Register
Hey folks! I'm Cody, and I'm new to this forum.
I like narrative-oriented gaming: interactive fiction (The King Of Shreds & Patches, Anchorhead, Rameses, Galatea), adventure games (Quest For Glory, Grim Fandango, Sam & Max Hit The Road, Beneath A Steel Sky), and RPGs (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate). I like the principle of visual novels, though I rarely enjoy them in practice. I'm also enjoying the recent surge of indie games, retro-games, art games, and home brews (Braid, Off!, Journey, Passage). Non-gaming influences include Alan Moore, Moebius, David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Blade Runner, X-Men comics, Star Trek, Twilight Zone.
I've decided to use OHRRPGCE to develop one of my sci-fi story ideas as a game. However I've never made a smoothly functioning RPG before (I did tinker with a couple of versions of RPG Maker years ago), so now I'm going to be harassing you people for a lot of advice and opinions and answers. Joy!
Right now I'm in the planning stages, as I figure it will probably be better to know what I'm trying to make before I try to make it. I'm still figuring out how my plot gets from A to B, and how that relates to geography and mechanics. I want the game's mechanics to actually simulate the situations the characters of my story could reasonably find themselves in, and have that be a fun rewarding thing to experience. I'd rather discuss game specifics in PM, at least for the moment.
While I'm in the plotting stage of my game and not yet knowledgeable of OHRRPGCE and its capabilities, I'd love to hear anyone's advice or two cents on the following topics:
*Branching storylines / multiple endings (how complex is this to program, and any tips of dealing with it?)
*Game mechanics (any good advice for a total novice about how to make fun, stable simulations with levels, stats, numbers?)
*Best games made with OHRRPGCE? (or RPG Maker?)
Thanks a ton, everybody!
EDIT:
I got Motrya, Vikings Of Midgard, Walthros, Wandering Hamster, and Origin. About to start playing Motrya. There was one called Sword Of Jade that I wanted to check out, but couldn't find a working download. I'm using OSX, by the way.
Cody Gaisser
New user introduction / Advice for noob planning an RPG?
Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:30 am 
Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:43 am
Hi, welcome! Nice list of tastes and influences you have there :) We'll be happy to help by answering questions.
In the OHRRPGCE a branching story is normally handled with tags which are set from textboxes. Tags are on/off values, and the ability to toggle tags and turn things on/off with tags is quite pervasive throughout the engine; usually no scripting required.
I'm not sure what you mean by "fun, stable simulations". Balancing battles?
Two good places to start to find the best of the OHR is the gamelist here on SS sorted by score, and the Top 30 and Game of the Year lists. Have we really not had a Top 30 vote since 2011? And why isn't there a page for GOTY on the wiki? Lots of weird games always end up high in the Top 30 ranks though, because of fads and the often low number of voters.
I don't have a copy of the most recent (14-04-2013) version of Sword of Jade that was hosted at fyrewulff.com (nor the scripts). But the previous version to that (24-03-2013) is still available for download from this site. The manual is also still available; see the OHR wiki page.
In the OHRRPGCE a branching story is normally handled with tags which are set from textboxes. Tags are on/off values, and the ability to toggle tags and turn things on/off with tags is quite pervasive throughout the engine; usually no scripting required.
I'm not sure what you mean by "fun, stable simulations". Balancing battles?
Two good places to start to find the best of the OHR is the gamelist here on SS sorted by score, and the Top 30 and Game of the Year lists. Have we really not had a Top 30 vote since 2011? And why isn't there a page for GOTY on the wiki? Lots of weird games always end up high in the Top 30 ranks though, because of fads and the often low number of voters.
I don't have a copy of the most recent (14-04-2013) version of Sword of Jade that was hosted at fyrewulff.com (nor the scripts). But the previous version to that (24-03-2013) is still available for download from this site. The manual is also still available; see the OHR wiki page.
Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:51 am
Thanks for the Sword of Jade link! I missed that somehow.
I saw the Top 30 and looked at a few of those lists, but I was curious about what people have been digging since 2011? I didn't realize there was a list on the site sorted by score though, I'll go check that out.
The one I'm about to attempt is hard to describe without giving a lot away about the story that I'd rather not spoil publicly before I even start programming it. I will say it's about a character who is displaced on a foreign planet with few resources. I'd like to make it such that at key points, certain factors are weighed and, depending on those factors, things in the game could go forward a little differently. I have some ideas, but am not sure which would work. I'm still thinking through things though.
I was also wondering about the possibility of energy weapons with a "charge" bar that can be depleted (like mana, but attached to a weapon?) and recharged with a battery (ether). Or a gun that has a counter that counts down as ammo is used, and then needs to be reloaded with a clip.
I am not really sure where to begin defining the mechanics. How many stats to use, the stats characters should begin with, whether those should be low or high digits and why, how to balance the enemies such that they pose an appropriate threat but are still possible to defeat. How to keep the difficulty engaging but not completely and totally overwhelming. Not totally certain whether to use random battles at all, but I feel like in some parts of the game it might make sense.
Cody Gaisser
I saw the Top 30 and looked at a few of those lists, but I was curious about what people have been digging since 2011? I didn't realize there was a list on the site sorted by score though, I'll go check that out.
The one I'm about to attempt is hard to describe without giving a lot away about the story that I'd rather not spoil publicly before I even start programming it. I will say it's about a character who is displaced on a foreign planet with few resources. I'd like to make it such that at key points, certain factors are weighed and, depending on those factors, things in the game could go forward a little differently. I have some ideas, but am not sure which would work. I'm still thinking through things though.
I was also wondering about the possibility of energy weapons with a "charge" bar that can be depleted (like mana, but attached to a weapon?) and recharged with a battery (ether). Or a gun that has a counter that counts down as ammo is used, and then needs to be reloaded with a clip.
I am not really sure where to begin defining the mechanics. How many stats to use, the stats characters should begin with, whether those should be low or high digits and why, how to balance the enemies such that they pose an appropriate threat but are still possible to defeat. How to keep the difficulty engaging but not completely and totally overwhelming. Not totally certain whether to use random battles at all, but I feel like in some parts of the game it might make sense.
Cody Gaisser
Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:35 am
Early in the game, the player has few resources and no narrative reason to be carrying a weapon (your character is rather ordinary and not some mythic warrior). However the city is dangerous and some parts more so than others.
I want muggers and other goons to pose an occasional unexpected threat on the streets. I don't want the player to be utterly defenseless, just kinda realistically unprepared. Debating the merits/complications of a day/night system with nights being more dangerous, and whether that would actually serve to enhance the game. I don't want too much emphasis on slogging through a sea of random battles. The muggers are there to remind the player that their new home is not entirely welcoming, not to make them give up on walking anywhere.
More dangerous battles would occur in parts of town where the player isn't welcome (or doesn't belong at a low level, or in this part of the story).
In what I guess you could call Act 2 or the mid-game, there are narrative events that will cause a higher rate of attacks on the street. I want the player to get a good solid party and a few random weapons/armor/potions by the end of Act 1, and then immediately send them on a mad dash to get more weapons, armor, and healing before they're killed by the chaos on the streets during the events of Act 2.
I've been trying to figure out how to set up my character stats, benefits from armor/weapons/items, the numbers side of it. Should I learn how D&D or some similar RPG works and build my mechanics on a dramatically simplified version of similar principles?
Cody Gaisser
I want muggers and other goons to pose an occasional unexpected threat on the streets. I don't want the player to be utterly defenseless, just kinda realistically unprepared. Debating the merits/complications of a day/night system with nights being more dangerous, and whether that would actually serve to enhance the game. I don't want too much emphasis on slogging through a sea of random battles. The muggers are there to remind the player that their new home is not entirely welcoming, not to make them give up on walking anywhere.
More dangerous battles would occur in parts of town where the player isn't welcome (or doesn't belong at a low level, or in this part of the story).
In what I guess you could call Act 2 or the mid-game, there are narrative events that will cause a higher rate of attacks on the street. I want the player to get a good solid party and a few random weapons/armor/potions by the end of Act 1, and then immediately send them on a mad dash to get more weapons, armor, and healing before they're killed by the chaos on the streets during the events of Act 2.
I've been trying to figure out how to set up my character stats, benefits from armor/weapons/items, the numbers side of it. Should I learn how D&D or some similar RPG works and build my mechanics on a dramatically simplified version of similar principles?
Cody Gaisser
Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:03 am
If you're going for a narrative driven game, I usually prioritize the story, dialogue, maps, etc. before dealing with balancing enemies and battles and whatnot. Typically you'll find that you want to add enemies or change stats or adjust the difficulty curve, and this is easier to do once the plot elements are all there and implemented, so things don't overlap and you don't end up messing anything up.
Day/night systems are possible, I've seen it done before. I like what you plan on doing with it. Realism in games is always pretty cool. You can adjust stats and trigger things with events to make certain things harder and all of those things you talked about.
By way of stats, I would recommend you look into D&D if not only for a different perspective on RPGs and stat growth. The problem is, emulating D&D mechanics in a video game doesn't usually translate very well. The same principle is there, but in a video game, you should take advantage of the fact that the computer can do a lot of the work for you. The OHR does a pretty good job of supplying decent defaults that make you only have to worry about what the actual stats of your characters and enemies are.
Ultimately, I suggest you just mess around with the OHR and try stuff out before you start making anything final. Try making a really simple game first so you become comfortable with the engine, otherwise you'll end up missing things you could have done earlier and want to go back and fix an entire section of your game and it can get overwhelming. If you're striving for perfection, or anything near it, I suggest you don't make this your very first project.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Day/night systems are possible, I've seen it done before. I like what you plan on doing with it. Realism in games is always pretty cool. You can adjust stats and trigger things with events to make certain things harder and all of those things you talked about.
By way of stats, I would recommend you look into D&D if not only for a different perspective on RPGs and stat growth. The problem is, emulating D&D mechanics in a video game doesn't usually translate very well. The same principle is there, but in a video game, you should take advantage of the fact that the computer can do a lot of the work for you. The OHR does a pretty good job of supplying decent defaults that make you only have to worry about what the actual stats of your characters and enemies are.
Ultimately, I suggest you just mess around with the OHR and try stuff out before you start making anything final. Try making a really simple game first so you become comfortable with the engine, otherwise you'll end up missing things you could have done earlier and want to go back and fix an entire section of your game and it can get overwhelming. If you're striving for perfection, or anything near it, I suggest you don't make this your very first project.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:56 am
kylecrack wrote:
Ultimately, I suggest you just mess around with the OHR and try stuff out before you start making anything final. Try making a really simple game first so you become comfortable with the engine, otherwise you'll end up missing things you could have done earlier and want to go back and fix an entire section of your game and it can get overwhelming. If you're striving for perfection, or anything near it, I suggest you don't make this your very first project.
Hi Analogous. Welcome.
Most everyone who has gotten used to the engine will echo what kylecrack is telling you about starting small while you learn how to use it. I don't think I'd go so far as to recommend you work on a different project before the one that matters because you can certainly learn as you go and make your improvements as you learn (I did, and I turned out fine, and my first game that's 14 years in the making has come a long way from its newbie status).
But you should start your project by planning small before you get complex. What you really want to do is learn the easy stuff first, like map-making, setting NPCs with dialogue, and basic scripting commands like making your hero walk to a destination without player input, and work your way to the more complex stuff like the day/night system as you feel comfortable playing with the scripting for it. The more you learn the engine, the more you'll understand what you can do with it.
Everyone expects you to ask a lot of questions initially, so feel free to ask away. No one's gonna feel pestered by it. Also, learn who the engine's developers are early (Bob the Hamster and TMC) so you can "pester" them for features the engine can't accomplish yet.
Vikings of Midgard was developed for two purposes: to be fun, but also to teach the engine. It hasn't been updated in a while, so it won't demonstrate everything, but you can certainly learn a lot by opening it in Custom and exploring its contents. Same goes for its plotscript file, which I assume it includes. You'll also want to remember F1 when you use the engine because it'll pull up a help menu that can answer all of your engine questions.
When you do get used to Custom's layout and comfortable with planning for your game, you may want to check out the plotscript dictionary for more information on the things you can do in scripting.
As far as planning your characters goes, do that if you want, but there's no formula for deciding what to do first. Do first whatever you can learn the fastest. Most people start with drawing things.
Good luck.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:54 am
I'm new here as well, I used the OHR program for a game that I got about halfway through way back in... jeeze, could it really have been 2002? But drifted away from it. I was pleasantly surprised when I searched "hamster republic" earlier this year and saw that the engine and its community seemed alive and well.
As I'm also new, I don't have a ton of advice. But my strategy has been to get the meat and potatoes of the thing working first, and then go back and add bells and whistles. I started with graphics; maps, heroes, attacks, enemies, and weapons, then kind of went from there getting things functional before moving to another part.
I've been trying to design my game in such a way that it can function without all the mechanics I have ultimately planned. That way, I'm able to continue working on things and making some degree or progress without getting too frustrated, or discouraged. And I can go back to the more complex bits as I get better, and learn more.
In any case, welcome
since I've been here, I've asked quite a few questions that I imagine seemed kind of dumb or obvious to figure out, but I always get help and good advice pretty quickly around here! These goons know what they're talking about, and are patient and friendly 
As I'm also new, I don't have a ton of advice. But my strategy has been to get the meat and potatoes of the thing working first, and then go back and add bells and whistles. I started with graphics; maps, heroes, attacks, enemies, and weapons, then kind of went from there getting things functional before moving to another part.
I've been trying to design my game in such a way that it can function without all the mechanics I have ultimately planned. That way, I'm able to continue working on things and making some degree or progress without getting too frustrated, or discouraged. And I can go back to the more complex bits as I get better, and learn more.
In any case, welcome
since I've been here, I've asked quite a few questions that I imagine seemed kind of dumb or obvious to figure out, but I always get help and good advice pretty quickly around here! These goons know what they're talking about, and are patient and friendly
Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:59 am
kylekrack wrote:
If you're going for a narrative driven game, I usually prioritize the story, dialogue, maps, etc. before dealing with balancing enemies and battles and whatnot. Typically you'll find that you want to add enemies or change stats or adjust the difficulty curve, and this is easier to do once the plot elements are all there and implemented, so things don't overlap and you don't end up messing anything up.
This is pretty much what I was planning to do, but even though the story is pretty central I still want this to play like a game. I'm trying to get at least a rough idea of how the game itself will work, so I can integrate story and game play such that the two feel harmonious and not like "a bit of plot" followed by "a bit of grind."
Quote:
Ultimately, I suggest you just mess around with the OHR and try stuff out before you start making anything final. Try making a really simple game first so you become comfortable with the engine, otherwise you'll end up missing things you could have done earlier and want to go back and fix an entire section of your game and it can get overwhelming. If you're striving for perfection, or anything near it, I suggest you don't make this your very first project.
Thanks, I suspected starting small would be a good way to learn the engine. I'll just have to conceive of some smaller project to tinker with now.
Cody Gaisser
Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:11 am
Pepsi Ranger wrote:
But you should start your project by planning small before you get complex. What you really want to do is learn the easy stuff first, like map-making, setting NPCs with dialogue, and basic scripting commands like making your hero walk to a destination without player input, and work your way to the more complex stuff like the day/night system as you feel comfortable playing with the scripting for it. The more you learn the engine, the more you'll understand what you can do with it.
Everyone expects you to ask a lot of questions initially, so feel free to ask away. No one's gonna feel pestered by it. Also, learn who the engine's developers are early (Bob the Hamster and TMC) so you can "pester" them for features the engine can't accomplish yet.
Vikings of Midgard was developed for two purposes: to be fun, but also to teach the engine. It hasn't been updated in a while, so it won't demonstrate everything, but you can certainly learn a lot by opening it in Custom and exploring its contents. Same goes for its plotscript file, which I assume it includes. You'll also want to remember F1 when you use the engine because it'll pull up a help menu that can answer all of your engine questions.
When you do get used to Custom's layout and comfortable with planning for your game, you may want to check out the plotscript dictionary for more information on the things you can do in scripting.
But you should start your project by planning small before you get complex. What you really want to do is learn the easy stuff first, like map-making, setting NPCs with dialogue, and basic scripting commands like making your hero walk to a destination without player input, and work your way to the more complex stuff like the day/night system as you feel comfortable playing with the scripting for it. The more you learn the engine, the more you'll understand what you can do with it.
Everyone expects you to ask a lot of questions initially, so feel free to ask away. No one's gonna feel pestered by it. Also, learn who the engine's developers are early (Bob the Hamster and TMC) so you can "pester" them for features the engine can't accomplish yet.
Vikings of Midgard was developed for two purposes: to be fun, but also to teach the engine. It hasn't been updated in a while, so it won't demonstrate everything, but you can certainly learn a lot by opening it in Custom and exploring its contents. Same goes for its plotscript file, which I assume it includes. You'll also want to remember F1 when you use the engine because it'll pull up a help menu that can answer all of your engine questions.
When you do get used to Custom's layout and comfortable with planning for your game, you may want to check out the plotscript dictionary for more information on the things you can do in scripting.
Great, thanks for all the pointers. I'll probably crack open the FAQ, Custom, Vikings of Midgard tonight. We'll see how long it takes me to get something functional.
I guess I should probably draw some sprites and map tiles first. I know the map tiles will be different for every game, but are there any good guidelines on basic things to include in a set of tiles? Like obviously any kind of corners or borders should be there as well as some plain "floor" or "ground," but I've never designed anything like this and would love useful tips. Maybe once I get inside Vikings of Midgard, I'll have a better idea of what could be useful to include.
Also, is there a good way to estimate how large a map should be? Like how many tiles will be displayed on screen without panning? I guess before I do my bigger project I should probably graph everything out on paper first?
Cody Gaisser
Tue Nov 18, 2014 6:27 am
Pixel art is very different from drawing things. Maptiles can be as easy or difficult as you want them to be. There's nothing wrong with making placeholder tiles that are solid colors, like green for grass, blue for water, etc. or just having a green square with some lighter green dots airbrushed onto it. Your graphics don't have to be fancy until you publish it.
This page, the links at the bottom especially, has some good advice on how to draw for the OHR:
http://rpg.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce/How_do_I_learn_to_draw_better_graphics%3F
As for map size, the displayed screen will always be the same, unless you do some funky experimental stuff that I was reading about the other day. Other than that the size of the full map is fully adjustable at all times, so just make it however big you think you might need it to be, and add or subtract once you're done with it.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
This page, the links at the bottom especially, has some good advice on how to draw for the OHR:
http://rpg.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce/How_do_I_learn_to_draw_better_graphics%3F
As for map size, the displayed screen will always be the same, unless you do some funky experimental stuff that I was reading about the other day. Other than that the size of the full map is fully adjustable at all times, so just make it however big you think you might need it to be, and add or subtract once you're done with it.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:29 am
Thanks. Rather than trying to be clever I think I'm going to make two locations joined by an overmap, one of which being a shop where you can buy items and have dialog, the other being a pretty simplistic dungeon. Not really intended for playing at all, just the smallest possible self-contained system that could possibly be considered an RPG.
I think I'm going to draw it using a 4-color monochrome palette, Game Boy style.
Cody Gaisser
I think I'm going to draw it using a 4-color monochrome palette, Game Boy style.
Cody Gaisser