With such a wide open field within creative design, limitations can actually help. If you have a set reference point it collapses ambiguity into certainty, which can inform and drive other decisions. Although I kept going back and forth for years on RPG mechanics and world design, I decided to just pick a title and stick to it. Well, that was a long time ago. Since then a video game called Godfall, and a novel named Nykara have appeared. At the time of creation about twenty years ago, those names were unique in fiction. Since I did not publish anything I have lost the ability to claim them as unique.
I don’t want to disrupt other projects or confuse consumers. I would also like to have a unique name so if someone types in the exact spelling into search, my projects and the fictional world will come up. The concept of a godfall is a unique part of the history of the world so that will stay, but it does not have to be the main title of the IP (intellectual property.) A fantasy name can be almost anything but that does not mean anything goes or that all made up names are of equal quality. The nation of Flaberstunk would not be taken seriously. I want something as close to Nykara as is reasonable while also having a unique search result and protect-able unique name.
(Some of these notes are a little rambling, but it helps to have drafts of ideas to assist in the more polished design document.)
I gained access to the original tabletop rules manual that was never finished, but it has some good material to draw from especially with some of the world-building.
In other news I finally finished installing Unreal Engine 5.2. I also grabbed a lot of the free plugins from the store. Many of them are not compatible with the version of the engine that just released. I think I am just going to take the loss of not using content that is not updated to be compatible. This is a brand new game that will take a while to complete, and I want it to be a living game that is easy to update and expand upon.
I have so many ideas for “the perfect game” that it actually gets in the way. I want a core loop of explore, take risks / combat, harvest, and then return to craft, sell, upgrade, and role-play more in depth. A turn based system will simply be easier to create, and more robust against glitches and crashes. The core mechanics need to be fairly simple as this could remain a one-person project indefinitely. But on top of this loop, I want to extend it with details and options to make it a sandbox / life sim, but in a fantastical unique world.
Every now and then, including past posts here, I go through and praise past authors, games, movies and so on that have been partial inspiration. A more concise elevator pitch cannot just be a big list of all the things I like. If I had to pick just three games to pick as inspiration, they would be Oregon Trail, Kenshi, and Skyrim. However it is not an adventure on rails like OT, nor an RPG/RTS hybrid like Kenshi, nor an action RPG like Skyrim.
That is too vague maybe, so let me bring in another title that I actually tried to mod: Shadow Returns. I am leaning towards clicking for movement and to interact with objects. As much as I love action games they are not very accessible for a lot of people. They are also a dime a dozen in terms of how much they are all clones of each other at this point.
While many of the features found in this game will be found in previous games, it’s the combinations, executions, and style that makes it work (or not). Pure originality is not needed nor asked for. I think I still have enough to stand out though. Who else is doing dystopian Ancient Aliens, genetic engineering, and magical post-apocalypse themes? Although all sorts of settings have been loved by dice-rolling players, not all of these themes have been explored fully on the interactive screen.
This game has as much DNA from Choose Your Own Adventure and Lone Wolf (interactive printed novels) as from other video games. I am trying to emulate a classic tabletop role-playing experience that accommodates to player actions much like a human DM would. Emergent gameplay is interesting and not explored enough by the big studios. In my project a lot of this will have to come down to clever programming of AI NPCs. The concept is that every character will react realistically according to who or what they are. Not everything will talk and act like a 21st century educated American (which is creative bankruptcy despite being everywhere).
The random element is introduced by player actions and modified dice rolls in many cases. But the NPCs must be able to act against one another and start or resolve disputes without player input. Without that the replay value dries up, emergent gameplay takes a huge hit, and once again NPCs will feel like flat and like objects instead of antagonists, allies, memorable customers, and so on. I will have some famous “named” characters hand crafted so that the world can reference them in very specific detail. They will be fixed points to start with but can adapt and change as events play out. Every other character will be procedurally generated (randomized according to pre-set options) to save enormous amounts of time and still give tons of variety.
The randomized NPCs will not be static though! What sets my game concept apart is the concept of realistic needs and schedules for all characters. There are very few games where NPCs have to find food, put it in a virtual inventory, consume it, and excrete. The Sims is a notable exception. But how can I make a whole town of Sims that actually buy and sell, and sometimes get in disputes or other complex activities? Even if challenges and combat are mostly turn-based (which could change with an optional expansion, update, or sequel) I would still like to see character move about the map (3rd person overhead) going about their daily business. It’s essential for gameplay that this be figured out. Every NPC will have needs, wants, inventory, and budget, and could be a potential customer, foe, ally, and so forth. The system needs to have that flexibility built into it from the ground up. It won’t be practical to befriend or sell to everyone, but that is for gameplay actions of the player to work out.
For example, if the player set up a shop that had a sign for drinks, thirsty or bored NPCs would consider going inside. But a sign with printed letters only would not appeal to characters that could not read that language. An ‘Ork’ Barbarian would be reluctant to patronize an establishment that looked upscale and expensive, with a lot of rules to follow. The same tavern would appeal to an aspiring merchant, who might spend a lot of coin or open opportunities for trade related quests. The Ork might come back when it’s dark with some henchman and rob or wreck the place, if the decorations were expensive and security is just a sleeping goblin. This is the dream of the living, breathing, world so many games promise.
Just like there will be famous named characters there will also be specific landmark locations with handcrafted central areas. But the adjacent ’tiles’ and every other area will be procedureally generated as well– according to sensible rulesets to make biomes blend naturally. Tile boundaries will be invisible and seamlessly blended. Every ’tile’ will have a chance of a Point of Interest, harvesting location, draw from the hidden encounter deck, and so on. Once an area is revealed it stays part of the game world, as is, unless some other event affects it. But depending on the biome it can spawn new things as long as it makes sense to do so. The player should have the ability to make campsites and eventually buildings as well as secret caches for goods. Most tiles will have options to rest, scavenge, check equipment, and so on. Maybe these will be dedicated buttons like ‘set up tent’ that you can do anywhere.
While the final version will have nice 3D graphics using Unreal 5, with the prototype I might have it run more like a board game. In the commercial release it would be nice to have both options, “classic” tile by tile, and modern point and click on a seamless scrolling 3D map. The more board game option could be turned into a printed form, and might work better for mobile anyways. It would be very hard to scout visually on a small screen. Rather than having clickable objects obviously glowing all the time, it would be more immersive if you actually had to move the cursor over something you noticed. But some players will not like that, and it could be tedious to play ‘hunt the pixel’ if done poorly. At the very least I could include an item that makes intractable points glow, or simply include it as a toggle to make the game more easy versus more immersive and challenging. I like the idea of it being a spell, skill, or device based ability to spot resources and threats as opposed to moving a cursor back and forth. The player could click on an object on the 3D play area or choose to click a contextual button that pops up / hotkey, for quality of life ease of play. If the game is accessible it is not just about being inclusive to individuals with specific disabilities. It is also thinking about how to give any player tools to customize their gaming experience without having to download tons of mods.
I am very open to mods unless their is a threat they could be an avenue for hackers. Especially if I have any kind of cash shop or player to player interactions. Since this is a lifelong passion project and not just a fire-and-forget stepping stone, I might just do it as official mods and DLCs. Most free, some not. This would be a way to provide things like adult content or incorporate player requests into the game. If I like an idea enough I can include it as an option for the base game. Say some volunteer sends me a file for a new weapon pack, I can then place it in the world properly in context. I will match the style to what part of the world it would match with thematically, and then make the items available just in that region or just in a very specific place. A lot of the unique artifacts could be player generated. Maybe there will be an option in the main menu itself to edit content, and attach files for 3D meshes, scripts, etc. Now I am drifting into later stage ambition though.
I have been doing a lot of mental work refining the core game concept in my head to be specific and limited, as opposed to the unlimited but unrealized world of imaginary possibilities. That means a lot of innovative or more unique systems I have planned will have to wait their turn until the basics are made.
Roadmap, starting with Need To Have:
Stage 1: Stats, inventory, dice rolling challenge resolution system. Begin work on 3D area for opening scenes / tutorial, and core settlement of Doron’s Haven.
Stage 2: Handcrafted NPCs that have stats and can make actions on their own and interact with each other, buy/sell,talk, etc.
Stage 3: Combat maneuver cards added to challenge system to add depth. Each maneuver card has advantages and disadvantages against other maneuver cards. Like Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, except you get either large or small bonuses instead of auto-wins.
Stage 4: Expand card advantage resolution system. Settle on new name similar to Nykara with unique spelling.
Stage 5: Build out dialogue trees for opening scenes and basic buy / sell transactions.
Stage 6: Begin procedural system for NPC generation, encounter generation, and 3D biome terrain generation.
Stage 7: Develop more content, troubleshoot, test. Add skippable mini-games. Get attention for project.
Stage 8: Develop playable demo, prepare crowdfunding campaign or other source of financing. Campaign will run 30-60 days. Minimum ask somewhere between $20,000-$100,000. If I get well funded then I would be obligated to hire some help, and lay it out what kind of stretch goals could get what kind of services. If I only got the minimum ask my outside expenses would be minimal aas i would basically be paying myself to finish the game. $20,000 is not enough to fund a basic lifestyle for a whole year, let alone hire a semi-permanent staff, but too high a threshold and the campaign results in no money at all. It would probably be cleaner to make deals as Work For Hire, like give me 3 monster models with animations for $X, or solve a specific code / Unreal blueprint challenge.
Stage 9: Early access on Steam, hire talent if possible. Replace any placeholders or basic content with something more professional or interesting.
Stage 10: Version 1.0 on Steam and Epic store, look into porting to console and mobile.
Stage 11: Patches and player feedback incorporation. Make sure all backers / investors, if any, have their rewards.
Stage 12: Develop more content and refinements, address balance issues, work on wishlist and ‘nice to have’ features. At this point the game should be generating enough revenue I do not have to worry about other sources of income.
Stage 13: Spinoffs, cash store, merchandising, foster player clubs and forums, marketing. Finish tabletop version at least as a PDF file.
Stage 14: In game events, hopefully with live GMs steering events and interacting with players. (Each player is in their own pocket dimension essentially but they can affect each other, and the game world could permanently change across all worlds.)
Stage 15: Continue to curate user content, make updates, etc. New content generation should be focused on writing more opportunities (quests) dialogue material and looking into chatbot functions.
Stage 16: Keep adding more features and content including live combat (melee and grappling focused) and consider launching new version as a mostly voice-acted sequel.
Each stage should take at least a month even with dedicated effort. I am already far behind schedule even though there is no real deadline. But I don’t think that my pre-production work and research has been a waste of time. The more I think and write about this the more clear the idea becomes.
The Chaosgerbil's Lair 