RPG Suggestions From The Creators Of BG2
From AgeofWiki
These basic rules were set down by the creators of BG2 as suggestions for making an RPG (they meant an actual, commercial game, but many still apply).
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Basic Design Rules
1. The player must always feel as though it is his or her actions that are making him or her succeed. Players should feel that it is through smart decisions and actions that they have solved a puzzle or won a battle.
2. The player must feel as if he or she is having an effect on the environment. His or her actions are making a very visible difference in how things are running in the gameworld. Actions have consequences.
3. When designing, you must consider good and evil paths. Several plots should be marked as changing according to the player's alignment.
Story Design
1. The story should always make the player the focus. The player is integral to the plot, and all events should revolve around him or her.
2. It is important that the player is kept informed about the progress of the villain. This can be done through cutscenes during chapter transitions, or through integrating him or her into the main plot from time to time.
3. It is important that there be a twist in the story (or even more than one). This is where a revelation is made to the player that makes him or her reevaluate what's going on with the story. All the twists should involve the main player. Twists that the player figures out on his or her own are also better.
4. It is good to keep the ending of the story open, especially if a sequel or expansion packs are being planned.
Environment Design
1. The gameworld should be divided into chapters. Each chapter should be of equal size and exploration potential. Each of these chapters should have a rather obvious goal, but one that the player can achieve in any fashion that he or she wants.
2. Certain areas should be marked as core areas. These areas are usually towns or similar places that the player will be returning to often. Core areas should change as the environment changes. As the player performs actions in other areas, there should be changes to reflect this in the core areas.
3. The player must always feel that he or she is exploring interesting areas. This means that areas always need to have a unique feel to the art.
4. It is not a good idea to have the player moving between areas often. This becomes annoying. Plots should be kept within the confines of a single area.
5. It's good to show things to the player that he or she cannot use or places that he or she cannot go. Later on, these objects or places will become enabled.
Game Systems Design
1. A well thought-out reward system must be created. The player should be rewarded often during the course of the game. These rewards can come in the form of experience, items, story rewards, new spells, new monsters, new art, romances, and so on.
2. It is important that the player is able to personalize his or her character. This means that they should feel that the characters they are playing as are their own.
3. It is important that the world reflect the ways in which the player has personalized his or her character.
Writing Guidelines
1. No modern-day profanity. (This excludes lesser profanity, like "damn," "hell," "bitch," and "bastard.")
2. Each of the dialogue nodes (dialogue pieces) spoken by a non-player character should be limited to two lines. Only in very rare circumstances are more than two used.
3. All character responses should be one line when they appear in the game. There should be no reason for them to be longer than this.
4. Try not to use accents in dialogue. For certain characters (Elminster, sailor types) it is all right, but for the most part it should be avoided.
5. When using player choices, try to keep the visible number to about three. Two or four are all right, but only when really necessary.
6. When a non-player character talks directly to the main player, this should be noted for scripting purposes. Other dialogue should be included for when someone other than the main player talks to this character.
7. Random dialogue should be avoided or at least used sparingly. Commoners should have only a few random dialogue lines, but there should be several different commoners to talk with.
