Fire Engine

[Snowmanticore]

Hi, long-time lurker and first-time poster in this subforum.

I'm working with a bunch of friends to make a simple engine for making Fire Emblem 'clones' on PC (written in C# with XNA), and an example game to package with it. Naming it "Fire Engine" is a no-brainer.

This is a casual project done for fun. We're all decently experienced in our respective roles, so I don't need or intend to recruit anybody with this thread.

The engine is underway, and there are some early character concepts for the example game, but of course it's too early to implement any of the "final product". I thought this would be a good time, before doing any further work, to get a feel for what the community prefers. So here's a survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EEC5P3OWQBOq5VwjzyX8MlIg4ZrT2AIhVqnk7_lx47M/viewform?usp=send_form

This questionnaire isn't meant to directly dictate what we put into the game; it will be more like a guide to tell us which areas to prioritize. It will also be fun to look at the results afterward.

Eventually, I'll update this with art/story samples, and eventually screenshots and early builds, assuming there isn't such a long time between updates that it would count as necroposting.

EDIT: Just to be clear, this is not a creation suite. It will not include tools for making your own game.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Snowmanticore

[McBlyat]

I will be looking forward to this! This might have potential.

[CT075]

maybe contact Yeti and the rest of the guys who are doing FE7x and FEXNA?

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Oh, we're gonna have two XNA engines now :0

[Snowmanticore]

Well, FEXNA isn't exactly the same as what we're going for.

FEXNA (and FEXP etc.) is more like a game creation system. It's a tool for helping people make their own Fire Emblems in the style of the GBA games.

This project is the skeleton for an SRPG that we plan to make in the future, which might not be exactly like Fire Emblem. We're making an "engine" to facilitate collaboration between the team members, and to avoid causing problems for ourselves in the long run. It won't really be a tool for others to use, and we probably won't make or include editing tools.

That said, it will probably be very easy to create "hacks" of the game. We could provide guides that explain how all the files work and how to modify them, and maybe it could be used as a creation tool in that way. But it's not a priority.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Ah, I see that's fine too.

Though why are you calling your game an 'example game'?

[Klokinator]

I filled out the form thing all the way. Wow, that was long.

It's clear you're really putting work into this. Much respect.

[Lenh]

Sounds cool! Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Do you have any idea on a timeframe till your next update (months, years, 2nd gen)?

[Klokinator]

It's actually pretty astounding how many FE engines are in development. 2016 will be remembered as the year of strategy engines if this keeps up.

[Snowmanticore]

Ah, I see that's fine too.

Though why are you calling your game an 'example game'?

It's going to be a "trial run" that we'll use to test things before we move onto the real project. Like a prototype.

Making a short, self-contained "demo" before starting the real thing will hopefully help us figure out the workflow.

Sounds cool! Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Do you have any idea on a timeframe till your next update (months, years, 2nd gen)?

Most of us have day jobs or studies, and those always take priority, so progresswill probably be slow (never heard that one before, right?).

Based on previous experiences, you can expect to see art posted intermittently over the next few months, and a playable build much, much later.

Don't follow this too closely. I mainly made the thread to share the survey, not to show off our progress.

[BwdYeti]

Posting my response to part of the questionnaire, because I'm basically the authority on FE game design in the community I think the insight might be helpful to others.

A strong, largely linear story, that focuses not just on the ambitions of the important actors, but also on the world, and its history, culture, and politics.

A tactical gameplay system that is ultimately very understandable, where the player can predict the likely outcomes of any individual action. Thus, the player can construct a plan that, while not without risk, words toward the chapter goal while also avoiding worst case scenarios of losing characters.

Finely tuned balance over the entire course of the experience, because player progression is largely predictable as resources are not infinite and are consumed as they're acquired. Some of these resources, like automatically joining characters, also prevent a truly unwinnable situation on the default difficulty.

Anyway gl with the game