I tried to make and write and hack before (Apokalipse Blade) but it ended up with alot of problems that wore me down:
I’m really bad at writing stories lol
Due to my bad attention spam, I always have difficult trying to create an story that makes sense and put things together
I just don’t like it, and it takes me so long to do one chapter, that ends up more like an shore than just fun.
I have more fun creating characters and maps than story (sooo much event stuff to manage in story).
I’m thinking about making an new hack from the start, but somehow without an story… you think it could work? Can I have some tips? Or you think story is essential in FE?
Doing a gameplay only FE hack is certainly possible. Just look at Iron Emblem. Just because story is a huge part of official FE games doesn’t mean your game has to fit that mold.
You still have to have some kind of story foundation in your hack. Even Iron Emblem has a basic plot hook and a war which your faceless squad is fighting in. Without that, your hack would just be guys slapping themselves against another group of guys for seemingly no reason and that isn’t particularly attractive.
You don’t need to go beyond that foundation if the gameplay side of hacking is what you find the most fun. Though you tell us that you also find making characters for your hack fun - it would be really difficult to convey the personalities and quirks of the characters you make without a story for them to express them in.
You can probably do a hack without a story, it kind of breaks the conventional way of thinking about FE hacks in my mind, but it can probably work. I mean MGS VR Missions exists, that’s just MGS gameplay without the story. Make some fun and/or challenging maps with clear objectives, do what you have fun with.
If you end up feeling like something needs to tie things together at some point, you can come up with at least a basic premise for the maps existing without needing to go into detail of a world or anything. For example, the units could just be a mercenary company and the maps are just battles they fought and the main character is telling some guy in a tavern about how they went.
Fire Emblem by its core nature is inherently a story generator, and its gameplay loop is tuned around creating stories. If you want to divert from the game’s story focus, I think you’ll need to design purposefully around it.
Doubled or Nothing is another good example where the “story” is really just there to set up the core gameplay mechanic at the start and is brushed aside past the beginning. Myrm Emblem and Westrian War also come to mind.
All of these projects also make it very clear from the get-go that they are projects that don’t care about the story, whether in the hack post or the game’s first impression or whatever. I’d say clearly communicating what your focus is when designing is also a big part of this, as it’ll set the player’s expectations properly when they go in.
In terms of writing a chapter taking long and feeling like a chore… to some extent, that’s just life. Creating a piece of art or media to be consumed and enjoyed by others will always take longer than it takes to consume it. A Fire Emblem chapter that might take a player 30 minutes to play through might take the creator 5 hours to make.
Same thing applies to the fun aspect. Creating a Fire Emblem chapter will never be as ‘in the moment fun’ as playing that Fire Emblem chapter is, for much the same reason making a grilled cheese sandwich doesn’t taste as good as eating a grilled cheese sandwich. But, like with any art, there is a profound sense of satisfaction to be found in making a thing that other people enjoy. So the ‘fun’ will come when the chapter is complete and people are playing it. You just need to be in it for the long haul.
Creation takes time and effort.
That said… yes, if the story aspect of Fire Emblem is dragging your creative endeavours, feel free to downplay it. It could be a super simple story like ‘The Demon King conquered my kingdom, now I’m conquering it back!’ and every chapter you’re fighting his minions and gaining new allies. Great, let’s get to the action!
I absolutely LOVE this concept!! I’ve never thought of that, but it would make such a great idea for a hack!! And if it’s like a tavern story, you can add in all the crazy map mechanics you want, because the MC would embellish what actually happened or only tell his best stories. This idea is so great, and perfect for a minimum-story game!! I would love to play something like this.
Speaking personally, as someone who cares a lot about story, I would rather play a campaign with minimal story than one that tried and failed to tell one without much skill or enthusiasm, so it feels like you’re making the right choice here.
Can always go the classic RTS route. TutorialTextbox scroll of schlocky “YOU have been tasked to ASSAULT the PROPER NOUN. To this end, you have been assigned NEW UNIT …” Staple on a few consistent setting details and you’re golden.
I’d recommend getting someone who knows about writing a story better than u to give some feedback once u r done with a chapter. I’m speaking from personal experience, I got trolled pretty badly last fee3 for writing badly. Try to get a basic but good story at the very least. Even mainline games get trolled like fates if the story is bad.
Tldr: a good story is an amazing thing to have in a hack imo