It will a Retro Zelda like game.
With some non original ... story.
All will be Low poly, but done with love

Gameplay, fun , diversity of items, special games, and simple cool story will be the main points.

---------------

The main features will be :

-Objets and Weapons gained throught story : Boomerang, Water Infinite jar,
Grappling Hook , Ice Climbing shoes etc ...
- Weapons will have their own special powerull power:
It will charge progressively as you strike, it will be long to charge , but devastating !
-Gems system with very simple equip system :
weapon / Shields / Bracelet, Rings
No more unidentified items ... why loosing time to identify ?
- Your class will be determined by your weapon and your gems and skills
Sword and shield + Health gems + regeneration skills = Templar : classic combat
Daggers (fast combat) + critical/speed gems + Fire skills (damage over time)= Thief of Fire : Fast attack each ennemie ,and let consume by fire
Iron Gloves + Streng gems + Ice skills (Slow each touched ennemy) = Monk of Ice : Slow ennemies core gameplay
Bow + dodge/counter gems + Wind skills (fast teleport, push ennemies away) = Thief of Wind : keep distance and throw away gameplay
Mechanic Robot + Hide/Health gems + Storm skill (Less attack and defense of ennemies for some time) :
Robot assist gameplay and sabotage
etc ...
There is just some examples, and you will be able to make really special combinations.

-Change gems as you want , nor more need to destroy Item or gems ...
-Hability to buy or find flying pets (each have unique hability : Attack power, steal gold from defeated ennemies etc ...)
- Vehicles on some zones ...with special vehicle quest and games (submarine, kart ...)
-Dodge ability
-Skill slots ( you can Choose 4 skills among powers and summons )
-varied worlds : Forest, jungle,desert, lava etc ...(zone loading system)
- Skills given by masters over the world (train or do some mission they give to you to gain the skill)
It will be hidden master you'll have to discover , or find by talking with some NPC giving some Clues
(Active skills is given by master, passive skills can be gained by doing side quests or by NPC)
- Additionnal tree skill to unlock character unique skills : 4 branches
- different clothing to Wear any time (Clothes won't affect stats), like Phantasy Star 2, you'll gain clothes on some side quests, some will be available on shops, some will be hidden
- Mysteries on the world : Special places, with special things or actions to do.
(Clues will be found by talking with some NPC, or reading some book on some Shelve)
For example some NPC will give you a key for a door opening on some lake where you'll dive in and catch some shells.
Some statue that you'll have to activate with some special ations ...
These mysteries will reward you with special items : wearing masks, hats ... special weapon ...

So is pretty big, but making Low poly stuff , the creation of 3D models could go fast.
it's a list of all features and ideas that i would want to include but some perhaps some will be abandonned, depending on how much amount of work and time it costs.

Perhaps the game will turn in something lot more simple without gems and lot of skills, something more Zelda style.

---------------------------

It won't be so much gems and weapons, skills, wearings, accessories in the game :
I want to keep it simple !
So i target :
-5 weapons of each category, some hidden, some find during a side quest ...
-20 gems type (fire power, attack + , Def +, Faster Power charge etc ...)
-10 combat skills active, 20 passive skills
-10 different clothes
-10 accessories : Masks, hats
- 5 different pets

It seems low, but behind this is a big amount of work ...

Perhaps as the game progess i'll add stuff ?? (but dungeons, ennemies, NPC, quests etc ... is LOT LOT LOT OF WORK already)

Like Zelda games the game will focus on dungeons, puzzles/gameplay , fun NPC and dialogs , AND FUN ENTERTAINMENT !

Let's begin with some WIP level :



Some basic trees textures, rady to make a forest



For trees 3D tiles , i really would like some bounding box collision for the 3D tile,the problem is that the level is entirely made in Blender, and not 3D tiles glued at runtime by 3DGS.

There is 2 solutions for now :

- export world from Blender and use polygon collision (even for trees)
For optimisation : Make More little levels parts branching between them !
disadvantage : collision in 3DGS could eat too much CPU to manage collisions per polygon with all trees.
advantage : Fast trees 3D tile placement with Blender.

- Make trees as a separate MDL model with bounding box collision that i'll have to place in WED on the levels ?
disadvantage : working with WED is a pain and slow

-------------

I'll have to find a good texture style, something more improved like this trees : (even the grass have a good style i could use)


Stop level design, im' borred, next step :
- one bad ass
- one flying bird for the forest
- One weapon
- Artwork of one style of hero character

fisrt bad ass :
Sculptris is great to quickly prototype and make your characters or mobs , you put the main shapes quickly before retopology.
That's the way i prefer instead of modeling low poly directy , it's lot more intuitive (Add/substract volume ,smooth etc ..)




Retopo finished, later texture painting and rigging animating !


This is working on the game i understand why a bunch of indie game makers take some retro way in graphics to concentrate on gameplay/features:
-Ultra low poly models
-2D sprites
-retro low res textures)
etc ...
(Or because they don't have skills to do realitic or good graphics some times also)

Cartoon texturing.
Perhaps i'll keep this style to go fast ?

looks nice, though the line in the middle of the model is irritating(it seems its part of the mesh too?)

The line is avery known texturing little problem.
To remove this visible seam, the solution is to paint some little over the original UV groups !

i mean the line on the non textured version, slightly noticeable but there. Looks like the axis wher a mirror modifier was used

This the symmetry mode in Sculptris
Nothing very strange or noticeable.

it's not a problem once retopology, there is no more seams, and you can always remove them by painting on the texture directly if needed like all people do !

----------

Trying some art direction prototypes for NPC :


I think i'll stick with the little model style , more cartoon !

Oh, hey, an isometric action rpg!

Looks nice! I like the simple, clear look. It reminds me a bit more of the DS Pokemon-games, rather than Zelda, though, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. Compared to Zelda, they are a bit less detailed, more plain and colorful, but that makes the active sprites "pop out" more. Examples 1 and 2.

Since you are creating all levels yourself here, you are a lot more flexible with the tiles and can do crazy stuff with them, and I'm happy you did that. Adding more polygons and depth and form to it is a good way to go, I think. Of course, if you overdo it, people will expect more than one kind of tree


You're saying that you're aiming to keep it simple, but your feature list doesn't seem like it!
Let's discuss one example. The only Zelda games I know of that feature what could be called "Pets" are the Oracle Games*. They have three animals shared across two games. You want to have five! And thats just such a minor side issue!
Since it probably entails gameplay and controls different from the usual, I'd say keep that out of the picture for now, and concentrate on just a small, self-contained episode. Perhaps add a second, stronger sword, but let me tell ya, it's no fun creating dozens of weapons and making them interesting. We settled with randomly generated (and then adjusted) equipment for Dungeon Deities, and I guess that was the right decision for the kind of game that Dungeon Deities is. I don't think so for your game, though - yours is a single story, whereas DD is designed for repeated play in short bursts with new stuff to discover (mostly by many random and different things interacting). This leads to a less controlled experience, which does not fit your overall structure IMHO.
All that being said, of course you can keep these features in mind. I'm just saying, don't start with them.

Try creating the typical Zelda-thing up until the first dungeon. It should give you a good idea what you need, both code- and artwise.

Also, I love how you consistently call your enemies "bad ass". That's amazing.



* - Please do not discuss any of these issues:
a) whether or not talking boats constitute as "pet" (they don't)
b) what the heck midna actually was supposed to be (whatever it is, it wasn't a pet)
c) that gigantic bird in skyward sword (it gets lost in the first stupid minute, what kinda pet is that)

(Btw, I could have sworn that you were asking about certain details on how DungeonDeities handles things - but I can't find it anymore. Have I dreamed that, or have you edited those out? In any case, if you want to know something, just ask and I'll try to reply)

Thanks

. It reminds me a bit more of the DS Pokemon-games, rather than Zelda
That's what i thought after making some beginning of level with rounded trees. And it wasn't what i wanted , even if good for a retro game.
The trees are placed in some squarre pattern, and they should put in some cross patterns instead to avoid seeing too much alignment !

Perhaps i'll make the trees as separate models i'll put in WED ?



So next step will be somewhat some more rounded , and colors like that :



One game that inspires me actually is one that have the NES retro look :



( More informations on this game here : Soldier of game )

I could go for characters and monster sprites also to go even more faster on creation ?
It would be a lot more retro direction

----------------

I'd say keep that out of the picture for now, and concentrate on just a small, self-contained episode. Perhaps add a second, stronger sword, but let me tell ya, it's no fun creating dozens of weapons and making them interesting

I think you are rigtht about weapons, perhaps i sould stay away from RPG and go Full Zelda. With only gems to customize weapon powers (fire , ice ...) , gems you find, or gain finishing side quests ?

whereas DD is designed for repeated play in short bursts with new stuff to discover

I like that idea, and i think i'll try a way that will give replayability also one the game is finished.
It could be some new levels/quests/equipments,characters etc ... only one finished some of Three stroy endings for example.
In each slot save , it would be some stars and other stats showing how much you completed the game.
At 100% completition, special rewards and levels ?

---------------

One point i will keep, will be mini games in the game, but later once completed the main game enought !
(catapult to use in some level, ski race on another ... flying plane in some section or on rail action throught the sky or underwater ? etc ... )

--------------
I love how you consistently call your enemies "bad ass"
That's more fun talking than saying the boring word "ennemies" each time

So yes i'll have to use better cartoon style , perhaps choose a more retro look or more varied and rounded models ...
And make a simple first area first!