Final Fantasy XIII - Something I have been Working On...

[Sidepocket]

Hello.

First off I am new here, so if I do something stupid please say so.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, I am going to say why I am here.

Alot of people know me as the "Final Fantasy Flamer".The reason is because since I have picked appart the series from VII to present day, and that most of the things that come out of my mouth are negative, alot of people think I hate Final Fantasy.

It is, however, the exact opposit. I love the games to death. I think when done right they achive something far more than a normal videogame and that other companies should aspire too. I expecaly love Moogles. Got to love the Moogles. :mog:

So, one day out of the blue, one of my friends posed me a challange...

Friend :: Let me tell you about something, this new Crisis Core game is still through the eyes of the good guys. Why not have it be played from Sephiroth and have it be a prelude or something.

Me :: Yea, true that?

Friend :: Hay, you design Videogames for a living right?

Me :: Yea? And your point?

Friend :: Well, lets leave the fact that Japan is afraid of forigners and the fact this will never happen...if Sidepocket Ent had to design Final Fantasy XIII, what would you do?

I did not had an awsner, and that question was stuck in my mind for days. I have designed alot of games, some of them for fun too. However, nobody had gave me a project so big even if it was fake. I thought about it for a very long time, did some research, and looked at the current techonolgy as well as were FF was going as a whole.

Two weeks later, I gave him an awnser. A very long awnser. I gave him a Game Design Document. A GDD is something that you normaly make for a game that is going to be greenlighted. I even got so far I did drawings too.

My friend was so impressed, he said I should share it with eveyone else.

So here I am, typing up a fake idea of what Final Fantasy XIII could be on Playstation 3.

Hay, why not since I put so much damn free time into it. Plus, who better to sculped it further than real Final Fantasy fans?

Right now unfortunatly, I am too tired to post anything. I will do that sometime twomarrow...crap just saw the clock. In my time zone, it is twomarrow. So then later today would be the correct term.

However, for now, I would like to know what things you would like to hear about first? Perhaps you can think of something better as well...

-Story in a Nutshell
-Characters
-Battle System
-Worlds
-Races
-Magic

...and anything else comes to mind?

That is all for now, see you all in a few hours. Right now I need nappy time. :eep:

[NeoCracker]

Curently, since i already have a generall idea of his story, worlds and probably most of the characters, I'll have to ask for battle system above all else. Sounds like a great Idea though.

[BustaMo]

jimmy crack corn, and I dont care. I don't get your point. I want FFXII.

[Sidepocket]

Director Chair Battle System in a Nutshell
======================================

Why a nutshell? I am still getting this name and idea pattent pending so I may use it for possible future games we plan on creating. While I cannot reveal everything, I can give you guys a layout on how it controls and plays.

This was thought up by the emerging of technology, Final Fantasy Advent Children, and a current complaint about videogames.

I have heard this same complaint for both Halo 2 and the Durge of Cerbus game, that each have breath-taking cutsceens that show off the power of the characters. In Halo 2, Master Cheif jumps out of a ship and falls down to earth, proceeding to strap a bomb to an enemy ship as he falls and blows it up. In DoC, Vincent decimates a helecopter by transforming into his Limit Break form and rips the craft in half with his bare hands...

That is all nice for cut sceens...but how many people wished they could have done all that cool stuff in game and not sit back watching it? Think about how gratifying it would be for the player to control Master Cheif as he falls down to earth, blasting aliens and blowing up ships as he gose?

With the next-gen tech, there is no excuse to do such things without being part cinimatic. (AKA, no traditional "My team is in a perfict row and I attack this guy and jump back to my team"-RPG syndrom of the past.)

Next is Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. I have no idea about the acting, but boy were those fights awsome huh?

I wish I could play a game that looked that good and fluid. How about you?

Finaly, with the emergence of BD-Roms that store 30-50 gigs of data, the Cell CPU that can clock to near super-computer levels, and the eaze of in put controls, it was very obvious what could be heading next-gen.


Thus came this new Directors Chair Battle System.

Although I am sure you have seen systems similar to this, I still have never seen an system that could pull off so much fluitity with animation and gameplay.

Each character has there own stats and specal skills that make them usefull to the party. They each have there own "role" (AKA Job) in the party, although this is hevaly influenced by how you upgrade them.

Everytime you gain experience, you can go to the "Tree of Life". This is basicaly a giant 3D version of the Sphear Grid from wich you can branch out as your character grows. Each "node" on the Tree has its own sub-groups, upgrades, and abilities. Durring anytime in the game, the current node the character loaded can be reconfigured with sacraficed of AP/MP, very similar to the Dress Sphear of FF X-2 but less anoying and more fluid.

Durring actual combat, your are in possession of one chracter while the others are controled by smart AI. When you are in possession of a chracter, you can decide the actions, as well as take advantage of weaknesses, the enviroment, ect.

You can un-possess a character at anytime and view around the battlefield, although it is recommended to be in control of someone during all parts of the battle and switching when needed.

The friendly AI will navigate well without you, but they cannot do anything. They only realy know how to realiate, defend, take cover, and do basic team work stuff. To use your party for its full potental, you should look at the battle situation and use each character's skills so you can chain moves together.

Also, this all takes place in real time, and unless you use Time Magic will not pause at all for any commands. While you are planning stratagies and your other charcters are running around, the AI will make up for the stratagy, linking hundreds of thousands of moves together in a cinimatic way and choseing a camera angle that best shows the action. Just like a movie.

Another improvment is that since your fighting location is the same as the world map, both interior and exterior areas are made to fall apart as players smash things and blow crap up. You can also use objects for cover and as Secondary Weapons to defend yourselfs.


*phew*

If you need an example on how this would look, let me know ok.

Also, man! I heard FF fans were hard to please, but not like this.

Since I would like to post the characters/story next, and somebody says he has guessed my plot/characters/world out...I then ask of him or anyone else what if they can predict what I am going to say?

Lets see how dead right and dead wrong you are.

Just, do not post something like "Bad Thing Happend, Good Guy Gets Down, Meets Girl, Good Guy Faces Final Battle, Good Guy defeats Bad Guy and bones Girl, Happy Ever After"-crap, since that is in any good hero story...and this ending is not a happy ever after.

:moomba: