RPGM Ren'Py Engine Question for my game.

[Ovanaa]

Greetings everyone!


So, I've recently been playing around with the thought of making a game. I would call myself a Decent Writer -even though my native language is not English- I'm sure that I'd be able to puzzle a good story together! I've been browsing through the Forum and read various Reviews of games that I used to play. Often I hear that RPGM is described as "Linear" and "Too Grindy", while Ren'py *appears* to be more relaxed, having a quicker way of progression.


My plan is the following: I'm looking to create a 2D Game about a Female Protagonist who'll work as a Police Officer; she'll be able to rise up in the Hierarchy according to her deeds, ranks giving her bonus perks, or a little more power over her underlings. She's supposed to be very Power Hungry, being obsessed with the idea to one day be in charge of the whole department. *How* she'll rise up in the ranks is supposed to be picked by the player. I plan on making the game more "personalized" to each new player, being able to set their own destiny within the game.

What kind of engine *should* I be using? I've read that this question is pretty subjective, which I am aware of. However, I don't really see the reason behind creating something that no one will play due to Engine choice. The two main candidates that I think might fit -as mentioned- are: RPGM and Ren'py, I do know that each of them requires Coding Knowledge, which I am willing to learn. (Poll Included for those who don't wish to answer in a comment)

What I want from the Engine are:

->None Linear Story Progression.

->A Combat System (if Possible).

->That the MC is able to have Stats and is able to upgrade them.

Those are pretty much my 3 Main needs. I do know that many choices and pathways will not be an easy task to accomplish: But if that's what I'll have to endure, then I'll go with it.

Thank you very much for reading!

 

[AnimeKing314]

Normally I'd prefer renpy but given you want a combat system and it sounds like you're programming experience is limited at best I'd say rpgm is the better option

 

[moskis22]

I like rpgm games, they can be grindy or lineal if they are bad balanced, but the exploration aspect and gameplay aside porn is fun
Anyway, most of the people don't think so, so you should use renpy instead, they want to jump directly to porn with not too much gameplay, and a renpy visual novel does it very well
So, unless you really want some rpgm features on your game you should choose renpy, even if you are going to struggle with a combat system there xD

 

[anne O'nymous]

Sorry, but nothing in what you said while describing your idea, can help to decide which engine you should use.

Will it be more on the side of an interactive story, with the player having to make choice that will decide of MC's future, with possibly combat ; Or, said otherwise, are the dialog and visual the most important part of the game ?
In which case Ren'Py is the engine you should use.

Or will it be more on the full freedom side, with the player having to roam around the city, investigating on the current case ; or, said otherwise, is the locations and ability to roam anywhere, the most important part of the game ?
In which case RPG Maker is the engine you should use ; at least as long as it's not yet another walk simulator where the player have to run across the map solely to be said that "there's nothing here".

All other points are just details. There's enough place all around the net where you can find help for the technical part.

 

[Winterfire]

What makes you think that a game engine decides if your story is going to be linear or not?

To add to what anne O'nymous said, you can still use Ren'Py even if you want investigation (point & click) or roam around the city (maps).
Movement should be motivated with mechanics related to it... Take Pokémon for instance, battle is triggered by your movement and navigation itself is often a mini puzzle when it comes to forests and such. It would be a lesser experience without movement.

However, you can also have a lesser experience by adding movement when that is not needed.
Before deciding on the engine, did you write a Game Design Document and do you have any clue of what you are doing? If not, you should take a step back and learn the basics first.

 

[Eezergoode]

Engine choice really is a subjective thing, as was stated above. What is your main focus of your story? If you want the main focus to be the story and dialogues, with only a small amount of combat, and some pseudo-exploration, Ren'Py might be the better choice, but if your main focus is going to be on combat, full exploration, and the level grinding, RPGM might be a better choice. I've yet to see a combat system written in Ren'Py that made me actually look forward to combat, but it should be possible to write a good system, with the proper knowledge and skills. Theoretically, at least

As far as what the people on here prefer, well, there IS a following for RPGM, but I can totally understand the heavy leanings towards VNs, and especially Ren'Py. It has kind of become the industry standard. But you need to ask yourself, why are you doing this? Why are you overly worried about what engine the most people will play? If you are doing it to make money, I humbly suggest you re-evaluate, as it is a very difficult thing to amass a following that will earn you even a couple hundred dollars a month. If, however, like me, you are doing it because you have a story (or stories) that you feel that you just have to get out there, then just go with the engine that best allows you to tell your story in the manner you wish to tell it.

 

[Kinderalpha]

Renpy.

All I'm gonna say is, is you are probably vastly underestimating what it takes to just "have combat". Let's break it down.

1. To combat, you need progression
2. Progression needs levels/equipment
3. Levels/equipment need inventories/shops/skills
4. Skills/shops/inventories need items/variety/balancing
5. Items/variety/balancing is another few months onto your project for what will probably be nothing.

Damn, that's a lot! Well, it's necessary. Not gonna argue with some troll who says "ohh you don't need all of that", yeah well you kind of do or else the combat is just stale, boring, and inconsequential. And that's the point. You either center your game around combat, or you stay away from it. Lot of problems among RPG games is they add combat but as a second hand thought not a primary narrative tool. Your game *could* benefit from combat absolutely. However, think twice about how combat serves a purpose for both the player, and the character in the game.

Good luck!

 

[Winterfire]

Renpy.

All I'm gonna say is, is you are probably vastly underestimating what it takes to just "have combat". Let's break it down.

1. To combat, you need progression
2. Progression needs levels/equipment
3. Levels/equipment need inventories/shops/skills
4. Skills/shops/inventories need items/variety/balancing
5. Items/variety/balancing is another few months onto your project for what will probably be nothing.

Damn, that's a lot! Well, it's necessary. Not gonna argue with some troll who says "ohh you don't need all of that", yeah well you kind of do or else the combat is just stale, boring, and inconsequential. And that's the point. You either center your game around combat, or you stay away from it. Lot of problems among RPG games is they add combat but as a second hand thought not a primary narrative tool. Your game *could* benefit from combat absolutely. However, think twice about how combat serves a purpose for both the player, and the character in the game.

Good luck!

I will be the troll in this case and say that those elements are needed for turn based combat, but you could have more creative ways to do combat... Such as puzzle solving or even purely skill based combat systems.

However, even if that was not true for the combat system you had in mind, kinder's point proves that you should really have a clear idea of what you want to do... Hence the Game Design Document becomes a necessity.

 

[Kinderalpha]

I will be the troll in this case and say that those elements are needed for turn based combat, but you could have more creative ways to do combat... Such as puzzle solving or even purely skill based combat systems.

However, even if that was not true for the combat system you had in mind, kinder's point proves that you should really have a clear idea of what you want to do... Hence the Game Design Document becomes a necessity.

That's a fair compromise combat isn't exclusively just tactical turn based. It could be point and click, or other creative methods. For the purpose of my post before, I'm speaking in the context of the turn based combat.

I'm all for creative ideas and new combat systems. Love of Magic is a good example of an incentive system that meshes with the narrative.

 

[Niv-Mizzet the Firemind]

If you're worrying that players may not give the game a chance due to engine choice, then you'd have to go with Renpy.
From what I've seen here (note that it may mean nothing) games in rpgm get a certain amount of hate just for using rpgm and regardless of their quality.

Other than that, what's the most important feature of the game? If it's combat, and assuming said combat is good, then you should use rpgm. If it's the story, use renpy. Having said that though, if combat as you imagine it is simple, it could be done in renpy as well.

Other than that, if I were in your shoes, I would try to make a small part of the game on both engines and see what I like about each and decide after that.

Lastly, as a player, I don't have a preference, as long as the game is good.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I will be the troll in this case and say that those elements are needed for turn based combat, but you could have more creative ways to do combat... Such as puzzle solving or even purely skill based combat systems.

And I'll add that even with turn based combat, you don't necessarily need stats. There's more and more Ren'Py games that now have small combats, mostly relying on the player moves and nothing else.
A game like Heavy Five have two kind of combat (close range and range), without having any stats. Damsels and Dungeons have stats, but they aren't related to the combat, and therefore not used during them. This while a game like Ataegina have stats related to the combats, but not really used during the said combats ; they define the spells you can use, but not their impact.

 

[Winterfire]

And I'll add that even with turn based combat, you don't necessarily need stats. There's more and more Ren'Py games that now have small combats, mostly relying on the player moves and nothing else.
A game like Heavy Five have two kind of combat (close range and range), without having any stats. Damsels and Dungeons have stats, but they aren't related to the combat, and therefore not used during them. This while a game like Ataegina have stats related to the combats, but not really used during the said combats ; they define the spells you can use, but not their impact.

That's a good point, I have recently played a game called "Monster Girl 1000", and while there are stats that matter during battle, you cannot grind to gain a few levels more to make challenges easier... Meaning that the stats ""matter"" (aka you could do without).

Instead, to make the fights easier there is a strategic element to it... You need to discover the monster's weakness, pattern and even manage your items correctly.