The Importance of Realism

[Diedrupo]

Obviously one should not implement a day/night system just for the sake of "realism", they should do it if it improves the gameplay.

I know that most RMXP games do not demonstrate proper use of a day/night system (due to the limits of a single game designer on a project), but come on, Ultima anyone? Zelda? Dragon Quest? Elder Scrolls? A lot of games utilize the system to good effect.

When it comes to commercial RPGs, all of the simple touches that add to realism improve them bigtime. After all, it's all about the role-playing, and what better to put you in the shoes of the adventurer then to have elements that make you actually feel like you are in that world?

Now obviously I do not recommend day/night or any other immersive features in RMXP game making since it consumes a significant amount of development time and will cause most people to never finish their games. You realistically need a large development team in order to accomodate such a project.

 

[Calibre]

When it comes to commercial RPGs, all of the simple touches that add to realism improve them bigtime.

I disagree that adding realism in commercial rpgs make them better. The reason I enjoy rpgs is because they are different to what I know and are new to discover.

I too find myself frustrated if it isn't a certain time when I want to do a particular thing, this applies to pther genres like in GTA. I particularly like how the light and ambience of a location can add to that particular vibe of a city and in turn make that city more real to me.

For instance if I was making a Chinese Village, I would have it always set at dusk with an orange hue as a sun setting over the village, for a crooks town I'd have it always set at night. Imagine Treno from FF during daytime... it wouldn't feel like Treno. So for me, at times, too much realism can detract from the setting I wish to create. It is all about the linearity or openess of your game at its method of progression through the game.