make stat building events more interesting?

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make stat building events more interesting?

#1 Post by Scribbles »

The game I'm currently working on has a personality aspect, and the player spends the first 1/6th of the game building their personality which dictates later events/career/and so on. So I build a random stat event system, so the player would choose where to go, and then they'd get a random event. I'm going to write out the events and coming up with a blank. I don't want just a "You are now more confident!" message, I want to give the player a choice and it can either raise one personality aspect or another > < I want them to be somewhat generic so they can be randomized (hopefully to add to replay-ability?)

any advice? links to generators/lists of minor conflicts? am I over thinking this??? I just personally don't care for stat building (which is why it takes place in such a small section of the game - technically the first "month", and then it's replaced with career events which I haven't decided exactly what to do with yet - random? linear? both?)

I've seen other games use cute chibi animations, but that really doesn't match the tone of my game o.o
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#2 Post by Hazel »

Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but this bingo generator lets you randomly generate out of a customized list of scenarios, tropes, emotions etc. Very extensive. I can recommend lists such as "childhood experiences" or "rites of passage" if you're trying to fill in the MC's backstory. Otherwise, there's just about every type of plot or theme you can dream up.
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#3 Post by Scribbles »

Hazel wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:05 am Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but this bingo generator lets you randomly generate out of a customized list of scenarios, tropes, emotions etc. Very extensive. I can recommend lists such as "childhood experiences" or "rites of passage" if you're trying to fill in the MC's backstory. Otherwise, there's just about every type of plot or theme you can dream up.
oooo thanks, I'll check it out! I'm not too worried about character stuff, i'm usually pretty good with that it's just these encounters that I can't seem to come up with lol
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#4 Post by trooper6 »

I would want the encounters to be setting relevant rather than generic. I mean, I don't know anything about your game. I don't know if it is about working class teenagers in Brooklyn in the 1950s, I don't know if it is about robots in space. I'd want the encounters to be specific to the game.

Also, if you don't like stat raising...why are you having stat raising in your game? You don't have to have it if you don't like it.
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#5 Post by Qwxlea »

To quote trooper6:
trooper6 wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:25 pm I would want the encounters to be setting relevant rather than generic.
How this could be done? One of the stats used in many games is money, so you have to work. But instead of repeating the same: "You go to work, you work 8 hours, you go home, you get 10 gold", it would be more fun to create a list of mini-events that will happen at work:
  • You could let the player make moral choices,which will make a player more or less honest etc.
  • You could give hints about future events
  • You could introduce NPC's, the interaction at work will setup the NPC for later
  • etc
All this is more work, but would turn the stat-building from something boring into an integral part of the game.

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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#6 Post by Jain »

One thing "Long Live the Queen" did was have a little text blurb whenever you had Elodie do something like study history or the political situation of her kingdom. So if it was history it would be like, "The kingdom was founded in xxx year by the high king of XXX who wrenched his crown from the claws of the abyss queen". And then the next time she studied history it would be another little history blurb, which I really liked.

It told me a bit about the world: although they weren't able to keep it up for the whole of the game as I recall, which was disappointing.

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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#7 Post by Scribbles »

trooper6 wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:25 pm I would want the encounters to be setting relevant rather than generic. I mean, I don't know anything about your game. I don't know if it is about working class teenagers in Brooklyn in the 1950s, I don't know if it is about robots in space. I'd want the encounters to be specific to the game.

Also, if you don't like stat raising...why are you having stat raising in your game? You don't have to have it if you don't like it.
I don't like a lot of stat building, which is why there won't be a lot. I like the idea of a player being able to build their character's personality and thus define their play through (somewhat) early on.
Artalija wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:56 pm One thing "Long Live the Queen" did was have a little text blurb whenever you had Elodie do something like study history or the political situation of her kingdom. So if it was history it would be like, "The kingdom was founded in xxx year by the high king of XXX who wrenched his crown from the claws of the abyss queen". And then the next time she studied history it would be another little history blurb, which I really liked.

It told me a bit about the world: although they weren't able to keep it up for the whole of the game as I recall, which was disappointing.
that's a cute idea!
Qwxlea wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:50 pm To quote trooper6:
trooper6 wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:25 pm I would want the encounters to be setting relevant rather than generic.
How this could be done? One of the stats used in many games is money, so you have to work. But instead of repeating the same: "You go to work, you work 8 hours, you go home, you get 10 gold", it would be more fun to create a list of mini-events that will happen at work:
  • You could let the player make moral choices,which will make a player more or less honest etc.
  • You could give hints about future events
  • You could introduce NPC's, the interaction at work will setup the NPC for later
  • etc
All this is more work, but would turn the stat-building from something boring into an integral part of the game.
those are good points! I've started roughing out some possibilities and plot details

I mainly want the player to spend the first bit of the game sort of "defining" who they are playing as, and then it'll assign them a career and begin to dictate how endings/events/interactions go. I wanted them to be random so if they replayed the game it wouldn't be horribly tedious, so I couldn't write them as linear events (like I'm used to). I'm not too interested in the concept of "money" (at least for the player to be concerned about), I guess it'll sort of be a bit like a "personality test" that takes place over 4 weeks(game time). I'm still fiddling with all the bits, and trying to make it as cool as I want it to be (in my head lol) The career just more defines the route the player takes independently from the love interest, (so you can be a teacher and romance a different person each time) maybe it's too ambitious? but I'm gonna dig into it anyway and I'll scale back later if I get in over my head lol

thanks for all the suggestions and input! gives me a lot to think about.
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#8 Post by Imperf3kt »

I also dislike 'stat-building' because it is boring and repetitive and to me, seems to be nothing short of a gimmick to drag out the length of an otherwise short game.

With that said, it is somewhat integral to some games, and you can't just throw it out - so why not throw out how it is done instead.
Instead of the normal stat-building where you choose somewhere to go from a map, some time passes and you gain +1 skill point, shake it up. Make it so your actions and choices throughout the game affect your skill points.

You can then either inform the player of this info, or keep it secret and only reveal if a player can do actions requiring a certain skill threshold though your script. No, I don't mean "You need have x stamina to do this activity." I mean change the choices the player is even presented, silently. Or change the dialogue in a scene, or the options presented to the player.

It all depends how you have set your game up, but it relies mostly on how you have written you game, the dialogue.
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#9 Post by YonYonYon »

I'll agree with Imperf3kt. I don't know about your game as much as you do, but if it's just about the personality shaping, why not integrate it into the story? Like, in the common route part of the story, when you're introducing the love interests? That would be more meaningful than random events, I think.

I... really can't say that I'm good at game making, but I can try to give an example as I did try something similar in two projects. The first one was about a sheltered girl who went to the royal ball for the first time. As an aristocrat she was taught manners, of course, she also read lots of romance novels, and as a new face at the court she has an opportunity to shape her image more consciously using her limited knowledge.
Basically, the player can choose one of the three personalities for her when she's interacting with the LIs, and LIs reactions to her would change depending on her current and previous actions. This continues through the Dating Phase where the player also scores the points with LIs and then the player is set on one route and one Personality when the main plot kicks in. After that the player just needs to play through the story, solve the mystery and find out who killed the king.
I was and am interested how a character would react differently to different personalities, so that would count as a gameplay in my book.
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#10 Post by Scribbles »

I thought it might be a good way to introduce some minor characters and help define the world a bit. you guys make some good points though. I've thought of replacing that segment with a straight up "test" but that seemed like it would be bad for the overall flow. I figured I could assign the player a "type" after that segment was over and it would effect game play and interactions (but not obviously), it also helps assign their career. :-/ once I actually get started writing it all and putting it together I will hopefully see what works and what doesn't
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#11 Post by ArcialIntegra »

If you haven't done so yet, play Persona 5. I can't speak for earlier installments, but Persona 5 made it so that your actions resulted in stat changes, but you'd have different actions per stat. For instance, while you could study and raise your intelligence, you could also answer questions correctly in class or respond to trivia questions from the tv and it would raise your intelligence stat a bit. You can raise your relationship stats with varying text from each of your confidants. You can even raise almost all (if not all) of your stats by eating a cheeseburger during one of your free-time events. All you have to do is describe and, even better if you're able to, show what it is the character is doing. If you give me examples of what you're going for, I can point you in the right direction.

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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#12 Post by Scribbles »

ArcialIntegra wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:35 pm If you haven't done so yet, play Persona 5. I can't speak for earlier installments, but Persona 5 made it so that your actions resulted in stat changes, but you'd have different actions per stat. For instance, while you could study and raise your intelligence, you could also answer questions correctly in class or respond to trivia questions from the tv and it would raise your intelligence stat a bit. You can raise your relationship stats with varying text from each of your confidants. You can even raise almost all (if not all) of your stats by eating a cheeseburger during one of your free-time events. All you have to do is describe and, even better if you're able to, show what it is the character is doing. If you give me examples of what you're going for, I can point you in the right direction.
I actually removed the stat building all together > <

but I'll keep that in mind. I'd like to play that game when I get a chance
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Re: make stat building events more interesting?

#13 Post by ArcialIntegra »

Scribbles wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:22 am
ArcialIntegra wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:35 pm If you haven't done so yet, play Persona 5. I can't speak for earlier installments, but Persona 5 made it so that your actions resulted in stat changes, but you'd have different actions per stat. For instance, while you could study and raise your intelligence, you could also answer questions correctly in class or respond to trivia questions from the tv and it would raise your intelligence stat a bit. You can raise your relationship stats with varying text from each of your confidants. You can even raise almost all (if not all) of your stats by eating a cheeseburger during one of your free-time events. All you have to do is describe and, even better if you're able to, show what it is the character is doing. If you give me examples of what you're going for, I can point you in the right direction.
I actually removed the stat building all together > <

but I'll keep that in mind. I'd like to play that game when I get a chance
It's always better to work with simpler mechanics rather than over-complicating when you don't need to, so good call. That said, about Persona 5: it's a great game that I really recommend.

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