How important are the numbers? This and other questions inside!

[Kularian]

Okay.  I've been here and there working on my game of sorts (which I know isn't posted anywhere.  It's a seekret. :3) and have just lately started to realize that some of the ideas I've considered using may not exactly be kosher, and might have some fatal flaw that I've overlooked, as I don't have anyone to really bounce ideas off of.

Okay, let me outline some of the key points as well as I can without giving away any important details:

1) The game will mainly focus on character development and plot, as I believe I mentioned in older threads, rather than a kickass battle system, etc etc.  I'm trying to tell a story with this, more than anything, rather than make a game, if that makes sense ^^;

2) The characters are...rather unorthodox.  I've only seen something similar in one game that I've played before, and that wasn't a console game, it was another RPGmaker game...sort of.   

3) This will /not/ be a game in which the main characters can single-handedly bring down dragons, demons, gods, et cetera.  The game is set in a much more realistic scope.  And that leads to what I consider to be my major 'problem:'

I would prefer it if the game was set in a very low 'scope.'  That is, I don't want my characters to do 9999 damage every attack.  I don't want them to be able to cut a swath through a hundred soldiers with a single sword swing.  That is something that I really don't care to see, to be honest.  I was thinking of the scope of damage to be very small, starting around 5ish damage at the outset, and hitting around 100, maybe 200 by the end of the game. 

Now, with that, because the scope of damage will be very small, enemies will not be 'useless' as soon as you leave their area.  A difficult enemy that you fight in the opening scenes of the game, for example, might remain up until about halfway through, because the growth is so small. 

This game isn't about saving the world and protecting your fellow comrades from the darkness that is just around the corner.  There is no 'great evil' or pending apocalypse.  This is a very character-driven, dialogue-heavy game, with very realistic (sort of) characters that have both strengths and weaknesses, traits and flaws, among the heroes and enemies alike. 

So with that, would the fact that your damage will probably never even break 1000, even at level 99 with the best equipment, along with the fact that it will be more realistic and gritty in terms of fighting, bother any of you?

[Sirius]

Especially considering that I'm making a game very similar to yours, it doesn't bother me one bit  Even though a killer CBS is nice, I think a solid story and cool characters keeps me coming back more than anything else. Just make sure you at least customize your animations & names and everything should work out fine.

[Kularian]

Just make sure you at least customize your animations & names and everything should work out fine.

Well, first and foremost I want to get the game 'done' in terms of plot and whatnot.  So it'll probably be painfully RTP up until that point.  Once the main story is told and the maps/eventing is all done, I'll go back and recruit artists and animators and whatnot to put together customized sprites, fancy animations, faces, CMS/CBS, etc etc.  I've even gone so far to consider cutting out a lot of randomized battles, but I know that it adds to a game to have those, if only for the purposes of length. 

But yes, the names of the skills/spells will be changed, and I may possibly mix some up here and there.  But it will be mostly RTP.  I've already done a bit of graphic editing, but even there my talents are limited, so...yeah.

Thank you for answering, though.  It's good to know that people are still after character-driven games, rather than ones that 'look pretty.'

[Sirius]

Yeah, and I hope I speak for at least a small portion of the RPG community. I've gotten tired of the flurry of "look at my pretty CBS that I copied from someone else!" games that keep coming out; it's nice to see a new wave of storytelling games. Although I can't hate on some peoples' freakin' awesome customs (I'm looking at you, Vanadia & Sore Losers), I'm just saying that there should be a much greater emphasis on story than there is right now. So hopefully your project turns out alright, I'm looking forward to it 

[Kularian]

Well thank you muchly.  We're sort of in a busy time at work, so I probably won't have a whole lot of free time to be working directly on the game, but I've got a notebook I take with me for lunches and whatnot that I can jot down some information on here and there.

As the year goes on we start to get less busy, so I'm shooting for about Mayish for a playable demo. 

...guess I'd better go and make a New Project thread, huh?

[modern algebra]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. High damage is certainly not necessary as long as battles are appropriately balanced. My favourite RPG ever (Betrayal at Krondor) has very low damage.

[Kokowam]

I don't like it when damage and HP and everything is insanely high... Makes it seem like I got really far without even trying and that's no fun. :\