The Path to a Great RPG

[The Gwaga Gmonk]

Well, I've been getting great feedback on this series, thanks for all the positive comments everyone. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s the next step, an intro sequence.
STEP 3: The great introduction
Without an intro, RPGs just don’t work. You can’t just have “Here’s your character, have fun!” , plonk the character into a world and have the player have no idea of what’s going on. So, without further ado, here are the secrets to a great introductory sequence…
The First Law of Introductions: Don’t make it too long
This is the first and foremost lesson to learn. You want to make the sequence long enough to give the player an idea of what’s happening, but not so long that they get frustrated and annoyed and think to themselves “When will it end?” or eventually yelling at the computer “SHUTUP AND LET ME GET ON WITH IT, DAMN YOU!”. I know I have with many an RPG, mainly Tabernacle. That was a great game and all, but how long did it take to start? Too long, way too long. Here are some ways to keep the length down:
1) Don’t have superfluous text.
This is one of the most important ways. There is no point in having an intro sequence to a game where the hero must collect the five sacred amulets and have text saying “After collecting these, they will summon the all mighty Kaldra Champion who shall crush everything that its commander wishes and will be a great aid in battle”. Not only is that too long, but it’s stealing a copyrighted name (Kaldra), and is giving away WAY too much info. You want some mystery, so a simple “After collecting these, a mythical being is said to be called forth…” will do. It’s nowhere near as long, doesn’t infringe copyright laws and doesn’t give away a lot of info.
2) Don’t repeat yourself.
Pretty self-explanatory. Don’t say, “The world has been tossed into peril,” and then later saying “Peril has consumed the land,” and then “The land is riddled with peril”. That’s a bit of an extreme example, but you get my drift. An exception to this rule is one I used in Chrome Tide, when there is a ghostly apparition of sorts is saying, “Help me…please…”
3) You don’t have to give it all away in one fell swoop.
What I mean by this is you can have a bit of intro, then a small playing section, then the rest of the intro. Take my example from Chrome Tide:
“Kairu is asleep in bed. He’s tossing and turning. Cut to his dream, where he meets a ghostly apparition. After talking to this, he walks off the cliff, wakes up and thinks to himself about it. Cut to small credit scene.”
There is a little bit of intro, then a playing bit (the cliff), then the rest. Simple.
4) Do NOT display every credit.
A small credit scene is good, healthy for the game, but not the whole thing. Again, here is mine from Chrome Tide, with each credit having a different landscape and the hero walking around them, as if in wonder:
“Inmi and Poit Productions presents…”
“An Inmi Presentation…”
“Kairu Shigami in…”
“Chrome Tide”
And it looks so good.
5) Short can be sufficient.
Most developers make the mistake of thinking that a long intro sequence is the best way to convey a story. But, let’s use Chrome Tide again (man, I like advertising, don’t I?), there is a few seconds of Kairu tossing in the bed, then in his dream, about 10 seconds max of finding and talking to the apparition, then about 15 seconds of him thinking about the dream, and around 30 seconds of credits. That is enough to convey the story, and all in only about a minute.
The Second Law of Introductions: Make it interesting
It’s not necessary to make loads of different maps and events for the intro. In fact, the fewer, the better. I’d say go through this pattern: Scene 1, Scene 2, Possible Scene 3, Scene 1. A few good scenes to include are:
1) Where the hero is.
2) Where the hero begins the actual game.
3) Stormy skies, with words displaying a basic story.
4) An ancient time relevant to the story. Also a good place to add that "playable bit" we talked about.
With a few of these, a great intro sequence should come together.
The Third Rule of Introductions: Never, EVER give anything away
I touched on this in the first law. Only ever tell the player the storyline, only what they need to know to begin playing, nothing else. This way, you will have a surprise factor, and you can evolve the storyline as the player progresses. The only things you should give away are:
1) Who they will be (who the hero is)
2) Where they will be
3) The aim of the game
4) A small background story
For number 3, just tell what the hero thinks the aim will be. For example, if he just wants to win a cutie next-door, just have the intro say that (not directly, of course, through the hero’s actions and speech), don’t have the intro saying that the ultimate goal will be to collect those five sacred medallions we talked about.
The Final Rule of Introductions: The “better thans”
1) Better too short than too long. It’s better to have a small intro that tells the player what they need to know than a large one that makes them bored before they begin.
2) Better clear than mysterious. It’s better to make an intro direct than have the player have no idea what’s going on. An exception is something that makes the player think, and slowly unfolds during the game.
3) Better not enough than too much. Not giving the player enough information and making them think about it is better than giving them too much and spoiling the game.
4) Better less than more. It is always better to use less maps, characters and events than to make some superfluous ones that have no relevance whatsoever to the intro.

And that’s it for this time. Join me next time when I tell all about inventories and objects.
Until then, may you always introduce yourself with three scenes for some reason.
- The Gwaga Gmonk

[Ryoshin]

Again, you have made great work. Thumbs up!

[MrMister]

I have a problem with my intro, see, NONE of it's supposed to be revealed, and it would be too cheerful for the setting of the game just to show the character and where he lives.

[The Gwaga Gmonk]

Remember the other possible scene? Like the "ancient history" one? You could put that in for a sense of darkness, and have the character and where he lives after. A lot of dark RPGs go like that-starting off cheerful, then getting sinister.

Thanks again for the positive feedback. Part 4 will be up soon.

[kAiRoU]

...My name is in your game?! Great tutorial.