LordArioch
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The Anatomy of an Event - The Dead Knight
🕑 Added 2016-07-26 09:29:20 +0000 UTC Today I want to talk to you all a little about events, but before that, I just want to mention two things.First, I'm working on putting together a new release for the backers, so they can try out the game. It will only be very basic, probably just Rowan's chamber and the Portal room, with one area (Rosaria) and nine or ten events (and a small number of items). However, in the next few weeks, the releases will open up the other rooms, while adding more events and items, making the game world a bit larger each time.
Second, I know a lot of you would like to play as a woman instead of a man, and I've been putting some thought into how that could be done. I was planning to introduce a new character much later on, but the simplest thing would be to use Alexia. I have most of the assets I'd need, and I could use the first half of the prologue (just have hers separate off with different scenes when she gets captured, so you'd get more of her POV instead of Rowan's), so two thirds of that work is done. The demons could make her do it by keeping Rowan in the dungeon, but the current problem I have is a logic one, why would they? I mean, she's just a peasant girl. Anyway, I'll keep thinking on it (maybe should could have a different task/goal than Rowan?). I'd need to be making more money anyway (2x the sex scenes), but it is an option for the not too distant future.
Okay, so to today's main event (groan), I wanted to talk about how I am trying to make events more dynamic, and I thought the best way to do so would be to talk about an event already in the game.
The Dead Knight is an event you've probably seen before if you have played a few games of D&D. The player comes across a dead body in the middle of nowhere, obviously murdered, but with no signs of his or her killers. Are they still nearby? Does the corpse contain anything of value? Perhaps a clue to the identity of their killers? These events work well in pen and paper because the DM can spin out a tale, but less well usually in games like mine. It might be exciting to find find a sword the first time you encounter the event, but less so the next time when you know what will happen, and are skipping the text just to loot the sword.
How then, do we approach this problem? The solution is to use chance and variables as much as possible. Using The Dead Knight as an example, it has two major branches (trap or not, determined randomly when the event begins) that between them have seven different outcomes. Bear in mind, the event only happens once per playthrough, and when the pools are large enough, the player may not even encounter it. The goal is to add as much unpredictability as possible. Imagine if for the fourth or fifth time of encountering the event, you expected to be ambushed, or find a sword, but you were surprised to find a note that sparked a new quest. The aim is always to keep the player guessing, and while it takes more work (and a lot more writing), I think what it adds to gameplay is more than worth it. The player should never be going through the motions in an event, and should always have to think about his or her decision.
Anyway, I hope this gives you all some idea of what to expect when it comes to events. I had better get back to writing them. ;)
The Dead Knight is an event you've probably seen before if you have played a few games of D&D. The player comes across a dead body in the middle of nowhere, obviously murdered, but with no signs of his or her killers. Are they still nearby? Does the corpse contain anything of value? Perhaps a clue to the identity of their killers? These events work well in pen and paper because the DM can spin out a tale, but less well usually in games like mine. It might be exciting to find find a sword the first time you encounter the event, but less so the next time when you know what will happen, and are skipping the text just to loot the sword.
How then, do we approach this problem? The solution is to use chance and variables as much as possible. Using The Dead Knight as an example, it has two major branches (trap or not, determined randomly when the event begins) that between them have seven different outcomes. Bear in mind, the event only happens once per playthrough, and when the pools are large enough, the player may not even encounter it. The goal is to add as much unpredictability as possible. Imagine if for the fourth or fifth time of encountering the event, you expected to be ambushed, or find a sword, but you were surprised to find a note that sparked a new quest. The aim is always to keep the player guessing, and while it takes more work (and a lot more writing), I think what it adds to gameplay is more than worth it. The player should never be going through the motions in an event, and should always have to think about his or her decision.
Anyway, I hope this gives you all some idea of what to expect when it comes to events. I had better get back to writing them. ;)
Comments
Dinker
So I show up late to the party with all my wonderful ideas for how to handle Alexia, and others have already stated them!<br> <br>I will add one other though. Her perspective of the initial attack could include a scene where femdemon tries to cast a spell on her, it fails. The other sibling shows up, they cast a combined spell. Alexia rise in a column of pure energy, screams and deflects the spell outward causing the village fire before collapsing unconscious. Siblings discuss the fact that intriguing options have opened up and that brodemon should check on the hero. <br><br>Male hero is too hero for world conquering, even to save wife or life, Alexia steps in to save them both from his ego.
DarthVictorius
like the female char idea.
Artem
Some more ideas about Alexia. If the goal is to let people play her a little bit and involve into some sex, you could make just a small scene in the prologue like "meanwhile, in the castle... (while Rowan on his way)". Alexia tries to escape the castle, find her husband and save him (would be logical, right?). She gets caught by the evil siblings. And punished ... badly :D After that she doesn't even try to escape again.
you got ismyname's official support!
Lord Arioch
Really like this. And it could be combined with the fact that the books she is reading are probably more from the forbidden side of the knowledge spectrum, laying seeds for future corruption path (also, the person in charge of the library is a sorceress, so she could help her out as well). Definitely something to come back to when it is time for a female PC. Cheers. :)
Redfield
If I may point out something about Alexia, and how to make her a playable protagonist... Well, you've kind of already written how she could obtain such power in the prologue, despite being a mere peasant girl. Rowan spent months getting to the siblings castle. Then spent a few months more in the dungeons. That is many, many months completely unaccounted for, where Alexia was given free reign of the castle. A privilege she used to frequently access the castle's library. A library that once belonged to a powerful demon king. A library that may possibly contain certain kinds of books that may or may be filled with useful knowledge of the arcane arts. With some very minor, minor tweaking to the plot that already exists, you could simply portray Alexia as having been studying magical tomes right under the demon siblings noses for months on end, in hopes that one day she's be strong enough to escape on her own, or help Rowan when he arrived. Of course, at the time of the prologue, she's simply not that strong yet. Add in an "Alexia has a natural talent for magic that she was never aware of as she's never had any reason to study it until now, and nobody in her backwater village was able to detect such latent magical ability." clause if you wanted to make her fast education slightly more understandable. You already have a means of laying down the groundwork for her as a playable protagonist from a story standpoint. You could add in the hints of it as early as...Well, now, and just let it sit there until you're ready to work with it later down the line. On another node, since you mentioned it...And this may seem cheap, but you could always reuse some of the artwork from any future Rowan x Alexia scenes for both characters perspectives, and simply change the scene's writing to reflect one or the other's perspective. That would at least save you some money on art commissions.
Lord Arioch
All things to think about. There's always the cheap option of having them use some spell on Alexia to give her power initially as well. In regard to the save scumming, I'm not really too bothered about that. Those people are trying to cheat the system, so there's no point trying to rig the game to be enjoyable for them. All events give the player experience points, so you always get something, even if it doesn't go well. Plus you can't reload inside an event, so it is very, very unlikely that if you reloaded, you would get the same one. If for example the pool has 100 events, are you really going to keep reloading until you get a good one? If someone is that determined to min/max it, it is better to just ignore them. Polls are coming soon, but they'll be related more to characters, sex scenes, order new content gets added etc. and less gameplay, because as the old saying goes, if you try to make a horse by committee you end up with a camel.
Lord Arioch
Well, it is going to take years. I'm just going to focus on getting to the point where there's a few hours of gameplay for Rowan, and then evaluate the situation.
Markus S.
I like that idea with Alexia, but I think you should first try to complete the basic game, before you add additional routes like that. You can still try to make sure your framework can handle this feature later.
Sukaiko
I thought about throwing in my two cents. Alexia as an eventual female protagonist seems like a much better idea to me, than adding a new character entirely, as we will already know (and probably like) her. There are three good reasons I can think of, as to why she would have to start combat training. Whether it's magical or physical training could also be a possible decision. - Rowan refuses to cooperate with demons - Rowan dies or gets seriously injured - Rowan thinks, Alexia has to be able to protect herself, because his new enemies might be coming after her to get to him (Batman style). This could make them both playable at the same time, either as a party or seperate. Having a cute warrior wife sounds really adorable to me. I feel like new characters shouldn't just suddenly become protagonists some hours into the story, unless they've been established as important side characters already. Alexia would be the perfect choice in my mind. The story could lead to different types of character development for Rowan and her, which will form them mentally and or physically. Some ideas could be, - Influence by Black Magic could make either or both of them go insane or turn "evil". - A prominent scar on her face could toughen Alexia up much more. - Them meeting and killing a really good king, who is in their way of conquest could make them believe in a warrior codex, which values honor and good treatment of subjects, as that's what the now dead king did. Basically I suggest creating different routes for this game, not necessarily good, neutral and evil but more complex and as many different ones, as this project might realistically allow in its later stages. If you aim too high, this game might not get finished, so less is in this case more. As for the events, I find your ambitions for them great, but the same thing counts here as the statement above. If you really want to make the player think about their decision though, you'd need to add some sort of equal benefit for each event, that is helpful in a different way each time. None of the events should be positively "overpowered" as to speak, Maybe the events could be triggered by a decision screen itself, as one would simply be tempted to reload until they get the desired result. On the other hand, randomized but balanced results can also be lots of fun in a sort of Ironman mode. Some ideas for decisions could be: - Getting good equipment early vs. Increasing some important stats - Walking into a trap by bandits but getting to keep their stuff if you defeat them. - Saving the not-so-dead-yet knight and being paid lots of gold as a reward. I realize these aren't fully thought out, but for coming up with them on the spot, I think they're pretty good brainstormed ideas. More and better ones would have to come either from you or from other patrons after careful consideration. The point is, I think these events should balance themselves out as much as possible There shouldn't be a simple "bad" event in a game like, as reloading will be highly prominen otherwise. It works in D&D, because taking back decisions is usually not possible. Well, that's my input. Considering how early in development this game still is, maybe you'll find some of this helpful. I suggest using polls as much and as soon as possible for similiar decisions, as this usually is truly the best way to go. Additionally it gives patrons the feeling of actively being included in the development, even if their personaly wishes are in the minority. Have a nice day and stay strong.
Lord Arioch
It won't be until there's a good chunk of game for Rowan, so no worries there. It actually isn't too bad on the event front, as the pools will be mix of "all" type events, that can be played by any PC (like The Dead Knight), and character specific ones. So as we work on Rowan, adding events, we are also adding some content that is still useful for other characters.
I'd wait a good deal of time before considering adding a female protagonist. While it would add a lot of replayability, it would also mean doubling your effort to make single scenes, and risking slowing down considerably the addition of new events. IMHO I'd wait until around half of the content is on before starting to divert resources to add a female viewpoint.
