Perhaps the title is kind of misleading but... oh well. This post is a continuation of my latest probable Pony RPG-related thread http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.283536-Pony-Age-Origins?page=1 in which I re-imagined everyone's favourite magical equines as actual playable characters from a Dragon Age-escque role-playing extravaganza... they're complete with stats, abilities and class description.
In this thread, I shall now proceed in describing the way such a game would work (if someone will ever made it, that it). So, fasten your belts. Here we go.
To begin, the game should be divided into two main chunks (in terms of both gameplay experience and actual ambients):
1) The Village of Ponyville;
2) The Surroundings;
The idea is to build a fully-blown adventure into a type of environment in which you can familiarize with and get attached to (just like the city of Kirkwall and its outskirts in "Dragon Age II", a game that I like very much). At some point, some important plot-driven event will send you into some other location, but other than that, it's basically Ponyville and its surroundings. But let's go with a proper order.
1) Ponyville is obviously the center of all operations. Within the city limits, the player will be able to control each one of the six main characters from the cartoon (Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy), but only one at a time, alternatively. Each pony has her HQ (her home), in which she can receive some of the available quests via letter, order stuff from local shops, such as item and equipments (a la "Dragon Age II"), or even spend money in renovation and decòr, to make the house prettier.
The player can then access to the city through a convenient map system (again, a la "Dragon Age II"), explore it, visit some shops, converse with the NPCs in order to get some other quests and even visit another pony's house for an idle chat. The quests available within the city limits can only be performed by a specific pony (hence the need to control each pony individually), but that topic shall be discussed later on... To change your character, the currently controlled pony needs to be in her house.
2) The surroundings is were the RP part of this G happens. Before entering the zone (once again, easily selectable from the map), the player will be asked to choose a team consistent of three ponies from the six available (a la "Final Fantasy"). Once a group is formed, the player can now venture inside the wilderness, defeating all kinds of critters (not killing them, of course) in exchange of XP. In the surroundings, you'll visit places like the Everfree Forest (which will be freely explorable and you can get some other quests and deals from a certain other character living in the woods), the Dragon's Mountain and the Orsa Major's Cave (which will serve as dungeons) as seen in the show. Some locations will only be available only after you receive a related quest (just like "Dragon Age II").
Those are the gameplay basics. Let's see the Questing system now.
1) Regular Quests;
2) Mini-Games;
1) As previously stated, the player will receive most of the quests inside Ponyville (with some exceptions). Regular Quests are the basic "Go-Whack-The-Monster" or "Go-Treasure-Hunting" kind of missions you find in any regular RPG. They will be pursued outside of Ponyville and with a three-ponies team. Completing such missions will result in loot and some extra XP, in order to loose up on the whole "level grinding" aspect of such a game (guess what, like in "Dragon Age II"). All the ponies receive the same amount of XP, even if they're not actively fighting (blah blah blah "Dragon Age II").
2) The Mini-Games (or Quests "At Personam"), are the reason why you can only control one pony at a time inside the city borders. Among the regular quests, there will be available certain types of missions that can only be performed inside Ponyville and by a pony with a specific ability (for example, one that requires Speed and the Ability to Fly can only be executed by Rainbow Dash, being a pegasus and the fastest one around; another one that requires manual labor is more suited for a hard worker such as Applejack and so on).
I imagine those challenges to be various and engaging: perhaps a side-scrolling, shoot'em up kind of challenge for Rainbow Dash when she's asked to round up some stormy clouds, a "Parappa"-like musical challenge for Pinkie Pie when she dances in her parties, a time-limit apple bucking challenge for Applejack and so on. They would be all different, they will feature a score and the reward will be directly proportional to your performance (more money, less money), plus, completing the challenges with the best score will earn you a special bonus in the character's status (probably some expendable points or a new passive ability).
That should be all for the questing systems. Next time, I'll talk about the Battle System, the possible plot and other details... when I figure them out, that is.
I would also like to remind you that this game is NOT going to happen... unless some game developer with the right connections happens to pop up in this thread.
If you have any questions, bomb me.
In this thread, I shall now proceed in describing the way such a game would work (if someone will ever made it, that it). So, fasten your belts. Here we go.
To begin, the game should be divided into two main chunks (in terms of both gameplay experience and actual ambients):
1) The Village of Ponyville;
2) The Surroundings;
The idea is to build a fully-blown adventure into a type of environment in which you can familiarize with and get attached to (just like the city of Kirkwall and its outskirts in "Dragon Age II", a game that I like very much). At some point, some important plot-driven event will send you into some other location, but other than that, it's basically Ponyville and its surroundings. But let's go with a proper order.
1) Ponyville is obviously the center of all operations. Within the city limits, the player will be able to control each one of the six main characters from the cartoon (Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy), but only one at a time, alternatively. Each pony has her HQ (her home), in which she can receive some of the available quests via letter, order stuff from local shops, such as item and equipments (a la "Dragon Age II"), or even spend money in renovation and decòr, to make the house prettier.
The player can then access to the city through a convenient map system (again, a la "Dragon Age II"), explore it, visit some shops, converse with the NPCs in order to get some other quests and even visit another pony's house for an idle chat. The quests available within the city limits can only be performed by a specific pony (hence the need to control each pony individually), but that topic shall be discussed later on... To change your character, the currently controlled pony needs to be in her house.
2) The surroundings is were the RP part of this G happens. Before entering the zone (once again, easily selectable from the map), the player will be asked to choose a team consistent of three ponies from the six available (a la "Final Fantasy"). Once a group is formed, the player can now venture inside the wilderness, defeating all kinds of critters (not killing them, of course) in exchange of XP. In the surroundings, you'll visit places like the Everfree Forest (which will be freely explorable and you can get some other quests and deals from a certain other character living in the woods), the Dragon's Mountain and the Orsa Major's Cave (which will serve as dungeons) as seen in the show. Some locations will only be available only after you receive a related quest (just like "Dragon Age II").
Those are the gameplay basics. Let's see the Questing system now.
1) Regular Quests;
2) Mini-Games;
1) As previously stated, the player will receive most of the quests inside Ponyville (with some exceptions). Regular Quests are the basic "Go-Whack-The-Monster" or "Go-Treasure-Hunting" kind of missions you find in any regular RPG. They will be pursued outside of Ponyville and with a three-ponies team. Completing such missions will result in loot and some extra XP, in order to loose up on the whole "level grinding" aspect of such a game (guess what, like in "Dragon Age II"). All the ponies receive the same amount of XP, even if they're not actively fighting (blah blah blah "Dragon Age II").
2) The Mini-Games (or Quests "At Personam"), are the reason why you can only control one pony at a time inside the city borders. Among the regular quests, there will be available certain types of missions that can only be performed inside Ponyville and by a pony with a specific ability (for example, one that requires Speed and the Ability to Fly can only be executed by Rainbow Dash, being a pegasus and the fastest one around; another one that requires manual labor is more suited for a hard worker such as Applejack and so on).
I imagine those challenges to be various and engaging: perhaps a side-scrolling, shoot'em up kind of challenge for Rainbow Dash when she's asked to round up some stormy clouds, a "Parappa"-like musical challenge for Pinkie Pie when she dances in her parties, a time-limit apple bucking challenge for Applejack and so on. They would be all different, they will feature a score and the reward will be directly proportional to your performance (more money, less money), plus, completing the challenges with the best score will earn you a special bonus in the character's status (probably some expendable points or a new passive ability).
That should be all for the questing systems. Next time, I'll talk about the Battle System, the possible plot and other details... when I figure them out, that is.
I would also like to remind you that this game is NOT going to happen... unless some game developer with the right connections happens to pop up in this thread.
If you have any questions, bomb me.