The Path to a Great RPG - Part V
 (3).bmp) | submitted by Arix on Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:40 am
The Loose Ends |
We’re almost at the end of the great Path. If you’ve been with me since the beginning, here’s what I’ve covered so far.
· The primary paperwork
· The secondary paperwork
· Making an intro
· Making the inventory
These really are the basics of an RPG – get this right, and you can make one. But it won’t be very good, as there is so much more you can add to give it that little extra oomph. And today, I will add to that list little bits and bobs (that’s right, I say bits and bobs) that give it said oomph: the loose ends.
And you'll also learn more of my seeming fetish of dividing everything into numerous types.
Section Alpha: Minigames and side quests
Beginning with minigames, don’t mistake these for side quests; I’ll go over those later. The difference is that minigames are little sub games just for fun, which have nothing to do with the actual RPG itself. They can be necessary, for example to win a key item, or optional, for example to win one of those tomes I talked about last week.
There are essentially two types of minigame (type count 1), regular, and gambler. In a regular minigame, the player just tries to accomplish the goal of the game to win whatever. In these types, they’re usually a one-off. Once you’ve won the prize, you can’t win again (although most times you can still play the game just for fun, and maybe a small cash prize or some sort of innocuous item like a medicine or something). In a gambler minigame, the player bets a certain amount of something – money, chips, and what have you – in order to win more. In these types, the player often has the chance to play again and again, as much as they want, provided they can bet, just to win more and more, the greedy beggers.
What you want is a good balance of regular and gambler minigames. Remember, regardless of the name, gambler games don’t actually have to be set in a casino. They can be simple street games, maybe set up by some random hermit in a forest somewhere, or whatever.
Next up are side quests. Don’t mistake these for minigames, I’ll go over those later.
...alright, just teasing. A side quest is a little mission the player can do that has nothing to do with the main plot, for instance getting a little girl’s cat down from the tree. They too can be optional (“Please get my Mr. Babycakes down! I’ll give you money!”) or necessary (“Please get my Mr. Babycakes down! I’ll give you something you can bribe a guard with!”). There’s not a lot to say about the creation of side quests. Make a few necessary, a few optional, and make sure they have nothing to do with the main storyline. I doubt rescuing a child’s Mr. Babycakes has anything to do with saving the world from unspeakable evil, whether it’s necessary or optional.
The main point to keep in mind with these things is that you don’t want too many of them, or they’ll distract from the main game. The big picture is what you want, you don't want to the player forgetting what they have to do in the main story.
Section Beta: NPC interaction
There are three main types of NPC (type count 2) – the wise old man, the villainous evil dude, and the random guy in the street.
The wise old man doesn’t need to be old, or a man, but he (or she) does need to be wise (or not - make it a talking parrot!). These are the NPCs that give you advice on your quest, and usually talk in annoying riddles, such as ‘seek the drop of the morning sun’ or some crap like that. Basically, they never join your party, but guide you on the path of your adventure. They’re great, because they give the player a clue as to what to do while still retaining the puzzle element. Who here knows what a ‘drop of the morning sun’ could be? And where to find one? OooooOOOOooooo...
Next up is the villainous evil dude. This is a main villain out to kill you. He may not be the ‘main’ main villain, maybe just one of his important henchmen (the three bumbling stooges, the one who could overthrow the main villain whenever he wants and probably ends up doing so etc.). He’s vital to the storyline in some way, the player may meet him just once or multiple times throughout the course of the game. He, like the wise old man, may speak in riddles to lead the player to the next part of the game. But only after you’ve foiled his current mission. Which is usually just a distraction from your real goal, but I'm getting sidetracked here.
Finally is the random guy in the street. He may not be in the street, he may not be a guy, but he’s certinly random. He’s not important to the storyline at all, and is just there for show, maybe gives the player an item or something. He’s superfluous but necessary.
“But Arix! If he’s not important, how can he be necessary?”
Remember that ‘empty universe’ thing we had going on way back in step 1? That’s why. Without him, we’ve got the band of heroes and the band of villains each struggling for the salvation or destruction of a world...with no inhabitants. Hmmm.
There should be much more random guys in the street than the other two types combined, as you can guess. The wise old men can be hidden in some remote location or tucked away in a town somewhere, usually hiding behind a mystical stone that requires the solution of some abstract puzzle to move and gain access to his lair. There’s usually only one (who for some reason pops up all over the place. What's his trasportation secret? I'm sure the hero could use a nifty trick like that), but two or three can’t hurt. Evil dudes should be a little more common than wise old men, but not too much more. Too many evil dudes will steal the spotlight from the main main evil dude, and we don’t want that, or we'll all taste his vengeance.
As for the interaction, here’s an example of a quote each type may give:
Wise old man
“Seek the drop of the morning sun...” (What? Weren't you paying attention?)
Villainous evil dude
“This is a minor setback, a glitch to be corrected. I’ll see you again...”
Random guy in the street
“I don't have a name? I'm just "Man"? This sucks.”
Take what you will. That's just an example of the kind of thing each guy would say.
Section Gamma: Puzzle logic
The major point in this section is that while your puzzle logic may seem perfectly okay to you, someone else may not guess it in a million years. As with everything, there are three types of puzzles (type count 3). Easy, hard, and frustrating in a good way.
Easy puzzles are simple ones that a brain-dead watermelon could figure out: “Use key to open door to the Henry Ford Young Gentleman School.”
Hard are a bit more devious that could be figured out, after a bit of contemplation: “Use hairpin to pick lock on chest containing key, use key to open door to Henry Ford Young Gentleman School.”
Frustrating in a good way are ones that the player has no clue what to do in the beginning, but with a bit of experimentation, ends up getting to the end (often by accident): “Use wine to make monkey drunk. Use drunken monkey to scare girls. Use girl’s dropped hairpin to pick lock on chest. Use key in chest to open door to Henry Ford Young Gentleman School.” Done well, this will be hard to figure out, but the player will kick themselves for not getting it earlier when they find it out.
I’d say a good balance is about 30% frustrating in a good way, 20% easy, and 50% hard, though again it's up to you.
Now, since the logic may be absolute bollocks to someone else, a good thing to do is get a tester in. If they can solve an easy puzzle with no troubles, good. If they take a while to solve a hard one, good. If they get stuck on a FIAGW, good. If they give up on a puzzle, bad. Change it to make it a bit easier so the player won’t give up.
Conversely, you don’t want to fold in to everything your tester says, and the opposite also applies: Just because it seems illogical to them, doesn’t mean it’ll seem illogical to others. If you want, get some more testers and take a majority opinion. The best way is to tell them the puzzle and then the solution (make sure not to spoil the game!) If they find it good, stick with it. If many find it irrational, change it.
Section Delta: Easter eggs and hidden goodies
The difference: Easter eggs are cool little references to other things, usually nostalgic. Hidden goodies are cool little references to absolutely nothing. An example of each:
Easter egg
Let me set up this one, since many will have no clue what I’m on about if I tell you the egg straight away - Magic: the Gathering.
A famous old MtG card is called Terror. It was in the very first set made, and has been reprinted in recent sets – it kills a nonblack, nonartifact creature (don't worry, you won't need to understand what that means to get the egg). In a fairly recent set, a new card, Purge, was printed. It kills a black or artifact creature. The egg is in the flavour text:
For the first and last time, the horrific creature experienced terror.
Hidden goodie
In an old Nintendo 64 game, Banjo-Tooie, there is a strange series of events you can go through. If you do, you unlock the ability to become a dragon. It isn’t needed to complete the game, but it sure is damn cool, and helps a lot. Hidden goodies can also come in two types (type count 4): Helpful and extra. Helpful ones are like the above example of becoming a dragon. Extra ones are just little cool things that give the player a kick, but don’t actually have any impact on the game whatsoever. Include a healthy mix of both, but make sure the helpful ones are harder to find than extras.
Section Epsilon: Hints
Have some really hard puzzles that’d take millions of years of trial and error to solve? Then give the player hints as to what to do next.
Hints can come in any form (type count screwed). Wise old men, as said above, can give the player hints in riddle form. Maybe one room in a dungeon is a hint of what to do later on in the dungeon, a la The Wind Waker.
There’s not a lot I can say about how to give hints. Just use your imagination. Maybe the name of the game is a hint itself. Perhaps a parrot babbling inane nonsense is actually helping the player (I gotta lay off the parrots, I know). I once had a really hard puzzle, next to impossible to solve normally, so I gave them a hint. The solution to the puzzle...was being whispered in the background music. So, hints can exist everywhere, both inside and outside of the fourth wall (ah, the fourth wall. Where would we be without you?). It’s all up to how you want them to be. Be creative!
And that’s it for this step. Join me next week when I lay the final step in the Path. Until then, may you always include subliminal messaging in your tutorial articles for some reason.
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