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rpg design

  1. Meatbag

    Vapourware Medieval Isometric RPG focusing on swordplay

    Greetings, esteemed readers. I am writing to you today seeking guidance. I have zero industry experience and I think I need a reality check before I invest any actual money into what I've been working on. The Plan: I am a hobbyist 2d artist and writer trying to make my own isometric RPG set...
    • Meatbag
    • Thread
    • desperate cry for help rpg codex rpg design rpg help
    • Replies: 40
    • Forum: Codex Workshop
  3. Mithrithnogg

    Prosper The Great Conclovince of Mithrithnogg - A [CRPG] I'm working on!

    Hello, I’m new to the forums but I’ve been a long-term fan of RPG’s in general. I’m currently working on an isometric CRPG set in a world I created some time ago. I wrote over 11k pages or 3.9 million words of lore for the game and published it for free. If anyone’s interested in finding out...
  4. Not.AI

    Incline Tim Cain says there are no bad games only different preferences and budgets... Agree? Disagree?

    Tim Cain keeps suggesting this on YT. Bad games don't exist, you just don't like them, other people do, all it's just all design choices and budgets. Intentional. "Bad" games are less often "design" or other mistakes; more often just different audiences. So the games industry is just very...
    • Not.AI
    • Thread
    • fun game happiness and joy quality shit rpg design
    • Replies: 93
    • Forum: General Gaming
  5. Saldrone

    Solo vs. Party-Based

    Self-explanatory poll. I was interested about the topic of playing as a "lone wolf" character vs traveling with NPCs and how it affects gameplay dynamics
  6. MarathonGuy1337

    Designing Canonical Endings

    I watched this video recently by Tim Cain and it got me thinking of how to approach canonical endings for multi-branching stories such as RPG games. His essential ideas for designing canonical endings are; Look for the Commonalities in all of the endings, and assume all of those...
  7. Tyranicon

    So how hard is RPG solodev? An AMA thread

    Since I've been doing this gig fulltime for five years now, with 3.5 games under my belt and more than 30k copies sold, I figured I'd offer an AMA here if you guys have questions. Besides, I like most of you more than reddit anyways. If you want an answer to the title question, this image is...
  8. Saldrone

    Underwhelming Character Builds

    A thread talking about RPGs with specific character builds that are pretty cool and fun in theory but are actually frustating in practique. Specific examples include: Making a Bruiser Chosen One who is technically a human gorilla but is slow like slug (And you even get that STR bonus once you...
  9. Saldrone

    "Role-Playing" Games that are an Example of the Illusion of Free Choice

    RPGs that, despite being about decisions they all lead to the same path giving an artificial sense of choice. Whetever the game itself or some particular quest.
  10. Robotigan

    While branching narratives are a good roleplay mechanic, they're an underwhelming game mechanic.

    For all this talk about choice & consequence, the degree to which you can manipulate the game state and the depth of their consequences just pales in comparison to essentially any non-narrative game element. You know what game is more "replayable" than Planescape Torment? Tetris. I'm not saying...
  11. MerchantKing

    Vapourware Injecting new characters

    It seems something is missing in many of the so-called rpgs in the last 20-25 years. That is everything is designed that your character will see the storyline from beginning to end with either reload or restart. Very few games short of a party wipe allow you to inject new characters into the...
  12. Robotigan

    Isometric CRPGs feel like someone tried to jerry-rig a campaign out of a strategy game's devkit.

    This is probably because I grew up playing Age of Empires and Zoo Tycoon instead of Fallout and Baldur's Gate, but still. If I'm supposed to be playing as the characters, why am I staring down on them from the throne of Zeus? I command thee to build a lumber mill, damnit.

  13. Where do they poop?

    I've heard many people ask the question "what do they eat?" in regards to RPG area design. But I never heard anyone seriously ask the question "where do they poop and where does it end up?" For Todd Howard specifically, why isn't a bathroom routine for the radiant AI in elder scrolls games so...
    • FriendlyMerchant
    • Thread
    • israel first israeli intelligence mossad poop rpg codex rpg design rpg mechanics
    • Replies: 44
    • Forum: General RPG Discussion
  14. Harthwain

    We need more RPGs like Baba Is You

    The title is a clickbait, but I think there is something in Baba Is You [BIY] that game designers could use to make RPGs more interesting than they usually are. Here is a very short video on BIY (yes, I consider 15 minutes video to be a short one): Why do I think there is something that can...
  15. DJOGamer PT

    Vapourware Wich of these progression models to a Skill Tree do you favor?

    Since this is a specific question I'll give a specific example. Say your ARPG has a sword/axe/etc. skill tree that with each node/level it expands the range of attacks the characters can perform with the respective weapon said skill has control over. Would it be better for the Skill Tree to...

  16. Princess Maker style games and other Non-Combat mecahnics

    What ideas you have for RPGs that are not your usual combat or pseudo-combat( Griflands "Diplomacy", Thea's card based "Skill Checks") And that aren't just CYOA scripted branches with skill checks( Disco Elysium) You have survival games and base management games(Rimworld) but they aren't...

  17. Vapourware Sandbox RPG Design Analysis

    Google Doc form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1spks8Yi3e4_uw1ZyM-Kvff5bbxfh-4m3cd1fXu7D0G4/edit?usp=sharing Note: This Document isn't going to be about All Sandbox Games, although there will be similarities and common elements and mechanics. It isn't going to be about Sandbox MMORPGs or...
    • adrix89
    • Thread
    • autism autism is a magical journey design designed by elite neanderthals desperate cry for help rpg design sandbox tldr
    • Replies: 3
    • Forum: General RPG Discussion
  18. luj1

    Evaluation of various trends among KS and post-KS-era isometric RPGs

    (e.g. the wave of fantasy titles that capitalized on nostalgia such as PoE, DOS, PK, TToN, Tyranny, etc.) Rich visual presentation (Neutral) Feature bloat (cooking, fishing, sailing, camping, other minigames, etc.) (Bad) Comprehensive voice overs (Bad - waste of time, energy, resources) QoL...

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