The Mindfield (My Dream RPG)

"Isn't this just American Persona?" "Yes."

- Nobody and Me

~~ For the PIGSquad Finish Your Game Jam 2020 ~~

Unfortunately, I didn't get to program the prototype battle system as I had hoped, but instead, I have a clearer idea of what I would like to eventually make.

A little bit of background:

Back in 2018, my friend and I came up with the idea to create a pixel art RPG with a similar style to the Mother / Earthbound series, which we called Mind's Eye. We made a video game development club that didn't do much because we didn't know a) how to make a video game and b) how to organize a team to make a video game. The most we got was a build in Unity that had very basic movement, character art, menus and whatnot (which I don't really feel like digging out because I bet I could honestly build a better engine now in like a week or two LOL), and because I build that in the span of around a week by working nearly constantly, I burnt myself out on the project and never finished it. To the right, you can see some GIFs and art that pretty much show off the progress that was made.

If I start dedicating some time to it, I'd actually like to shift the story and gameplay to something that's more like Persona (social aspects and dungeons), with some heavy themes like Mother 3 that are based on real-world problems with the USA. I'm also not sure if I'd like to keep the art style as pixel art, because with the style the demo already had (coincidentally like Persona), it would work way better in 3D and with non-pixel-art 2D UI.

Since I don't want to reveal too much of the story and some of the other unique aspects of the new game that I want to make, I'll show off some of the characters I would like to include + their sketches from Mind's Eye (if applicable).

Main Playable Characters

Taro Celeres / Myra Amores: the main (choosable) character you would play as. Calm and collected in stressful situations, Taro/Myra is a caring and empathetic teenager who is the New Kid™. Taro is the most developed character from the scrapped project since he's based off of a real friend, but Myra is an original idea for the player to have another option to choose from. (I wonder if it would be easier to make both of them non-binary?)

Fun fact: In Mind's Eye, Taro was meant to be the healer of the party. I think I'm going to apply that to this project too.

Rita Young: a strong-willed athlete who constantly uses her phone. She has a tough exterior, and, as a new part of her, a tough interior too, as she has emotional problems and doesn't know how to respond to troubling situations.

Fun fact: In Mind's Eye, she was supposed to wield electricity as her main power. She would use it to charge her phone.

"Gamma" Ray Jenkins: an internet dweller who likes anime and forums. Has social anxiety and, as a new part of him, regular anxiety.

Fun fact: In Mind's Eye, he was supposed to levitate all the time because he was too lazy to walk.

Mitch Keter: lone wolf on the outside, but a chaotic and aggressive entity when he opens up to T/M. As a new part of Mitch, he would be in the closet at first and then when T/M's friendship develops with him, he reveals that he's gay.

Fun fact: In Mind's Eye, he was supposed to be a villain, then we turned him into a bully. IMO, neither of those roles really jive with me now.

???: I would like to have one of T/M's friends be an artist who either is or becomes trans (not sure which direction yet). Probably listens to K-pop.

???: I would like to have one of T/M's friends be an Indian who is an aspiring filmmaker (also based off of another real-life friend!). I'm not quite sure what their conflict / life-changing moment would be yet.

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I don't have a plan or roadmap besides working on the prototype RPG battle system and some other Proof of Concepts to make sure that what I'm envisioning is any fun. Plus, I'll be writing the outline of the story (and then probably re-writing it several times). To really start on this project, I would have to hire people for art, writing, 3D models, animation, voice-acting, and music, which I don't have the money for (unless there are some extremely generous people who would be willing to work for essentially free until the game is released, but somehow, I highly doubt anyone would do that). Programming and UI would be on me since I know how to do that. I figure that once I complete college for game development, I would know how to make a competent 3D game by then.

Making and selling a modern RPG has been one of my goals in the game development career for a long time, and I really do hope that this one can come to fruition.

tl;dr: I want to make a 3D slice-of-life RPG that takes place in the USA. I have like 4 characters mostly thought out. The development of this game starts when I have the resources and knowledge to do so.