In-Game References

In-Game References...

One of the most awesome aspects of RPGs is the referencing of past and pop-culture. We've got a list up of references to use for the making of the game, maybe we can come with ideas on how to incorporate a hat-tip to each one. Also, any other aspect which is currently incorporated which seems to slightly reference other pop-culture could be given a feature that is a telltale sign of whom they closely represent.]
Like Sophia looking like Beatrix... we can have a nod at a previous acquaintance named Adel or Brahne or a peculiar interest in a dagger. And how about the vampire? The most obvious nod would go to Dracula, but the outfit has been done to death. As have turning transformation and weaknesses. Maybe we make him more of a nod to Edward Cullen from Twilight. Like something about the Lion Sebastian loving the Lamb Amira or whatever. I'm just tossing.

"The cake is a lie..." lol XD

I love this idea. It certainly makes it more fulfilling when a person plays a game when they understand these tips of the hat as well. So, once I become more familiar with the storyline and characters, I believe we should try to throw a few of these in.

SwordFighter_Dago wrote:"The cake is a lie..." lol XD

I'M CONFUSED!!!! My head hurts. I don't get the reference.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the+cake+is+a+lie

Ouuuuh... good one........... I'm trying to sound like Fletcher Reede on Liar Liar after Greta suggested an illness he could have to keep him off the phone. I can't find an actual reference to that which is why I felt I had to type the explanation.

Now I'm confused. If you are asking where the reference comes from, it's from a game called Portal (comes with the Orange Box). In that game, you have to complete a series of test chambers with a portal gun (the A.S.H.P.D.). The computer that instructs you offers you cake if you make it to the end. On the walls of some secret chambers, there was another test person who repeatedly wrote on the walls "the cake is a lie", and as it turns out, it actually was. This has since become a popular internet meme.

.... Anywho....

I like the idea of references, but I want something more original and subtle.

We could also eventually include an optional quiz mini-game where 10 out of 100 questions are randomly asked about the "nods." For instance, if we went with Beej's original design for Sophia Maxwell and included my nod, we could present a question like "What item did Sophia take a peculiar interest in?" The answers available would be something like "A) A sword. B) A dagger. C) A magic rod. D) A book." And the player would have to have paid attention or know the idea behind the reference to get the answer right.

The replies illustrate the drawback of references: they only work if you're familiar with the source. If we use them, they should make sense in context of the game and if you understand the source, that's icing on the cake, so to speak.

Well, I don't suggest tossing out random references just because we feel so inclined. But any chance we get to do so at a point in the game that makes sense... well, all right! But it's not like the references have to be integrated into the story. There are all kinds of ways to include hints, nods, and spoilers without being too obvious or even too subtle.

I remember an early PSX RPG where they had a bunch of cultural references. My favorite was when the party stops at a castle and are told the old one 'sank into the swamp'.

"All your base are belong to us"

LoL that was a cool line.

What I imagine in these references is something similar to what FFIX did to reference FFVII and FFVIII as far as the "No squall or cloud shall hinder us" or whatever that line was

Also, in the weapon shop in Lindblum if you examine the swords, Zidane says: "I remember a guy with spiky hair who used one of these...". He is referring to a buster sword used by Cloud from FFVII.

Anyways, those are just some subtle examples that could give us some ideas.

I have like close to 200 stories that I've been working on and most are loosely connected to the same world through mention of familiar characters. Mostly a guy named Jyo or Raiden. One and only one story is loosely connected to these through the mention of a character named Jet.

If there's anything in the plot of the story that sounds familiar (as if inspired by another game) we could reference a name or phrase which coincides with that inspired bit.

Like X's Shinra mentioning the theoretical use of Fayth to provide energy (like VII's Lifestream used by ShinRa).

If we have someone in the game who is behaving like Hitler, we can insert this phrase: "What luck for rulers that men do not think."

I could imagine Penumbra saying that to Lot or the Elders of Concordia. She'd have a somewhat acerbic sense of humor, verging on cruel.

I'm a big Gilbert and Sullivan fan and I could imagine Penumbra appearing to Lot in his garden at night and quoting this arias of Mad Magaret.

In a nest of weeds and nettles
Lay a violet, half-hidden,
Hoping that his glance unbidden
Yet might fall upon her petals.
Though she lived alone, apart,
Hope lay nestling at her heart,
But, alas, the cruel awaking
Set her little heart a-breaking,
For he gathered for his posies
Only roses, only roses!

She'd have a somewhat acerbic sense of humor

I seriously read this as

She'd have a somewhat arabic sense of humor. XD

It means cutting or biting. She would be good at teasing and taunting.

Or perhaps...

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
-Sir Winston Churchill

One of my favorite quotes of all time.

I could picture the Condordian Elder Antares saying that.

I leave that quote in your hands BG! You are the master of dialogue and scripting so, hopefully you can fit that in somewhere. Even if it is somewhat of an easter egg type thing, I want some part of each of the developer in the game!

Believe me, the problem isn't what to include, but what to cut out. We have enough raw material for two or three games here. But I've tried to conflate the main storyline suggestions into one more or less coherent whole. But I trust that the coding will bring the script to life.

Yes, I completely understand. I imagine that comes up a lot, though, about what to cut out. Seeing as how we have so many ideas of what to include and what not, we don't want to try and throw too many things in the game and lose out on quality. The whole quality over quantity, right?