manutoo wrote:@Curtis :
>> four to six character RPG games, but that is already a well served market
Could u tell me the games u have in mind ?
As paranoid said (I wasn't able to figure out how to multi-quote
), "…there are already tons of different kinds of rpg in the market. Many of them are just some shameless copycat of another one. It's really hard to do something different…".
A company that does a good job with RPGs is Spiderweb Software. They have at least three series of games (Nethergate, Geneforge and Avernum) with more than ten titles spread between them. I've never tried Geneforge, but the other two use very similar systems. Like Mana Games, they have an extremely liberal demo policy, and their games are available for both PC and Mac. I would advise you to download the demos for the most recent entries in each series and try them.
They really are excellant, but hardly perfect. The graphics are not up to the industry standard. The game logic for wandering outdoor encounters certainly isn't what I would have chosen (see bottom). The dungeons (which Spiderweb calls 'towns') aren't really living.
What I mean by 'not living' is that if you invade the dungeon, kill all the creatures in the first few rooms and then leave, the remaining residents will not react to this. They should take note of what's happened, set some alarms or traps in case you come back, and if enough time goes by they should recruit some replacements. In the Spiderweb games occaisional wandering monsters will sometimes appear in previously cleared out sections, but the defenses are not conducted intelligently. Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is that if you leave loot lying around (ran out of carrying capacity, got distracted, decided it wasn't worth the effort, didn't find it), it will still be there when you return. Why haven't the residents found the stuff, moved it someplace safer, or started using it themselves? It really annoys me when you kill a wizard and recover his Staff of Lightning Bolts. Why wasn't he using it against you? When he got hurt, why didn't he drink that healing potion you found on his corpse? If there's a fight going on in the barracks, why doesn't the Captain come out of his room, fully equiped and ready to fight?
Then there's the matter of dungeon ecology. In a cavern complex with no fairly solid barriers between sections, why are there fire lizards living side-by-side with giant rats? Wouldn't the lizards find the rats tasty and eat them? And why would the goblins allow the lizards to live in that side chamber? There might be a logical explanation (the lizard is chained to the wall, and the goblins feed it their trash), but there really needs to BE an explanation.
Real towns should be 'living', too. The first time you go there you search through an abandoned storefront; a month later that could now be a tavern. One of the real 'cheats' in the Spiderweb games is stealing from the townspeople. As long as no one sees you do it, it's free loot. Meanwhile, the townies are absolutely unconcerned as you pick the lock to their bedroom door right in front of them, walk in and close the door, then rob them blind with no consequences because no one was in the room with you while went through their closet.
(bottom) One of the things I don't like about their outdoor random encounter system is how the opposing forces set up against each other. There are three normal cases: 1) You see the enemy and it doesn't see you (you have the option to avoid it); 2) You see each other at some distance on the map; 3) You are ambushed. The way their current system works, both sides have mostly random formations, though the enemy spellcasters and missile troops are usually to their rear — yours are not — and the distances you start apart are also random with a limited range.
The way I would do it would be: 1) If you choose not to avoid the encounter, you ambush them. They set up in a random 'traveling' order, and you get to set up in whatever formation you prefer at whatever distance you prefer, within the limited range. 2) Both sides set up in their optimum formation at the maximum range. 3) Your force is set up randomly, and the enemy sets up in an intelligent formation at its best range. I would add a fourth situation: 4) Both sides are surprised. Both sides use their traveling formation, and the encounter begins at the minimum distance.
Well, these are some things to keep in mind if you want to have a game that is not just a clone. I'm sure it's more than you wanted in response to your question.