Other Need help with Ideas for a Video Game I'm Making

[DovahBeat]

Okay, so a rundown of the concept so far:

Spoiler: Concept

This is based loosely on the concept of Pokemon, except instead of monsters they're all dragons of varying kinds. These creatures will be known as Bewilderlings. The region, or kingdom, it takes place in is at war with another kingdom, and the player must travel the kingdom in search of the guardian dragon scales (equivalent to gym badges I guess) While also trying to rise up through the ranks of the order of dragon knights who protect the kingdom with their bewilderlings. There will be a rival similar to but not the same as Pokemon, and a few twists too, that I will not be sharing yet. Oh, and undead, and a theme of life and death throughout the game.

So, right now what I'm trying to figure out is how I want to do the starters. I have a 7-element (or "type") system, and 7 species system that will join the elements.
Basically, each bewilderling will have a species (type 1) and an element (type 2)

I haven't figured out the completed type chart yet, as I'm not sure how I want to handle the species portion yet, but I did figure out the element portion. Here are my charts/diagrams:

Spoiler: Elements

The stakes are higher than pokemon's, type-wise, with the worst matchups healing your opponents and the best doing 4x damage. I will continue to tweak this concept once I get to play testing, but what I really wanted to ask was:

What elements should I use for starters, and how many starters should I have? 3? 5? 7? Something in between?

I don't have any real concept art yet, or creature designs, though I'm working on it.

Thank you for your consideration and input!

-Dovah

 

[DovahBeat]

bump, :w:

 

[xpstitch]

Earth, water and metal may make good starting choices. My reasoning being that the other elements seem potentially more dangerous to newer 'trainers'.

Even if the new trainers aren't 10 year olds or such if a toxin dragon gets upset with the newbie trainer and sprays poison liquid into his or her eyes (accidentallyor not), that is not a good learning environment for new trainers.

Ash was lucky he had main character plot armor, realistically getting electrocuted by a bi%$hy pokemon would be RIP and getting flamethrowered by a charmander or ponyta? Nope for 10 year olds and adults alike.

 

[GojiBean]

Hoyo!

This is a cool concept!

Here are a few thoughts I have about how you can approach this issue about picking your starters:

1) Consider what types of enemies the starting area has to offer and pick starters which are either neutral to or strong against them (preferably strong against).

The primary reason to consider this information when picking your starters is because giving the player a type with an advantage against early game enemies is a natural way of showcasing the typing system without the need for unnecessary or intrusive tutorial popups and overlays.

Think about how annoying it is for long-time Pokemon fans who want to try the newer generation games to have to sit through un-skippable tutorial sections where characters info dump type matchups, experience, how battles work, etc. I've been around since the original Red/Blue/Green/Yellow days. I know how it all works. Why is this un-skippable and forced through unnatural dialogue info dumping? Game Freak and the Pokemon Company need to stfu because this kind of info dumping and forced, un-skippable cutscene crap teaching us things we already know makes us feel like the Pokemon company thinks we're stupid. And that's an insult to gamers which nobody appreciates.

The same philosophy applies here. You don't want those forced tutorial segments or overlays which break immersion and irritate your player base. Instead, giving the player a type advantage from the start is a way to show the player what having type advantage can do, and also what it can and will do against them if they're ever on the receiving end. No dialogue or forced tutorial overlays required. Just gameplay.

If you feel it's necessary to tell the type advantage information you can always have the one who gives the dragon to the player say something like, "Be mindful of what enemies you allow your dragon to face, for they will not always be so weak as to let you walk all over them." A nice cryptic warning that there's some sort of type advantage/disadvantage system at play and to be mindful of which creatures you set your dragon against.

Players will really appreciate something more natural like this being shown through gameplay or natural sounding dialogue rather than being forced to sit through a tutorial segment that just spits information at them.

2) Consider whether or not you even need multiple starters.

Given that there are only seven elements in the game I honestly don't think this requires a multi-starter system.

When Pokemon first came around there were a total of fifteen types. More than twice what you have. The starter area had neutral type enemies with no special techniques that held any advantage over any of the starters. This was by design to give the player some freedom to ease into the gameplay regardless of which starter they chose. All were equally viable.

Since you only have seven elements it might actually be a better idea to consider choosing a single starter with a fixed typing and let that carry the player through the opening area which will either be weak or neutral to it.

Given the relative simplicity of your system, multiple starters might make things more complicated than necessary.

BONUS:

This is a general tip that I think would compliment your game idea.

3) Consider how you want to convey advantage vs disadvantage in the world.

Let's say you have a fire dragon as your starting creature. And in the starting area there are goblins who are weak to fire.

How should they respond when they see the player?

Logically, they would flee. Right? They wouldn't charge blindly into combat with something that has a type advantage against them. So when the player approaches goblins who are weak to fire, if they spot the player they will try to run. Of course, the player can be faster so they can catch up and initiate combat. On the flipside, let's say the starting area has one river running through it with a water serpent as a rare enemy. If it spots the player it will charge because it knows it has the elemental advantage against a fire dragon.

This would be a great way to naturally show the player they hold the advantage rather than forcing it through info dumping character dialogue or tutorial overlays.

Another idea would be to have two simple tutorial battles with minimal immersion-breaking information. For example, let's say just outside the starter town where you get your dragon there is an NPC who's being surrounded by the goblins who are weak to fire dragons. When the player approaches the goblins notice and look scared, but because there's more than one they decide to fight. The player, thanks to elemental advantage, can kill them easily enough and the NPC will thank the player afterwards saying they're lucky the goblins are weak to fire and generally would flee. And that's all there is to it. Just that little bit of dialogue would be all it takes to set the wheels in motion.

On the flipside, another NPC is gathering water at the river or trying to wash their laundry and are attacked by a water serpent. The NPC could warn the player on approach that their fire dragon is no match for the serpent and that they should flee. The player is given the choice to fight, or run. If they fight, they're in for a tough battle. If they flee, they and the NPC run for it leaving the laundry/water gathering gear behind and make it to a safe distance outside the serpent's aggro zone.

Either the flee/charge mechanic, or the two intro tutorial battles which have more natural dialogue about the advantage/disadvantage system would be good in my book. Or you could do both! Either method would make the game's opening section more immersive and appreciable than forced tutorial overlays and info dumping dialogue sequences.


Anyway, hopefully this was helpful in some way!

Good luck with your game!

Cheers!

- GojiBean