What is “Nuradan RPG”?
Nuradan RPG is a top-down, single-player fantasy roleplaying game. Players will take on the role of Fang, a lone traveler that gets robbed and left for dead in a remote and secluded region. By helping its inhabitants in exchange for food and shelter, he’ll end up tangled in a centuries old plot while trying to save a dying race. He’ll complete quests, fight enemies, collect items and equipment, solve puzzles, and interact with various factions to take world-altering decisions.
Inspiration
I’m borrowing elements from GBA’s Pokémon titles for the game layout and feel, old-school Zelda and Final Fantasy IX for how classes, equipment, and moves would work, World of Warcraft for zone variety and the rule of cool, and what a PG-13 Witcher game version would look like for the impact I’d like choices to have for the world. Oh, and some CYOA books like the Lone Wolf series for the questlines structure: I want to have player agency but within the confines of a solid story.
Design pillars
I am making this game for my childhood self, based on my own notes and maps from back then, to make this into something a kid like I was would play. I’m not reinventing the wheel, this is just another RPG with what you’d expect from an old school title in terms of gameplay and mechanics. I will focus on the worldbuilding and on the variety of zones, NPCs, questlines, enemies, etc.
- Make it your own
- Variety of equipment and moves to choose from to make a unique character build
- Meaningful choices that alter the world state
- Zone variety
- Vast open world split in multiple, themed regions
- Each region also with its own unique set of zones
- See Region design philosophy
- Deep lore
- World feels alive with history
- Secrets to discover and backstories to piece together
- All tied to the big worldbuilding project
Goals for the demo
I want to release a fully playable demo or MVP, containing ALL the elements I would like to see in the game. Such demo will have a complete storyline, some side quests, a few areas to explore, and a way for players to test all the features I want to implement. After that, I can gradually scale up the game and introduce new content in a modular way. The world of Nuradan is big and full to the brim with lore, characters, and areas to explore.
Main mechanics
Controls
Gameplay loop
Visual style
Like the old Pokémon GBA titles, but fantasy. Same perspective, same resolution. 16x16 pixels tiles. 64x64 pixels sprites for entities. 32x32 for items and moves. Stuff like that. Pixel art all the way. Same minimalistic UI.
Audio
I’m looking to get a retro feel for the game soundtrack and effects, something like the Pokémon GBA titles. So, something 8-bit-like, or chiptune. But fantasy themed. So, something like taking the World of Warcraft epic OST and making it 8-but. I’m not a composer, so this is going to be one of the most difficult areas of the game for me to work on. I have some music training but it was a long time ago.