Pokemon: Age of the Republic

[maplelame]

Well, I am on pre-production of this fan game. It is based on the conquest of the Roman Empire from 1500B.C.E to about the time where Caesar conquered the people of the Guals. This includes the Punic Wars and the conquest of Sardinia, Spain, and Sicily. I intend to do it from the point of view of a Roman Tribuen. I need some feedback on this, is it a decent plot?
1.Starting point in Sicily:
+ Consuls seek your help for the Roman Republic,
+ You are instructed to meet at the assembly ASAP,
+ You are informed that someone is poaching Vileplume's,
+ On your way to the Italian Peninsula you encounter "Carthaginian" Raiders with caged Vileplume's,
+ A battle ensues,
+ You are rescued by a true Pokemon master,

2.Romulus of Rome:
+ Kado is the Consul,
+ 99 other tribunes meet you in Rome,
+ You are drafted into the Roman Army,
+ You spot the same raiders from before in the assembly,
+ A training battle ensues and your Pokemon are taken from you to be "healed",
+ Once returned, you and a band of rural tribunes are sent to investigate Sardinia,

3.Crossroads at Alps:
+ Northern road leads to people of Guals,
+ You are able to attain a ship to Sardinia,
+ The captain requires you to have a certain pokemon,
+ On your way to Sardinia your ship gets attacked by Carthaginian pirates,
+ You are shipwrecked on Corsica and your fellow tribunes are lost, presumed dead,


4.Corsica:
+ Small forest and tiny town,
+ Villagers Loyal to Rome,
+ They show you a secret tunnel to Sardinia and warn you,

This is basically all i have so far, left some twist out, need to keep secrets.

i know how people hate maps and would rather see screenshots, but please bear with me, this is just an idea for a port.

This is the temple that I am having trouble picking the encounters for...

Plot Updates:
1. Trying to find duality between coincidences in the pokemon world.
+ Wobbuffets and Girafarig's tail.

 

[▲]

Well, write the pot and then I'll tell you if it's good--that above's an idea. And I tink it's a cool idea, just...are you sure you'd be able to find artists for such a pursuit? The characters would all dress differently than what we're used to seeing, and the tilesets in towns+cities cannot be the same for obvious reasons...

It's been a long time since I studied classical history, but didn't the Punic Wars take longer than could be scoped in one game? Althoooough, nobody said you had to follow history...you could fit it all into a short period of time while modifying it for a pkmn game. Either way, I have a challenge: if you go anywhere with this, there's gotta be a twist. If you even base a game roughly off'a history, the players will figure out the plot (or think they have) by using Wikipedia or something. Instead, you twist it around your way...I have an example if you really want one.

 

[maplelame]

1. I an planning on doing a modern interpretation of Roman history, so clothing doesn't always have to be classical roman attire. but its all up to the artist, i am willing to work with the abilities of the artist.

2. Well, the Punic wars did take like 200 years, but i am speeding up history, so that everything can happen in 1 game.

3. I do have a couple of twists in mind, mostly stuff I've seen in movies. i am still trying to develop those ideas into better twists.

If anyone has any ideas or comments, I'll be glad to hear them.

 

[h POKE]

So, if you're planning on making a sweeping overview of history, would you play as several important characters throughout the different sections/chapters of the game?
Also, the idea of making history with a twist is intriguing, but I have no idea where you would go with that.
Although the idea raw could be successful, I don't think it would make it very far as a pokemon game specifically. None of the plot points seem to be a perfect fit for pokemon... In my opinion, this would work much nicer as some kind of AOE-like game or just a regular RPG. My main reason for saying this is because pokemon and war are never a good combination. Soldiers run at each other on the battlefield and brandishh their...pokeballs? No.

 

[maplelame]

h Poke, do u remember the episode from kanto where ash, misty, and brock are on the S.S. Anne and ash trades his Butterfree for a raticate. when team rocket attacks the ship trying to steal everyone's pokemon, the passengers unite. they use their pokemon in unisense to fight team rocket. war is no different. also, during season 1 ash complains multiple times that team rocket are not abiding by the rule of 1 on 1 pokemon battles and instead doing a 2 on 1 battle. so in war, people use all 6 at once and the only reason that they use 6 is cause its hard to command multiple pokemon at once.

Also, the player plays as 1 character not multiple historical individuals since i simplified Roman Expansion from like 2000 years for 1 game. it is more of like a world war rather than a smaller indivdual war since within both world wars there were many smaller battles between diverse peoples during a short period of time. so i small battles or wars and created a sort of world war.

Oh and here's a brain teaser, what is ash eaching during the orange islands arc when he and misty go for hamburgers?

 

[h POKE]

I'm not much for trivialities.

I see your point about the battles (that was one of the only episodes I've ever watched!), but that's the anime. The last thing we need here is a game that copies the whims of the anime, especially when it would be difficult/cumbersome to work together. All kinds of battle (six-on-six?) can be confusing, and can only rarely work to your advantage. You could construe this like the confusion of war, but players might see through that.

 

[▲]

You could construe this like the confusion of war, but players might see through that.

The only way I see that working is if the game is structured more like any other RPG--where you carry around units, customise them, and send x amount of them into a battle at once, only here it would be pkmn. Perhaps your character starts with a partner and then works with other soldiers...eventually getting some good allies and probably losing some (in which case you get their pkmn).

You said this is going to be modernised, but, if it ends up not exactly like that, what are the pkballs made out of? Here's the real question: did they have any, or did only the rich people have 'em? if the latter is the case, I'll bet that the no >1 pkmn per battle rule could be justifiably broken if the pkmn you're fighting with are not yours. Think--I could battle your Yanmega with my Ambipom but get a hand from a (used-to-be) bystander, a Nuzleaf. And I'm just brainstorming here, so I cannot guarantee any of what I've said is quality...

 

[maplelame]

I understand where both of you are coming from, but i planning to construct the game not from the point of view of a soldier, who actually fights in a formation, or a general, who commands soldiers to fight. I was planning to construct it from the point of view of a spy or secret agent, who plays behind the scenes.

Do you know what holding a pokeball with Rayquaza or Deoxys or even Arceus means in war? Victory. It is like holding a reusable atom bomb with minimal fallout. Kinda of like how pokemon were used in the manga. there were used more of as tool instead of friends. for example, when green goes to battle Koga's henchman, his charmeleon kills a arbok by cutting it in half.

War is always bad. Someone must rise with the courage to try and end it, to pursue that goal to the ends of the earth. That person is you...

 

[▲]

Ahh, so you're a saboteur with the job of planting a dangerous pkmn deep behind enemy lines? Now I really want to see this developed further...would, then, half of the game be the development of the plan of what you do and the other half its execution, or do you start with access to this powerful pkmn?

 

[h POKE]

Having access to a powerful pokemon from the beginning of your mission would not only unbalance the idea of power in the game (which pokemon are powerful if they all deal massive damage?), but also be game breaking on the other hand. You could:
-Do it like Riviera. The game starts off with you as a high-and-mighty spy with all the power, but you are overthrown and retrogress into a grunt again.
-Do it like Metal Gear Solid. You're a spy, and the powerful weapon you want behind enemy lines is an "item", not actually usable. Your power would be restrained, and being a tough guy would get you and your pokemon killed.

Just suggestions, in case they were anything like what you were thinking.

 

[maplelame]

as far as the actual plan goes, i was thinking of the first gym leg being the unraveling of the plan and then the rest being the definition of a distopian society. so, basically, we are told of the plan or at least your part of the plan at the beginning. then the rest is the execution off the plan and how it affects everyone.

As far as the special pokemon goes, i was think of more of a riviera type of story. but the powerful pokemon is usable, not average until an event in the game.

 

[h POKE]

Your maps are interesting. I think they're historically accurate in a Shakespeare kind of way. What is "the plan"? What does your last sentence even mean for that matter?

Can you at least specify what the game is going to be about in a more clear manner than just "the plan" and "the execution of the plan"...

 

[maplelame]

when the frontiersmen of the wild west wanted the native Americans to give them their land that would offer a peace offering. this peace offering, blankets at times, would contain diseases that would wide out the native american population. thus, giving the cowboys an advantage in battle. a trojan horse scheme.

there are many pokemon that would easily adapt to germ warfare if necessary. personally, i hate germ warfare in war, it is a horrible way to die, but war is horrible. it is when we see these autrocities and are forced to commit them, we must ask ourseleves, what seperates us from them?

The "plan" starts out with simple surveillance of the Carthaginian provinces. As the player proceeds to the first scouting post, everything seems to go too wrong. but still you continue on as you must. then, you are forced to be a spy within Sardinia, by pure loyalty and love for your country.

this secret weapon, is not really a pokemon or a person for that matter. It is the unity of both that is the most powerful weapon. Love and friendship on the most power scale or hate and betrayal on the most evil scale. this is the duality of life and pokemon.

 

[Hardy Har Har]

This looks interesting! This reminds me of one of my favorite subjects--world history. I really loved world history. Good luck on your game!

 

[maplelame]

Thanks for all the support guys, but I am having trouble with picking the righter starters, so if anyone has suggestions i am happy to hear.

 

[Ultimo Spriter]

for a starter you should give the guy like 1 pokemon he has been with. also i can help u if u want cause it sounds cool

 

[InMooseWeTrust]

I like the plot and the whole history factor (I'm a history buff myself). I also love your mapping skills.

However, the real question is, how do you plan to do this? Will this be like a Pokemon RPG where you're a commanding officer and you train little units (Pokemon), or will it use the character battle system in Pokemon Essentials where you battle other NPC's?

 

[Theik]

This would obviously not be complete without a knight with a fancy cape. -Points at avatar.-

Though I guess that'd be more medieval than Roman era. You'll most likely want to get a few good spriters for this project or it'll just end up feeling weird.

The default Pokémon graphics aren't really suited for a story about a war.

 

[h POKE]

You may also need many different OWs, especially in the area of, uh, soldier.
For this game, I'm not even really sure the classic style of big head, little body would work enough to show the detail required on certain characters. I think this game would look really retro-awesome if you used an OW style similar to that found in the original Ys games (not the craptastic later ones...).

 

[maplelame]

@Ultimo Spriter, I am using your advice and taking away the option of choosing a starter and forcing a pokemon which the character has a back story with, a Dragonair.

@InMooseWeTrust, you got my point. you are like a general who has to control units who are pokemon. Their armor are their stats and their weapons their attacks.

@Theik, I guess a cape is necessary for any vallant hero or knight. And war is not always as heroic as standing in ranks waiting for a vallant battle between you and your enemy.

@h Poke, Still OW's of pokemon are not that hard to create with Paint.net. but moving OW's are a little harder.

I need some advice again.... I am doing a Nature Temple and not really sure what pokemon encounters to put. I was thinking of like, Venonat, Oddish, and some other poison types. what do you think?