Before beginning work on making my RPG idea a reality, I would like to create a plan on what areas of an RPG's design I'm going to research first. I will then use the new information and ideas I discover to create some starting assets.
Moving around a game world in RPG's
I would like to look into how to make player movement satisfying and engaging outside of battle in a turn based RPG. The majority of turn based rpg's usually don't have much going for them when outside of battle. Usually restraining the player to simple movement, an interaction button and that's about it. I'm going to research into why this is usually the case, maybe there is a reason out of battle gameplay is excluded from most turn based rpg's that I'm not seeing.
(I will look into notable designers theories through books, articles, interviews, design blogs and any other medium I can find relevant information from)
There are a few stand out games that have included a bigger emphasis on outside battle gameplay. Some of these games I already know about but I would like to discover some more that I'm not aware of. I will be looking at these games and discovering if the balance between battle and outside of battle gameplay made players enjoy the games much more and what aspects of them did players like.
(For this I will look at various reviews by well known critics, as well as developer interviews that may shed some light on why they designed games in a certain way)
My goal here will be to gain the knowledge to strike a balance in my game where the focus isn't just on the battles. I want players to have fun outside of battles too, where they can enjoy a movement system that breaks from the norm, where they can explore the game world, discover secrets, overcome obstacles and interact with various charming characters in game.
(Alongside the research work I will show development of a prototype to go with it)
How to make a "good" set of cartoon character designs
I have the ideas for what I want my characters to be like. But visualizing them and making them look good on paper AND in game is important, as I want players to be able to get attached to them, not just view them as a blank avatar. As well as be able to understand what my characters are all about personality and gameplay wise just by looking at them. I want my main characters to be varied from each other yet all retaining a good silhouette. But what makes a good silhouette? This, I will look into, among other techniques and advice I will surely come across in order to make a researched and practiced "good" character design.
(I will surely find loads of research information on this subject by looking at various cartoonists work and teachings, usually found via books, online articles/interviews, tutorials, etc. What's good about finding this information is it doesn't have to apply to just video games, I can look at book characters, film characters, branding characters, the list goes on.)
Making a User Interface stand out
Then I would like to take a look at how to properly create a User Interface. My UI should be visually appealing, interface sounds should be satisfying and it should be accessible for players. I will look at previous examples in games, as well as find other examples of user interfaces such as websites, public service interfaces and maybe even booklets and leaflets to discover what makes them accessible to a wide audience. By looking at other examples I may be able to find a way to present my own UI by using tried and tested methods. Whilst inserting my own personal touch, I can change the overall look and feel to make my UI unique to my game.
(My research material here will be looking at other games' UI, as well as finding other outlets that provide a graphic user interface. I can look for books with information about website creation too.)
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