Matt's Spare concepts thread

[Attila]

Alright, not sure if I put this in the right place, but whatever

As the name implies, I have a lot of ideas for concepts that I'm probably never going to use, and I'm going to allow you to use them. Without further ado, let us begin.

[spoiler=Concept 1]

Alright, so this one is simple enough. Remember how you loved video games a child, and always though about how cool it would be if you WERE in one? Well this one makes that a reality. You, and all of your loved ones are trapped in the world of Fire Emblem, and can't get out. This one feels like I'm ripping off FE online though

[spoiler=Concept 2]

This one is a little complex. You're a famed mercenary, traveling through whatever country on whatever continent, when you find a man in danger. You decide to help him, which leads him to help you in the future, being your tactician. To his will, you go to the nearest city, and start a guild, which is named whatever you decide.

[spoiler=Concept 3]

Alright, so this is the last concept I have so far, and it's the most complex. It revolves around a "my unit" character, who's a knight to a kingdom, but due to common procedures in FE, you have to take the princess/prince, ditch the castle, and protect her instead of having a jeigan.

[jgrand]

Concept 1: Will "If you die in the game, you die for realz" be a core mechanic? This would be terrible for me because my family has absolutely no combat experience. We'd be lvl 2 Civilians running around complaining about how much it sucks to be without air conditioning and fast food. The game would end in the prologue due to the obligatory bandit attack unless we're saved by some guy or group and become their burden. And realistically, I'm pretty sure that's how most people's "Trapped in a Game" stories would really go. Perhaps that'd be interesting to explore, to highlight all the things we take for granted in the modern day.

Concept 2: That's basically the beginning of FE: Awakening, except Chrom's the one that makes you go places and he already has a guild. The problem, in my opinion, is that the Shepards as a guild aren't narratively relevant after a certain point (almost immediately after they're introduced, I think). Perhaps if you made the guild the focal point of the story, it'd be worthwhile. I remember hunting down Farina's "Pay to be Recruited" script a long time ago and designing a small hub town map. You'd go back to this little hub after each chapter (or at least you would have, if I actually made chapters before quitting) and there were armories and vendors to stock up at and NPCs running around that you could talk to for either information or to hire them. I remember one of them was a really powerful mercenary (and he cost a lot more than all the other NPCs) but he was a selfish prick. He would immediately betray you in the next chapter because the enemy force was bigger than yours, making your plight in that chapter even more dire. Little dramas like that spice things up (I hope) and make who you hire a more interesting and meaningful choice. And of course you're never gonna have enough money to hire everyone you see.

Concept 3: But what about the butler, handmaidens, chefs, advisors- all the "little people" that make a castle functional? I assume you have to ditch the castle because of some type of enemy attack (if it's a bunch of bandits again, then I just might slap a kitten ), so most of the little people would be running around trying to flee from the chaos (probably, depending on how and when the attack occured), but people who serve the princess/prince wouldn't be going anywhere without him/her. They probably wouldn't have any combat skills, either. They could all be useless in combat (or in general) or this could be the foundation for Concept 2 (except, if this is some military power storming your castle, you can't just move to the next town and set up shop, as they will probably just kill you there, so there's probably going to be a lot of running away involved, then the guild concept could take root). They could act as the backbone of the guild until it gets on its feet. The butler or handmaidens could act as Merlinus or they could find employ as housekeep or shop clerk/help around town and act as a source of income for the guild/prince's party inbetween chapters, as opposed to killing for Red Gems or visiting random villages who conveniently have 1000 gold to spare. And perhaps, to add another layer of depth, make it so that the villagers got screwed over the the king's agricultural/tax laws or something so they regard the princess/prince with hate and she/he has to fight an uphill battle to obtain aid and acceptance from the populous.

Also, I think it's kind of absurd from a narrative standpoint how just about everyone and their mother in FE games can do something in combat, regardless of age or background. It takes a lot of time and dedication to be a skilled fighter and isn't something that you just pick up. What irks me the most is when the noobies (characters like Amelia and Ross) with little combat experience end up stronger than the prepromotes so quickly. Not by a small margin, either. The few chapters that it takes to level them up only spans a few days in the narrative and they're already on par with the veterans, and they won't stop there if you keep leveling. I know these types of things make mechanical sense (investment in characters and payoff for that investment), but still, You don't have to throw narrative sense to the wind. I'd probably lower experience gain and remove the bonus for getting the kill, so that you would have to spend time actually engaging enemies. Being the one to stab a guy while he's bleeding on the ground wouldn't really do much for your combat prowess; it would probably just lead to emotional damage and stress, especially if you're inexperienced/just a kid.

And chapters taking place the same or next day consistently is also absurd. I remember reading somewhere (I think multiple supports of FE7) where someone says something along the lines of "Well, we're fighting everyday so I'm deciding to do [random thing/hobby here] in the middle of battle." First off, that's absolutely insane, but the main thing I wanted to point out is that the party would crumble due to combat fatigue and would not be nearly as emotionally together as they are throughout the game. Plus, they keep marching forward and fighting fresh enemies. The party would be so screwed. So spacing chapters out a little bit (at least a week) would give characters a reasonable time for their [random thing/hobby here], to emotionally unwind and give time for the character's combat abilities to grow through training. Characters like Seth and Marcus would probably try to train and militarize the party as much as they can to maximize the chance of survival.

Well, that concludes my ramblings on that there subject. Thanks for sharing, I had a lot of fun brainthunderstorming these concepts.

[Attila]

Concept 1: Will "If you die in the game, you die for realz" be a core mechanic? This would be terrible for me because my family has absolutely no combat experience. We'd be lvl 2 Civilians running around complaining about how much it sucks to be without air conditioning and fast food. The game would end in the prologue due to the obligatory bandit attack unless we're saved by some guy or group and become their burden. And realistically, I'm pretty sure that's how most people's "Trapped in a Game" stories would really go. Perhaps that'd be interesting to explore, to highlight all the things we take for granted in the modern day.

Concept 2: That's basically the beginning of FE: Awakening, except Chrom's the one that makes you go places and he already has a guild. The problem, in my opinion, is that the Shepards as a guild aren't narratively relevant after a certain point (almost immediately after they're introduced, I think). Perhaps if you made the guild the focal point of the story, it'd be worthwhile. I remember hunting down Farina's "Pay to be Recruited" script a long time ago and designing a small hub town map. You'd go back to this little hub after each chapter (or at least you would have, if I actually made chapters before quitting) and there were armories and vendors to stock up at and NPCs running around that you could talk to for either information or to hire them. I remember one of them was a really powerful mercenary (and he cost a lot more than all the other NPCs) but he was a selfish prick. He would immediately betray you in the next chapter because the enemy force was bigger than yours, making your plight in that chapter even more dire. Little dramas like that spice things up (I hope) and make who you hire a more interesting and meaningful choice. And of course you're never gonna have enough money to hire everyone you see.

Concept 3: But what about the butler, handmaidens, chefs, advisors- all the "little people" that make a castle functional? I assume you have to ditch the castle because of some type of enemy attack (if it's a bunch of bandits again, then I just might slap a kitten ), so most of the little people would be running around trying to flee from the chaos (probably, depending on how and when the attack occured), but people who serve the princess/prince wouldn't be going anywhere without him/her. They probably wouldn't have any combat skills, either. They could all be useless in combat (or in general) or this could be the foundation for Concept 2 (except, if this is some military power storming your castle, you can't just move to the next town and set up shop, as they will probably just kill you there, so there's probably going to be a lot of running away involved, then the guild concept could take root). They could act as the backbone of the guild until it gets on its feet. The butler or handmaidens could act as Merlinus or they could find employ as housekeep or shop clerk/help around town and act as a source of income for the guild/prince's party inbetween chapters, as opposed to killing for Red Gems or visiting random villages who conveniently have 1000 gold to spare. And perhaps, to add another layer of depth, make it so that the villagers got screwed over the the king's agricultural/tax laws or something so they regard the princess/prince with hate and she/he has to fight an uphill battle to obtain aid and acceptance from the populous.

Well, that concludes my ramblings on that there subject. Thanks for sharing, I had a lot of fun brainthunderstorming these concepts.

Concept 1: Actually, most of my family plays FE, and from what we were talking about when I made this concept, it'd go something like you're whatever class you specifically wanted to be, and your family is whatever class you see them as, EG my class is Mercenary, just because irl I'm not to strong, and I plan shit out, so not perfect strength but a lot of skill. Then again, I don't think that anyone would be a Gerik

Concept 2: That's basically what I was planning on having the game be: you complete missions as a mercenary, and go to your main tavern type place, or wherever you feel like having the hub be, and just sit around, accepting missions and shit.

Concept 3: Honestly, I forgot about all of those people. They'd be hiding in a kitchen I guess. The reason I didn't describe the concepts to full point is because I want the person making the hack to be able to use their imagination and plan stuff by themselves. If they want the maids and butlers to fight if needed, then they can allow it.

[jgrand]

Well, after playing games like the Last of Us and Telltale's The Walking Dead, I kinda became obsessed with the idea having as much realism and logic as possible in game. Even a game with fantasy elements like undead and whatnot. So, while I would probably want to be a balanced mage in your Concept 1, I would realistically be either a civilian with no combat skills or a very very weak archer, since there was a time in my life where I practiced archery as a hobby. Most people seem to treat video games as a way to realize power fantasies, such as being the most statistically balanced and versitile mage in my case, but I tend to to be much more invested in scenarios where the main characters reflect their backgrounds and grow at a reasonable rate. Random example: Rebecca's just a random village girl who joined Eliwood's army because she gained slight skill with a bow while hunting. Then she goes through day after day of grueling combat, killing people and watching friends die and get cut to pieces (in the alternate dimensions where the player doesn't reset, I guess. Heh) and isn't affected by it at all. That kinda applies to everyone in FE, to a certain extent (people like Marcus would probably handle it the best, but still, fatigue). It's hard for me to relate to a character that seems so emotionless in the face of such hardship.

Anyway, that's just how I've come to view things. Hyper-realistic or not, these concepts could be made into a good hack if the author cared enough about it. I just thought it would be interesting to look at these concepts from a more realistic perspective (though I kinda just ended up rambling a lot, didn't I? Sorry!).