Non combat/ little combat rpg?

[Riprage 1]

I've been a really big history guy for my entire life and I was thinking about making a game with a historical perspective as it's key feature. Essentially you are a historian who is assigned to chronicle the story of this great hero who saved the world several decades ago. The mechanics are mostly about uncovering as much of the "true" story as possible by interviewing people the hero adventured with and going to the sites where big battles took place involving the hero. For example if you only talk to people that the hero might have wronged or was on the opposite side of a conflict, the history you eventually make of him will make him sound like a terrible person, or he might sound like a over idealized saint. My question is, is rpg maker good for more of a non combat oriented rpg? What little combat I want to have in the game is more about escaping from monsters that are left over from whatever dungeon the hero was exploring. I understand that you can accomplish some very interesting things with the script but I'd like some examples of games made in the engine that are less about combat and more about story building. I keep hearing about To the Moon and have no idea exactly what its mechanics are, but are they similar to something like this? I'd also like to hear what you guys think of the idea and maybe offer some thoughts? 

[Tsarmina 2,611]

Ace is fine at making non-battle games. I mean, NONE of my games currently have a battle system (though that might change sometime in the future) and they're progressing fine...well they would be (except for procrastination and lack of time). The idea is great, however there has to be some way to find out how close you are to the truth at the very end.

[GeeRahts 1]

I have played some games that were made with the previous rpg makers, and had no combat. It is completely possible. They also had some minigames, like a whack-a-mole-ish part, or fox hunting, so, although I myself don't know much about it, the escaping part that you mentioned must also be possible to do, somehow

[Riprage 1]

Ace is fine at making non-battle games. I mean, NONE of my games currently have a battle system (though that might change sometime in the future) and they're progressing fine...well they would be (except for procrastination and lack of time). The idea is great, however there has to be some way to find out how close you are to the truth at the very end.

Thanks for the feedback and help, I'm almost tempted to not put in a way for the players to tell how close they got to the truth and maybe even leave a bit of ambiguity to the ending. I think a final cut scene that plays like a short movie that is the chronicle of the heroes life would show all the evidence you collected as it happened to the hero.

It would be kind of a social thing then, talking to your friends and seeing what their ending looked like in comparison to yours. It's sort of like what happened in the first crusade, talk to a Christian and they'll say it was a war of defense, whereas a Muslim would probably say it was a war of defense on their side. I'll be sure to play through some of your games to see how you handled the whole non combat thing. 

 

I have played some games that were made with the previous rpg makers, and had no combat. It is completely possible. They also had some minigames, like a whack-a-mole-ish part, or fox hunting, so, although I myself don't know much about it, the escaping part that you mentioned must also be possible to do, somehow

Thanks, if you remember those games could you tell me the titles? 

[GeeRahts 1]

Thanks, if you remember those games could you tell me the titles? 

 

 

Sorry to let you down, but those were Hungarian games, and there's no English version

[Philoup 3]

Your idea is a good one. Why always violence and combat? I know it's so nice to grind a character until it can beats up the final boss.... but why always fighting? Lots of 'RPG' kind game are based on fighting. (personnaly I don't hate that)
What makes a good game is often it's ''MAIN'' system... for tactical battle rpg, the main system is a tactical combat system.
For Zelda, the main system is puzzling combined with hack and slash. Each Final Fantasy has their own ''unique'' systems. From what I know of thems. But have you ever heard of ''Grim Fandango?''  This is one of my favorite game. I know it's a 3D point and click kind of game and has nothing to do with RPG Maker VX. But what I'm trying to say is that the 'intrigue' and the riddles are the real fun of that game. I can also think of King Quest series, the ambiance and mood of theses game are amazing. It's still a point and click kind of game.

I think that with RPG Maker, the possibilities are just endless and why using the defaults stuffs if a project may be fully customizable? I remember one of my prototype game ;

I just desactivated the Common base ''Menu Call'' and create an event that detected the ''Button to call up the menu''. Once it was pushed, it was showing you some choice like : Equip, Items, Skills, Character...ect
Once you selected a submenu, your main character was changed for a ''cursor'' sprite and teleported into a map associated with the submenu.
To do so you can : A.be a real good scripter orrr B.just be really good with event, switch, variables and forks.

 

Your game idea sounds really interesting and you should definitly put some time into it. If you need any advice, help or hints, for sure I'll be there to answer.  I can't just talk on that topic like that and not even offering some help.

I know my strenght and I'm sure I can help you with designing a ''pointage'' system to tell you if your ''Main Heroe'' end up being a true saint or just a horrible guy.

It can be easy as :

Setting a variable called ''Heroe Value'' . Then setting a bonus/malus depending on who you talks to or which place you visit.
And if you want to add some complexity in your system, you may add some ''Validation of Truth'' which would force the 'Player' to validate information of NPC by executing puzzle successfully or by winning mini-game.
Just saying...

Don't hesitate on asking me questions and developping your project on that topic. I'll keep an eye on it and try to help as much as I can.

Just to end on a really hopeful note :

For sure it's possible and also would be really great to make a game without using Combat system.

You could then replace Default Character Stats such as ''Strenght, Defense, Agility, Mind...ect'' for something more appropriate like  ''Knowledge, Intellect, Honor or Reputation''  Only ideas!

That's all for tonight! I wish you good luck on your making!



 

[Riprage 1]

Your idea is a good one. Why always violence and combat? I know it's so nice to grind a character until it can beats up the final boss.... but why always fighting? Lots of 'RPG' kind game are based on fighting. (personnaly I don't hate that)

What makes a good game is often it's ''MAIN'' system... for tactical battle rpg, the main system is a tactical combat system.

For Zelda, the main system is puzzling combined with hack and slash. Each Final Fantasy has their own ''unique'' systems. From what I know of thems. But have you ever heard of ''Grim Fandango?''  This is one of my favorite game. I know it's a 3D point and click kind of game and has nothing to do with RPG Maker VX. But what I'm trying to say is that the 'intrigue' and the riddles are the real fun of that game. I can also think of King Quest series, the ambiance and mood of theses game are amazing. It's still a point and click kind of game.

 

I think that with RPG Maker, the possibilities are just endless and why using the defaults stuffs if a project may be fully customizable? I remember one of my prototype game ;

 

I just desactivated the Common base ''Menu Call'' and create an event that detected the ''Button to call up the menu''. Once it was pushed, it was showing you some choice like : Equip, Items, Skills, Character...ect

Once you selected a submenu, your main character was changed for a ''cursor'' sprite and teleported into a map associated with the submenu.

To do so you can : A.be a real good scripter orrr B.just be really good with event, switch, variables and forks.

 

Your game idea sounds really interesting and you should definitly put some time into it. If you need any advice, help or hints, for sure I'll be there to answer.  I can't just talk on that topic like that and not even offering some help.

 

I know my strenght and I'm sure I can help you with designing a ''pointage'' system to tell you if your ''Main Heroe'' end up being a true saint or just a horrible guy.

 

It can be easy as :

Setting a variable called ''Heroe Value'' . Then setting a bonus/malus depending on who you talks to or which place you visit.

And if you want to add some complexity in your system, you may add some ''Validation of Truth'' which would force the 'Player' to validate information of NPC by executing puzzle successfully or by winning mini-game.

Just saying...

 

Don't hesitate on asking me questions and developping your project on that topic. I'll keep an eye on it and try to help as much as I can.

 

Just to end on a really hopeful note :

 

For sure it's possible and also would be really great to make a game without using Combat system.

 

You could then replace Default Character Stats such as ''Strenght, Defense, Agility, Mind...ect'' for something more appropriate like  ''Knowledge, Intellect, Honor or Reputation''  Only ideas!

 

That's all for tonight! I wish you good luck on your making!

 

 

 

 

First of all I gotta say I saw grim fandango and my eyes lit up, easily my favorite adventure game.

I really appreciate your offer to help but I worked on a few projects (not related to game design) that ended up falling through and a lot of people were pretty disappointed, so I don't want to get anyone involved in a project until I have a few finished games under my belt and I know what kind of workload I can handle. This whole game concept is an idea I've just been tossing around in my head for a few years now and I wanted some thoughts on it. If at some point in the future I feel confident enough to do some real work on it I'd love for you to help out on it. 

[Philoup 3]

Great to read you.
It will be my pleasure!