A Mon Game/Series not based on Combat?

Hmm... well, I know that Monster Racers (a 2D game that worked with a similar concept to this, though it had a smaller variety of Creatures and was far, far more of a 'blatant Pokemon clone') avoided evolutions entirely and seemed to do okay with it (though they wound up with a (measly?) total of about 50 or so Monsters because of it).

The problem is that there were some really good ideas for Creatures that, unfortunately, are basically 'bigger and fancier versions of earlier Creatures', and it'd feel odd including them like that: plus, there were a couple of Creatures with a Magikarp Power, except, well, if they don't evolve, eh, ya know...

And as I've said before, suggestions are welcome and encouraged: I figure Pact-breaking could be more subtle, perhaps. Ooh, maybe Pact-breaking doesn't kill you, but produces some permenant scar or mark on your skin that everyone can see? Effectively, everyone will know straight away that you've lied at some point, and be treated like crap because of it.

As for having a rival, I kind of wanted to set the plot up so that it starts with a fairly standard premise (young main character sets out To Be a Master while stopping criminals and facing off against the various Noble Houses of the Region one by one), including a rival who shows up every so often (and since there are two Starter Creatures, your rival picks the Creature that you didn't) to bug the hell out of you.

Except then things kind of take a peek over the edge before taking a very, very long dive into the abyss.

And as I said before, Conflicts would be real-time, but high-speed: if anyone here played the 'Action Race' multiplayer mode in Sonic Heroes, it would be a little like that (with heavy aspects of Pokemon and Mario Kart thrown in).

Alright, this doesn't look exceptional but whatever >.>

Ah, that's awesome, thank you! :D

For those of you who don't know, Chibalt is one of the game's starter Creatures. There are planned to be two: Chibalt is the Metal type.

Chibalt has comparatively higher Agility and Intellect stats, but comparatively lower Speed and Quirk stats. The result?

Pros: Good jumping and turning ability as well as a greater amount of 'style' when performing tricks (will be explained in a future update). Techniques are also generally more effective, and it recieves more experience for winning races.

Cons: Performs actions such as running, jumping, tackling etc. more slowly. Has a harder time finding secrets or collecting items and bonuses on the track.

I have decided, BTW, that Creatures will not grow (AKA evolve) by leveling up. However, Creatures can still grow into stage 2 and stage 3 Creatures: this generally requires either giving them a special item (equivalent to using a Thunderstone in Pokemon to evolve Pikachu into Raichu) or using a special device to 'merge' two Creatures you currently own into a new Creature.

So yes, essentially you use a mixture of fancy-schmancy growth formula and/or synthesis. Also, I may well create a proper thread in Worldbuilding for this later today. We shall see.

edited 8th Dec '11 12:14:44 AM by Eventua

... The merging thing reminds me of Digimon. I am okay with this.

As for names suggestions, I have-

Compromisso Aeterna - For the Pact (Means "The Compromise Eternal")
Genus - Means race in Latin, for the Conflicts (Adding Mirabilis makes it the Wonderful Race, so maybe something for "Gymleader"-esque Conflicts?)
Castellum - Tower in Latin. For Spires, though I'm not as sure...
Kistralmia - For the world. No real meaning, it just sounds cool.
Locus or Loci - To refer to regions. Makes it sound more magical.
Calangos - You have the name already, so...
Mirashi - Another "for the coolness" name. Perhaps for an far east inspired area?
Esperro - For a sort of Spanish-speaking-culture-inspired area.
O - Because I think it'd be interesting to name an area a one-letter name.

As for the creatures, here are a few ideas:

Raester - Kinda a portemanaeu(sp?) of race and monster that's kinda respelled a little, but it's not my favorite.
Pneuma (Plural Pneumen) - Latin for breath. Could be interesting.
The Eternal - A bit different from creatures, this sort-of goes with the whole "more and more species are created constantly" thing.
Spire-born - Along the same lines as above, sort of.

Just my two cents. I'd suggest using the name of the creatures in the title for ease of use, with maybe an adjective. (So, Racing Pneumen? The Eternal Conflict? Spire-born: Race to Infinity? I really like that last one...)

As for types, I'll suggest:

Light - Self-explainatory. Would be resistant to FLASHING, BRIGHT, and monochrome conditions, and do well on REFLECTIVE and Smooth terrain. Wouldn't do as well in SHADY or Night terrain, and would do poorly against DARK or SCARY conditions. Can deal with Electricity and FLASHES well, not so much with Distortions.
Dark - As above. Would be resistant to DARK and monochrome conditions, and do well in Night and SHADY terrain. Would do poorly against FLASHING or BRIGHT condtions, and wouldn't do very well in REFLECTIVE or STARRY terrain. Can deal with Noises and Distortions well, not so much FLASHES.
Psyche - Actually a rename suggestion for Cerebral. The current sounds ugly to me. XP
Sound - ... I'm not sure about this one, so I'm not going to figure out it's details just yet.

edited 15th Dec '11 4:20:46 PM by Kuiper

I am going to create a thread in worldbuilding, myes... (eventually, once I've sorted some things out... give me a few days to a week)

However, first I would like to say those are some awesome ideas Kuiper, I'll use (some of) those if that's okay...! :D

The Pact is now the Compromisso Aeterna
Conflicts are now Genus, and Conflicts of great importance are known as Mirabilis Genus
Globus is the name of the world, and regions are known as Loci
Spires are still called Spires, while Creatures are known as Spire-born
The major loci (there may be others though, we'll have to wait and see,) are known as:

• Calangos, the largest central loci, and centre of trade and industry on globus
• Nikt, a large loci and long-time neighbouring rival of Calangos, famed for its wildlife and large stretches of untamed wilderness
• Mirashi, an island loci furthest to the east, surrounded by water and known for a somewhat marshy terrain
• Esperro, a small loci known for its hot climate and friendly, passionate people
• Obsidia, a dark, hilly loci famed for its precious gems and ancient structures
• Skyventus, a bright, mountainous loci famed for its vast entertainment industry
• Z, a loci which keeps itself locked tight, with no one entering or leaving: it remains a mystery

The types will be modified: Cerebral type will be split in two, Light and Dark. It creates a nice 8 in total, with each Type having an opposite (Fire and Water, Earth and Air, Nature and Metal, Light and Dark).

edited 15th Dec '11 7:27:40 AM by Eventua

Actually, the proper grammer is (I think) Genus Mirabilis. (You used that order before, anyway, with Aeterna coming after Compromise; I'm pretty sure Latin is the base romantic language, and, as such, the adjectives come after the noun.) Globus is better than my name, though. ^_^

HOLD IT! We can't use Geni ( I think that's the plural...) Genus is for the OTHER kind of race, as in a class of something. Go with Cursus- I think it's for what we ACTUALLY mean. That would make it Cursus Mirabilis. (Or Cursi Mirabilii, I think...)

And until you get a worldbuilding thread, I will help by contributing ideas. It's what I'm good at. (And I'm perfectly okay with you stealing liberally borrowing from what I suggest. I suggested it for you to use! ^_^

As for characters:

The main character should, logically, be either a boy or a girl at the player's discretion. (I'd say give them default names, because, believe it or not fandoms like them. I'll get back to that in a second.) They're a youth of approximately 15-ish (not as young as some Mon series, but it worked for the latest pokemon game, so it might work) who love Spire-born with all their heart, and have wanted to participate in a Cursus since they were little. Both of their parents should be against the idea of their son/daughter purposefully trying to become the top racer (I suggest we get a name for that. Give me a minute.) rather than doing something they'd consider more wholesome. However, they still support their child.

The rival (YES WE SHOULD HAVE ONE. Love rivalries...) should be a condescending youth who is, once again, up to the player's discretion in the gender department. They are a genuine friend of the player, but don't like to show weakness, even if they aren't really. They should be an orphan, because it's usually protaganists that are orphans. They secretly would much rather act more honestly; that is, they'd rather act less "cool" and "tough" and more "friendly" and "warm".

The pseudo-rival (that is, the player not picked...) should act as a helper in the game, giving advice but ultimately not being too much of a challenge. They are nice and loyal almost to a fault, and are very protective of their friends. They should have a Light/Dark-type Spire-born as a main/leader that acts almost as a parallel to the player's. (So, Light for Nature and Dark for Metal? They should look pretty similar and maybe even help somehow in the growth process of the starter.)

The other pseudo-rival (the rival that wasn't picked) should act more as a mysterious helped, guiding from the sidelines. They areesoteric and maybe even give a few cryptic hints. They dislike crowds and large spaces, and they seem to be affiliated with the antagonist and the current champion at the same time. When the player gets to know them (probably through a plot-induced imprisonment or something), they turn out to be a little less awesome than they thought, but they make up for it by helping. Their Spire-born should be the one that the other Pseudo-rival did not take. (So, the reflection of the rival; once again, Light for Nature and Dark for Metal?)

Those are my ideas, anyway. Ideas for default names:
Leon and Larina for the player/pseudo-rival 1. (Former means Lion, latter means Sea Gull.)
Draco and Dove for the rival/pseudo-rival 2. (Former is Dragon, latter is obvious.)

OTHER THINGS:
Ferus and Comis should be adjectives for Wild and Duel conflicts. (The former means Wild, the latter means Civil.)

I'm assuming that the Nature style will have high SPEED and QUIRK, but low AGILITY and INTELLIGENCE. So, for the pseudo-rival's pseudo-starters, as I'm calling them: the LIGHT-type will have high INTELLIGENCE and QUIRK, but low AGILITY and SPEED, while the DARK-type will have the opposite, making for a rather Mind vs. Matter situation. (Fitting, since they split Cerebral.)

Will Gossomer and Essence now be split as resistances, then? If so, I say that Gossomer should go to DARK, it being dream-stuff that reminds me of the Fair Folk, and Essence going to LIGHT. The other one should make for an easy weakness.

The Loci should be placed so that each roughly corresponds to a Type, so that the Gymleader-esque fights have a logical Type to work off of. Just a thought. (That would require another Loci, maybe two if Z is still a mystery. Would make an interesting light, but so would a Las Vegas-inspired Loci, possibly named Gevango? We also would need an Earth...)

Maybe make a few, non-elementally-affiliated Loci that have no Spires to connect themselves to, but still an abundant amount of Creatures that got there through the normal migration method. Thoughts: A suburban area a la Earthbound, a town built along a winding highway overpass, a small village that has few trees but lots and lots of grass and flowers, an area reminiscent of the Netherlands, an Ancient Egyptian area... (The last might be a good LIGHT area, actually... Or EARTH, depending on how you bend it.)

As for the Champion(been putting that off), I have a variety of name options:
The Eternal - To re-use a previous name...
The Spire-born Emporer - Sounds a bit foreboding...
The Spire-prince - Less foreboding, more regal...
The Vindex - Champion in Latin. REALLY LIKE THIS ONE.
The Luctor - Means "to champion" in Latin. As in, it's a verb. I care less, because it sounds really cool. ^_^

edited 19th Dec '11 6:52:23 PM by Kuiper

Woah, I really did let this thread die! D:

I can't even remember what distracted me, tsk, but now it's gone and died... I'd like to revitalize this discussion a bit, though, if possible...!

[EDIT] Okay, having read back through this thread and looking back at the document I created on my computer, I plan to work on this project again!

Okay, a quick recap of 'stuff'!

The various terms for things can be found on the previous post, except that now...

The region champion/head of the noble house for each Region is known as a Vindex, and the world champion/Emperor is referred to as the Grand Vindex. The conflicts/races are now known as Cursi, with big and important races being Cursi Mirabilii.

The Nature Type has been replaced with Plant (I figured that most of the Types were really forces of nature anyway).

There are nine major, self-governed regions of the world. These are Calangos (Metal heavy), Nikt (Plant heavy), Esperro (Fire heavy), Mirashi (Water heavy), Landerra (Earth heavy), Skyentus (Air heavy), Lazvegan (Light heavy), Obsidia (Dark heavy) and Z (Neutral... or ????).

New creatures (called Spire-born to distinguish them from regular animals, which are not affected by the Compromisso Aeternia, or 'Pact') emerge periodically from the Spires, while stranger and more powerful forms of Spire-born can be created by either exposing existing ones to certain objects, or by combining two weaker Spire-born into a more powerful kind.

The player can pick the main character's gender and the gender of the 'main rival', with the remaining unpicked hero and rival existing as 'other major characters' of a sort.

...

Okay, is that about it? Cool beans.

edited 27th Apr '12 9:53:44 AM by Eventua