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Storyline:
I'll admit the storyline was the least of my worries. For one, it just isn't my strong-suit, and second, in a multiplayer atmosphere I think it takes a back-seat to the rest of the world. Regardless, I did come up with a few ideas, but I never wasted much effort on it. What I had come up so far was to throw the player into a world that doesn't revolve around them. I had not yet came up with an idea to justify every player emerging from the same place, but regardless I think I came up with a solid idea to build off why the player MAY be questing.
The current world wouldn't exactly be on the brink of a war, but people felt it. People feared some powerful enemies were planning something... who that was I'm not sure yet. Classic doesn't exactly have a great villain roster. Regardless, because of this, and the shortage of soldiers, the King starts looking for worthy 'substitutes'. You get a letter stating that if you so choose, you can meet the King at the castle and complete his test to prove your worth as a soldier for the Kingdom. Doing so, you can choose when you feel like it, to go to the castle and meet the King. He will tell you if you can survive and conquer his trial, you will be honored as a soldier. This is when you get tossed into the Castle Aqueducts. This dungeon was intended to be the 'first' dungeon, although it may not be the first you encountered if you wandered away from the 'story'. Because it is a test, the dungeon would be designed around introducing the player to dungeon gameplay. Introducing simple puzzles, simple baddies and tactics, and of course their first boss and weapons. Also, I would probably have it if the player ever died here they would be revived by a soldier of the castle... after all, it's the first dungeon AND a test on the King's behalf.
After completing his test you would prove your worth and receive proof you were an honorary soldier. The item you get I'm not entirely sure... probably a letter with the King's seal or something. However, it would grant you access to more dangerous areas the King has guarded around the overworld.
I will say I intended to implement heavy backstory, instead of an actual story. I was going to plan out a lot of details and stories about the past/history of the world and tell it through books/quests/sidequests and other secrets.
Breathing life into the world:
Though not much of a plan, I was going to focus heavily on giving the world life. Giving NPCs purpose, and reason. This doesn't necessarily mean that every NPC would be some complex assortment of AI... but just give them enough reason to be who they are, and make the area seem alive. For example, the bar in Graal City was going to be my first test of this. I intended to fill it with a few NPC's going about their daily life. The bartender would sit there, rapping his fingers on the bar, looking a bit depressed(more on this next). NPC's would call out to him for a beer and suddenly one would get thrown across the level from the bartender. However, get in the middle of this beer being tossed and suddenly you've got the drunk and the bartender questioning your intentions.
Trade Quests:
I loved these in Zelda. Basically they were quests that started you out with a single item, and you had to look for the person/situation that called for it. Trade that item for another and suddenly you're drawn up in a long quest involving pleasing people or situations. Not only do these give the player a reason to explore and know their settings, but it supplies development with an easy way to make subtle changes to the world that the player will most surely recognize because they caused it. For example, I stated above about the bartender. He's rapping his finger on the bar because he lacks his rag to clean it with, you only figure this out after he asks you about it. Find his rag and give it to him and he'd give you something else that you'd later find out someone else is in need of. However, after this you'll notice the bartender will scrub the bar often now, moving around and cleaning it. Subtle changes like this will add up to make the player feel much more immersed in the world, I think.
I'll post the whole trade quest I had planned out in the next post. I had one pretty much fully planned out, but was going to implement quite a few. |