Game Mechanics Combining 3rd person RPG and 2D platforming elements

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MusicFurLife

Guest
First of all, I'm very beginner at programming. My programming experience has been limited to some basic stuff and Visual Basic 6 from technical school decade ago so I have enough experience that I know what programming is and what it requires but that's it.

My question is that I have had this idea of creating a third person RPG type of game which would also include 2D platforming sections for lesser extent. To be more exact, my idea was to have a game engine that changes between RPG and 2D platforming as separated sections. Has such combination done before? I can't recall any examples. If such combination can be done in Gamemaker studio 2, does it make programming a game overly complicated, especially for beginner?
 
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pixeltroid

Member
game engine that changes between RPG and 2D platforming as separated sections. Has such combination done before? I can't recall any examples.
If by RPG you mean 4 way movement, then yes it has been done before. The Legend of Zelda : Link's Awakening has very short platformer sections in some dungeons.
 
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Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
My question is that I have had this idea of creating a third person RPG type of game which would also include 2D platforming sections for lesser extent. To be more exact, my idea was to have a game engine that changes between RPG and 2D platforming as separated sections. Has such combination done before? I can't recall any examples.
The first two Paper Mario games? You traverse the world by platforming and attack enemies by jumping on them both on the overworld and as a battle action. Also, Castlevania: Symphony of The Night is a platforming game with action RPG elements, so it's both RPG and platformer all the time. (The genre is called "metroidvania", it's really popular these days).

Side note, I actually have an engine already set up for this kind of thing, which you might potentially be interested in (it has both GMS1 and GMS2 versions).
 
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MusicFurLife

Guest
If by RPG you mean 4 way movement, then yes it has been done before. The Legend of Zelda : Link's Awakening has very short platformer sections in some dungeons.
Yes, and I also forgot the earliest one, Zelda 2 in NES that does both.

What I mean is having J-RPG style top down view to explore, having puzzles, maybe some fights etc and then at specific locations like underground dungeons it would go into 2D platformer for gameplay variety. One of my inspirations are this SNES game:



I'm only wondering whether having additional 2D platformer as separated engine besides the top-down RPG would make a daunting task for beginner.
 

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I'm only wondering whether having additional 2D platformer as separated engine besides the top-down RPG would make a daunting task for beginner.
Having multiple discrete gameplay styles will make the project harder to organize (e.g. you can't use generic names like obj_player and parent_enemy) and usually a lack of organizatorial skill is a major reason why beginners' projects break down. You'll also have to make sure the gameplay stays consistent between the styles (same control scheme, same resolution, same HUD) where applicable, so it doesn't feel like two separate games glued together. So be aware that having two gameplay styles probably will make the game more than twice as complicated to organize and deal with.
 

pixeltroid

Member
I'm only wondering whether having additional 2D platformer as separated engine besides the top-down RPG would make a daunting task for beginner.
I don't know. Depending on how good you are at working with Gamemaker language, it can be very easy or very difficult.

The only way to find out is to make a rough prototype, i.e., a tiny version of your game with placeholder graphics, in which you can switch from 4way to platformer mode. If you can manage to get all the controls working, then you just need to scale it up up.

People have made both platformer games and 4 way games. So combining the two shouldn't be too difficult. Using Zelda: Links Awakening as a reference, the platformer bits had the same mechanics as the 4 way mode, except the top and down movements were disabled.

Edit: After reading the above post, I'll add this : just so you can find out how complicated it will be, just make a rough prototype to test out 4way and platforming. If you can pull it off, great. But be prepared to work on your project for a long time.
 
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