Making A Great Video Game by Adam J. Capps - HTML preview

Making A Great Video Game

by

Adam J. Capps

Making A Great Video Game

By Adam J. Capps

2022- Public Domain

Introduction:

Here is a no nonsense approach to game creation. It goes over what makes a game either good or bad, how to make a game good, and where the focus should be. It is a condensed book that only goes over important things. Is a quick read but a useful book. It is a small guide. As such it is meant as a primer for the game maker. It is a book to read before committing yourself to making a game. It goes over the best ideas both old and new. I have included a whole section on new ideas you may have. This book brings to mind those things in making a good video game. I have split it all up in genre and elements. So it can be a quick guide. In fact this whole book doesn’t have to be read. Only the genre you want to learn about is necessary. But reading the whole thing could be helpful as well. My method in coming up with ideas is by always having an answer to the questions who, what, when, where, why, which, and how.

I wrote this book because I always wanted to be a programmer but was never able to learn programming. So I have done the next best thing here by providing all the best input I have on making a good video game. It is in fact a public domain book, a free ebook, and a lowest possible cost paperback. So feel free to share it with others.

Part One: Going Over Good Ideas For Different Genres.

The Adventure Game:   Includes games like Zelda. The best formula is making it a game of discovery that immerses its player in a quest. Things gradually unfold. What was once thought impossible no more is. Along the way there’s no telling what might be right there in front of your face but unseen. Everything has a little magic to it. Sometimes a lot. With every given new powerup the world opens even more. Suddenly there is a surprise. Just like JRR Tolkien, strange beings and beasts are everywhere along the way.

Characters-  The characters you talk to and those that befriend you can come in many forms. In some cases they want something from you and will give you something in return. Sometimes they give you something to help them. Characters could include talking trees, owls, monkeys. They could be a sage, a thief, a person who doesn’t want you to step on her flowers. There are the characters in your hometown. There are characters afraid of you because you have been lied about. Some can be pests, others just jogging around. Some could be really proud to teach you something new. With some you may have a love interest. My advice is simple: just think up some neat kinds of characters for your game, ones that have a good place in the game. Make encountering them be special- or good, neat, ect. On the other hand sometimes going bland is actually a good thing. In that way you aren’t bothered with talky characters. You don’t feel like you are being told what to do. You aren’t bothered to go find them again and again. I think people can appreciate The Legend Of Zelda in that it was straight forward. “Here, take this,” and all the time possible was given to exploring and venturing through without being bothered.

Enemies-  Whether they are based on preexisting things or a variation of it there are a lot of choices to make regarding them. Will it be like a spider? Or a dragon? Go it neat. Make it fun- challenging in different ways. That one little enemy differs from another in how it comes after you. I really liked the Yiga clan from The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. I still remember the first time I encountered a person from the Yiga clan. He was going off into how I looked like the hero of Hyrule and he seemed kind of fake in his flattery. Then suddenly his tone became serious. He said their clan’s purpose is to kill that hero and he came into his true form. What stood out was that they knew who Link was while all the other enemies never indicate that they do. Zelda also presents us with the following ideas: a thief that comes after you, bumping into you, and taking your things; a centair; ghosts that appear when you bump the tombstone; dinosaurs that can be fed bombs; and centars. It isn’t any good intention or even good effect to copy them. Rather to take their soul, and use it for something new. We want the spirit of a thing, not its body. It is like what they did with the sword in stone. They took the spirit of the idea and used it in their game. In fact, Link was based on Peter Pan.  Mario climbing a vine in Super Mario Bros to coin land is just Jack and the Beanstalk. My advice is to go to the drawing board- take a pencil and paper, think about things in the real world, warp them, change them a little or a lot, give them an attack, and there you go!

Weapons- Getting greater and greater gear is important for adventure games. Sometimes you can only get a sword after certain things are accomplished. They can be minor and natural or major and difficult. They could be a part of a puzzle. At full health you can shoot a beam from your sword. Holding down a certain button then releasing it makes you swing it. That has been done before, a lot, because it adds a good thing. In this book we are all for taking an old idea and making it better. So you could apply the same thing to every weapon you have, not just the sword. It may be good practice to consider any given thing and make a weapon out of it for your game. A light bulb.. A light bulb wand.. A wand with a light so bright it blinds everything around you. A fan.. A wind power attack. A wire in my room.. That can be an electrified whip. That could be very useful in fact. It could turn things on or attack, it could electrify a pond to get rid of a creature that's bothering you. I’ve found it is a useful trick when thinking up weapons and tools.

        If your character can get around quickly and easily then their mechanics are operating in the right way. This can be tested in the game itself. If you struggle to get by then adjustments should be made. If an enemy is just too unavoidable, to the point of being unfair, then it must be toned down. In all movements that the character has, things should be smooth. It’s like a “tuning in” process. You must make it as close as possible to the right feel.

Tools- Tools can be very inventive. Who would have thought that a boomerang would be an acceptable weapon in the game and not something strange? Before Zelda a boomerang wasn’t a weapon at all- just a toy. But people have long forgotten that. Some of the best tools can be found in The Legend of Zelda. Personally I’m not a copycat person and it's good not to be- copy cats go nowhere. There are some exceptions to that: like with bow and arrows and swords. Those are closer to a public domain thing, so to speak. There should be significant enough changes otherwise. It is true that clone games/copycats are just an ugly form of something better. It kind of looks like (  ) but it is all disfigured! That’s what they lead the player to think. The best games have always stood on their own, as a rule. This is how a thing can be done differently: one game gives you a glove that lets you lift large boulders (obviously I’m talking about Zelda) but your game could have a flute which summons a large hand to move it for you. Zelda has the master sword. That was an idea taken from The Sword and the Stone. In Conan The Barbarian Conan came into a cave after being chased by wolves. He found the skeleton of a king on his throne. That skeleton had a sword in his hand. Conan took it and it became his greatest weapon.

        Some of my ideas include a tool that creates a lot of smoke- that smoke pushes away enemies. A tool that turns metal into wood so it’ll float to the top. Such as a metallic treasure chest deep in the water. Or turning wood to steel or silver. That way you can make a weapon out of a tree branch. There could be a wand that puts a random portal on the ground. There could be monster taming tools that make the monsters serve you. You could then go forward protected into a place where you alone were not strong enough to pass. The next part of my book provides a lot of free ideas. I have found that the best way to think them up is by thinking of things in the real world and putting them into a video game. In a video game they can be so much more, so keep that in mind. Some of these things in real life would cost thousands of dollars. In a game, they are free. An adventure game should be full of neat gadgets and physics suited to them.

Mechanics- The game maker should be careful, and test. One little thing can make a big difference such as if your character swings his sword or thrusts it. It’s a good thing to have enemies moving in different ways. Some hop around, some are rigid and hard to get around, some are quick, others blast at you, and some are erratic. You could build the ideas of weapons around those. First make the enemies, then make the weapons. Think of a thing that slows down a fast enemy for example. Also, set the right speed for your character and have him maneuverable and easy to manage. Make his strikes “right on target.” Beware of anything being too unfair such as going from platform to platform. There is a good and fair kind of difficulty and then there is the frustrating and necessary kind. More 3D games have lunges and targeting. They have dashing backwards moves and defensive ones. Those should be well implemented as well.

        Remember, you don’t have to follow the rules in the real world. Sometimes you don’t even have to come close to it. It is like cartoons and movies. Video games are always wanting to be movies these days. What’s more, they have to be realistic movies- that is a norm of our time. Yet people still fully enjoy cartoons which couldn’t be further from reality. In a video game a boomerang really does come back. You can fly in a video game, wall jump and other things, just as it should be. Video games have their own rules. They do have rules. You not only jump but should be able to turn in mid air- to keep things fair. Some would have one attack kill you. If it works for the game. Most games give you more chances. Link from Zelda slices his sword. In real life that is less effective. In a video game that is more effective. So just remember there are different rules for video games. My advice is to make something work. Sometimes you have to if it is going to. So you may have to make an action a little different in some way or another, by adding to it perhaps. And, if it is just not going to work out, have the character move about in some other fashion.

Puzzles- In a typical fashion they involve switches, barriers, blocks, necessitate magic or tools, involve rearranging things a certain way, sometimes involve code words or numbers, looking in every area, going around turning some things on, defeating all of the enemies in a room, or even leaving the dungeon itself and reentering in another doorway from the outside. You could have a hard puzzle, even impractical, but give the player a hint. There are things like rolling cubes so that they all color match then the doorway will open. There are things like flooding an area so you can swim across it. There are more simple things like lighting all of the torches in a room. A link to the past has had its more elaborate puzzles. I really like the one where you find a female prisoner who asks that you help her escape. But you enter into this room that has light shining down on it and she turns into a monster. That monster was the enemy boss of the dungeon. Things like that take a lot more imagination and should be more common. A trickiness to the puzzle could just be what tool to use and where. It isn’t always so obvious. In fact it could be.. Puzzling. And things can involve using two tools. Let's say that there is a torch in the middle of a room. Ahead of the torch is something that looks like it could catch fire. It is subtle though. The puzzle is that you light the torch and shoot an arrow through it. That arrow will burn the doorway allowing you to pass. It could involve a tool that changes an enemy into a fairy, bottling it with a bottle and net, taking them to a special room in the dungeon, where they get your key, a key you couldn’t reach yourself. Or it could be a form changing tool that turns certain enemies into keys.

Equipment- Things found throughout the game can add up quickly. Some of it has more permanent uses, some of it is often switched around to something else. I would suggest that most of it be permanent-use so that the player isn’t always having to go to the menu. There are the up-defense items. That could be a shield then a better shield. One shield blocks things better than the other. Could be in the form of a ring- makes attacks against you less harmful. Could be the suit you wear. The red one protects you more than the green. Could be a whole suit of armor. Then there are items that gradually raise your energy, automatically. There are the magic providing items. They let you fly, jump higher, turn into something else, making you invisible, giving you fire power, ect. They usually go hand in hand with two things: getting you to new places or making getting through old places easier. Where new things are found: a cave, a basement, a tomb, a home, treasure chest, forest, or just a store, is a major purpose for the player to be there. In other words they want things and things more while they are playing. There is a lot of diversity possible. There can be magical undertones to how you get them. It could be from unveiling a secret. If it is a really good item then it must be earned. It could have even come by accidentally. It all adds flavor to the game and the more the better: video game sugar will not kill you. Over time your current equipment loses its flavor.

Graphics- They can be as real or as fake as you want them to be. Cell shaded, cartoon like, like toys from claymation, or simply real looking. It could be real looking for what it is- just not earth looking. Meaning they are life that looks a little different from life on earth. People still go back to more 16 bit looking games. There is still an audience for the more traditional style even if it is amped up to “2.5D.” Just as I said earlier, people still enjoy cartoons even though movies are more realistic than ever. Game makers go by it in different ways. They may go cartoony (like Nintendo’s remake of Link’s Awakening.) Out of all of them my favorite return to the past was Octopath Traveler. But we are talking about adventure games here. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild pulled off some impressive graphics that rested somewhere between realism and cell shading. Wind Waker was complete cell shading. They are all games that took years to make with a full game making team. If all you can do is a sort of 16 bit thing then don’t be discouraged. People to this day still play SNES games, in fact a great deal of people do. Hell, some still play Atari 2600 games. People young and old alike, in fact.

Environment- This is simple. Having differing environments. A graveyard, a forest, a mountain, ect. Then below it all the dungeons. Rain effects were of great use in the game The Legend of Zelda, A Link To The Past. It’s as classic as maps found in old sword and sorcery books going back to The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins was taken to many different places throughout his adventure. To caves that had goblins, giant spiders, trolls, unto the treasure at the end of the road which was guarded by a great dragon. That is the essence of Adventure games: it is an adventure. In a video game world it translates to a more personal affair, with visuals and interaction that lends well to imagination.

Story- How about the original Legend of Zelda! It was a perfect idea to show the player what could be found in the game. Then the player isn’t fully lost on anything. The game is about getting those things and they aren’t left with guessing if they have it all or not. It tells you to find Zelda and save her from Gannon. It is very straightforward. After you enter the cave in the first scene you are given a weapon and basically told you are good to go. It expressed things in a way that this guy that gave it to you was hiding himself from the world around. A world that among Zelda games has been called apocalyptic. A Link to the Past had a very nice opening as well. It thrusts you into the game just as much. It added a more sad feeling to getting the first weapon. It is taken from your uncle and it is now your responsibility to save Zelda, as it was meant to be. First you wake up in the rain and your uncle sets out to save Zelda. Suddenly the land of Hyrule has changed. The people- the soldiers are under Gannon’s spell. It also set the story up in the title screen and did so in such a nice way.

        The story could be around for those who want it. It can unfold quickly or gradually. It could depend on who you speak to. It can be expressed in cut scenes with video like imagery or just imagery. It could fill in the missing pieces at just the right time. It could be that your character has forgotten where he was and needs to be reminded.

Secrets- You can’t have a good adventure game without secrets. It makes an adventure game unique in that the challenge isn’t from gameplay so much as it is figuring out puzzles. The most used idea is that one thing leads to another. Like get a raft to go here or get this to go there. There should not be anything taken for granted. Every area has its own unique purpose. For places to find things and to get there according to what tools the game gives you. Where once a thing is an obstacle. You are very familiar with it. You come across it and it blocks you from going ahead. Then, out of the blue, while in a dungeon or something you get an item you know will be helpful there. Things could be where you didn’t expect them to be. They could be under a bridge, through a small waterfall, behind a curtain, off a clif, or through a well. A lot of rooms each needing a tool to get what is there. The first few times you went there there wasn’t anything you could do. Then after getting a special tool you can go back and get it. You can go beyond certain boundaries after getting an item like a raft. You could even find that the game had much less boundaries than you thought. You could be in a dungeon that you can’t entirely get through until you find that thing you need to proceed further. You can find a friend that swims well- a fish friend or something, that passes the water onto a platform where he flips a switch for you. That switch brings forth a bridge. Why couldn’t you swim though? Because the water was not water but something toxic.

Money And Buying- To get extra money there are always little gambling games or games of skill tossed about here and there. Link’s Awakening had that famous thing where you could steal from the shop. You dare not return though or you're dead. Money can come from the blades of grass that you cut, dropped by an enemy, inside something, or from selling something. There could be secret areas where it is just everywhere. Grinding to get money is the job you have. Nothing is free, even in video games. Well, sometimes money is free in video games but not often. Most of the time it requires the work of grinding- whether you are slashing plants to reveal rupees, hunting down a treasure chest, doing some errand, gambling again and again, or fighting. Yes it annoys the player but it makes the money worth it. As long as it isn’t unrealistic then it's okay.

Theme- Among them things could be: apocalyptic, being in a world that is just a dream, some miniature world, a world and another world, a place much like Earth or far from it, a very dark or gothic realm, a realm very medieval, sword and sorcery, something more sci fi, or a world very modern. It does not have to align with anything that has been done before in adventure games. You could take a sci-fi setting and accomplish the same sorts of things. Those kinds of games are few and far between.

Interact-ability-  It is what will do what kind of thing. You could dash into a tree, it will drop fruit (powerups) or coins. You could bomb or burn a suspicious place then get something. You could lift and remove a boulder then proceed- if you had the titan gloves. You could push a gravestone revealing a special basement. You could interact with the NPCs in a sort of trading game. Give them one thing then they give you something, that something is given to another, who gives you yet something different. The environment can have you doing things like tossing a fish into a pond.. One that was just flopping around (poor thing.) And what does it do? It throws up a treasure of his up to you in thanks. Those are all ideas that have been used already, though, and just serve as examples.

        It is what other characters or enemies do to you and what you can do because of them. That could present itself in a trade thing- give this to me, I’ll give this to you, give that to (   ) who will give you (   ). Or it could be a gambling game/ game within a game. You could help a blacksmith back home who would temper your sword (like in a Link to the Past.) You could help a non playable character in any number of ways who returns the favor with a good thing. You could throw a fish back into the water who gives you what is in the pond. Whatever it is it can be put to use in some way or another, in getting help from it. For better or worse. Some things may not be helpful, such as a thief trying to steal your goods. That may involve fairies, animals, thieves, creatures, people with certain talents, or a person who can go where you cannot. Just think of what kind of people and things you want to include. Give them the neatest interaction you can think up. And know that you are not really limited in any way. It could be any given thing in the real world or it could be entirely fiction. You could have a lion head horse with spiked hooves and dragon wings.  

Places- Some places are enchanting. Some are spooky. Others are mysterious. Some are plain- the plains. There are towns to include and castles. There are mountainous areas. Areas ever-raining or other strange places. Tombs, dungeons, underground areas, neat places. A place of ruins. Rivers and caves, rooms and lonely dwellings. Nothing quite got to me like the graveyard in the original Zelda game. That was so cool- bumping into the gravestones to bring out the ghosts. They even added the effect that you could draw out many ghosts but to kill them all at once, kill the original ghost. The thing is, they float around so erratically that it is hard to keep an eye on the original ghost. I have nothing but good to say about the dungeons and accompanying music too. I also appreciate the action RPG “Ys 3: Wanderers From Ys” for the SNES. Especially its opening cinematic. Games that put you in its place from the start can very well cement you into the rest of the game. Link wakes up in the rain while Zelda is calling out to him. Or Ys 3 as it did so well. They say that first impressions matter the most. That isn’t so true however, not totally. I’m sure we have both seen games with an excellent title screen that turned out to be hot garbage.

Simplification- Auto jumping is good. That you don’t press a button to jump onto a platform or off it. You just do by walking right into it. Getting around quickly is important. Nobody likes long video game walks. That is unless you make that walk worth it as there are always things to get and do along the way. Shifting through inventory is a good thing to implement.

        I’ve said earlier that most items should be in “permanent” use. It can get annoying having every item in the world and always having to switch them. A permanent item is like something that stays in place. For example a suit that gives you greater defense and there might be only three of them in the game. Instead of a dozen swords, just three or four. Still, it’s a balance. It is a sweet spot between variety and convolution.

        Enemies should be manageable. Having them have multiple attacks at once may cause irritability and frustration. Might make it where the player doesn’t really know what the hell to do and when, not exactly. So enemy phases have always been used by those who know. They have one kind of attack until you hit them a certain amount of times. Then they switch to a different style of attack until you’ve hit them a few times more, and a third phase the same. It just seems so silly when I see an enemy in a game that rapages you. That onslaughts you with multiple attacks at once as though it is in a desperate frenzy.

        Fetch quests could lower the quality of play for the gamer. The worst fetch quest I had ever had to endure caused me to drop the game altogether. It wanted me to spend hours and hours of gameplay hunting down an ever elusive item. The moment I thought I had it, nope! It slipped away from my hands yet again.

Mood And Feeling-  Ways and means to mood and feeling:

1- Make something feel important. Make it seem like the player has a good purpose that must be accomplished.

2-  Make the gamer care for the character or characters. Give them a soul. Show their concerns and worries, implant hope into the heart of the player.

3- Give them a sense of innocence. Make them see that the character is worthy of his or her mantle. While all others in the game doubt them, you do not.

4- Bring about the unexpected. Suddenly everything has changed. “This changes everything.” The volume has been turned up.

5- Make the main enemy worthy to defeat. Make him detestable, but strong. Pour the story into this with legends old.

6- Give pride through things accomplished/ defeating difficult enemies. Make things tence. Have them succeed by the skin of their teeth.

7- Make the characters attractive and compelling. Make the player want to be them. Include many types of them since that is different from person to person.

8- Give the player a sense of growth. Make them feel as though they have come a long way and are just getting better and better.

9- Make the world of the game an exciting and interesting place to be. Do the best you can at putting the game world into the heart of the player.

10- Be all good things: enchanting, mesmerizing, interesting, worthwhile, and give things depth. Make the game really immersive.

Music- George Lucas of Star Wars instructed the composer to not make a traditionally sounding space movie score. He wanted something more epic. I believe that music can make or break a movie, and a video game, too. That its music lends to its success more than about anything else. Unfortunately music composition is a natural talent- or at least requires a lot of education on what makes music good. You could hire the best if you had money. Doing so you could very easily have good music in the game- likely at high cost. Or you could find that one special composer like finding a diamond in the rough. That is just the way things are. So my only advice is to get a known good composer, the best you can afford, or else hunt for that one hidden talent who just wants a chance to be heard.

Attack And Defense- Attack and defense should be a custom tailored thing. That is, giving the player a lot of different options on how to attack, and how the player personally chooses to defend. Some people may be more into attacking. Others might be more defensive when they play. Each has their own place. Making both options good fulfills the desires of both. So we have weapons that stun, we have weapons that pierce, slash, thrust, or magic that are used in different ways. No one weapon should be more important than the others, not too much so anyways. If that happens then you may have a load of weapons in the game that are just junk. Sometimes an enemy is only defeated by a certain weapon. It may be a good thing to have a little of that for every available weapon. Some only hurt by bombs and others only hurt by arrows. That would go far in making every weapon worthwhile.

Special Levels/Areas-  A moment of fun. A mini game. One in a kind of gambling style or a place of skill. Then it could just be a hidden space where once finding a person inside gives you something. In The Legend of Zelda (NES) everything was so apocalyptic that nobody was outside. They were hidden in areas and worth finding in every case.

        “Easter eggs” are always a good inclusion. Those may reference other games or reference a movie, the programmer credits, or allude to something similar to the game such as characters of other games. It could just be a hard to reach area that says “wow! How’d you get here?” Once I saw a gravestone in a Final Fantasy game that said “Here lies Link.” What is an easter egg all along? It is a special hidden thing. Like in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, there was a hard to see painting of Mario if you carefully look into Zelda’s palace.

        Special areas can also be tricky things to get to. That may require unnaturally twisting around some corridors. Or it could be a place only gotten to with a special tool (hook shot or something.) It may be a hidden spot to begin with. Something right in front of your face but hard to spot. It might be a pit you jump down into thinking it would kill you, but no, in fact you can and there is something there. It could entail something very cryptic. To do a certain thing you’d have no idea would bring you someplace. Though they aren’t from adventure games I have two examples. Like when Simon Belmont knelt down in a certain area for a moment (in Castlevania 2) that revealed a lower area. Or in Final Fantasy 6 you rested in a bed as the character Cyan in order to enter into a dream realm. There were many characters in Final Fantasy 6 and it wouldn’t work unless it was Cyan who chose to rest there.

        Besides that special areas could just be special areas. Places of mini games held on a single screen or a few. A gambling thing perhaps. A witch's strange store. That guy through the waterfall or the hobo under the bridge. NPCs in their caves or other hidden spots. Unlikely random occurrences too like something may appear but at low odds. Conditions might have to be a certain way for them or it to appear. It all enriches the game and can be a fun part of programming it.

Philosophy Of- Even though I mention Zelda a lot I must. It is the premiere adventure game. Others have always just been side dishes. In making your game go about it in your own unique way. So many adventure games are just an imitation of Zelda. An adventure game is an adventure. The name serves it well. It is an accurate name for a genre. It turns the world into something mysterious and magical. It involves the player into discovery and exploration. It has you learn something in one spot then another something in another until it is all brought together. You go from knowing nothing of your little world to knowing everything about it. It is always a fun game to turn on and learn more, wondering what that will be. It is challenging in its own way. Sure there are difficult enemies sometimes. But the real challenge comes from finding the hidden things that have eluded you. That is why I can really appreciate the title screen for the original Legend of Zelda game. It provided a list of everything that was out there to find. That way the player knew there was more to find. They even knew there was a more powerful sword to get.. Somewhere in Hyrule.

Variety- A variety of characters, enemies, items, tools, weapons, upgrades, places to visit, types of places, areas to explore, dungeons, towns, music..

The RPG Game-

Characters- In the best RPGs it is all relationship driven. One character may be fond of another, one may despise the other (until they prove themself) and one might be a loner. One character may have known another since childhood, a character may be attracted to another, and one may be protective. That is the relationship side of it. They are always trying to figure things out together. Sometimes they don’t agree about what they should do next while other times they are certain. But they are always working things out together.

        Characters have their own personality. There is the tough kind, the goofy kind, the responsible kind, the serious kind, the fun kind, the smart kind, and so on.

        

Enemies- There is the evil king (or queen) after greater and greater power. One that is corrupt is gradually becoming more powerful, a threat. S/he might even have an agenda to destroy the world. They might be using magic to warp everything into a dark world. They may be trying to “open the doors of darkness.” They have all sorts of soldiers and things on their side. You however are just one person among a few that have decided to take them out. It is not as easy as that and could be a long journey before getting to that point. You might have even been on the side of the ruler until you witnessed the worst things being done by him or her.

        There might be a sneaky enemy behind that king. The king just wants to rule, is the lesser of two evils anyway, while a figure behind him or her wants nothing but destruction. Maybe that king got more than he expected and became corrupted in the pursuit of power- a new and twisted character that no longer can even be considered human.

        The king and his people are ever searching for you. Sometimes you are on the run, sometimes you are well enough hidden, sometimes you are unexpectedly found. Sometimes you are a thorn on his side. Sometimes you just narrowly escape. In the process you may have been helped out of prison by an unexpected ally. Along the way you find people who had the same purpose at heart. Along the way they each have their own struggles and back story- the reasons why they do things, the reason for them to keep going on. There could be periods in the story where you are just tending to them. Some may have betrayed that king, sought you out, found you, and joined their party. Or you could have helped them out of the clutch of the king and so they join you.

        

Weapons- RPG games should be lush with weapons but I would say “up to a point.” After all it is good to have some choices on what to buy but if there are too many the player couldn’t get them all. Otherwise you level up for money to spend in the store but cannot possibly get it all. There are so many different ways to get weapons in an RPG. They can be found in hidden chests, they can be made from a mix of things you find, dropped from an enemy, stolen from an enemy, just given, purchased, and so on. I like how Final Fantasy 6 had a battle tournament where you bet your weapon on the fight. The better the weapon the better thing you would win. Some weapons have magic powers infused in them. Others have a stat effect. Some prevent status ailments like poison. A good RPG gives you a feeling of evolution like starting out with wooden swords to going to diamond swords. Some characters have an inclination towards swords and others bow and arrows. Magicians use wands. There could be special attributes to them such as “the cursed sword.” It has great potential if you could remove the curse from it. Some weapons are found in highly elaborate places which entail their own adventure. Some come after a series of bosses are defeated like “the great dragons.”

Tools- You could have flying machines of all kinds- the skys the limit. You could include mech machines if you want. There could be submarines or there could be machines that take you exactly where you want to go. You could go about on a hovercraft, a raft, or a boat. If things are in a future setting then there are many devices and sci fi things you could put to use. If in a modern setting, cars. Final Fantasy 8 had a lot of high techy stuff. Final Fantasy 6 even had a castle that could travel underground. We may have slightly thought that was silly but it worked.

Items- Sometimes an item is cursed. If you cure the curse it becomes valuable. Sometimes a monster is in a chest. If you defeat it you get the treasure. They could just be bought, put into bookshelves, behind bookshelves, a wall clock, a treasure chest, a put, dresser, barrel, ect. I guess the only real question is if something you put into the game can have a thing in it for the player. Take time on this. Take time to proportion things. Proportion is important. If you give the player too much then the game will be too easy. If you don’t give them enough, they starve for good things. Place the better things in more hidden spots. Have the greatest things be earned. What one needs for the area should be around to find or buy. Like a plant that causes poison and a remedy found close enough by.

Mechanics- There’s a choice between random battles, turn based battles, or action battles (live action.) Don’t feel too old fashioned for preferring random turned based battles. Even after the years and years we’ve had 3D gaming games are still being made with turned based fighting. It is a very clean form of battle. I myself think of live fighting as being messy- stuff all over the place, less strategy too, less time to think. Not so much chess as an erratic card game. That’s just my opinion but I’m not alone. Random battles are not so random anymore though. You see the enemy on the screen before a fight starts. It starts with contact. There are even items that scare them away if you don’t want to be bothered. Random battles to begin with were because of technical limitations to old systems. They couldn’t possibly program all of those enemies into the playing field. One mechanic is to have a trigger attack. That if a button is pressed right before you hit your enemy then the attack power is increased. For the sake of strategy and fun, spell casting should be robust and diverse. For example the “reflect” spell makes spells bounce off you. If the enemy has it too then you have to bounce spells off you to land on them. Or taking their magic power through osmosis. Spells like shell and protect, increasing your defenses. Enemies being weak to certain elements. Casting Float so the quake spell you cast doesn’t affect you as well. These instead of just some ordinary spell casting.

Graphics- Some games make it realistic but some make it like cartoons. Some are 2D. Some 3D and others are 2.5D. Towing castle walls are always a cool thing. So are enormous statues. There could be a swampy area, a march, a heavy moon, whatever you can imagine. The enemies could be grotesque, more abstract (made up of many different things), or pretty basic like a good looking dragon. There is the thumbnail of the character on the options screen. Some games are so basic as to just have a slightly moving character in the store. These little 2D characters have emotion described by lighting up their faces and making their eyes pop wide open. A nice touch is to have the character’s weapons and shields viewable. Like in a 2D game it is seen for a moment while attacking. Status effects should be visible over the character so that it can be known how to cure them.

        Players like cinema scenes. When I first turned on Final Fantasy 8 I was astonished by it. It still has great graphics to this day.. On the Playstation too. I learned later that some real video was used in it. In the early 3D days they were working themselves up to life like graphics. Now that we juuust  about have it we have started going back to older styles of graphics. Kind of like abstract paintings in the art world. Realism was nothing new.

Environment- Characters can be specially linked to their hometown or homeland. That’s where all of their friends are. That is where the story revolves around them. In the environment could be a lonely home with a crazy old man inside. Eventually you could go under water. Doing so in a breathing mask or even a submarine. And you could eventually go to another planet or the moon. You could be in a dark world and a light world or a world of ruin and a world before ruin. There could be a hidden underground civilization.

        Day and night cycles provide easier and more difficult enemies. During nighttime more difficult monsters come out. On a blood moon maybe even worse monsters could come out. The environment could provide a lot to gather. When brought together they form something good. In fact that has been a popular element in gaming lately. Areas could be specialized for individual characters making them work better there in one way or another. Like if you are a king/queen in their kingdom you get better prices. Like going to your home town with lots of people to help you.

Story- The story is both the hardest thing to flesh out and the most important. There have been many good RPG games. Good, not great. They were bland in story. They fail where others succeed. The games with the better story always win. That means connecting every character. It means to give them all a back story. It means to make them need each other. In good times and bad they alway worked well together. They’ve come through so much. And sometimes they are just enjoying being with each other. There have been moments of happiness among them despite everything.

        Include elements of: love, anger, betrayal, hope, the unexpected, the exciting, the surprising, the sad, the happy, the resolve, the twist in the story, and the personal stories each player carries.

Secrets- “Leave no stone unturned.” Just hopefully there’s not too much. It may be where quality over quantity comes into play. So a player isn’t expected to go over every inch, limit what’s there. Enemies could have rare drops with a 1% chance. An auction house might have a thing up for sale at a low percentage. Like a powerful weapon only sold at 5% of the time. You might have to do a certain thing to an enemy encounter. Such as letting him swallow you in. After the battle (which wasn’t fought) you are then in an underground layer. Some games have had hidden dragons to defeat one by one. Each is hidden. By defeating them all you get a highly valuable item. And it could be that a tool leads you to a place otherwise blocked and you just have to guess when/how/where.

Money And Buying- You might find yourself in a town with really expensive things. At the time you couldn’t afford them but the player could return there later in the game. It is good to show the worth of something by name. For example, going from a wooden sword to silver, then gold, then at last to the “diamond sword.” If you need to sell something and the player is nowhere around a town, you could always put a traveling merchant there. It is good to include interesting items in the game. Like what Final Fantasy 6 had- a thing called relics. They were more than just offensive or defensive things. You never knew what was going to be in the next store because of them. One relic would make your character defend those on low HP. Another would let you dash around instead of walk around. Some protect you against status elements. Another reduced MP use by half. There is always the selling option there too. But “trading” is less common in RPG games. A thing where you could trade two weaker weapons for a singular but more powerful one. How you get money- normally from winning a fight or finding them in a chest, of course, but there can be a lot more to it than that. You might have some piece of junk. You don’t even know why you should keep it. Then you find someone that would pay you top dollar for the thing. Final Fantasy 8 paid you automatically, like a salary. The better you are at the game the more you are paid. Then sometimes the king gives you a lump sum to begin with and say “there you go, go off on your quest.”

Theme- Oh- there could be a lot of choices here. It could be set in modern times or times long ago. Chrono Trigger had you going back and forth in time and among games is a true classic. It could be partially modern and partially far in the past. It could also be in space. It could be in a world much like our own or one that has nothing to do with it. The setting could be apocalyptic or become that way. It could plop you on the moon or take you to places entirely different from the other. Often it is a theme by theme game that does well. The theme could be that you are on the run. That you are hunted down for being the chosen one and a certain King doesn’t want you to overtake his kingdom. That a dictator was becoming more and more powerful threatening the very existence of the world while you and your small band of friends come to stop it.

Interact-ability- The more things that can be found the better, to a point. What I didn’t like about one game I recently played was that a valuable material of a kind had me looking at every nook and cranny I could. That in large cities too, huge cities. Huge cities where any small bookshelf could have contained it. While at the same time it was possible none was there to begin with. It is nice though to have treasure in more than just a treasure chest. Glimmering anything could help meaning that if it glitters it is something to take. Going out of your way for a chest is both a pain and a reward at the same time. I would say just don’t go overboard with how hard it is to reach. Realism doesn’t always serve a game well. It often doesn’t. If we still watch animated cartoons to this day, not only movies, then that proves it. It proves that we still appreciate highly unrealistic things. So to walk in a game is just a drag. It is better to have airships and teleportation routes. Talking to NPC’s (non-playable characters) in an RPG has always served the player well in letting them know what to do next or just for advice. They can also have a list for you to ask them certain things. It goes like “now that that’s explained, what do you want to know about next?” Some RPG games let you hop on a horse in the wild and ride it anywhere. That and a bird or a dragon. Some give you cars to go out in. The fields could contain certain things for you like while cutting the grass. Cutting the grass could bring up hidden money or items. Taking fruit from a tree or things like that give the game more intractability. It puts the game further into the player’s hands.

Places- I remember what got me into Final Fantasy 4. It was just a friend that bragged about it saying “you can go to the moon” in the game. I must have been about 12 years old or a little older. After getting into the game I couldn’t begin to describe how fascinating it all was. They had a perfect pace from place to place. It always feels like you are where you should exactly be. Every place you go to you are there for an important reason and it is so well interconnected to the story. Then when you think you’ve done it all, you go beneath the world. Then after that, the moon.

     It really should be more than towns and castles. More than just some ordinary forest. More than just field roaming. Each place should be a neat place, a special place, or an interesting place. From Final Fantasy 6 comes two examples: the opera house and the phantom forest/train. A lot of games feel unplayable from confusing dungeons. Some are a little bland when it comes to towns. Instead, they should have put some soul into the game.

Simplification- “What in the world am I supposed to do?” It was something I asked a lot in just about any RPG I played while younger. We didn’t have the internet way back in those days. In fact I went to the mall on the other side of town (in a big city) just to look it up in a strategy guide, then went home. Maps can clear up a lot of confusion. Reducing the amount of items and weapons can be a good thing. Otherwise you may not know what to use and when and if you are a completionist then it just asks too much. The story, the cut scenes, text it wants you to read should not be too much. It is always good to be able to skip a cutscene. The battle system shouldn’t be over complicated. The player should have a sense of what they are doing and how to do it. Turn based battles are still around to this day like in the video game Octopath Traveler. So that doesn’t have to be off the table. It is a simple and manageable system after all. Fetch quests should not be too taxing- not over and over again. Players have a lot to complain about when it comes to them.

Mood- How do you make a sad scene? How do you make the player laugh or get excited over an event? You need to have the player interested in his characters to begin with. You want the player to relate to them. Probably the most emotional scene I have seen was when Palom and Porom sacrificed themselves to save their friends (Final Fantasy Four- you could see it online) or when Rinoa was out stranded in space when Squall, for the very first time, put himself at risk to save her. Plot twists could raise the interest of the player like when it turns out the main enemy is one’s brother or father (ever since Star Wars..) Giving the characters a soul, giving them needs, wishes, emotions, life, connects them closer to the player. It is when the player wants the best for the characters and wants to learn more about them that life has been put into the game.

Attack And Defense-  Good RPG games have it in depth. Some weapons make one stat better but not another, as compared to something else. It is like a thing where you choose which is more important to you, personally. Sometimes what you need is a certain defense to a certain spell. Depending on your character type each has their own kind of weapon. For one a bow and another a wand. Some are more defensive characters there to revive a fallen party member. They are like the castle wall. Stats can be adjusted just as needed, immunities put in place, greater defense in one area, greater strength in others.

        RPGs have countless ways that a character can attack. There is the dragoon. The dragoon jumps high and lands with a spear. The blue mage captures monsters and turns them against enemies. White/Black/Gray mage, we all know those. Soldiers/ sword carriers, bow and arrow, bards and their musical weapons, and the dancer. I don’t really have any advice here. All there is to say is to choose just what you want to include in the game.

        If a list is helpful: summoner, magician, warrior, monk/fighter, thief, alchemist, ranger, and merchant. There are talents that conjure monsters, cast a wide array of spells, the martial artist that gets by well with their bare hands, the warrior that doesn’t need MP, the thief that takes useful things, and chemist that can make things from other things, the ranger who can spot, the merchant and cheaper prices. I would just invent one here: “inventory person” s/he makes your inventory better. Can fix broken or cursed items.

Abilities- Establishing abilities per character is one of the most important things you can do. It is a thing as old as RPGs themselves. It started with the job system. Each player is given a job: black mage, white mage, warrior, archer, ect. And since then has been fleshed out even to this day. More commonly, now, it is more ability than job. They can all do magic. They can all do what they want to for most part. But a character may have a specific talent to him or her. I would say just pick your favorites and include them. Or invent all new ones. I really like “blue mage” abilities. Where you take the power from who you defeat. Taking an enemy's power has always worked well in games. If you need some good examples, Octopath Traveler has a ton of them.

Special Stages- Or special areas. Sometimes they have hidden chests or some kind of hidden thing. Sometimes at the end of some kind of underground area there is an especially good thing waiting for you. Sometimes it is a sword in the stone type thing. Sometimes you are suddenly thrown into a dream or nightmare. There is not much more to explain about them, nothing important. Then there are mini games. Some love them, others hate them. I don’t like the precision based ones like “let's all push this button down and the exact same time,” requiring precise timing. There are those that are more fun like going on a race.

Philosophy of- Has a good story. Has a good battle system. Has a good inventory. Is fun. Stirs the emotions. Is involving. At best it is captivating. Feeling of a journey, a quest, for an important purpose. Leaves you wanting more. Leaves you wanting the very next thing. Is not boring. Not taxing. Not overbearing. Not bland. Making a good story is a high priority. Among game geres there are no games so story rich nor by necessity. But a good RPG must have a good story. One that involves the character. Modern RPG games are so that they practically produce their own movies. Since what action you take controls the direction of the game, it kind of has that effect. There are just some things to be aware of that could ruin the game. The battle system for example. If it is cumbersome and hard to learn (as opposed to intuitive) then that could ruin the game. Getting lost in some dumb place- then, after finding your way through, lost in another. You gotta have a good composer. Good music could make every difference. Then there is balance to consider. That things be well proportioned.

Variety- If a character always has a unique attribute to them then they’ll always be eager to find the next character. If they are just more the same then that could never be true. What’s more- you should assign specific items/weapons to specific characters. It is things like these which diversify them. You should have lots of weapons and items but not too many. To this day a problem in random battle RPG games remains: not enough variety in encounters. Seriously, even modern games have way too few. You might find like three or four of them from place to place and that’s it. Why? We have the space available in games now that could provide the player with much more.

The Setting- Final Fantasy always has a great opening. Whether it is jumping right in with Cecil in Final Fantasy 4, the flashing thunder and story behind Final Fantasy 6, or the abstract introduction to Final Fantasy 8, it is always good. It is almost a rule that the game’s prime enemy is a dictator. You and your humble little team are going after him. Along the way he thwarts you all he can. He scoffs at your weakness at first. There is the setting of the crystals which were taken by a wicked King, all for ultimate power. Some games have you awaken in your bed and that day was truly life changing. That is of the character that “was chosen” to save her or his world. Final Fantasy had espers instead of crystals but for a similar idea. A better idea actually, and a brilliant one. I am sure they were thinking “what can we do this time instead of crystals?”

Magic- Magic is a good way to introduce fireworks to a fight. They come forth with dazzling graphics. They are just more fun than a sword. They can do so many things that physical weapons cannot. After all, when a player is playing a video game they are wanting some fantasy. There are three types in these games: black magic, white magic, and effect magic. We all know what black and white magic is. Effect magic is changing things like status, stealing magic from your enemies, and is more neutral. It can be guaranteed that the player will want some cure magic and life returning magic as soon as they can get it. As with attack magic it is all set up to where each spell has its own worth. That’s by making some vulnerable to fire magic and others to air magic. They even go back to old lower level spells if they want to save some magic energy. Some games let you toy around with your enemies with effect magic. You can take their magic, take their HP, reduce their stats, shift their vulnerabilities, blind them, and so on. Really I could go over example after example but you would be better off just looking into them online. For the purpose of having ideas as to what kind of magic will be in your game: the internet has everything you could imagine. From there you can take them, modify them, or exclude them.

        The question remains though: how will the player get magic? Will they get a new special while level-uping? Will they find them in stones? Will they buy them? Will some just be given them by an NPC? Stuffed in a chest? Gotten after defeating a boss? Will a wise old wizard just remember them at one point? Or they can be attached to certain weapons and items.

Sports, Racing, Board games, Card Games, And Gambling Games: It has been said that a sports game should have a lot of action to it. After all, that is the nature of most sports: strenuous and continuous action. When John Madden was presented with his football game he told them that it didn’t have enough players on the screen. That football game series is the best of its kind. There was a chess board game reiteration that had the pieces come from Star Wars. Gambling games are a thing considered shovelware. They are buried and forgotten. They are the cheapest games to buy used. They’d be very fun in online or two player form. Not that it has to have you gambling real money, either. Nintendo changed things up at least three times. First the racing game with Mario Kart, second the fighting game with Smash Brothers, and third, “Mario Party” when it came to board games. Then there’s a fourth game that did this: “Punch Out!” F-Zero and Excitebike both put more on the table too. Everyone was just doing more the same until then. As far as racing games go they come in wildly varied forms. The super scaling in Out Run was quite nice. Spy Hunter puts you into a setting where you blow away vehicles ahead of you, some which leave oil to avoid, and helicopters trying to shoot you down. It is a James Bond kind of game. Rock and Roll Racing had you going on a certain loop. You had weapons in it. Like for its name sake rock and roll music accompanied it. You could race in anything- from wave race to a unicycle game, it goes far beyond just cars. Any sport you can think of can and has been in a video game. Naturally the more popular sports do best. Maybe there should be an NWBA- women’s basketball. There could be a very fleshed out olympics game. You would have so very many options to what sport you would play. If that could be licensed anyway.

        These games are leisurely games, you could say. You pick them up and then maybe 20 minutes later you have finished them. Yet when you go back things go differently. The same applies to board games. As far as board, card, and gambling games go, they are easy to program. If you want them to be that is. A game like Clubhouse game took every last card game and public domain board game you could think of and made it into a game. When they couldn’t get a license they changed it around enough to allow it in. What’s even better is you could play it all online.

The Open World Game:

The future of gaming is open world gaming. Those worlds will only grow larger and larger and be more and more personalized. It will be a simulation of the ordinary world. It will be full of people on earth joining together electronically. It could be made to simulate the regular world closely or loosely. It could be a mix of those two. Whatever best implementation of simulated world socializing that can be done will be done. You could even call it “the second reality.”

Characters- You could be a thug or just a hero of some kind. You could be the villain. You could be a rebel in a tech noir world, you could be anything. The world itself could be well suited to you. You can do things you’d never think of doing in real life. You could hop in any video game car and steal it. Without worry, without concern. You can gradually become a part of the people, rising in rank or stature. The world could be very earthy, sci-fi feeling, or a fantasyland you could come to know.

        You are the character so you choose how you will look and what you will do- and the more choices given the gamer the better. You could set up your own place within the game, with things inside that you have brought there. You could have friends in the simulated world to whom to talk to. You could join in on what they are doing or vice versa.

Enemies- The enemy can be soldiers in some fight against you. The general behind them is especially important to dispatch. You could go at it 007 style, sneaking your way through and getting through in clever ways with tech to help you. If it's more of an RPG affair then there could be major bosses scattered throughout the land. Human characters within it too may oppose you. The main enemy could be a crime boss and you want their power. You could become a king within a fantasy realm if you “play your cards right.” The end boss could be a dictator or someone you seek vengeance over. Maybe a guy that got a bit too magically powerful, for evil intents. Gangs and their members could be your enemies. Aliens of the worst kinds could be your foes. You could just be in competition against another with an objective to outdo her or him.

Weapons- There could be that special one bullet gun. You could have high tech implants in your body- perhaps illegal ones got in an unscrupulous way. Weapons from small to large. From a little hand gun to a rocket launcher. Or things like garden tools if that is all you have at the moment. Things that go boom and things that cause a lot of destruction can come into your video game hands. Your bare hands could be your weapon. So can anything that can be thrown. Anything can be a weapon. While making a game the programmer might consider it. Like they put a frying pan in the game. Let’s have that as a weapon too. The kitchen utensils, too. And this kitchen will have a really unique one.

Tools- Those can be keys. And if you can’t get through the door you can always hack it down with an ax. You could go into a witch’s kitchen and fool around with her potions. She is gone and you have the room all to yourself. So inside you start pouring this and that into a bottle and quickly leave. Then using it later it has this really strange effect. Hell, you might have even come up with something way more powerful than you thought it would be. You are in someone’s home and they came back. In a frenzy and weaponless you try to break through the window. A large shard of glass falls down and you see you can pick it up.. Or maybe a great apocalypse occurred. Almost everyone is gone so you have many many houses to yourself and all the time you need to explore them. Like taken right out of “The Last Man On Earth” starring Vincent Price.

Some Help With Ideas- You might answer the question “if I could control (this) in a movie, what would I do with it?” When you are watching any movie you could get inspiration that way. A lot of games were inspired by movies overall. My favorite example is Metroid being influenced by “Alien.” Thinking in themes.. There is a lot to be learned from that. For example claw hands. They are found in Shredder from TMNT, Vega from Street Fighter 2, Edward Scissorhands, Baraka in Mortal Kombat 2, and Freddy Krueger. Star Wars had the Death Star, the sphere. Star Trek had The Borg, the cube. Lesser known are the Mantrid Drones from LEXX, which formed a pyramid. The point is we don’t want to outright copy other ideas. We rather want to do them in our own way, giving it our own style. The more inspiration we have the better. It is in our own unique combination of things that we come up with something new and different. Inspiration should come from many sources to make that creation something great.

Mechanics- One game would restrict you based on a stamina level. So that you could climb or run just as much as it allows. Eventually you can get to higher levels just by increasing that level, however that is done. There are target aspects to weapons making them a little easier to use. You could have it so that the player can dash out of the way of an attack. One weapon may be heavy with a slow attack. Another could be light with a fast attack. Your character can crawl where they need to, rush through if required, and maneuverability is important. Real world physics just does not translate so well into a game. Video games have their own rules. That is why characters should do things like turn direction in mid air. It is why characters should be able to run a marathon at a constant pace, never tiring. It is why a day may last half an hour instead of twelve.

Powerups- Health boosting items, better guns, more bullets, a bullet proof vest and those kinds of things put strategy in the game. The player might have rushed through and failed again and again before they learned they need every powerup they can get. They even have to go a little out of the way to get that special gun. Maybe things are more laser gun based and special packs you attach to the gun makes it blast stronger. Maybe with that same power you can increase your own energy level. It gives you extra needed energy at the cost of your gun’s power. Guns could do so much more than just shoot bullets when it comes to science fiction games. They could make a hole through a thick metal door. Or a hole on the floor to get to a lower level. They could heat things up to prevent another from leaving with their hands. They could have gravity effects. They could xray through walls. Then there are special suits that let you do things you could not otherwise do.

Graphics-  How do you make graphics impressive? One way is to have places  tower so high that it is difficult to spot the top. You might give it a cyber punk look. Like Blade Runner- full of neon signs, massive hologram ads, and cities packed to the brim (that gives the player a lot of places to explore.) Something like Final Fantasy 7. Just by seeing the slums you get an idea of how poor the people are. You can impress through variety. Every city has its own look- every neighborhood too if your game is particularly large. That way you look forward to the next place instead of it just being another thing the same. You might be going for a more eerie look- the horror setting. In that case make the player feel like they are being followed around. Shock them, surprise them, much like a horror movie. Games might contain the truly demonic. Then at the end of the game you discover you were dead all along.

Environment- It can shift from daytime to night time. Some nights give a full moon. You could have a dozen moons if you wanted. The rain comes, the lightning too. The winds come and a breeze is seen in the grass. Maybe a volcano might erupt if you don’t complete all of your objectives in time. Fish of many kinds swim through the lake and in the ocean you might find sea monsters. The night time has constellations, maybe they mean something. It could all be a zombie apocalypse. A war zone. A place of exploration or a future place complete with flying cars and those things we dream of.

Story and Setting- You are a gangster. You are a thug. A mobster. You do special transports. You do jobs for money. You are good at what you do, never getting caught. Or you are a warrior. You are on a quest. You have an objective to save the world. You gather with the magicians. You form into parties. You live to make the world better. Or you are in a dystopia. People expect certain things from you. Things are generally lawless. You are wanting revenge- someone killed your brother. You are in a world of pirates. You want to take your throne back. You are in a street gang. You are on a journey. You go to different dimensions. You travel to other worlds. You are part of an alien race. You are defending humankind. You are a soldier or a general. You are in a war. A war in the game world suddenly broke out. The winner will determine the new King and Queen. You are a scientist looking for something. As far as video game physics goes you are very knowledgeable and people seek you out for your help. You are a peacekeeper in the game, a police officer. You have certain duties within the game if you are to get paid. Your objective is to put your gang against another’s and win, so that you are the new crime lord.

Secrets- There could be a piano keyboard that needs a certain melody to be played. That melody is shown in some area or another. Sometimes it is a key card that you need. Sometimes just something that will smash the door open. They could be things hidden in a desk. A fallen enemy may have something on their body. Certain conditions may be required. Maybe things are a bit different during a full moon. I remember Silent Hill had a very imaginative one. There was a grand piano with a note nearby. I don’t remember exactly what it said. Something like “the dove flew over two black crows then returned to the crow behind him.” So you played a white key past two black ones, then played backward as described.

Money And Buying- For ideas you could think “anything in our world that could be bought, but how do those things go best into a game?” If you can answer that then you will have a lot of good things to add to your game. There is not a lot to say here. You just take whatever is in the game and have it up for sale. I guess the one thing that isn’t so straightforward is just what kind of shops there are. It can go far beyond just weapons and items. It could be a restaurant. The food boosts your stats.

Theme- The theme should just be two things: what you want and what others want. As to what that is it is in knowing: what do others like and what do you like, and how that can best be put together. The setting could have you be a gangster. It could have you being a soldier. It could: have you being an assassin, a god killer, a knight or prince, a warrior, a mythological being of your choosing, a dark elf, a fairy, you could be a demon or an angel, you could be a hero, a villain, or an antihero. You could do what superheroes do or villains, as commonly expressed. It can be a thing in an alien war. It can be a CIA thing or a thing where you are in a historical world. Things could be a battle royale. It could be a “Purge” game. You could be amongst zombies- or ghouls, vampires, monsters, and demons. Your agenda may be corrupt like becoming the Antichrist. I guess a good place to start is to just figure out what you want your world to be about.

Interact-ability- It is a good thing to have NPCs lead you to different things according to where you would naturally want to go. Through them different paths are found. That the NPCs have at least a few different things they could lead you to. The environment having things that can be taken from it can allow for some good exploration. That includes things like these: fruit from trees, wood from trees, weeds and plants with special properties, boulders with gems, pools with potions, bugs, fur, stones, feathers, treasure, and things like weapons. I would say for anything you put in the game have it be useful in such a way. If you have a bird, have it drop feathers, if you have a tree give it fruit, if you have a dead animal let the player take its meat, its fur, and its bones for whatever special use. One idea could be to have those from a unicorn be especially valuable. Piece by piece, every little thing, give a special purpose to. You can add items/tools that let you explore further. One for smashing boulders and another for digging things up. Plants to seed and to wait for them to grow. Giving something magic power through lightning and collecting the “magical rainfalls” that occur on certain blood moon nights.

        Every room may contain its own unique thing. Maybe you want a different suit. Maybe you want an illegal implant that gives you some sort of power. There could be a store selling weapons or whatever else. There could be a library of useful information. There could be an arcade room where you can play classic games. There can be a place where you rent or pawn things. There can be highly useful tool stores. Buy a rope to climb, shovel to dig, key to open, and in a more gangster game things for more sinister purposes. There could be a storage room for your inventory. There could be online friends with their own homes. There could be a place where you get a license. Such as for a job or a right.

Places- Can include: the graveyard, the swamp, the desert, the dungeon, the tomb, the cave, the field, the temple, the castle, the pit, the forest, the glades, the abandoned home, the village, the town, and the ruins. Those are more in a sword and sorcery style to things. In a more realistic world there could be different forms of entertainment- like an arena, a place of competition with real world players. There could be a horse race. Maybe a Mortal Kombat area if they could get it into the game. It is processed into a more cinema like style for the viewer. Those that you would bet on could win you a lot, and them a lot too. And if you get enough money you could get the newest car. The top players could all be in Millionaires Row. A place where people come from far away places just to meet you. There could be hidden places all over the place. Like going down into a sewer (might need a video game crowbar.) Lots of exploration: the more the better. To venture and wander off into a new area, new land, new city. Wanting to know what is on the horizon and not being limited by human limitations.

Constructing your own virtual world has become a popular video gaming thing. Those like Animal Crossing or Minecraft. People are wanting their own virtual world. They don’t want to have to be playing all the time so much as building/ creating/ improving a virtual space.

Simplification- Don’t have too much for the player to look for. In such a way as that s/he has to go over every nook and cranny to find something. That is like one of the worst things about real life: not being able to find something and spending an hour to find it. Why would someone want that in a game?

        Quicker transport is always good, or a character that can run fast. A good map is invaluable. So is the ability to clearly understand it. Not having too lengthy cut scenes or a story drawn out way too long. Making the story cohesive and compact is a good thing.

Attack And Defense- About anything can be prey. The land can be full of life- small to large, of any type, from regular to monster, or just bugs. Anything could be a weapon. A branch, a stone. Fun ways of destroying enemies could be there. Like an arrow to an explosive barrel. Magic arrows that hone in or other seek and find weapons. You could roll a boulder down a hill to smash someone. You could shoot out their window with an arrow. If that’s the only way to get them to come outside. You could sneak up on your enemies. You could plant square bombs wherever you wish. They will stay put until you might need them, hitting them with an arrow, when you see monsters are nearby.

Abilities- Those could be about a lot of things: magic, weapon talent, shape shifting, conjuring, abilities from tools, better stats- more stamina, abilities coming from something you have earned, and others. Magic might be to have an energy field around you, casting some form of elemental magic (earth, air, fire, water.) raising spirits for your defense, or just using it to find things. Your sword could build up power over time or be infused with spells. There could be a priest that could bless your weapons, for a fee, making them more powerful in some way or another, by choice.

        To go over more about magic: it could have gravity power- lifting and moving things. It could similarly transport you. A magic key could open certain doors. It could open very heavy tomb doors or a boulder to reveal a way down. A necklace or ring could have the power. Maybe it is just in a scroll that you find- or gotten after a missing piece to one is found. Magic could come from a flute. Could come from a bean, a seed, or plants. Could come from the dust from an area- and a bottle, perhaps a “white sands” area. There could be special wax for a special candle and the magic will stay as long as the candle burns. You could get some indication of what magic it has by putting a symbol on it. For example if a shield has a certain magic it’ll have a symbol for that magic on it. It could be that dead things in the field will emanate with glowing power indicating you can draw magic from it.

Special Areas-  Maybe the most special thing about the original Legend of Zelda was the way hidden areas were found. You could find one by burning down a bush or by moving a tombstone in the graveyard. Although what was inside was very simple- just a person giving you something, at least it wasn’t a hassle. It was a no nonsense thing. It was worth finding. These days things are a great deal more intricate. There could be hidden areas by winding around caverns and forests. The whole landscape could be loaded with hidden areas. Hide and seek elements are really fun “last person standing wins.” With worlds so big special areas could be all over the place. Like in a tricky spot to see outright. There may be a hint to where it is. A sound beeps when you are near one for example. Then there are areas only gotten to if you have some kind of special tool. Like thorny vines all over the place which first need to be burned down. Really just about every area in the game can be a special area. If they have their own unique things and just a bit of exploration then they are.

Philosophy of- More and more open worlds are becoming more complex. There is no person in them without meaning. You have a lot of choices in them. Choices to play and focus on what you want to. There are quests or just objectives. There are opportunities to become stronger either the easy way or difficult way. There is a lot to take from the land and use. The player could at any time change their focus then change it back. If they just want to go wandering around looking for things then they can. If they want to know what a far away area is like they can go there. Along the way they have a lot to discover. A game is a game. It is a game we don’t always want to be “playing” however. There needs to be things like interludes or more casual things. There needs to be more leisurely moments. Just like real life- sure we have board games but do we want to play them constantly? Video games offer both game and nongame things. That way we can pace ourselves better. If the player has something to turn to along the way which is not an important thing, then s/he will play longer.

Variety- Variety has a lot of different environments. To have forests, fields, swamps, mountains, hills, cities, towns, ruins, and so on. The forest has a lot of life to them down to the very leafs of the trees. The boulders would have gems in them. The rivers have a lot of varied sea life. Good weapons could be found here and there. If you have certain tools then you can get even more out of the land. The monsters and beasts are all around and are things the game maker took a lot of care to make.

The Platformer Game:

Characters- Make a mascot, start your franchise! Just be aware that no matter how cool you try to be, no one has outdone Mario.. a plumber. Human characters often do the best. They are more relatable. But you could have yours made from any animal you can think of. Naturally you want one that hasn’t been done yet. That’s not always practical. Just about every animal has been used in video games of one kind or another. As for human characters, as I said, they usually work best. Some examples are Arther from Ghouls N Ghosts, Ryu from Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man from Mega Man (mostly human), Simon Belmont from Castlevania, and of course Mario. I guess the next step would be to give him, it, or her a power. First design the character just how you want it to look. Then give it some attributes and a back story.

Enemies- A lot of diversity is good. If you do it well then it is a lot of good, without filler. It depends on the theme. If you are thinking things in a gothic castlevania style then they are a certain consideration. Or if your game is more inclined to imagination like the mushroom kingdom is, a lot of ingenuity and imagination is required. I would say to not have anything out of place. It would break the player away from fantasy. It is always good to have enemies that move around and act differently. Some are slow. Some fly. Some swing around, and others leap at you. It is good to have a lot of action and movement on the screen. It also keeps things out of the ordinary and plain. Variations of enemies is a good thing to work on. There are the weaker kinds then there are the kinds you have to look out for. It also simplifies the whole process, but in a good way. Color swaps actually go well as long as they contain something more differentiated.

Weapons- A complaint I heard about Super Castlevania (SNES) was that the regular weapon (the whip) was overpowered. It basically made the special weapons useless. The main weapon was always preferable. Not to mention it didn’t require any power ups like the others. A good way to go is to cover every area. For example the axe  is lunged in a rainbow like arch, the dagger is thrust straight forward, the holy water is tossed right in front of you, and some weapons go diagonally. Weapons can be more than just a real life weapon. They can have gravity effects making enemies go straight up. They can flash and freeze enemies. If you are going to make an all new weapon then that’s good. If you simply cannot think of something new then you could take what is there and make it somewhat different. I remember games that used yo-yos, bouncy balls, and then there was the Bionic Commando grappler. Rygar had a whip with a saw disk at the end of it. I think I would use a staff star hybrid. It is a staff that has shurikens at the tip. Those can be shot out or you could swing it at your enemies. The stars could change based on power ups you get. Some stars freeze, others are fiery, ect. You are free to use my idea.

        Weapons can be spiced up a bit. Instead of a throwing star going straight forward and that’s it, it could go back and forth. Instead of a fireball just being lunged it can bounce. There can be a charge to the weapon or the weapon can have a special power if your health is full.  

Tools- Could be an animal you ride that helps you out. Those can be any number of things, not even animals but dragons or something. Doesn’t even have to have life, could be a skateboard. Some platforms may help you reach a certain area. There could be a hidden block you smash that makes that platform appear elsewhere. Like a question mark block that when you smash it from below a question mark comes out of it. A question mark block making a question mark come out.

Mechanics- This can make or break a game. It is never fair to play a game where you just don’t jump right. Castlevania has a “heavy” jump. Mario has a jump that can be controlled a tad in mid air. Ninja Gaiden makes things acrobatic in such a ninja way. Mega man is “right on point” if that makes sense. Ghosts and Goblins gave you a step up jump. While Castlevania could be a bit better they are all good examples. However- they may not be if they were put into a different game. You have the strong reach weapons: a boe, a whip, that weapon in “rygar,” a long sword, ect. For proportion they may have medium strength compared to shorter weapons, which have more power. Then sometimes the fireball goes more downward then straight. And Super Mario Land gave you a bouncy ball. There are thrusting weapons, swinging/arching weapons and so on. It is an “if not done one way, then another” element in a game that solves its own problems. People always like wall jumps. Wall climbing to go along with it. And wall jumps come in different forms. Sometimes it is more like leaping from wall to wall, something you get stuck on where you land and from there climb up and down.

Powerups-  It is always nice to take the power from your enemies. Be it Kirby sucking in an enemy to gain its power or Mega Man after defeating a boss, it works well. Super Mario Odyssey has Mario even has Mario becoming things by throwing his hat on them. You could have a powerup that produces a rotating fire around you, for your protection. Or like what Mega Man 4 had- circular skulls. Often in games a powerup will let you get hit more without dying. Whether it is large Mario  or Arthur with his gold armor. One powerup could be you having a shadow of yourself that reflects your every movement, sort of doubling it.

Graphics- Nothing has to be realistic really. Games involve a lot of fantasy and imagination just as they should. Platformers are the most cartoony of video game genres. Mario got a racoon suit but what does that have to do with him flying? Racoons do not fly. What’s more, a leaf gave him that suit. What does a leaf have to do with anything? Why is a piranha plant coming out of a pipe? The gamer just wants to see neat and amusing things. Who doesn’t think mushrooms are strange or that turtles are cool? Still, out of all the versions of Bowser, the one from the original Super Mario Bros game looked the most wicked.. With that look in his eyes while he was throwing axes at you.

Environment- Wind can restrict when you can jump. If you jump against it then you will not make it over. Or it could toss you far forward. The lights can go on and off leaving you to guess where to land or geting the lights back on. You could be dashing forward on a moving train. There’s a jungle setting and a street setting, a made up world, a “dreamland,” a “candy land,” set in outer space, a ghoulish thing, a toy thing, sometimes on a beach, or in the forest. If a platforming game was a musical genre it would probably be pop music. Games like Mega Man and Mario games have “forward bouncing” in an amusing way. Mega Man has the quality of having different sections per level. In other platforming games that isn’t so. Any given screen in Mega Man is unique. It has the same theme, but the theme is not so important. One screen may have you jumping on disappearing and reappearing platforms. Another might be an especially large mini boss (like a great big dog robot or a hippopotamus one.) Then one screen is the robot “top” coming towards you to give you something. Even the enemy boss at the end of the level is a separate thing. You get to him after passing through two gates. I think it is a good and underused idea: try to make every screen its own thing. Maybe every two or three if you prefer.

Story- The story could be explained very quickly. Just having a brief set up of everything on the title screen or start of the game. Like in Ghouls ‘N Ghosts you see the Devil taking your spouse, you run after him and there you go. New Super Mario Bros Wii did a similar thing to how it shows Bowser take off with the princess. Then Mario is seen going after her. Or the title screen could provide a sort of cut scene like in Mega Man 4 or the NES Ninja Gaiden games. The manual for the original Super Mario Bros game provided a story that most don’t even know: Bowser, the sorcerer, turned the people in mushroom land to bricks. Kind of grotesque! To think that the mushroom that makes you larger was once a person. Neat though. My point there though is that no one needed a story as might have been assumed. As for Ninja Gaiden you get a cutscene after every level you beat.

Secrets- One door has a lock on it and you can only get the key after defeating a certain boss. Or it may be in a tucked away area, one well hidden. It could be a thing you would think would end your life in the game. Like allowing the quick sand to take you under. In every other quick sand you die if that happens. It is to swim just below the screen while in water, going underneath a platform. Some secrets come by smashing the walls- of which not many are even breakable. It can come from something unexpected. The secret item might require a certain condition to obtain. Such as having a certain amount of coins or time on the clock just when you beat the level. It could come up totally randomly- or not entirely randomly. There can be things that increase your chances. You “raise the odds.” Then there is the more typical thing where you just fly up to some place.

Money And Buying- Money can be represented as money bags, coins, dollar signs, or gems. Along the way you can purchase things that would help in any  level. You could buy power ups, tools, extra lives, magic, or extra energy. You could also win more of anything with the roll of slots after a level (like in Super Mario Bros 2.) But that’s just an idea for an idea. You could say that 100 coins buy you an extra life in games where that is so. Just consider it an automatic purchase without a guy graphic to buy it from. If you have 5 special coins which are harder to get, then all you really did was buy an extra life at the cost of 5 coins. There’s no rule saying that so many coins wouldn’t give you something other than an extra life but it is much less common. For example 5 fire coins give you a fire based powerup. To add an effect to it the coins could be surrounded by fire so you know what they are for.

Theme- Make your own world. Be like Walt Disney. Be like McDonnald’s with its special characters and happy meal behind them. If it is seen as a person’s very own unique thing then you will always have something your own. Character by character- doing what was done before, only your own way, will take you far. Put cool things together not worrying if it makes sense. Good things in games don’t usually make sense. Let's give the player a different place to be, somewhere outside the ordinary world.

 

Interact-ability- That could be something like moving blocks around in order to reach higher places or have something else happen. It could be picking up an enemy and tossing it. You could smash bricks to get to other areas or have something come out. There could be a switch that turns one thing into another or brings something into the level. The player can ride on top of things- like an animal, a magic carpet, a platform, a vehicle, or skateboard. It could be having power ups that let you engage in the whole level. If you have a store of special suits (ala Mega Man) each with their own power, then the gamer will have a lot of fun learning which to use and where. You could have transport doors as well, or pipes or whatever those would be in your game.

Places- You could a whole world within a theme or you can change themes level by level. One world could be about ice or a single level could be. Areas could include: desert, ice, giant land, forests, clouds, water, riding on (  ) areas, fast moving platforms, upper moving, forced side scrolling, towers you move up, castle, cathedral, wasteland, and much more. Within it all could be rooms.. Rooms where you get neat things or where you buy something. Mini games if you want. The sky’s the limit. You could have a pinball-like level. It could be a time traveling game. It could be a journey setting, a quest, a purpose, a revenge objective, saving someone- a friend, princess, your team, or it could be a “take matters in your own hands” sort of thing. There could be a lot of climbing up and down like in Wizards And Warriors. And your platforming game could also be an RPG.

Simplification- Most of all don’t make things unreasonably difficult. Like by not blessing your character with a good jumping mechanic. Unreasonably difficult means that no matter how much skill you have you just can’t beat something- or do something even as simple as crossing a certain platform. It involves too much luck. There is nothing the player can do but just hope it’ll work out better. So in simplifying the game the gamer should find things easily maneuverable for them.  Hordes of enemies are no good. It expects too much from the player. It has a “crowded” feeling to it too and nobody wants to be crowded, even in a video game. Ideally there should maybe be three or less enemies on the screen at any given time. You might space out the flying enemies from the ground enemies. Flying enemies are known to be particularly difficult. You could give the player a sense that a monster is approaching, too. For example a zombie that rises from the earth. You see it coming up so you at least have a few seconds to get ready. At least some of your enemies should be that way.

Mood- It always seems like a jovial mood works best. Among video games you could call platformers the “pop” genre. The more amusing they are the better. To have a cute little world before you. This isn’t always the case but the best ones are like that. There are two good exceptions I would mention though: the old Ninja Gaiden and old Castlevania games. The setting can be spooky or gothic, “dark,” “dire,” “adventuresome,” or at best offers something that hasn’t been done before.

Attack And Defense- Platform games have a lot of timing to them. You have to dodge incoming attacks just on time. You have to work your way through a mess sometimes. There is only so much space you have to do it right. Some enemies go straight toward you. They even do so slowly. Others have a wave kind of pattern and those are always more difficult- the “bird in the game,” as some gamers say. The bird could be highly erratic like diving down on you or could just be a bat nuisance. They always act more like flies than they do bats. Your shield or suit of armor could protect you if that applies. Or whatever suit you can think of that matches your game style. There is always some sort of suit or another that would go well in your game. They don’t even have to make sense. There are questions that should be answered: does the weapon break the game (make it too easy?) Does the sword strike like you want it too or should that be improved? Have you found the best powerup or should you keep looking? Is this one kind of useless? Should it be removed? You could have lots of normal power ups throughout the game and just one or a few of the especially powerful ones. The more difficult ones may require a tricky strike while jumping down (the powerup being in between the upper and lower part.)

Abilities- The most popular is probably that which lets you fly. When Super Mario 3 was being made they didn’t want the player to just be able to fly through all of the levels. So they made it where you have to build up “P Speed” before you can lift off. Quite brilliant! It is like what a real airplane does. They would later make many different kinds of flying. There was the cape which added a lot of things like floating forward and increasing your air time. They had a helicopter hat in later games that were more a burst upward thing. Made you a bullet going straight forward. If there is a way of flying it has probably been put into the Mario series. Lets not forget the frog suit that lets you swim better or the little boot you could get into. You could turn into a stone for a moment so as to be invulnerable. Or toss hammers, fireballs, ice balls, or whatever else. If you are going to use pre existing ideas then you should add a different touch to them and do them your own way. Otherwise, go ahead! The hammer bros powerup in Super Mario Bros 3 lets you toss hammers. That was it. In your game it could smash bricks to possibly get a special thing. Your fireball may be more like a stream- increase that powerup and it could go forward in a rainbow pattern. Just add extra touches and do it your own way.

The Platforms Themselves: We have a spring to jump higher with. There could be a moving platform that does their own unique things or just moves you forward. That forward movement could be seen in a line it travels up and down on. You could ride on things that have wings. You could get higher by standing on something that jumps up high. The platform may appear and disappear so you have to jump on them at just the right time. The platform may fall apart shortly after you land on it so you have to cross from one to another quickly. The platform may need a special thing to reach. Like a spring board you bring to it. The platform can be a moving vehicle like a mine cart or a water boat. Ghouls and Ghosts had it where a flood of water came over the platforms and if you weren’t on the highest one you’d be washed away. Super Mario World turned dolphins into a platform.

Fun- Fun is being in a place with a lot to do with a lot of difference/variety there. It could be amusing or magical or it could be exciting. It keeps you moving forward with purpose. There is always more to discover. There are a lot of secrets in the game. The hoppy boppy fun of Kirby’s Dreamland keeps things rolling along very well. While some games are “collectathons” which are shallow in content, others have a lot of substance to them. A diversity of powerups goes far. Maybe it is like what my music teacher once said, to “introducing new instruments slowly is a good thing.” It brings in fun to put in special areas that are for nothing more than getting as many coins as you can. Also having a different mini game area for extra lives. You could ride on animals along the way, or a spider. Or you could ride along in a cart- gamers always like mine cart levels. Then there are levels that have you swimming along deep in the water. You could make a special area be a cavern full of diamonds. Some enemies go smoosh and some divide into two. Some have spikes going in and out- so don’t jump on them while they have their spikes out. In Mario Bros. 3 there is also the ball and chain and ghosts. Those were very inventive. The ghosts only chase you while you are not looking. If you can come up with ideas like that you’ll go far.

Extra Touches- Any time you could take the ordinary and make it better then you are doing a good thing. Players always like seeing a different kind of the same thing. To have regular turtles- no threat really. Then later in the game there are turtles with spikes on them. You cannot jump on those. Then there are the more beetle looking turtles in the same game. Mario 3 brought wings to some of the goombas. It also made giant versions of them. It could be compared to Reptile from Mortal Kombat. He was green suited and a hidden character in contrast to Scorpion and Sub Zero. People like a “part two,” you could say.

        Extra touches can mean much more than just that. It is when you make things more animated. It is taking a moment that is meant to be special and making sure it is. It is to go a tad bit more than the ordinary. It means rejecting ideas that are lesser than others- and not being stuck on a thing of lesser potential. To not just be able to fly but to be able to fly in a certain way. Or to have a thing that only appears one time in the game, a few of those. It's making sure the colors are right. That the graphics are done the best way. It is to “spruce” things up. You will know when and how those things apply.

 

Special Stages And Areas- They are always a good addition to a platformer. While on the map you may have a special item that will get you somewhere you otherwise couldn’t get to. Some may be mini games. Mario Bros. 3 has a lot of them. They can range from card games to little puzzles. They could even be a more fleshed out mini game. If in some levels you meet a certain objective then you could enter a special area. That could mean something like so many coins per level- no more and no less, and if that is done then there you go: a special level or area appears. Another example is a gift giving house on the map. As soon as you are able to get to it there you go: there’s someone inside that will give you something special. Then some are areas in the level that are hidden. You fly there, go down or into a certain thing, perhaps you break a wall with your weapon. Some are time limit areas where you get as many coins as you can before the time runs out. The game can have two exits. If you reach the more difficult exit then the player will get a mini game. That mini game can give you one of three things: a power up, an extra life, or something lesser.

Philosophy of- Fun is always a good way to go. So often when a good game was made they said their objective was just making it fun. Sometimes making things amusing is a good approach. Sometimes a thing gothic in nature is appealing. In games like these there is a lot of freedom to make things amusing. Things don’t have to make sense at all. The whole world the gamer is in can be as imaginative as Alice in Wonderland. That is if that is the style you want to begin with. I would say that Mega Man is among the more “amusing” games. It had cute robots all over the place. Ninja Gaiden though was much more serious, even dire. It served such a mood very well. An urgent need to continue forward. There is a type of game called a “collectathon.” That is a game where you do nothing more than collect things. It is blandness for sure. The environment should have you doing a lot of different things with choices to how you will do them. They should have bumps and curves, climbing, maybe flying, maybe looking around.

Variety- A side scrolling game sometimes lets you choose which path to go. Some let you choose which level order like in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. Often they place an upper world/level, lower world/level. They could have a good amount of different power ups. Sometimes a level takes everything from before and makes it giant. Other times one place is ice based and another a desert. Some levels aren’t, but collection areas and mini games. Here’s the same thing but with wings, or an enemy that acts a bit differently from its own kind. Whatever gives the player variety to escape the mundane is a good thing. Give them time to “un-think.” Lots of secrets keep the player going. Who knows what it would be like in the next round, and the player wants to know.

The Metroidvania Game-  I have a lot of love in my heart for metroidvania games. They are the games I have fully immersed myself into, without complaint. I was always excited about what was around the corner.

Enemies- Take Super Metroid. Its monsters were all.. Monstrous. They were all distinct. Some were enormous (or one was enormous) one like a ghost, another like a dragon, the Mother Brain was a large brain controlling the whole planet. Deep in her pit Mother Brain threatened the galaxy. Castlevania games contain the truly monstrous as well. So what foul creature can you invent? Well mechanics should be considered. It might be just as important. It is what makes the monster more than its looks and if its looks have to change due to it, then so be it. Something could look like the most evil thing in the world but just not translate into a good enemy as far as fighting it goes.

Weapons-  Nothing serves quite so well in a metroidvania game that does its weapons. That includes abilities taken from the enemies you defeat. Weapons depend on character and setting. Some have a mega man-like gun (the original metroid) others have bare hands. If you think outside the box then you may discover other options. You can get the soul of your enemy if you defeat them enough- per kind. Those bring you a special power. It has always gone well in games, taking your enemy's power. It could be that if you beat enough knights then you get a magical sword- the kind that flys around protecting you. Beating enough fairies has them follow you around and protect you.

        One thing that defines the Metroidvania genre is the items you gain to go further along. That means a higher jump, dashing powerfully into barriers, shrinking in size to reach harder to get to places, blowing up a thing in the way, freezing enemies to make platforms out of them, talking to certain people, finding certain people, stealing an ability, taking on an ability (like after defeating so many enemies), getting help from a person who can do what you cannot, and searching around for that hidden entrance. Lots of exploration with a map that helps you through.

Mechanics- In their nature Metroidvania games are closely connected to their mechanics. There’s the double jump and the space jump. There is wall hopping. There is the forward dash and the defensive jolt backward. The player can eventually do virtual acrobatics. They gain shoes that give them the power to jump right on top of enemies and destroy them. They can double attack, triple attack with a gained ability. The broad sword is strong but slow. The rapier is fast but weak. One weapon is favorable for a certain enemy while another is not (hopefully this doesn’t make switching around a problem by making it too often.)  

Powerups- It's a good idea to save the best for last. Make things fit around that instead of vice versa. To have a powerup late in the game which speeds you up makes the player feel the game itself has sped up. What once annoyed you about an area becomes something blasted through. That instead of climbing you now fly or super jump to. Things you didn’t know posible or consider comes into play. It can even make the whole of the game different, better, giving you more interaction with it. There should always be more upgrades to be had hidden all over the place.

Environment- Metroidvania games often have differing environments. That's per game and per in-game. Sometimes it is like an anime “demon-scape.” Something gothic, something “dark.” It could be an alien world of the worst kind. The graphics themselves can be very impressionist. They can be more of a strange feeling shadowy place then something clearly understood visually. Some are very pixelated and don’t really have anything out of the ordinary. A good metroidvania is full of the most evil looking enemies ever seen in a video game. They are monstrous, sometimes demonic (really even the large alien bosses in the Metroid series are demonic looking) and large. Things can be swampy, in a demon overtaken village, through a bridge under a full red moon, in a cathedral no longer saintly, or climbing further and further up a tower.

Story- The gates of hell have opened up and you, being a half demon demon hunter, set out to break the curse. An evil has arisen in the land and you set out to.. Break the curse. You could be on an alien planet. You could be an assassin of some kind. You could be in the line of evil fighting warriors, a type of chosen one whose time has come. These kinds of games aren’t story rich. I haven’t seen any that are and never felt they needed to be either. Basically some demons were unleashed and you are a half demon half person that wants to restore the world. The main enemy is an old friend that became corrupted. Someone deceives you. That sort of thing. Just an example using Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Money And Buying- Want a haircut and a new suit? Those can be bought. Or for a suit that could come from bringing together different material that you have found- even fought for. There could be demonic worms that give you a little silk each time you defeat them. That’s just an idea. Metroidvania games often have you obtain pieces of things that can be brought together to make something. Iron can make a suit and feathers can be added to shoes letting you fly. Super potions and spells can be made the same way. I have played a game that lets you plant seeds, return to it, and there you have a potion of some kind.

Interact-ability- Metroidvania games are full of things that don’t let you pass without a certain item, powerup, weapon, or ability. Once you get it though then there is not just one more thing you can do but many. And the rest can even be made easier or faster. There is the shrinking down in size to get through a narrow area. There are certain weapons needed to blast through a door. There are higher heights to reach with a super jump. You could freeze your enemies and use them as platforms. You could go to every nook and cranny to find something and the map helps a lot. It shows you where you haven’t gone yet like a missing piece. There are treasure chests in whatever form. Metroid did so more uniquely with its Chozo statues. Finding a more unique way to do the same thing is always good.  

Places- To make a list out of them: an alien world, a demon infested world, the gothic cathedral, a cursed land, a ghost ship, a clock tower, an ancient building, the swamps, the lower realm, the village under a blood moon, a bridge to cross, the tower, the castle, blood fountain, ruined land, the graveyard, the pit, the temple, and the sanctuary. These could contain things like giant bells, something like a blood red moon above a bridge is nice, taking an example from Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Each area has its own things- a place for fairies and a place for the undead. Then there are teleportation areas which metroidvania games always need. A sanctuary area as well for recharges or saving the game. Then there are shops to include and perhaps a person you can always go to for advice.

Simplification- Two things must not be left out: having a map and allowing for fast transport from area to area. Players don’t like to take a long time getting somewhere. It shouldn't be an exact area you transport to, I wouldn’t say. Just a transport into the general area. Switching between weapons should be streamlined.

Attack And Defense- These can be attached to stats in an RPG sense. It could also be that every weapon or shield has a ‘level two” element to them. That is, the same sword, only more powerful- perhaps being given magic, forged better, or sharpened. An attack could be added to jumping. That where whatever you make contact with is harmed by your jump. In defense you could leap around or dodge things better and better. You could call on spirits to help you. “The spirits in the sword.” All kinds of new magic can be obtained or an upgrade to your primary weapon. Some weapons take magic power. As such have limited use before they must be recharged. Then there are weapons used and used again. If you want, you have the weapon brake after a while. That can be annoying if overdone but adds the fun of using many different weapons and finding the best ones- the more durable ones, the stronger ones.  

Abilities-  These can be taken from every last enemy the player defeats. Each has their own special little power, item, or weapon to give you. That is, after having defeated a number of the same thing (as opposed to the first time you do.) Then there is the mixing of items. Say if you collect an amount of iron then you can create a sword with it. That way you can create potions, weapons, and other things. Turning smaller, shadowing/doubling yourself, becoming invisible to your enemies, becoming fireproof, blasting through things, and grappling from wall to wall are other things.

Philosophy of- Metroidvania games are a lot of fun. They involve becoming more powerful and able in so many ways. They are full of truly demonic monsters. They give you the power of the enemies you defeat. They are about exploration and there are lots of things to find. You can find materials for new things so there’s that too. They can be very spooky or pleasantly gothic. It is a game always changing. One hour of gameplay can change the game entirely. New abilities should be multifaceted (they should have many uses instead of just one.) They should have a lot of purpose. More than that they should make things more fun. The ability to do a cool new thing should be made into as much fun as possible.

Variety- Variety shouldn’t be any problem with how Metroidvania games handle it. It takes some thought as to what will be in the game. There are a lot of enemies to make. A lot of environments to hone in on and perfect. There are lots of weapons and powers to make and balance out. Taking the time to do so however should lead to a very good game. New abilities- the coolest you can think up, various monsters doing their various things, tricky monsters sometimes, those that are evasive, and easier monsters in case a player is dying for a powerup. Environments that change, from one type of terrain to another. Putting you in the depths of something or its heights. Landing you in a wicked cathedral or whatever else.

Making The Best Beat ‘em Up:  

Style is especially important in a beat 'em up. Streets of Rage put you on the streets with nothing but your fists and some fallen weapons to power yourself through. The music in the game can’t be beat. Golden Ax puts you into a sword and sorcerer setting. I can’t even think of any other game that has done so. In that game you had the warrior, barbarian, and dwarf choice. As so often they are balanced out in a quickness/power sort of way. Fast but weak or slow but strong, then one in between. Golden Ax also lets you hop on strange beasts to ride. It reminded me of the movie “Heavy Metal''. Games at the time had very good inspiration behind them. So often the Japanese people creating them were inspired by American movies. I have heard of that again and again. (Even Metroid.) 1980s movies helped good game making. There is the element in many Beat-em-Ups that gives you one special attack at the cost of your energy. Turtles in Time let you throw your enemies toward the screen. It lets you slam your enemies like a rag doll too. You could fall in sewer holes. It was a game that included racing elements, and going back and forth in time, among other things. The Ninja Turtles arcade games influenced Battletoads- a beat ‘em up that is all over the place. It all started with games like Double Dragon and The Adventures of Bayou Billy. They are still being made. These days with improved graphics but just as it is in the nature of beat ‘em ups they remain in 2D. Sure there are a few with 3D but not many are. Shredder's Revenge recently came out and went right back to the old TMNT beat ‘em up style.

        These are the best things to include in any such game: Weapons that you can pick up, which were dropped by your opponents. Things to ride upon. Occasional powerups. Magic, if it applies. Special attacks. Good music. Different moves: the kick, the use of your weapon, grappling, punching, ect. Multiple players to play as perhaps, that when one dies the other enters, by choice. Having one character be better at one area and another for someplace else. Varied enemies: a common complaint about beat ‘em ups is that there are too many reused assets. Branching off into different paths is a good thing to include. Having an enemy boss at the end. Having enemies enter in different ways: like through a door, from a vehicle, from above, ect. Being ganged up on if you are not careful enough- adds strategy. You could add to it things like elevators, fights on a train, things like that.

        

The Shoot Em Up- Then there is also the “cute-em-up.” They could be side scrolling, overhead, straight forward, or single screen games. Then there’s also the “isometric” which moves diagonally. Shoot em ups are as old as games themselves.. Literally. The very first video game was one. It really suits the oldest consoles. There are those that have you shooting upward at “alien invaders.” Those where you shoot in a circle (asteroids.) Then the forward scrolling ones. In some of those you both drop bombs and shoot forward. After graphics improved so did the games and they went into a mostly side scrolling or forward scrolling form. Lots of complexities were added to them. They don’t even have to make sense. Sometimes they have living creatures in them that you shoot while in a spaceship. Then there are the “cute ‘em ups,” a type of shooter with a lot of candy and childish things. That is just how it sounds. You can’t have a shoot 'em up without a lot of different guns. The laser, the spread shot, the great blast.

        There is an art to these games. That art is how enemies come after you. Surrounding you, circling you. The player has to keep their eyes on things at all times because one slip up could kill you.

The Run N Gunner-  Games like Contra. It really feels like Contra took the shoot 'em up and made it into a side-scrolling game. You just blast every little area you could while dashing forward. The heat of the game was continuous and didn’t let you rest except in certain levels. In those certain levels things were simplified for a moment- they were slowed down. That made a very good game that is still loved and enjoyed today.

        The game gives you various weapon power ups. One regular shot and another wide shot, or a laser beam, etc. With enemies coming at you from all over you will need the best you can get. The landscape you are on makes you do different things or just changes things. Like a bridge blowing up right while you are crossing it (prompting you to do it quickly.) Or there could be a wire stretched out that you must hang off of. Things can emerge from anywhere above and below. A helicopter can suddenly appear trying to gun you down.

The Fighting Game-  Games like Street Fighter & Mortal Kombat.

Characters-  I have noticed they do a lot better when there are humanoid fighters in them. Those are fighters you can relate to. It’s always been known that a good fighting game needs a good balance between characters. This can be done by making a character slow overall, but powerful. It could make a character weak overall but with an especially powerful power up. Like Zangief who was large and slow but his attacks and special attacks were more powerful. Each character can have its own unique characteristics. Some major bosses are able to shift into all the other characters. Some are monsters- slightly to entirely. One might be a wrestler, another a boxer. They might resemble some mythological being. They could be otherworldly or just mysterious. They could be someone from a certain culture. Then they could just be some regular martial artist. Normally it all fits within a theme whatever that theme is. I say just take pen and paper and come up with the coolest characters you possibly can. Take inspiration from where you can- all the best games do.

        The look of the fighter can determine a lot when it comes to how they will move around and attack. The skinny guy will most naturally move about quickly. The tall muscle bound man will most naturally move around like a brute. Female fighters can dance around while attacking just like Chun Li. If a character is meant to be a Bruce Lee like fighter then naturally you will give them martial art like moves. They all have their own stances too. The martial artist has a stance the same. Legs apart, arms forward like from Kung Fu. The boxer has his fists in front of him. The big strong guy has his arms forward like he is going to grab you.

Mechanics-  The mechanics should be “graceful” most of all. As though they are like gymnastics- as though they are like real martial arts. It's never been said so but I believe that is what they had in mind when making Street Fighter 2. They wanted the player to feel like they were performing martial art moves. There is the strong but slow attack and the fast but weak attack, then the medium. There can be grappling or grabbing. Strong and weak attacks. Flips and things-gymnastics. Lunging forward and backward- sudden speed could be a good effect as can “getting out of the way.” Some have you bouncing off the side of the screen. Doesn’t make sense- there’s no wall there, but it works. The most important thing for a fighting game is its mechanics. Without good mechanics it will just be an ugly unplayable game.

Power Ups- Usually done with code inputs. Sometimes you have a break meter that gives you a special attack when it fills up. There is the old hold down button to power up things. Chun-li & spin kick, Blanka & electric shock, Ryu & fireball.. With your own to come up with.

Graphics- There have been both digitized graphics and claymation. Then just sprite based, cartoon like, pre rendered too. Some are 2D and others are 3D. There is a bit of space for the character to go further left and right. You can make it as wide as you wish. Big characters are desirable. Samurai Showdown had about the largest you can find and what a great game! That alone made it better than others, at least in that regard. There could be demon based elements to it much in an anime style. It could just be a street fight or it could be set in some future. It could be otherworldly or something further back in time.

Environment- The background setting can represent the character or some spooky place. The environment itself could be interacted with such as having a spike pit. You could be in a circle, the border of the gameplay area you cannot step outside of. You could be in a wrestling kind of gym. The background could allude to secrets. Under certain conditions you could go to the background for a different kind of fight. It could be the background of different real world areas from Japan to America.

Story- Normally it’s not more than a brief story for each character and maybe a little more after that character wins.

Secrets- Some include the code based inputs done to perform special attacks. Others require certain conditions to be met and when they are something special happens. For example if you see something appear in the background and quickly input a certain thing then something happens. If you win two rounds without being hit once or things like that.

Theme-  There have been many themes when it comes to fighting games. Some are horror places and others just martial arts on the streets. The characters themselves have ranged from dinosaurs to clay figures. The goofy ideas don’t seem to work out well. Who wants to fight as a clown doing clownish things? A player wants a feeling of power from his or her character.

Interact-ability- The neat thing about fighting games is that each player has so many tricks to pull out against the other, and vice-versa. You never know what a player is going to do until they do it. If they sense you are going to jump kick them then they may uppercut at just the right time. Timing is important in fighting games. If the player is going to spam the other with jump kicks then the programmer should have considered it a broken move and fix it. It's kind of cool to pit brother against brother- Ryu & Ken. And it's cool when the characters know each other. That is why they are in the tournament. They all have their own abilities. Some might spam just one. Some may spam the jump kick. Mortal Kombat has it where you can uppercut someone who tries to do that. You might have it where the character blocks just by pressing left. It seems to work better. Or you might have a block button.

Simplification-  A game with too many fatalities and friendalities and so on is a game that has become convoluted. It is a “what trick to pull out of the bag” problem- there’s too many to choose from. Things at that point are harder to grasp. Having a hundred players with none to choose. It’s kind of bad, kind of good. If you are making sequels and sequels to a game then there is an important thing to consider: is your game becoming too bloated in any single way? Should you focus on character quality or add to them animalities, babalities, friendships, ect.? There comes a time when enough is enough. It is better to release a little at a time. To have one set of these new fatalities per game. So be careful when having too much of the same. People would just stop caring.

Attack And Defense-  There’s the choice of either having a block button or just pressing backwards to make your character defend. Powerups in the game should “mix” well. They should make you expect the unexpected. While one person playing expects one thing, another can come from a blind side.

Abilities- Every character has their own special power moves. One has an uppercut and another has a grappling move. You might have the character able to change forms- maybe to other characters or their spirit animal. There might be a way of powering up by pressing down a button. That might have to be done without getting hit. Otherwise your attempt to powerup will fail. There can be a gradually growing special power meter. If it reaches maximum then you can use that special power. There is the strong punch/kick and the two weaker ones. The weaker ones are fast, the strong, slow, but damages more. Then there is a stun effect. Every so often the character is stunned and becomes vulnerable. Some are bare fisted, some carry weapons, some have monster arms, others prefer to grapple. Then there are combos. Killer Instinct focused on these when no other fighting games did at the time. That is in how one attack leads to another- something like a dance. One move after another until you have attacked the other fighter a dozen times.

Special Stages-  Break the bricks, smash the whole car in a time limit. Show the skill in your fighting moves. Then there are conditions where you’ve opened up a secret area: like was done in Mortal Kombat with Reptile. You are taken to the bottom of a pit to fight him. Sometimes that involves the background which can take you into another dimension. In Mortal Kombat there is a dimensional portal in the background that you can enter into. Really fighting games need more of these kinds of things to add to the overall variety and depth of the game.

Philosophy of- What was once just Street Fighter became a legendary game with Street Fighter 2. It went on version after version each continuing to do well. Then there were people wanting to do the same thing only in their own way. They were inspired by the martial art movies of the 80s which were violent and created Mortal Kombat from it. For most part blood became the norm in fighting games after that. Each game making company brought out their own rendition of the style. I don’t think gamers like the cowboy and indian kind of thing. Like the wolf man and mythological being thing. Gamers don’t want to play as characters like that. They want something that feels more real. They want a fighter they can relate to. The only exception is when these characters come from a popular franchise like Dragon Ball. They took a lot of time making Street Fighter 2 to make sure the moves went together well. They just didn’t say to themselves “give this person this move and that” but came up with a fluid formula to things. That’s the truth found in some interviews. If the mechanics aren’t worked on you come up with something like “pit fighter.” If you go too far into controversy then you end up making a game with fart attacks. Who can’t appreciate Street Fighter 2? Not the first game of its kind but the one that propelled it into popularity. Great popularity. It was the greatest game of its time. When you take a moment to appreciate the music and the characters within it you understand why.

Variety-  Some good female and male characters alike. Go it the Street Fighter way: one character is a sumo wrestler, another a stretchy guy, and another a man in the Air Force. Each has different power ups. Some are energy beams with differences among them. Every character has a more martial arts move like flying straight forward, swinging forward, or thrusting their fist upward. They should each have a different stance. As said earlier that depends on who they are. The music should suit the character. If you are making things nation based then the music would resemble their nation or that can be determined by what the character is. A game could be made that has the characters each having their own weapon. Imagine something like Castlevania. Maybe even a Castlevania fighting game (if you are Konami.) There is the ax that goes in an arch. There is the holy water the other fighter must not touch. There is the forward going dagger, the boomerang cross, and of course the whip.

General Overviews:

Characters- A character should be one that is relatable. While everyone is different that means that there are different characteristics to achieve from character to character. Doing so makes them relatable for whatever type of person. There are those that lead, are more masculine, those that are free going, liberal, there are those that are intellectual, and those that are goofy, funny, ect. They each have their own talents and capabilities. They have their portion of the story, They can do what the others cannot and the others can do what they cannot. There should be characters for every type of person, built around race and gender, culture and interest from person to person.

        There is the “epitome of” method. It is when a single word defines the character. It is done like this: this character is the embodiment of (protector, goof, uncertain, coming into being, punk, perfectionist, picky, intellectual, emotional, ect.)

Enemies- Enemies are a very artsy element to any game. They are creatively made. Some game creators come up with ideas by combining any two earth found life. One reason why Super Mario Bros did so well was because the game put you in a magical land. Not a real land but an unfamiliar one. Some games require a lot of personality behind the enemy. It gives them soul, substance. Game makers have them think and act a certain way with a certain background, purpose behind what they do. Then there are platformer enemies. Mega Man had them doing all sorts of things. Castlevania had enemies that moved about differently just according to what they were. They had the template beforehand. The template was typical monster stuff- halloween stuff, bats, ghouls, that sort of thing. As such it was a game that wrote itself (at least in those regards.)

Weapons- What weapons you have determine how you can manage in the game. You want your weapons to mean something but you do not want them to be overpowered. You want the player to have lots of ways to attack, especially in some types of games. You want individual weapons to be individual in full. That way they are different from each other and that way they have their own purpose. Yet one player will almost always use the sword while another almost always a wand. That’s okay, we are trying to reach all types of gamers, not just one. Remember it is always an exciting occurrence when the player gets a great sword- one alluded to like a sword in stone kind of way, then later in the game that weapon becomes even greater. Even when the player plays through a second time they will look forward to it. Give the player what they earned.

Tools- Tools are defined as things that bring operation into the game. They may or may not be used for attacks but they always allow you to do things in the game you otherwise couldn’t. It might even define the whole game like in Bionic Commando. A tool is like how Mega Man has Rush or Link has the hookshot. They are an essential part to an adventure game. It usually goes something like this: with them the only way through, without them you cannot go any further. The formula really is that simple. You want them to be neat though. You want a diversity of what they do. You might want them to be multi faceted or you might only need them for one specific kind of thing. For example with dash shoes you can both run into a tree (making its fruit fall) or just speed forward. They are things that you introduce a little at a time and out of all the things in a dungeon it is what you want the most: the next tool (if not a weapon.)

Items- Some games get by just fine with only four or so items throughout the whole game. Especially if it is just a ten or so level game. Like Gremlins 2 for the NES. Some games just don’t need a whole lot of items. Others do. Perhaps the most item filled genre is the RPG. I wouldn’t know where to end. Examples could always be taken online and be helpful. As a game maker a lot of research is in what previous games have and did. I guess it's better than reading boring history which some book writing may require you to do. As far as racing games go, Mario Kart really turned up the volume with items. Before that your vehicle may have had a gun on it and little to nothing else. “Got Item!” is a phrase stuck in my head from Mario Party.

Mechanics- There is one ultimately important rule: make the mechanics fair. Make them where the player has good control over the character. Otherwise it is like taking an able body and disabling it which can be quite frustrating. When the player wants to do something then it should be something that they can’t only do, but are good at. It includes all kinds of things. It depends on what kind of game you are making. In a first person shooter it may involve the camera angle. In an overhead game, jumping perhaps (if I had one problem in the Gremlins 2 NES game it was that.) Often it is from awkward jumping. Sometimes it is from the way enemies knock you around and make it difficult to recover. For that reason it is always good to give the character a moment of invincibility. Sometimes it is because the weapon doesn’t hit its mark. The weapon may be too short and it makes hitting anything with it difficult. Then there are enemies that block you jumping onto the next platform. Sometimes the jumping between platforming is too precise. And sometimes the hit boxes of a thing just isn’t fair. Back in the day a player would feel cheated by that. “I DID hit it!” Or “I DID make the jump!”

Powerups- In Super Mario Bros power ups were going up. I think out of all power ups I like the real world weapon form. The ax, the dagger, whip, ect. Like in Castlevania and Super Ghouls And Ghosts. Maybe that’s just me, maybe not. I liked the powers of Ninja Gaiden though. Weapons are listed above and what I’m really trying to talk about is powerups. Sometimes that line is blurred. I would define a powerup as being a non-real world power, overall. The secret to both powerups and weapons is how they move on the screen. That involves length (such as Simon Belmont's whip, or Donatello's staff.) Depends on size (Simon’s Belmonts biggest weapon- the cross.) It depends on direction (the ax in Castlevania that goes in an arch.) And its speed (like a dagger.) Then there are effect-based power ups. They change the gravity. They freeze everything. They create a shield around you. They make acid rain. They create a platform. All sorts of Mega Man stuff. Then there’s a charge attack. We are all familiar with those. You hold down a button to make your blast or sword stronger. The question is, why can’t Mega Man charge his non buster-based weapons?

Money And Buying- There’s nothing like a helpful shop along the way. “A friend in need.” One perhaps in the middle of every level. You know you need them all. You can only choose one though! So you have to make your money count. That’s how some games have made me feel. I have known gamers that would buy next to nothing. You could call them a cheap gamer. Even so much that they go through most of the game without really buying anything. They found ways around. They would use “osmosis” in Final Fantasy to get more magic power. That instead of buying ether (MP boost items.) They’d sometimes barely get by that way. Me? I am totally different. I hoard things like tents, ethers, and HP boosting items. The tent could be used anywhere to fully increase HP and MP. I’d even use them when I didn’t completely need them. I thought it was too much trouble to save some money by going back into town, the inn, getting rest, leaving, returning to the grind. Then there are those in between people. The moderate kind when it comes to buying helpful things. I am a person that wants every best weapon and armor as soon as they appear. I am that type of RPG’r, it is about making myself as powerful as possible through grinding, leveling up, and spending game money on the best equipment. RPG games serve all kinds of different players. Some are completionists, some are there for the story, and some are there for grinding.

        Money and buying is a proven thing. It makes racing games better when you can buy vehicle upgrades. It gives you power ups that you can’t do without but must earn. It can be an interesting thing. Like what that thing will do when you get it because you don’t know. It is a means in a game that excludes the player from just taking everything. It is the best method to make it where a character doesn’t just have everything.

Theme (and a thing to mention)- There was a time when everything was new. There was a first time for the most basic of games to the most complex. There have been many things tried. There have been variations on old ideas. There have been comic book games that made you go from section to section in that look. There was a unicycle racing game. A game called Marble Madness. A game where you deliver newspapers. A game of being a frog crossing the road. Indeed there have been lots of ideas. I think what is happening with movies is happening with games. We are returning to old ideas. The most successful game companies will be according to the quality of their past library. New games are being made based on old ones. For example: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. It was the first game in such a long time that went back to its “Turtles in Time” formula. The same happened with a different beat ‘em up game (Streets of Rage.) Even Mario came into play with “New Super Mario Bros.” And, in fact the first remaster I can think of was “Super Mario All Stars.” These old games either come in remastered form or original form. In Dragon Quest and some other games you could flip from 2D to 3D.

Interact-ability- The most important thing is having the player be able to do what they are wanting to do from place to place. The less important thing is that every little thing has something you can do with it. The more important thing is that they have all kinds of fun along the way. The less important thing is that the player can do every little thing imaginable. Physics can be made to work together. I imagine it is a difficult thing to make that so. But physics can be made that they all come together well and sort of automatically bring about a multitude of circumstances and action per any given thing. In other words one thing works on everything and with everything multiple things can be done. The easy way to do that is by making physics automatically make it happen. The more laborious way is to take every item and make them do something different towards everything. As far as physics go it is like Earth. Objects on earth all react together the way they do because of physics. More and more game programmers are progressing in “video game physics.” The example I would make is in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where it is that things happen in the game that the programmers didn’t even intend to be possible. If you are going to do a patch for your game I recommend that you observe the effect and add to its quality. To make the physics more intricate.

Places- There’s a time and place for everything under the video game sun.. or suns, or moon.. Or moons. Or on the moon.

        Some areas are just to pace things out. They have a bit of exploration to them. They are a neat place to be without any strong purpose of being there. After all, the gamer needs a break from the norm sometimes. Even in one’s bedroom a person isn’t playing around all the time. Video games are kind of the same. We want lots of things to do in that place. A player can be roaming around and a number of circumstances can occur. Sometimes it is a nice surprise. Other times it is an awesome surprise. A place where you didn’t know something existed. There are some cool items there. A strange set of plants you have never seen before. A huge gem right in front of you. Then there is the gamer’s duty to take care of. That progresses the story when they are ready.

        In a platforming game this could be that the next level is even better than before, even though it is more difficult. They’d change things up in a good way. A way that sort of impresses the gamer. The new world they are in (let's say of eight worlds that are there) has everything, only everything is a lot bigger. There are things in that new level that twists things around. That mixes them up and adds to them. They might find a powerup that only appears once in the game.

        And with everything diversity. One town is a merchant town, one level is a desert level, one a water level, one place is for the rich, another for the spooky, and so on.

Simplification- Not being overbearing. Trying to explain things as simple as could be with a system that is simple enough to begin with. Making things as intuitive as you are able. Not being too drawn out with the story. In fact those simple stories are all the player needs sometimes. As for a thing like an RPG the story matters a lot. So long as they are connected to the characters and enemies more than the backdrop. Not including things that the player doesn’t really care about. The player should not be too expected to understand any given thing. Learning it quickly and off hand is always better. When things can be generalized and compacted then that is a good thing. Remember to make NPCs easy to cross over in an RPG. More than a few players were annoyed by not being able to but blocked. They should be more straightforward. It used to be (a long time ago) that RPG games gave you options that didn’t need to be there. Things like “look,” “examine,” “enter,” ect. Even though there was only one way of using it to begin with. Systems in RPGs can be very bloated. They are made by programmers who were a bit too inventive, a bit too “overly smart.” These days RPG games are often a bloated affair.

Mood- If the mood of a game is compared to music, it would be the atmospheric element, the tune that carries along. It entails the connection between the player and the game. It affects the subconsciousness of the player as they go along. It ties everything together. Of course moods can change. There can be a happy moment here and a sad one there. An emergency in one instance and in the next calm. The game maker should tune the player into all of it. They should bring the player right into it and keep them there. They should have the player focus right in. So, they should make the player want something to happen then give it to them. It should capture their interest. If you can do these things then you will have mastered evoking moods from the player.

Music- I used to be a serious musician writing some pretty good classical-style music. Would pin it as “modern Romantic music.” My most important lessons include repetition. Not minimalist like, but familiar to the listener as the music plays on. The most important thing I learned on my own: to emphasize the triad of the scale. For C major that is the tonic then two whole steps and another two (the notes C, E, then G.) For a minor scale that would be the tonic, one and a half step instead of two as for a major, then a full step. So G minor would be the notes G, B flat, and C. There are a whole lot of reasons why these notes are important to the scale. I won’t go over those too much but the tonic (first note of the scale) is sometimes called “the home” note because of how it feels to the listener. Like it is something that needs to be returned to, that completes the music. The second note in the triad is a “resting” kind of note. It is good for a pause. Then the third note of the triad always gravitates toward the tonic. They keep the whole composition “tonal” sounding. Without which the listener cannot understand the music. It is just a big mess without those notes. So with all that explained these notes should be emphasized: by repetition, duration, and frequency. By doing so your music will always be understandable.

        I have one other idea to present. It is something I call universal sheet music. It is a series of melodies, chords, and percussion that can be played in any order. They are mini themes and things played in any combination making just a little of music have infinite performances.. Not literally infinite but you know what I mean. The trick to making it work is that things always go well together. So no one piece of it concludes the music fully. Doing it right is in how the music mixes. It results in music that changes itself and that is variety. You may have an overall theme in it all. One that lasts longer than the others as things change and change around.

        There are lots of tools available for the composer. These “notation softwares” that you electronically compose with which save the composition as an MP3 file that you can use. Then there is also music enhancing software. Unless you are a major game producer they may be the best options. They might be the best and cheapest way to go about it anyway. In fact lots of modern movies have created their score that way and no one knows any difference.

        Consider yourself a magician of sound. A Magusician ? Because music and video games go hand in hand to make magic. The game over sound when you die in Ninja Gaiden or Mario falling from the sky with the wand in Super Mario Bros 3, are quite perfectly done.

Attack And Defense- Nothing ruins a game like a punch that doesn’t hit the target. An enemy that onslaughts you ruins a game too. It causes a frenzy between both you and the enemy. You can have unfair enemies so long as they are avoidable, but then they aren’t unfair. Giving the player many ways to attack covers many game making sins. If it is going to be a good attack it has to be a good jumping or turning attack too. That way you are not so vulnerable while doing either. When 3D came along the rules changed. The bats were no longer static. They were flying all around you. So game makers had to work that in. When considering your enemy’s consider how they would be attacked and vice versa. If you can add any good element to that it is worth trying.

        Counter attacks could be a defense. Wall spells, things like fire surrounding you, a shield, a sword block, jumping out of the way, leaping out of the way, protective spells of all kinds, a more defensive suit, a ring/ accessory that raises defense, “I am rubber you're glue,” sometimes an enemy's attack only raises your HP.

Abilities- Abilities are the spice of a game. It adds flavor to the overall game. What would games be without them? They’d just be a collectathon or something bland. Mario Bros. 2 USA had four characters to choose from, each of which changed how the game was played. Mario was an in between character. Toad was fast. Luigi jumped the highest, and Princess Peach could float. These all had their places in certain levels. Just one little thing can change everything sometimes. A good game is like having a fun toy box of toys.  A bad game is like an action figure that didn’t come with a weapon. A cool action figure comes with lots of weapons and a whole playset.

Special Stages/ Areas- They break up the monotony. It is surprising how easy it is to hide things in video games. Unless the gamer covers every area they can easily miss something. There are a lot of places to look. In the earliest days of gaming the game makers put in hidden areas like in the Atari 2600 game “Adventure.” Zelda really amped that up. Mario Bros had its hidden areas via a vine or certain maneuvering to get above the screen. Then, just a millimeter from death, Mario swam under a platform that led to the secret area. Metroidvania games really do require you to go over every inch of the game. Whatever sneaky place you can put something then go for it. Look at the level you are making and ask yourself if you could stuff something in there. Change things up sometimes. Make what is always ordinary and the same be different in one instance. They see that thing again and again. It doesn’t do anything so they ignore it. But, with all of them in the game, just one of them does lead them to something.

Philosophy of- When people see a clone game they just see an ugly cousin. It doesn’t matter if the game is technically better either. Great ideas can come from thinking how to do any given thing differently. Both differently and better, a fresh thing instead of an imitation. How would you use an idea already there in your own way? To think in terms of “instead of (   ) a (   ),” or “instead of (   ) happening, (   ) happens.” It should bring you a lot of ideas.

        Being the best is just too difficult a prediction to depend on. In fact many game makers thought their products would fail before they discovered their game had reached great heights in popularity. Maybe those that expect the least always get the most. With all the competition out there you have gotta be damn well perfect to reach number 1. You may have to settle with a top ten no matter how hard you try. It’s like a movie. We all know there are crap movies. We wonder why they even bothered. Well a lot of times they were just after a small profit. They know that their movie isn’t going to be a mega seller. They could be unsure. A top ticket seller for a week or two might be enough for them. They don’t have such lofty expectations as to be the greatest movie of all time. It’s unpredictable to begin with. People might end up either totally hating it or totally loving it. I say go the route of wonder. Something that just majorly stands out. Mel Gibson is good at that.

Variety- They say “variety is the spice of life.” That makes sense because without spice things are bland. A player always looks forward to the new gear for sale. They always look forward to the next place in the game. They are surprised when they see an uncommon powerup. They enjoy a new stage especially if it is much different than before. A lot of levels in the game could do this. There could be a set of them that had things the others did not. It makes them individually important, more or less. Different routes to take are good. Finding a way around if you must. Tackling the game as you want to, choosing which to play first and what others to get to later. “There is no accounting for taste,” in order to please everyone you have to include things for different types of people. One person likes the warrior and another likes the mage. Some may prefer to play with their own gender and some with the other gender.

Extra Touches- Little things can make big differences. To just look a little bit more into something and change it for the better can even improve ideas that were bad at their base. Maybe they were not bad ideas all along. They just needed that missing something and “where there’s a will there’s a way.” Often extra touches do not come until the sequel. Especially after a few games the series could have added and improved every little thing possible. Sometimes in the process of making a game certain things just did not work out. Maybe they took up too many resources and had to be scrapped. Maybe they seemed good at the base but lead nowhere. Maybe its inclusion was just too trivial to waste your time on. If that is the case then hang in there. You have removed filler content, that’s all, and you are too dedicated to making a good game to allow unworthy things in it.

Part Two: New (Unused) Free Ideas.

New Ideas: I have a useful formula for new ideas. Some of it is just imagination. Imagination is important. A lot of ideas come from taking old ideas and doing them differently. You want it to at least be different enough for it to be its own thing instead of some sort of close cousin to it. You want the game to be more than a little clone. Asking yourself things like what would be  a good weapon or area in the game goes a long way too. But I think what helps most of all is to take an old idea and do it differently. It can even lead to a game that generally does things better. It can become an intricately different game if you are focused on making it that way.

As far as I know all of the ideas here are new. They are free to use.

Characters- There could be an octopus character you can play as. Each of its eight arms do something different. It could be a character with an octopus head.

        There are NPCs in the game which wave a certain way with their hands (somewhat unusual) indicating they are on your side and are there to help you and your team, or inform you of certain things you need to know.

        In an RPG the Bard could be much more fleshed out. They could summon random angels with trumpets, more black magic based things with a different musical instrument (or maybe a harp for an angel and a trumpet for a demon) then one for monsters. Like a bell for a monster. Flutes could put enemies to sleep, be used for fast transport, scare away enemies, and in short: the bard could be made to do a lot more than they usually do.

        For a fighting game certain characters: One that looks like a Roman soldier would be cool. Maybe a magically powerful ancient Egyptian.

        There is a neon green unicorn to ride which can turn into a beam of glowing light and fly fast. It can also just burst forward fast in a rush of glowing green light. The unicorn’s horn can blast the enemy. There are different colored unicorns. Each color has a different power. One can blast things apart, another like a beam, and another to gather power. There are different colors of saddles that you can get for your horse. Each one gives the horse a particular power.

        The job class of a tailor. The tailor gets you more magical suits or more protective armor. It gives you more useful headgear. The job class of a jeweler. It gets you magic rings and earrings and puts the gems that you find to better use. Instead of “white mage, black mage, red mage,” There is “magician, sorcerer, warlock, witch, shaman, ect.” The sorcerer has powerful red magic. The witch has powerful black magic but the warlock is on a whole other level with it. The magician is very basic. You can add a sage to this: who is more powerful than the sorcerer for red magic.

        Shape shifting done in different ways: Like a statue that has two sides, two faces. Each does their own thing. They do one thing, turn to the other face, then do something different. A character that can quickly change to another that is totally different: like Mega Man amped up. It is an old idea: changing your character to something else at a wim, but there is still innovation to be found. Final Fantasy 6 had espers sacrifice themselves in order to turn into magic stones for your team of players. That can be done differently like by having them sacrifice themselves to turn into weaponry, items, and defensive things. Those things could be imbued with magic.

You can have a character that changes into different animals. As a mouse you can get through small areas. As a bird, higher areas. As a fish, through the waters. You can be a scorpion in the desert. A monkey climbing trees. A lion in battle- or a grizzly bear, ape, or whatever else. Or you could become a fast moving horse.

 Inside a cave there is a strange looking creature who says “I cannot help you until I am changed back.” So, after finding a cure for them they will help you out in some way.

While out fighting you find a very difficult enemy. A person in a cloak comes and helps you. S/he defeats it easily and tells you that if you join their coven then you will receive their help and one of their own will be beside you. The person you gain has aspirations though. Will not be with you forever. If you prove yourself to that person s/he will put in a good word for you.. To become a member of an even greater coven. If s/he sees you defeated too many times though she will leave your party. The game has many characters that will leave your party for various reasons. Sometimes you are trying to keep a really good character by doing well. The game is full of come and go characters. It might even be that your original party isn’t there by the end of the game. It’s all for variety and that variety includes different jobs per character, different possibilities, different paths, ect.

The game can have a necklace with a certain colored crystal on it. You wear it to attract new party members. While going through the game talking to everyone you can but sometimes just being approached by people, you get new characters. The red crystal attracts one kind of person, green for green, blue for blue, black for black, ect. For example a black crystal could be for a black mage and a green for an elf. In fact it doesn’t have to be that specific but can be for a few different types per color. If you want the character to join after that then you can have them join, or you can reject them and keep looking. When you have good money and equipment on you you attract better characters.

Enemies- There are skeletons you fight but games almost always have those be human skeletons. They could be the skeleton of a dragon or bat instead. Maybe after you attack a bat it becomes a skeleton bat.

        There can be an enemy in a painting. When you splash water on the painting an evil spirit comes out of it.

        Instead of a “bullet bill” which is a bullet with a face on it from Mario Bros., one that shoots out of a cannon, there could be a Devil Sam. It is a red devil face that is shot out of a cannon. There could be different versions of the same thing too. Like a skull head shooting out of a cannon or whatever else.

        Instead of a wall hand coming down to grab you it tries to squish you like a fly. Or it could be a hand in a level that transports you. Maybe one that comes out of a pipe (a hand) that grabs you and takes you under. Or maybe it tosses you further along. Instead of a hand it could be an octopus that comes down and wraps around your character.

        Think of the hand in Zelda that takes you back to the start of the dungeon, only put it into other game genres. It doesn’t actually have to be a hand that does it either. It could be a tricky thing in an RPG. Inside the treasure chest a hand comes out and takes you back to the start. That treasure chest could look different from the others, kind of warning the player not to open it.

        In a platforming game if you step on a tombstone then ghosts will appear. Skeleton hands may come out of graves- kind of a piranha plant sort of thing. If you step on a cross then you may be struck with a bolt of lightning.

        An enemy can be a puppet on a string like in a platforming game. It kind of moves crazy towards you. Using your weapon to cut the string, it just falls dead to the ground.

        There can be a dream monster in an RPG game. Like a Freddy Kruger kind of thing. If you use a tent on the playfield to rest or if you go to an inn right after you defeat one, then you will enter a nightmare world.

        Instead of an angry sun coming down on you (as in Super Mario Bros 3) a five sided star with an eye in the middle dives down on you. It even looks down on you, dead on.

        Instead of a twomp coming down on you there could be a statue with a spear coming down- one with red eyes and a little life to their face and movement. Instead of a ghost chasing you it can be like one of those 80s “monster ball” toys- the sphere-like face of a goblin for example. Why not? Also the same thing can make a ball and chain. The ball is the monster head ball. Or, instead of a ball on a chain made of something more like a tether ball. Jumping over those things can be tricky. One weird thing might be a body with a super stretchy head that tries to bite you. And out of the pipe (or well) might come the ball on the chain/rope. I guess it could just be a tube as well.

         If a ghost enemy passes through you it turns you into a skeletal form until you kill the ghost, getting your regular body back. Or you might require special treatment to return to your normal self.

        A man with a mushroom head. He has a human body other than his head being a mushroom. There are four of them. A red, blue, green, and yellow. They spit out mushroom dust. The red dust hurts you. The blue one makes you larger. The green one gives you an extra life. And the yellow one..

        Instead of a piranha plant in a pipe there is a flower/ rose with teeth that bop around. One is a red rose that spits out polin towards you, which damages you. One is a rose that calls on bees to protect it. Another calls on the sun to damage you (like a sun in the sky diving up and down.) The rose makes a song sound to call on them. A yellow sun flower may be doing that. A yellow flower with a star in the center of its top could be your powerup. There could be a pot above a plant that when you smash water falls down onto and becomes a long upward going vine.

        The eight (biologically engineered or something) enemy masters: Lion man, Shark Man, Elephant Man, Grizzly Man, Ape Man, Bull Man, Vulture Man, and Wolf Man. I also recommend a revisit to the game 8 Eyes for the NES.

        Curtains turn into enemies, such as a cloaked figure. Stained glass figures come alive like evil spirits. If you shine a light at a stained glass figure it comes alive, for better or worse.

Weapons- Your sword changes with the environment. If you are in a fiery area the sword becomes fiery. If you are in an ice area then it has freezing power to it. Your sword has a lot of power to it in fact, helping you locate hidden treasure like a magnet.

        More focus on making weapons and equipment level up. So that not only the character levels up but the things they own do too. There could be WP (weapons points) SP (shield points) and things such as those (or only those.) You might have an area in the menu that will level up “what you put in the box.”

        A wand that makes a large bubble. Whatever you capture you have in a pokemon sort of style. The bubble is slow and noticeable so you have to sneak up behind the enemy when you use it. Some beasts are easier to catch than others. The weapon can be upgraded to work faster and form a stronger barrier. In a platforming game: the bubble changes the enemy into something else. It could change them into a coin, powerup, ect.

        There is a sword on a flat stone. When you place your sword across it (like an “X”) then the two will become one weapon. There is a statue with a shield. When you show that statue your shield your shield will get a special power. There is a statue with a sword. The statue has it raised or pointed forward and if you mimic the action then something special will happen. There is a statue with a flute. When you play music before him, again, a special thing will happen. There might be a bird on its shoulders that comes to life- a new thing to help you.

        Having a staff with a star on it- a five sided star where each triangle has its own power.

        There is a wand that sends out turning and flying around squares.

        Using fire power on a cannon. Like throwing a fireball on its fuse.

        Your weapons are more powerful when they are matched. Like an Adamant sword with an Adamant shield. A fire shield plus a fire wand, ect. The mages in the game can have elemental robes. One for greater ice power, another for greater firepower, ect.

        A wand that shoots out a spiked ball. A spike ball that shoots out its spikes. A type of hookshot that sends out a spiked ball instead.

        A sword that turns enemies into other things, such as coins.

        Sword sheaves add power to your sword. For example a fire sheave adds fire magic to whatever sword. Maybe three gems can be added to that to enhance your weapon further. There is a charge up sheave which after fully charged your sword is more powerful. In the meantime you cannot use it.

 

Tools- Having a light wand where it is that you can travel across the light it makes. It makes a road of light you can cross, in other words. So it can serve as a bridge in many areas. Or having a transport ability where you can travel to any place you point a light out.

        In an RPG there can be different color bulbs. They open up a lot of secrets within the game. Some require a red bulb- like placed into the front of a red statue, and some a blue or green, ect. Wherever they are rightly placed special things happen. Perhaps black bulbs could present a different and darker dimension for an area.

        There are magical symbols (symbols plus symbols- the musical instrument and the magical signs.) If hit together in the right combination then something special will happen. You might find one or another during the level, to get the second right one provides a power. It may also be a part of being a music based character (a bard) in an RPG. Also the bard in an RPG could use magical wands on their magical drums. It would have a similar effect to the spell it would cast, only a bit different- more special perhaps.

        You can use a shovel to dig up a health spring in certain areas. Water pours forth from it that provides health boosts until it runs dry.

        You can catch an imp with a net and put it into a bottle. It gives you one wish and then is free again. That wish can be for: extra health, extra life, or extra magic. If you capture a baby dragon with a net then release it, it will attack enemies all around. It has to be done carefully however, else the mother dragon will destroy you. So enter its nest when it’s away. The wall hand thing can be captured and when released will take you wherever you want to go. There are magic marbles in the game (or crystals if you prefer) that when placed into a bottle become stronger and stronger. Eventually they burst. As such can be used as a bomb- a special bomb, one out of the ordinary. One that opens entrances that normal bombs cannot. But if you open the bottle when its power has peaked (before it blows up) then it will increase your health and power.

        You have a wand that you can use on a mirror. The mirror makes the beam come back at you. And accordingly you are changed to something else. You could get a helpful shadow of yourself that way, unfreeze, regain health, more magic, ect. Or you can bound the beam off of mirrors all over the place.

        You have a magic power that brings forth shadows of yourself in a dancing circle. They move and bounce in a circle destroying everything around the circumference.

         A “doubler” wand. It doubles just about anything. You could set a bomb up in Zelda style, shoot at it with a wand, to double the blast and get you into areas that require two bombs at once. Or a growing wand. You make the bomb larger for the same effect. It can also turn one powerup or health boost into two. It can change one coin into two. A growing wand can take a statue and double its weight for switches that require more weight. The doubler wand can also increase the size of a bridge allowing you to cross. It would be a tool that really opens up the world.

        Shoes that let you walk through mirrors into another mini dimension. If it is in an adventure game then the area may contain a thing you need in getting through the dungeon. There can be mirrors in any given home or put in various places where when you get the shoes there will be a lot of new things to do.

        Then there could be shoes that let you walk through paintings. You get an idea of what it will be like. There may be a treasure painted on the wall or an enemy boss which when defeated you get something nice. Maybe you could even commission paintings. The character paints one for you for a fee, you never know what you will get, just pay and hope for the best. Better painters charge more. You may even get magical paint for him or something to make what may have been good into something better. Then you could also take a picture of something and tell him to paint that picture. As a result you would get that thing while you otherwise couldn’t- might bring life to something or something such as that.

Chainsaw in an adventure game? Or a cutting device of a more imaginative kind. It is a tool that might come in handy.  

         There are three flat squares. If you stand on the middle one they will all raise a little then begin to flap. It is a flying device.

        The gambler character can have all sorts of dice and coins. Dice come in gold, crystal, glass, wood, gems, and different colors. They each do their own thing. The numbers add to that effect. 1 can be negative while 6 the most positive. A crystal dice can cast one of six different spells. As well, two dice per type can be used at once. You start out with one and earn the second one, earn all the others. Coins come in the same form: gold, silver, wood, crystal, ect. It can be used to bring a lot of depth to the gambler job class.

        There is a magic color wand. They produce different colors by using magic paint. Each paint has its own magic meter. So on the upper screen you may see a red meter, one green, one blue, and one yellow. That is how much magic paint you have. The wand produces a reverse funnel look (like a cone, you know like an ice cream cone shape.) Which puts the paint on any given thing. The effects could be that by spraying a red paint onto the wall may open a hidden area. Or red may cause a wall of fire to burn things down revealing a hidden area/ let you through. Cast that on a wooden gate or something. Blue could produce a warp point or allow escape. One could capture an enemy for later use against other enemies. Green could grow things, make them larger or something. And colors can be combined for their own effects.

        More ways that can affect the game: certain paint on a certain stone blows it up- which allows you to pass through. Sometimes the paint can dissolve things. In that case it is like green acid on a thing. In some cases the game knows what you want. It presents an object for you. So if you are on a lake and use brown paint it turns into a raft. If you put paint on an in game items (like a bomb or coin) it makes the bomb more powerful and the coin more valuable. There is a shape shifting color (orange) which turns one thing into another. There are a lot of possibilities with the idea.

Items And Parts- There can be a pipe that shoots up water. It brings you to a higher area. Or whatever shoots up water can do the same- like a hot spring. Something can even shoot up lava- which normally kills you, but with a special suit it takes you to a special upper area.

        There are cards of so many kinds: cards of summons, magic, weapons, tools, ect. By collecting three of the same one you get that thing. So, you can summon Shiva by getting three of her cards. Those cards can be sold sometimes, they can be found in chests, hidden some place, given to you, or whatever else.

        There are flipping squares. They become letters. Those letters become words depending on how you hit them, arranging them into a word. That word gives you what it says if you can find the right combination. During the level you can find different letters. There are lots of them. Then, at the end of the letter is a hangman game. The letters for it are there depending on what you got. So it could be easier or more difficult to solve what it is but if you do then you’ll get something. It doesn’t have to be an end of the level thing but a special room sort of thing. It could be more like Wheel of Fortune too where different prizes could be gotten.

        There are jars with wings that float around. When you hit them they break apart and a special item comes out. Some may contain damaging dust that destroys whatever it falls on. Some are just large and empty that you can jump into and fly with.

        There are magic gems in the game called “surprise gems.” They turn into something else and you never know exactly what that’ll be. You take it to a certain person in the game and s/he makes it become the thing. The person doesn’t make it what it becomes, that is already predetermined. It could be an egg instead of a gem. A magician or something cracks it open for you.

        To every given thing a thing that stands out. Like a four leaf clover. Zelda had cracked walls to kind of indicate what could be bombed. This game takes that and applies it to everything. The player will notice when something is just a little different and just from that know it is special. It could be a tree with different leaves. It could be an off color creature. It could be that every now and then you drop a different bomb. That sometimes your arrows are automatically different. The idea is that sometimes things are out of the ordinary and it alludes to something.

        There are magic dice in a platforming game. In some games you get a special item to pass a level (like a cloud in Super Mario Bros 3.) But the idea here for skipping a level is a dice. You can skip up to six levels when it is rolled. It kind of acts like a warp zone too. It is based more on levels (not skipping an entire world so much as levels in the game.)

        Like a tent in an RPG to rest the characters only you can buy a hut. The hut stays there forever, although can be pretty expensive and cannot be moved once placed.

        Having a brick (that you smash like in Mario games) be a dice (die) instead. When you hit it you get a random number (1 to 6) and what number you get is the thing you get, as assigned. 1 could be a powerup, 6 could be an extra life, maybe number 2 being 10 coins, and so on.

Powerups- There is the old charge weapon thing. You know- hold the button down for a stronger blast from a weapon. Instead of a weapon shot though it can energize your character allowing him/her to go through walls. Or you could get a better powerup by charging yourself before it is collected. Like a fire power flower that is stronger if you first charge your character up before they get it.

        There can be a circular image that goes from a dot to a larger and larger circle within it. That is used to choose how powerful you want your magic to be. You choose a spell, hold down a button, and the circle in the circle becomes a larger and larger one. Beside it is shown how much MP that will cost. So the smallest circle = very little while the larger one, more. Let's say you are casting fire. It could go from fire 1 to fire 6. Or if you are casting protect on your party it can go from protect 1 to protect all. Such a thing could clear up a lot of clutter. Instead of fire 1- 6 in your magic menu only “fire” needs to be shown.         

        A timed based powerup. You can only have it for 15 or so seconds. There are things of this kind when it comes to invincibility but I’ve never seen it done with a regular powerup. You can win or find extra time for them. They would be above average in power for it to make sense.

        There is a cube that turns round and round. It has four brass horns that blast while it rotates. Depending on what horn you go under (to be blasted by) will cause one thing or another. One horn may increase energy. One for a powerup, ect.

        In a kart game you can sacrifice powerups for keys. If you get two/three keys then you get a great shortcut. You get a key just for passing over the powerup area without getting one. For a different thing, you can get a key powerup that puts you into a better vehicle. You simply get the key among the other powerups, by chance, and use it to enter into one of the vehicles beside the road.

        The coins themselves are power ups instead of something for extra lives or whatever else. They are tossed, might be spiked, with regular coins still there in the game.

        In a side scrolling game a mushroom powerup except instead of making you larger it gives you magic dust powers. There could be four different mushrooms giving you different mushroom dust powers. One dissolves an enemy, one changes the enemy, or whatever you want them to do. Doesn’t have to be a mushroom thing. Could be pots with dust in them that you grab and have the same effect. And whatever it is it doesn’t have to be four forms of dust. It could be that only one is dust and the others are something else entirely.

        In a platforming game there are batteries for extra energy. Just some double A looking batteries. There could be ones of different colors though and a 9 volt battery as  a supercharger. The         red one for fire power, the green for health, and the third for a special attack.

                                 

Equipment- There are four suits each of a different color. Let's say red, green, blue, and black. Each color lets you do entirely different things in the game. The color corresponds to the colors of the things in the game. The red one involves things like fire and the green one the forest. The blue one involves water and the black one, night time.

Depending on what color you have you can do different things in the game. Until at last you earn the last color suit- all of them, as in a rainbow of colors. Some examples include: you can’t cross the forest without a green suit. Nor can you benefit from things that are green without the green suit. You can’t cross the lake without the blue suit. And it can be a much more intricate thing than that.

        There could be alphabetic letters in a row. Two letters don’t match. The others do. The others spell out a word. For example a row of letters: F A U I R E. The hidden word is FIRE. By hitting the right letters in a row you get that powerup or item. Something that relates to the word. If you get it wrong though then it is canceled.

        There are pieces to a suit of armor and a sword. They are dispersed in far apart areas. If you collect every piece- the helm, the chain mail, the breast plate, ect., then you will have a very powerful suit of armor. Without it all being together though it is useless.

        Gambling away whatever you have. You can offer up your special weapon in a gamble to win a better one. You could gamble 20 lives to get 15 more. You could lose nearly all of them if you fail. Super Mario 3 had its card games. In this game it is more of a black jack or poker thing, maybe roulette with magic marbles you find. You could get a single card during a level- one more or less good. Then when you play black jack your odds are better, especially if you find an Ace card.

        Having a shield that counterattacks, that you can fly on, that protects you over head, that you can use to smash into things, that can “energy extend” away or above you, and that can shoot out and spin around.

        Hats in the game with spirits in them. They randomly appear during battle to help you. Each hat has its own spirit or type of spirit.

        Bows come in different forms. There are wood bows of different kinds of wood. There is flexible steel and many others. The string itself has its own effects. Whether monster gut or magic spider silk. Then the arrows do the same. Wood of a certain tree each doing something different, steel, even gold. The arrowhead can range from crystal to gold or diamond. You can find the arrowheads or materials you need to get exactly what you want. In shops the make-up of them is predetermined. Such as selling a wood bow with a kind of arrowhead. You can have the shopkeeper create just what you want for a fee or get a premade one at no extra cost.

Environment- There have been ponds in games where you get something after throwing something in. Mine would be a pit instead of a pond. There is a demon in the pit and if you bring him four special things (gems or something) then you may enter into his realm.

        The world is very lively during the summer. That is when all the tourists come into town, and more unexpected things happen, things that wouldn’t any other time of the year.

        For every quest you beat a bright star appears in the sky. When you are about to take on the last boss the moon becomes blood red. There is an eclipse but yet there is still light.

        Having the environment change drastically because of one thing. Like in a platformer if you hit a special brick (could be a swirl inside it) a big thing will happen. Maybe a large pyramid appears or a wind that lets you move faster and go higher.

Story- The game world is ruled over by the Twelve Brains. They are brains in containers who control the twelve kingdoms. You are in a renegade team to destroy them all. The last one puts himself into the body of a magically powerful body. They are brains that have brought evil into the world- monsters and demons of all kinds. And the more that are destroyed the more things leave but the brains begin to become desperate and send the most powerful forces against your team as they can. Then the last stand is against the final brain who controls the world from above.

        Your objective is to turn off the machines making monsters.

        At the end of every cursed castle there is a king or queen turned to stone. When you reach them you unbreak the curse, they come back to life, and their kingdom (queendom?) is restored. You must first find the eight virtues, things that make a bad world good. The one that cursed the whole world and all of its kingdoms wanted reparations. The only hero that could break the curse is one with a pure heart.

        Things are very strange when you wake up. Something crazy is going on outside. It seems the whole world has changed but somehow you were not affected. You go outside and some evil looking people shout “he’s normal!” You flee into a cave and there is a guy inside that gives you a weapon. He tells you to go to a certain place and that you are the world’s only hope.

        Your objective is to get the 8 rings in order to rule over the world. They are each found deep within dungeons and are guarded by demonsterous  figures. With every one you get you get a new power.

        Your objective is to restore the bridge between heaven and the world. It was taken down by demonic forces, forces of hell which will rule over earth until the hero restores it.

        Revenge against a terrible king. Your mother was executed when you were very young. All she did was wear the color brown on King's Day. (The anniversary of his kingdom.) Though she praised the king on that day the king thought it was a horrible disgrace for wearing that ugly color on his day.

        The first place to enter in the game is a cave (in this case an adventure game.) Inside is a strange looking creature- kind of grotesque. He says “I have been transformed along with all the others. Please take this [a sword, a wand] and save our people!

        There was an ancient time when eight cups were discovered. All together, in a tomb of a great ancient king. The archaeologist who discovered them drank from one of them, out of curiosity, and became powerful with magic. So he drank from the rest and got supremely powerful. He waged war. He remained in power for a long time. He was eventually overtaken. After that the cups were split up and guarded by eight Kingdoms. But history is repeating itself. There is a powerful ruler trying to take them all by force and you must stop him.

Secrets- There are oval shaped eyes that can change in two ways. First if you hit it with a whip it turns red. Second, if you toss holy water on it then it becomes blue. If you get all of the eyes the same color one of two things could happen (which is?) Instead of a hidden vine bringing you to an upper area a small UFO appears, beams you into it, and sends you to a special area.

        There is magical treasure that has to be obtained in this way: You must find the sage (could be an in-cave thing like in Zelda) who tells you where the treasure is. He doesn't say where it is outright though. He tells you the conditions and circumstances of where it is. S/he might give you a few actions to take before you can get it. Then vaguely describe where it is.

        There is a statue of a loving mother “Guardian Goddess Mother Aeon ” who once had a favorite song she sang to her child. You see a scene in the game with her singing it to him/ her. The statue in fact looks familiar. The player has the tune on them and when they play it before the statue she opens her arms, embraces you, and something special happens.

        In the dark world people are different animals instead of human beings. That has been done. In The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past humans become things like pigs. But I’ll add something to it. Once you see what a human is in their animal form you can use that to reveal secrets in the game. Their true nature is known in the dark world. Their secrets are easily heard. Hiding places of them are found. You see both their greatest fears and greatest wishes.. Their hope. You can use that information to uncover things in the game.

Money And Buying- You can invest in things. Like a bridge, one that will make getting around easier. You could be by the gap you can’t cross. There’s a guy there that says “if only we had (   ) gold then we could build a bridge here. So, if you pay him, it’ll be built. Or, if you are in town the store owner may say “we would have a better store if we could just sell more things.” So after buying a lot in his store one day you return and there are all new and better things. You could invest in a transportation system too or anything helpful.

        For doing things right and for destroying a lot of monsters you get a bonus in money. That could result in reduced costs in a store or be given you by the king or leader of a town. “Here’s (   ) for your help.” Or in a platforming game if you get all the coins the amount will double. “All coin bonus.” In a kart game if you get all of a thing then you get a special powerup for the next course. At least one of those may be in an inconvenient place.

        Coins have a double purpose. Rupee-like coins can either serve to cast a single spell or be used to buy things. The coins in fact can have a number of different purposes, not just one.

Theme- A Hot Wheels racing game if you can get the license. It would have so many neat vehicles to ride just like the toy brand contains.

        On a full moon The Heavenly Spirits arrive to bring something new into the world. That will appear somewhere in the game. The player may not know where but can know that something special has been added.

        You are in a death race. A racing game that doesn’t end until all the other racers are dead or have been dispatched. They might have health meters, able to power back up, and have weapons to use to win.

        A kart game that changes the kind of vehicles you ride. One is a kart racing stage, another a car, a monster truck, a racing boat, ect. There could be a skating level too. In a kart game taking the longer route gives you better power ups, taking shorter routes, lesser ones.

        A very open racing field with a race to get through five color gates. To get through any color of gate you have to have the same amount of color keys. If you bump into a racer they lose one of their keys. They then materialize in the center. They materialize in the center to make it more difficult to bump them again.

        In a platforming game you are a character with a magnet hand. You use your magnet to go to higher places, turn on and off switches, bring enemies towards you, bring them up and down, or repel any given thing. You can move around objects and swing things around too.

        There are eight worlds. The first is much like a regular platformer/side scroller. The second world is all about a series of large mansions- some ghost houses, others castle like, maybe a cathedral, a skyscraper, a house of weird science, ect. The third world is space based. The fourth water based- like Ecco The Dolphin only you are riding on the dolphin. The fifth jungle based- a lot like Donkey Kong Country. The sixth is a long climb downward like Kid Icarus- only going down. While you go down you place a flag for save points. The seventh is an underground area. The eighth is further underground, as in hell. Just an idea for shifting themes.

        Imagine what current sports games would be like in the future and make your sports game that way. Or, what sports can be in the future and make those. And, take a traditional sports game but do it differently. As though it is not an exact match, just for video game’s sake. You can have two quarterbacks in football- player one and two. American football doesn’t have two quarterbacks but a video game is more fun with two of them- at least in two player form. You could have a green quarterback and a red one. The green quarterback throws a green football and the red the red. If the red football gets the touchdown then you will get more points. So the better player of you two should be the red quarterback. Call it “fantasy football,” or some name that suggests it is not literal football. Just a video game take on it . In baseball you could give the player a few power ups per game. One of those could be that the player could make their bat larger. So large that it cannot miss. The pitcher however has their own power ups. S/he can throw the ball so hard that the hitter's bat is broken in two. Basketball games can have powerups on the play field. Like one to jump higher or target better. Some used to ghost play (go straight through other players for about five seconds. And there can be two baskets for each team: one lower one higher. If you land the ball in the higher basket then you get more points.

Some ideas to mix two games. The idea here is to use ideas to help the other out, where one lacks, the other gives. Here they are:

1- Golden Ax with Super Ghosts And Ghouls. You combat things like zombies coming up from their graves and ghosts trying to attack you.

2- Sonic-like games and Mario-like games mixed together. Mario has a blue cape and a blue spike hat.

3- Zelda-like games and Final Fantasy mixed together. The equipment and magic is much more intricate.

4- Marble Madness with a pinball game. It adds paddles to the game. There is an area where you can control the ball. When your paddle is fully charged it shoots the ball up into that area.

5- 8 Eyes intertwined with a classic Castlevania game. They had their own charm and would combine into a good game.

6- The Immortal mixed with Diablo. The dungeon areas could be more Immortal like. Some of the attributes of The Immortal would go over well in a Diablo like game.

7- Wizards and Warriors mixed with Faxanadu. Both had their upper platforming and to put the two together would make a good game. As well if you mixed the items/weapons of the two it would go well together.

8- Shadowgate mixed with Might and Magic with a touch of King’s Quest. They’d all serve each other well.

9- Mixing Mega Man with Metroid. Imagine Mega Man more as a Metroidvania game. Along the way he fights the robot masters (instead of like Ripply or Mother Brain.) And gets weapons that help him through that way, just as Metroid does. A missile equivalent could be added to “Mega Man’s” inventory.  

10- Combining Ys 3: Wanderers From Ys (SNES) with The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link because they could really help each other out. Ys 3 has well done side viewed towns and places while Zelda 2 has its overhead thing- and they both have a level up system that would go well together. Not only that but the items often match in the two while one may do it better than the other. Lots of reasons why these two would go well together.

Places-  A field of mushrooms saying to you “save us, save us!” Because some wicked magician turned them into mushrooms. So you get the magic dust needed to change them back and they say their princess has been taken and they’d give you their special treasure if you get her back. Just a twist on the Mario Bros idea.

        For a strange mood: you enter into some kind of evil forest where the trees taunt you with a song they sing. The song makes fun of you while they sing that they are going to destroy the chosen one (you) singing in such a playful way. One of the trees tells you “hey! Take this!” you do and it says “it’s rabbit poop!” then the screen says “now (character’s name) hands smell like sh*t.”

        One other way you can taunt the player: You are sitting before a special theater. It was “presented in your honor,” or so you think. So the player sits there and feels kind of awkward as the game seems to be putting on some kind of special show for you. But the curtain opens and there is a circus of people making fun of you.

         There is a magic pond. If the setting is right then you can catch something nice. The setting is based on things like time of day, magic crystals or something else you’ve thrown into the pond, or maybe if there was a recent rain.. And magic rains could come about here and there. So you go fishing at that pond when the time is right. If you do it all the time then you don’t get anything. It takes time for the pond to refresh its resources. Your fishing pole is a magic rod with a string and sphere attached. The special item will go into that sphere. Also: there are different spheres to get. Each one gets you better and better things.  

        In a platforming game, on its world map, is a bridge. Each bridge has a guard. If you have found the special coin then you can pay the guard to pass and cannot pass otherwise. So the secret levels are presented that way. It may not be just a new path. One crossing might take you to a treasure house or something.

        A to Z land. Kids especially love the alphabet and what words each letter makes while they are learning language. This idea would have 8 or so words per world each based on the letters A through Z. Those are presented alphabetically themself (castle comes before cave.) Z for a zoo level. D for a dungeon level. A for an action level. F for a forest level. D for a desert level and so on. The alphabetic levels then serve as an opening for the final level. After every world is beaten its letter is lit up.

        The Dark World (as opposed to the plain and ordinary world) has a black blob for a sun. It moves around like a slime ball in the sky. That’s to give the dark world a more unsettling effect. Making the dark world different in just about every way. Instead of rain, acid rain. Instead of a little danger, a lot. Instead of smashing the pots in somebody's home, its residents will attack you if you do. Prices are too much. Things cost a lot more in the dark world. You get better and more powerful things at least. You get destructive weapons there and you get defensive items in the Light World. The music becomes distorted there. Chorus music becomes death metal, black metal, (your favorite form if you have one.) In the dark world the trees only have poisonous fruit. The sand becomes quick sand. You drown in the waters easier. There are sea monsters in the sea.. Giant squids. In the light world you get helping spirits/summons, but in the dark world you get more destructive ones.

        And why have just a Dark World and a Light World? Why not add a “shadow world,” a gray world, a place in between? Costs are medium priced. Weapons and items there are medium quality- balanced. In the light world the sun always shines. In the gray world there is sun and moon. The music isn’t harsh but isn’t too soft. Enemies are a medium threat. There is rain and also thunder. People may only sometimes be bothered when you ransack their house. Maybe they are gone more often. The summons found in the gray world include those that help you stats, remedy a curse, casts protect over you, is what you could call “effect magic” not being used for good or evil but is stationary.

Simplification- You may get a set amount of spells in an RPG instead of it depending on MP. At the start of the fight you have a certain amount of spells. That’s it. So you may have 5 fire spells. When you level up you can increase that number, going up one number every time you do. Maybe you can go to a temple and pay to have the number increased.

        It may be a strange enemy, but one could be a tent. After all, Final Fantasy 7 had an enemy that was a house. So, when you defeat this tent looking enemy you get a free rest spot for the night, used when you want to, as an alternative to buying a tent.

        In a kind of simplification you use the keys in a dungeon all in a row. So you get four keys during the dungeon (we can call them red, yellow, green, and blue) and after obtaining them all you can make your way through a hallway, where one door is unlocked after another. That final key (red one?) leads you to the boss. Maybe the red one looks like a devil and the other colors have their own look. And it can be element-based if you want. So that red is a fiery area of the dungeon, water a watery area, yellow a windy area, and green is a more pleasant area- in fact the area that always gives you your new tool/weapon.

Mood- Imagine how strange it would be to walk into a room and a demonic symphony is playing- a lot of demons on musical instruments playing dark music. There are even lyrics being sung about how they are going to defeat you. As though being toyed with. A strange and unexpected thing.

If you want to go especially dark then you could have a beloved character in the game be hung by the enemy. That would certainly give the player a sense of revenge. Movies do it all the time.

The most evil things you can think of. Something twisted, something profane. Where is all the death and black metal music in video games? Even in an instrumental style.. Especially in instrumental form! Playing along in a video game, like a beat em up, more in a villainous style.

Putting the player in a world of tough people and tough things, brave action, a might-is-right thing, one where no gentleness is found. You just get up and do the things you want to do without regard to niceties.

Or making something totally weird. Weird, but not “cringy.”  

Abilities-  Instead of using a bomb you have an energy blast. That energy blast uses some magic energy. You have different kinds of energies for different purposes.

        You are a transformer that can change into: a cannon, a car, a spiked ball, a metal bird, a drill, a rocket, punching fist thing, a tank, ect.

        Like Mario when he ducks down but ducks down for about five seconds and the character becomes smaller. Once smaller they can reach certain areas that they couldn’t before. Hold the “up” button and the character is back to medium size. Hold up for five seconds from there and the character becomes larger.

        A condition in an RPG where you can get two extra arms. As such you can have different weapons, wands, or shields. Each arm could represent a different element (air, fire, earth, water.) This could be given to the player through a relic/accessory. By equipping a certain ring you will have four arms during every fight.

Rings in fact can change your form in a lot of ways, so much that you are something entirely different than normal. They could make you more beastly, more muscular, faster, stronger, animal like, more of a spirit than in human form, a different race (goblin, elf) and so on- just by the accessory you equip.  

         If during a battle you petrify certain enemies they may remain on the field as a statue. It is a bit tricky to petrify them but if you do they become a free resting place. A place restoring HP/MP. It may also be that you cast either cure or life on it after petrifying it and that will be what it provides.

        There is a suit that lets you cross over areas you couldn’t otherwise. Like in a platforming game you can’t go on the red bricks without that powerup suit. It could be an animal instead of a suit or a creature. One that has hooves or something like that.

        You ride on a beast that changes form from whatever it eats. It mostly keeps the same form but changes to an extent from what it eats. So it becomes part spider, part bird, part frog, part serpent, part…

        In a fighting game you can shrink the other player, weakening him. But so it isn’t a broken move it is a hard target. A human spider enemy in a fighting game. A fatality of eating your whole enemy. Your head gets much larger and you pat your stomach. You survive without a fatality. If you fail to perform the fatality then the opponent comes back up and you continue fighting until one of you does. When you are low on energy (in a fighting game) you have the chance to get half of it back. You can request a boost after a breaking point. Then a character in the background will either boost you or drain the last of your energy- in a random way.

        The RPG Bard has a musical power to play a record which changes the enemies. Put them to sleep and things like that. He gets records during the game from place to place. When he uses one you see a record in the upper middle screen turning around. The Bard can get a special power to put that record on repeat, too.

        The Bard can also participate in musical performances. If s/he is good enough to begin with then they can take part in a performance. Lots of towns have that opportunity. They let you join their band. If you do well then you will get better musical power in the game. You will get good abilities in a fight and for other things. Performances get harder and harder but give better and better rewards.

        An “estimate” spell in an RPG. It calculates how many more attacks you may need and how long that may take. An educated guess though AI.

        Weaker spells have a 5% chance of casting more powerful ones the same (cast fire and there is a five percent chance it will come out as fire 2.) Greater spells have a 5 percent chance of casting a yet more powerful spell, one that cannot be gotten or used in the game otherwise.

Attack And Defense- You have a spell called “combine” which takes every enemy around and makes them into one. So you have a goblin dragon or ghost death dragon kind of thing. It would be an amusement and maybe more convenient to fight them all at once instead.

        There is a spell called “sever.” It cuts off a piece of an enemy. Like a dragon’s wing. Normally attacks may only be able to attack the whole but when “ sever ” is cast you can divide exactly what part to target. The pieces can then be sold or made into weapons. Spells maybe. Say your enemy is a magician with a wand, you could take that this way. Now you have a new wand and the magic behind it.

        We have seen those enemies where if you hit them they split into two. How about making that happen to the player? If a certain thing attacks you it splits you into two: one a shadow of yourself that helps you.

         A futuristic laser force shield gun. It is a gun that has a bar underneath the barrel that produces a force shield upwards and downwards.

Elements- Having different kinds of lights and light effects in the game. Instead of just being lit up regularly the room could glow, could have a black light effect, could have a fiberoptic kind of lighting, strobe lights, or lights of different colors.

        Every town has a gallery room that contains paintings for every monster in the area. There are notes below that describe it, its weakness, hp, ect. The depictions of them are more artsy than photographic. There is the rare encounter from place to place too and the gallery says why that monster is special and the value (as given) for defeating it.

        The cold blowing wind can freeze you solid. Like in a platforming game the wind doesn’t just blow you forward or backward but can freeze you. You might not even be able to engage in certain levels without a warm suit. Or it could be that you have to keep moving. If you sit still for even a moment then you will freeze. There could be other special levels that require a suit or else they are hopeless in getting through. Like in a platforming game there is a special water level on the side but without a breathing suit you just can’t play it.

        A flag is something you get or buy which serves as a save point. Like in a side scrolling game you don’t reach one mid level but rather own one. If you own a flag then wherever you die you will continue from- you only have to own one, something either plucked from someplace or bought.

        There are four different color suns and four different color moons. There is a day and night when one is more lit up. So there is a row of suns in the sky with one lit up particularly and cycled through. The same with moons. They represent the four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. How these can affect the world you are on can include bringing more water into the world, air making a windy day, a thunderstorm with rain, or other things of the environment. On the day of fire fire magic is more powerful. On the day of earth, earth magic is and so on. The player might find him or herself rushing to adjust to the new span/term/season.

        There are many many beads in the game. They are brought together for a magical effect, into a necklace that gives its wearer power. Beads come in many forms such as crystals, gold, silver, glass, different colors, different gems, and wood from various trees.

        Things in the game often lead to different things. You can always follow a fairy to some specific place. A frog to a magic place or just to know that wherever a frog is magic is nearby, especially with how loud they croak. An eagle in the sky that calls out could lead you to something special. A rabbit and its hole, a leprechaun, a ghost, ect., all indicate something. Hints could be added to that. Like the player slowly starts to notice that there is always a bird in the sky at midnight. That is, if you are in a certain vicinity. The player then is left to wander where it is going. There could be a ghost-like pack of wolves that howl during a full moon. You see them apart from the moon- these spirit looking wolves, but if you find them while they are howling you will see that they turn to people at that time.

Extra Touches/ Neat Touches- When the timer is about out different things could happen. When 15 seconds is left on the timer a horn can be blown and suddenly the enemies leave the level- disappear. That would be suitable for a platforming game. In a fighting game it can be that the characters speed up when the time is running out, going into “hyper mode.” As well, attacks may become stronger.

        You can replay any level with a ghost of your last go playing it as well. Like in Mario Kart only put into genres other than a racing game. In a platformer for example. And if you beat your previous playing of it then you get something nice. It could be a part of a two player game too. The second player can go against the ghost of the other and if they win they get a nice thing.

        You bop a scroll from below and it unrolls just like a rectangular dollar bill. It could be one dollar, five, or ten. Whatever it is, that is the money you get in the game. It is just a neater effect than just getting a coin.

        Imagine four blocks. They each have a symbol on them. Two for powerups, one for an extra life, and one a spring to go up into an upper area. They shuffle- you know, like that cup game where you hide the ball. So, whatever one brick of those you hit determines what you get.  

        Some bricks have fuses sticking out. If you throw a fireball on them they will blow up and you will get what’s inside. There can also be a series of things that blow up like  a row of things with one fuse.

        Four rooms: North, East, South, and West. Inside there are magic orbs on every corner. For north a red, east, yellow, south, blue, west, green. They are transportation rooms. You step in the center of the room and that takes you to the northern area or wherever else.

        The better power ups come in bricks that dodge you. You try to smash it from below but it leaps out of the way. So you chase it, and if you can manage to hit it you get a better powerup. Sometimes they grow wings and fly away to a hidden place. Then you gotta go search for it and again, if you hit it then you’ll get a better power up.

        A stain glass shield would be a nice touch- it would look like a neat thing. There’s no reason why it has to be breakable glass. It’s a video game.

        My old color coded idea: certain buttons on the gamepad mean a certain color and whatever color is within the game are used by them.

        The castle at the end of the level has a rainbow of bricks. Some may be all blue or red. One can have sharp ice going up. One can have moss and another crystal. It indicates what kind of castle you are about to enter.

        When you hit a square from below it unfolds into four. It creates four squares going from left to white. Those show four different power ups and you can choose which one you want.

         A pushing block. A block that becomes longer (like rectangular) provides you a safe spot, blocking enemies. Or a wand that makes row after row of blocks.

        One drop over fills the bucket. One bit of air in the balloon bursts it. When getting power ups this effect can be used. Adding just one more thing can topple something. But the closer you get the better power up you will get. Or the better spell you will cast. As long as you don’t break it. If you do then you’ll not get anything.

        When you hit a block it bursts into four different directions. Those are blocks with the best power ups. Then there can be a special weapon that makes enemies break into four different directions, and if their parts hit different enemies then it’ll break them apart too. So the whole screen is affected.

        We have seen the spike pit below where a fighting character may fall in. If you do an uppercut they are thrown into one and chopped up. But different things can be below- like a fire where the other character is burned to death. Or it could just be a below area that both of you descend on. It could be a crocodile pit. It could be a den of lions. It could be a pit where so many other failed fighters lay dead.

        In a fighting game the timer isn’t just an ordinary timer. If the time runs out then a bomb goes off that destroys both characters in the game.

        Strange radios in the game. Like in any game genre there is a radio that says things like “and if you want to go there press the B button now. Or all kinds of messages like “and if you want a free powerup press B now.” “If you want to return home press B now?” “If you are ready for the next level press B now.” “If you would rather (   ) then press A right now.” “If you want to buy a (    ) or a (   ) then press B right now.” “If you want to (go to a special room)..” You could go places you otherwise wouldn't this way. It could say something like “visit (   ) and make sure you tell him or her (a kind of code message” and when you visit that person and tell him that message then a special thing will happen. Or “If you want a 20% discount now then visit (the store.)”

        Having things randomly change if even just by a little. To add a short phrase to any music in the game, randomly. To have three days basically. Adding a short time of shade during the game because the game isn’t so much night/day as it is bright, normal, and dark. Video games do not have to have rules. Bringing in occurrences that do not happen often is a good thing. You could make any given level a tad different every time. If the player is lucky then they’ll see them. I remember moments in Dragon Quest 11 where the graphics suddenly shifted. They became even more cartoon-like, much more. I appreciated the effect.

        There is green slime coming down on the walls of a dungeon. Maybe it also drips from above. Maybe it blocks the doorways and you need something special to pass through. If the slime mixes then something may happen. You could do that yourself with a bottle. Maybe certain things come alive when you make it come into contact with it. Like a mushroom. You might be able to magically effect it, creating from it what you will.

        There is always an eye on you. It manifests as a doll whose eye turns to you. In a painting the eyes of a face look at you. Trees sometimes have faces. A bird in the sky is seen following you around. The greater enemy spies on you and it is better that he does not see you because when he does turmoil follows.

The Rules of Game Making

There are certain rules that can be made. There are certainties about what makes a game bad or good. So the most important things will be listed below.

1- Make certain the mechanics work well. That the character's attack hits its target. That the characters jump does too. That maneuvering is graceful.

2- The music must be good. This may mean going out of your way to find a good composer, if you are not one yourself.

3- There must be sufficient variety. Without variety the game will be bland and unrememberable.

4- Things must be balanced and proportioned. One character should not be too greatly powerful over another. Items should be let loose a little at a time. Fighters should be equally able to defeat each other depending on their move set. The story should go forth at a moderate pace. Money should be worth something rather than just too easy to come by. Things must be balanced.

5- Things frowned on: a fetch quest, altogether goofy graphics, funky/awkward gameplay, being unable to comprehend something, not being able to understand and learn something, uninteresting story, pointless gameplay, no substance, and toilsome gameplay.

6- Don’t make the challenge element unfair. It is unfair if too impractical. It is impractical if it expects what is just not doable.

7- You must realize when something is just not good. You must accept it when you are trying to create something that just isn’t going to work out. After that replace it with something that does.

8- Some ideas for games are absurd. It shows that some game makers are fools. Only a fool would try to put out the kind of game they would. They end up being scoffed at by The Angry Video Game Nerd.

9- Game reality is different from life reality. Games aren’t meant to always make sense. The player doesn’t want their ordinary life to resemble the game they are playing. Video games have their own rules and are best found apart from reality.

10- Clone games are just “ugly cousins.” The clone they made could be better, technically, but it is too “ugly” to get into. It looks like a deformed offspring of the original.

11- How you would do things differently answers a lot of questions. The more inspiration you have the better.

12- A game should not be all play. There should be “mini moments,” more leisurely things to do, a moment of exploration, a break from the norm, and different ways of playing within the game.  

13- When is the right time to return to the past? Is it now, or soon? Or is it going to be awhile before people crave it again? By knowing you can be ahead of the curb. Because, in the world of video games, game makers sometimes return there with success.

14- There is no certainty about being number one, but game makers always assume. You could have the best game in a long time, at least. You could make something that is popular among gamers. You can even be in the top ten. But no matter what game you make, you can never be sure if it’ll reach the very top. Maybe in a different universe Frogger would have come before Pac Man and sold better than it.

15- Beware of “convolution” especially when making sequels. That means you have added too much to an old thing to the point it is bloated. Fatalities.. Friendships, animalities, babalities. What a shame. Should anything be entirely turned around? Yes and no. Let's put it this way: yes if it is like Mario put into Mario Kart. No if it is like Link put into Wind Waker.

16- Two heads are better than one. Three are better than two. The team you have must be a good one, however. You might be the “director” of it all in order to be sure your dream manifests. A game maker should be honest with themselves. Are they better off with the drawing part or the music, the graphical, or whatever it is, and it can be more than one thing they do. When people think ‘game making’ they think ‘programming.’ Like me here, you can work towards a game in so many ways other than the programming of it.

17- Let no character be worthless. Let them all have their own good place in the game.

18- Make the game one or more of these: involving, fun, exciting, thrilling, engaging, interesting, adventuresome, compelling, emotional, or unique.

19- Go after reviews such as these: “great change to an old formula,” “like nothing from before, a great new idea,” “game of the year,” “game of the decade,” “fun through and through,” “we can’t wait for more,” “the best game in a long time,” “they really surprised us with this.”

20- Put out your own product. Ignore all the rules. Do things your own way through and through. Create what your heart would have you create. With its success then, you can be proud in full.

Favorite Things From Some Games:

It's good to know what you like, if that makes sense. If you could pull off the same thing without copying it then great. There is something there for you to consider. My favorite things from certain games if I could only select a few:

1- In Super Mario Bros 3 when he fell from the sky with a wand. Mario got the wand back from the airship and is falling back to the ground with it (probably why he didn’t just splatter on the ground.)

2- Very simply: The game over sound from Ninja Gaiden 2. Also its intro screen. And with intro screens I am also fond of The Legend of Zelda (NES) and Wanderers from Ys 3 (SNES.)

3- Just the game 8 Eyes. I do not know why, it is not the best game, but there is nothing like it. I feel the same way about “Betrayal At Krondor.”

4- Cutscenes from Final Fantasy 8 and its romantic story. Final Fantasy 6 and its relics. Final Fantasy 4 and the Four Fiends.

5- Metroidvania games and their monstrous enemy bosses. The setting for Super Metroid. “The galaxy is at peace.”

6- The Legend of Zelda and “It is dangerous to go alone, take this.” At least as far as shirts, cups, and stickers go. It was the first meme that I liked before meme was even a thing.

7- Throwing an enemy towards the screen in TMNT: Turtles in Time. And the music of the game.

8- The music of: Tetris (game boy) theme one. Nobuo Uematsu music. Castle theme from Super Mario World. Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys “Redmont.” The music from Mega Man 4 (out of the whole series overall.) The music of SimCity (SNES) could not have been more fitting given what the game was. And I think my favorite was the “Fairy Song” from Castlevania: SOTN. That was an instance where the music was set up and initiated by a secret action.

9- The game with the best double genre was Act Raiser. It combined a sort of strategy simulation with a side scrolling level.

10- The way the environment shifts in Super Ghouls and Ghosts. Sometimes it rises, sometimes great waters wash over you and try to drown you. Sometimes zombies come up from the grave, and things like that.

11- FZero and the way you blast through it in a sci-fi setting.

12- In Kid Icarus with how you can be changed into an eggplant.

13- Blood Stained: Ritual Of The Night where you cross a bridge under a blood red moon. How the game has you combine different items for a new one, too. How that game gives you abilities, also, and I always appreciate the fairies. Super Metroid and its glass barrier (the one like a tube you can see through. The one you shatter later with a super bomb and open a new area that way.)

14- Mortal Kombat and Scorpion’s  “Get over here!”

15- Street Fighter 2 and kicking people to death with Chun Li.

16- Way of The Warrior played White Zombie music while you fought. Samurai Showdown had massive characters. I liked how Goro would grab you with two arms and pound you with the other two. In “Primal Rage” the dinosaurs you fought as could eat the cavemen in the background.

17- Sega and their superscalar arcade games. I like the Mode 7 effect from the SNES. The FX chip was a cool thing. When cutscenes were in NES games and not half bad. Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man 4 title screen, they were good. I can appreciate any game that takes full use of the hardware they are on.

18- Duck Hunt and how the dog laughs at you. It’s at least iconic. The way the fairy bothers you in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (it’s at least iconic.) “Sorry Mario but the princess is in another castle!” It’s at last iconic.

19- Some of my favorites: the NES “Advantage” arcade pad. A guitar hero guitar. The nice change an Atari 2600 joystick gives. Gameboys newly backlit. The Game Genie (especially the Gameboy one. Like if the Game Genie had a baby.) The Super Gameboy. I liked the Virtual Boy! And I also liked my Zelda Game And Watch Watch (the one that actually was a watch.) Konami (not Tiger) actually came up with a really fun LCD game based on TMNT.

20- I used to enjoy getting super cheap games. I could go to a yard sale or a flea market and pick one up for a few bucks. I even went to a gas station that was selling off its rented games. It was going out of business and I got a big box of boxed NES games for thirty dollars. Anymore? It is like you visit a place the next day and the prices have risen by a few hundred dollars.

Thank you for reading my book! I am here for good ideas, free ideas, in this public domain book. This book can be shared or sold, added to or just freely used. I have made this book available for free- at least in its ebook form. All the books I write are in the public domain. My reward for this book is simply having a part in making a good game.

You’ll have found things here you already knew. You’ll have found things you didn’t know or may have not considered. In some ways it is just a refresher. In some ways it is meant to prime a game maker before they set out to make a game. In other ways it provides ideas, some of which are new, and it is a book meant to help you come up with your own ideas.

My other books (under the name Adam Jeremy Capps at least) are: The New Video Game Idea Book  and The New Game Makers Bible . They are much larger books covering so much more and are free/ public domain books. See archive.org, google play, lulu, amazon, or free-ebooks.net. Paperbacks are available too.

Born 1980 in Raleigh North Carolina. Currently living in San Francisco California. An author of many free public domain books. Find me online, if you can..