Game Mechanic Ideas

[Heartless]

Have an idea for a Pokemon game mechanic? Post your ideas here, and discuss with others on their ideas. Simple examples would be like new statuses or new types. Your idea shouldn't be a single sentence, it should be something you feel passionate about, and something you'd love to see in a Pokemon Game. Like if you want to add a new type, you should try to explain your reasoning, and how it would fair against others.

[Gastronely]

Minimax. Just dinamax but it makes pokemon  s m o l

[Alilatias]

Several years ago, I had an idea about a very non-traditional Pokemon game, with a lot of mechanics that differ from most Pokemon fangames.

 

It involves an island that was basically trapped in its own time bubble, and recently reappeared in the modern era (right in the middle of a busy shipping route, which initially caused a bunch of chaos). So the world's leading professors and authorities launch a massive investigation into the island, though they quickly determine that the island appears to have been more or less untouched by human hands and technology until now. This causes the world's authorities to enact a rule that for the sake of preservation (and safety of the world, because who even knows what's there), not just anyone should be allowed in, so the nearest region (Hoenn) is given the responsibility of policing all traffic to the island. However, aerial investigations reveal that the island is actually larger than Hoenn itself - and somehow appears to be mysteriously growing and shrinking, with one observer describing islets flying in the sky, the next observer reporting rocky mountains in the same coordinates, and yet another reporting a vast desert below. The few known groups that have investigated the island on foot have either disappeared, or returned completely empty-handed. Those who have reported back mention that they did not encounter any Pokemon, but there were clear signs that they were present.

 

The main character(s) are a pair of older interns studying under a Professor, and the game would have very special rules compared to the traditional Pokemon game.

Spoiler

 

1: There are two main characters, and both characters can be fully customized. (They are a brother/sister team by default, though you can change their genders.)

 

2: Because there are two main characters, you actually manage two different parties of up to five Pokemon each, meaning you manage a total of 10 Pokemon in a combined team by endgame. This also means that most battles are fought double battle style (though you might fight opponents 2 VS 1). Note that this also means that there could be sections of the game where both characters are separated, in which you'd lack access to the abilities of the other team, and you might end up in situations where you're at a 1 VS 2 disadvantage.

 

3: Your primary method of recruiting Pokemon to join your team is to earn their trust, either by defeating them in an impressive show of strength (RNG), mandated by the story, and completing sidequests. (As it turns out, most of the Pokemon on the island are actually capable of human speech.)

 

4: Access to technology is restricted during the expedition. This means Pokeballs are strictly for storing Pokemon that you've befriended, and will not be expended by attempting to capture wild Pokemon. Party size is actually limited to the amount of Pokeballs that both main characters have found. At the beginning of the game, they have access to two Pokeballs each.

 

5: Because the two main characters are interns under the watch of a world-renowned Pokemon Professor, your two starters (one for each character) can be any stage 1 Pokemon that exists, preferably young and low-leveled (level 10) so that they haven't had the opportunity to pick up habits that may prove to be detrimental to the island's possible ecosystem. (It is implied that the interns have more Pokemon, but the expedition rules only allow them to bring one Pokemon each on the trip.)

 

6: Due to the lack of technology, items in general would be made of more natural ingredients. Human-made items like potions and TMs will be rarely found, and likely belong to other failed expeditions. Instead, you'll be looking for berries for healing and scrounging for ingredients to craft new items that serve a similar function to the standard items seen in other regions.

 

7: Some moves would be overhauled or receive new effects due to the unique nature of the game's structure (and effects saying that they affect both parties will assume that the interns are together).

 

Examples:

- Aromatherapy and Heal Bell can be used out of battle to cure all status effects of Pokemon in both parties.

- Healing Wish will act as a revive/full restore for one Pokemon in both parties, instead of restoring the status of the next Pokemon sent out.

- Heal Pulse can also be used to heal any Pokemon out of combat, and behaves more like a targeted potion in combat.

(The above three might seem imbalanced, but this is taking into consideration that items might be a bit more scarce, and the base PP of the mentioned moves are low to begin with. Using PP-up type items on such moves might be a good idea.)

- Helping Hand is buffed so that it lasts 3 turns, affecting all Pokemon in the other intern's team.

- Assist is changed to a defensive version of Helping Hand.

 

Other moves have the same restrictions as before, though - like Baton Pass cannot be used to switch to a Pokemon currently being commanded by the other character.

 

8: Since TMs and HMs aren't a thing, field skills are based on the Pokemon itself. A water type can ferry you across rivers and lakes with Surf, even if they cannot use Surf in combat. Access to certain areas may be gated by progress in the story, and depends on actions performed in the past, like planting a seed with the help of a Grass Pokemon that later sprouts vines that can be climbed in the present day. (There's a bit of time traveling involved in the story. The best way to describe it is that the game's structure is similar to Dragon Quest 7, which began on a tiny island, and you restored the world piece by piece by preventing disasters that destroyed the other continents in the past.)

 

9: As resource management is a major theme in the game, there won't be random encounters. You will find Pokemon roaming in the overworld, and may be subject to ambushes at times.

 

10: As mentioned before, the Pokemon on the island are actually capable of human speech. Friendly Pokemon that have joined the expedition will occasionally comment on your starters (and Pokemon that the other researchers brought with them) being unable to speak. Since the Pokemon of the island have unique personalities, all of them come with predefined natures, gender, maxed EVs, and 31 in all IVs. The only Pokemon whose natures and gender can be customized are your starters, and breeding is obviously not a thing here. As you can tell, this is not really meant to be a competitive experience.

 

11: You cannot obtain multiples of the same Pokemon either, the major exception being whichever Pokemon you choose as your starters. This also extends to Pokemon in the same evolutionary line, although those with split evolutionary lines are exceptions to the rule and are exclusively obtained via main story or sidequests. You'll be switching Pokemon and adjusting what moves they will use in combat while in the 'research hub' (which changes throughout the game). Most Pokemon are capable of acting as move tutors for other Pokemon as well, replacing TMs and granting access to a wider variety of moves as the game progresses. (Though because of the Pokemon having actual personalities, it's unlikely that the total roster will exceed 300 Pokemon, and probably won't include most legendaries either.)

 

Examples:

- A Parasect will teach all of the Powder moves. She will demand a TinyMushroom before teaching Stun/Sleep/PoisonPowder, and a BigMushroom for teaching Spore. The item requirement is a one-time thing, and waived if you chose Paras as your starter.

- Hitmonchan will teach all of the elemental punches. Hitmonlee will teach Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick. The moves are available after recruiting Hitmontop.

- Seaking will teach Waterfall. (Recruiting one unlocks the ability for water types to use Waterfall in the overworld.)
- Exeggutor will teach Worry Seed, Leech Seed, Bullet Seed, and Seed Bomb, in that order. Each move is unlocked one by one, by finding a missing Exeggucute egg throughout the game.

 

Every Pokemon that can learn a move from a Move Tutor will automatically have said move added to their list of available abilities, upon recruiting the tutor Pokemon and fulfilling any possible secondary conditions.

 

12: Some Pokemon will temporarily follow you during a certain phase of the story, and you will be required to keep them in your party until the story arc is completed (though they will not take up a permanent party slot during this time, they'll be in the temporary slot - this is one of the reasons why there's a max of 5 Pokemon per party, they would act as the extra sixth). Leaving the relevant areas will cause them to wait at the entrance or return to the expedition camp.

 

13: A party wipe in this game is a game over. You are far from civilization, after all. Because of this, you are allowed multiple save files for a single playthrough.

 

 

[groniack]

In the pokemon anime trainers don't just call the moves, they give some instructions as well. Like "dodge the attack" or "hang in there" and stuff like that. I would love it if trainers had their unique skill sets. Pokemon have their moves, so trainers could have a list of instructions. This would make the fights even more interactive and closer to the anime fights.

 

I am actually working on that for my game. I am designing as an optional mechanic, like mega evolution. After you use a skill, there would be a cooldown period (depends on the skill you used), during which you won't be able to activate any skills. I am doing this for balance purposes because some skills are stronger than others. For example, dodging an attack is better most times than defending so as to get hit for less damage.

 

Both you and your opponent(s) will be able to use those.

 

I think this is a good way to approach the anime pokemon fights. But I am always open to suggestions. Do you think this is a fair mechanic? What skills do you believe should exist?

 

If you are interested in more details about what I have thought about this mechanic, just ask

 

 

[Suzuki]

On 6/23/2020 at 12:02 PM, groniack said:

In the pokemon anime trainers don't just call the moves, they give some instructions as well. Like "dodge the attack" or "hang in there" and stuff like that. I would love it if trainers had their unique skill sets. Pokemon have their moves, so trainers could have a list of instructions. This would make the fights even more interactive and closer to the anime fights.

 

I am actually working on that for my game. I am designing as an optional mechanic, like mega evolution. After you use a skill, there would be a cooldown period (depends on the skill you used), during which you won't be able to activate any skills. I am doing this for balance purposes because some skills are stronger than others. For example, dodging an attack is better most times than defending so as to get hit for less damage.

 

Both you and your opponent(s) will be able to use those.

 

I think this is a good way to approach the anime pokemon fights. But I am always open to suggestions. Do you think this is a fair mechanic? What skills do you believe should exist?

 

If you are interested in more details about what I have thought about this mechanic, just ask

 

 

I think it's interesting and it could work, but it would take a lot of balancing. Maybe instead of a cooldown, the skills depend on an RNG for their accuracy (or both). After all, instructing your pokemon to dodge doesn't mean it will be able to do so. The skills could also be dependent on the happiness of the pokemon, their current hp, stats and or stat changes (it's hard to imagine a shuckle dodging an attack). But overall it's a really cool idea.

[Suzuki]

Not exactly a mechanic, but maybe something akin to combo moves. Kinda like how the pledge moves work with each other, For example  in a double battle selecting Thunder for one of your mons and hurricane for another, would produce a different effect or attack alltogether. You could also take into account the move your opponent used.

[groniack]

3 hours ago, Suzuki said:

I think it's interesting and it could work, but it would take a lot of balancing. Maybe instead of a cooldown, the skills depend on an RNG for their accuracy (or both). After all, instructing your pokemon to dodge doesn't mean it will be able to do so. The skills could also be dependent on the happiness of the pokemon, their current hp, stats and or stat changes (it's hard to imagine a shuckle dodging an attack). But overall it's a really cool idea.

Thanks for the input! Yeah, balancing the skills is a challenging part. I decided to do it by giving the stronger skills bigger cooldowns but what you suggested might work too. I just didn't want the skills to be used all the time, because they might end up prolonging the battles a bit too much. You make a really fair point with the shucle example. Maybe skills like dodging should take into account the speed of the pokemon? 

 

3 hours ago, Suzuki said:

Not exactly a mechanic, but maybe something akin to combo moves. Kinda like how the pledge moves work with each other, For example  in a double battle selecting Thunder for one of your mons and hurricane for another, would produce a different effect or attack alltogether. You could also take into account the move your opponent used.

That's interesting! I really love double battles and if a fan game was focusing mainly on double battles, this feature would really make sense. You can have type synergies as well (for example if you hit an opponent with a water move and then with an electric, the damage would be increased). So many possibilities!

[ArcBolt27]

On 6/22/2020 at 8:29 PM, Gastronely said:

Minimax. Just dinamax but it makes pokemon  s m o l

after hearing this i realize how much i want a minimax snom in my life