Do you create fictional worlds?

[kyonides]

I mean, even if you're working on the RPGXP or VX, do you still keep creating new continents, lands, kingdoms, republics, creatures even if they can't be included in your own projects?

What if you can't add them to your list of monsters, heroes, weapons, lands, etc.?

Do you write down all of your ideas? If so, do you write a story about it?

Do you develop other aspects of those lands or creatures?

Would your world look more like Middle Earth on JRR Tolkien works? Or would your world be more unique, original?

 

[Despain]

yes

and they're very much different from middle earth and typical high fantasy world

 

[Spoo]

make  them?

i live in one

 

[mawk]

I've got just one fictional world kicking around in my head right now. I've been forming it before I start with my games, so that I can draw on what I already have and keep things cohesive. I doubt that any of my games are going to be big world-spanning things; I just like games where the world has more to it than is readily apparent in a game, and this way I'll always be able to try and flesh out different parts of it if for some reason I'm not already wiped out after the fact -- since I'm opposed to direct same-character sequels, that's really my only choice in the matter!

I'd consider myself a creative failure if I ended up recreating anything Tolkien had made, though.

 

[Grathea]

Eh, depends. Most of my games DO take place in the same overall world, but it's really not all that obvious unless you pay attention to the backstory/optional sidestories. Also, they take place in different places at different times. Motifs are repeated though, so it's fair enough to say yes.

And yes, I write stories that take place in these fictional worlds, although the majority of my fiction takes place in a coherent universe like and unlike our own, and centers around one of three different groups of people/forces.

I'd consider myself a creative failure if I ended up recreating anything Tolkien had made, though.

This fairly sums it up, though.

 

[Onyx Tanuki]

Yep. Most of the time I end up starting with a hero party and/or a theme that one or more fits. Often I get ideas for worlds to sprout from them, and many of them become viable RPG worlds.

I can only think of one situation where an RPG doesn't fit as well as just making a story. It's something with a mercenary protecting a boy with healing powers, and has a theme of defining pain (the protagonist can't experience physical pain, but the story itself puts his emotional and mental state through the wringer). It's meant to have a gritty noir feel, kinda like Blade Runner, and I seriously doubt it'd make much sense for him to run from point A to point B fighting legions of thugs who have no real reason to attack him as opposed to simply picking his pockets or whatever.

More often than not, I'll compose cutscenes that involve characters, and that will help shape the world around them. My biggest hurdle is putting in the in-between sections. It's like animated. I know what it'll look like at given keyframes, but I have problems putting the images between those keyframes in.

Er... am I getting too off-topic?

 

[Zekallinos]

Sometimes, I ponder about other settings I could make for another project, or possible scenarios of whatever sequel I could possibly make, but I try to be careful, too many ideas means not working on the main one, which is not a good way to get anywhere.

 

[Stardust]

make  them?

i live in one

Although this was probably meant as a joke more than anything, I actually do try to put myself in a world.  I find that I get a better idea of what a character would say if I try to become them.  In almost all my major stories, I end up playing out certain scenes in my head over and over again, refining it until it fits the story and the setting as perfectly as I can get it.  To be honest, I can't believe that anyone could make a decent game without thinking about the whole world first.

 

[kaze950]

I'd consider myself a creative failure if I ended up recreating anything Tolkien had made, though.

To be fair, Tolkien got a lot of his stuff from Norse Mythology.

I generally try to create a different world for every game. I can't even begin working on a project until I've mapped out the continent and countries and created a backstory, not necessarily long and detailed, for it. I plan so much I often forget about the actual game...which is probably why I never get anything done.

 

[High Hopes]

I've created a whole line of characters, and modified our current world to suit them.

 

[Venetia]

make  them?

i live in one

Although this was probably meant as a joke more than anything, I actually do try to put myself in a world.  I find that I get a better idea of what a character would say if I try to become them.  In almost all my major stories, I end up playing out certain scenes in my head over and over again, refining it until it fits the story and the setting as perfectly as I can get it.  To be honest, I can't believe that anyone could make a decent game without thinking about the whole world first.

Actually Guardian I do this too

I'm such a ham, sometimes I say/act lines aloud, to see if they sound natural or not. This is always recommended for amateur playwrights so I don't see why people don't recommend it for game writers. It's not like you're LARPing, you're just experimenting with ideas.

But a world is a vast place. If you make one and you DON'T live, breathe, and shit it, then you can't really expect it to be fleshed out very well!

 

[candle]

I actually, do the same thing, though usually just for the protagonist and a few other important characters.  I try to create a new world for each project.  I've got a few I'm working on right now

One is medieval technology with four races: Humans Elves, Lycans, and Vampires.  The latter two were byproducts of a war between the formers long ago.

Another is modern-day and post-apocalyptic.  It actually spans two parallel worlds nearly identical to our own.  Basically a cataclysm happens in the near future of one causing a ;long and devastating war.  Near the end, the "hero" makes a last ditch effort and ends up a couple decades back in an alternate universe.

Another has countries whose populations are mostly human, but are ruled by dragons (not traditional dragons)

Yet another is modern-day, but involves Magi, Vampires, Elves, Humans (Who for the most part are blissfully unaware of the others), and others.  Think Harry Potter, but with a much darker and more American feel.  And without the generic "bad-guy-kills-hero's-family-so-hero-must-kill-him-and-stop-the-evil-that-would-rule-the-earth" plot, too.

I still have others yet to be fully explored.

 

[Spoo]

make  them?

i live in one

Although this was probably meant as a joke more than anything, I actually do try to put myself in a world.  I find that I get a better idea of what a character would say if I try to become them.  In almost all my major stories, I end up playing out certain scenes in my head over and over again, refining it until it fits the story and the setting as perfectly as I can get it.  To be honest, I can't believe that anyone could make a decent game without thinking about the whole world first.

You were right; it was a joke, but I imagine things in my life as they would be in a fantasy world.  The woods behind my house?  They're this week's inspiration for an elven wood.  A rest station I pass on the in interstate? Possibly an inn on a lonely forest trail.  The possibilities are endless. 

 

[Zethus]

i do often get into my own fantasy world i make up... often ways to think of revenge on those that have bullied me. you don't wanna know how many ways i've thinking on that

 

[Ellie]

I started off with the idea that my game was actually set in medieval Britain, and the hero was high (i.e. magic and shit). But I slowly grew away from that idea after realising Britain is kinda boring for the setting of a whole game, and the planet Earth itself is too big. (You'd get people in Slough pissed off that you missed them out between Scotland and Africa )

 

[mawk]

i do often get into my own fantasy world i make up... often ways to think of revenge on those that have bullied me.

"oh yeah? well... well... FIRAGA!"