AztecKid510 wrote:-So from what I can tell, it's a story set in a post-modern era, but with some medieval elements.
Yes that's basically it. I want to have a varying number of "kingdoms" each with their own king and each of these kings have their own unique powers. A few names of these Kings are: "The Mad King", "The Collecting King", "The Gaming King". Also, there may not even be physical battles that occur as I want to show just how strong the HEROINE is in terms of intellect (Lelouch from Code Geass is an inspiration for the HEROINE)
Sounds good, probably wise to also give each of these kings a name aside from this character-defining title, even if it's something clique like the seven carnal sins or a vague comparison to kings of old. (So f.e. Amon for the Mad King with 'wrath' as main characteristic or referencing King Louis XIV as the self-absorbed The Narcist King) Even if 'The ... King' doesn't make the naming part of the world-building seem lazy, which it might do, it will be a lot easier on you as the writer to have a name rather than something with 'The' in it. Simply doesn't work very fluently in some sentences.
-Will the episode-system be a 'Villain of the week' format or something else? (So a new villain with a new kind of power appears every episode and gets beaten at the end, with at least one overarching main villain.)
Yes this is the plan, I would like there to be a villain with a new kind of power that they must defeat together. This would be the Dark King's Knight while the overarching main villain would be The Dark King himself.
-Will the dynamic between the two main characters indeed be a 'I'll hold this new foe off until you figure out a way to beat them, but hurry up!' system where the girl needs to tell the hero how to beat a seemingly unbeatable foe.
This is one method, I don't want to stick to this formula but it will help with some battles. I'd also like to put them in a situation where they're unable to communicate and must overcome an obsticale on their own before re-teaming up for the rest of the fight.
Off course, I didn't mean to suggest you were going to rinse and repeat the same thing over and over again. Even if separating the smarts and the brawl is a good way to avoid an overpowered character (and deliver some exposition), there should always be some diversity.
I also want to add that this may more than likely be a kinetic novel but with a branching battle system. This means that the story follows a set path, but the battle system will be a choice based event that will be influenced by the HEROINE's input with the player determining the best action to take based on the HEROINE's discoveries. I would very much like to make the branching battle system a reality but this depends on how I can effectively accomplish this in regards to my finances as I'm paying for this project out of my own pocket. I have attempted Kickstarter events based on my previous projects but was never successful. This time, I'm simply going to pay for this project myself.
I think that if there is any actual difference in the story based on your actions during the fights, it can be called interactive rather than kinetic. Even games that have just one ending can be called 'interactive' technically speaking. So if you have just the two endings you were planning, you can confidently call your project an interactive one rather than kinetic. And if there are different scenes after these battles depending on what the player did, you can claim this interactiveness with ease.
However, I did have some questions about this system you mentioned. Will the battles be:
-Some sort of RPG battles surrounded by VN (f.e. Sunrider), and if and how you win decides what happens next.
-Text-based battles with a choice-like system with stats like hp and stamina that go up or down depending on your actions, and you'll have to fight to defeat the opponent before your health hits 0. (a bit like 'Delight games' games)
-(My guess) Text-based battles with a choice-like system where you as THE HERO! (great, now I've got that song stuck in my head again...) have to fight the opponent, and in the scenes that preceded it you as THE HEROINE had to choose a few options to learn a few things that give the hero his info.
I'd say any of the above could work, the last one is probably the easiest and most recommendable in Ren'py and the one I assumed you were talking about, though the other two could work as well. And none of these options (with the exception of the first where it's either win and advance or lose and try again) would be kinetic. If you want that brancing system to be practical however, I'd suggest making a simple and maintainable system of persistents. For example, the following outcomes of battle:
-Win hard. The HEROINE discovered the weak spot in the Knight and the fight was little more than a massacre. (Cannon scene and best one obviously)(+3)
-Win. Due to a combination of intelligence and brawl, you managed to best your opponent. (+2)
-Win barely. You managed to defeat your opponent, but by using several items, losing teammates or not beating him in a certain amount of turns (or whatever works best) (+1)
-Lose. Game over, try again.
I cooked up a really simple system above, but one that should work in all fights and which should allow you to create branching paths with manageable persistents. Those +x would pile up and determine certain scenes, dialogues and off course the ending. (So if there are 28 episodes before the final one, 3*28 points would be perfect end, less than that but more than 2*28 would be good end etc....)The scenes themselves would be the same though, after a single scene according to your fight, you can always return to the 'kinetic' storyline because they won and thus survived in all routes. Optionally more persistents could be added like f.e. 'cunning' or 'heroic' depending on whether you took the cowardly but smart choice of the heroine to do something underhanded or the chivalrous but dumb choice of the hero to fight fairly. As long as these are simple persistents they can easily co-exist with eachother and create easy-to-plan endings.
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