Creating a Final Fantasy Styled Plot!
This is my first tutorial! I'm so excited to be learning you something today. :)
Oh and...
[warning=Satiel]This tutorial contains possible Final Fantasy Spoilers. You have been warned...muahahaha...[/warning]
----------------Technical Information----------
Alright. First for some more tehnical stuff. My first suggestion for anyone creating a FF-type game, or any game for that reason, is to provide links to any and all mentioned scripts and battle systems being used. That way, anybody who has an idea for something in the game can look at the scripts and systems and see if it possible for them to input that idea. Pretty simple concept here.
For Example: Somebody wants to put a new materia into the game using SephirothSpawn's Materia system. First they might want to have the link to the scripts (which is why it should be posted). Second, they might want to see if the materia has already been created (which is also why there should be a link to the script and any topics containing additions to the Materia System script).
Second. I know alot of people are constantly searching for FF-styled scripts: Here is a short list of some useful scripts:
Limit Break Script [sephirothSpawn] : HERE
Blue Magic Script [Prexus] HERE
Materia System [sephirothSpawn]: HERE
Auto-Life Script [XRXS]: HERE
Materia Script Add-ons [Vandette]: HERE
[warning=Satiel]If any of those in the link above, it is imperative that somewhere in the game (credits or in the topic or somehwere) that you put the person who made those additions.[/warning]
Thirdly. For all those Final Fantasy Fans out there, I'm sure they could use a couple websites to splurge information from. So here are some really good websites for Final Fantasy information:
Final Fantasy Compendium is a website that contains detailed information on the entire Final Fantasy series, that is: FF1 to FF11, Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles, Tactics, and Tactics Advance, as well as info on the anime and movies. This could be useful information if you plan on adding beasts, characters, classes, skills, items, species, summons or any other FF information into this game. Of course, please add the name of the site, FF Compendiuem, and provide the link above when using something from their site. It can be in the credits or the topic, just somewhere so that people know where this information came from. Thank you.
FF Extreme has some of the most unsurpassed information on probably the best RPG series, Final Fantasy, and also offers coverage from a lot of other Square Enix games and some of the other great RPG's. Aside from complete strategy guides, they also offer visitors reviews, previews, image galleries, downloads and a great level of interactivity. This is a great site to get some information to use for this game. Like I have said before, please credit this site, FF Extreme, and provide the link above if any information is used directly from that site. Thank you.
----------------Character History----------
Alright. Now is where the real tutorial begins. I believe that all games and stories do n ot start where the player begins to play. Sounds weird? Well let me dumb it down a bit.
Example: Most Final Fantasy games are good examples of this idea. They start off with a prologue and opening scenes that give the player an idea of what is going on. It usually shows some of the main characters and gives you some insight as to how they started off on this wacky adventure of theirs.
That is what I mean by "games and stories do not start where the player begins to play". The player should get an insight into:
This brings me to my next idea. Every character, from the main PC's, to the NPC's, to even the enemies and bosses, has a reason for doing what they are doing. They all have a purpose they are trying to reach.
See how that worked out? Sephiroth had a goal, and a plan on how to achieve that goal. This should be for each and every character in a game, or atleast I believe so.
You can even take it a bit deeper:
This is one of the characters that will be playable in an FF-type project called Final Fantasy: Mute Melody (by Kargha). This character is a Rune Knight. Now, first you might want to add some sort of historical element to the Rune Knights, such as where and why they originated.
Also, there should be a reason why Cyric is a Rune Knight. Maybe he wants to protect somebody. Maybe he wants to feel strong. Maybe its a family tradition. Whichever it is, he should have some sort of motive to fight with swords and the Rune Arts (the Rune Arts is also something in which you might want to add some detail and/or historical information).
This idea is true for the Final Fantasy series.
See how that works? Pretty simple, if I do say so myself. As we had done above with Cyric, simple Biographical information can easily be turned into background information useful to the game's overall concept.
--------------Organizations---------------
Yes, we all know what they, but some people don't know what their purpose it. It is my belief that organizations are a very important and essential part of most of the Final Fantasy games. They are at the core of what makes the story flow smoothly. They also help give transitions to the story and sometimes even complete the story.
Alright. Look at that first line:
Already we have found out why this organization was started. It was started to fight Sin. As you may or may not know, Sin was the main enemy in FFX and one of the most important parts of the world, Spira. Since the organization is connected to one of the most important parts of Spira, the Crusaders are essentially important to the plot. They are the people who are risking their lives in order to defeat the destructive Sin. And of course, as there always should be, there is more than one view of this organization. The Church seems to dislike this method of dealing with Sin since it is not the way that the people are used to.
As you can see, this one organization has an important role in FFX: They are organized of people who Fight Sin, even though they know it is against the teachings of Yevon. BAM! This creates conflict. Conflict is very good. Conflict is needed in every story for it to run properly. Without conflict, a story is just one big list of events.
Now that we have conflict, we can have the characters find solutions to the conflict.
Actually, the story of the Crusaders goes back farther than when Tidus ends up in Spira. Here is another excerpt from the FF Compendium on the origin of the conflict between Yevonites and Mi'ihen's Crusaders:
Here is how the conflict first began. Lord Mi'ihen, with good intentions, set up the army to fight Sin. He, like many others, just wants to rid his world of this horrible monster. Unfortunately, the Yevonites believe that this is going against the teachings of Yevon. This is because, for thousands of years, Sin has been delt with the same way: with the sacrifice of a summer who has summoned the Final Aeon.
So the conflict set up is between the Crusaders (or Crimson Blades, as they were originally called) and the followers of Yevon. The conflict is resolved, partially, with the Crusaders being delcared an arm of the Yevon clergy.
But FFX does a good job of keeping this conlfict between these two organizations, even for thousands of years.
So what have we learned?
Organizations are born as solutions to problems. Organizations are usually embedded deep in to the plot and storyline of a game or story. Organizations are great ways to expand on background information for a story. Organizations can also create conflict within the story, which is GOOD. We want conflict. Conflict gives the characters a reason to seek a solution.
---------------Character Names--------------
We all love coming up with names. For example, Satiel. It's just a neat little name I came up with. But names can also be an important and fun part of creating a story, especially one with the Prefix Final Fantasy attached to it.
Though you may not believe it, most of the Final Fantasy character names have a higher and deeper meaning than they pertrude. They're not usually just random letters put together to sound cool. Many of them have a historical background to them. This is where the fun comes in. You can use the historical information of a name and use it connotatively in your game.
Satiel, what the heck are you talking about?
Here let me explain, using an excerpt from the FF Compendium on Final Fantasy Name Origins:
The character Sephiroth tries to become a god by destroying the planet, hence the religiously connoted name. Also, Kabbalists believe that mastering the Tree of Life is a method to achieve divine enlightenment, and that?s basically what Hojo wants Sephiroth to do: "Ha, ha, ha...... Go beyond the powers of science...Before your presence, science is powerless...". The ?Great Firing? that brings a new world into being reminds us of the Nibelheim accident where Sephiroth becomes insane.
Wow. That's alot of information, but lets go through it. The first paragraph is historical information on the word "Sephiroth". It is mainly a religious word. Now remember when I talked about having fun? Here is why:
Hmm. This seems oh too familiar. It is because this is actually a part of the FFVII game. Remember those clones of Sephiroth you see aruond the world, the NPC's with numbers tattoed on them? Well they were all different from one another.
A good example is the first time you enter the city that Aeris lives in. There is a sickly man in a tunnel, who is very weak. He is a Sephiroth clone subject.
You may think "That's what all that means", and you may think "Wow. Pretty interesting". Whatever you think about this, you have fallen into my trap!
Ahh! Are you scared? Well let me explain. Remember, again, when I talked about fun? Well if you choose a name for a character that has historical importance, it gives the players a chance to research that information and base their research on their own opinions about that game. This, in turn, results in more feedback towards the story and a bigger audience of people who have different thoughts on the story.
Now back to the connotative fun:
Alright. Do you see what Square-Soft (or Enix) has just done? They have taken the denoative (the most specific or direct meaning) of the Great Firing and used in a connotative (or implied) meaning.
The Great Firing may not specifically refer to an actualy fire, which is its denotative sort of meaning. But in FFVII, the Nibelheim incident is used as a symbolistic form of the Great Firing.
See how Square-Soft (Enix) had some fun just by learning the root or origin of a specific word? Well this is something that might come in handy when choosing the names for monsters, cities, characters and many other aspects of a Final Fantasy type game.
----------------Friendly Advice-----------
Alright. Now I leave you with a little bit more general advice about making a Final Fantasy type game. I am not sure in what direction your game is going, since I am not one of its devlopers. But I think this is an important piece of advice. I noticed that there are my FF style games "under development...".
While developing this game, do not stop expanding on every idea, every thought, and every miniscule subject that comes up while working on it.
Satiel, what are you talking about? Time to explain.
First, go HERE right now and read as much as you can that is on that page, if not all of it. It is the storyline of Final Fantasy 1, with thanks to the FF Compendium for providing this information.
...
Are you finished? Now I want you think back to the time when Final Fantasy 1 was released, around 1987 - 1990. Do you think that they had the amazing technological advancements that we had today? Nope. Do you think the developers of this game were rich and had money to spend on spending years to create this game? Nope.
But they still managed to write a very enjoyable and interesting game. And if you have played Final Fantasy, you will know what I'm talking about. The game is actually quite long, if you're new to RPG's, and has alot of elements to it.
Amazing, eh? If you don't think its amazing, then you should go HERE and read it again! These developers put alot of original and unique ideas into a game that graphically awkward to play, even back then. Yet thousands, and millions, of people enjoy playing it, and even enjoy playing it instead of the pre-rendered graphical games of the Present.
So, the moral of this message was that no matter how much scripts, maps, characters, battle system edits, and technical stuff there is...as long as you have worked your best on expanding the storyline to its finest, your game will reign supreme overy anybody's.
-Satiel
Member
