Interesting stuff.
Quoting: Joseph Hewitt
...there will be no core story other than the [Earth-Luna] war, all NPCs (and the PC) will be linked by a web of relationships, NPCs will perform their own missions which the PC may aid or oppose...
Nice! I was actually thinking along similar lines.
Quoting: Joseph Hewitt
...and the game will have a one year time limit during which the PC can try to affect the outcome of the war.
But... why?
Admittedly, I don't understand how you plan to implement the one year time limit or what purpose it would serve (aside from a goal and a clear ending). But there are some, myself included, who've already voiced general displeasure with time limits in games.
That said, there were a couple games I've played where having a time limit was perfectly acceptable. One that immediately comes to mind is Valkyrie Profile (which is not a RogueLike) and another is Ragnarok (for DOS and a RL). Though, in both, the deadline is Ragnarok, which is understandable as it's the war to end all wars!
With the DOS Ragnarok, I think one would have to be really slow or incompetent (such as a new player) to miss the deadline. There's even a hidden artifact to slow down the progress of time. And with Valkyrie Profile you have no choice: The game is divided into
time segments and it's impossible to "run out of" time. But there could be good or bad consequences (including death) for
how you spend the time you have. (But, really, one had to intentionally fail to get the bad Death ending!)
This topic reminds me of
a post I made to the GH2 Core Story: The Dramatic Choice thread. I mentioned the
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom game and how the plot spans three generations of characters. Wikipedia
puts it as:
At the end of each generation, the player determines the next main character by choosing which of the women encountered during the adventure he will marry.
So, I was thinking of a system where the player plays through and finishes their main quest (which is
always a
random variation of thwarting
either Earth Alliance or Aegis Overlord in some major scheme to tip the balance in their favor) and then is given the option to date and romance an NPC of their choice. Then, if successful, the game can start over with the player now controlling the child of that marriage. This adds continuity. And by being the child of the old PC, it explains how you inherit items, money, etc.
Yes, I suppose a massive Earth-Lunar War could be ended in just 1 year. But that
implies that one side or the other had a
major advantage or disadvantage of some sort (or several). In my mind, such a war should be drawn out in years, if not
decades.
