Hi all! For some time, I''ve had an idea I''d like to realise, but I want to know if others are intrigued by it, too. The game, which I''m gonna call "Chevalier" for now, will be an RPG where you control one(1) character only, namely a Knight. In the beginning, he might alone, or he might have a body guard or servant. But as the time goes on, he will gather men around him and sooner or later he will have some twenty retainers. These will all be NPC''s of different kinds. Warriors, servants, bards, clerks, healers, you name it. Chevalier will be pretty non-linear, with things to do littered around the landscape (preferably a completely random one). There will be villages to protect, madiens to be saved, tournaments to be won, duels and battles to be fought, criminals to be caught and great beasts to be killed. The character can aspire to be famous (better have a bard coming along), rich, even more noble, or powerful. The NPC''s are supposed to be as self-running as possible, and the micro management of them should be kept at a minimum. More focus would be put on such things as logistics and morale. Should you send your trusted servants to buy supplies or will the hunters catch enough game for the entire party? That kind of thing. Still, even that kind of micromanagement would be kept low. I want the AI to be smart enough to survive on it''s own, only needing the player to poke around a little for maximum effiecency. Assuming I could make the AI good enough, and the graphics and sound suggestive enough, does this sound like fun?

Sounds good to me.
But if you say that more focus is on logistics, does that mean there''s a lot of logistics-related micromanagement?
If you need to gather/buy supplies, does that mean that you stay in one place most of the time where your NPCs bring this stuff? Or do you set up a "base" if you travel to somewhere? Or do your NPCs just hunt/shop while you are travelling?

It''s a great concept. I have a 100 page word document dedicated to the design of my own

The game will be either purely in realtime or "Baldur''s Gate style" real time, i.e. you can pause whenever you wish to. I was thinking either third person or overhead view. I wanna be able to see my character.

When it comes to logistics, I was thinking along the lines of providing enough food, water, rest and gold for everyone to be happy.
You would be able to put up a base camp. Then, you could either stay there yourself, or just leave some guards and servants to resupply when necessary. After all, it''s probably not a good idea to draw the entire party down a dungeon...

quote:Assuming I could make the AI good enough, and the graphics and sound suggestive enough , does this sound like fun?

I hope you don''t mean what it looks like you mean.

It sounds like a good idea. But it needs some thought.

Were you also going to include a political side?

For instance, knights live in a land and may be beholden to (or simply pledge to) particular lords. The lords may grant boons for performing well in tournaments, but may also demand that the knight perform tasks, or even go to war against another lord.

Now, that may be overkill -- how many aspects does the player need to simultaneously balance? But even a very simple political model (you swear allegience to one lord, can never defect, are never asked anything in particular) would add some flavor. A bit more (occasional quests or rewards; gifts of squires or additions to your coat of arms) would add even more.