|
| 23 Dec 2011 09:55 PM |
I've posted pieces of this guide for a few people here over the last month or so, so to make it easier on everyone, I'll post all of it on this thread. Keep in mind this was made quite a while ago, also that the map part can be used for any game type, really.
So here it is.
If you're reading this, you're probably interested in making your own RPG. Well if you want to make a respectable RPG capable of getting on the front page, you should follow this guide. If you have any questions that are not covered in this kit, message me and I'll try to answer it to the best of my abilities. Also, it's a good thing to have a hand full of place tester, basically just finding all the mistakes you could make or just trying to give you pointers of what to change.
1. Starting Your RPG
RPGs can be the best games, and they can be the worst depending on how it was created. There are two factors that make a good RPG, one is the map, the other is the game-play. An RPG with only one of these two factors is probably not respectable; what would a RPG be with many things to do and kill, but only have a baseplate for a map? Also, what if there was an RPG with a massive well built map, but only two things to kill with one quest? So, the point is that the map and game-play go hand-in-hand, so you need both in almost equal amounts.
2. RPG Naming
Now normally this is a very easy thing, but it it very important to have a successful RPG. Almost all RPGs in ROBLOX normally have '-Scape' somewhere in the name of the RPG, but in my opinion this is the stupidest thing possible. I think this because the creators are only naming it because of how popular the Scape of Rune game is. So when naming ANYTHING in your RPG, never use the names 'Rune' or 'Dragon' or anything else like that. Why this is bad is because it's unimaginative, and when making a RPG, being unimaginative is something you want to avoid at all costs. Although, there are some names that are sort of 'Universal' because they are common materials for swords (ex, bronze, iron, steel). So always remember it use all of your imagination!
3. Map
The map is probably the least important of the two factors, but that does not excuse it's importance. When making your map, do not make it too big, maybe three to four baseplates max, depending on how detailed you make it, and a good rule of thumb is to not go over 4600 bricks for the map. It is recommended to use Cframe as much as possible when making your map, and if you don't know how to Cframe, learn or this will all be useless. Normally, the map should have a sort of area 'zones' that help tell the player what types of things they would encounter (ex. a rock monster in a mountain, an lava monster in a volcano). The types of areas are as followed, but are not all needed.
A) A town (Some-what nessesary, unless you don't need) B) A mountain (optional) C) A forest (optional) D) A dessert (optional) E) A water source (Some-what necessary, water makes it realistic) F) A cave(s) (Fun to explore, but optional) G) A swamp (Good for undead enemies, but uses up a lot of bricks)
Remember, make the areas realistic, don't have a big lake in the middle of a dessert. Also, avoide blank areas on your map, nothings more boring that a random patch of grass. And finally, I should mention that everything brick on your map should be smooth-surfaced, meaning no studs/inlets because they can cause a surprisingly big amount of lag.
4. Game Play
Game play is probably the most important of the two factors, but also the hardest to include. Game Play is the amount of things to do in an RPG, like killing monsters, quests, cutting trees/mining and exploring. Most RPGs are just the player going around killing things which, although can be fun, will get boring fast. A way to avoid this is to add as many things in this catagory to your game. The types of game play options are as followed, but again are not all needed
A) Monsters (Obviously needed) B) Quests (Optional, but are very good to have) C) Cutting trees (Optional, but good way to make money) D) Mining (Same as cutting trees) E) Exploring (Gives the player something to do) F) Puzzles (Optional, but fun to have) G) Have NPCs to talk to (See below) H) Random rewards (See below)
-NPCs; NPCs are good to have in your RPG because of all the uses they have. You can give them opinions, hints, jokes and even easter eggs, which make the player like to go around 'talking' to people. -Random rewards; Random rewards are good because if there is a hard area or challenge with no reward, the player would think it as a waste of time, so maybe put a chest on the top of a mountain or have a money prize at the end of a cave.
5. Scenery
Most RPG builders do not realize the improtance of scenery, and how much it can make you RPG look good. There is no fun in going to a RPG that has enemies, but only a baseplate and mountain. This will look dull, with nothing to look at. Anyone can copy and paste a nice map, but without scenery a nice map will look very boring. Most RPG makers think that scenery just adds too many bricks which cause lagg. But really if you make it right, scenery can look good and only have three bricks. Here is a list of good scenery to have in your RPG, but like always, is optional.
A) Uncutable Trees (Good to look at) B) Bushes (Good to hide small treasure) C) Rocks (Good to look at) D) Statues (Good for easter eggs, make it into a friend, optional) E) Furniture (Good for houses, optional) F) Signs (With a pointer to a directon) G) Flags (For towns or camps)
It should be noted that all scenery, no matter how simple, should be c-framed to reduce brick count. Also, remember to not over-do scenery, you don't want too many things or the brick count would be too high, so spread it out. Also, for any scenery that goes good with itself in a group (Trees in a forest) you'd be surprized how much better it would look if you have each scenery rotated at least once (So you don't have a forest pointing in the same direction).
6. Trees/Rocks
If there is ever a RPG that only has enemies to fight, I promise that it most likely will not be fun. Trees and rocks (Mining) are a good way to keep the player busy and is also a good money giver, but remember to not over-do it, make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out evenly. Always make sure that the resourse you're adding is in a place that it would look natural in, don't put trees in a cave, or rocks in a forest. Also a good thing to remember is to keep the resourses in groups of 4-6, avoid making groups of 7 or more. Here is a list of good places to put a resourse, but as always, are mostly optional and depending on what regions your map has.
A) 1 group by starting town; Trees (Optional, but good to have) B) 1-2 groups in an easy cave; Rocks (Optional) C) 2-3 groups in moutain; Both (See below) D) 2-3 groups in forest; Trees (Optional, but good to have) Mountain resourses, the problem with mountains are that they are unique, meaning that some can have mixed proportions of both rocks and trees, depending on how big the mountain is in the first place, but I'll let you decide on what you should put where.
Note; For deserts, avoid putting any trees in the desert region, and I'd also avoid putting rocks as well, so instead you should change the meshes of the trees to make cactus or some sort of desert vegitation.
7. Enemies
From Orcs to Golems, enemies are needed in every RPG, or else it's not really an RPG. If you want your RPG to be a challenge, make sure you add a good amount of enemies with varying levels and rewards, because what is fun about killing a bunch of one-hit-kill enemies? A good thing to think about when positioning enemies is to keep in mind what climate someone might find that type of enemy (Don't put an ice-based enemy in a volcano). When setting the damage that the enemies deal on players, avoid setting it above 50, because you don't want the enemies to kill them in two hits. Also, avoid setting the Gold and Exp the player gets when killing an enemy too high, which makes players only go after that enemy and not fight anything else. When deciding how much health the enemy has and to make the amount of Gold/Exp make sence of the corresponding enemy (Have bandits give more gold than a goblins), a good rule of thumb is to just multiply the enemies level by 10, so a level 1 enemy would have 10 health, and a level 10 would have 100 health. Here is a list of good enemies to have in your RPG, but of course, these are all optional
A) Man (Optional) B) Bandit (Optional, but good to have) C) Orc (Optional, but good for challenges) D) Goblin (Optional) E) Elementals (Ice, fire, earth, air, all optional) F) Undead (Skeleton, ghost, zombie, all optional) G) Golems (Stone, sand, steel, heavy materials, optional but good to have) Remember, have the area around the enemy match the corresponding enemy type (An area with bandits would have tents).
This can be a confusing lesson to some people, so I will add an example.
Name: Bandit Level: 5 <--- Independant variable for everything below Money: 25 <--- Multiply level by 5 for amount of gold Exp: 20 <--- Multiply level by 4 for amount of Exp Health: 50 <--- Multiply level by 10 for amount of health Damage: 10 <--- Multiply level by 2 for amount of damage (this is actually very strong) Walkspeed: 16 <--- See below
-Walkspeed; Walkspeed is kind of in it's own collum because it is not affected by the level of the enemy, but the type of enemy itself, (make bandits [around 16] run faster than a stone golem [around 12])
Side-note; try not to name any enemies in your RPG from other games although it may be hard of the account of the fact that most RPGs use the same list of enemies, like bandits, goblins, undead and orcs. Also, do not add dragons in your RPG unless compleatly nessesary, dragons, if made well can cause a lot of lagg, and look pathetic if not made well. And use your imagination!
8. NPCs
NPCs: Every RPG should have NPCs, or 'characters' for the player to 'communicate' with. NPCs are all optional, but a very good to have or it leaves your RPG looking unpopulated. The good thing about a NPC is that you can have them say anything from quests to hints to opinions to jokes. Easter eggs are also good for NPCs, because you can have them say anything.
I worked very hard on this, and gave it a lot of though. So I really hope this helped! And remember, any questions about RPGs, message me and I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities.
Thanks for reading!
-Ninjasheep :)
|
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
theopfor
|
  |
| Joined: 08 Feb 2011 |
| Total Posts: 11003 |
|
| |
|
|
| 23 Dec 2011 10:11 PM |
Nice Guide! I made one myself, a simpler version for newbies. I replied to myself your guide. Nice work man! |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
Evan50505
|
  |
| Joined: 28 Jul 2008 |
| Total Posts: 37 |
|
|
| 24 Dec 2011 11:22 AM |
| Im making a post apocalyptic RPG game based on a Fallout game style. I think it currently looks very good but I know the map will be larger than 4 baseplates and certainly more then 4600 bricks. What should I do if I want to give the players a big map to explore? |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 24 Dec 2011 12:46 PM |
Make it look good, don't be scared of lag, there are many ways to fix lag. Add rocks and mountains, bushes, quests, houses. Put hidden entrances to caves. Don't make the map empty ^^ --BAGELS-- |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 24 Dec 2011 12:51 PM |
| Yea sorry about that lag part, this guide was made back in late 08, early 09, when you couldn't have too many parts or else it'd lag horribly. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 27 Dec 2011 02:26 PM |
| Map and game play are part of every game, if need them in any design of a game, not just RPGs. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 27 Dec 2011 02:35 PM |
"make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out evenly." Wrong, just wrong. make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out randomly. Fixed. If I went out into a forist they would be randomly places, never even. Also dont go overboard on Cfraiming, making it look good is the objecting, not to make some overly Cfmramed mess. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 27 Dec 2011 10:03 PM |
You're taking my tips way too literal.
"make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out randomly."
Excuse me, but I thought it was obvious that I meant to not bunch the trees and rocks, and to spread them out. I'm not telling you to make a realistic full forest (Which you're implying), as obviously this would create lag and be very time consuming.
And as for Cframe, it's simply a way to reduce the amount of bricks in a place. Never to make massive and high definition models... Just simply if you have a choice to make say as an example, a large staircase using many steps, to instead make a cframed brick on it's side as the way up.
Goodness, no need to bash tips that have obviously helped other people. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 27 Dec 2011 10:04 PM |
Also
"Map and game play are part of every game, if need them in any design of a game, not just RPGs."
You obviously didn't read the last sentence of the first paragraph:
"also that the map part can be used for any game type, really." |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 27 Dec 2011 10:45 PM |
| I already know that, but ok. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 28 Dec 2011 07:42 AM |
"large staircase using many steps, to instead make a cframed brick on it's side as the way up." Or save your self a few secends in like and use a wedge. Or if you want you RPG to look some what good spend time on it, and then you can use the copy want to put it into other houses/what ever their in.
|
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 28 Dec 2011 09:06 AM |
Ok look, I'm not sure why you seem to against my tips and suggestions, but it's unnecessary. If you think these tips are as terrible as they are, go make your own guide.
End of arguement. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 28 Dec 2011 10:42 AM |
| I like alot of yout tips, If I hated the whole thing I would comment on the whole thing, but its just them few which bug me. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
javiman2
|
  |
| Joined: 08 Jun 2010 |
| Total Posts: 1453 |
|
|
| 02 Jan 2012 12:52 AM |
| This helped me a lot thanks :) |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
arby31
|
  |
| Joined: 29 Dec 2009 |
| Total Posts: 337 |
|
|
| 04 Jan 2012 01:58 AM |
| Thank you very much for this guide, ill be sure to imply your name into my game. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 04 Jan 2012 03:33 AM |
| ZOMG THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE GUIDE!!! :D |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
JoelC2
|
  |
| Joined: 28 May 2010 |
| Total Posts: 344 |
|
|
| 05 Jan 2012 02:37 PM |
| Epic guide, It taught me quite abit so im gunna go try and make a good rpg using this guide :P |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
scrin445
|
  |
| Joined: 10 May 2011 |
| Total Posts: 3955 |
|
|
| 08 Jan 2012 10:19 PM |
Very good guide! :D
By the way, making wedges as stairs makes it unrealistic. Besides? Who hates making RPGs realistic?
|
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 09 Jan 2012 02:21 PM |
| But making a Cframed brick that looks like a wedge is a waste of time. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
|
| 09 Jan 2012 07:05 PM |
For anyone who is still bickering about the wedge cframe thing, it was an example.
What I was trying to get across is unless you have a system that only loads bricks that are in use, you're going to have to use as few bricks as possible.
And to use as few bricks as possilbe, use cframe. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
scrin445
|
  |
| Joined: 10 May 2011 |
| Total Posts: 3955 |
|
|
| 09 Jan 2012 10:45 PM |
@mickky, Earlier, when you said,
"make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out randomly. Fixed."
Really? randomly? like randomly spread them and randomly put a tree in a desert? |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
lukazoid
|
  |
| Joined: 10 Oct 2008 |
| Total Posts: 371 |
|
|
| 10 Jan 2012 12:28 AM |
Amazing Guide.
I love reading Guides like these.
This is incredibly useful for anyone making a RPG.
This deseres ALOT more views than it has right now. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 10 Jan 2012 10:54 AM |
@mickky, Earlier, when you said,
"make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out randomly. Fixed."
Really? randomly? like randomly spread them and randomly put a tree in a desert?
----------------------------------------------------------------------- You know I dont mean put trees anywhere, Im saying that if you have a foriest then dont have tres places in rows or any pattern atall, just randomly where appropate. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|
mickyy5
|
  |
| Joined: 20 Feb 2010 |
| Total Posts: 11059 |
|
|
| 10 Jan 2012 11:36 AM |
For anyone who is still bickering about the wedge cframe thing, it was an example.
What I was trying to get across is unless you have a system that only loads bricks that are in use, you're going to have to use as few bricks as possible.
And to use as few bricks as possilbe, use cframe. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Wedge = 1 brick 1 Cframed brick = 1 brick
You see? Its atleast 50% easyer to use a wedge than to Cframe a brick and it takes less time and is moveable so if you want to copy a house with wede stares around a town or summing you can do.
Also use fog to enhanse the RP and to make the game less laggyer. |
|
|
| Report Abuse |
|
|