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| Views: 850,114 | 04-18-24, 05:15 pm | ||
| PillowShout |
Posted on 01-03-13, 11:22 pm (revision 1)
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Posts: 24/105 Since: 12-06-12 Last post: 4021 days Last view: 4002 days |
This isn't strictly a suggestion but more of a precursor to a discussion. I was considering some different ways of doing the first time introduction rather than just using lookAt on the player, but I ran in to a problem when I realized that I didn't really know anything about the context of the game's beginning. I was wondering then if you could answer some questions: <ol> <li>Who or what is the player? I know that Melfina is the big bad and I would assume the final boss of sorts, but why did the player decide to take take on the task of defeating her? What is motivating them? </li> <li>Where is the player starting? Is it their home town or the location of an event that's significant to the start of the story? </li> <li>Does the player have an assumed age (beyond just the age of majority), or does it not matter? </li> <li>Is the player's personal history known to them or is this an amnesiatic start? </li></ol> I was hoping to put together some prose for this stuff and get it in before the next release, so the more information you can provide the better. P.S. I seem to have accidentally left the Designers group in the forum... sorry about that ^^; . (I really need to stop clicking unmarked buttons before the tooltip shows up) Lead writer on Noxico (and sometimes programmer or designer) <br> |
| Kawa |
Posted on 01-04-13, 05:28 pm
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<i>Prophet of Celestia</i><br>Baka on the streets, senpai in the sheets
 Posts: 124/344 Since: 06-08-12 Last post: 1691 days Last view: 1230 days |
You're right. The player does need something to set them on their way. The simplest would be a blurb, perhaps tailored to their culture, but the more immersive option would be to have them find out what's up in the starting town. Perhaps with a history book in the starting building and an NPC blocking the way out. I'm thinking said starting town would be their hometown, which would incidentally require said NPC to appear in whichever town that may be once culture-specific starting towns are a thing. The player, incidentally, has no age because noone has, but can be considered a young adult for all intents and purpose. I don't just program Noxico... |
| PillowShout |
Posted on 01-04-13, 07:58 pm (revision 5)
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Posts: 25/105 Since: 12-06-12 Last post: 4021 days Last view: 4002 days |
Alright, so this is what I came up with (incoming Wall of Text): The player starts the game in a dream, and in this dream they meet with someone claiming to be an agent of one of the gods. This agent tells the player that Melfina has finally begun rallying her forces for the second great invasion, and that if there is to be any hope for victory, then the player must join their cause. The agent then tells the player that they can do so by meeting up with the group of crusaders that will come through the town the next day. Throughout the conversation, the player is free to act how they please and can react to this with anything from grave seriousness to flippancy and sarcasm. There would also be options for the player to learn more about the basics of the world such as who Melfina is and some of Nox's more fundamental history. They could also completely ignore all of this and choose to wake up immediately if they so please, just so that experienced players have a quicker way to start. After they wake up, the player is free to wander around town and talk to people and find things to do. Around noon, a group of crusaders show up in town and start going around talking to people and looking for recruits. At this point the player can either join up with them, or ignore them and do their own thing. After a couple hours pass, the crusaders continue on their way, with or without the player. <ul> <li>If the player chooses to go with them, they make it about halfway to their next destination before they're attacked by a demon raiding party. The demons devastate the group, and depending on what the player chooses to do, they either die in the fighting, run away and escape, or are captured by the demons and brought back to their camp as a sex slave (happens if they get raped at the end of a fight). If the last possibility occurs, one of the player's fellow crusaders helps them to escape and will either end up sacrificing themselves to help the player or escaping with them. Once the player escapes, they then continue on to the next town, and once there, they discover that their home town was attacked not long after they left. At this point, they're basically free to do what they like, but they're then given a mission to discover what happened to their parents, and save them if they're still alive.</li> <li>If the player choose to stay instead, they can spend the rest of the day doing whatever they like. The next day however, their town is attacked by the demon hordes, and once again the player can either be killed, run away or be captured. If they run away, then they run after the crusaders only to find that they've been already been attacked. After taking what they need from the battlefield remains, they then continue on to the next town, where they're then free to do as they like and are given the mission to rescue their parents. However, if the player captured this time, they can choose to free their parents (if the parents survived the fight), who may either escape with the player or be killed during the attempt, or they can try to escape on their own. If they choose the later option, they do the same thing as if they had escaped during the attack. If the player does manage to escape with their parents, they then take them to the nearest town and at which point are free to do as they like, but this time there's no mission to rescue your parents. </ul> I was also thinking that with the “Rescue your parents” mission, the longer you wait to do it, the more likely it is that you find that both your parents are dead. That way, it kind of forces players to try it when they might not be entirely ready and makes it more of a challenge. Anyway, this got stupidly long, but provided you were able to get though it all, let me know what you think and if there are any areas they you have issues with. Lead writer on Noxico (and sometimes programmer or designer) <br> |
| Kawa |
Posted on 01-04-13, 08:05 pm
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<i>Prophet of Celestia</i><br>Baka on the streets, senpai in the sheets
Posts: 126/344 Since: 06-08-12 Last post: 1691 days Last view: 1230 days |
If it were up to me <!-- and it is --> I would take the dream aspect and drop the rest. The dream, including the ability to know about timed hits, would make a good introduction. Given a prefab map (mission.js style), it could even resemble the dreamscape seen when you actually dream in-game. I don't just program Noxico... |
| PillowShout |
Posted on 01-04-13, 09:10 pm (revision 1)
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Posts: 27/105 Since: 12-06-12 Last post: 4021 days Last view: 4002 days |
Alright then. I guess what I can do is write the dream sequence to be open ended so that we can add whatever we want afterwards. I still think that the player needs a more direct motivation than just the dream, but I guess we can try to come up with something that's less scripted. Maybe a gameplay mechanic of some sort.
Lead writer on Noxico (and sometimes programmer or designer) <br> |
