RPG Game Face Set Makers

Every good RPG game deserves to have a cool face set for their characters. So check out these sites..

http://rpgstuff.byethost15.com/moromagalabo.html
Anime Face Maker v1.0
http://gen8hedgehog.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Face-Maker-v1-0-75897890
Face Maker
http://www.freegames14.com/Face-Maker.game4738.html

To Copyright or TM not to copyright or TM

Image via Wikipedia

There are a lot of indiegame developers today that have realized the girth of crating a large piece of work and have looked over the net for help. There are may forums and RRR's out there to help people get together. Once the group gets together they come up with a brand name to showcase their groups games. This is a good idea for those group that plan to stick together for a while or for a person who plans to create an ongoing portfolio of thir work. Branding is important. It's important at the highest and lowest levels of any product, but it needs to be consistent and built up over time. Many groups create a brand name at inclue . after it to make their game look more legimate however this could end up in a lawsuit. Clearly the laws are diffirent in other countries, but in the US it only costs about $10 to register a name(©).
Please dont get confused between TM and ©. A to trademark applys to a name, whereas copyrights(©) apply to a workpiece. To trademark a name also costs much more. With that said be careful about throwing sighns after your groups brand names. Check the laws in your area and do the right thing.

Trademark laws page
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm
Copyright web page.
http://www.copyright.gov/

Bringing the past into the Future of games.

Most RPG games are created in a variety of ways. Indie and Pro designers of the past created RPG games with monsters, swords, and castles. Today they create RPG games with mutated animals, guns, and traditional landmarks. Some even go so far as to mix the old school RPG with the new school. Using items such as swords in a mid-evil or fantasy game is just something that fits. However mixing swords in a modern RPG that also has projectile weapons such as guns might raise a few questions.
i.e.

“I just shot the person charging at me with a stick and he is till coming..what?” or “my house is made of straw and my gun is made of steel..huh.?” these things all designers will have to think about when creating their game.

When creating your RPG you should go wild and let your imagination take over, but try to stay within the boundaries of the software you're using. However they are a few burning questions you should ask your self about your RPG before you decide on a game theme. If you plan to use weapons such as guns, swords or both in your game you should ask yourself a few questions.

1. Dose my game vision best resemble that of a, Fantasy, Mid-evil, Modern, or a mix of the styles?
2.Which weapon fits better in my game swords, weapons, or both?

Game that did it Right...?
Fantasy: Final Fantasy series and Persona
Mid-evil: Radiata Stories and Dragon Quest
Modern: Xenosaga and Fallout series

The old and new of Game weapons.

When creating a game there is a lot of items that go into the thought proccess and design documents durning brain storming. Many game designers go with the flow, 'if you will,' and creat rpg games based in the midevil times of monsters, knights, and castles, i.e. Zelda and Radiata Stories . However, some game developers have ventured from the beaten path to creat a more modern rpg that has more themes such as mutated animals, regular people, and current landmarks i.e., the Fallout series. Even more so now, game designers have been trying to implement a mixture of old school and new school.

Image by Bobasonic via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

So there are a few itching questions you shold ask yourself before you begin.

Do guns or swords fit better into your game world?

Is your game set timeframe that is mid-evil, modern, or placed in the future?

Will having mixed weapons and time frames make sence in my game story?

You Decide.

Five Ideas to create a better R.P.G.

This post if for the indie game developers who are just getting started and need a little insight into their own game before they upload a beta or demo for the world to see.

1. Interactive NPC- Nobody wakes up every morning and sees a grumpy old man walking the streets complaining about how children don't listen, or a store clerk that says "hey your shoe is untied dude.." even if your character doesn't have any shoes, boots, sandals etc. equipped every time you talk to the NPC. I have played many games where the NPC continually says the same thing no matter what events have taken place in the game. That is lame. How about an NPC saying "hey your shoe is totally untied dude..." if your character has a foot apparel on, and "hey can't you read the sign... it totally says no shirt! No shoes! no Service.! .. Dude..." and then have the NPC escort the player out of the establishment.

2. Relationships- Yes people are people and monsters are monsters however there is a relationship between the two and each other. Most of the games I have played recently have been a battle to the death RPG e.g. I am human I kill monster.

Example:

Susan is my friend. Mat is Susan's friend. I push Mat.

Shouldn't Susan get mad or even!

Not in the games that I have played recently.

How about this one, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Example:

The bear hates me more than the wolf hates me.

I am too weak to defeat the bear alone and can't defeat the wolf if the bear attacks and, the wolf is in the same position.

Let's compromise. I pair up with the wolf to defeat the bear and in doing so let the wolf live and V.s.

P.s. I would like to see more of this one myself in the future. There is one game that dose a pretty good job of this that comes to mind it is FFXII.

3. Mini games- Perhaps there are not enough pre generated scripts out there for me to see this in many indie games of late. I believe that the mini-games played a big part in the replay value of most RPG games in the past. There where many different mini-games to choose from.

• Guess the #/ Password
  
• Chocobo racing, riding, training
  
• Snow boarding, motorcycle riding, blitz ball, digging, hunting, card games, pets, tournaments
  

Any more there are no mini-games in indie RPG's. Sure there are a lot of side quests but, face it there is only so many times you will want to 'go get the staff of amazing' from the 'cave of scary monsters'.

4. Story Dialogue- Holy Hell!! For the love of what ever god you do or don't believe in please find a better way to tell the story of your game without giving me a 10min. shake down, recap, and foreshadow of the entire game and future sequels yet to be released immediately preceding the first, second, or third, boss battle. (Deep breathe...ah...) This is pretty self explanatory. Just write a better event document perhaps with more that 3 steps. (Start. immediately fight boss. game over.) If you need help here just look up an event template on the web or get one from RPG Revolution, or Yoyo Games. Look under Resources or Make. There are many different indie gaming sites and books out there that will give you access to design docs and templates of all kinds just look them up.

5. Graphics- Lets face it the graphics of an indie game can immediately make or break the game. For example: if the cover of the game looks like it was drawn in crayon you will most likely not get anyone to even beta test your game. However if you have a great cover for your game and teribble in game graphics the person playing your game will most likely not play the game again after turning it off. Notice 'most likely' these statements are not set in stone. If your graphics are so bad that insects die when they pass the screen but the game play is great then you might be ok. However this is highly unlikely. I would like to see some games that do not incorporate the game engines RTP to 100%. How about creating your own character and enemies, how they look, move, and act in the environment.