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Final Fantasy Zero Design Diary REVIVED: What Happens At The Table
Posted 8th October 2008 at 06:24 PM by Kamikaze Midget
Updated 8th October 2008 at 06:27 PM by Kamikaze Midget
Updated 8th October 2008 at 06:27 PM by Kamikaze Midget
I'm going to start this off with a declaration:
FINAL FANTASY ZERO is, in part, about telling a story.
Stories have beginnings, middles, and ends.
I want you to be able to tell an entire FFZ story in the course of a year.
SO:
THE ONE YEAR FINAL FANTASY ZERO GAME
This all started off with this question: How many rules are you actually going to use?
How many levels do you cover before you start a new campaign, or your group dissolves for some reason?
IMXP, my D&D sessions don't cover much. I've topped out at about 10 levels, and that at a rather absurd rate of advancement (one level per session or every other session).
30 levels? Because FFZ is unabashedly narrative, that means that it intends to begin and end. If level 1 is the beginning, and level 30 is the end, how long does it take you to tell the story? How long before you get to tell a new story?
I did some calculations based on my own evidence and what I've seen distilled from WotC.
That means that in a year of game play, there are 36 sessions that will get you through 12 levels...
....and here, we had a problem. When FFZ had between 30 and 60 levels, we would not get to tell the ENTIRE STORY.
To play through 30 levels at this rate, takes two and a half years. I haven't worked many jobs for that long at this point in my life. That is way too long to assume that a game is going to be going on for.
That's 360 hours of gameplay.
Three hundred and sixty.
The longest I've spent on any one FF game was 70 hours.
We have an issue.
This fantastic revelation that I couldn't even fit HALF of my game into one year has had a dramatic effect on the game. I want to fit the WHOLE THING there. You shouldn't need to play for more than that to get to the point you want. Dedicating even a year to meeting once a week is a HUGE undertaking in schedules and commitment. I'm nervous about even asking for that much!
But, I am. I fiddled with some numbers, and I have the structure for a one-year game. For 15 levels.
Doesn't sound that impressive, does it?
But the Maths for the game work pretty well like this. Your level is now your direct bonus (rather than 1/4 or 1/2 or some other weird division).
This also encourages me to make more classes with fewer abilities apiece, which is a good idea. I'm finding this suits the FF feel a bit better than my old philosophy of "a small number of very inclusive classes." Before, I combined classes. The "soldier" job I had was a hodgepodge of abilities from at least four different, unrelated classes. Dark Knights and Paladins were the same thing that also included Break abilities. This had the side-effect of leaving some jobs a little under-funded. Dragoons can jump and....maybe some of Freya's spells? And then what? I've got 30 or so levels to fill, here!!!
So it's 15 levels. And because of FFZ's narrative structure, you should be planning out at least a skeleton of your story over the course of the year. You can plan ahead, anticipate holidays, truly realize what level people will be at, and, when free time strikes you, you can prepare for later in your story, because you will know the general thrust of it.
It's still a lot of game time. 180 hours isn't a small amount, and a year is still something of a commitment. But I think the game will be better for it.
As a side benefit, it also means class design is going a lot faster.
So here, I'll attach the basic "class table" that I'm using. Every job will follow this model.
Next up will be some pregen characters. After that, the Intro Adventure.
My goal right now is to get this game played.
After that, we'll worry about adding content.
FINAL FANTASY ZERO is, in part, about telling a story.
Stories have beginnings, middles, and ends.
I want you to be able to tell an entire FFZ story in the course of a year.
SO:
THE ONE YEAR FINAL FANTASY ZERO GAME
- Takes about 180 hours.
- Those hours are spaced out in about 45 sessions four-hour sessions.
- These sessions happen about four times a month
- You should gain one level every three sessions, for a total of 15 levels.
- Where you depart from this set-up, you should be able to predict when you'll get through your story based, fundamentally, on the "hours" and the "sessions."
This all started off with this question: How many rules are you actually going to use?
How many levels do you cover before you start a new campaign, or your group dissolves for some reason?
IMXP, my D&D sessions don't cover much. I've topped out at about 10 levels, and that at a rather absurd rate of advancement (one level per session or every other session).
30 levels? Because FFZ is unabashedly narrative, that means that it intends to begin and end. If level 1 is the beginning, and level 30 is the end, how long does it take you to tell the story? How long before you get to tell a new story?
I did some calculations based on my own evidence and what I've seen distilled from WotC.
- About four hours per session
- About three sessions per month (one week off for holidays or whatever)
- You should gain one level every 3-ish sessions. This gives you time to use the abilities from your previous level against a diversity of opponents, and some time in between levels to stock up on treasure and explore your plateau.
That means that in a year of game play, there are 36 sessions that will get you through 12 levels...
....and here, we had a problem. When FFZ had between 30 and 60 levels, we would not get to tell the ENTIRE STORY.
To play through 30 levels at this rate, takes two and a half years. I haven't worked many jobs for that long at this point in my life. That is way too long to assume that a game is going to be going on for.
That's 360 hours of gameplay.
Three hundred and sixty.
The longest I've spent on any one FF game was 70 hours.
We have an issue.
This fantastic revelation that I couldn't even fit HALF of my game into one year has had a dramatic effect on the game. I want to fit the WHOLE THING there. You shouldn't need to play for more than that to get to the point you want. Dedicating even a year to meeting once a week is a HUGE undertaking in schedules and commitment. I'm nervous about even asking for that much!
But, I am. I fiddled with some numbers, and I have the structure for a one-year game. For 15 levels.
Doesn't sound that impressive, does it?
But the Maths for the game work pretty well like this. Your level is now your direct bonus (rather than 1/4 or 1/2 or some other weird division).
This also encourages me to make more classes with fewer abilities apiece, which is a good idea. I'm finding this suits the FF feel a bit better than my old philosophy of "a small number of very inclusive classes." Before, I combined classes. The "soldier" job I had was a hodgepodge of abilities from at least four different, unrelated classes. Dark Knights and Paladins were the same thing that also included Break abilities. This had the side-effect of leaving some jobs a little under-funded. Dragoons can jump and....maybe some of Freya's spells? And then what? I've got 30 or so levels to fill, here!!!
So it's 15 levels. And because of FFZ's narrative structure, you should be planning out at least a skeleton of your story over the course of the year. You can plan ahead, anticipate holidays, truly realize what level people will be at, and, when free time strikes you, you can prepare for later in your story, because you will know the general thrust of it.
It's still a lot of game time. 180 hours isn't a small amount, and a year is still something of a commitment. But I think the game will be better for it.
As a side benefit, it also means class design is going a lot faster.
So here, I'll attach the basic "class table" that I'm using. Every job will follow this model.
Next up will be some pregen characters. After that, the Intro Adventure.
My goal right now is to get this game played.
After that, we'll worry about adding content.
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