Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
•
You have
obstacles
: Think back to the last RPG you played or fantasy topic you read. The
protagonist did not start the adventure and defeat the main villain within ten minutes/pages
(if they did, it was probably a fake-out and not an actual victory). The protagonist probably
started from a position of relative weakness and set out into the world to defeat the antagonist,
being deterred every so often by hostile forces (some aligned with evil, and some not) and
hindrances such as a broken bridge or a collapsed mine shaft.
•
You have a climax and a
resolution
: The protagonist, after countless tribulations, finally
reaches the castle of the “Dark Lord.” With a carefully calculated strike of his weapon of choice,
he defeats his timeless foe. Or does he? Depending on the type of story you want to tell,
perhaps your antagonist escapes to live another day. Perhaps he was merely subordinate to an
even greater evil.
A great story can save an otherwise mediocre RPG, but a mediocre story can ruin even great RPGs. You must
define what type of story your RPG will have. Following are a bunch of questions that should get you thinking along
the right track:
•
Will it be a fantasy RPG?
If so, will magic be prominent? Will alternate forms of abilities, such
as technology or something else altogether, take center stage?
•
Or will you have a sci-fi RPG?
That's neat too. Will technology be prominent, or will the setting
be a devastated future where everyone is basically surviving with sticks and stones?
•
When will the story take place?
You can have a modern-day story set in a high school, for
example, or a historical spy thriller set during the cold war. Maybe you want your story to take
place in prehistory!
•
Who is your protagonist?
Is he young? Old? Is your protagonist female? Define why your
protagonist is doing what he/she is doing. A good backstory can set the stage for greater things
during the actual story.
•
Who are your protagonist's allies?
Do they know each other at the time of the game's events, or
will they meet one another during the game? Define their backstories. Or perhaps you want a
mysterious type in your party? Those are cool too, if you know how to create them.
•
What is your protagonist's quest?
Is he/she seeking an artifact to save the world? Or perhaps
the end of the world will be brought about by a heinous villain. Of course, you could just do
something else entirely and have your party go on a journey of self-discovery.
•
Who are some important nonplayer characters in the story?
Will they aid or hinder the party?
Are any of them related to any of your party members?
All of those questions are good to consider for getting the ball rolling on a great story. It's important to take
some time to think about the story you want for your game before you get too invested in trying to actually create it.
Yet, maybe you don't want to make an RPG at all? Although this topic is meant to teach you about the intricacies of
RMVXA via the creation of an RPG, there's nothing to prevent you from applying the knowledge you will learn from
reading this topic to create something completely different. You could use RMVXA's framework to create a game that
eschews battles and magic systems altogether! In fact, there have been many games created with RMVXA that are not
RPGs. Off the top of my head, I can offer
You Are Not
t
he Hero
(YANTH, for short), which is a quirky action-platformer
with many minigames and a self-aware sense of humor. Also, you could take it even further by creating, with the
engine, an interactive novel in the same vein as
To the Moon
. At the end of the day, the only limits to your story are
those that you place on yourself.
