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[zarxto]

am I the only one who was working on an RPG while Undertale came out then all of a sudden found undertale and the influence was so large that I literally am struggling to try to make the game as different from undertale as I can

[gimymblert]

Don't resist there is enough trad rpg out there

[Canned Turkey]

Come to the dark side.
Embrace the subtle quirkiness.
Only then will you find the fanbase you've been seeking.

[gimymblert]

only then will you find the fan base you have always been deserving

[DragonDePlatino]

am I the only one who was working on an RPG while Undertale came out then all of a sudden found undertale and the influence was so large that I literally am struggling to try to make the game as different from undertale as I can

If you want to take one lesson away from UNDERTALE while making your RPG, it's this:

Instead of defining your story by a small number of huge choices, have it influenced by minuscule choices throughout. Along with the great characters, I think that's what makes UNDERTALE feel so alive. I really hope other RPGs (and games in general) start doing that more often rather than having one huge choice near the end determine your ending.

[battlerager]

am I the only one who was working on an RPG while Undertale came out then all of a sudden found undertale and the influence was so large that I literally am struggling to try to make the game as different from undertale as I can

If you want to take one lesson away from UNDERTALE while making your RPG, it's this:

Instead of defining your story by a small number of huge choices, have it influenced by minuscule choices throughout. Along with the great characters, I think that's what makes UNDERTALE feel so alive. I really hope other RPGs (and games in general) start doing that more often rather than having one huge choice near the end determine your ending.

The Telltale games offer a large amount of small choices and it feels like window dressing that doesn't do shit (because it dosn't have a BIG effect) to many people I know.

I think it's more than just having tons of small choices, but I'm not 100% sure what.

[SirNiko]

Undertale wasn't just about the choices, it was about the way that the game anticipated nearly every trivial thing you might do and had a prepared response for it. Many of the 'choices' were things that you could do in a typical game, but not get a response - in a typical JRPG using the stick on Papyrus would simply have no effect, or standing around when you should be fleeing from Undyne's spears would not result in her getting angry.

Perhaps the best parts are where the game gives you the illusion that you can thwart the sequence of events (talking to NPCs out of order, refusing to touch the green panels during Mettaton's maze, selecting "no" to plot-advancing questions) but then surprises you with unique reactions that put the game back on track. The choice doesn't influence anything more than a few seconds out from your selection, but it feels significant because it was the player realizing the choice even existed, where another game would simply ignore you and continue without acknowledging your cleverness.

[s0]

i think its more the fact that the game tracks things you do, even things that you don't necessarily perceive as "choices". narrative games where the player has total conscious agency/control over every choice are always going to feel "mechanical".

Ninja'd by sirniko

[zarxto]

i think its more the fact that the game tracks things you do, even things that you don't necessarily perceive as "choices". narrative games where the player has total conscious agency/control over every choice are always going to feel "mechanical".

Ninja'd by sirniko

Either way, this shit gonna be hard to complete. IT had taken Toby about 2.5 years with experience. literally its JUST me and some illustrator who hasn't bothered to msg me back. Fortunately I figured out how to atleast create rooms, enemies, etc. Turned Based Combat. But if I ever created a choice thing within the game. it probably would be undertale amplified. Meaning if you literally went on a fucking rampage killing without no remorse your player would become a "shell" of itself. and at the end you get jumpscared to oblivion.

[battlerager]

i think its more the fact that the game tracks things you do, even things that you don't necessarily perceive as "choices". narrative games where the player has total conscious agency/control over every choice are always going to feel "mechanical".

Ninja'd by sirniko

Either way, this shit gonna be hard to complete. IT had taken Toby about 2.5 years with experience. literally its JUST me and some illustrator who hasn't bothered to msg me back. Fortunately I figured out how to atleast create rooms, enemies, etc. Turned Based Combat. But if I ever created a choice thing within the game. it probably would be undertale amplified. Meaning if you literally went on a fucking rampage killing without no remorse your player would become a "shell" of itself. and at the end you get jumpscared to oblivion.

Not sure if this calms you, but Toby is (or at least started out) pretty damn nooby too.

Of course it's hard to compete with his #hardwork #dedication

[s0]

I think undertale is his first real game actually. His previous works were earthbound hacks.

[Pockets]

It's as well crafted as they come, and 99% absolutely lovely but I completed it yesterday and I really didn't like how the  


 true pacifist ending plays out. For a game that's been about nice concepts like hope, determination and friendship it really turns around and backstabs you. The whole "Nobody has to die" thing really deserves an asterisk.  

 
Yet more spoilers for the above bit...
 

After the ending, you can talk to the historian and he'll explain that Boss Monsters age by passing their soul over to their children as they age (and a human wouldn't work). Which, Asriel can't as he's been stuck as Flowey, but he's alive in the ruins after, although he thinks he'll turn back into Flowey as he doesn't have a soul and insists on staying there (and therefore turning back into Flowey when it seems like he doesn't have to).
It's a real gutpunch for three of the major characters, which just seems so out of whack with what it's been going for up to that point - I'm not suggesting it has to be a perfect neat ending: Having him come back (either directly and saying that now he's alive he can start absorbing soul, or by some complicated hidden way of giving him a slice of Frisk's soul to get him started as it's mentioned in the intro that's possible), but to divorced parents and having to deal with feelings that it's his fault, that's a level of sadness I was expecting. Having something so bleak, just seems totally out of kilter with the rest of the game.

I guess it could be a sequel hook, but it feels out of place to think of it as such with the rest of the game being so self contained.


Sorry, I don't know how to do proper spoiler text around here?

[gimymblert]

Another way to frame undertale is to compare it with chorono trigger's trial sequence. It's literally a trial extended.

[zarxto]

He made a earthbound hack!


I haven't even completed a hack/game before i started this project.

[SirNiko]

Of course it's hard to compete with his #hardwork #dedication

You mean #determination.

Sorry, I don't know how to do proper spoiler text around here?

Use the Glow command, but change the color to black. It's the closest thing we have to spoiler text. Just like this.

Another way to frame undertale is to compare it with chorono trigger's trial sequence. It's literally a trial extended.

Okay, this is the thing I actually wanted to reply to.

When you replay Chrono Trigger, the trial is just rote - you commit the crimes or don't commit them based on the outcome you want to get. When you replay Undertale, you're still looking for things to do to provoke a reaction from the game. Undertale is good because it isn't an extended version of the Chrono Trigger trial.

The fact that the player has to discover the choice existed instead of being told after the choice (or more banally, by a menu during the choice) is a crucial part of what makes the game attractive.

[gimymblert]

That's how I meant "extended"

[s0]

The choice doesn't influence anything more than a few seconds out from your selection, but it feels significant because it was the player realizing the choice even existed, where another game would simply ignore you and continue without acknowledging your cleverness.

the worst thing in jrpgs is when you get asked questions and the game literally gets stuck in a loop until you select the correct answer to advance the plot. golden sun is a game that does this constantly.

[Alevice]

but thou must!

[zarxto]

The problem is Toby was well over 18 when he started.

I'm not. I got 2.5 more years before I turn 18.

I dont know if making a game like undertale would be a impressive thing or not. either way. about 300 freaking dollars would be invested into making this game. (gamemaker, fl studio, etc).

This also means I can't invest into a kickstarter

Unless if anyones got a huge alternative to fl studio.

[s0]

Don't stress yourself out