Hello all,
I figured I would fill you all in some more on this RTS game’s style. Right now I’m currently coding in my Laborer type Actor actions (serious coding!), but I’ll get back to that after I exploit the game design some more.
I believe most RTS games that involve city building usually concentrate hard on the building of your city or cities and there is usually some form of combat involved because your cities need protection against enemies as well as resources.
RTS games up until now usually concentrate on large numbers of characters on screen, especially for the Warfare. This however, is completely opposite from my game’s concept.
The RTS I am designing will in fact be a RPG RTS. That is, the game will concentrate on a fixed number of characters in the same way traditional RPGs concentrated on a fixed number of characters. A good example would be the famous Final Fantasy rpgs of old. You usually had a party of three characters during a battle, but a lot more characters overall for your entire group.
Those same characters were also used in Cut-Scenes, because they were essential to the story of the game. With my RPG RTS, I will follow the same trend, but the difference is, instead of turn based combat with three characters out of a group of them, the “gamer” will control a squad of fighters, like a traditional RTS, in real-time action.
The commanders and soldiers you draft in my game will also appear in Cut-Scenes as the main storyline unfold. This is why I will allow the “gamer” to personally name their Commanders, because the Commanders are “Bigger” main characters in the storyline then a soldier under their command. You will also be able to choose the Sex of your Commanders and soldiers.
What I want to do is establish a connection between the player of the game and their Commanders. I want the “gamer” to know their Commanders’ personalities well through Cut-Scene. Maybe even grow fond of them or attached.
That is what I want!
Why do I want the gamer to grow attached to the characters under their rule?
Because Tragedy will be intense!!
Yes, your Commanders can be killed, as well as any soldier, but their memory will not be forgotten. I will have a full stat system build in-game, which will record all the deeds your Commanders and soldiers have done (combat and non combat).
The “gamer” will be able to click on the grave yard and view the stats of any fallen Commander or soldier under their rule. This can possibly create emotion within the “gamer.” Imagine having a Commander responsible or over 75 percent of your game success; this is possible because you will have the same troops in each game level (the ones that lived the previous one), and all of a sudden that Commander proudly falls in combat; and you were use to seeing their face in Cut-Scenes.
Ouch!! That can hurt. You see, the Commanders in my game can level higher than any soldier and when a Commander gets killed and you have to draft a new one, the new Commander’s level will start one level higher than your best soldier. Both Commander and soldier will have level caps, but the Commanders’ level caps will be higher, thus making them your best of the best fighters.
Additionally, your soldiers can not act without orders from a Commander, so if a Commander falls in battle, the soldiers will automatically retreat. At that point, the “gamer” can add the squad without a Commander to the Squad with a Commander, if the situation calls for that. Just pray both of your Commanders do not fall in combat; if so, you become a little vulnerable. You won’t be able to send troops out in the field without Commanders, however, if enemies attacked your City while you were awaiting new Commanders, your soldiers will fight to the death within the City. You play as a proud race and they will fight to be free or die trying.
You can see how Commanders dying will be intense (or anyone for that matter).
I want the “gamer” to say, “F%$k! There goes my greatest Commander!” “You have finally fallen, but you have done your people proud!” As Cut-Scenes continue to play out in the game, the current actors under your rule will be inserted, so new faces will be apart of the unfolding story if someone dies and get replaced. So in essence, you have an RPG with an endless supply of main characters.
As far as stat tracking goes, I will also keep track of what the living Troops under your rule do.
I already mentioned in a previous post that my RPG RTS would have a third genre blended with the rest of the game style. During this game play style, your Commander becomes even more important since he or she will be the center of attention.
I want the “gamer” to love and trust everyone under their rule. These Actors will address you directly in Cut-Scenes because you, Prince or Princess, will be their will to live and fight. That is why everything you do will either yield a negative effect or a positive effect on your status as ruler. Become a hated ruler and you get overthrown!
Just to give you some deeper background…
You will play a Prince or Princess because you are not the King or Queen. You are in fact adopted. The missions you carry out are all part of the King’s (or Queen’s) will. Of course, as the story goes, You and the King want the same thing…a better world for your people. However, the chance at grasping a better world is threatened by your enemy, who is trying to gain dominance over the entire planet and its lands, resources, etc…
This is somewhat ironic because a lot of RTS games feature a battle over resources. That is not the main cause of war with my game and its story. The reasons are much bigger than that, but I will not let the “cat out of the bag.” You will just have to play the finished game to learn why.
The race you will play will look like Earth Humans, but they will not be Humans and you will see a distinction that sticks out like a swore thumb. In fact, the race you play will have a special name (and enemies), which I will not give out.