basically, animal behavior in a living, breathing world as in real life.

Think of the past few Far Cry games. They have a fairly simple ecosystem with predators hunting prey and all. Well, imagine it taken to the next step. What if you have all that but further expanded? I would think of it as being part of a National Geographic documentary. You can watch as a Tyrannosaurus ambushes a pack of wooly mammoths for instance.

More info on the map and the chosen size:

However, the world of my dream project is very different from the world of The Witcher 3. The latter is mostly focused on the rural areas and large cities. The monsters are just sort of there for Geralt to do his thing. He is a monster slayer for hire after all. The monsters have no special place in the world. On the other hand, my project is filled with many species of wildlife and they all form a ecosystem. They are not there just for the sake of it, they are there to make the island feel like a wonderful but dangerous place to explore. I don't mean to be bringing up examples again, but if you watched King Kong, just imagine Skull Island which you can explore. If the world was considerably smaller, I feel it would diminish the immersion of being in a living, breathing world.

Exploration is entirely up to the players. There are many interesting places to find and each sector of the island is filled with species not found elsewhere. Take for example the Allosaurus. To avoid the larger predators, Allosaurus mostly resides in the jungle areas, where it uses ambush attacks on prey. However, players are not forced to explore the island if they choose not to with the exception of quests.

Think of Just Cause and its sandbox design, but this encompasses animals in a sandbox.

The villages are mostly basic wooden houses while only the large cities are brick structures.

More on the combat and weapons:

As for guns, remember that the tribes are isolated from the rest of the world, so their technology is primitive.

As for the combat, my vision is more melee focused. Different weapons have different attributes and are more effective against certain enemies. Swords hit hard and fast but axe hit harder but slower. Bows are handy to kill smaller prey from range and are the only logical way to bring down a Tyrannosaurus aside from spears and bombs.

More info on hunting parties:

Hunting parties are formed to take down animals which are otherwise too difficult to take down on your own. Examples would be large theropods like Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus or the huge sauropods like Brachiosaurus. Before other members will agree to even join, they will request for a significant amount of the cut. You are then given the choice to agree if you find it reasonable or bargain if you find it outrageous. Why risk their lives you ask? Well, meat and hide can be used for food or sold to merchants for a high price. That's how one of the tribes, the hunting tribe live.

Why risk your life and others for meat and hide? Well, meat and hide can be sold to merchants in towns and villages for money. In turn, money can be used to purchase higher grade weapons and clothing. On the other hand, meat can be used as a source of food for healing and hide can be used for crafting.

 

[wanders]

Thats some bait and switch title. Good luck OP

 

[Javin98]

Thats some bait and switch title. Good luck OP

That's the problem, I don't even know how to name it! Sorry, it's my first time laying my ideas on GAF. Can a mod switch it to something more appropriate?

I should add that I'm really nervous right now. Don't know what most people will think.

 

[takriel]

Sounds like Horizon to me!

 

[Javin98]

Sounds like Horizon to me!

Haha, it does have some heavy inspirations from Horizon as well. However, there are influences from other games as well.

 

[texhnolyze]

You can find roughly half (maybe even more) of the list on ARK: Survival Evolved.

What it's lacking is basically story and quests, and cities.. because well, it's a survival game.

 

[Javin98]

You can find roughly half of the list on ARK: Survival Evolved.

What it's lacking is basically story and quests, and cities.. because well, it's a survival game.

Well, I haven't started any storyline yet, thought about working out the concept and mechanics first then getting feedback on GAF. And yeah, I know, not the most original idea.

 

[Aters]

Speaking of open world game, I have a dream:

FFVI ramake. The first half is a standard JRPG, the second half is a post apocalypse open world game like Fallout.

 

[jdstorm]

It's ambitious but you haven't said anything so much as you've listed a whole bunch of already existing features thrown them into a pot and said GAF what do you think.

What I think is that it doesn't sound fun. There is way too much busy work and no over arching themes or to drive a story. The map is giant but measured in square miles which seems to indicate a lack of interest in verticality or hidden spaces such as caves. Fast travel seems problematic in a lush tropical jungle. As does the level of detail required in such a large Space.

Is it an immersive 1800s lifestyle sim, Oregan Trail on a deserted island? What do you actually do

 

[Vintage]

Sorry, but everyone has ideas. Me, my neighbour, my grandmother, even my cat. Bringing those ideas to life is what makes you great.

And also, these are just features, I wouldn't even call them "ideas".

 

[texhnolyze]

Well, I haven't started any storyline yet, thought about working out the concept and mechanics first then getting feedback on GAF. And yeah, I know, not the most original idea.

Well, don't get me wrong. It's actually a good concept for an open world RPG that I'd LOVE to play. ARK was so much fun but it gets boring after I managed to survive in the world and tame most of the animals in the game. Adding story, quests, and other RPG activities on top of that would be dope. It's just that I think it would need AAA budget to realize. Maybe, just maybe, Ubisoft can pull it off if they want to. Far Cry Primal is a good foundation.

 

[Javin98]

It's ambitious but you haven't said anything so much as you've listed a whole bunch of already existing features thrown them into a pot and said GAF what do you think.

What I think is that it doesn't sound fun. There is way too much busy work and no over arching themes or to drive a story. The map is giant but measured in square miles which seems to indicate a lack of interest in verticality or hidden spaces such as caves. Fast travel seems problematic in a lush tropical jungle. As does the level of detail required in such a large Space.

Is it an immersive 1800s lifestyle sim, Oregan Trail on a deserted island? What do you actually do

First off, thank you for taking the time to read my detailed post and providing feedback.

Those are just key features for now and I was still thinking on how to innovate on some of them. For example, the farming mechanics in Harvest Moon are now outdated and I've been thinking of ways to improvise. It would be nice if some people can also give ideas.

Also, I was thinking that this game is packed with content that you can play anyway you want. The game won't force you to play a certain way. You could explore caves and mines for ores for a living. You could be a farmer for a living. You could hunt animals for hides and meat for a living.

To add, I thought about having a gigantic map size not because of exploration. As I stated, the whole island is supposed to be like a ecosystem simulation and it doesn't feel right if the island is too small.

Well, don't get me wrong. It's actually a good concept for an open world RPG that I'd LOVE to play. ARK was so much fun but it gets boring after I managed to survive in the world and tame most of the animals in the game. Adding story, quests, and other RPG activities on top of that would be dope. It's just that I think it would need AAA budget to realize. Maybe, just maybe, Ubisoft can pull it off if they want to. Far Cry Primal is a good foundation.

Haha, great to hear. But like I said, with the scope I have in mind, it would probably bankrupt the studio if it fails, LOL.

 

[CMojicaAce]

-Tropical island setting with jungles, swamps, grasslands, oceans, mountains
-Combat system involving humans and animals
-Mounting and taming system

.

 

[Javin98]

.

Mind if I ask where that is from?

 

[jdstorm]

I think with RPGs it's sometimes better to be more focused. To use tricks and illusions to build something rather then actuall doing it. A 500sq Mile Map would be roughly 20x25Miles. If It takes a human approximately 4 minutes to run a mile that's over 1 hour to cross the map on foot. Which just becomes not fun unless you are in a mode of transport that allows you to cross the map quickly. However that diminishes the sense of scale you are looking to achieve

It would definitely be possible to make something on this scale with a small team. just look at Hello Games work on No Man's Sky they have created a whole universe with a tiny team.

But at some point you have to boil your game down to its core elements.

Is it a game, that can be won with skill and the mastery of mechanics, or is it a story game where the additional mechanics need to serve the story and enrich the experience.

 

[Javin98]

I think with RPGs it's sometimes better to be more focused. To use tricks and illusions to build something rather then actuall doing it. A 500sq Mile Map would be roughly 20x25Miles. If It takes a human approximately 4 minutes to run a mile that's over 1 hour to cross the map on foot. Which just becomes not fun unless you are in a mode of transport that allows you to cross the map quickly. However that diminishes the sense of scale you are looking to achieve

True, which is why I thought of mounting animals. Two of the dinosaurs I thought of are Velociraptor (JP sized ones) and Gallimimus. The former could run up to 40 mph with the latter clocking at 45 mph. To be honest, I have pondered whether the size of the map is too big, but I do love a huge map of just wilderness with the animals interacting with one another.

 

[CMojicaAce]

Mind if I ask where that is from?

I googled "riding shark" lol

You also said dinosaurs survived?

GOTY

 

[Javin98]

I googled "riding shark" lol

You also said dinosaurs survived?

GOTY

LOL, this image made me laugh out loud. Haha! XD

You jest, but you just gave me the idea that riding on the marine animals could be a better way of traversal than boats. Thanks!

 

[texhnolyze]

.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

-10 bachelorette to choose from, each with different backgrounds and personalities

 

[Javin98]

Funnily enough, this came up when I was Google searching bachelorette to confirm the spelling.

It would definitely be possible to make something on this scale with a small team. just look at Hello Games work on No Man's Sky they have created a whole universe with a tiny team.

But at some point you have to boil your game down to its core elements.

Is it a game, that can be won with skill and the mastery of mechanics, or is it a story game where the additional mechanics need to serve the story and enrich the experience.

Just caught your edit. Thanks a lot! This is exactly the kind of feedback I need. I don't mind if it's negative. At least if it's constructive criticism, I can take it as advice and learn from it. I will be giving this post some deep thought.

 

[Exentryk]

Sounds boring. Too much busy work. Same sights for the whole game (one island)?

 

[Javin98]

Sounds boring. Too much busy work. Same sights for the whole game (one island)?

I can definitely see how some may come to this conclusion and I have wondered if there is possibly too much to do, but I explain it better here:

Also, I was thinking that this game is packed with content that you can play anyway you want. The game won't force you to play a certain way. You could explore caves and mines for ores for a living. You could be a farmer for a living. You could hunt animals for hides and meat for a living.

As for your second question, technically, I was thinking of the main island being split into two smaller fragments. Both may have different species of animals. For instance, the top is ruled by Tyrannosaurus and the bottom ruled by Giganotosaurus. Also, like I stated, the island is divided into jungles, grasslands, swamps and caves. In addition, the tribes all have different architecture. Some may be massive cities while others are simple villages.

 

[ogbg]

Far Cry 5

 

[jdstorm]

More thoughts on size, scale ect. How would you balance the difficulty curve.

In Xenoblade Chronicles X (another Rpg with a large map) you spend the majority of the early game running everywhere because most enemies can kill you.

Building a dynamic ecosystem strategy/management game like Civilisation or tropico seems fine.

The hardest/most ambitious thing you want to do seems to be building a procedurally generated, dynamic relationship system. Not to mention the amount of CPU processing power required to keep track of everything would be overwhelming

 

[Kiriku]

I am confused. Will you actually attempt to develop this game? And have you ever created a game before?

 

[Javin98]

More thoughts on size, scale ect. How would you balance the difficulty curve.

In Xenoblade Chronicles X (another Rpg with a large map) you spend the majority of the early game running everywhere because most enemies can kill you.

Building a dynamic ecosystem strategy/management game like Civilisation or tropico seems fine.

The hardest/most ambitious thing you want to do seems to be building a procedurally generated, dynamic relationship system. Not to mention the amount of CPU processing power required to keep track of everything would be overwhelming

Haha, I did say it would be too ambitious, especially for the consoles. Thing is, though, although it's not a project in development and most likely never will be, I expect it to be more of a PS5 game.

As for difficulty curve, I would say that from the beginning, you start with the smaller, weaker creatures on the island, or simply stay in the villages and cities until you have enough resources to purchase stronger weapons and outfits. Large theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus will still be extremely tough to kill, though. That's where hunting parties come in. You can bargain to split the cut with your team too.

I am confused. Will you actually attempt to develop this game? And have you ever created a game before?

Unfortunately not. Just a project in my wildest dreams, I'm afraid. Anyone can pick this up if they find this intriguing, though.

Cool. Now you just need a few million dollars to fund a decent effort at it.

I always thought of it as a AAA project, sadly. Don't mind if someone Kickstarter's it, though.

 

[Zaptruder]

Cool. Now you just need a few million dollars to fund a decent effort at it.

Spoiler

Really, you'd be looking at mid to high tens to potentially over hundreds of millions for the game you're describing. Sooooo... good luck?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

You've almost literally described Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is coincidentally one of the most boring games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

The scope of this project far exceeds even what some AAA developers are capable of. Try making a smaller game first and hone your skills and see what you're realistically capable of creating in your next project. Because unless you somehow inherit a fully staffed dev team, you might as well be making Avatar 2 by yourself.

 

[Javin98]

You've almost literally described Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is coincidentally one of the most boring games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

Xenoblade doesn't have dinosaurs, though.

On a more serious note, I'm fully aware this kind of game isn't for everyone, but I'm pretty sure some people do love a slower paced game.

 

[jdstorm]

Xenoblade doesn't have dinosaurs, though.

On a more serious note, I'm fully aware this kind of game isn't for everyone, but I'm pretty sure some people do love a slower paced game.

Actually both Xenoblade games do have dinosaurs. You'd probably like them if this game is your dream.

 

[Javin98]

Actually both Xenoblade games do have dinosaurs. You'd probably like them if this game is your dream.

Oh, cool. I wasn't aware. Unfortunately, I don't own Nintendo handhelds.

The scope of this project far exceeds even what some AAA developers are capable of. Try making a smaller game first and hone your skills and see what you're realistically capable of creating in your next project. Because unless you somehow inherit a fully staffed dev team, you might as well be making Avatar 2 by yourself.

I did acknowledge that in the OP, actually. Also, I don't actually plan on making this game. It's just my dream game. I posted it here just to get feedback from you guys. I should add that I'm 18, BTW.

 

[jdstorm]

Oh, cool. I wasn't aware. Unfortunately, I don't own Nintendo handhelds.

Xenoblade Chronicles is a Wii game, although it is pretty hard to come by these days on the Wii. Both the origional and Xenoblade Chronicles X are availiable on Wii U if you have one. But if you don't, maybe try watching a Lets Play on YouTube so you can see the scope of the projects.

If you want to make something yourself I'd recommend just trying to make something tiny first. Just get a character that can walk around a village. Then start adding houses and NPCs to interact with.

DevGAF could probably give you some good advice on programs to get started on

 

[thomasmahler]

Uhm. That's now how you design games.

 

[Javin98]

Xenoblade Chronicles is a Wii game, although it is pretty hard to come by these days on the Wii. Both the origional and Xenoblade Chronicles X are availiable on Wii U if you have one. But if you don't, maybe try watching a Lets Play on YouTube so you can see the scope of the projects.

If you want to make something yourself I'd recommend just trying to make something tiny first. Just get a character that can walk around a village. Then start adding houses and NPCs to interact with.

DevGAF could probably give you some good advice on programs to get started on

Haha, sounds great. I'll look up some videos on YouTube to get some inspiration, thanks!

Anyway, I'm actually a student in university currently taking Game Development as the course. I don't plan on developing this game. This is really one of those "What if" situations. I don't know about others, but I love to imagine what I could do given the resources.

Uhm. That's now how you design games.

Do you mean "not" or do you really mean now? In any case, please elaborate. Criticism is welcome.

 

[Muskieratboi]

This is a list of bullet points on the back of a box.

If you are serious, come back with a design document.

 

[Javin98]

This is a list of bullet points on the back of a box.

If you are serious, come back with a design document.

I'd like to think of this as more of a concept first. The key features just represent what the game is about. If I were to write everything I have planned out, it would be way too long. Read through this thread. I've elaborated on several of my features. I kept it in bullet points to keep the OP short and tidy.

 

[thomasmahler]

I'd like to think of this as more of a concept first. The key features just represent what the game is about. If I were to write everything I have planned out, it would be way too long. Read through this thread. I've elaborated on several of my features. I kept it in bullet points to keep the OP short and tidy.

It tells you absolutely nothing about what the game is, how the mechanics work or ANYTHIING really. If that's how they teach you to make games in your college, they're doing it wrong.

There's a reason why you either start with a prototype or with a well-figured out design docuument. This is just blabla right now, it's just weirdly specific features (530sq miles map, wat ? Why not 618?) randomly jumbled together. Nobody here can imagine what you have in your head based on this list... That's why people aren't taking this thread all too seriously.

 

[Javin98]

It tells you absolutely nothing about what the game is, how the mechanics work or ANYTHIING really. If that's how they teach you to make games in your college, they're doing it wrong.

There's a reason why you either start with a prototype or with a well-figured out design docuument. This is just blabla right now, it's just weirdly specific features (530sq miles map, wat ?) randomly jumbled together. Nobody here can imagine what you have in your head based on this list... That's why people aren't taking this thread all too seriously.

Fair enough, like I said, this is my first time doing such a thing. I've never laid my ideas and discuss it with GAF before. Again, I don't plan on developing this game, it's more of a dream project. You can ask me more about the mechanics, I just thought of keeping the OP short to make it convenient for most people.

And BTW, please leave my education out of this. This has nothing to do with my college.

 

[Ysarus]

-10 bachelorette to choose from, each with different backgrounds and personalities

Just bachelorettes?

 

[Javin98]

Just bachelorettes?

I have pondered if players should be able to choose the gender and design the character as they wish like Dragon Age Inquisition or go for a pre designed character like Alooy or Geralt. For me, to tell a good story, the latter is a far better choice.

Edit: Sorry if my post offended some, I removed the earlier bit. I'm such an idiot.

 

[thomasmahler]

Well, gay marriage might be kinda weird

*facepalm*

 

[Javin98]

*facepalm*

Please elaborate. I never claimed to be a professional game developer or anything, no idea why you have to be a dick. You can leave constructive criticism and I more than welcome that. If you're just going to go "you're doing it all wrong", you're not helping anyone.

Also, I'm not sure why you expected a prototype from me. I am NOT developing this game. The reason this thread was made is to discuss the concept of it.

 

[Primethius]

These are nice ideas to have in an RPG as a conceptual broad basis if executed well but this seems far too ambitious for me. Personally, I'd start by cutting a good 80% of that list and focusing first on what the core gameplay loop will be.

In Harvest Moon for example, you are constrained by time which limits the options you can execute in any given day. But a farming system in a day/night open world RPG with a stamina system like Harvest Moon seems problematic as it limits the other 80% of what you want the game to be and what the player can do. But if you don't put a stamina limit or limit the amount of things you can do in a given day (something like forced progression in Persona), you open the player up to far too many options which can get overwhelming.

Conversely, the alternative option could be to simplify some of these sub-systems but I don't think simplified mechanics should be considered before you get the real meat of the game on lockdown, as they almost always feel like throwaways.

Personally, out of the ideas you have listed, if I had to combine and mix and match, while trimming the list down, I'd want:
A smaller-scale Survival RPG where you have farming/hunting/mine exploration as the core which is supplemented by a simple story with a singular goal (aka Harvest Moon) with forced sections of mandatory combat/survival (Persona 4-esque dungeons but in the wild).

 

[RPGam3r]

Design doc or use cases (life in the shoes of your character) would be a better way to represent an idea. The list feels like back of ty he box material at this time as others have said and lacks heart.

 

[Javin98]

These are nice ideas to have in an RPG as a conceptual broad basis if executed well but this seems far too ambitious for me. Personally, I'd start by cutting a good 80% of that list and focusing first on what the core gameplay loop will be.

In Harvest Moon for example, you are constrained by time which limits the options you can execute in any given day. But a farming system in a day/night open world RPG with a stamina system like Harvest Moon seems problematic as it limits the other 80% of what you want the game to be and what the player can do. But if you don't put a stamina limit or limit the amount of things you can do in a given day (something like forced progression in Persona), you open the player up to far too many options which can get overwhelming.

Conversely, the alternative option could be to simplify some of these sub-systems but I don't think simplified mechanics should be considered before you get the real meat of the game on lockdown, as they almost always feel like throwaways.

Personally, out of the ideas you have listed, if I had to combine and mix and match, while trimming the list down, I'd want:
A smaller-scale Survival RPG where you have farming/hunting/mine exploration as the core which is supplemented by a simple story with a singular goal (aka Harvest Moon) with forced sections of mandatory combat/survival (Persona 4-esque dungeons but in the wild).

Thanks a lot, man. Really good ideas here. To be honest, I have wondered if I'm packing too much in this game. Indeed, as if a 530 sq. miles map isn't enough, there are almost too much to do too. However, I was thinking, what if the player was given a lot of freedom? The game won't tell you how to play the game, you just learn and decide how you want to spend the day. And of course, a stamina system would completely ruin the game, so I never thought about putting it in.

Design doc or use cases (life in the shoes of your character) would be a better way to represent an idea. The list feels like back of ty he box material at this time as others have said and lacks heart.

I don't disagree, but as I said, I wanted to keep the OP short and simple. Also, this is my first time laying out my ideas, so pardon my lack of experience.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Well, gay marriage might be kinda weird and controversial.

....annnnd you just derailed your whole thread.

 

[Ysarus]

Well, gay marriage might be kinda weird and controversial.

I have pondered if players should be able to choose the gender and design the character as they wish like Dragon Age Inquisition or go for a pre designed character like Alooy or Geralt. For me, to tell a good story, the latter is a far better choice.

Well, we've had gay relationships in a lot of RPGs already. Like Dragon Age Inquisition, which you just mentioned. If it's the 1800s setting you're worried about, it doesn't even have to lead to full-on marriage.

But I was mostly thinking that this is the kind of game which is really popular with women, so not having a gender option sounds like a shame. If you're going for absolute freedom for jobs and the like, it's mostly going to be emergent storytelling anyway. A non-fixed player character is not going to be the biggest obstacle to a good story.

 

[Mephala]

I get the feeling you're using us to help brain storm ideas more than actually explaining the vision of your game. I mean. I can't really see your game in my mind just a checklist of features with descriptors here and there. Other than Open World RPG and a dash of simulation I don't even know what genre it is.

I also want to say that I find it hard to be excited for such a list because there are so many indie devs or wannabe devs that can cough up such a list whilst oozing with excitement. With the surge of indie games and kickstarters it is easy to throw interest in games that sell on broken promises and having been a victim to this I tend to be very picky and almost a little heartless when it comes to ideas or words with minimal substance. Good luck though.

Edit.
I just have trouble focusing on what your game will be and where the fun is. You list a lot of things but I find it difficult to vision in my mind since the gameplay is obviously not there yet and that is what I am most interested in. mean while, if you slapped that list on the descriptions of a "Skyrim Mod" I can instantly know what to expect and my interest is quite a bit higher.

 

[Javin98]

....annnnd you just derailed your whole thread.

I'm so confused. What did I do wrong here??

Well, we've had gay relationships in a lot of RPGs already. Like Dragon Age Inquisition, which you just mentioned. If it's the 1800s setting you're worried about, it doesn't even have to lead to full-on marriage.

But I was mostly thinking that this is the kind of game which is really popular with women, so not having a gender option sounds like a shame. If you're going for absolute freedom for jobs and the like, it's mostly going to be emergent storytelling anyway. A non-fixed player character is not going to be the biggest obstacle to a good story.

Huh, good points. Perhaps I'll reconsider. Thanks for the elaboration.

I get the feeling you're using us to help brain storm ideas more than actually explaining the vision of your game. I mean. I can't really see your game in my mind just a checklist of features with descriptors here and there. Other than Open World RPG and a dash of simulation I don't even know what genre it is.

I also want to say that I find it hard to be excited for such a list because there are so many indie devs or wannabe devs that can cough up such a list whilst oozing with excitement. With the surge of indie games and kickstarters it is easy to throw interest in games that sell on broken promises and having been a victim to this I tend to be very picky and almost a little heartless when it comes to ideas or words with minimal substance. Good luck though.

Well, to be brutally honest, yeah. I need help from you guys who are more experienced in game design. Again, I'm NOT developing this game, just imagining it. I thought it would be cool if we could share our ideas for an interesting concept.

I apologize, but I can't show a game that's not planned to be made.