LogFAQs > #936928123

OffTempo posted...

What types of games are you interested in developing?

All kinds of stuff. I get new ideas for new games all the time but don't have enough time for them all. Truth be told, I wouldn't have time for all of them if I could dedicate 16+ hours a day to them.

I do have pretty extensive plans and a lot of development done for a two-parter but at an hour a day, it's looking like it'll never happen before I die of old age.

Part 1 is a JRPG in a world populated entirely by robots (and plants and mushrooms and stuff). I've talked about it on CE a time or two before. There is a special kind of robot with far superior intelligence called an HLF (High-Level Functioning robot).

A few decades after the first HLFs rolled off the assembly line, the original standard, the V1, has been deprecated completely and the world is managed by their successors, the V2, V3 and V4, each designed by the previous. However, in the midst of a cold war, a new V1 is produced for unknown reasons. There are only two lines written in its log:

Purpose: Determine the fate of the world.
Contact administrator.

The gameplay is a hybrid of loads of ideas taken from other JRPGs I like, and a couple of ideas of my own. Combat has the iconic Phantasy Star perspective, with a basic flow more like FFX. Its element system is an expansion of Mega Man Battle Network's, with now a six element system where each element has two weaknesses (this way you get a choice of multiple elemental effects). Cyberattacks (status effects) are handled by a success/fail threshold of comparison of stats rather than random chance (for example, if the attacker's cyber stat is higher than the defender's firewall stat, plus an offset based on the effectiveness of the spell, it succeeds, otherwise it fails), making buffs and cybers go hand-in-hand.

Encounters are Pokemon-style, where you have certain areas where you can get in encounters and certain where you can't, and it's up to you to choose your path through the field to either maximize or minimize encounters.

Abilities are equipped by type and slot--that is to say, you'll have a certain number of ability slots for each type of ability, and depending on the level of the slot, the equipped ability is more or less effective.

You can also assign inactive party members to a series of jobs that do things like partially heal your party after battle and display the enemies' HP. There are more jobs and spots in the party than can be filled at once, so yoi have to actually choose whether to go a member or two short to get more of these kinds of bonuses.

Taking a cue from Suikoden, I also want to have a separate duelling mechanic, but I'm still working on the specifics.

I also want to have running and pseudo-platforming mechanics (think vaulting obstacles, etc) since there are times when you have to hurry, but I'm kind of afraid this might be contrary to the spirit of a turn-based RPG so I'm still thinking that one over.

Overall I think it'll be fantastic if I can ever get it done. :P

The second isn't a direct sequel, on account of the story having no continuity whatsoever, and I hesitate to even call it a spiritual successor on account of the gameplay being nothing like. At the risk of sounding too full of myself, I would call it a "thematic successor", since the unifying feature is that it delivers a complement in terms of the themes of the story. It's not as fleshed out yet since I'm still focusing on the first, but the basic idea is it is an FPA/shooter a la Metrioid Prime that revolves around a man who leaves Earth in despair and his AI companion who can't stand him.

The planet they crash land on has extremely hazardous solar radiation that comes in unpredictable cycles with only about a minute of notice. Naturally, the AI is frustrated with the very poor choice of their destination, but the man claims he is here looking for someone. The AI's planetary scans confirm there is only one human--his owner. Nevertheless, they keep receiving these strange transmissions...

I'm kinda toying with some experimental ideas with this one but I don't want to share them yet because they would certainly be the main draw of the finished game, but I'm not sure if I can make them work or if they're really even appropriate for what I'm trying to accomplish.

So yeah, I have some ideas. I just wish I had more time for them.

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