The first was wanting to use a game maker to make the game with. I spent many an hour investigating several different versions, including GameMaker, BYOND, Elysium(Konfuze), and even RMXP. This game deserves better. It would have to. There will be way too much custom stuff in this game to allow me to just pawn it off on some Mirage clone. No, I have to learn a language and, at the very least, use a game engine instead.
The second mistake was discovered after I decided to use C++. After familiarizing myself with the language, I realized that all of the notes that I had created so far weren't going to help me start programming one bit. I was going to need to know character attributes and skills, which I hadn't even bothered tackling yet. And once I thought about it, I realized that in order to determine those, it would be a good idea to know what those attributes and skills would be used for. So I set about creating the job structures for the game. I created 20 jobs in all, each with 4 levels of experience to obtain. With the jobs complete, I figured out what skills and attributes would be of value.
For the attributes, I was a little unsure at first. So far, all I had to start was the tried and true: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom. But I was going to need more. These alone cannot help determine ones ability to run a town or run a shop, which are features Im including. But after a few drinks and a little imagination I came up with a few more: Charisma, Shrewdness, Leadership, and Workmanship.
Charisma is familiar to some, but I want it to be more impacting than Ive seen it in other games. It will affect prices you come across and it determines your guild size. Shrewdness determines the maximum amount of businesses you can run, and how good your trade instincts are. Leadership determines the number of NPCs you are able to hire, and how many buildings you can have in your town. Workmanship determines how many jobs youre able to hold down, as well as what your skill cap will be.
I designed these 4 to be opposing, much like Strengh and Dexterity, and Intelligence and Wisdom are. I still need to figure out how to distribute initial attribute points, but that will get figured out eventually.
BUT ANYWAYS... I think I'm on the right track. Im getting a lot of content down on paper so that has to be a good thing. Once I get all the characters variables set, Ill start with some simple programming.
