Building the Perfect SMT Game (Slight chance for Spoilers)

[Evilkinggumby]

Here is the scenario:

You are kidnapped on the way back from picking up the newest released game by Atlus*. As you awaken, you realize you are tied to a chair with a notebook in front of you and a bright spotlight over your head. A thick voice echoes from the darkness asking you to write down the best features of all your favorite SMT games. You suddenly realize you are attached to a lie detector, which is in turn the only thing between you and a 44 magnum pointing you in the face. A ballpoint pen is duct taped to your writing hand.

For every truthful detail they offer you $5,000 cash and a poster/standing cut out of your favorite Atlus game character life sized. For every lie you win a bullet.

So what do you write?



(All theatrics aside, what different aspects/details do you find invaluable or just too cool to ignore in the various SMT games? It can be anything from combat mechanics to a certain spell/ability to a plot point that needs additional attention)

*One sidenote, No I am not implying Atlus employee's kidnap and interrogate their fans in such crude ways. They have a helluva lot more style *snickers*

[dungeon_man]

Oh, come on, everybody knows that waterboarding is the only way to gather information!

Anyway, I'm make it an FPDC with demon negotiation, the press turn combat system, alignment-based story progression/endings, and a more open/less linear game design with more side quests and alternate ways to achieve some objectives.

Some of these features might not exist in any existing SMT game, but they would be a welcome addition.

[Soushi_Grapple]

Id like it to be closer to Persona, I guess. I like the human characters, but I want the demon enemies and fusion with the press turn system.

[Evilkinggumby]

:seesaw:

Thanks to those that have taken a look at this little thread, and to those who have given their input (it is very very appreciated).

I figured I would offer a bit of explanation as to why I am re-treading on topics likely talked to death on these boards.

I am making a mod. For those of you staring at the monitor confused, i dont mean mod like "forum moderator". I mean a custom game modification. To play it you must have the game it is built for and thats about it. :)

The mod itself is going to be based around the SMT Multiverse, so I am TRYING to retain as much authenticity as I can, along with adding some new ideas and unique perspectives on the themes of the games. Yeah, I am not just rehashing what we've seen before, but rather trying to create something new.

Of course rights and respect will go to Atlus for intellectual property. What I am creating will not be sold or used in any way to make money. It is merely a fun experiment, a learning tool, and a big ol' knuckle punch of props to my homies at Atlus for their years of excellent work.

AND it is a way to draw in more attention and more fans for the series. :)

So all that being said.. I am looking for the original stated input so I make this mod the biggest, baddest, more kickazz gameplay experience around. Please throw everything you can my way for opinions, input, and wishes and dreams.

Heck even if you want to say what is totally LAME about the SMT series. But don't expect the $5,000 lol



-EKG

[dungeon_man]

I'll be Ziodyned... er, shocked if this produces anything.

For somebody whose profile says he's only completed P3 and P4 and makes no mention of any programming skills, I don't think you have the experience required to make a fabulous SMT game mod. Not even if you waterboarded this whole forum for information.

However, I'll play along. What game are you going to modify to produce this custom SMT experience? What platform/OS are you targeting?

... or is this going to be an RPG maker kinda thing?

[Olethros]

:confused:

This seems awfully quasi-legal to me. To be bluntly honest, I'm surprised a mod hasn't wieghed in here yet.

[Cloud737]

Well, figure I'll go along with this seeing it needs more attention.

What I like about SMT is the balls Atlus has to take up subjects that are taboo, nontraditional, occult and downright sick and freaky, but at the same time very real and interesting. People whose consciousness slips away and gets absorbed by darker beings, supernatural manifestations of people's psyche and even their suppressed psyche, people turning inside out, the total disappearance of someone's consciousness from existence, that sort of thing.

Another thing is that they take a modern RPG approach, totally uncommon and yet pretty catchy. All RPGs I've seen today are either medieval or Sci-Fi (that, too, is niche but at least it gets more coverage with games Star Ocean). And I love how they can attribute RPG elements to something you've grown so accustomed to (your own reality) and having all that fantasy while yet retaining realism.

Their nontraditional art style also stands out and give it a very unique atmosphere. Downright freaky Personas that look twisted, characters drawn like they were taken from French portraits circa 1920, the very modern pop music that actually fits the theme of the games (self-identity, expressiveness of individuality, the urge for spiritual freedom and release from everything, etc.).

I'll be Ziodyned... er, shocked if this produces anything.

For somebody whose profile says he's only completed P3 and P4 and makes no mention of any programming skills, I don't think you have the experience required to make a fabulous SMT game mod. Not even if you waterboarded this whole forum for information.

However, I'll play along. What game are you going to modify to produce this custom SMT experience? What platform/OS are you targeting?

... or is this going to be an RPG maker kinda thing?
Well, you better believe it, I'm on the team as well. :P
Check my sig if you want to see my programming experience. And I can vouch EKG is more apt than most people on this board to produce a mod. He's pretty technical knowing and very receptive, not to mention hard working. He is very skilled in Photoshop and hacking, currently trying to rip models from different games (and he knows way more methods and programs to do that with than me).

Oh and he also did a cool mod before no one else seemed to pull it off. Unfortunately, I can't give the details about it since I don't have his agreement (at the moment), so you'll have to ask him directly if you want that info.

He doesn't need to waterboard the forum for information, both because he's pretty covered on the technical side and because he wouldn't obtain much technical information (actually, it kinda seems he won't obtain any information at all, even if these are simple questions about your preferences :P).

That being said, I'm still skeptical we can pull it off or, even if we do, if it it'll blow your mind out of the water, but we're doing this mostly for fun and to get some attention and publicity to the SMT series, so we don't care if we could end up in failure, we'll try anyway. Thanks for the encouragement, though. :P

We're thinking of modding Fallout 3 (or any sequel bound to come soon, like Fallout: New Vegas). Naturally, the platform/OS is the one the game it's on (duh!).

Now, if you don't mind, can we get back to the topic of the thread? There's a time and a place for discussion about the mod (and I do like comments and all), but this ain't it. :P

[Evilkinggumby]

Agree'd. I would like to keep the topic at hand in the light fun discussion of what elements of SMT games you enjoy and would like to see more of.

My segue into the mod was there not to scrutinize, but to show that the intention of this thread was not just to talk for the sake of talking, but to contemplate/collaborate on (hopefully) a final project worth some merit.

Legality discussions will be addressed/done through a sepearate thread I will start at a later date for the mod itself. For now, since the point of this topic is the exchange of favorite gameplay ideas, I would hope a mod doesn't lock the thread.

I'm also curious if people generally like group/party based rpg style(having a group of 2-3 characters and each can summon or have 1 demon) or the solo go-it-alone style(1 character with assistance from multiple demons)?

[Evilkinggumby]

Just adding on to say I am still working on these topics and eager to get input from the fans. From the looks of things there won't be an Atlus Persona release of new material (besides Strange Journey) for a while, especially next gen. So the more help I can get, the better I can fill in their gap with some fun!

[Nocturne]

First off it MUST use the "Nocturne" turn based press turn system. The game should also allow you to customize the main characters look as was done in the online "SMT: Imagine" game. Atlus should also use the same "decision/action" that they used in "Devil Summoner" for "Raidou". In fact it would be crazy if they incorporated a fedual era theme into "SMT". The main character also needs more physical attacks besides the hook that was present in "Nocturne". The game must also allow you to control any and all demons in your party as in "Nocturne". There you have it, the perfect SMT game is 2 parts "Nocturne", 1 part "SMT: Imagine", and 1 part "Devil Summoner".

[Rednal]

Well, since you asked so nicely...


The Digital Devil Saga games have what is, hands down, the most customizable character team in the entire MegaTen universe. I suspect this was done because of the utter lack of recruiting ability... and, sadly, this might actually be a pain to program into a game, so I'd advise against it for now, at least until you have the experience to program in that kind of complexity. But the system does, at least, allow you to basically make the sort of team you actually want to make, setting up your skills in any combination to deal with various bosses in an intelligent way, and if it were to be done for another game, you'd have the advantage of setting up bosses that were easier to fight (or harder!) depending on what skills the character had learned. And I'm especially fond of the 'Berserk' mode from Digital Devil Saga 2... your defense goes down massively, but you deal a lot more damage as well (greater chance for critical hits both ways, too!), and that added some particularly interesting variety to the fights. It broke up the monotony while I was level-grinding, not to mention looked awesome while happening, and that's never a bad thing.

But I'd avoid programming any such features right now; it's only appropriate for the power of Atma anyway, not Persona's or Summoning, and complexity is not the goal right now.

[Evilkinggumby]

Danke Rednal. I haven't tried those games out first hand, and you're right I don't know if I could match the perfection you are talking about to a fun, useable level in what I am doing, but I may be able to keep some of the flexibility and strategy in my work.

[Rednal]

Oh, they're *very* good games, definitely worth going out of your way to acquire. And the extremely high level of flexibility allows for some pretty brutal boss fights, too... the Ultimate Boss of the first game is, so I hear, considered to be particularly nasty even for SMT. It's only, y'know, designed to be fought with a perfectly maxed-out team. But it's more complex than a straight "At Level 10 this skill is available", especially because it's not just that you can learn any skill in Digital Devil Saga, but you KEEP all of those skills even if you replace them with something else. You can only equip eight at most, but... it can get to be pretty complicated. If you're going to keep the Moon Phases (or something similar), though, you could probably work in some sort of effect that happens at certain times.

[Yukichin]

Honestly, my favorite battle system in any of the SMT games I've played thus far must be Persona 4's. If there were a way to enable that but with drop-in/drop-out multiplayer or some such thing (seeing as P3 originally has you unable to control your teammates), it could be really cool.

[Evilkinggumby]

Honestly, my favorite battle system in any of the SMT games I've played thus far must be Persona 4's. If there were a way to enable that but with drop-in/drop-out multiplayer or some such thing (seeing as P3 originally has you unable to control your teammates), it could be really cool.

Thanks Yuki. I like the battle system they used as well, and considering it was implemented in the rerelease conversion of p3 to p3p i am assuming a lot of fans liked it too.

Sadly, with my current project I think the closest I can get is the p3 scripted system for your party... but I am pushing ahead to see if there is any way to viably keep p4 or even some of nocturne's aspects instead.

Thanks to you and all that have offered their opinion. As always, I am looking for input still and anyone else willing to throw some wisdom my way is more then welcome!