Making JRPG: Need Lots of Help or Advice For Making

[anonymous_user_8241af7e]

Hello anyone who reads this. I am currently making a game called Lives Turned with just so little progress made: a basic classroom (just for testing) and a main menu that doesn’t look too shabby. Other than, I haven’t made anything else. The way I would like this game to work is by using the same battle system as Final Fantasy I-X. I am not going to be one of those people who forget those who have helped them and move on. No. I will make sure that you are given credit along the way in the making of this project.

Now, to the game itself. You know that the game is going to follow the battle system of Final Fantasy and probably the world system will be the same too. Also, the characters are going to look a little bit like anime characters so if any of you use Blender, hmu (hit me up) in the post. What I don’t know is making these systems which brings you, the reader, into my project. You can volunteer, no cost is needed. Just reply. Be how you are. We are civilized people anyways. Sadly, I don’t have money OR bitcoins. I’m just a 14 year old. I want to make this game because when I played Final Fantasy VII on my iPad, I knew that I had joined something that can never be forgotten. Never. So I wanted to make a fan game as a tribute to Square Enix when they chose to risk it all on their first Final Fantasy to be known or forgotten. After that, they have made us cry, made us laugh, and even made us feel like we wanted to be there. Like we wanted to be a kid again. Same with Kingdom Hearts even. They made possibly the BEST crossover in video game history! No one else can top that!

Overall, I just need help making this game. I’ve already gotten the story down. I will take some advice on the story if you don’t like some things in it. Same with the characters and their classes. Although, you need to know that most of these characters in the game are based on real people that mean a lot to me. So don’t change personalities and looks is all I ask. Other than that, I just need advice from those who have made games with this software. Hopefully, I can help in the process with the models and character designs if I get Blender sooner than later. YOU can help with making the game work. Think of it. During the creation, we will feel almost like, and when they made their first Final Fantasy. I should mention this: hopefully, we are NOT going to make sequels lol. We will feel like those gentlemen who wanted to bring something new like we will hopefully do the same. I’m asking everyone who reads this to help and give advice…because…if the people at Square Enix saw that people were making fun of a badly made fan game to honor them, it would make them feel bad. WE don’t want that. We want to honor those in Square Enix who have made such great games that have given us so many emotions that we can’t even forget the first time we play it. So please. Help me make this to honor Square Enix and thank them for the spectacular games they have made over all these years.

[Krayfishkarl]

Ah, you’re making an JRPG too? I found your post shortly after you posted on my thread. Perhaps some tags may make it easier to find for others in the future?

Anyway, I too am making a JRPG which I’m calling Dreamwalkers: Sleep Descent as you saw in my thread. I might not really be able to help you in your game too directly given how busy my schedule is, but I can give some advice on what I learned over the course of making my game. (Apologies in advance if this comes across as shameless advertising.)

I come from a background of 2D sidescroller action games, so Dreamwalkers being a 3D open world RPG is a first for me. I started it off as a straight up Final Fantasy-esque game with Paper Mario style graphics. Over time though as I added new elements and wanted to do new things with Unreal Engine, I found myself deviating in a new direction. As much as I love the Final Fantasy games, I often found some of the dungeons a bit too linear so for my own game, I wanted to spice it up by adding setpieces and new types of puzzles. To break from the usual grind, you have things like physics-based puzzles, unbeatable monsters chasing you, vertically-oriented level design, etc. Having the free roaming camera was probably the biggest game changer since I could now design levels much more openly. You could wander around a world and uncover treasure hidden from view.

Also, I believe I said this in my video showcasing my prototype, but I originally set out to replicate Final Fantasy X’s battle system. The final version I have was actually made by complete accident. A bug prevented the turn system from working properly and you could attack whenever you wanted. So I just rolled with that because I thought it was something unique for this genre.

For your game though, making a Final Fantasy-esque game is fine, but if you want to make it stand out from the crowd, maybe instead consider designing it as a fresh take on the standard JRPG formula. Consider things like how the common person using magic might have consequences in the way society works or what it really means to have monsters stalking every corner of the world. Bravely Default, even though it was technically made by Square Enix, does this pretty well. It’s an original IP, but it pays homage to all things Final Fantasy by taking its ideas and doing something new with it. It looks and sounds like Final Fantasy, but still plays differently from the Final Fantasy games.

By the way, while I can definitely make things with Blender and my native art style is animesque, my primary talent is really on the game design side. It might be worth looking into learning a thing or two on your own though. I found it difficult to use at first, but I changed some of the settings around to make it a bit easier.

Ultimately, I think your best bet is to only use Final Fantasy as a starting point, then just experiment with your systems to see what works. It’s much better to just take inspiration rather than trying to imitate it entirely. See how you can change up the usual formula to make your game stand on its own.