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  Links: Chess, Skills, and Fiction Lessons | 
Posted - 2/7/2010 7:33:25 PM | Hey all,
Some really good links lately.
First, only vaguely related to RPGs or game design, but I found this article fascinating:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23592#
It's nominally a book review by GOAT chess-master Garry Kasparov on a book about chess. But really, it's an essay containing Kasparov's thoughts on chess, computers, and artificial intelligence.
Next, John Harris continues his essay on skills in the roguelike game Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup:
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/02/column_play_crawlapalooza_part_1.php
I find this interesting as a discussion of skills in RPGs, moreso than for the specific information about Crawl. I've linked to this series in the past, and I fontinue to enjoy reading through it.
Last, Rampant Coyote starts a new series:
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2010/02/game-design-pulp-fiction-and-games-part.html
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2010/02/game-design-pulp-fiction-and-games-part_04.html
He explores a how-to article on writing pulp fiction (you know, like Conan and the like), and how that relates to writing computer RPGs. A good series of articles chock full of advice and insights.
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| Tuesday, February 2, 2010 |
| 10 Fantasy Fights: Outdoor tiles | |
Posted - 2/2/2010 6:37:43 PM | Whew, it's been hard to find much time to work on 10FF lately. Well, I did manage to make some new outdoor tiles. Here's a screenshot:
Next up, some river tiles (with moving water!), then some "furnishings" for the outdoors; fences and a couple of types of trees.
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| Links: Seamless Worlds, Modern RPGs, and Skills | |
Posted - 1/17/2010 8:37:27 PM | Man, not much progress on 10FF; hard to find the time between work and other things. But, here are some links I found interesting:
Here's a good link from Danie Conradie "Using Game Engine Art Tools to Improve Run-Time Streaming in Online Worlds":
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art/features/MMOStreamArtTools/
The article is framed in terms of MMO games, and how to present a seamless world even when there are various zones and areas, but really this applies to other games with the same goals. I've deliberately avoided this kind of design in SENG; areas are obvious and require the player to load between them, because I didn't want to deal with this kind of issue, but I certainly found the article interesting.
Shamus talks about how standard RPG systems are not well suited to running a modern campaign:
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=6194
I've considered making a SENG game set in a swashbuckling era with muskets, cannons, and the like, and I thought of the same problems he describes; that hit-point systems just don't make sense for gunplay, but anything else wouldn't be as fun. Ultimately I've postponed the idea because, well, I think people are more interested in traditional high-fantasy games, and I don't mind that kind of game either.
Last, here's an article by John Harris about Skills and Classes in the roguelike game Crawl:
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/01/column_play_crawlapalooza_part.php
Roguelikes do sort of act as an incubation tank for this sort of design. I'm very interested in this sort of thing; I'm particularly proud of the approach I've taken in SENG. In this case, I've never actually tried the game Crawl, so maybe I'll have to go take a look at it and see what I can learn.
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| Wednesday, January 6, 2010 |
| 10 Fantasy Fights: Inn Screenshot | |
Posted - 1/6/2010 10:45:51 PM | I've wrapped up the indoor furnishings for the town in "10 Fantasy Fights" (or, objects in SENG terminology). Here's a screenshot:
Note that those aren't actually the buildings in 10FF, just the graphics. I need more buildings for 10FF, and sadly I think I have to space the objects out a little more so the characters have room to move around. But that's the look, anyways.
Also note that the fireplace actually has a nice particle effect fire in it, but it doesn't show up in the level editor where I took these screenshots.
Now, you see all of that blue space around the buildings? That's next. Some grass, some cobblestones, a stream with flowing water. I'm not sure what objects (furnishings) yet; maybe some trees and fences.
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| Links: Old School RPGs | |
Posted - 1/3/2010 8:15:31 PM | Coyote asks the question, "So What Does "Old-School" RPG style Mean?":
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2010/01/so-what-does-old-school-rpg-style-mean.html
For me, some canonically different "old school" RPGs, spanning different styles, would be:
- "The Bard's Tale".
- Most Ultima games; for me "Ultima IV" was the height.
- "Pool of Radiance", the first of the Gold Box games.
Some features that all these games shared:
- None of them tried to present a "real world" immersive view of the world, instead having various map modes, combat modes, dungeon modes, etc, that you would move in and out of in the various phases of the game.
- All required (typically pencil and paper) bookeeping, whether it was drawing a map on graph paper (hello Bard's Tale!), keeping extensive notes (Ultima IV, that's you!) or whatever.
- All turn-based.
- No multi-player.
- Interestingly, all were multi-platform, from the era before Microsoft dominated the PC market.
- All party-based.
Note some features that vary widely (sometimes quoted as features of old school games):
- Difficulty. Bard's Tale was punishing at the beginning, then not so hard. Ultima IV was pretty easy if you stuck with it.
- Storytelling. Bard's Tale is straight hack-n-slash. Ultima IV mostly lets you control the story. Pool of Radiance guides you through a pretty fixed storyline.
For me, the "new school" started with the Windows 95 games, like:
- "Baldur's Gate".
- "Diablo".
- "Ultima Online".
This first generation "new school" all shared things like:
- Real-time (maybe with pause).
- "Realistic" view, with no separate combat modes etc. (Though Baldur's Gate does have a map mode).
- Multiplayer supported.
Note that "new school" games are now sometimes single-character, instead of party based, a change from most "old school" games.
Also note that 1st person/3rd person view exists across both schools; I don't see that as a differentiator. Although, interestingly, all the "first generation new school" games I listed were 3rd person. Later games certainly started to move to a 1st person view; I wonder if this is a possible different "line in the sand" between "old school"/"new school"? I guess someone younger than me will have to tackle that line.
The only series that I can think of that thrived across both schools is the Elder Scrolls of Bethesda; Daggerfall was clearly old school, Morrowind new school. The Ultima series tried one new school game (the ill-fated Ultima 9), and then withered. Same for Might and Magic and Wizardry.
With my SENG project I'm not really trying to relive "old school" gameplay. I'm more interested in modernizing the party-based, 3rd person view, single player, hard-code RPG experience. Real 3D graphics, proper support for modern OSes, and so forth. But, there is definite inspiration from the old school games; after all, that's what I grew up playing.
More Links. Coyote's post above was spurred by another set of posts about annoyances of old-school games, and new school games:
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2009/12/seven-things-about-old-school-crpgs.html
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2009/12/seven-things-that-annoy-me-about-modern.html
Jordan Mechner of "Prince of Persia" fame has a post full of gems; tips for game designers:
http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2009/12/tips-for-game-designers/
And last, Edmund McMillen has "Indie Game Design Do-s and Don't-s: A Manifesto":
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/01/opinion_indie_game_dos_and_don.php
Happy New Year to all!
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| Thursday, December 24, 2009 |
| Links: Skills vs Classes | |
Posted - 12/24/2009 3:44:13 PM | Well, it's been awhile since I posted some links, so they've built up a bit. My favorite was from Rampant Coyote:
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2009/12/are-class-based-crpgs-are-better-than.html
He makes the argument for the class-based RPG design, where your character's abilities depend primarily upon the class that you have selected at character creation time. As opposed to a skill-based design, where you pick and choose a la carte from a list of skills, typically as your character progresses. Roguelike games typically fall in the class design camp, as does (mostly) 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. The Elder Scrolls games (Oblivion, Morrowind) are pretty heavily skill-based. Most games fall somewhere in the middle, perhaps leaning towards the class side, although they don't always call skills "skills"; feats, perks, etc, etc.
For SENG I've chosen a hybrid approach, with just 3 classes, but a bunch of skills. Coyote's advice is that a class design is better for game balance, which is certainly true; it is quite possible to make a completely worthless SENG character by picking the wrong skills for your class, or (more insidiously) raising a bunch of skills to middling levels, instead of focusing on a couple of core skills. The other problem of balance with skills, that of making an uber-character by maxing the "best" skills and ignoring the others, is mitigated the addition of the three classes. For example, a fighter can gain some spellcasting ability, but only to a certain degree; he'll never be able to match a spellcaster who specializes in a certain type of magic.
So, why go with a skill-based design at all? My reason is that it adds a really interesting character-building dynamic to the game that is absent in a pure class system. In a class system, you are limited to the set of archetypes that the game designer has planned out; maybe that's OK if there are a lot of classes, but that can be a big burden on the designer. Further, in a dynamic skill system, your character can change and grow in different directions as he advances, whereas in a pure class system, your progression is determined at character birth. I'm not saying that this sort of dynamic character progression system is necessary for a good RPG, but, as a player, I find it an interesting feature.
OK, more links.
Here's another article from Andrew Vanden Bossche at GameSetWatch on classes, this time applying RPG class lessons to FPS's like Team Fortress 2:
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/12/column_design_diversions_12_st.php
Shamus at The Escapist writes about the recurring themes in Bioware games writing:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6862-Experienced-Points-The-Writers-of-BioWare
And then his apologetic followup article explaining that he actually _likes_ the writing that Bioware does:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6876-Experienced-Points-But-I-LIKE-this-Clich
Ernest Adams at Gamasutra continues a yearly series describing bad game design decisions:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4209/the_designers_notebook_bad_game_.php
Man, doing links only every two weeks, they sure build up! I've got some more, but I guess those are the best so I'll cut it off there. Happy Holidays to everyone!
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| Monday, December 14, 2009 |
| 10 Fantasy Fights: Update | |
Posted - 12/14/2009 11:12:19 PM | 
Well, as I alluded to previously, I started a new job two weeks ago. Also, I haven't posted at all in the last two weeks. A complete coincidence I'm sure!
So, I'll be scaling back on 10FF a bit. My goal is a modest 5 hours a week. I think that is realistic, and while I haven't made a formal schedule, I think I should be able to get 10FF out in months (rather than years). I still love working on my RPG games, so I do want to continue it as a part of what I do, even in a scaled back way.
On the blog front, don't look for any new "RPG Anvil" features; while fun to write about RPG design, it takes a long time to write those. Instead, I'll be sticking to project updates and commented links. To set a realistic goal, let's say I'll blog once a week, either a project update or links post. I'll start out trying to alternate weeks; we'll see how that goes. As long as I can stick to the "once a week" goal I'll be happy.
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| Tuesday, November 24, 2009 |
| Links: Difficulty, and Textures | |
Posted - 11/24/2009 4:30:51 PM | Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software posts "Make Your Game Easy. Then Make It Easier":
http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-your-game-easy-then-make-it-easier.html
Good quote:
Quote:| People will happily forgive a game for being too easy, because it makes them feel badass. If a game is too hard, they will get angry, ragequit, hold a grudge, and never buy your games again. |
My philosophy with game design is to try to find the "right" difficulty level, and use that, with no difficulty slider or anything. This post makes me seriously reconsider; it might be better to have a "easy" default level, with harder levels for hardcore players.
Coyote disputes this too, with "Player-selectable difficulty levels in games, in general, suck":
http://rampantgames.com/blog/2009/11/on-difficulty-levels.html
I'm less convinced by this post.
Last link. As I've been building up my tiles and objects for 10 Fantasy Fights, I've been making a bunch of textures. Here's a timely link by Jeroen Maton "The Ten Top Tips of Texturing":
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4678
Mainly it made me realize how much of a texturing rookie I am, but nonetheless I found it helpful.
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| Thursday, November 19, 2009 |
| 10 Fantasy Fights: Building Tiles | |
Posted - 11/19/2009 6:36:10 PM | "10 Fantasy Fights" needs a small town for recruiting party members, buying items, etc. So I've started in on getting a tileset ready, and I've got the building tiles done. In the level editor, here is a basic layout:
And, here is the layout with the tileset applied:
The biggest annoyance is the giant doors (20 feet wide!), but unfortunately they have to be that big for the pathfinding algorithm to work reasonably with a multi-character party. Things are zoomed out a bit more in the actual game, so they shouldn't look quite so giant; the upper building is really pretty small for something in-game anyways.
Next to work on some furnishings to go in the buildings; tables, shelves, etc.
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| Monday, November 16, 2009 |
| 10 Fantasy Fights: Planning Complete | |
Posted - 11/16/2009 4:14:44 PM |
Well, I finished the planning phase for 10 Fantasy Fights. I ended up with a startling 20-page design document; a lot of that is lists of spells and items and the like, but still, that was a lot of stuff to write down!
So, now the engine is done, and the planning is done. I guess that means I get to start making content! First up, the graphics to make up the 11 levels. Since SENG is a tile-based engine, the number of tiles should be relatively sane, but I do want it to look better than "To The World Tree", so it will be more work. In particular, I want to follow the rule of 4: at least 4 different tiles for each "thing", to allow for enough variety. So, if there is a tile for a grassy patch of ground, there should be a least 4 different textures, so that a big field of grass doesn't look overly repetitive.
Good news for you guys though; asset creation makes for more interesting screenshots and posts than planning does!
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| Tuesday, November 10, 2009 |
| Links: Items, Levels, and Quests | |
Posted - 11/10/2009 11:34:35 PM | I was out of town most of last week interviewing for a job, so no blogging. Looks like I got it, so SENG will suffer for awhile. I'm still hopeful I can make some good progress on 10FF before starting, so if all goes well that will see the light of the day fairly soon.
On to the links that have built up:
John Harris of GameSetWatch has a good article about items in RPGs. The article is specific to roguelikes, but has good information to keep in mind for any RPG designer:
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/10/column_play_item_design_part_1.php
Two good articles from Shamus up at The Escapist. First, one about levelling up in RPGs, full of do's and don'ts for an RPG designer:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6690-Ding-Now-You-Suck-Less
And another about how RPG designers can lose their audience with stupid, logic-defying sidequests. Things like: a wooden door that can only be opened with a certain key, and not with the giant axe that the player character is wielding.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6745-Quest-for-the-Sidequest
Last, Andrew Doull continues his series on Quest design; lots of good stuff here. I recommend the whole series:
http://roguelikedeveloper.blogspot.com/2009/10/quest-for-quests-part-four-assumptions.html
That's all for now!
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