It should be like Chrono Trigger's battle system: The on-map style, but turn-based with all sorts of cool move effects and stuff! Also, directional attacks that hit multiple enemies, etc.

It also allows for multiple party members where classic ARPG really doesn't.

Turn-based.
You have mental sanity, which is like health. Lose all of it and you go insane and die.
Secondary statistics are also shared:
Ponies: for Omnimagans
Programming Stamina: programmers
Despicability: teachers and TI people
Processing Power: drones

You can program, post, Omnom, lobster, or use an item.
Programming takes anywhere from 2 to 50 time units and requires a calculator and programming skill. It is capable of dealing direct damage to the enemy, as well as possibly invoking side effects. You gain 1 to 10 ponies in the process, but lose programming stamina.
Posting has 2 possibilities: trolling/flaming (1 tu, 1 pony) deals a small amount of damage but possibly makes the enemy backlash, and regular posting (2 tu, 3 ponies) deals more damage.
Omnoming costs 1 tu and 4 ponies, and gives AoE effects.
Items vary. They can deal damage, heal, or other stuff, and take 1 tu and no ponies. Proposed items:
Jar 'o Ponies: Gives you or an Omnimagan 20 ponies.
Big Jar 'o Ponies: Gives 80 ponies.
Elixir of Sanity: Gives 100 mental sanity.
Great Elixir of Sanity: Gives 200 mental sanity.
Milk: Cures chronic insanity (by-turn loss of mental sanity).
Nerve Poison: -20 MS; Chron. Ins. 2 per turn.
Lethal NP: -200 MS; Chron. Ins. 25 per turn.
Spilled Coffee: -10 PP for drones.
Coffee: +10 PS for programmers.
Nyan Cat: +25 secondary statistics to allies.
Rickroll: -10 MS to all enemies.
Anti-Pony Law: Takes away all ponies on board and the ability to gain ponies for 3 turns.
Canned Program: Same effect as one programming technique.
MLPFIM: +20 Ponies to all Omnimagans
Calculator Manual: +2 Programming Skill in Basic for particular calc for remainder of battle

^Way too much randomness going on there for my taste. I'd rather not make 4chan the RPG. Perhaps based in modern times with psychic abilities and physical abilities, somewhat like Earthbound?

Also, this list is too specific at the moment. We should focus on how the battle engine is going to be layed out first on a very basic level. (turn based, action based, hybrid) We also need to decide what kind of stats characters will have, (HP, MP, Str, etc) What ranges they will fall within from level to level, what character levels will be capped at, if we will even have a level system, etc. etc. etc. Basically tons of planning needs to be done first.

It should be like Chrono Trigger's battle system: The on-map style, but turn-based with all sorts of cool move effects and stuff! Also, directional attacks that hit multiple enemies, etc.

It also allows for multiple party members where classic ARPG really doesn't.

This would be ok with me. If we try to make the battle engine overly complex it's going to be a major pita to code. Lets try to keep it somewhat simplistic and not overcomplicate it.

So, I played a Mario RPG for the GBA once, and you would be attacked on the map itself, then you would enter a turn based mode. I kind of like that idea. (This seems to be the same idea you were talking about, willrandship).

Just like Paper Mario?

No, not really- what xeda is suggesting, if I've got this right, is that the battle takes place on the map itself, not switching to the paper mario-style battles.

I think this is what xeda meant:


Skip to 4:10 for one of the battles.

Imagine we could play such a game on calc i vote for that engine!!

Imagine we could play such a game on calc i vote for that engine!!

It looks 3D-ish, but it's actually just a tilemap in which the tiles are drawn from a birdview persfective instaed of top-down. The only thing that's handled differentely then on normal tilemaps is the collision. This makes that kind of games perfectely doable on calculators.