The difference between Tim's idea videos and the "ideas" I hear randomly in the wild, is that Tim has explicit mechanic and function details, whereas the wildlings only have the highest concept level outlined and little else. Usually, a single question crumbles their whole plan. I find that strange, because I love it when people have questions about my ideas because that means they are interested.
More like the wizard guild also runs the abattoirs and butcher shops. You local magical university is also the local abattoir or depending on the setting industrial meat farm. "You're a pig butcher Harry!" Plus animals rights groups are inherently anti-magic societies.
As far as learning a language goes, Dragon's Dogma II has something very much like this. When you first get to the home of the elves, you can't speak the language or read the captions. But if you have Glyndwr with you during his quests/escorts, he can translate. You can hire a pawn with the Woodlands Wordsmith vocation and they can translate. Also, if you sleep at the Inn at their home for (I think) three consecutive days, the innkeeper will give you a scroll that you can use to teach your main pawn the Woodlands Wordsmith vocation.
Hey Tim. Bit of a long winded question I've had for a while now. In previous videos you've talked about sitting in a room for a long time having "arguments" about creative decisions. However, they're not really "fights" where people are upset, but rather passionate debates where people go to bat for their ideas. I love those types of discussions, and I like to call them "Idea Battles". My question is do you have any favorite Idea Battles, or ones that stand out to you? Times where you enjoyed the conversation? Times where you thought you were right, but it turned out the other idea was better? Or maybe times where the discussion lead to a new idea that was better than the ones originally argued? I thought this would be a good opportunity to share stories about team members and the creative process. I really like those.
I haven't stopped thinking about your concept you spitballed about the child escaping the city and not able to read the street signs, etc. I think that premise is great.
The look of dread that formed on my face as you started described the soul system was only outdone by my sigh of relief as it became clear the thing I'm currently working on took a completely different path in its narrative and mechanical focus
@@CainOnGames How did you react when you first heard about Outer Wilds? Also known as the game not to be confused with The Outer Worlds. It's so funny that the first line on Wikipedia for both games is telling you not to confuse them with each other. Did you ever play it and if so how was it?
Flavored mana sounds like the system i'm trying to work on. Based on the four humors, they're: Madness, Misery, Mania and Malice. Based on your character's build (stats and perks) and their personality (quirks and flaws) it will get more or less mana when performing actions that would derive emotions, the stronger the emotions the more of that mana you get. They're better at certain things, Malice is the easiest to sustain during a battle, for example. They're stored in your soul, but you shouldn't hoard them too much for too long or you'll start suffering adverse effects, like getting too much Misery makes you unable to feel happiness and increases stress generation.
This is cool. And I want more! I really liked the language quests, and language learning as a way to unlock new areas/quests. That's a neat way of looking at it. And the cool thing about it is that rudimentary knowledge of a language could get you simple quests, quests that don't give you great rewards, but as your knowledge on that language evolves, you'd get better quests and rewards. You could ascend socially, even. Also, dialogs in an unknown language could be simply garbled text, that gets more and more un-garbled as you learn more of that particular language.
The minion thing actually reminds me a bit of the Communion system in the grand strategy franchise Dominions. A Communion Master acts like a conduit. Other mages use the spell to become a Communion Slave. These slaves all contribute some of their own researching ability or magical aptitude to the master, meaning you can use a good communion master like a lightning rod to boost his own magic power and gain access to spells and research ability he wouldn't normally have access to in exchange for having to make sure your communion slaves keep channeling the spell (meaning they cannot act themselves while doing so).
My design idea is to make the world more or less judgmental to the player. I would hire an actuary to create the RPG mechanics if I can afford one or do a kind of expected value for each spell and counter. Here is a brainstorm idea that I have had and will tuck away as Ctl c this into my notes. The hardest part for me is too many ideas that all I need to do is just start. But here are a few ideas that I have for mechanics. So the entire lore system would be the conversation system and each NPC and characters in the game would have the entire lore locked and unlocked for them as well as interests so you can discuss the lore with the character world and gain affinity with the NPCs. The enemy system would have not just a leveling to scale system for the overworld but it would have a similar mechanic to the Horizon series where the enemies will try to counter if you keep using the same weapon or try to spam a specific weakness that say a wood elf has with fire they will douse themselves in water in the beginning of combat after a time. Skyrim's commentary on the player's actions is what makes it. Making the shopkeeper judging you for buying too many health potions (you really need that many or oh you are so tough not buying any health potions) is a powerful mechanic. I think too that there should be also kind of funny carrots like in the quests there are other people doing them in it as NPCs and you can come across them in the taverns. Taverns and Inns are more or less a hey don't know what to do and I kind of just want something to happen (You buy a drink and it will give you either a quest, an interesting encounter related to the current main quest or just being hit on by someone in the tavern or a bar fight). But those are some ideas that I have seen and enjoy. I think encampments like in Red Dead 2 and BG3 are kind of here to stay and likely a place where the player sees the progress and can build and likely defend their inhabitants. I can't wait to see what mechanics GTA 6 will have.
Love the concept, I can see how it could be developed into a great project! I can't help bit think about worldbuilding whenever game ideas are discussed, as I prefer to tie lore and mechanics very tightly together. In this case, I'd develop religion very deeply and have it play a big role in the soul/mana mechanics- can temples provide mana without having to kill people, instead by worship? can they corrupt/purify souls? I think it would tie in great with what you said about item alignment and followers/minions as well. You could devote yourself to a temple or god, and get access to special gear and such, which may become cursed if you ever stray from their ideals. Perhaps another great idea would be to allow the player themselves to be, as Elder Scrolls puts it, 'soul-trapped'. Death may be the end, but are you dead if your soul is trapped? Is this part of the player's unique ability? There's a lot of ways to develop that. I should stop talking before this becomes another essay.
Love the souls to mana system. Morrowind (or maybe ES in general) works with some of the same. Soul gems are used to enchant and recharge magic items. You need black soulgems for humanoid creatures whose souls are equivalent to the strongest "white" souls eg. from non humanoid creatures.
The idea of an alignment powered weapon has at least one example, and it's very fun to use, in Demon's Souls there are 2 swords that scale with Character Tendency, Soulbrandt which scales with dark, and Demonbrandt, which scales with light. The come together to form the Northern Regalia, which scales with both, but does nothing for those morally neutral.
Mr. Tim, can you make this game, like, now? I really want to play it. Now seriously, your insight into designing RPGs is so rich for someone who likes designing TTRPGs. A common critiscism i see in the TTRPG sphere is "this is too videogamy" but TTRPGs are the origin story of videogames and your perspective is amazing, sometimes I forget i'm watching a video on videogames and think "i'm gonna steal that for my OSR game". Thank you so much
Hey Tim, thanks for this video! Why? Well, I am on the way of creating a kind of walking sim or gamified relaxation app as an indie side project after having worked in the games industry for a long time. The application presents an ever present possibility for everyone to leave the outside reality of this world and step into a small world that presents you a peaceful place, something that you might use to relax for 10 minutes or maybe even half an hour - something along those lines) I designed the world, the player visits, including all its places in my head but other than visiting those places and enjoying their audio environment, aided by a good visual representation I did not add any more gamification elements up to now. I fear, that, despite having the beneficial relaxation experience, the player will not stay in my experience for a long time. So, your explanations came at the right time! I think, adding a simple RPG system, based on some currency like mana and basic logic circuits like the ones you described (earring mana, spending mana and mana worth and its grouping) could add a significant bit to my solution. Everything has to be positive in my world but I think, I have some good ideas about creating a world logic that rewards the players invest into solving the tasks, that I present to him while experiencing my world and enjoying the relaxation experience. Thanks again for this!
Gave me a thought with "flavours" about being knowledge based. That way killing high skilled people allows huge amounts of XP, for example killing the towns blacksmith gives loads of XP/mana/soul, but that stops you accessing improved weapons. Would also allow for "trading" magic for strength playstyles, but also will reduce the towns income etc
I had an idea inspired by your mana system. You said something like a rat would give you a small amount and is flavored. Bills Mana farm! Organic free range ethical Mana at affordable prices!
Great video Tim! I have never commented or asked questions on the channel before but love your games and have watched a ton of your videos. Happy to support!
the game rimworld has enough mods that you can almost create games with it. I have, using the "immortals" mod (based on the highlander), made a system like you talk about here, though limited in that the only magic power you could get was better regeneration. But i set it up so every animal had a small amount of immortality and it would transfer on death, so the more any one character killed the more powerful they became, and the more valuable they were to behead and perma-kill.
Very interesting ideas, will have to steal some of these for use in my game(s). The 'magic is murder' angle opens the door for a lot of interesting scenarios, definitely going to be brainstorming more 'passive ascension' systems like this that everyone participates in by default. A lot more interesting than 'I don't know, some people are born with magic 🤷' angle.
Hey Tim, do you pick your crazy thumbnails out yourself or does UA-cam pick them automatically? Either way, whoever is pulling the strings on these thumbnails is doing a great job because these are amazing.
How important is lore to a video game? How do you feel about expanded universes with books/comics and tv/movies. Have you ever thought about developing a book series for fallout or arcanum. I love the way your games feel like flushed out worlds, I have watched many videos from Brandon Sanderson, and about GRRM and I would put fallouts world up there with the cosmere and planetos easily.
Have you watched Game Lore? ua-cam.com/video/fwiXTYMCc6A/v-deo.html And since I own neither Fallout or Arcanum, I haven’t considered writing a book series for them. Along with my lack of writing skills, of course
@@CainOnGamesthanks Tim you are elite when it comes to game lore. I bet you would make an amazing editor for a book series or tv show the way you think about lore.
I have a question I've not seen yet, and it's twofold: Do you have any opinion on voice acted vs typed dialog, and out of the voice actors on games you've worked on, were there any you enjoyed working with a lot? I personally have loved Ashly Burch's VO work and loved her in Outer Worlds. I used to watch the "Hey Ash Whatchu Playing" vids all the time and loved how versatile she ended up being with her VO's in different games.
I feel like the narrative of this game would work better as either an unapologetically evil MC or as a setting with such dire stakes that survival is the only morally recognized virtue in society.
tho not the same thing but vamper has a blood system where blood is your exp, you can drink a small amount of blood from people and get some while fighting enemies but the largest amount you get is by knowing the named npc and uncovering their stories the better you know them the more exp but the fun part is killing them can and will change the town drastically in both good and bad way also its a somewhat dialogue heavy game. i highly recommend it , the combat system is okay not too hard and not too easy.
@@SenkaZver Of course the Original Sin games weren't the first Divinity games (I've even commented on this exact channel before about how Divinity II is a great "comfort game"), but my joke was more about how OS2 treats the reveal about "Source = souls".
Glad to be able to support you in a way that's more than just watching every video you put out lol. Have you noticed quite a big surge in "Game dev" related content on youtube and twitch? Whether it be a dev-log or a 3 hour long tutorial. Do you think going down the "content" route is a viable option for new (or veteran) game devs to get themselves and / or their work noticed? And if so, would you consider it as viable a route as any other?
I thinking creating something, whether it’s a game or a demo or a UA-cam channel, demonstrates that you will put in the work to create a thing. So yes, it’s viable. As more people do it, though, the signal-to-noise ratio drops. It’s the discoverability issue all over again.
@@CainOnGames Gotcha, so just like anything it’s better to start sooner than later before the discoverability becomes nearly impossible. I appreciate you taking the time to reply, I’m sure you know how much your input and opinions mean to smaller and inspiring devs so thank you!
Not sure if you've already answered it elsewhere, but one question unrelated to the video: how do you maintain longevity in the industry and in particular, longevity with quality? From my admittedly meager knowledge, comparatively few of the great designers / developers of the 90s managed to maintain a career of solid output. Given that you are in that handful, I thought you could provide insight about consistent quality over a career especially in such a fast-changing industry. And a random comment--I love the interviews you've done. I understand that isn't where you want the channel to go in part because you want the channel to be something people can look back to many years down the road. But the thing is, I think interviews actually do have that longevity. It captures a discussion about both game ideas and the history of a set of games' development. I could absolutely see someone many years from now watching your chats with Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Taylor, and Scott Campbell to understand your different experiences developing a game. I could equally well see a great conversation that stands the test of time between you and Richard Garriott about forced morality versus moral choice in video games or with John Carmack or John Romero about the actual nitty gritty history of programming games in the 90s or with Todd Howard about what makes a great RPG. Just a thought. If it's just not your jam, I totally get it.
Have you watched my Career Longevity video? ua-cam.com/video/qRAUcX8cRZQ/v-deo.html As for the chat videos, they take a long time to schedule, record, and process. And another reason I’m reticent to do more is some people don’t want to do them, and the more I do, the more apparent it will be who said no.
@cainongames So I can't find it now, but awhile back you mentioned your favorite games and mentioned Star Control II / Ur-Quan Masters, which led me to something I've wanted to ask regarding Fallout and that game: What is your opinion on diajetic timers - that is deadlines within the game? Fallout - before it was patched out I think - made Vault 13 and the water chip a deadline. You can move it by getting water to the Vault, but at a certain point, Vault 13 will die of dehydration. Star Control II had several events operate on a schedule, which you can interrupt, move up, and delay depending on your actions. Prince of Persia had a direct deadline bast on how many screens you pass. The Last Express operated on a real-time event schedule. I personally preferred this in giving more consequence, even to player inaction. However, most open world games these days have quests wait for you, while at the same time expressing urgency. Since Fallout and Star Control II are the games I remember that have quest deadlines as an important mechanic. Incidentally, Star Raiders is a favorite of mine too, and (ahem) I was born in 79.
Languages are often underuntilised in games. Various humans, elves, dwarves, demons etc. usually all speak "basic" or "common". I would like to be able to learn orcish, and if I don't speak it, orcs will not talk to me. If I do, they might tell me stuff, trade, give quests, be followers.
I've posted the comment a few times, but I still can't believe in 2024 Tim Cain is one of my favourite UA-cam Subscriptions. Do you think you'll interview anyone else? Josh Sawyer maybe regarding your time on Pillars and other separate projects? I think you two would be great!
That would be... very interesting. I, personally, am interested on hearing his ideas regarding balancing... I preferred on-release class stats/abilities in Pillars of Eterenity over their later patched stats/abilities.
I loved listening to this idea. Personally, I don't think this game would have compelled *me* very much just on the description of mechanics. Not that's there's something bad about it, it's just a case of understanding my own preferences, games that are hyper-reliant on their loot-systems usually don't do much for me. On Bartle's Taxonomy, I am fully on the explorer side of things: I like a good narrative more than anything. So this would need a really good setting in order to hook me past all the different gear sets and crafting. Fallout doesn't excite me because of the gear or crafting or survival elements, it's the conversations and characters and setting that gets me hooked. Again, that's just a preference of mine. Plenty of people would love this system and more power to them! However, if this hypothetical game we're brainstorming were to be made, my note would be that we need to make sure all of the gear sets have an interesting story or lore component in addition to their considerable stat effects. If we build a game where so much of the player's aspirations is focused on obtaining those powerful sets of loot, they shouldn't just look good and have good stats. There should be something unique about them in a story sense. For example, New Vegas' DLC had a stealth suit that fit perfectly into my NCR military low-karma sniper build. But I *remember* it because she *talks*. Not in the way that Fallout 3 had a stealth suit that spouted anti-communism propaganda at the player and actively revealed their location to enemies (though that too was very memorable), but a very kind stealth suit AI that talked to me and would occasionally ask things like "Do you like me?" It was so cute, I named her Angie, and I wore that stealth suit for the rest of the game, and that's a detail I will never forget. It's one of the first things I think about when I think of that game. So, back to this hypothetical brainstorm, maybe if you have a full set an NPC will track you down and give you a new quest relating to the lore of that outfit. Like maybe the player is unwittingly walking around wearing a legendary outfit (ala the Hero's Tunic from Zelda), someone sees that and identifies it as the iconography of the legendary hero, so he begs you to get involved in a quest-line across the world. I like this idea because it could be used for on-boarding players to quest-lines they might have otherwise missed, which I feel is extremely important in an RPG. On the other hand, the ideas about hyper-strict alignment chart management in a video game is very intriguing to me. RPGs had a bit of a rocky relationship with morality systems about twenty years ago, at least on the video game side of things. The Mass Effects and Fables. These systems tended to be pretty binary. But TTRPGs have been using the lawful/chaotic/good/evil alignment chart for decades. And it works well for them! Why don't more RPGs try to do something similar to that, where everyone has a very specific alignment and attacking / insulting people on those alignments have consequences for your own character's alignment? The four axis approach definitely feels at least more robust and interesting than the simplified Paragon to Renegade slider. And I don't see video games play around with it very often, unless their game is literally trying to replicate the mechanics of a TTRPG, like Baldur's Gate 3.
Destroy all those gnomes? The anti-gnome bigotry accusations will never leave if you keep this up Tim! Great vid as always Something that strikes me about this system is that a wonderful "difficulty" or option for this game would be *starting as a truly evil character*. You end up with something like a redemption playthrough in Tyranny emerging purely from the mechanics, and that could be really cool! Similarly, if magical items have power that drains over time, then even if somebody thinks they're using an evil item to good ends they run into real trouble when they need to recharge it...
what I appreciate most is how you describe how each mechanic interacts with other mechanics and how they work together to inform the kind of world they exist in. Thanks, Tim!
This is one of the best channels on you tube. I have no interest in getting into the video game industry. But learning about it from one of the most prolific devs and creator of my favorite series. It’s such a pleasure. Thanks Tim❤
And logically you have some mana from yourself, that replenishes with time. In terms of the player being non-violent, some magical things can come from natural deaths, accidents, fallen from war, etc. That is partly how I see in my D&D game (non official world) ; I say partly because I conceive mana in all living things around and you don't need to kill them (but magical items always have a soul, willing or unwilling, which is an ethical issue), but I see the twists you are suggesting here for gameplay.
i've a lot of appreciation for you and this channel. i don't know how much questions i'll be asking, but it's great just to be able to support and be in a channel that inspires me. i'm an inspiring author and working on my own project, so hearing another creative is comforting in a way. what i'd like to suggest is if you can run through how you begin brainstorming ideas. whether it's simply bullet points in a note book, or if its on flash cards etc? just a simple break down of how you organise your throughts and begin things when working from scratch. as someone who doesn't code, do you have that constantly in mind when coming up with a ideas or does that ccome later?
I keep a notebook (now a series of notebooks) where each page has a title of the idea, followed by bullet points of main things about the idea. I’ve done a few videos of IP ideas, and they’re coming straight from the notebooks
do you have any opinions on realistic RPGs? One of my favorite RPGs is Kingdom come deliverance and they are a realistic historical rpg it's not 100% historical accurate I don't think any game could do that, history wasn't pretty. But I'm just curious what do you think of a game like that I haven't seen many games like it since I'm only a console player
A perfectly neutral item that is the rarest weapon/armour to obtain and equip. No goody-two-shoes could fathom using it, no dark traveler could wield it effectively.
Lore idea: people have found a way to partially drain souls, and are selling vials of their soul in desperation. Some have figured out how to replace their souls with differently flavored souls. And there are fringe groups who mix souls together in themselves in an attempt to ubermensch themselves.
This is pretty cool, and honestly, I think it's already done in Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies (both great games, but I'd far and away recommend Sunless Skies over Sunless Sea).
I only started playing sunless sea a bit, and didn't entirely gel with the gameplay. It's a bit on the slow and disorderly side for my taste. I absolutely love everything about it aside from sitting down to play it though!
@@MFKitten Hah, yes. Sunless Sea is abominably slow. Sunless Skies, however, remedies that issue quite well! If you ever get bored playing that game, you can just go to the next area - there really aren't any limitations on just progressing when you want to.
This video was particularly insightful, it's great to listen to how you start world building and designing from a somewhat simple idea that though have a lot of implications and ripercussions, and those generate specific gameplay loops and systems. Thank you for this video and the rest of this great game design encyclopedia that is your channel :)
I am starting to see how Story can follow from Setting and Mechanics. About Pacifist playthroughs, what about those minions / followers? Can you get mana from your control over others, not necessarily from their death? That would allow one to play without killing. Although if you need control over others, that can be argued to be not quite pacifist.
Hey Tim! I'm currently making an immersive sim and have been thinking about how to go about making systems generic enough. What do you think of ECS? Especially when incorporated into commercial game engines not built with them in mind. I made a custom ECS framework to be used within Unreal
We used component systems on Pillars of Eternity using Unity. I thought it was a clean way to handle systems. For example, we had a lock component that could be put on any entity that needed it, so doors, chests, suitcases, etc. Then those locks could be opened with keys, spells, or abilities in the same straightforward manner, no matter what thing was locked.
This sounds like Demon Souls. With a bit of some other Japanese RPG's I've played. Color XP is mostly from DMC and other action games however, that would be nice to see in rpgs. Likely is an RPG that did it and I think I recall one, but I don't remember the name.
The game Hinterland as described on the channel Accursed Farms back in 2017 has some similar elements, but it is not as well developed as what you are describing here.
Could there be a economy behind the production of souls. like its Illegal to domesticate creatures and people for the production of souls but if you kill a king's subject its treated as a crime of not murder but damaging his property/investments. Do people literally sell their souls if they are that poor, and this would be treated as a legal loophole towards slavery?
I like relay like quests that effect the game world, seeing changes reflect player actions. The blacksmith example is good, id also love to see some environmental changes like clients in blacksmith shop/town after the quest using items made from the metal from the mine. Maybe see his wealth is going up, not in direct talk but say being dressed better or having more customers etc. Language and factions are a cool idea, may bring some fun interactions.
Hello Tim. How do you feel about a player creating a meta character? For example a DnD player, playing a character named "Town Guard #3" and all of their verbal interactions being on a table of 20-30 generic phrases that are rolled for.
This system has the potential to have a pacifist be an evil option. Make a spell or ability that let you siphon off a portion of a living being's soul for mana without killing them, but leaving them diminished. As you gain power you can progressively drain away larger and larger portions of souls, eventually being able to leave people as mere shadows of their former selves, barely more than a soulless husk.
Even more interesting than usual... I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about "Player-based quests with purpose". I really liked hearing Tim's take on them. His approach is inspirational, but I need to figure out how to translate some of his ideas into a world without magic.
instead of a fixed Alignment that carries over from one group to another, you could have it be subjective to whomever is perceiving your character, like a faction reputation system based on the your backgrounds and previous decisions made.
But my evil character only does “good” things so he can betray everyone at the end. Alignments shouldn’t be forced; it is judgement of actions that only the player can know. I “help” the gnome child by getting his turtle (or whatevet) out of a tree, not because I am "good." but because I want to then eat the pet turtle in front of the gnome child, making him cry. I am 56 and just LOVE you and your videos, Tim, thank you for being a treasure.
😁Sounds intriguing! I especially like cursed items. I'm pretty sure there's something to do here in a new game, with a character that uses cursed items or is cursed in some way and has to play differently to circumvent this. Offers some Role play shenanigans!
Hi Tim! Thank you for all the content and information you’ve been providing us 💙 I’m thinking about a Fallout tattoo on my back (Yes, the whole back!) and I was wondering if I could get your ideas and thoughts about what I had in mind so far. Thank you in advance!
@@CainOnGames Thank you for your response!!! I’m aware you’re colorblind, I was thinking more of the general idea and elements I should put in. Would love to share it with you when it’s done 😃
I like most of this but mixing and matching armor/weapons/tools is part of the fun for me in big RPGs. I'm sure it isn't fun for whoever has to balance the game 😅
Anyone else find these videos incredibly relaxing? My friend who isn't even remotely into game design watches these videos all the time because of how calming it is listen to Tim speak about game design.
You talked a lot about how you don't like tropes in games, but the way you describe this RPG stuff in this video it sounds like the typical WoW-like RPG or something from the 90s even. Fetch quests, armor sets, dungeons, guilds, etc.
Did you read the title? It says “generic RPGs”. Also finish the video and you will see some more original ideas. Regardless, 90s had great rpgs what are you talking about? What about fallout and fallout ? I think the tropes you are talking about were more present ten to fifteen years ago.
I was never good at programming, but I've made quite a few table top rpgs just for me and my friends. I wish I had the confidence to make one I could share with the public.
You just release it and hope no one sees the glaring issues (only) you see. In most cases you'll be surprised. You could soft release it onto a smaller group, asking for feedback first though.
@@Pixelsoep I'm currently doing that with some close friends as my play testers, also my brother is co-authoring/editing it with me. I sort of have a scatter ADHD brain, so he's essential in reorganizing my thoughts and just trimming down whats there already.
@CainOnGames your ideas sound like they would work great in D&D. I'd really like to see a chat between you and @RobertHartleyGM that does the @VivaLaDirtLeagueDnD campaign Though a bunch of them are writer centric and might do well modded into games like bannerlord and such
Talking about specific IPs is dangerous, because hackers may try to access that IP o.o Btw I wonder if Tim ever played Counterfeit Monkey. It is a text based game where you can remove or add letters from words and when you do it, it has real consequences, for example you point at a cod, remove letter "o" and it turns into a CD. You can do various shenanigans with words in this game and there is lot to do in the world. Just don't try to turn the whole fair into air, you may die xD
How about enchanting items has become so prevalent that the afterlife is running out of new souls. To prevent the rash of soulless children being born you have to start breaking things and freeing trapped souls. I really like the goal being to make your own town. Go from murderhobo to murdercitizen or even murdermayor.
Having different languages sounds like it'd make for a good character trait/perk to be a language learner. Traits like in Fallout are such a good system if they're balanced appropriately, to the point that I think you could add those to any RPG and it makes the game better. Different languages is a good way to keep "Speech" as a skill without it being "I have 100 Speech so everything I say is convincing." It's pretty easy to flesh that out to where it's a core mechanic of a game, really. Some languages should be easier to learn since they're similar to your starting language, some should be a lot more difficult. Ancient/dead languages could potentially be easier to read due to archived writing, but nearly impossible to speak. So in a magic setting, maybe the cliche of "reading a curse/warning activates something bad" is because of mispronouncing the words to dispel the enchantment. Maybe I'm just saying that because of how annoying Duolingo's audio challenges are, but it'd be kinda funny to have that happen once in some old crypt or something.
Hi Tim, it's us, everyone. Question for you: imagine that game development just isn't a thing that exists. What do you think you would you have been instead?
Please just turn this video into a game I’ve thought the settlement system similar to the one in elder scrolls blades would be fun in elder scrolls six
Hey Tim! Quick question about running tabletop RPGs I was wondering if you have any kind of methodology when it comes to building encounters for your players that don’t always involve combat? For an example I recently tried to get creative with a natural disaster encounter where my players tried to help people evacuate a town that was about to be hit by a large tornado. And it had mixed success. The players feedback told me they liked how different it was but felt like they didn’t know what they should be doing besides making everyone hunker down and try to ride it out.
Can you make a game that feels like bunch of tiktoks instead of full length movie? It’s easy to sit trough 2h of tiktoks and really hard to sit through 2h movie on average
The difference between Tim's idea videos and the "ideas" I hear randomly in the wild, is that Tim has explicit mechanic and function details, whereas the wildlings only have the highest concept level outlined and little else. Usually, a single question crumbles their whole plan. I find that strange, because I love it when people have questions about my ideas because that means they are interested.
Often times its just because they don't know to take it that far. Maybe they feel like you questioning is a judgment against their idea?
IQ dif
An abbotoir worker accidentally ends up becoming a mighty wizard
More like the wizard guild also runs the abattoirs and butcher shops. You local magical university is also the local abattoir or depending on the setting industrial meat farm. "You're a pig butcher Harry!"
Plus animals rights groups are inherently anti-magic societies.
As far as learning a language goes, Dragon's Dogma II has something very much like this. When you first get to the home of the elves, you can't speak the language or read the captions. But if you have Glyndwr with you during his quests/escorts, he can translate. You can hire a pawn with the Woodlands Wordsmith vocation and they can translate. Also, if you sleep at the Inn at their home for (I think) three consecutive days, the innkeeper will give you a scroll that you can use to teach your main pawn the Woodlands Wordsmith vocation.
Hey Tim. Bit of a long winded question I've had for a while now.
In previous videos you've talked about sitting in a room for a long time having "arguments" about creative decisions. However, they're not really "fights" where people are upset, but rather passionate debates where people go to bat for their ideas. I love those types of discussions, and I like to call them "Idea Battles".
My question is do you have any favorite Idea Battles, or ones that stand out to you? Times where you enjoyed the conversation? Times where you thought you were right, but it turned out the other idea was better? Or maybe times where the discussion lead to a new idea that was better than the ones originally argued?
I thought this would be a good opportunity to share stories about team members and the creative process. I really like those.
I’ve described one such Idea Battle in my video The Arcanum One-Point Fiasco
ua-cam.com/video/keTG-5WPccU/v-deo.html
I’ll try to think of more
"Good is when you kill..." has gotta be the most "classic RPG" approach to morality lol
I haven't stopped thinking about your concept you spitballed about the child escaping the city and not able to read the street signs, etc. I think that premise is great.
The look of dread that formed on my face as you started described the soul system was only outdone by my sigh of relief as it became clear the thing I'm currently working on took a completely different path in its narrative and mechanical focus
That dread is well-known to every game designer who has worked on a game for years, only for a similar game to be announced...or worse, shipped.
@@CainOnGames How did you react when you first heard about Outer Wilds? Also known as the game not to be confused with The Outer Worlds. It's so funny that the first line on Wikipedia for both games is telling you not to confuse them with each other.
Did you ever play it and if so how was it?
@@TS-by9pg Extra funny now that a writer on Outer Wilds has worked /works on The Outer Worlds too lol.
I love how thorough Tim is with his game design. Super fun!
Flavored mana sounds like the system i'm trying to work on.
Based on the four humors, they're: Madness, Misery, Mania and Malice.
Based on your character's build (stats and perks) and their personality (quirks and flaws) it will get more or less mana when performing actions that would derive emotions, the stronger the emotions the more of that mana you get. They're better at certain things, Malice is the easiest to sustain during a battle, for example.
They're stored in your soul, but you shouldn't hoard them too much for too long or you'll start suffering adverse effects, like getting too much Misery makes you unable to feel happiness and increases stress generation.
The mana tithe/tribute idea is really cool
This is cool. And I want more!
I really liked the language quests, and language learning as a way to unlock new areas/quests. That's a neat way of looking at it. And the cool thing about it is that rudimentary knowledge of a language could get you simple quests, quests that don't give you great rewards, but as your knowledge on that language evolves, you'd get better quests and rewards. You could ascend socially, even.
Also, dialogs in an unknown language could be simply garbled text, that gets more and more un-garbled as you learn more of that particular language.
The minion thing actually reminds me a bit of the Communion system in the grand strategy franchise Dominions. A Communion Master acts like a conduit. Other mages use the spell to become a Communion Slave. These slaves all contribute some of their own researching ability or magical aptitude to the master, meaning you can use a good communion master like a lightning rod to boost his own magic power and gain access to spells and research ability he wouldn't normally have access to in exchange for having to make sure your communion slaves keep channeling the spell (meaning they cannot act themselves while doing so).
My design idea is to make the world more or less judgmental to the player. I would hire an actuary to create the RPG mechanics if I can afford one or do a kind of expected value for each spell and counter. Here is a brainstorm idea that I have had and will tuck away as Ctl c this into my notes. The hardest part for me is too many ideas that all I need to do is just start. But here are a few ideas that I have for mechanics. So the entire lore system would be the conversation system and each NPC and characters in the game would have the entire lore locked and unlocked for them as well as interests so you can discuss the lore with the character world and gain affinity with the NPCs. The enemy system would have not just a leveling to scale system for the overworld but it would have a similar mechanic to the Horizon series where the enemies will try to counter if you keep using the same weapon or try to spam a specific weakness that say a wood elf has with fire they will douse themselves in water in the beginning of combat after a time. Skyrim's commentary on the player's actions is what makes it. Making the shopkeeper judging you for buying too many health potions (you really need that many or oh you are so tough not buying any health potions) is a powerful mechanic. I think too that there should be also kind of funny carrots like in the quests there are other people doing them in it as NPCs and you can come across them in the taverns. Taverns and Inns are more or less a hey don't know what to do and I kind of just want something to happen (You buy a drink and it will give you either a quest, an interesting encounter related to the current main quest or just being hit on by someone in the tavern or a bar fight). But those are some ideas that I have seen and enjoy. I think encampments like in Red Dead 2 and BG3 are kind of here to stay and likely a place where the player sees the progress and can build and likely defend their inhabitants. I can't wait to see what mechanics GTA 6 will have.
Love the concept, I can see how it could be developed into a great project!
I can't help bit think about worldbuilding whenever game ideas are discussed, as I prefer to tie lore and mechanics very tightly together.
In this case, I'd develop religion very deeply and have it play a big role in the soul/mana mechanics- can temples provide mana without having to kill people, instead by worship? can they corrupt/purify souls? I think it would tie in great with what you said about item alignment and followers/minions as well. You could devote yourself to a temple or god, and get access to special gear and such, which may become cursed if you ever stray from their ideals.
Perhaps another great idea would be to allow the player themselves to be, as Elder Scrolls puts it, 'soul-trapped'. Death may be the end, but are you dead if your soul is trapped? Is this part of the player's unique ability? There's a lot of ways to develop that. I should stop talking before this becomes another essay.
Love the souls to mana system. Morrowind (or maybe ES in general) works with some of the same. Soul gems are used to enchant and recharge magic items.
You need black soulgems for humanoid creatures whose souls are equivalent to the strongest "white" souls eg. from non humanoid creatures.
Yep and also the Ghost Gate is a wall of souls. Morrowind lore goes hard
@@Reldonator Michael Kirkbride is one hell of a writer. I would give BGS $1000 for TES6 if they brought Kirkbride back and fired Emil Pagliarulo.
The idea of an alignment powered weapon has at least one example, and it's very fun to use, in Demon's Souls there are 2 swords that scale with Character Tendency, Soulbrandt which scales with dark, and Demonbrandt, which scales with light. The come together to form the Northern Regalia, which scales with both, but does nothing for those morally neutral.
Mr. Tim, can you make this game, like, now? I really want to play it.
Now seriously, your insight into designing RPGs is so rich for someone who likes designing TTRPGs. A common critiscism i see in the TTRPG sphere is "this is too videogamy" but TTRPGs are the origin story of videogames and your perspective is amazing, sometimes I forget i'm watching a video on videogames and think "i'm gonna steal that for my OSR game".
Thank you so much
I'm making it wait two years
Hey Tim, thanks for this video! Why? Well, I am on the way of creating a kind of walking sim or gamified relaxation app as an indie side project after having worked in the games industry for a long time. The application presents an ever present possibility for everyone to leave the outside reality of this world and step into a small world that presents you a peaceful place, something that you might use to relax for 10 minutes or maybe even half an hour - something along those lines) I designed the world, the player visits, including all its places in my head but other than visiting those places and enjoying their audio environment, aided by a good visual representation I did not add any more gamification elements up to now. I fear, that, despite having the beneficial relaxation experience, the player will not stay in my experience for a long time. So, your explanations came at the right time! I think, adding a simple RPG system, based on some currency like mana and basic logic circuits like the ones you described (earring mana, spending mana and mana worth and its grouping) could add a significant bit to my solution. Everything has to be positive in my world but I think, I have some good ideas about creating a world logic that rewards the players invest into solving the tasks, that I present to him while experiencing my world and enjoying the relaxation experience. Thanks again for this!
Gave me a thought with "flavours" about being knowledge based. That way killing high skilled people allows huge amounts of XP, for example killing the towns blacksmith gives loads of XP/mana/soul, but that stops you accessing improved weapons.
Would also allow for "trading" magic for strength playstyles, but also will reduce the towns income etc
I had an idea inspired by your mana system. You said something like a rat would give you a small amount and is flavored.
Bills Mana farm! Organic free range ethical Mana at affordable prices!
Great video Tim! I have never commented or asked questions on the channel before but love your games and have watched a ton of your videos. Happy to support!
the game rimworld has enough mods that you can almost create games with it. I have, using the "immortals" mod (based on the highlander), made a system like you talk about here, though limited in that the only magic power you could get was better regeneration. But i set it up so every animal had a small amount of immortality and it would transfer on death, so the more any one character killed the more powerful they became, and the more valuable they were to behead and perma-kill.
Very interesting ideas, will have to steal some of these for use in my game(s).
The 'magic is murder' angle opens the door for a lot of interesting scenarios, definitely going to be brainstorming more 'passive ascension' systems like this that everyone participates in by default. A lot more interesting than 'I don't know, some people are born with magic 🤷' angle.
talking about player driven quest, it reminds me a lot of zelda games, NPCs mention something that you need to know to progress the story
Hey Tim, do you pick your crazy thumbnails out yourself or does UA-cam pick them automatically? Either way, whoever is pulling the strings on these thumbnails is doing a great job because these are amazing.
UA-cam auto-generates three thumbnails from the video, and I pick the silliest one
How important is lore to a video game? How do you feel about expanded universes with books/comics and tv/movies. Have you ever thought about developing a book series for fallout or arcanum. I love the way your games feel like flushed out worlds, I have watched many videos from Brandon Sanderson, and about GRRM and I would put fallouts world up there with the cosmere and planetos easily.
Have you watched Game Lore?
ua-cam.com/video/fwiXTYMCc6A/v-deo.html
And since I own neither Fallout or Arcanum, I haven’t considered writing a book series for them. Along with my lack of writing skills, of course
@@CainOnGamesthanks Tim you are elite when it comes to game lore. I bet you would make an amazing editor for a book series or tv show the way you think about lore.
Great name for this budding IP. MORIBUND WORLD.
I have a question I've not seen yet, and it's twofold: Do you have any opinion on voice acted vs typed dialog, and out of the voice actors on games you've worked on, were there any you enjoyed working with a lot? I personally have loved Ashly Burch's VO work and loved her in Outer Worlds. I used to watch the "Hey Ash Whatchu Playing" vids all the time and loved how versatile she ended up being with her VO's in different games.
I feel like the narrative of this game would work better as either an unapologetically evil MC or as a setting with such dire stakes that survival is the only morally recognized virtue in society.
Lets go Master crew! I still have about 100 videos on the backlog to watch but I'll happily get some Tim Cain knowledge fresh off the presses!
tho not the same thing but vamper has a blood system where blood is your exp, you can drink a small amount of blood from people and get some while fighting enemies but the largest amount you get is by knowing the named npc and uncovering their stories the better you know them the more exp but the fun part is killing them can and will change the town drastically in both good and bad way also its a somewhat dialogue heavy game. i highly recommend it , the combat system is okay not too hard and not too easy.
Guess someone has to tell Larian that Tim beat them to the concept of Source magic by about 20 years 🤫🤫🤫
I mean... Divine Divinity was made in 2002... Original Sins 1 is not the first divinity game.
@@SenkaZver Of course the Original Sin games weren't the first Divinity games (I've even commented on this exact channel before about how Divinity II is a great "comfort game"), but my joke was more about how OS2 treats the reveal about "Source = souls".
I love the idea, its amazing
Glad to be able to support you in a way that's more than just watching every video you put out lol. Have you noticed quite a big surge in "Game dev" related content on youtube and twitch? Whether it be a dev-log or a 3 hour long tutorial. Do you think going down the "content" route is a viable option for new (or veteran) game devs to get themselves and / or their work noticed? And if so, would you consider it as viable a route as any other?
I thinking creating something, whether it’s a game or a demo or a UA-cam channel, demonstrates that you will put in the work to create a thing. So yes, it’s viable. As more people do it, though, the signal-to-noise ratio drops. It’s the discoverability issue all over again.
@@CainOnGames Gotcha, so just like anything it’s better to start sooner than later before the discoverability becomes nearly impossible. I appreciate you taking the time to reply, I’m sure you know how much your input and opinions mean to smaller and inspiring devs so thank you!
Not sure if you've already answered it elsewhere, but one question unrelated to the video: how do you maintain longevity in the industry and in particular, longevity with quality? From my admittedly meager knowledge, comparatively few of the great designers / developers of the 90s managed to maintain a career of solid output. Given that you are in that handful, I thought you could provide insight about consistent quality over a career especially in such a fast-changing industry.
And a random comment--I love the interviews you've done. I understand that isn't where you want the channel to go in part because you want the channel to be something people can look back to many years down the road.
But the thing is, I think interviews actually do have that longevity. It captures a discussion about both game ideas and the history of a set of games' development. I could absolutely see someone many years from now watching your chats with Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Taylor, and Scott Campbell to understand your different experiences developing a game.
I could equally well see a great conversation that stands the test of time between you and Richard Garriott about forced morality versus moral choice in video games or with John Carmack or John Romero about the actual nitty gritty history of programming games in the 90s or with Todd Howard about what makes a great RPG.
Just a thought. If it's just not your jam, I totally get it.
Have you watched my Career Longevity video?
ua-cam.com/video/qRAUcX8cRZQ/v-deo.html
As for the chat videos, they take a long time to schedule, record, and process. And another reason I’m reticent to do more is some people don’t want to do them, and the more I do, the more apparent it will be who said no.
@@CainOnGames Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
@cainongames So I can't find it now, but awhile back you mentioned your favorite games and mentioned Star Control II / Ur-Quan Masters, which led me to something I've wanted to ask regarding Fallout and that game:
What is your opinion on diajetic timers - that is deadlines within the game?
Fallout - before it was patched out I think - made Vault 13 and the water chip a deadline. You can move it by getting water to the Vault, but at a certain point, Vault 13 will die of dehydration. Star Control II had several events operate on a schedule, which you can interrupt, move up, and delay depending on your actions. Prince of Persia had a direct deadline bast on how many screens you pass. The Last Express operated on a real-time event schedule. I personally preferred this in giving more consequence, even to player inaction. However, most open world games these days have quests wait for you, while at the same time expressing urgency.
Since Fallout and Star Control II are the games I remember that have quest deadlines as an important mechanic.
Incidentally, Star Raiders is a favorite of mine too, and (ahem) I was born in 79.
Languages are often underuntilised in games.
Various humans, elves, dwarves, demons etc. usually all speak "basic" or "common".
I would like to be able to learn orcish, and if I don't speak it, orcs will not talk to me. If I do, they might tell me stuff, trade, give quests, be followers.
I've posted the comment a few times, but I still can't believe in 2024 Tim Cain is one of my favourite UA-cam Subscriptions. Do you think you'll interview anyone else? Josh Sawyer maybe regarding your time on Pillars and other separate projects? I think you two would be great!
That would be... very interesting. I, personally, am interested on hearing his ideas regarding balancing... I preferred on-release class stats/abilities in Pillars of Eterenity over their later patched stats/abilities.
I love being a game designer and watching these vids!
I loved listening to this idea. Personally, I don't think this game would have compelled *me* very much just on the description of mechanics. Not that's there's something bad about it, it's just a case of understanding my own preferences, games that are hyper-reliant on their loot-systems usually don't do much for me. On Bartle's Taxonomy, I am fully on the explorer side of things: I like a good narrative more than anything. So this would need a really good setting in order to hook me past all the different gear sets and crafting. Fallout doesn't excite me because of the gear or crafting or survival elements, it's the conversations and characters and setting that gets me hooked. Again, that's just a preference of mine. Plenty of people would love this system and more power to them!
However, if this hypothetical game we're brainstorming were to be made, my note would be that we need to make sure all of the gear sets have an interesting story or lore component in addition to their considerable stat effects. If we build a game where so much of the player's aspirations is focused on obtaining those powerful sets of loot, they shouldn't just look good and have good stats. There should be something unique about them in a story sense. For example, New Vegas' DLC had a stealth suit that fit perfectly into my NCR military low-karma sniper build. But I *remember* it because she *talks*. Not in the way that Fallout 3 had a stealth suit that spouted anti-communism propaganda at the player and actively revealed their location to enemies (though that too was very memorable), but a very kind stealth suit AI that talked to me and would occasionally ask things like "Do you like me?" It was so cute, I named her Angie, and I wore that stealth suit for the rest of the game, and that's a detail I will never forget. It's one of the first things I think about when I think of that game. So, back to this hypothetical brainstorm, maybe if you have a full set an NPC will track you down and give you a new quest relating to the lore of that outfit. Like maybe the player is unwittingly walking around wearing a legendary outfit (ala the Hero's Tunic from Zelda), someone sees that and identifies it as the iconography of the legendary hero, so he begs you to get involved in a quest-line across the world. I like this idea because it could be used for on-boarding players to quest-lines they might have otherwise missed, which I feel is extremely important in an RPG.
On the other hand, the ideas about hyper-strict alignment chart management in a video game is very intriguing to me. RPGs had a bit of a rocky relationship with morality systems about twenty years ago, at least on the video game side of things. The Mass Effects and Fables. These systems tended to be pretty binary. But TTRPGs have been using the lawful/chaotic/good/evil alignment chart for decades. And it works well for them! Why don't more RPGs try to do something similar to that, where everyone has a very specific alignment and attacking / insulting people on those alignments have consequences for your own character's alignment? The four axis approach definitely feels at least more robust and interesting than the simplified Paragon to Renegade slider. And I don't see video games play around with it very often, unless their game is literally trying to replicate the mechanics of a TTRPG, like Baldur's Gate 3.
Destroy all those gnomes? The anti-gnome bigotry accusations will never leave if you keep this up Tim! Great vid as always
Something that strikes me about this system is that a wonderful "difficulty" or option for this game would be *starting as a truly evil character*. You end up with something like a redemption playthrough in Tyranny emerging purely from the mechanics, and that could be really cool!
Similarly, if magical items have power that drains over time, then even if somebody thinks they're using an evil item to good ends they run into real trouble when they need to recharge it...
Very cool to see that you thought of some concepts that eventually came to fruition, either by your studios or others. Great minds think alike.
what I appreciate most is how you describe how each mechanic interacts with other mechanics and how they work together to inform the kind of world they exist in. Thanks, Tim!
This is one of the best channels on you tube. I have no interest in getting into the video game industry. But learning about it from one of the most prolific devs and creator of my favorite series. It’s such a pleasure. Thanks Tim❤
And logically you have some mana from yourself, that replenishes with time. In terms of the player being non-violent, some magical things can come from natural deaths, accidents, fallen from war, etc. That is partly how I see in my D&D game (non official world) ; I say partly because I conceive mana in all living things around and you don't need to kill them (but magical items always have a soul, willing or unwilling, which is an ethical issue), but I see the twists you are suggesting here for gameplay.
i've a lot of appreciation for you and this channel. i don't know how much questions i'll be asking, but it's great just to be able to support and be in a channel that inspires me. i'm an inspiring author and working on my own project, so hearing another creative is comforting in a way. what i'd like to suggest is if you can run through how you begin brainstorming ideas. whether it's simply bullet points in a note book, or if its on flash cards etc? just a simple break down of how you organise your throughts and begin things when working from scratch. as someone who doesn't code, do you have that constantly in mind when coming up with a ideas or does that ccome later?
I keep a notebook (now a series of notebooks) where each page has a title of the idea, followed by bullet points of main things about the idea. I’ve done a few videos of IP ideas, and they’re coming straight from the notebooks
The souls source and the "mana" reminds me of Dark Souls 3
do you have any opinions on realistic RPGs? One of my favorite RPGs is Kingdom come deliverance and they are a realistic historical rpg it's not 100% historical accurate I don't think any game could do that, history wasn't pretty. But I'm just curious what do you think of a game like that I haven't seen many games like it since I'm only a console player
I wonder what flavor my soul is.
Probably banana
A perfectly neutral item that is the rarest weapon/armour to obtain and equip. No goody-two-shoes could fathom using it, no dark traveler could wield it effectively.
Lore idea: people have found a way to partially drain souls, and are selling vials of their soul in desperation. Some have figured out how to replace their souls with differently flavored souls. And there are fringe groups who mix souls together in themselves in an attempt to ubermensch themselves.
This is pretty cool, and honestly, I think it's already done in Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies (both great games, but I'd far and away recommend Sunless Skies over Sunless Sea).
I only started playing sunless sea a bit, and didn't entirely gel with the gameplay. It's a bit on the slow and disorderly side for my taste. I absolutely love everything about it aside from sitting down to play it though!
@@MFKitten Hah, yes. Sunless Sea is abominably slow. Sunless Skies, however, remedies that issue quite well! If you ever get bored playing that game, you can just go to the next area - there really aren't any limitations on just progressing when you want to.
This video was particularly insightful, it's great to listen to how you start world building and designing from a somewhat simple idea that though have a lot of implications and ripercussions, and those generate specific gameplay loops and systems.
Thank you for this video and the rest of this great game design encyclopedia that is your channel :)
Im just now getting a Notification that this video was uploaded lmfaooo I was like damn Tim's uploading at 1:23 am that's odd lmfaooo
I am starting to see how Story can follow from Setting and Mechanics.
About Pacifist playthroughs, what about those minions / followers? Can you get mana from your control over others, not necessarily from their death? That would allow one to play without killing. Although if you need control over others, that can be argued to be not quite pacifist.
Didn't miss one video for at least 6 months. Super interesting stuff, keep it up Tim. We love you!
Hey Tim! I'm currently making an immersive sim and have been thinking about how to go about making systems generic enough. What do you think of ECS? Especially when incorporated into commercial game engines not built with them in mind. I made a custom ECS framework to be used within Unreal
We used component systems on Pillars of Eternity using Unity. I thought it was a clean way to handle systems. For example, we had a lock component that could be put on any entity that needed it, so doors, chests, suitcases, etc. Then those locks could be opened with keys, spells, or abilities in the same straightforward manner, no matter what thing was locked.
Hi Tim! Any take on avowed? You will play it? Ty!
This sounds like Demon Souls. With a bit of some other Japanese RPG's I've played. Color XP is mostly from DMC and other action games however, that would be nice to see in rpgs. Likely is an RPG that did it and I think I recall one, but I don't remember the name.
Sounds like it would devolve into murder hobos even more than fantasy RPGs already do
I love those ideas - you've definitely given me some food for thought.
Hey, Tim, check out thaumcraft mod for minecraft.
The game Hinterland as described on the channel Accursed Farms back in 2017 has some similar elements, but it is not as well developed as what you are describing here.
Extra long episode full of ideas! Thank you T.C!
Do I have to navigate your channel on my desktop to become a member? I can’t find anywhere to go to do it on my phone 😢
Apparently iOS phones don’t have a join button on the UA-cam app. The browser should work
@@CainOnGames thank you sensei 🥋
Could there be a economy behind the production of souls. like its Illegal to domesticate creatures and people for the production of souls but if you kill a king's subject its treated as a crime of not murder but damaging his property/investments. Do people literally sell their souls if they are that poor, and this would be treated as a legal loophole towards slavery?
I think the soul mechanic could lead to all kinds of interesting quests and side stories.
I like relay like quests that effect the game world, seeing changes reflect player actions. The blacksmith example is good, id also love to see some environmental changes like clients in blacksmith shop/town after the quest using items made from the metal from the mine. Maybe see his wealth is going up, not in direct talk but say being dressed better or having more customers etc.
Language and factions are a cool idea, may bring some fun interactions.
Ave, true to TimCain
Hello Tim. How do you feel about a player creating a meta character? For example a DnD player, playing a character named "Town Guard #3" and all of their verbal interactions being on a table of 20-30 generic phrases that are rolled for.
The first idea sounds like what Pillars of Eternity should have been. PoE's deal with souls seemed half-baked.
This can be a cool game if created.
This system has the potential to have a pacifist be an evil option.
Make a spell or ability that let you siphon off a portion of a living being's soul for mana without killing them, but leaving them diminished. As you gain power you can progressively drain away larger and larger portions of souls, eventually being able to leave people as mere shadows of their former selves, barely more than a soulless husk.
Even more interesting than usual... I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about "Player-based quests with purpose". I really liked hearing Tim's take on them. His approach is inspirational, but I need to figure out how to translate some of his ideas into a world without magic.
Cool story bro. Now can we please get this game created in my lifetime?
instead of a fixed Alignment that carries over from one group to another, you could have it be subjective to whomever is perceiving your character, like a faction reputation system based on the your backgrounds and previous decisions made.
I really want you to narrate a Mage: the Ascension game.
Evil cults not evil enough? Now you can make them MLM with promises of passive mana!
Tim, please make many more games! All your ideas sound so cool!
But my evil character only does “good” things so he can betray everyone at the end. Alignments shouldn’t be forced; it is judgement of actions that only the player can know. I “help” the gnome child by getting his turtle (or whatevet) out of a tree, not because I am "good." but because I want to then eat the pet turtle in front of the gnome child, making him cry. I am 56 and just LOVE you and your videos, Tim, thank you for being a treasure.
Oh shit, Tim invented Black Soul Gems
@@garrenbrooks4778 Funnily enough, this is also a generally-run-with theory among the TES community regarding the Dwemer's automaton construction.
😁Sounds intriguing! I especially like cursed items. I'm pretty sure there's something to do here in a new game, with a character that uses cursed items or is cursed in some way and has to play differently to circumvent this. Offers some Role play shenanigans!
Your ideas on how to structure itemization feel dated but still better than what we get most of the time sadly
Hi Tim! Thank you for all the content and information you’ve been providing us 💙
I’m thinking about a Fallout tattoo on my back (Yes, the whole back!) and I was wondering if I could get your ideas and thoughts about what I had in mind so far.
Thank you in advance!
You should ask one of the Fallout artists. Do not have a colorblind non-artist give you input!
@@CainOnGames Thank you for your response!!!
I’m aware you’re colorblind, I was thinking more of the general idea and elements I should put in.
Would love to share it with you when it’s done 😃
I like most of this but mixing and matching armor/weapons/tools is part of the fun for me in big RPGs. I'm sure it isn't fun for whoever has to balance the game 😅
Within 1 minute this is already the Elder Scrolls and soul trap?
Anyone else find these videos incredibly relaxing? My friend who isn't even remotely into game design watches these videos all the time because of how calming it is listen to Tim speak about game design.
Yep. I like to listen at night before sleep. It’s interesting and calming.
You talked a lot about how you don't like tropes in games, but the way you describe this RPG stuff in this video it sounds like the typical WoW-like RPG or something from the 90s even. Fetch quests, armor sets, dungeons, guilds, etc.
Did you read the title? It says “generic RPGs”. Also finish the video and you will see some more original ideas.
Regardless, 90s had great rpgs what are you talking about? What about fallout and fallout ? I think the tropes you are talking about were more present ten to fifteen years ago.
Shiny; specifically Sacrifice by Shiny entertainment.
I was never good at programming, but I've made quite a few table top rpgs just for me and my friends.
I wish I had the confidence to make one I could share with the public.
You just release it and hope no one sees the glaring issues (only) you see. In most cases you'll be surprised. You could soft release it onto a smaller group, asking for feedback first though.
@@Pixelsoep I'm currently doing that with some close friends as my play testers, also my brother is co-authoring/editing it with me.
I sort of have a scatter ADHD brain, so he's essential in reorganizing my thoughts and just trimming down whats there already.
@CainOnGames your ideas sound like they would work great in D&D. I'd really like to see a chat between you and @RobertHartleyGM that does the @VivaLaDirtLeagueDnD campaign
Though a bunch of them are writer centric and might do well modded into games like bannerlord and such
stormbringer?
Talking about specific IPs is dangerous, because hackers may try to access that IP o.o
Btw I wonder if Tim ever played Counterfeit Monkey. It is a text based game where you can remove or add letters from words and when you do it, it has real consequences, for example you point at a cod, remove letter "o" and it turns into a CD. You can do various shenanigans with words in this game and there is lot to do in the world. Just don't try to turn the whole fair into air, you may die xD
Instructions unclear: I created murderhobo
my favorite online game designer sensei.
How about enchanting items has become so prevalent that the afterlife is running out of new souls. To prevent the rash of soulless children being born you have to start breaking things and freeing trapped souls.
I really like the goal being to make your own town. Go from murderhobo to murdercitizen or even murdermayor.
I would So want to play this game!
Having different languages sounds like it'd make for a good character trait/perk to be a language learner. Traits like in Fallout are such a good system if they're balanced appropriately, to the point that I think you could add those to any RPG and it makes the game better.
Different languages is a good way to keep "Speech" as a skill without it being "I have 100 Speech so everything I say is convincing." It's pretty easy to flesh that out to where it's a core mechanic of a game, really. Some languages should be easier to learn since they're similar to your starting language, some should be a lot more difficult. Ancient/dead languages could potentially be easier to read due to archived writing, but nearly impossible to speak. So in a magic setting, maybe the cliche of "reading a curse/warning activates something bad" is because of mispronouncing the words to dispel the enchantment. Maybe I'm just saying that because of how annoying Duolingo's audio challenges are, but it'd be kinda funny to have that happen once in some old crypt or something.
Hi Tim, it's us, everyone. Question for you: imagine that game development just isn't a thing that exists. What do you think you would you have been instead?
Please just turn this video into a game I’ve thought the settlement system similar to the one in elder scrolls blades would be fun in elder scrolls six
Hey Tim! Quick question about running tabletop RPGs
I was wondering if you have any kind of methodology when it comes to building encounters for your players that don’t always involve combat?
For an example I recently tried to get creative with a natural disaster encounter where my players tried to help people evacuate a town that was about to be hit by a large tornado. And it had mixed success. The players feedback told me they liked how different it was but felt like they didn’t know what they should be doing besides making everyone hunker down and try to ride it out.
Can you make a game that feels like bunch of tiktoks instead of full length movie?
It’s easy to sit trough 2h of tiktoks and really hard to sit through 2h movie on average