Open world resource ideas?

[Maebius]

I have been faltering through a proof-of-concept game in VXAce and figured I'd outline it here to see what the community thinks. (note: I have never played Animal Crossing or Farmville, or such, I just think this sounds similar to how I've perceived those games)

Over the classic "have an actor, encounter random enemies to battle, basic plot of overthrow BigBaddie" outline of the core RPGMaker style, I've tried to setup a resource-driven sim world where you can collect/plant different herbs (think Pokémon Berries), gather ores to craft/repair your gear, and the usual alchemical buff/debuff items. Essentially, what I -think- Farmville might be like, as an RPG, or perhaps the Minecraft (minus the actual building by moving tiles/blocks around) arc of story of Settle>Grow>Upgrade>Expand>Nether>Expand>EnderDragon.

The game has a few dungeons randomly placed (in VXAce, using a "random dungeon script" by NeonBlack) to explore and get rare resources, as well as randomly placed "boss enemies" in certain maps that are tied to events which "attack/destroy" some resource spots. Effectively "bandits raid farm, it no longer grows stuff until you replant it, oops! clear Bandit Hideout to prevent this and expand your farms safely into that map".

Essentially, I was inspired by RTS games like Civ/StarCraft (minus the RT part), Minecraft, and the Pokémon Berry system, meshed into a simplistic resource-driven RPG storyline. Battles would be not the primary focus of this game, and are fairly strategic with different enemy types being REALLY resistant to certain Elements, but REALLY weak against others, so that your Alchemy will benefit in a quite strict Rock-Paper-Scissors way.

Since I have very little experience playing these types of games, I figure you folks might be able to comment on any potential pitfalls and suggestions in that overall Game style. I am researching those other games, but book-learning doesn't quite capture the Gameplay of them, which is why I hesitate to say I "know" the games.

Thoughts? :)

 

[HotfireLegend]

I would remove the crafting unless resources are very plentiful and crafted items don't always require rare items as it is very annoying when they do.

Animal Crossing runs on a capitalist system where the goal is to get enough money to buy your house and expand it. As you do so, you can get rare items and loot from the shops in town.

 

[Maebius]

Thanks for the thoughts and info, HotFireLegend. I was planning on making the crafting a decent portion, of things, with resources fairly easy to find with exploration, yet limited unless "tended to". Hard to describe, but I'll be putting a demo up ASAP once MV drops. Rare resources are easily replicated once found. (as in: rare seeds, just plant and Poof, you have 3 next cycle. As long as you don't use all 3 to craft stuff immediately, you'll have a near-infinite supply over time. Crafting isn't game-breaking, Or necessary, but hopefully balanced enough to be useful) Like I said, kinda based on Minecraft's "thematic". You can find seeds and pigs hopefully fairly easily at the starting phases of the game, plus eat raw meat if needed. Then, once established, "bread/steak" is a fairly minor thing to stock up on before wandering farther away from "home base".
My game is more exploration-based, with nodes of settlements, wrapped over the standard RPG elements. (if I do it properly, I hope).


The World
The world of _____ has seen great upheavals, disasters, the rise and fall of empires, and finally civilization has stabilized and peace and prosperity are returning. You will help expand your homeland's influence into the wider world, to drive back the remaining vestiges of unfriendly flora/fauna.

The Situation
On the unclaimed borders of the Empire, a new county has been established - the _____ - and _______has granted the lands and title to you, Wisp. Setup your homefront, gather your supplies, and quest your way to an expanded territory, while earning fame, farmlands, and Phat Loot.

You
You are an adventurous spirit, looking for work, hired in the service of ______. Your job is to secure the extents of the domain, map the borders, contact the communities within and without the county, and maintain the peace. Probably also help stray dogs find their owners again.

(linking this for my own archival reference later... https://sites.google.com/site/maebiusrpg/home )

 

[BlacksmithMV]

Here I give this post a bump. It'd certainly help to have stuff provided for this sort of thing because I'm planning something roughly similar.