Pokémon: Civil War

[Fiasom]

Hey there folks. This is me pitching a new game, and looking for anyone interested in creating the game with me. The game is influenced by elements of epic fantasy, and perhaps a little bit by grim dark fantasy – so yeah, I got some themes of violence here. The game is geared towards a more adult audience.

 

Since writing is my thing, I have the plot fleshed out in broad terms, and with more detail for the first third of the game. I can make fast progress with this if the project looks like it will get off the ground. I have also made some headway with characters as well, but there is a lot more to do. Once again, I can make fast progress with this. That being said, I am perfectly happy for any and all team members to create characters, or simply suggest a few. I think it’s fitting if developers are in the game as NPC’s, either minor or major. No pressure of course. I am happy write all dialogues, and do any and all other writing. Of course, everything I write is open to debate. And also, I’m happy take on any other responsibility I am capable of.

 

Now,

 

The Elevator Pitch:

 

The flow of blood has not stopped in the [insert name here] Region since the passing of the last Champion 300 years ago. The Middle Kingdom is embroiled in a civil war between the [name of dominant ethnic group]’s with [ethnic minority]’s. And despite the stellar rise to power of the Free Democracy of New Unova since their founding 150 years ago, they still seem to lack the power to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict. All the while the League of Elemental Cities have clamped down on their borders to avoid being sucked into the conflict.

 

It might seem like your little town has been spared from the worst of the conflict. But it is not an easy thing for a single mother to raise a child in the depths of an economic crisis. If only Father hadn’t left for the army 5 years ago. At least Mother seems to have finally overcome her grief…

 

But now, there are rebels spotted near your town.

 

Can you rise above the petty politics, and save your loved ones from this black hole of violence?

 

Features:

 

Detailed Plot: Story driven game that breaks away from some of Pokémon’s classical tropes.

 

New field effects: I have at least one new field in my mind, and several tweaks to existing fields, but it might be worth considering new field effects instead of tweaking old ones. The changes I have in mind, in this respect, are partly related to how the plot develops in the later phases of the game.

 

Death and game over: I have an idea for party Pokémon to die; the mechanics for this would be different than a Nuzlocke – a little more is necessary for a Pokémon to die than simply fainting (my strategies usually involve a Pokémon fainting in battle, and I’d rather not disqualify such strats outright). And related to this, I imagine mechanics for the player to die as well – game over.

 

Themes of Violence: In certain situations, the player has the option to kill an NPC. There are also other kinds of violence as well. I don’t think the violent events need to be visually gory, but they tend to drive the story forward, especially in its early phases, so it is a narrative necessity (I dislike splattering around blood just for the heck of it). And of course, we can make the visuals as detailed & gory or vague & undisturbing as we want.

 

Choice: In most cases violence will be a choice in game. But more importantly, I imagine the story branching at least once in early-ish game. Also, the player’s actions early in the game determine which of the final badges become available. In late game the player can choose which badges to go for, and which badges not to bother with. Which brings me to,

 

Badges: I’m going wild on this. There are more badges than necessary to complete the game. If the player so desires, s/he can try to get all badges, but a maximum minimum of 15 badges or a minimum minimum of 8 badges should be sufficient to finish the game. I have up to 25 badges in mind. That said, for the moment being, I’m thinking that only 4 of these badges are obtained through classic gym battles. The rest are obtained in different ways, and this affords a lot of choice for the player, regarding how they want to go about the game. Most badges are not based on typings (at least 4 are though); instead I have 6 ‘classes’ of badges, each class defined by how the badge is obtained, or from whom. I imagine getting any badge bestows a boost on Pokémons' stats, and I have other rewards in mind as well, alongside TMs.

 

Optional New Mechanics: (I mean optional for developers.) I am of a mind to add another dimension to the grounded/airborne division.

 

Optional Romance: (Optional for developers once again.) The idea of in game romance seems to be picking up and it is something we can consider, although I have not incorporated any romance into the story yet.

 

Secret: There is one more major story/gameplay related feature that I have not revealed here. It is related to the unnamed new field effect I have mentioned above. I would like spare it from public eyes until I know for sure whether this project will get off the ground or not. I am happy to share it with any one interested in making this game.

 

Now come my confessions… For one thing I’m not sure if any of these new mechanics are feasible or desirable. Secondly, I do not have any experience with RGPMX, but I have looked up some tutorials, and have an idea of what to expect. I am very much willing to put in the time to learn and create the game. Only, I don't want to do this on my own. I don't have all the necessary skills (e.g. coding), and having just finished an individual project which lasted 5 years, I'd rather work with people than individually.

 

The game is in its embryonic stage at the moment, so everything in this first draft is up for debate. I could not decide what to put here, as I don’t want to publicize everything yet, but I’m not sure if this is enough context to raise interest in the game. If you want to learn more, ask me please.

 

Also, even if this project does not get off the ground, I’d like to announce myself as a writer on the market. PM me if you would like help with your plot, characters, dialogue, or anything else you would like from a writer.

 

[Zarc]

I wish you good luck for your fan game. Myself i'm looking for pokemon fan games more " dark " ( such as reborn ) as usual so i'm curious to see how this one will go ! 

[StoicStone]

I like your concept. Really hope it turns into something great and thoroughly enjoyable.

[groniack]

This sounds really interesting! Good luck with your project. If I weren't working on another game, I would join you on this one. If you want any help with rpg maker or with some coding, I can help you. But don't expect too much...

Anyway, I hope your game turns out great!

[Rising Emperor]

The Concept actually sound really awesome. I wish you luck on making your game my man. I will be looking for to playing it when you have a demo ready.

[leo_the_greatest]

Well, I'd consider myself a decent writer and I'd like to learn how to program and develop games such as this, so if you're willing to accomodate me while I learn, I'd be happy to contribute as your story concept doesn't sound half bad.

[Phi-Bi]

This remind me of my concept of historical Pokemon games which is inspired by ky-nim's Ancient Unova and Vahirom. I have dropped that concept since there are no sufficient graphical assets for the settings, sigh. Anyway, good luck for the project, you have quite an interesting theme to show in the world of fan-games.

[Noctelis]

Sound interesting and when you have something to play, I'll definitely try it.

Just don't try to appeal to the possible players too much but do what you want instead so it becomes more fun for you to make and a bigger surprise for the players if they find out that it might be even more fun than the things they wanted/asked for.

After all, if the makers didn't like making it, the players won't like playing it.

[Fiasom]

On 3/1/2018 at 8:07 PM, Sirius said:

Nb~  Is this a game based on Unova's ancient history? With Reshiram & Zekrom?

 

I picked Unova for political reasons more than anything else, but the truth vs ideals lore is philosophically very juicy too!

 

And thanks for your advice!

 

On 3/1/2018 at 4:49 PM, groniack said:

This sounds really interesting! Good luck with your project. If I weren't working on another game, I would join you on this one. If you want any help with rpg maker or with some coding, I can help you. But don't expect too much...

Anyway, I hope your game turns out great!

Thanks! I'll make sure to drop a line on you!