Hi all, I dunno where I should post this thread, so i thought I might as well put it in the most active forum..! EDIT: err... ok moved to For Beginners... thanks! Anyway I was wondering... has anyone here have any experience making an ARPG game or know any linkys about it? by ARPG i mean games like diablo, dungeon siege, and the like... I'm interested in things like game design, level/maps, collision detection or just anything about it... I tried googling and can't seem to find any info specifically on the topic of writing ARPG games... Also, if it were to be made, is 3d the way to go? or is 2d ok as well? as far as I know, diablo was written in 2d... what about the performance issues? Please provide me with any resources, suggestions or recommendations... thanks very much! [Edited by - fuchiefck on August 1, 2005 1:49:43 AM]

ARPG? What does the "A" stand for? The games you listed would normally be considered CRPGs (Computer Role Playing Games), and as you'll often hear from role players are more hack'n'slash than actual role playing. //EDIT: The A is for Action?

Typically this type of game is either made in either 3d, or 2d isometric to give the feel of 3d, but keep in mind that mechanically they're still VERY similar to the old 2d top-down games like the old Zelda games on NES and SNES. You can get very good performance doing it either way as long as you do it well. If you're interested in doing it in 2d, you'll probably want to check out the Isometric and Tile Based Games section of the articles. There's also a forum devoted to this area.

For the different areas of information, you can probably find some good reference material (although it may not be RPG specific) on different things. Specifically, there is a sub-section covering collision detection. You can find an excellent 2 part article on level design here and here, although again this isn't RPG specific.

You will probably be very interested in the material that can be accessed here as well.

There are also plenty of books available on the topic if you're willing to part with some money. I'd definately recommend Role Playing Games With DirectX if you're planning to take that path.

I'm not sure if those links are specifically what you're looking for, but hopefully you'll find something helpful there. Good luck with it, and let us know if you find any good resources. [smile]

Hey Kazgoroth... thanks for your reply! I will look into those links...
hmmm yeah... the 'A' stands for Action... ummm... So no one uses or understands the term 'ARPG'? maybe thats why I couldn't find any info... Well in Taiwan, we classify games like diablo as ARPG... I don't know what category other people use... hmm what about Zelda?