So, I'm still struggling to find my muse for Magick Academy. Is there anything anyone here would particularly wish / hope for in a "magic" school sim?
Well, I would like to see my character possibly have to sneak out of his dorm to investigate something without getting caught by teachers/ guards/ whatever. That could be a suspenseful moment. Though I'm not exactly sure what you meant. We're you asking for suggestions for something that could happen in the story?
P.S. Just out of curiosity, what guild paths are you working on atm?
More like... just anything. Mechanics, events, items, relationships, choices, exc, anything people would like to see.
"Guild paths"?
Like Rakdos or something. You said that this game would be so huge because you could get to choose which guild you were in. I was wondering which of the guilds you are currently working on right now.
... This game that I'm talking about has nothing to do with Magic The Gathering. o.0 That is an entirely different series of games.
I said this one would be huge because you'd be able to pick your elemental talent, gender, and several other aspects of your MC's life.
Oh. I see now. Kinda just assumed they were related.
Naw. I don't know when I'll work on my MTG series right now. It's pretty low on the priority list.
Decks are pretty easy to find in Hastings, Wal-mart, and various other places. You won't find the horribly broken combos of the past, but still.
Anything you guys would like to see. :P No specifics, just anything.
Good to know. Not sure about that fourth one, but everything else should be possible when I'm done.
Ah. The issue with that is the school (and your adventures in it / relationships made during your time there, exc) really is the focus here. I promise that you'll have plenty to do, though. After all, I made the majority of my first game in a single house. :P
A demonic creature that offers you great power if you destroy the school/open a portal to Hell in the middle of it.
First of all, please do tell us why the character is having to go to mage school. What do people typically do after they graduate from mage school?
Become mages.
And what exactly does a mage do in this universe? How do they earn a living? Are there large firms of mages that people go to for magical consultation? Are mages reared for military use?
The sequel, if it ever gets made, will focus on your career.
Well, what does the character hope or expect to do after s/he gets out of school?
I think I'm going to have it be more of a "this agency recruits you" sort of thing. But it's a little early to focus on that. The reason the character wants to go to this school varies depending on your initial choices about their background. In short, don't worry, it's on my mind. :P
Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't know what you were doing.
Moving on, I think it would be cool if one of your instructors forced you to pull a William Tell on (one of) your love interest(s), perhaps casting a magical shockwave with him/her as the epicenter, where being off by a millimeter could fry them.
Naw, I didn't think that. You make a good point, it's something that should be addressed.
That is an interesting concept ... hmm. I'll have to remember that for student practical skill tests.
What is the average classroom setting like in "the academy"? I mean, I imagine it's not the traditional "blackboard and desks" classroom, but knowing what feel you are going for would be helpful in generating ideas.
Um ... I really don't think that's going to work. Thanks anyway.
xD Every version of the MC has three roommates.
>_> Yes. They all have different personalities, attitudes, likes, dislikes, exc. That is part of the mechanics of the game. They respond to you differently depending on your background, and it's supposed to be harder to get them to ally with you depending on their initial impression of you and how you treat them afterward. Some of them can become your enemies and you can fight them in tournaments ... xD
Drug-busting.
Damnit Kiel, I'm serious. Drugs are a serious problems in today's youth, especially high-school agers, and just ignoring it for your magic-dormitory school is a mixture of wishful thinking and ignoring realism. Now let my character get high (and then get kicked out if caught :P)
But he has to think of all sorts of magic fantasy drugs for that kind of thing. They have to have Mad-Maxy fantasy names, too, like Ragevile, Sleeping Tar, Bitefrog, Freeze Rocks, Knuckle Sap, Wangraiser, etc...
Well, yeah. Kiel's a creative guy, certainly creative enough to make names for various magical steroids. :P. Could have fun with it haha.
I mean, Harry-Potter. These kids were 17 by the end of it. Drugs in gradeschool are surprisingly prevalent nowadays (source says 27.2%), and I can imagine in a competitive magic-world they'd be even more so. And, uh, besides the potentially hilarious aspect, finding out your friend got on the quidditch team by 'Alchemizing' is a pretty cool plot point follow up on. Dunno.
There could even be terrible "Say No!" style-ads about it. "Hey kid, wanna try this Ogre-bollock brew? You grow 2 feet taller in a day!" "Heck no, shady alleyway man! Ogre testicles are for losers!"
There could even be backlash from various fantasy race communities if the ingredients come from semi-sentient beings. Especially if there were ads calling out Ogre-bollocks.
xD ... I will admit, this is a funny concept. I'll have to think about it.
Magic schools have been pretty drug out with Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, etc.
Don't make it like them.
It isn't like Hogwarts and ... as for Percy Jackson, what magic school? That was a magic summer camp.
It's the same concept- go here to learn how to use your special abilities and drama and stuff happens.
Ehhhh
Grades are a thing. I've already been working on a system to make an over-all grade for your year, then an over-all grade for your performance for all four years. There will be a valedictorian status for graduation if the latter is high enough, exc.
There will be tests, and the yearly tournaments also count as part of your grade. If your overall grade for the year drops too low, you fail your classes and lose the game. I haven't fully considered what bonuses you'll get for keeping your grade high. Perhaps relationship bonuses with "smart" students / "lazy" students, a reward from your respective guardians (monetary) and perhaps some extra items available at the shop which can only be purchased by "exceptional" students.
SHUT UP AND MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!
I like it already.
Also, one big incentive for relationships? You have to have a high enough status with at least one possible ally. It does not matter who, it just needs to be another student in the same year as you. If you do not, you cannot participate in the tag-team tournament during one of the later years because everyone will refuse to be your partner. :P So you automatically fail the year.
You want morally ambiguous? Bribe people to like you. xD
Well, damn it, Kiel. You didn't tell us we had that option. XD
:P You never asked, haha.
Well, when people talk about forming relationships, they generally aren't referring to bribery. I feel misled and want my money back.
xD I did say once that it was like Harvest Moon. You totally bribe the townsfolk in those games.
And you can form sincere relationships with them, it's just that actually being best buds ( / romantically involved) is not required. There will be benefits to it, though.
I don't recall bribery. I recall people screaming at me for a solitary golden fence post. \
Okay. I do like the sound of that.
I distinctly remember feeding women / giving them flowers to get them to marry me, and giving crops to old people to get recipes for better food. And, as far as I remember, the townsfolk liking you and your farm was important in at least a couple games, or you'll get kicked out... though, it's been a while.
:P The food part, I remember from real life, but that's because my partner could burn cereal and I actually enjoy cooking. Neither of us has ever given the other plant life of any kind. Besides, yes, bribery is a real world concept ... what's your point? xD
:P Hey, you have to make -someone- happy enough to progress anywhere in Through Time.
Well ... and this is me being horrifically ambitious ... I wanted to try a Mass Effect approach to the sequel. Don't ask me how, I haven't worked out all the kinks from the idea, and heaven only knows if I'll finish this game this century, let alone the next game. But theoretically, your choices in this one would mean something long-term in the next.
Password system, natch. I can't think of another way. (If you can, I'd love to hear it. Edit: Also, dammit, I told you not to ask! xD)
I'm trying to think of the least painful way to apply the concept / easiest way to condense your accomplishments.
In the interest of not making it too complex for myself, yes.
xD You want activities with extra circles? I'll see what I can do. :P
I second that.
I'm of the firm belief that magic should not be taught in the typical Harry Potter fashion. The story and lore of the game becomes much more interesting if mages are taught in a sensei-student sort of way, where the master introduces concepts, basics, (and occassional bodily injury, just for the yuks) and then plays his/her students off against each other or issues different tests and challenges, making them learn all the powers and rules for themselves, rather than providing us all with a wizard-themed info dump as it becomes plot-relevant, because the former is a billion times more engaging. As long as it wouldn't fuck with your narrative, of course.
Uh ... you came into a thread about a magical school to say that magic should not be taught in schools? xD
It can be taught in schools, but Levitation 101 should be "Alright, kids, now that you know the basics, I'm going to be pulling the tables out from underneath you. The last three of you who aren't touching the floor get a sticker!" Enchantment should be "These are the magic things, this is what they do. You have until the end of class to make this puppy start shitting bacon." Severus Snape just standing in front of the class saying "Open your books to page 394 and I'll provide you with the exposition now." should be avoided at all costs. It's been done before several times already and it's not an engaging or immersive way for a reader to learn about the world of magic. Maybe it's fine if you're reading a book, but this is a CYOA. The reader should be sucked into the world with a jolt.
Practical application instead of massive exposition. Yes, I've been thinking about the appropriate ways of doing that for various forms of magic.
Yes, it can be like the Owls in Harry Potter except with squirrels. Imagine hundreds upon hundreds of squirrels scurrying around the hallways at all times! Kiel, make this happen! /\
>_> Familiars are already a planned game mechanic. Why are you asking me for squirrels when I'm already planning to give you people imps, chimeras, baby dragons, foxes, and cobras?
I call dibs on a dragon! And a squirrel. Squirrels are cute. :3
xD I'll consider including squirrels, then.
Oooo! How 'bout this little squirrel?
O_o That's more of a pint-sized chimera, isn't it? Cute for a fire-breathing, flying, tree-rat though.
I thought that a chimera had the head and front paws of a lion, a body/backlegs and horns of a goat, and a tail of a snake? Constantly warring with itself; the lion wanting to eat the goat, the goat wanting to step on the snake, and the snake wanting to bite the lion? Right? Or am I thinking of something else?
Edit; like this.
And people! (As a human chimera is a real life thing, even if it is an extreme genetic rarity.)
Well, that's true, if one's classifying... still, people do tend to mean our furry, slithering, hoofed, or otherwise non-human friends when using the word, so I assumed as much. And yep!
Oh, I know; it just drives me a little nuts. It's like when people misuse the words "decimate", "sentience", and "inoculate". It makes me want to rub my face against a cheese grater.
But, yay, I feel smart now.
That's one of the legendary chimera's two main flavors, I believe; yes.
The other flavor being?
The pink monster from Earthbound.
Earthbound? Chimera? Oh, you mean this thing?
Wait, no, the one in Earthbound had a little birdie that stood on its head.
There we go.
Video-games: fucking our expectations since 1972.
I commend you for including the noble fox in your game. We will not let you down, unless we hear loud noises or someone offers us food or we die.
I know I've already answered this question. >.> And it isn't related to the thread in the slightest.
I never log out of CYS, and I have a habit of leaving both/either my phone/computer on even when I sleep. On top of that, I have insomnia and I'm accustomed to working graveyard shift, so I like having something to read / look at if I start to get drowsy.
Maybe non-human students, like angels and other magical/mythical/heavenly(?) beings. Humans would still go there, but not only humans.
I've thought about this, actually. I haven't decided yet. Thank you for the suggestion.
Is Magick Academy going to be set in the same universe as GoLaD and TOW? I know there is sufficient reason to believe it isn't, but I want to be sure.
Nah. Not related. Or if they are, it'll be in that "second cousin's niece's great-aunt's husband's dog twice removed" sort of way. While I've established inter dimensional traveling as a thing in GOLAD's universe(s), and apparently a thing I like abusing the hell out of, it's very unrelated to the plot of M.A. and Vidia is from your run-of-the-mill evil coven, not a school. Of course, I wouldn't put it past me to slip in a cameo of some kind for one character or another...
Is magic and the use thereof fundamentally similar to how it was in the GoLaD/TOW universe?
In GoLaD, you hinted that one's ability to use magic was related to their ability to remember and recall large amounts of information.
Going off of that, I could see some sort of magical spelling bee (no pun intended), in which students have to execute high level spells back to back with no reference.
Magic in M.A. is more about genetics. You're either born with the ability to use magic or you aren't, and it tends to manifest as a talent for a specific element among six. I plan for the MC to be able to learn multiple non-elemental spells, have a brewing / spell creation mechanic, and items to channel your power effectively for special uses, but practical application classes would be focused on honing one's innate talents... and, you know, not burning down neighborhoods or flooding cities.
That is an interesting idea, though, hehe. I do like it. We'll see, a lot of this is subject to possible changes because I'm still working on the characters than the actual game-play.
So, it's just a bunch of children with unusual innate abilities going to school for no reason other than to gain some vague mastery over their skills, with no real post-academic goals of any kind?
Real-life schools have clubs devoted to students wishing to pursue certain career paths and colleges hold career fairs. I know you've already made up your mind on what the MC will do after graduation, but seeing a demand for mages and different possible career paths for mages would do a lot in the way of separating this story from, say, X-men, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
I did specify that I was referring to only one specific type of class, not to all of them.
As I said, I do plan to address their potential futures.
Yeah, sorry. I forgot the extent to which we discussed that point.
Have you seen a game called "Academagia" Is a very good text game and It could give you some ideas (I hope XD)
