Role-playing game

From DmWiki

An RPG is a Role-Playing Game. This genre of computer game was originally derived from pen and paper role-playing games. Both types of games have the player take on the "role" of some character in a world. While, many computer games provide the player with some role, they are not considered RPGs (for example, in the Doom games one plays a marine). The term RPG denotes a certain style of gameplay:

• Requires gaining experience points (XP), money, or items to advance combat abilities.
• Party based; many RPGs allow or require a group of characters.
• Character class selection; allows the player to choose between a limited number of ability sets (such as fighter, magic-user, or thief).
• Combat is commonly handled by target selection and option menu.
• Has a large monster list.
• Random encounters provide the player with the best opportunity to gain the XP, money, and items necessary for advancement.
• An inventory to hold a limited number of items. The player must make choices about which items to keep and which to discard.
• A character sheet contains various stats; level, XP, hit points (HP), fatigue, and combat scores are common. It can include any value which will affect the player's ability to move around the world, to attack monsters, and to defend himself.

Newer RPGs have delved into stories, plot twists, and world building and thus modified some aspects of the prior gameplay:

• Random encounters are not required if sufficient planned encounters take place.
• Monster variety can be scrapped in favor of improved storyline; Deus Ex made excellent use of a few "monster" types.
• Combat can take a backseat to item collecting, Non-Player Character (NPC) interaction, exploration, and puzzle solving.
• A variety of subplots, side routes, or side quests is present. In many cases, the player will have a satisfying game experience without following the main storyline.
• Depth of story can exceed other genres. The rich storyline has many characters, and the virtual world is fully fleshed-out and has its own history and culture.
• In 3D RPGs, the camera is typically a third-person camera. Many such RPGs have placed it either directly overhead or at a 30 degree isometric position.

Graphics

Graphics span from no graphics (text characters and text descriptions). These include text adventure games or interactive fiction (IF) games as well as roguelike games.

This evolved into 2D tile based graphic games,and finaly to fully 3D rendered worlds. Currently yhe combination of 2D photo-realistic backdrops with 3D rendered foreground characters is a popular choice. Even with the rush to 3D, tile based RPGs still have a place in sales, and although text-based MUDs, MUSHes, and MUSEs, have waned in popularity with the advent of MMORPGs, they still exist and have large followings.

Combat

RPGs once used turn-based combat; today many use quasi-real-time combat systems. Option menus are fading to the action button (or key) for single player / single character RPGs, while for many single player / multi-character RPGs, the action still stops when the option menu is invoked. And while the engine keeps the action moving, careful observation shows an initiative system at work in the background.

Combat resolution was once all hand waving and hidden random number generation. The on screen character would make the attack gesture and the engine would print a hit or miss message. Today, engines are capable of directing the graphics with hit or miss animations, and even incorporate action genre attack systems. Even with such options available, some RPGs still come out with the old-style hand waving and success message.

History

The first RPGs were based on pen and paper counterparts and utilized level advancement, stats, initiative, and combat resolution systems similar to Dungeons and Dragons. Today RPGs derive their core components from a much wider array of pen and paper games, and hand crafted systems. System selection or construction needs to fit the story, character types, and action style. The advantage of using a known pen and paper system is game balance; the problem can be fit. Certain stories demand actions that available systems do not cover or allow.

This article is a stub. You can help improve the article by expanding it.