I''m looking at making a game that works like Zelda does, same sort of time frame, same sort of Idea, now I''m thinking about story Idea''s and I was thinking should the story be open ended, as in your the strongest person in the town and the town folk need someone to venture out and get certain items (ie, you talk to the baker and he is in need of flour, the lumberjack''s axe is broken etc.) or would a story that is exact and to the point a better story, (ie, the evil guy took the town "Special Item" and you are the only person that can get it back) know that I wrote it out is sounds like I could put the 2 types together so that it is alot like Zelda where there is 1 main thing to do and many little sub-storys or quests to do.. is there something that you guys always like when your playing a game? something that you feel is a must in an Adventure game?

I think open endedness isn''t a good ideal to strive for. If I can run around and do whatever I want and the world collapses around me, it''s a bit funny for a while but on the whole a pointless game. I like choices, especially when they have a real effect on how I play or what I face down the road, but I think a game should have a sense of direction, a goal, apurpose to make me actually care at least in some small way about it.

tj963

I think you hit it right on what I think I''m looking for, I want to give choices, and I want to make it so that although the game might suggest that you do something you don''t really have to do always in a set order. Also I think I want to have a game where you might have to look around for a while to get a clue as to what you could do next, what would be the next step..

Which Zelda would that be - the original? For a game where the gameplay is not the most interesting or complex, I would personally recommend a stronger linear story to compensate. IMO non-linear stories are for games where the gameplay is so interesting that you might actually want to play through it more than once, or for sim games.

quote:Original post by sunandshadow
Which Zelda would that be - the original?

Well its kinda going to be a mix, the look of the game is going to be like the "Link''s Awakening" for the color Gameboy, because I''m not that great of an artist I''ve started with the actual tiles from that zelda, the game will be 2D (using DirectDraw)..

But I really like the first Zelda that was on N64, the whole thing with the different races and different towns around the land is something that I can see adding to my story.

in the N64 Zelda I remember running around in the open area for hours just trying to find little things that I could do.

Huh? How did I get here? I must have wandered into here when I wasn''t paying attention.

I say subplots and subquests and all that are good. In the Zelda games all the subplots/quests generally made your main task easier. Rescue/defeat *name goes here* and you get a bigger/new/more *stuff goes here.* But too much openendedness can REALLY be bad. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to figure out what to do now. The player oughta always have a clear objective, even if he doesn''t yet know how to achieve it. Like in Link''s Awakening, you knew your big main objective was to get wake the Wind Fish so you could leave. To do that you had to collect the instruments from the dungeons. To get into the dungeons you needed the keys. Getting the keys were puzzles of their own. The player pretty much always knew what needed to be done, even if he wasn''t sure how to do it.

Is there anything that MUST be in an adventure game? I don''t really think so. The main things I look for are a good story and fun gameplay. Zelda games (especially the N64 ones) are full of sidequests and little extras to do. Gabriel Knight games are pretty much 100% main story line, with very little "extras." I guess it just depends on what you''re going for. Zelda games are full of action, so giving the player plenty of action and stuff to do is probably necessary. Gabriel Knight games are puzzle and mystery oriented, with hardly any action (well, action the player gets to be involved with) so derivating from that main plot line would be kinda harmful.

Anyways, good luck with your game! I LOVE Links Awakening and Ocarina of Time (if only the bosses in Ocarina of Time were as tough as the bosses in Link''s Awakening. kiddies today have it too easy).

Shenmue II Kicks A$$! In this one you get to fight other people for money. And at cetain times, you need to get into so many fights, play the side games, and work in a factory untill you get enough money to progress. You will eventually fight Lan Di, and if you kill him I don''t know what because I haven''t played it all the way through. Dragon Warrior VIII is cool too. I mean the whole idea of going back in time to restore the world to it''s former self is cool!