Charas-Project

Game Creation => Requests => RPG Maker Programming => Topic started by: Guzeinbuick on August 21, 2005, 04:06:26 AM

Title: How do you guys avoid making cliches?
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 21, 2005, 04:06:26 AM

Everytime I make something in my game I always seem to accidentally stumble upon another cliche. I really like making RPG games, but when I show it to my brothers they always say it's cliched in one way or another and become biased against it for the rest of eternity. >.< How am I supposed to avoid it?
And on a side note, no matter how hard I try, I always screw up the dialogue. It always sounds cheesy or tacky or whatever. You guys seem to know a lot about making RPG games so if you can give me any hints or tips it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ^_^

Title:
Post by: Grandy on August 21, 2005, 04:11:23 AM

 Chack this thread, and avoid using it:
 http://charas-project.net/forum/showthread.php?threadid=13104&forumid=29&catid=6

Title:
Post by: Darkfox on August 21, 2005, 04:13:35 AM

Also these animes are full of Cliches:

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dragonball series

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 21, 2005, 04:26:43 AM

Hmm....I don't get it. The only cliches I've used so far are:

"Buildings are much, much larger on the inside than on the outside, and that doesn't even count the secret maze of tunnels behind the clock in the basement."

"Once you sell something to a shopkeeper, he instantly sells it to somebody else and you will never see the item again no matter what."

"There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a sewer maze, a misty forest, a derelict ghost ship, a mine, a glowing crystal maze, an ancient temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, and a technological dungeon."

And yet my bros say my game is riddled with 'em. -_- Wierd. Maybe they're just tough critics?

Title:
Post by: WarxePB on August 21, 2005, 04:28:12 AM

Also, don't try to make your game completely cliche'-free. It's near impossible, and takes all of the fun out of a game. You've gotta have some cliche's in it.

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 21, 2005, 04:36:05 AM

Okay...I'll keep that in mind...

Title:
Post by: Darkfox on August 21, 2005, 05:45:28 AM

Afterall, real life is full of cliches ;)

Title:
Post by: Bluhman on August 21, 2005, 05:51:04 AM

Quote

Originally posted by Guzeinbuick
Hmm....I don't get it. The only cliches I've used so far are:

"Buildings are much, much larger on the inside than on the outside, and that doesn't even count the secret maze of tunnels behind the clock in the basement."

"Once you sell something to a shopkeeper, he instantly sells it to somebody else and you will never see the item again no matter what."

"There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a sewer maze, a misty forest, a derelict ghost ship, a mine, a glowing crystal maze, an ancient temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, and a technological dungeon."

And yet my bros say my game is riddled with 'em. -_- Wierd. Maybe they're just tough critics?

Nothing really, but could you give us a short summary of what happens in the game?

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 21, 2005, 05:56:46 AM

Quote

Originally posted by Bluhman

quote:

Originally posted by Guzeinbuick Hmm....I don't get it. The only cliches I've used so far are: "Buildings are much, much larger on the inside than on the outside, and that doesn't even count the secret maze of tunnels behind the clock in the basement." "Once you sell something to a shopkeeper, he instantly sells it to somebody else and you will never see the item again no matter what." "There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a sewer maze, a misty forest, a derelict ghost ship, a mine, a glowing crystal maze, an ancient temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, and a technological dungeon." And yet my bros say my game is riddled with 'em. -_- Wierd. Maybe they're just tough critics?

Nothing really, but could you give us a short summary of what happens in the game?

Well....it's not quite finished yet...and I'm still changing a lot of stuff in it (Like taking out dumb parts in the plot and so forth), so maybe I could tell it to you later once it's done. (The last thing I want to do is tell my 'uncut' version of the game to you guys :P)
By the way, thanks a lot for your guide on cliches! I'll make sure to refer to it a lot! ^_^

Title:
Post by: ZeroKirbyX on August 21, 2005, 06:25:26 AM

Quote

Originally posted by Darkfox
Also these animes are full of Cliches:

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dragonball series

Well, Yu-Gi-Oh maybe, but DB is so old ('85-86?), it was the first to do alot of that stuff.

But cliches don't really make or break a game that is good on its own. Look at ToS, that games riddled with em, but its still a good play.

Title:
Post by: RPG LORD on August 21, 2005, 07:31:18 AM

If I'd do a Yu-Gi-Oh fangame it'd be based on the mangas instead of the series. Yuck, monotonous card games, imagine that..
Well, you could even put references to other games in your game, if you wish.

Title:
Post by: Dragonium on August 21, 2005, 08:31:04 AM

Quote

Originally posted by RPG LORD
Well, you could even put references to other games in your game, if you wish.

Dude: Right, now that cutscene is over, let's go bag that villain.

Guy: Actually, due to the Butz quota, after the Meteor destroyed everything, and Cecil rebuilt it, the villain is already due to be killed by Squall.

Dude: Dag-nabbit!

Title:
Post by: RPG LORD on August 21, 2005, 08:37:07 AM

Well, it's a possibility.

Title:
Post by: MammonMachine on August 22, 2005, 02:18:51 AM

Here's a good way to get a good story, good ideas, and avoid cliches.

Sit down and read some damn books.

Books will get your mind going and thinking about things other than RPGs. Don't write your story as an RPG, write it as an actual STORY and then convert it to a game. You shouldn't have to comb through your game and consciously remove cliches. If your game is good this will happen without you realizing it.

In my current RPG I'm using inspirations from Dante's Inferno and even the Bible to come up with names for things, descriptions of settings and good background information. After sitting down and writing my game's story, I find that there are virtually no plot holes and everything flows coherently thanks to this. I'm not a Master Writer, so I need to read other books to learn how they piece their stories together.

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 22, 2005, 02:58:17 PM

I do a lot of reading, and I've written a lot of stories. Thing is, all my RPGs have wierd plots for some reason I do not understand. X_X

Title:
Post by: BlackIceAdept on August 22, 2005, 04:01:52 PM

Quote

Originally posted by Guzeinbuick
I do a lot of reading, and I've written a lot of stories. Thing is, all my RPGs have wierd plots for some reason I do not understand. X_X

Ditto...Mine is gonna have no super powered villain either I hate that like in ToS Mithos was a freaking angel... the only one there that in fact "stood a chance" wasn't Lloyd it was Collete, and if you bothered Kratos... Otherwise it was hopeless... really all Mithos had to do was remove Lloyds exsphere and game over storywise...

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 24, 2005, 01:38:31 AM

Okay, you guys've really helped! ^_^
Now, I've got another quesion, but I don't want to make two threads in such short succession that're kinda the same.
So how do you guys make good names? Like, all the names I come up with sound so stupid. I'm never good at it. Is there a secret or technique to it or is it just a natural born talent?

Title:
Post by: CoolZidane on August 24, 2005, 02:24:03 AM

I would have to say it's all random. I usually think about the characters, and suddenly a name will come up. Then, I think, "Hey....that's pretty good."

Title:
Post by: Bluhman on August 24, 2005, 03:26:02 AM

1. Smash the keyboard/close your eyes and use your finger to select different keys. For example

jhixz

2. Enter in vowels inbetween selected consonants.

jahixiz

3. Rearrange the letters a little

hajixzi

4. Capitalize

Hajixzi

Title:
Post by: Guzeinbuick on August 24, 2005, 03:37:14 AM

Quote

Originally posted by Bluhman
1. Smash the keyboard/close your eyes and use your finger to select different keys. For example

jhixz

2. Enter in vowels inbetween selected consonants.

jahixiz

3. Rearrange the letters a little

hajixzi

4. Capitalize

Hajixzi

XD Dude that's crazy.

Title:
Post by: FFL2and3rocks on August 24, 2005, 04:19:48 AM

I just throw random syllables together.

"Hmm... Po? No... uh... Pen? Ten? Ten! Next syllable... hmm... Tur? No. Pur? Yes! Tenpur!"

Title:
Post by: Goatulon on August 24, 2005, 05:28:45 AM

I just call them by my friends nicknames like The Pops. Now theres a game that seems to be slightly lacking in Cliches. Then again it is the first video game I've heard of based around a nudist chef having a secret recipe for Brunswick Stew stolen from him. But maybe I just dont know as many video games as I previously believed myself to.