One Off Mechanics

[Jayrodd]

So pokemon isn't really known for it's overworld mechanics, usually forms of HM puzzles, or bike tricks. Every once in a while, however, we get something cool that is unique to an area and gives it a little more life. Think of it like a gym puzzle but more than just for a gym. This is something I'd like to see more of on routes or in dungeons, and they can be really simple to whatever you want. One example I had was to make a place like Fortree City more memorable is instead of walking along a path, maybe you have a vine that you swing from to get around. Maybe there there is a route that has puddles in it and there are blocks of sponge around that you can put on them to uncover secret items etc. Part of the issue is the amount of work in animation and code that it takes to pull off things like this but we're a smart community, we can get around that.

• Brainstorm some ideas that fit this type of concept
• Talk about any times games have done this, either well or poorly and what made it good/could be done better
• Tell us how this can improve a player experience and make your game better

 

[Evan]

I'm definitely a huge fan of interested overworld mechanics, be it the Acro Bike tricks, or PokéRide in general. I think it adds a lot more depth to Pokémon, rather than it just being about traveling, doing your turn based battle, and traveling again. Different things to do on the overworld helps Pokemon feel like less of a game with one gimmick and more of a full immersion into a world.

I happen to think that what they did with PokeRide in gen 7 was a great start to this, and I hope they continue to build on that--using Pokemon in interesting ways to traverse otherwise dangerous terrain is just a super cool concept.

 

[Alaguesia]

What comes to mind is Kalos Route 19, the little platforms where you can hop, my first thought was "If I was really a trainer I would never hop to such small platforms", but doing it ingame was actually fun, made me remember golden sun and their puzzles, but there you usually have to move some rocks to hop on to complete paths to new areas or shortcuts, its essentially what strenght does in Pokemon, but strength puzzles have become almost not existent in new games, sun moon has some and thanks to the ride pager you dont need to bring a certain pokemon to do them, but most are easy or straight paths, I think I have only blocked my way and had to reset the puzzle in one of the tapu ruins because I couldnt see the whole room and moved the stones the wrong way, but that was the only "hard" one.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

I really like vine swinging mechanics, I wish we got it in more places than just Kalos' Grass gym!

Speaking of places with mechanics I wish we got more, the wind pushing up on the way to the championship in BW2 was a pretty neat mechanic-I think a windy route could have some interesting puzzles to it. (maybe wind that the player has to time to get through, or that pushes the player away like currents when surfing)

 

[Dragonite]

I had a nice, long post written up and then I realized this thread was about "one-off mechanics that we liked" and not "HMs that we wished existed." Don't ask.

From existing games, things that I hope to see again:

- floating cities like Pacifidlog (or mostly floating cities)
- the leaf piles from Route Something in X and Y
- Catching Farfetch'd in HGSS
- Almost everything about the layout of Mt. Coronet

Gimmicks that will cause me to quit Pokémon if they ever come back:

- Rhydon and Mamoswine segments from X and Y
- The one cave in X and Y with a clipping distance of like 0.1
- Braille

 

[Evan]

- Braille

I actually enjoyed the Braille! It was fun to have to look up all that information back in a time when we didn't really have too much internet access to figure out these puzzles--rumors would run throughout the school and we'd all sort of group-figure-out that we needed Relicanth and Wailord, and all that nonsense. It provided a cool mythos to the games and I loved that it was done.

I guess I couldn't really see that being as effective today.

 

[Grapz]

One-off mechanics?

Oh Pokemon is full of em. Following Pokemon, Roaming Pokemon, Outfits, Acro vs Macho Bike, The Celebi Event, Johto's Sliding tiles, etc etc.

Heck, even the Safari Zone could be considered a 1-off mechanic! (You don't use pokemon in a battle)

Designing these mechanics is interesting. If you are dealing with non-RMXP engine's they're basically limitless.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

Er, a lot of those aren't really one-off overworld mechanics-following Pokemon and outfits lasted the whole game (and outfits returned in SM), and roaming Pokemon and the Safari Zone (both of which are in multiple games) are more battle mechanics than overworld.

 

[Caeles]

I actually think that pokémon fangames could benefit a lot for other games which has done this before like Zelda or Jak&Daxter. I always missed some sort of puzzle-themed dungeons in the main games. They don't need to be as big or as well developed like those, but it would be nice to have something like the previous gym puzzles.

I love mechanics that have you going back and forth of "realms" and doing one thing in one to influenciate the other, although that will be quite the challenge to explain ingame xD Also water puzzles. I love Zelda's Water Temples. Never get tired of those. Yeah, I know, I'm a monster

 

[Fontbane]

I liked the Rock Climbing mechanic from Cyllage City Gym, and looking back it would've been really cool to incorporate that into a Rock Climb Poké Ride. It could give some depth to mountainous routes or the Rock Climb HM from Gen 4, which I really liked actually. Maybe in Sinnoh remakes they could have this?

 

[Djaco75]

I'm not really a fan of one-off mechanics, personally. Especially with HMs. However, there are some mechanics that I did enjoy and I felt like they added something to the game. Here are a few:

• PokeRider in Sun and Moon
• Latios and Latias riding in ORAS
• Mirage Spots

 

[Aki]

My favorite feature that needs to come back and be in all the fan games is Following Pokemon!

• Just seeing your pokemon there is awesome and really cute
• Easy to interact and bond with your pokemon at any time, no need to go through a menu
• The interactions that change with the environment and type of the pokemon are adorable (Pokemon like the smell of mom's cookign at home, Fire pokemon are grumpy if you're standing in a puddle)
• Random free items!

Pokemon Amie and Pokemon Refresh are nice since there's more ways to interact, but I still miss having a companion by my side...Another feature I allways liked is Secret Bases, but admittedly they get stale once the player has access to all available base spots and items. Secret Bases need to social functions in order to stay interesting I think.

 

[Radical Raptr]

what about making HM's be items, but having a slight minigame, where if you want to cut a tree, there's like a little range, where the cursor moves left to right, and if you hit the button at the middle, it cuts it instantly, or you could mash it and cut it slower, or having a little more effort when you go fishing?

Or incorporating Animal Crossing events into Pokemon, like the bug catching or fishing events, it would be a lot of fun to have things like that to do, and get items from as well!

Also, more games should use the mining tool that essentials includes, it's pretty cool and a neat way to give the player unique items

 

[TheGamingPaladin]

what about making HM's be items, but having a slight minigame, where if you want to cut a tree, there's like a little range, where the cursor moves left to right, and if you hit the button at the middle, it cuts it instantly, or you could mash it and cut it slower, or having a little more effort when you go fishing?

Or incorporating Animal Crossing events into Pokemon, like the bug catching or fishing events, it would be a lot of fun to have things like that to do, and get items from as well!

Also, more games should use the mining tool that essentials includes, it's pretty cool and a neat way to give the player unique items

i loved Mining in Pokemon Platinum, it definitely needs to be used more, especially in trade for high end goodies, which sadly are not that often sought when there's no PVP to speak of in Essentials.

 

[Radical Raptr]

i loved Mining in Pokemon Platinum, it definitely needs to be used more, especially in trade for high end goodies, which sadly are not that often sought when there's no PVP to speak of in Essentials.

Yeah, since there's no PVP aspect the only other option would be to have some sort of battle tower situation near the end game, which wouldn't be so bad but it makes the mining less useful because of the kinds of items it would give you.

But, you could always change what items you get from it, and make it really unique and actually useful, like getting shards that could be exchanged for TM's or getting Evolution stones - also you could have a little unique looking tile just randomly in certain maps and have the mining option basically anywhere almost like a little hidden item - you could even have the mining thing be like randomly on a route, but after using it 3 times it's used up, or maybe you can only mine once every few hours and have it on a cooldown.

 

[TheGamingPaladin]

Yeah, since there's no PVP aspect the only other option would be to have some sort of battle tower situation near the end game, which wouldn't be so bad but it makes the mining less useful because of the kinds of items it would give you.

But, you could always change what items you get from it, and make it really unique and actually useful, like getting shards that could be exchanged for TM's or getting Evolution stones - also you could have a little unique looking tile just randomly in certain maps and have the mining option basically anywhere almost like a little hidden item - you could even have the mining thing be like randomly on a route, but after using it 3 times it's used up, or maybe you can only mine once every few hours and have it on a cooldown.

i would definitely prefer a cooldown in that case, or a daily reset, something along those lines.

 

[Radical Raptr]

i would definitely prefer a cooldown in that case, or a daily reset, something along those lines.

Yeah I agree, a cooldown makes the most sense, it's typically what games with that feature do so you can't farm it endlessly.
What would be really interesting to make the loot you get from mining more useful, is if scattered throughout the region, there were little mosaic puzzles - when you mine, you can find those colored shards, so what would be really cool to see is making puzzles that utilize the shards you collect as puzzle pieces in the mosaic puzzle to unlock some sort of thing. It would make the items have more of a purpose beyond being traded for TM's and add a fun challenge - the puzzle could use the dreaded sliding puzzles I like that everyone seems to hate hahaha

 

[Fontbane]

Yeah I agree, a cooldown makes the most sense, it's typically what games with that feature do so you can't farm it endlessly.
What would be really interesting to make the loot you get from mining more useful, is if scattered throughout the region, there were little mosaic puzzles - when you mine, you can find those colored shards, so what would be really cool to see is making puzzles that utilize the shards you collect as puzzle pieces in the mosaic puzzle to unlock some sort of thing. It would make the items have more of a purpose beyond being traded for TM's and add a fun challenge - the puzzle could use the dreaded sliding puzzles I like that everyone seems to hate hahaha

Ah yes, I love those sliding puzzles! Incorporating them into some kind of crafting system (something like "arrange these blue shards into a Water Stone!") would be a great idea for a mechanic!

 

[Radical Raptr]

Ah yes, I love those sliding puzzles! Incorporating them into some kind of crafting system (something like "arrange these blue shards into a Water Stone!") would be a great idea for a mechanic!

I never even considered that - like making it so you craft the pieces, and then use them to make the image of a sliding puzzle to get a water stone, thats way better than I initially thought and it would make those shards be way cooler