Is it rich in content?
Does it lend to exploration?
Is it well connected? That is, are the pieces and components of it put well together?
Can anything be made just a little better?
Is what you have in it working, or should you cut it out?
Is the story a good and compelling one?
Does it evoke emotion the right way?
Are some areas just too frustrating to include?
Is any one thing in it able to be improved?
Are too many things thrown into one place where in others they are inadequate?
Is it fun? Is it involving?
It is like a good meal. The spices are just right. It doesn’t burn a whole in your mouth. It isn’t to hot or cold. It is served up just right and worth taking the time to enjoy.
If there is no reason to move forward and no wish from the player to do better than they have done before then repeated playing of it is unlikely. However if they find interest in things like the items, the people and places, and given ample reason to go into the next place, they will find themselves there and enjoy every bit of it.
The earlier areas can be more leisurely. It can give the player a sense of how they should proceed. Of how they may learn to play. Or otherwise it just may be too much on the plate.
Unconditionally there will be different degrees of appreciation for your game. Even though the majority may love the game and it becomes a classic, there may still be some that detest it. Don’t let it discourage you. Ask of your critics what they felt could have been better and simply come out with a new version. Start with a draft, a fought start, and go from there. And remember: two heads are better than one.
About Passwords: what do they normally do? And some that are less common but still good to include. Once I had a fighting game that if you entered a certain code it opened up a very old arcade game by the same company. There are codes for music tests “soundtrack codes,” and the more typical extra lives/ continues/ greater power codes. Another fighting game I played let you choose the same fighter. You couldn’t play as the same one otherwise. That code wasn’t so easy to input but once learned it was just a natural reflex. There is a code to jump right to the second quest. As there are passwords for entering into the area where you left off—as maybe simple games should have more often. Opening up a puzzle game inside an RPG has been done before. You get money every time you solve it. And level jumping/ stage select codes are common.
My advice would be to do something really neat. Like that opening up a small game within a large game idea. Or unlock hidden cars and tracks in a racing game. Or changing the music. Maybe even opening up a sprite editor. Having new weapons and items added to the game.
Do quality control. As if you were a health inspector for video games.
Commonly used ideas:
Vacated towns full of homes that you can enter and ransack. Some needing keys. Maybe not easily gotten into.
Lands full of most and fog. Rainbows and night time stars, and the mystery of a star far away. Puzzled scientists and trying to make sense of everything.
The nature of the universe is changing and what was once a law of physics no longer is.
A monstrosity being formed by nature. By science maybe, or through a rite.
Being expelled from your Homeland but returning a savior.
A rush to get to something before any one else does.
The loss of a precious material that saves life. That keeps the world alive. A fountain, a crystal. Or a doorway that was once sealed bit now has been opened, and monsters coming forth. Or them coming from another world or dimension.
To be tricked into setting them free. To be guiled into letting them loose, and now all hell breaks loose.
A greater ability to toy with your opponents. Casting spells that just screw with them. Casting spells that just toy around with them and turning them into whatever you wish to.
A lengthy list of spirits you can summon. Pages long. Having many to find. Earning their support. Having them evolve. Investing them with armor, spells, magical items and things instead of just you and your party. Making them more like playable characters.
More job titles than are currently used. Like a King. He can collect taxes and us above the law. A shape shifter, a spirit, a jinn, a trickster.
The story is sometimes split into more stories. You play the part of one in it’s own area, then the part of a character in another.
And sometimes the world of the game depends on who you play with. Each character let’s you do the things that you only can with them.
With some you play there’s a different game. They can fly, or hover, they go faster, or are stronger. And with some of these comes some pretty intricate strategy.
There are cheap ways to diversify the game and yet they have a good effect. Like just changing colors or appearance. Or a slowly setting sun.
One good game had the great idea of chasing around ghosts on a horse and capturing them. Capturing things can also include funny looking bugs and the kind you see everyday, or fairies. Or a jinn put inside a bottle. Or a spirit that you suck into a machine.
There is starting over from scratch in some games. That you and your team were separated. Or what you had was lost. Or that it was taken from you. Could have just been that after the player dies they lost their power ups. Or could be that the world was rocked with devastation and you awoke on a little island.
Fighting while you fall down a waterfall. Or going through the waterfall. Or a leap of faith. Where the river leads you after many bends. Or a waterfall at the base of which is a great cavern.
Having the stealth to move across safely. Sneaking in. Avoiding contact with sprites, including any eye contact. Passing the soldiers. Going about on roofs. The back door. An unknown corridor. A sewer.
Learning a new sword technique. Spinning. Shooting beams from them. Slashing. Multiple strikes. Piercing through. Targeting and attacking consecutively.
Scores and scores of magical fluids to deposited in bottles. That raise health and magic. Or defense, offense, speed, that make you float. That enhances your abilities or changes your environment. Or just a jar of holy water.
Gathering in one area for The Great War. At a sky high tower. On top of a great mountain. On a great plane. The placed rumored of where good and evil will meet for one last battle.
More quest for the sake of Greydom (or Graydom) than for good or evil. As such a quest not for the victory of good or evil but for the Gray. Becoming a Gray Knight instead of a paladin.
Have interesting boss enemies in RPGs always. Actually they all should be well drawn and animated. Have the player need to adjust their tactics in order to win. Have them change form and go along with a theme, like a wall moving forward that you must stop on time. Or that pesky arm that does you more damage. Or the enemy that changes its weakness.
Transportation: it can be a car or truck, a Jeep or motorcycle. A train or a bus. A taxi or a flying bird. A horse or an unearthly creature. Can be a space ship or jet. There are many possible forms of transportation you can put into a game. Even a magical portal. And a boat.. and a raft.
Shoes that let you walk on air would be cool. I don’t mean that just let you fly up and down. But ones more used like an imaginary staircase. Or that let you control exactly the direction you want to go in.
Story twists can include betrayal, an unexpected event, the tables being turned, an unknown relative, a trick, a self-sacrifice, an unexpected ally, person was possessed, had hidden magical gifts, inherited greatness, changed their nature, getting help that saved them from what was otherwise impossible, being lied to, conspiracy.
A build up to an upcoming thing is always a good thing to do. Stuff of legend. That great power. The sword in the Stone, The Greatest Spell, The Lost Kingdom.. stuff of legend. Things most say are impossible but turn out to be true.
They all have level ups. Going from 1-99. But there could also be evolution with these in, say, every ten levels. By the time you reach 100 then, you’ve evolved to godhood. Every ten levels could give you a new set of magic or a new talent, or greater stature. You start at fire 1. At level ten it turns to fire 2.
There could be a library of games within the games. In areas of books and as such each town you go to will have it’s own special game to find, or a set. Simple mini games and stuff as things you can find like treasure in an RPG.
A search engine kind of thing within the game can pull up all kinds of information like where anything in the game can be found.
Species of healing plants, species of poisonous ones, ones with magical effects, one to feed summoned creatures, according to appearance can be collected.
You can rent out items rather than purchasing them. Or make deposits. Or trade two outdated things of your party for one good new item, as you were just going to forever unequip them anyway.
Changing the entire game world could be because the previous one was put to ruin, the new one was a more evil dimension than the light one, or the map could change from one set of levels to the next. Sometimes the player goes to the moon. Sometimes to an underground land. Or a cloud land. And in many games you just have restricted access until you find the right item to proceed.
Some magical items work on a timer. They last from a few seconds to a minute or so. Or until magical power is depleted. Some enemies cast a spell that leaves you with a little time to beat them in breaking the curse. Some curses have an I’ll effect on you every step you make.
Cursed items are sometimes present. That when you open or use them a great monster is inside. Or that they could be powerful if the curse was broken.
Some magical rings work very well in casting auto magic. They adjust stats or have you protect those low on HP. They let you double cast magic and make two of yourself for double the power. They shield and protect or augment your power in some way.
There is the helper along the way. It could be a bird that flues up to you from time to time. Or a sage. Or a special message sent through telepathy. Could be a fairy. Some of them help the story along and have good advise. Others must think you are plain dumb.
You get a raft but later you need a boat. You get a hover craft across ragged areas. You get a ship but it is lost. Or you need one that can go to the moon. You get one item that helps, but later you get one that helps the same way but more.
Things unexpected can come in the form of a treasure chest containing a monster, a powerful sword suddenly breaking and needing repair, a less common random battle, learning new spells based on level ups, a power up like in a side scroller that is only in one area of the game, being deposited suddenly with a lot of money, a city once hidden appearing from nowhere, or an area of the world below you that you had no idea existed.
At the end of a level, a battle, or area, different effects could be made. Sometimes you get extra points or a mini game depending on where you land. Sometimes you fall from the sky with a wand in your hand. Other times you just touch an orb and continue. And sometimes you leap and circular dots circle around you. A cut scene may follow it. A victory may include leaping up and down. The defeated opponent may just disappear, or dissipate into fragments with a booming sound effect.
Inventory can be on a limited basis or as stocked, still more or less limited. Some games let’s you have just one item at a time while others may give you a dozen, and some, hundreds. They may appear overhead or just in a sunscreen. Or just the screen before a level, giving you choices if you want to use one before entering.
The roles of the ones you play as can be, among others: a protector, a wanderer, a treasure Hunter, one sent in a quest, one trying to save another or a group, an explorer, a reluctant soldier, just a person who wants to tag along, a person that has no else place to go, one needing help, one on a mission, a rebel, or a person thrown into matters above him or her.
Interlude
Retro Video Game History:
Among one screen games are games that have you fighting in patterns. Tennis kinds of games were the earliest ones. And not always literally one screen. But based on just a few each of limited design. There was evasion incorporated. While enemies were either falling from the screen getting lower and lower faster and faster, or a thing or groups of things chasing you around in maze form. You fought for immunity all you could with a special item. There were safe areas here and there. There was a safe path, sometimes one that altered requiring a bit of strategy. And to escape into an area that was safer was common. To reach the highest part of the screen. Getting help here and there. With enemies moving in different ways: up, down, left, right, diagonally and in circles.
Then came basic 2D going where very much more could be added to this. We then had the player going left to right, most commonly. Some very imaginative minds created some great games with these new hardware abilities. Games had music. Synthetic sounding, but present. And for the first time they could have stories. A new controller layout was needed. Save features became necessary. With them you could continue on your quest and play more in depth games.
The previous era of gaming hadn’t any quality control over it and so any game could be released for them. Gamers got screwed over and the market was in shambles. Presenting them in a new way became necessary. And making sure that the games had a level of quality among them was, too.
They wanted better effects in their games. But the hardware was very limited. They’d try for environmental changes, pseudo-3D, things the 8 bit era couldn’t do. They had little to work with but still came up with some attractive graphics sometimes. And as the game carts of the time were improved and the hardware was better known, better things could be done. Using every trick in the book they even made some portable games that still pack a punch to this day.
Peripherals became more idea for the 8 bit era. The games were just enough complex to allow for them. Like them or hate them some were a lot of fun. Others didn’t work like they claimed to. There was a lot of motion sensing. Then there was the toy gun and games for them. Touch pads, multi taps, and lots of gimmicks existed.
As for portable gaming it had become possible to have good games that could be swapped out and changed.
Game making had become much more intricate already. You could have dozens of different levels each with many screens instead of just playing the game in one or a few. The graphics within them were more developed, and how the game played out from one object to another.
The 16 bit era came next. Many old ideas were reused and made incredibly better. Having more seemingly orchestrated music. Giving the player good looking homes and villages, allowing for more colors and details. The games themselves were bigger. The enemies in them could be far larger and more intimidating. And more controls were possible with new gamepads.
The arcades were breathing their last breath. Certain fighting games were still popular but little else. Those were moved over to the home consoles and the market with them. Fighting games were very popular at this time. And for a time RPG games shined.
The 32 and in some cases 64 bit era followed. But it was a rocky start for many. There were once popular console makers that just couldn’t get in the market well enough to stick around. Carts were going out. CDs became the standard. 3D games were now possible. And the way to make them was of a brand new understanding. Some were very basic. Others were quite lush with environments and things. CD offered more space and better music. And again a new controller was needed, most of all the thumb stick.
Some games went very poorly into 3D for the first time. Embarrassingly so.
Games were needing large teams to create them.
Fighting games moved into 3D. As did most other genres. To at least have a touch of 3D they felt, was necessary.
There has never been a guarantee that any one company will be best in the market and remain that way. While 2D games were the expertise of one company or a few, those games may not evolve well. In the days of 3D first person shooters have reigned supreme. And those kinds of games were not even made in the past.
So the market was born and brought up with these. We are still in the 3D era. The gamepads are mostly the same. The games are more in depth but still generally the same in their nature.
$200 for an old 2D console.. and about the same for a single 16 bit system that included a game. That’s before inflation. But now there are remakes of them packed in with dozens of games. With wireless controllers too. At what would once cost thousands and take up a lot of space is a hundred modern bucks and tiny in size.. like the size of your hand, and they could go much smaller if they wanted to.
Then there are rip off devices. Like ones loaded with ROMs. Having hundreds of games on them. Being able to hold thousands. Played portably. I do not recommend them because that takes all the fun away. Once you have everything you want nothing.
There is a very large community of retro gamers. There are many thousands of videos of them online from play-throughs to glitch expositions. And retro games are being improved these days due to new tech and software. Giving an almost 3D effect to a 2D game or sharpening it’s graphics. So much graphical improvement to impress. Art is collected for these stuff. Shirts, dolls and things too. And some of those old games are incredibly valuable. Like the sought out rare titles that are sealed. Or games of which only a few dozen exist.
And new games for old systems are being made. Or else hacks and reprogramming of them. With modifications that the original gamers of them would have loved to have.
Welcome to the retro gaming community! Or for veterans of it, I salute you! It is the best community out there. A peaceful one. One of wonderful nostalgia. Full of people grown up who never gave up on or left the life of its gaming. Now that we are grown we can afford these games. We can learn things that slipped us by. We may even be game makers these days or game hackers. We see the whole scope of things. Like peripherals that we missed out on or were never aware of. We may grow a collection of some highly valuable games. Or have some from our earliest years. We have retro gaming news to listen to thanks to internet. And can see competitions for old games, speed running too, a sport we a li ways wanted, never thought would be. And old games are still very popular. In fact retro gaming consoles have at times outsold the major modern consoles. These old consoles are made into the newly built ones housing dozens of games. In our childhood we would have paid thousands of dollars for such a thing. Now they are less than $100. Obtainable at around $50. They have wireless controllers too. Something we didn’t have back then.
It is a down to earth, harmless, fun and entertaining community to be in. There’s so many games, consoles, and peripherals to learn about, return to, and collect. And many more videos to watch about it all such as top tens, rare gems, ratings and reviews. Old magazines to browse through. And history to learn. History is a part of the retro gaming community. From the creators to the origin of games, follow ups, reception, successes and failures, designs of old consoles, company origins, etc.,
And we have our own clothing just like any other community. Necklaces of old video game characters, hats, shirts, even watches and wallets. We have something to collect in our community. Lots and lots to collect! More than just comics or baseball cards. We have our own video game cards to collect. And we collect gaming manuals. Our games are more valuable than comic books these days (in certain ways.) A very highly valuable rookie card was traded recently for a sealed game. Things have been garnishing thousands of dollars.
We get together to play. We have a lot of clothing choices. More art based things. There’s a lot to invest in. And we never run out of things to purchase. Our spending could be very personalized.
And there are people among us that fix old consoles, handhelds, and games. Console modding, that rejuvenate the old gear to work again. And enhance them for today’s time, like adapting them to new TVs, even peripherals the same. People making brand new games for old systems. Making clone systems. And preservation just comes naturally to us.
Back to the regular topic:
Villains come in all shapes and sizes. Some made have been entirely unique, some represent old ideas, a mix perhaps. And there is a lot to say about villains. They may have super powers. They may have an army behind them, a group, a gang, a cult. See have been about clowns. Like evil ones or just crazy ones. Some have been taken from mythos. Or old stories like Dracula. In video games they are often animals. A turtle, a crocodile, a toad, a pig man. And there has also been: powerful wizards, a Sorceress, aliens, super minds, scientists, and martial art masters.
They have an array of schemes behind them. While they are seeking or keeping total power you are sent to make things right. And while you may fight on a moral basis they do not. Some of them may be plain evil as a type of game has it. In other types of games you know little to nothing about them. They are just the last boss. Maybe they stole something from you. And are much just in cartoon form.
Their foes of you can be legendary or other worldly. Full of great powers and inhuman. With a dash of the eerie and spooky. They play there part as their strange nature comes into play.
The primary villain can gain more and more power until it becomes godlike. Or be vested with a natural source of power leading them to use it in any bad way. They have the greatest magic, powers, weapons, devices, vehicles. The most wicked appearance. The most intimidating one.
They usually have a particular way to defeat them. They may be weak to but one weapon in the whole game, or they are stricken in that red dot on them style. And sometimes go from one form to another, maybe having four.
All ng the way they have put every obstacle in front of you that they could have. The level leading to them is full of all kinds of evil. It’s to reach the top, go through a course of statements, and to deal with an enemy that cannot be changed.
Give the final boss a personality, dazzling power, a build up leading to him, her, or it, and transformations if you like, their escape from time to time, and great weapons that only they could defeat.
But if you are making a more simple games then a simple enemy will do just fine.
The resources of the land (or level, areas) can be stumbled on or only found with a lot of searching around. A merchant may be in a train or residing in a forest to help you along the way. And friends may return to you at an unexpected time. A pearl in the ocean, precious metals buried, trees whose branches make great wands, dust of magic power, herbs in the field for magical purposes. And these things can be taken and used as is or put together in a form of alchemy. In a swamp a sword. A stone in a rocky area that has power. Looking for a lost ring that though it is hard to find is powerful. A spider that weaves magical cloth. A dragons whose scales make a shield. Or a creature providing the same.
Something in a basement of a home. A key found in one place but used in another. Like a key to a home. A fallen knight in a field with a knight offering you his sword for help. An area of once a great battle where armor and things have been left behind.
A place of great power where certain spells can be cast but nowhere otherwise.
A fountain or spring can restore energy. And while some games have multiple ones others are scattered around. Some were just there where a programmer felt they were needed, but being in only one spot on the whole game. Fairies have been used to restore energy, revive life, too. Spells and items can restore energy. That includes dropped items. Some may restore it as time based. When an item used like a ring counts down to zero, that’s all you get! Some after battle times restore it, or when you reach the next level. Some towns folk do. Usually at an inn, buy not only. And sometimes you just talk to an NPC and they say, “hey! I’ll restore your energy!”
“Leaps of faith” are sometimes put into a game. It may be very literal, like jumping from a cliff. You may think you’d die if you do. But it turns out you landed in a very special area. I’ve seen before things being timed. You had a couple minutes to get out. But then the game asks if you want to wait another few seconds. You want out. But if you wait then a former party members comes up to you and you leave together. That character would have not been playable afterward if you didn’t. The game may ask “look around more?” As a hint that you are about to leave something behind.
Potions can come in purity. The more pure they are the more powerful. And a few percent more or less can make a big difference. Whether it be for attack magic or for curing the higher percent of purity the better. And percentiles can be used to formulate your own concoctions.
Buttons can be used to indicate things through sound. For example a “yes” sound or a “no” sound, or a “you are close” sound plays when you press a button on the game pad. Hold down L and R together, or justly button A, whatever you like. So if you want to know if you are close to someone or some thing, pressing a button will give you a sound, accordingly. One small theme of music per question answered.
Spells of great distance are not commonly used. But they could be used to effect the game from very far away.
From one game to the next sequels have sought to do one better. There has usually been that characters have been added to it. Sometimes the same boss, sometimes a new one. E tea power ups and abilities were added to make the game more fun. The story may have stayed the same or was adjusted a bit. The playable areas were increased in size. The new hardware allowing for far better games, or at least is the hope. But there comes a time when things had changed so much that they cannot be recognized as its own title suggests. And new ideas are just gimmicks that came from all of the leftovers.
Good games are loaded with extras. Things that are only in one part if it. But so many of them that they fill up the whole game. Like a third that at one point in the game could steal the guards clothes to sneak in by. Or that one time when if you walked up to a stove and pressed a button it burns you. That one instance, that one time you could do something in the game but nowhere else in it. Like jump into a large boot and hop around or one enemy that steals from you when no other ever did.
Games haven’t always been based on