Yesterday I managed to implement the first quest of the prototype, and a couple of hours later, the second. I can't say I have a proper quest system (if such thing exists), it depends on loosely related stuff.
The first quest implement involves recovering an stolen item, which requires fighting some weird guys. It is like an introduction to combat. The guy drops the stolen item, or more precise, you get it from his corpse. When you talk to the quest NPC, if you have the item with you, a new option appears in the dialog that allows to deliver the item, receive XP and set the quest as completed.
The second quest is to talk with a guy to receive another quest, the one that triggers the main storyline of the game. Pretty easy. And now that I mention the storyline, I made some work on it this weekend.
The key word when writing the plot for an open world is branching, which is easier to say, but not that easy to achieve. It means that almost every quest or NPC should be the entry point for more quests. Lets say that somebody told you that Williams know somebody who craft excellent weapons. But Williams won't simply send you with the crafter, instead he will ask a favor or something. Take a look at the previous RPG games you have played and you will see this concept in action. In The Witcher 3, virtually every NPC you go to ask somethings, requires completing one or more quests before giving what you need. As I said, sounds easy, but it is not for a single writer.
I also included in the story an old friend of mine, who passed away last year. Like me, gamer since the MS-DOS age, with lots of friends who are now scattered through the world. I'm still thinking how to improve his participation in the story and make it more important.
The first quest implement involves recovering an stolen item, which requires fighting some weird guys. It is like an introduction to combat. The guy drops the stolen item, or more precise, you get it from his corpse. When you talk to the quest NPC, if you have the item with you, a new option appears in the dialog that allows to deliver the item, receive XP and set the quest as completed.
The second quest is to talk with a guy to receive another quest, the one that triggers the main storyline of the game. Pretty easy. And now that I mention the storyline, I made some work on it this weekend.
The key word when writing the plot for an open world is branching, which is easier to say, but not that easy to achieve. It means that almost every quest or NPC should be the entry point for more quests. Lets say that somebody told you that Williams know somebody who craft excellent weapons. But Williams won't simply send you with the crafter, instead he will ask a favor or something. Take a look at the previous RPG games you have played and you will see this concept in action. In The Witcher 3, virtually every NPC you go to ask somethings, requires completing one or more quests before giving what you need. As I said, sounds easy, but it is not for a single writer.
I also included in the story an old friend of mine, who passed away last year. Like me, gamer since the MS-DOS age, with lots of friends who are now scattered through the world. I'm still thinking how to improve his participation in the story and make it more important.
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