Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Sidequests
In the previous chapter, we took a break from working on our game's main narrative. In this chapter, we're going to
extend that break some more! Sidequests serve a similar purpose as minigames, in that they allow the player to walk
off the beaten path and receive rewards for things that do not directly advance the narrative. I would loosely classify
sidequests into two major categories.
1.
Permanent.
These sidequests become available at a certain point of the game and can be
completed at any time before the player beats the final boss. Is the player one step away
from entering the final dungeon? He or she can go kill the giant boar terrorizing the village
halfway across the world.
2.
Time-sensitive.
A sidequest that is active only for a certain part of the game. While not an
actual given sidequest, Excalibur in
Final Fantasy
9 is a perfect example of a time-sensitive
quest. Excalibur is a sword located within a chest in a late-game dungeon. The catch? You
must reach the chest within 24 hours of starting the game. It's basically an extra reward for
players trying to speedrun (beat the game as fast as possible). However, perhaps there's an
old man sick with a horrible disease. A sidequest could be to go get the cure. If you keep
advancing in the game while disregarding that sidequest, the old man may perish.
During the course of this chapter, we'll be making a sidequest from both of the preceding categories. However,
let's take a moment for an important intermission.
End of the Line for Lite
For those of you following along with the Lite version, I have gone as far as I can go. Up to now, I have been using
RMVXA Lite to work on the game and will now transfer the project to the full version. So, if you have both versions of
RPG Maker VX Ace (RMVXA) installed on your computer, you may think it is as easy as just going into the full version
of Ace and opening your Lite project. (See Figure
8-1
).
Figure 8-1.
The Unexpected file format error that appears if you try to open a Lite project with the full version of RMVXA
