"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

- Mark Twain

Okay, so I haven't been at all active in the gamedev scene in a while now. Lurking on the forums has been roughly the extent of my online presence. Development has been next to non-existent too. Lots of RL stuff have been subtracting from my time, as well as a wretched Travian habit (no I'm not going to link to it, I wouldn't want the guilt of possibly starting someone else on that miserable treadmill). There's still lots of RL stuff around, I'm expecting to become a father sometime in the next 5 weeks. As that's a pretty much a 20-year (if not more) time subtracter, I figure I'm never going to have much more time for game development than I do now (that said, I expect to get nothing done in the first 2 weeks after the birth).

So yeah. I left gamedev, but as usual, gamedev has haunted me like some sort of pale-faced CGI kid in one of those cheap-scare movies. It occupies my thoughts and won't let me go. So I've got another project started up. I'm not going to elaborate too much at this point, but it is a concept that I've been polishing in the dark recesses of my mind since a while before I even left the scene. The genre that would best describe it is strategy/RPG, or maybe tactical/RPG.

HBDI???

What I choose to elaborate on a bit in this entry is the basic attributes that characters will have. Most of these are pretty standard RPG fare, except that I have chosen to use 4 mental attributes. These are based on the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument which I encountered in my workplace (mainly as a team-building and informational exercise). Yes, I know that the scores given in HBDI are measures of preferred (or dominant) thinking styles, but I have chosen them to also be used as a measure of a character's performance in these areas. I've always felt that the simple attribute of "intelligence" (with possibly also "wisdom" tacked on) could be fleshed out to give a much better representation of "how" a character thinks, not just how "intelligent" they are. So without any further waffle, here's my set of primary character attributes (that will be used in character creation/NPCs/etc):

1) Agility (quickness, nimbleness) - Pretty self explanatory. In theory, particularly agile characters could perform acrobatics, run faster, be a pretty darn good dancer, dodge more effectively, etc. Basically a license to be someone out of a Matrix movie. Characters with poor agility would move more clumsily, be more likely to trip over things, have next to no chance to dodge things, etc.

2) Dexterity (touch, deftness, sleight of hand) - Yes, I differentiate between dexterity and agility in my system. You could think of dexterity as agility for the arms/hands. Particularly dexterous characters would be effective at picking pockets, picking locks, striking accurately with a hand-held weapon, firing a projectile weapon, hand-to-hand-combat, fine craftsmanship, etc. A character with poor dexterity might have difficulty parrying with a hand-held weapon, be more likely to fumble or drop things, etc.

3) Strength (brawn, power) - Yep, it had to be there. A character with high physical strength will gain bonus damage with particular weapons, be able to carry heavier items, wear heavier armour, etc. Prepare to channel your favourite muscle-bound barbarian. Physically weak characters won't be able to carry much, are more likely to drop their weapon or be unable to block a strong blow in melee combat, can't wear the beefy armour and have a higher chance of having sand kicked in their faces by jocks at the beach.

4) Toughness (endurance, mettle) - again, separate from strength. This defines how resistant the character is to a pummelling, how resistant they are to thinks like disease, poison, etc. How long they can run around before getting puffed and needing a bit of a lie-down (Ie their stamina). A stereotypically tough character would be a dwarf. These buggers seem to be able to take a lickin' and keep on kickin'.

5) Perception (awareness, sensitivity of senses) - basically how sharp a character's senses are. A particularly perceptive character would have a better chance of picking out someone hiding in the shadows, or hearing (and identifying) noises in an adjacent room. Perceptive characters could pick out and and identify enemies at a further distance and will have better initiative in confrontations. Perception (in combination with dexterity) determines a character's hand-eye coordination and so is important for any characters that wish to be able to put an arrow through the eye of some unfortunate target at a distance. Characters with low perception would be unlikely to notice someone sneaking up on them, would be next to useless with a bow or crossbow, are unlikely to notice that shiny bauble poking out from amongst the refuse.

6) Analytical (logical, technical, Problem-Solving) - How proficient the character is in this mode of thinking. A character with good technical problem-solving skills would be more likely to be able to pick a complicated lock, detect when someone was trying to put one over them, understand complex mechanisms or spells, work out a logical response to a problem at hand, find the right spot to attack in order to quickly kill or incapacitate a foe, etc. Proficiency in analytical thought would be advantageous to magic users, characters who wish to make use of speech-skills, leaders, any who wish to create or subvert complex mechanisms or anyone who needs to "think on their feet". A character with particularly poor analytical skills might have difficulty with tasks such as bartering, holding a logical argument, any sort of spell-craft or critical thought.

7) Organisational (controlled, systematic, sequential thinking) - How well a character can follow directions, manage their time, work out fine details, be prepared for possible scenarios. A proficient character would always seem to have the right tool at hand, be more efficient at carrying out orders, organising and disciplining others to follow orders, be able to string multiple actions together quickly (with the appropriate previous preparation) in order to accomplish goals more quickly than others. Highly proficient characters would be excellent at logistics, better architects, manage an agreeable group of characters more efficiently, better at managing their inventories, less likely to get confused or indecisive under pressure and better at handling multiple foes in combat. A character with a low score in this attribute would take longer to follow orders, be more likely to panic or behave erratically in high-pressure situations, be more likely to forget orders, be more likely to focus on one aspect of a problem while not giving enough consideration to others.

8) Interpersonal (emotional/musical/spiritual/speech) - How comfortable a character is with listening to or express ideas, understanding and manipulating group interplay, finding personal meaning (for self or others), etc. A character with high interpersonal abilities is better able to convince others of their point of view, is better able to understand and interpret the ideas and motivations of others, is more likely to be musically gifted, is more likely to be able to "read" an opponents' moves (and thus better at defending or countering them). A character with poor interpersonal skills will find convincing others of their opinions difficult, will be less in control of their emotions (more likely to get angry/frustrated/frightened/etc), be more vulnerable to taunts and have little influence over groups of people. Interpersonal skills will be useful in any conversations (getting one's way in regular conversations, being able to lie convincingly, being able to sooth or empathise, being humorous, giving weight to an argument), in leading groups, in using various mind-altering spells or resisting them.

9) Creative (Artistic/Imaginative/Holistic/Conceptual) - A creative thinker is more likely to take initiative, think unconventionally, solve problems in a creative way, think in terms of the "big picture", be visually-oriented. A creative character will often be the first into the fray, will often surprise their foes with their unconventional approach, would craft unusual and visually appealing works, be more likely to add their own personal touch or modifications to spells, have an advantage in such activities as lying, disguise, etc. Characters with a low creativity score would be predictable to others, would seem "uninteresting" to others, would seem more reserved.

Lolwut?

Many of these characteristics might seem inappropriate in a traditional RPG. One might ask themselves: "why would I care if my character can time manage, or be good at finding personal meaning? I just want DPS!!!". Well, to keep things simple, I'll just say that the player's avatar will not be the only character under their control (although they will be the most important). The game will focus on controlling several parties of characters and using the right "man" (or dwarf/elf/whatever or combination of characters) for the job at hand. I'm anticipating there being a need for not only fighters, healers, archers, thieves, etc, but also spies, craftsmen, architects, diplomats, administrators and others. The player would not be required to micromanage these to any degree, and I'll be looking to have systems in place to make choosing that right "man" much easier than wading through pages of character stats.