Do you guys think this would work?

[Accname]

Hi guys, i was just thinking today after playing some oldschool RPG's (Gothic 1) if it would be possible to make a 2D open world RPG like in the old days.
Think The Elder Scrolls 1 - 3 / Gothic 1 + 2 / Baldurs Gate / Terranigma / Seiken Densetsu...
But in 2D with a top-down view and action-packed real time combat.

I am still thinking about it and indecisive whether it would be a good idea.
Please let me know what you think via the poll.

Heres some screenshots of SD3 for those of you who dont know it:

 

[Varine]

Of course it would work, unfortunately it likely wouldn't be largely popular in mainstream gaming. Your target would be that niche of indie gamers, people like me who play it to see what's good and bad in designs (mostly for personal use), and older gamers who grew up with this. Especially if using that style of graphics. Which isn't an issue, obviously, unless you want it to be, but I see no reason for it. I would play it probably if it had a good story. They're pretty easy to work with, only real issue is dealing with collusion on cliffs.
I actually wrote a little story that I was thinking about turning into a 2D game like this.

My personal recommendation would be to use a kind of pre-rendered background like some older PSX games, with 3D characters, but that also requires a pretty decent art level and I know you said you wanted to avoid that already.

Anyway it's more than possible for you to do alone; a lot of companies that developed these older games had extremely small teams and obviously significantly less accessible support that you have via the Internet, and their available tools were nothing like today's Photoshop or Illustrator and game engines with GUI's and whatnot.

One suggestion, if you would be willing to do some 3D work or look for someone else to, would be to try and make some of the effects in 3D (like spell castings and whatnot). I think that with an art style like the images above, combined with some 3D elements, could make for a very beautiful image and could utilize a lot more of the available power, as well as be a learning experience for you. Which I assume is primarily why you're doing this, because you don't strike me as being largely trying to break into the industry solely because there is a lot of money up for the taking if you can spin the system in your favor (which so far as failed miserably for me, obviously, however I will eventually get it there...).

But I digress; the point is it's very possible and would not be altogether too difficult after you begin to get game programming down. So go for it; keep us updated on progress.

 

[Ninva]

Many 2D games, for whatever reason, tend to clutter enemies into a small space. 2D games also have a tendency to be overly complicated to travel. These are reasons I avoid 2D games, especially MMORPGs. If you want to make a successful indie MMORPG with a 2D design, I suggest you design your models with a 3D perspective but not in a 3D universe. A general concept of distance should be considered -- so that not everything looks like it's floating on a background. Gaia did a pretty good job with this concept with their Zomg game.

 

[Varine]

You mean isometric?

 

[Slapshot136]

I think it would work, but like Varine said, it wouldn't exactly be a huge profit maker.. although I do see some profit potential if you port it over to phones and make it well (remember you will be competing vs all the GBA games that get emulated among others.. and there were quite a few good RPGs on that)

 

[Accname]

I am never looking to make any profit. In fact, i dont have any problems with making my code public.
I am just thinking right now. After playing the good old games: Gothic, Morrowind / Seiken Densetsu, Terranigma.
And i am curious if this would work out well to make an open world RPG in 2D. With a big aspect set on character interaction and *actual* roleplaying instead of Diablo like monster slashing.
A long and hard RPG with much to find and lots of possible adventures.

P.S.:

[...] long and hard [...]

Thats what she said...

 

[Slapshot136]

A long and hard RPG with much to find and lots of possible adventures.

that is quite time-consuming, I suggest you make it modular such that you can easily add content to it as you create it

 

[Accname]

that is quite time-consuming, I suggest you make it modular such that you can easily add content to it as you create it

That is the only way i make games!
The engine first and in a way that it is easily upgradeable.

 

[Varine]

For a 2D game it wouldn't be too bad. A few months of actual game work probably, unless you run into issues you can't figure out. Which always happens, but eh, what are you gonna do? The engine will take longer to make probably, if you're doing it from the ground up, though I don't know why you would. There are plenty of open source 2D engines around to use as a platform, a lot of which I think have WYSIWYG editors I think (I don't use 2D engines ever, so that one is kind of an iffy statement), instead of placing everything through straight code.

 

[Accname]

I like tinkering, and i like to write engines straight up from scratch. Thats the most fun.
Actually i have alot of engines build but never made a game for them because once the engine is finished i lose interest in the project. Its funny but its true.