tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56341180244379524642024-03-14T02:30:08.010-07:00Secret Arts GamesSecret Arts Games' independent game development and impetuous raillery blog.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-68917907024497145462013-12-12T21:06:00.001-08:002013-12-12T21:06:42.838-08:00Keeping up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt8T0nVhVxY/UqqVduGWgAI/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cbu1ibvRCm8/s1600/Blacksmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt8T0nVhVxY/UqqVduGWgAI/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cbu1ibvRCm8/s320/Blacksmith.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AT8aog1xBeM/UqqVd2FIWvI/AAAAAAAAAwI/m2sUYHiI9A4/s1600/Whitesmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AT8aog1xBeM/UqqVd2FIWvI/AAAAAAAAAwI/m2sUYHiI9A4/s320/Whitesmith.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Crafting shopkeepers--concept art by Lalo.</div>
<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-32967511745733038952013-08-11T22:14:00.002-07:002013-08-11T22:14:25.859-07:00Vacation Plans?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7FpYulrd_fI/UghvF3jMfoI/AAAAAAAAAvg/JLj92BZnI7o/s1600/Pharamonde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7FpYulrd_fI/UghvF3jMfoI/AAAAAAAAAvg/JLj92BZnI7o/s320/Pharamonde.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-12533181049514114982012-11-18T18:46:00.003-08:002012-11-18T19:27:25.380-08:00The Cosmos of Valor Seed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKhP-mXdAIE/UKmPT-ZX5tI/AAAAAAAAAo4/PiVUNRNgArM/s1600/Cosmos.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKhP-mXdAIE/UKmPT-ZX5tI/AAAAAAAAAo4/PiVUNRNgArM/s320/Cosmos.png" width="260" /></a></div>
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Every good RPG should have a good back-story, whether its fully explained in the game or not. You can always tell when a game world has its own history not part of the central plot.</div>
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The following information is not necessary to playing through Valor Seed, nor will it be particularly well gone over in it. It is simply the back-story that I used as the foundation for the game.<br />
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The Other Universe, the Esprit, and the Ordiri</h3>
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The origin of the Universe began in an other universe. The other universe was very old. The spread of Wyrd (entropy) had caused all materials to slowly become the same. In fact, all life-forms had been combined into a single life-form, the esprit.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YvUVja8P3OY/UKmO-2RheDI/AAAAAAAAAow/IJC-o7i6GUA/s1600/esprit.png"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YvUVja8P3OY/UKmO-2RheDI/AAAAAAAAAow/IJC-o7i6GUA/s1600/esprit.png" /></a></div>
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<i>We designed the Esprit by taking all of modern Earth's most
abundant life-forms, ranked by cognition, and merged them into a single
gestalt.</i> </div>
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The esprit were not very interested in succumbing to maximum entropy. As they were basically boiled-down life, they bestowed life to the remaining materials in the other universe. Thus, the ordiri were created.</div>
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<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /> </div>
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<i>They're basically elementals.</i></div>
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The ordiri were made from heat, light, magnetism, metal, etc. A diverse bunch. They reckoned that the only way to escape the Wyrd, was to go to a different universe. For this purpose, they used the dark materials (dark matter) to fashion a colossal spear<i> </i>, the dark spire. </div>
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<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAGAAAAGACAIAAADdyfBZAAADdUlEQVR4nO3WwW3jQBQFQYXmMJx/JL74IIAY9ggSCXFYBR+EOVm9eP77eAAAAADAeX5+++fWBAqjBAL9EyhsQ4w+35RAYT+HQAIVEwsCBWc+CBRMLAgUnPkgUDCxIFBw5oNAwcSCQMGZDwIFEwsCBWc+CBRMLAgUnPkg0NDzuPYndtNMAoX9L+9PtUBl5rSb2NRngYYv+++LEyiYWBAoOPNBoGBiQaDgzAeBgokFgYIzHwQKJhYECs58ECiYWBAoOPNBoGBiQaDgzAeBhrbDefXz4gQKM197foALEiiYWBAovHrOb/ffRYGCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgYGJBoODMB4GCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQaOidWd0ik0Bh/ni/+r4IgYKJBYHC/peceRco3m8R6J3PAgnkzO8QKJhYECg480GgYGJBoODMB4GCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgoW2aT31ehEDhU+d82T/VAgUTCwKFma83/y5QvC8byMSGBArOfBAomFgQKDjzQaBgYkGg4MwHgYKJBYGCMx8ECiYWBArOfBAomFgQKDjzQaChI2a11J9qgcL+l3nnXaB4XyrQEZ8Ful+g0ctn3y9GoGBiQaDgzAeBgokFgYIzHwQKJhYECs58ECiYWBAoOPNBoGBiQaDgzAeBgokFgYIzHwQKJhYECs58ECiYWBAoOPNBoGBiQaDgzAeBgokFgYIzHwQKJhYECs58ECiYWBAoOPNBoGBiQaDgzAeBgokFgYIzHwQa2g7h6M8XI1CY+RrvvwsU75cPZGJDAoWjz/n2H+BiBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgYGJBoODMB4GCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgYGJBoODMB4GCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgYGJBoODMB4GCiQWBgjMfBAomFgQKznwQKJhYECg480GgoTNndclMAoX5Y3z0+5cSKJhYECjs/9JHvAsU75cMdOZngdYNNHo55/1LCRRMLAgUnPkgUDCxIFBw5oNAwcSCQMGZDwIFEwsCBWc+CBRMLAgUnPkgUDCxIFBw5oNAwcSCQMGZDwIFEwsCBWc+CBRMLAgUnPkgUDCxIFBw5oNAwcSCQOH5lz7z5zIEAgAAAAAAgEv5AxVkqXcbLEHhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" /> </div>
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With the Dark Spire they stabbed through the wall of the other universe, and into a new one. As the dark spire passed into the new universe, all of the ordiri were swept down along its length. Those that were flung from it, were simply erased--they were not materials of the new universe. </div>
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This Universe & the Spheres </h3>
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The ordiri found they could not leave the proximity of the dark spire. The esprit, feeling bad for their creations, departed out into the new universe, discovering that it was bereft of any form of life. They gathered new materials and brought them back to the ordiri.</div>
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The ordiri were distributed foremost in three areas of the dark spire, its base, its middle, and its tip. Using new materials, all of the three groups created spheres of worlds. </div>
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The materials of the new universe were very raw--compliant to being animated. All new life-forms took on a part of the esprit called Sele. To protect the sele from drifting off away from the dark spire, the esprit created a barrier around the center of the spire, and called it the Source.</div>
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When these new life-forms were placed into the spheres, however, the results were unexpected.</div>
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The Mortal, the Everlasting & the Undying</h3>
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On the base of the dark spire a festering wound was found. Marking where the pass between universes has closed, it was now a scathing mark, oozing Wyrd. The sphere that had been created around this was greatly affected. All material in the sphere was put into a constant state of flux--including life-forms. The life-forms of this sphere were set to random changes in body. The only constant was the nature of their sele. Bound to a state of constant suffering, it was named the Sphere of Ire. They were named the Wreth. Because they were constantly changing, they could never experience death--life was forced upon them.</div>
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<i>The Wreth have unusual physical forms. On their native Sphere these forms change at random, however on the Sphere of Mortality they remain constant, though are always monstrous in appearance. Basically, they're demons/devils, and such is why they look ugly.</i></div>
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The middle sphere, home to the greatest abundance of life-forms, became the Sphere of Mortality. All life could end there. When a life-form expired, its sele would return to the Source, charged with the personality, but not the memories from, its former body.</div>
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<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAIAAAAlC+aJAAABNUlEQVRoge3WzQ3CMAwF4I7ASIzBgUEYgBE4MCBDcORQCVlyn2MrP42j95RDRUG8T4rbbBuzVq638po6KQGi3Gt7Ftd8mMQAUDqMIaAZQH7iYRDQrvrBgKrhLvyKgCqArPu5X/7LwyCgRXV5LQEag35FQASANgaqTkBrgN5CemTtUT6PsRJAV9fX6K5NIqBUvR7g2VoEYAAa1ujSGAIiAP8rDFWHw90l6QGCAcfOxOgH6KjNsx5Al34/vv+li6LvHPC6Jz1AMOQfy3Kage4SUFfdM6CBu4OyEgBd+19hY6svAjAZ4aPEaUkMcAxoYBFQxUAY/dqCBw0CGjDQgNrHBwJ6AuY7PhBAQNeYozx39T0EnJ30gD3moW2m4zRKYoD5MEWPVAJGVZ912+xZAxBY0yU9gKnPD2Dv48wBtedzAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" /><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAIAAAAlC+aJAAABJklEQVRoge3YMQ6DMAwFUI7Q4/QAHJSxR+zA0BFL1v9yABHb/VYGFBj+k+IEWBaVSnV7fV7HQDOpqyTARvy+j4Fm0mEKA3zE+EjBKAy4Ej0FozAARS+znAoDRqNHNtZHGeUBlmGjRADosJvWA+UBkaWyb+u+rfbaznieACMAvoR4aD8jwDjALw8f0QPQjABnGTwWHxMWTysAZxSI3gRgK9LE6ULbKgngrRy5K8C16P71AR1zdmbai3RzAMLYMflT5o8A6T7kGwIsgy8PvsAmVxMAb1zUygLcDbDDH2Tp2rcVwEfkgGkf8m0B6KUtcleAOwBNttFiALSB+nDxJwUQoB7A/8DiAPTDS4Dx6Gjr5AdZii21FQA1Jb+e3MpNAJFx7nkBVI/VD2ekBJsKLymiAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" /><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /> </div>
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<i>All creatures are life-forms--animals, plants, humans even. As all were created whole and in their present form, there is great and unexplained variety of personal features that do not have genetic backgrounds that fuel racial bias. So, yeah.</i></div>
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The last of the spheres was called the Sphere of Apathy, for it knew no suffering. It was too far from the Wyrd-wound, and so deep into the new universe, that its life-forms were incapable of undergoing change. They were named the Frith.</div>
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The War for Sele</h3>
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Sele reincarnate constantly. Throughout each life they develop new personality traits that carry over from life to life. Most sele reincarnate back into the Sphere of Mortality.</div>
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The Wreth, suffering endlessly as they were, decided that the best way to end said affliction would be to tear open the Wyrd-wound and let the new universe go the way of the old one. For this, they decided they needed more Wreth.</div>
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Frith and Wreth can, using treacherous paths, travel to the Sphere of Mortality. There, like every other living creature, they can, however, die. A sele marked with Wyrd, retains that throughout all its lives, and if enough Wyrd marks it, it reincarnates in the Sphere of Ire. </div>
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Posing as gods, devils, or whatever, the Wreth infiltrated the inner-workings of mortal society to try and contaminate sele in order to spur on their reincarnation into suffering. </div>
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Recognizing this as a bad thing, the aloof Frith did as the Wreth, but for the purpose of purging Wyrd from sele, to avoid bad reincarnation. You get it, now, surely.</div>
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The Sphere of Mortality--The Planes</h3>
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The Spheres are not like a planet in our own universe. They are big and full of space. The Sphere of Mortality is full of aether, which is basically elemental light. There is no sun. Floating in this aether are the Planes--each one a flat world floating in a fixed position, with most being about the size of Australia. Valor Seed does not take place on a planet--its takes place on Plane Pharamonde. Instead of a planet full of countries, each country is basically its own small planet.</div>
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Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-65450319085656038962012-11-12T20:06:00.000-08:002012-11-12T20:06:04.494-08:00Misc. Stuff (WIP)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-41776707433620649142012-11-04T17:17:00.002-08:002012-11-04T17:18:08.224-08:00Picture Dump (Faces)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-37441837944533463982012-09-16T02:16:00.002-07:002012-09-16T02:16:37.897-07:00The Davies CodeDid RTD "warn" us about the contents of Series Five? It may appear so.
I had a strange epiphany while re-watching The End of Time part two the
other day. I hopped on over to The Writer's Tale, and looked up the
script for the episode--this passage in particular.<br />
<br />
"But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through, not
just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties,
the Nightmare Child, the Couldhavebeen King with his Army of Meanwhiles
and Neverweres. The War turned into Hell."<br />
<br />
Is this a prophecy for the Moffat-era of the show, particularly in regards for what to expect? Perhaps; perhaps not.<br />
<br />
The Skaro Degradations: To degrade something is to lower its quality,
to show contempt for it, or to disrespect it. "Skaro" is the Daleks'
home-world, suggesting that what is degraded is "of Skaro." The "new
paradigm" Daleks from the episode "Victory to the Daleks", enact this by
executing their inferior progenitors. The production team also
designed new Daleks, making changes to their height and
appearance...again.<br />
<br />
The Horde of Travesties: A horde is a derogatory way of describing a
large group of people. A travesty is an absurd, false, or distorted
representation of something. In the episodes The Hungry Earth/Cold
Blood, a new vision of the Silurians is presented, which is vastly
different than what had previously shown in the series. Again, the
Daleks underwent massive changes. In "The Pandorica Opens", a horde of
the Doctor's worst enemies ally with one-another in a travesty of their
respective personalities to justify the premise of the episode. This
would appear to represent all of the classic monsters of the show and
their respective treatment in the new series.<br />
<br />
The Nightmare Child: This one is too easy. This is a reference to
nearly every episode of Doctor Who penned by Stephen Moffat. In The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Silence in the
Library/Forest of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, A
Christmas Carol, and The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon a small
child is put into a nightmarish situation that only the Doctor can save
them from. <br />
<br />
The Couldhavebeen King: I have two lines of thought with this one.
Firstly, Moffat's heavy use of the Doctor changing the past (The Girl in
the Fireplace, Blink, Time Crash, The Eleventh Hour, The Big Bang, A
Christmas Carol, and The Impossible Astronaut). This could certainly
make him the series monarch of "could have been" style stories in which
the Doctor changes the history of a character in ways to plausibly
affect their future somehow without causing the universe to explode.<br />
<br />
Though the containing sentence uses the pronoun "He," this could also
refer to River Song. No other character in Doctor Who has set such
precedent with the fans for their asking of one question, "Who River
Song could have been?" "Could have been," literally means "possibly
existed as." River Song is played by actress Alex KINGston. Hence,
"king."<br />
<br />
Army of Meanwhiles: Here we go, now. "Meanwhile," as we all know,
means, "at the same time." A prominent aspect of the Moffat-era Who
narrative boasts a great many instances of this regarding plot. Though
the RTD-era was no exception to this, its usage was significantly less
prolific. In every-single-episode of the Moffat-era Who, screen-time is
devoted to expository dialog or events relating to "as-yet-unseen"
events. An "Army" of these, would describe them as being organized for a
particular purpose, such as the series finale. It can even be argued
that some episodes of the new series serve simply as a vessel to carry a
meanwhile to the audience, while its own story is somewhat less
interesting.<br />
<br />
Neverweres: This is a subjunctive way of explaining something that has
never existed. "To imagine that something has never existed", may be a
better way of saying it. "Were," as a subjunctive, refers to a
second-person, imagined view, of a thing's past. This does not mean
something never did exist, only that it did not exist in the mental
image of a second-person narrator.<br />
<br />
Again, this has a couple of possible meanings.<br />
<br />
Firstly, the plot of series five was essentially just this.. The
Universe blew up, the stone dalek, the references to the cyberking and
The Stolen Earth. All Amy Pond/crack in the world shenanigans.<br />
<br />
Secondly, this can serve to describe many monsters of Doctor Who created
by Stephen Moffat. The microscopic Vashat Nerada, the quantum-locking
Weeping Angels who were as statues when observed, and the
Silence--aliens who had existed on Earth for thousands of years without
notice due to their power to cause all viewers to forget having had
viewed them. <br />
<br />
The War turned into Hell: Some Doctor Who fans' loudly exclaimed
distaste with RTD's emphasis on character development over actual plot.
Stephen Moffat writes so much plot, that the finale episode has to
intrude on every other in the season. Perhaps the War was ended with
RTD leaving, and now Hell is the over-thought series plot of the new
era?<br />
<br />
Now, I am not particularly a fan of either showrunner more than the
other. My favorite era of Doctor Who is long over. What I am curious
about with my above observations, is if they make sense to everyone
else. RTD had stated having read the scripts for Series Five before
having left the show in 2009. Perhaps this was his poet's way of
expressing his distaste for Moffat, despite his public opinion of him?<br />
<br />
Thoughts?
Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-19423487059192033612012-09-06T04:06:00.002-07:002012-09-06T04:06:32.534-07:00Sprite Dump: Enemies, Set I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">
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Eyewing </div>
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Goblin(w/mace) </div>
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Goblin(w/pike) </div>
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Goblin(w/sword)</div>
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Imp</div>
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Kelpie</div>
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Kobold</div>
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Marilith</div>
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Owlbear</div>
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Succubus</div>
Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-84353757309991821332012-08-11T11:46:00.000-07:002012-08-11T11:46:24.530-07:00Character Concept Art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fernand</div>
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Justine</div>
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Edgar</div>
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Giselle</div>
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Lazare</div>
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Melisende</div>
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Rufel </div>
<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-55490303707683303932012-05-02T13:43:00.002-07:002012-05-02T13:43:16.745-07:00Icon Dump (Equipment Sets)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-73512577316911647492012-04-29T08:37:00.002-07:002012-04-29T08:39:51.522-07:00Sprite Dump (PC's)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fernand Lionel<br />
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Edgar Francisque<br />
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Justine Joelle<br />
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Giselle Orleane<br />
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Lazare Ghislain<br />
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Rufel<br />
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Maximilien Lionel</div>Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-40206146075882681752012-04-26T05:44:00.001-07:002012-04-26T05:58:26.045-07:00Map Dump (Towns)Here are most of the town maps for the game. There are a couple I have a lot more work to do on, so they'll get put up in due time. I am not going to elaborate too much as to specifics, as I am sure spoiling my own game is a poor way to make friends.
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Please direct questions to the comments.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-65178235175556584352012-03-26T20:47:00.000-07:002012-03-26T20:47:05.604-07:00A Rose by any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YIZXkoApsqg/T3EYObzxA4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/RQ34VSBW2LI/s1600/CharSheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="232" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YIZXkoApsqg/T3EYObzxA4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/RQ34VSBW2LI/s320/CharSheet.png" /></a></div><br />
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I call Valor Seed a retro-clone, which is basically true, but really it is more of a retro-fit. Using the same inspiration that led to the development of video game RPGs, Dungeons & Dragons, I intend to pull of some kind of Thor Heyerdahl job (only with much less to actually prove with an undeniably lower risk of drowning).<br />
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The above screenshots are the two most common types of menu structures used by console RPGs. Comparisons to a D&D character sheet are easy to make. Both of these menu structures are great. Hell, they led to "menu-based/driven RPG" becoming a term. What these have greatly in common is that they are primarily a representation of a player with a character sheet more than an abstraction of the game's character having the experience of contemplating their own badassitude, counting their coins, or reveling at how many potions they are carrying around--such, the latter, is what I want to have.<br />
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These above screens are taken from a great Famicom RPG titled STED: Starfield of Memorable Relics (I think I am the only person ever to finish it). On one we have our character sprite walking around town like every day is Dragon Quest. However, on the other, we see what happens when we hit 'B' to interact with an NPC townie. We have a first-person perspective of the townie, as well as your menu options. Phantasy Star, and a few other games, have also done this. <br />
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What I like about this, is that an "encounter" with an NPC is like an encounter with an enemy, only with less swearing and shooting. In D&D, encounters are more than just fighting a monster, they are opening treasure chests (Phantasy Star), talking with NPCs, opening a trapped door, and so on. Many early PC RPG's actually did incorporate all of these into the same game play mode. It is fair to say that Valor Seed may be a marriage of Eastern and Western video game RPGs.<br />
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What we have with the above are two more ways of making menus, apparently in ways QUINTET thought were cool. I am not disagreeing with them (nor would I ever, they rule). First, from Illusion of Gaia, we have an inventory menu that looks like the Temple of Doom. This screen is really a case of someone just wanting to make the screen pretty--it shares the same degree of abstraction as any normal inventory screen, only its cooler to look at.<br />
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The former two screens are from Terranigma, a pretty cool game where you get to fight a giant robot with a spear. In this game, you carry around a hand-held TARDIS that, when opened, transports you into a sub-dimensional space where you store all of your crap. Basically, this is just like any other menu from any other RPG, but the abstraction has been changed so that the character being played literally experiences the interaction. Great stuff? Yes, indeed. Ironically, in most RPGs your inventory has very few limitations, quite like a pocket dimension, where you can usually store up to 99 each of hundreds of items. In Terrangima, you literally have a pocket dimension, but can only stockpile up to nine, of each of the dozen-or-so item-types. <br />
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These guys, here, are just so simple but excellent that only the magical geniuses over at Gamefreak could have made them. What we have is a graphical representation of where your inventory is located, with a menu listing each compartment's contents. You press left or right to alternate between compartments, which show a different array of item type. Genius. Really, it freaking is. This method unites the player and the character in a similar way like with STED and Phantasy Star, but with inventory manipulation. I really like this.<br />
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Front Mission 5 could be the best game ever made. It is a work of art, sent along with a love-letter, to fans of the series. I'll sum up its excellence simply: each Front Mission title released before five had individual mechanics that made them different from each other. Front Mission 5 took the best of each of these mechanics, and made from them a concordance I call, "a damn good video game." <br />
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Now, as to the above screen capture, you are looking at the game's menu. Really, you are. You are part of a military unit, between deployments, and stationed on a ship at sea that is part of a battle-fleet. At first glance, this may seem more like a site-based town map. I assure you, that while it does function like a town, it is also a hell of a cool menu. <br />
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Each area you may visit is occupied by characters, many of which you can recruit into your squad. However, other areas function as elaborately abstract inventory, character status, and save/load screens. Go to the Hanger to check out your stuff and your Wanzers, or go to your Squad Room to check out the stats of your party members, and to assign them equipment (Wanzers). <br />
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Front Mission 5 was certainly not the first game to abstract menus in this way. The above screen is from a Super Famicom game called Cyber Knight. In this game, each compartment of your ship serves as a different function of a normal menu. Most interesting, is that when you Save your game, you are told that each character in your party has had their bio-data stored in a clone bank. When a character dies, you just go and clone them. When your whole party dies, they are all cloned and any experience you gained while in your former bodies is lost (as you were not actually there). The battle system is fun, but middling at times, but that's not important right now.<br />
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Similar menu abstractions could easily find their way into sword and sorcery RPGs by being represented as a camp-site, such as with the above. In the case of Dragon Quest VIII, no one is camping, but the state of all of the characters standing around, ready for raillery, is not all altogether different.<br />
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The merits of having an interesting menu are quickly lost when the entire purpose of the menu loses priority over its presentation. All game menus should be easy to navigate, point most quickly to mechanics in common-use, and require the use of as few different buttons as possible. In the case of the above Ogre Battle 64, all effort was given over to functionality. Because of the game's complex method of managing characters and resources, very little consideration seems to have been given to artful presentation. <br />
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Something else I want to accomplish with Valor Seed is to avoid screens like the above. Almost none of the above information is necessary for the player to see. HP and MP are displayed with the command selection window, and attack, defense, and magic defense with Equip. Furthermore, if you do not know the battle algorithms Final Fantasy IV uses (I actually do) you could not begin to guess what any of the shown attributes actually even do. But what is most damning, is that the Status screen does not help you at all--it does not aid the player in making game-play related decisions in any way. The game features a linear sequence of equipment, and each character (for the most part) is limited to one or two particular types. The only information on this screen that is actually useful, is the experience point totals.<br />
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It is not necessary, at all, to show the player character attributes if they are neither necessary to play the game, or well-explained. There are layers of complexity that are just not always needed. <br />
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Say there are ten Job Classes in an RPG. Each Job Class has particular equipment restrictions, and grants bonuses to those attributes it best represents. This means that a Job Class is really the sum of attributes plus equipment. Logically, if part of a Job Class' prescription relies on what equipment cannot be used, use of the prescribed equipment makes the Job Class. Can only a Knight wear full-plate armor, or does wearing full-plate armor make you a Knight (video game, rpg knight, not historically accurate knight)?<br />
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Strength, in most video-game RPGs, in no way reflects how strong characters are. It reflects how much damage they can deal to an enemy. How does naming attributes Vigor, Vitality, Speed, Agility, Quintessence, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Guts, Gusto, Shininess, etc. usually help the player? None of them are descriptions of what they actually do in the game. I am not suggesting that RPGs stop using these, I am suggesting that they do not have to be shown to the players. <br />
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I'll explain where I'm going with this. Most RPG's give you an Empty Cup they call a Job Class, tell you what not to put in it, and then define it by what you can. This is, of course, assuming that the game gives you a choice of Empty Cups at all. Why not just hand out an Empty Cup, put whatever you want into it, take a drink, and find out what its contents taste like? <br />
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What I have done with Valor Seed is to show the player attributes named after typical RPG Job Classes, which rise and fall in value according to equipment. I have the following attributes I used in making the game's battle algorithms: weapon damage, weapon damage reduction, spell damage, spell damage reduction, and speed (turn order delay offset, and number of hits per attack). I do not show these to the player, rather, I made four attributes: Fighter, Knight, Mage, and Thief. What matters most about all of this, is what each character's role in battle will be. Damage-dealer, healer, blow-crap-upper, etc. I tell the player, however evident, in-game what each of these four is good for. Each of these attributes is in actuality a prioritized array of the hidden attributes, which are raised or lowered, primarily, by what equipment the player chooses for each character to use. This, coupled with my game's emphasis on Item Creation, makes for some pretty-damn customizable party members.<br />
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I will not go into specifics right now, but for those of you thinking, "Job Classes are as much about individual special abilities as attributes and equipment," here is this. You are absolutely right, and I have not left this out. To put it simply, the higher your Thief attribute is, the better you Steal.<br />
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Okay, I'm done for now.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-3804701126897655782012-03-14T13:56:00.000-07:002012-03-14T13:56:18.757-07:00Here, as Promised<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m-sUmuV1aY/T2EF12EOJKI/AAAAAAAAAY8/0EeUrWfIbuo/s1600/ValorSeed-%2528American-Box-Art%2529-NO-STEAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="252" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m-sUmuV1aY/T2EF12EOJKI/AAAAAAAAAY8/0EeUrWfIbuo/s320/ValorSeed-%2528American-Box-Art%2529-NO-STEAM.png" /></a></div>Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-44534091061980170512011-12-31T10:36:00.000-08:002011-12-31T11:01:48.755-08:00Those Wacky Americans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FuQsY_L95pg/Tv9SfJAQqJI/AAAAAAAAAO0/l-vv-AsW5EM/s1600/Valor%2BSeed%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="245" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FuQsY_L95pg/Tv9SfJAQqJI/AAAAAAAAAO0/l-vv-AsW5EM/s320/Valor%2BSeed%2B1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The point of this post is basically to show off my new "shiny." This is the "American" box art for Valor Seed, drawn by my good friend, Damascus Mincemeyer.<br />
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I wanted a cover for the game that was reminiscent of the de-anime-ization of video game box art throughout the 80's and 90's. Much of the time the "US" box art was pretty bad, not even when compared to that of the Japanese original. The rest of the time, the art was usually very good. Where the latter style failed also, was in accurately depicting the game's characters. They would also frequently feature muscular, Western fantasy-like, characters, in poses that were not entirely possible. Such was the motivation for the above--and below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BkgHP34JN5A/Tv9YwxsXv-I/AAAAAAAAAPk/kLmXhzA20H0/s1600/254px-Shining_Force.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BkgHP34JN5A/Tv9YwxsXv-I/AAAAAAAAAPk/kLmXhzA20H0/s320/254px-Shining_Force.jpg" /></a></div><br />
In rare instances, such as with Dragon Warrior/Quest games, the US box art was just as cool or even cooler (at least with 2 and 3) than its Japanese original. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_u9s18x-8w/Tv9U8RLmosI/AAAAAAAAAPA/20Jy5eQlJqM/s1600/dw2-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_u9s18x-8w/Tv9U8RLmosI/AAAAAAAAAPA/20Jy5eQlJqM/s320/dw2-01.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_qAs25kmaV0/Tv9VGfDE_wI/AAAAAAAAAPM/Oru0Zzfbqtg/s1600/dw2boxart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_qAs25kmaV0/Tv9VGfDE_wI/AAAAAAAAAPM/Oru0Zzfbqtg/s320/dw2boxart.jpg" /></a></div><br />
First we have Dragon Quest II's box art by legendary Akira Toriyama. Its a very good-looking cover that accurately depicts the game. Next, we have Dragon Warrior part II's box art, by Katsuya Terada (the guy who did all the cool art for Nintendo Power, as well as the Mario and Zelda comics). His rendition just rules. All of their equipped gear, btw, is taken from the official illustrations done for the game. Terada pulled a similar feat with the following:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyymsh_p06o/Tv9WB9eDEPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/NWR2Enrq6Ok/s1600/baramosfight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="297" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyymsh_p06o/Tv9WB9eDEPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/NWR2Enrq6Ok/s320/baramosfight.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I am having my buddy Lethus paint up my fancy new cover; I'll post it when its done.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-31316360435403562332011-12-23T01:20:00.000-08:002011-12-23T01:23:10.031-08:00The Song of Roland, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Other Tales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CIzrpvjmakA/TvRH3wo3HNI/AAAAAAAAAOo/syFoiXzgUfY/s1600/Valor%2BSeed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CIzrpvjmakA/TvRH3wo3HNI/AAAAAAAAAOo/syFoiXzgUfY/s320/Valor%2BSeed.png" /></a></div><br />
Apparently, I am going to have to write my own script. I know all the scenes, and basically what is said in them. With my creativity being distributed across other areas of design, however, I do not feel that I write it the way it deserves to be written. I will take this space to explain what I have in mind.<br />
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My approach towards game direction is similar to Howard Hughes' film direction (you may want to look this up). I spent a lot of time studying a lot of materials. I would play an RPG until I came across something I liked for use in Valor Seed, and then quit playing it. I downloaded ripped graphics from dozens of video games, studying them intently to find the logic in their designs. The story of Valor Seed I handled no differently.<br />
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I said below that the original storyline was made up by myself and Robert, with each of us taking turns declaring what the next event would be. I had an outline, so next came designing the world.<br />
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Designing a setting for an RPG usually begins with fantastically re-imagining medieval Europe. I did not avoid doing this with Valor Seed. Since it is not, however, medieval Europe, I did what I wanted with it. The setting not being Earth removed any need for certain equivalencies to be made, so the population would be of people with different ethnogeneses, now part of a singular ethnicity. I figure that a world full of RPG monsters really puts the stupidity of discriminating against other humans over yours and their physical differences into perspective. <br />
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Yasumi Matsuno's Ivalice setting was undoubtedly the biggest inspiration, initially, for what my world was to be. Ultimately, however, its most significant impact was what I named the setting. I named the setting (a country) Pharamonde, because it sounded Ivalice-y.<br />
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I did not want to make the game that dark, though. I wanted a good balance of humor to go along with the drama. So what I wound up with was a game that sort of combined pop-culture characters with a dark fantasy setting. Buffy the Dragon Slayer?<br />
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Religion, in most RPGs, always seems to err on the side of Catholicism. I can guess the reasons for this, as Catholics have the coolest buildings (not saying the Buddhists' are not cool). I started to go in this direction, too. Maybe I changed my mind to be different, or maybe because making the maptiles for a cathedral would be torturous, but I did decide to go another way. I wanted to use a religion of passive-aggression that would undermine the games' heroes for being too heroic. This religion would also be secular, which makes no sense at all. A religion where a divine power mandates that all people should be secularists. Basically, apply The Veil of Ignorance to the methods of the Spanish Inquisition. Its pretty much Kurt Vonnegut's Chinese Hell. This religion, at the suggestion of my friend Jeremy, would come to be called The Calm. To put it simply, the religion tells you not to go out of your way to achieve anything beyond what is minimally necessary. Why, hello there, saeculum obscurum. Now, do not think for even a second that any part of my game will be devoted to preaching anything. I came up with this as fiction. Though The Calm is significant part of the story, in no way is Valor Seed a veiled propaganda tool. I want to make a game, here. I just feel that the more details the setting has, the easier it will be to indirectly describe them when depicted in-game.<br />
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I read an interview with Soraya Saga where she described how her back story for the Figaro brothers in Final Fantasy VI is why Figaro was a desert. I took a lot from that. So, here I go. Firstly, joining the perspective of the player with that of the characters is important. Each character should work also as an expository tool to introduce the player to a part of the setting. If the setting is an extension of the character, or inversely, if the character is a representation of the setting, does not matter. The point is, that Figaro is a desert kingdom because Edgar and Sabin lived in a desert kingdom.<br />
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I believe in heroes. I believe that every adventure should have a romantic lead character. My very first impression for such a character took the form of Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics. Ramza was benighted by his be-knighted father's legend, and he became just a legend himself, but not for the sake of gaining one (he also got exploded). Though the game did not really detail what Barbaneth Beoulve had become famous for doing, specifically, it did not matter. I did not want to really imitate anything about Ramza beyond this, however. I will go into this more later, but my kinds of heroes never lose their panache.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8gp1DVAXmc/TvRGqgqngwI/AAAAAAAAANU/ZQf6FIQkUzw/s1600/roland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8gp1DVAXmc/TvRGqgqngwI/AAAAAAAAANU/ZQf6FIQkUzw/s320/roland.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The Song of Roland is one of the best stories/poems, ever (as well as the literary origin of the vastly misinterpreted Paladin). In it, Roland, a heroic knight, fights and dies, against a host of enemies twenty-times greater than his own. He dies (I allege from a stroke) blasting out a warning to his king, Charlemagne, and falls dead facing the lands of his enemies. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZdmfpNNvP4/TvRG91BunVI/AAAAAAAAANg/F1_jfYegSpw/s1600/Greyhawk%2BSupplement%2BI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZdmfpNNvP4/TvRG91BunVI/AAAAAAAAANg/F1_jfYegSpw/s320/Greyhawk%2BSupplement%2BI.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The Song of Roland is the RPG. Its all based on him, seriously. Knights with named swords? Roland. Final bosses? Roland. Rob Kuntz, the man who first included Paladin as a character class in Supplement I: Greyhawk for the original Dungeons & Dragons game, did so because of The Song of Roland. The first Final Fantasy game practically used the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons manuals as its outline. Joyeause, Almace, Durandal, Preciuse, Curtana, all of these swords originate in it. The Song of Roland, and by extension, the Matter of France, is at the heart of the video game RPG. I did not use much depicted in these works verbatim, but I used them as a model to craft similarly heroic tales. Interestingly, Orlandu (Orlandeau) is the Italian form of Roland. You know who I'm referring to.<br />
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The setting of Valor Seed places Pharamonde in a Dark Age following its repulsion of a foreign Crusade. The Crusade ended with the deaths of all of its heroic personalities. There was no victory for anyone involved, there was simply a return to the state of being before it all began with one significant difference: there was nobody to believe in, anymore. No King, no Roland the Hero. This is how The Calm snuck in. The Crusade was the product of men reaching too far for what they did not need. Therefore, if no men reach, no more Crusades will come. Blacksmiths quenched their forges, coopers left their barrels half-assembled, and everywhere the people cast away their gold and silver coins for their then pointlessness. Each town became an island in the wilderness, surviving all on their own. In the capital, the Heart of Pharamonde, the addle-minded Prince ignored the duties of the Royal Throne, Siege Pharamonde. With no strong Will guiding the Heart of Pharamonde, the land and its people stagnated. <br />
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The Calm, by way of the Surward Order of Knights, is the only martial power in the land. They wage a secret war against the old aristocracies, for fear they will conspire to again lead the people to ruin. <br />
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There are two conflicts present in Valor Seed. The first is the quest to save Pharamonde from the evil that threatens it. The second is to inspire the hearts and minds of the people who live in Pharamonde, by being their hero.<br />
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I had the initial concepts of who the characters would be pretty early on. As I came across various inspirations since that point, I was able to add more to them. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MpPAjxUMsn8/TvRHKJNzpoI/AAAAAAAAANs/_K7J2ckwcCI/s1600/ferris_buellers_day_off_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="194" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MpPAjxUMsn8/TvRHKJNzpoI/AAAAAAAAANs/_K7J2ckwcCI/s320/ferris_buellers_day_off_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Fernand Lionel, son of Roland Lionel (the Hero), and his best friend Edgar Francisque (Edgar was taken from the random name given to the Prince of Cannock in my first playthrough of Dragon Warrior II) had their personalities inspired by Ferris Bueller and Cameron Frye. I really enjoyed the way Ferris browbeat Cameron into doing things, and how Cameron eventually stopped trying to rationalize going along with him. I am on the fence about whether or not to include Fourth Wall breaking narration. If anyone has any thoughts on that subject, let me know. John Hughes was just a magnificent writer. I do not like to write from the perspective of someone who has been through what they are writing about, I prefer to conceive how I think something might actually be like. I think Hughes probably did the same. <br />
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I'll go on more another time, I'm running out of fuel for now. Thank you for paying attention.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-48807380118662836362011-11-10T02:40:00.000-08:002011-11-10T02:43:15.086-08:00Key to the KingdomHere is the overworld map to Valor Seed. The events of the game take place within a single country, the Kingdom of Pharamonde (Below). There are many other lands in the same world.<br />
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I spent a great deal of time designing this map. I planted ideas for characters and events, like seeds, in unused places. These then grew up and into one-another, till finally what you see below was brought to form.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDfDW9lNsMk/TrupzN9-YuI/AAAAAAAAANI/SsRyDTMME7c/s1600/Overworld.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDfDW9lNsMk/TrupzN9-YuI/AAAAAAAAANI/SsRyDTMME7c/s320/Overworld.png" /></a></div><br />
I had to cut the size of the image down by in order for Blogger to be able to display it. It was pretty damn big (163,840,00 pixels) originally.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-41296842812542955892011-11-06T11:55:00.000-08:002011-11-06T11:55:41.020-08:00Review: The Pine Ridge Horror (Savage Worlds)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hRgmCa5A4g/TrbkD7leqqI/AAAAAAAAAL4/UTxWhoKuAjI/s1600/PineRidgeHorror.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="285" width="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hRgmCa5A4g/TrbkD7leqqI/AAAAAAAAAL4/UTxWhoKuAjI/s320/PineRidgeHorror.png" /></a></div><br />
This adventure was written using Savage Worlds rules. Also, Savage Worlds rules. It does. Its just the best damn game system ever. My Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition Handbook is the best ten bucks I ever spent.<br />
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What The Pine Ridge Horror (by Dave Baymiller) is About.<br />
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A group of campers (the player characters) gets involved with a team of park rangers and local hunters as they search a national park for what turns out to be a family of murderous, rabid, Sasquatch.<br />
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What Type of Adventure is It?<br />
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The Pine Ridge Horror is quick n' dirty. It's a monster-of-the-week movie. Depending on the players, it could go four hours to an all-day-sucker. I cannot see it lasting more than a single session, by design. The adventures' two halves compliment each other with the first building up tension, and the second using fear to motivate the players. If separated, the latter half would not work as intended, having allowed the players too much time to think about what to do. <br />
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This adventure would best be ran as a one-shot, but could compliment any existing Savage Worlds campaign. Though the trappings of the adventure are the 1970's, nothing about the adventure itself is specific to the time period. <br />
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What I found most intriguing about it, was its ease of use. Nearly any GM could pick it up and run it without having even read through it beforehand. There is no knowledge the GM must have that is relevant before its use in the adventure. Savage Worlds' rules are super simple to learn, and this adventure is the perfect compliment.<br />
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How Can it All Go Wrong?<br />
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First of all, players must be willing to play the part given, and not succumb to their Id and have their characters be proactively aggressive without reason. The best part of horror is the fear of helplessness. Making the players struggle to arm themselves makes this adventure, “the one we survived,” instead of, “the one where we got to kill rabid Sasquatch.” <br />
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This adventure is linear. The motives of the players, realistically, are to survive. Players who expect free reign of the situation should have their characters quickly killed . Basically, swimming against the current here is not the goal. <br />
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Technically-minded players, particularly ex-military, paired with a green GM, would be disastrous. The second half of this adventure focuses on the in-absolute ways the players can use obtained resources to survive. I have seen many rookie GM's stumble and fall when a technically-minded player presented them with something not directly quantified by the rules. Savage Worlds does not try to have a specific rule for everything (like the banal d20 system). Rather, it encourages those playing to suggest what to base a roll on, and if it seems to make sense, it is good enough. There is nothing wrong with players knowing how to make plastic-explosives out of the crap they find in the adventure, if their characters know also. A GM unable to push the rules down and have fun would be thwarted by the second half (not that Savage Worlds ever needs to be pushed).<br />
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How Would I Run It?<br />
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I would give all of the characters complications such as drug addictions, or paranoia. The adventure is set in the 70's, and the players acting out the lives of drug-addled John Lennon worshipers would make for an interesting game when they are pitted against insane cryptids.<br />
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Another possibility would be for me to set it with Ted Roosevelt being all “Bully,” and kicking ass.<br />
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What is Bad About It?<br />
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Other than the 70's setting having no actual bearing on the adventure itself, the adventure is absolutely lousy with spelling errors. The four people credited with putting this adventure together all did well. The one not credited, the editor, should have existed.<br />
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Where Can I Buy This?<br />
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http://www.silvergryphongames.com/store/#ecwid:category=1103019&mode=product&product=4942996<br />
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You can buy the quality PDF for $2.49. That's it. It's 18 pages of screams in the dark, bloody fur, and gun smoke.<br />
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I have been playing traditional role-playing games for as long as I have console role-playing games. I guess that would be around twenty-two years or so. I greatly prefer to be the DM, only rarely working out as a player. That said, when reviewing pen-and-paper RPG products, I do so from the perspective of a DM, which is who most RPG products are actually intended for.<br />
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I first crossed paths with Silver Gryphon Games at a local gaming convention here in Kansas City, last July. There I met Kevin Rohan, one of the two founders of the company. Kevin reminded me of Natty Bumppo from James Fenimoore Coopers' Leatherstocking Tales. He did not represent the extremes in society. I have met a lot of indie-game publishers—Kevin behaved like no other. Like Natty Bumppo, Kevin seemed to observe and respect both of the worlds (gamer and normal) he was a part of. Another similarity, was that Kevin actually listened when I spoke to him, and then asked questions pertaining to what I was talking about. Why does this matter? Credibility. Silver Gryphon Games is respectable. They will not screw with you, or talk down to you, or maintain themselves with the same solipsism that many other indie-game makers do. I have met a lot of indie-game publishers.<br />
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My next review will be of Kevin Rohan's very own adventure, Schroedinger's Box.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-62368516726419366922011-10-24T04:36:00.000-07:002011-10-24T04:36:15.394-07:00All that Glisters is not Gold (literally, in this case)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdwlD-8sYVw/TqVH5cBYLuI/AAAAAAAAALs/UEFhnJMHZgM/s1600/VS%2BItem.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="318" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdwlD-8sYVw/TqVH5cBYLuI/AAAAAAAAALs/UEFhnJMHZgM/s320/VS%2BItem.png" /></a></div><br />
I thought I would take a bit to explain how acts of commerce play out in Valor Seed. There is no gold pieces, or zenny, or gil, or goth, or fol, or munny, or crowns, or bottle caps. I claimed earlier to be trying to use some typical RPG elements more plausibly. A big part of the setting is that its full of poor people. A war just ended, with the majority of able-bodied young males having died in it. Each town has its own range of experience levels. These levels increase as the player performs quests and other stuff. Think of them as community morale. The growth of each town results in the develop of different types of workshops, blacksmith, whitesmith, alchemist, and tailor.<br />
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Item creation is a big part of Valor Seed. Scattered all throughout the games' maps are Item Spawn Points. These points yield materials used in item creation. Once looted, these points vanish. As the player defeats enemies he gains invisible item points. When these points hit a certain value, spent Item Spawn Points refresh in the same general vicinity that they were last plundered.<br />
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Most Item Spawn Points yield a specific product and casting a certain spell can enhance the amount. These points are located on the world map and in natural dungeons. Additionally, raising the levels of towns will open up use of unique Item Spawn Points representing the town paying tribute to their hero.<br />
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Another manner of acquiring materials is from enemies. Each type of enemy has a dropped item that is unique to it. I am not the biggest fan of grinding enemies to get them to drop their crap, so I am making drop rates pretty reasonable.<br />
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Valor Seed's maps are designed to give the player plenty of room to explore. I cannot justify this without offering up rewards for it, so expect to see Item Spawn Points in all the out-of-the-way places.<br />
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I have also designed plenty of different types of junk to make. <br />
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It should be pretty fun.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-48176126425612747112011-10-22T21:28:00.000-07:002011-10-22T21:28:44.944-07:00Game (also includes Role-Playing)I want to make a game that is fun to play. That is my number one goal with Valor Seed. Many people play RPG's for the story—I am not one of those people. A good story in an RPG is very important, but an RPG is a game first. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8RmrRkOfFVs/TqOXt2lOxAI/AAAAAAAAALU/ptZTHsUavPY/s1600/Castles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="133" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8RmrRkOfFVs/TqOXt2lOxAI/AAAAAAAAALU/ptZTHsUavPY/s320/Castles.png" /></a></div><br />
I have said on here before, that basically everything in an RPG is an abstraction of something. Graphically, you have one tree representing a forest, a building representing a town, or a monster flashing red to represent a spear being driven through its skull. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUShR6g1QZc/TqOX1XdcmgI/AAAAAAAAALg/wXEABflylTY/s1600/Battles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="109" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUShR6g1QZc/TqOX1XdcmgI/AAAAAAAAALg/wXEABflylTY/s320/Battles.png" /></a></div><br />
Mechanically, you have a menu system representing the player rummaging through a bag of stuff, a menu representing browsing the wares of a shop, a sudden distortion of environment followed by the party sprites swinging a tiny sword into empty space while barely moving which then corresponding to numbers bouncing up from out of the ground at the feet of a monster sprite, to represent a charging group of adventurers running down a band of hapless goblins and hacking them to pieces while screaming at the tops of their lungs.<br />
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Really, the further from these abstractions games go, such as accuracy of attacks being a function of the player and not of a mechanic to represent accuracy, the less they are RPG's. A game that requires the player to jump over obstacles with timed presses of the button, but also features an experience growth system is as much an action game as an RPG. There is nothing bad at all about cross genre games that do this, but a game that is exclusively an RPG does not involve player input to determine the success or failure of an action. I could probably be explaining it better, though I hope my point has still been somewhat made. The easiest way to put it, is that if a game's battle system requires the player's own reflexes to determine success or failure in battle, that game is also partly of the Action genre. Action games are about overcoming physical environments, role-playing games are about interpreting abstractions. Games that require timed button presses in combat to add a boost to damage are a gray area if the actual success or failure of the attack is not dependent upon it.<br />
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I have seen a lot of evidence that many players believe that the whole point of an RPG is the plot. I just do not understand this. Any person who wants to tell a story, and feels that the best way to do so is with an RPG, is just insane. The effort taken to create a story is just laughable compared to the effort in making an RPG. Above all else, an RPG is a game. The points of playing any game are to have fun, and try to win. In an action game you win by jumping over pitfalls. In an RPG you win by buying stronger equipment relative to the enemies you must soon defeat. The reason the short victory sting plays at the end of each battle, in most RPG's, is to congratulate you for not-losing.<br />
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Here is a brief anecdote: When I was in fifth grade, I made friends with this kid named Eric. Eric invited me to his birthday party. We played around outside for awhile, and then huddled around his basement television and played Nintendo. The four of us took turns at Captain Skyhawk, eventually finishing it. Eric had a pretty impressive collection of games, including Final Fantasy. It was hard to find a kid without a copy of the game around 1993, because Toys R' Us sold it for $19.99. I popped in Final Fantasy as was rather dumbfounded not to find a saved game. So I started it up, and went into the Cornerian weapon shop. <br />
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Eric said, “Those don't do anything.” <br />
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I said, “What don't.”<br />
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“The weapons.”<br />
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I then opened up the command menu, selected Equip, and equipped them. When I went into battle, and began depopulating the forest of imps, Eric was blown away.<br />
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The point of the above was not to call Eric stupid, despite his having the game's instruction manual. My point is that you just cannot finish an RPG without knowing how to play one. The “game” in “role-playing game,” is most important. If Star Wars Monopoly has taught us anything, it is that it is not a Star Wars game.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-79067326044922929732011-10-20T20:13:00.000-07:002011-10-20T20:29:39.112-07:00The "Why" of What We Do, Part TwoFirst thing, to be clear, this game is not actually for the NES, but made to look like it.<br />
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Part of my desire for Valor Seed was to really grant a sense of wonderful nostalgia for older players, and to make newer players see that a game only needs up to a particular degree of graphical detail to still be fun to play. <br />
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Making the graphics has been an interesting experience. When you only have four colors to make each walkabout sprite or enemy graphic, and the same for each map-tile, you learn to get creative. Furthermore, the background layer has a maximum of 12 colors, and the sprite layer 13. Also unlike subsequent system, such as the Super Nintendo and its 256 colors, the NES palette had 52 specific colors available. You could not assemble your choice of 52 colors to feature on the palette—it was like it or leave it.<br />
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Personally, any game I work on in the future is going to be done with some manner of laws like these. They force you to be creative, and what you end up making has excellent aesthetic appeal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w_QgnxNlbjk/TqDgic7mMaI/AAAAAAAAAJE/wMMsJTRaYMA/s1600/VS%2BMap%2B003a.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="237" width="319" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w_QgnxNlbjk/TqDgic7mMaI/AAAAAAAAAJE/wMMsJTRaYMA/s320/VS%2BMap%2B003a.png" /></a></div><br />
This is a screen capture of one of my towns. Practically everything in an RPG is an abstraction of something else. My least goal when making a map is to just get the idea across about what it is supposed to represent. There are three degrees of map-scaling commonly used by the RPG: the world map (1 tile = 1 mile), the town map (1 tile = 10-15 feet), and the interior map (1 tile = 3-5 feet). Based on this scale, I determined which trappings the town map should incorporate, and which would just clutter up the map or just look hilariously over-sized if used. Once I accomplished making a town that looked like a town, I had to then decide how far to take the graphics. <br />
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My limitation was that I could not make the maps look better than an NES RPG. There are some pretty damned snazzy NES RPGs, like Just Breed (1992) or Final Fantasy III (1990). These games, however, were created in the Super NES era, when the NES was all but mastered. I wanted Valor Seed to really be more 1988, than 1990. Each year between 1985 and 1990 was like a microcosm of game evolution. Newer and greater standards for the RPG were developed. Some games, like Dragon Quest III (1988), were just so incredibly far ahead of their peers that its style and scope still have not ceased to be applied to RPG's today. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFb03voRGdA/TqDganTQPWI/AAAAAAAAAI4/66vRKyftplI/s1600/Final%2BFantasy%2BIV%2BTown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="142" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFb03voRGdA/TqDganTQPWI/AAAAAAAAAI4/66vRKyftplI/s320/Final%2BFantasy%2BIV%2BTown.png" /></a></div><br />
The screen shot on the left is from Final Fantasy II, the right, Final Fantasy IV. As if you did not know that. You will notice that the FF2 did not use variations of tiles to indicate edges. A single tile is used for building face, wall face, wall top, grass, tall grass, earthen face, and stone path. None of them have been slightly altered to show that they have an edge. This basically means it takes six uses of one tile to make a 2 x 3 tile building face, instead of two uses of three tiles. Making simple maptiles that look good is actually pretty dang tough. Coordinating colors that look good is also pretty tough. Black serves as both an outline and a measure of shadow when you are working with so few colors. My tiles are very heavily inspired by those of Final Fantasy II. I did not copy them verbatim, but when you are working with 16x16 maptiles, there are really only a couple of ways to make a stone wall. The problem I most encountered when I started working with the tiles was that they very easily became noisy. After studying a lot of town maps for a lot of games, I concluded that tiles that represent vertical surfaces—outward facing ones, have the most detail. This is because they are those at the eye level of the sprites, and thus make the sprites stand out against them. This also makes it necessary to keep the floor tiles simple. Most of my walls are two colors with black. My floor tiles are almost all one color with black. I wanted there to be no question of which was floor and which was wall. This is particularly important in interior maps.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eu3jtw-qS6g/TqDgqu-0eCI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/uJp_fN9c2yA/s1600/Castle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="319" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eu3jtw-qS6g/TqDgqu-0eCI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/uJp_fN9c2yA/s320/Castle.png" /></a></div><br />
I made my interior maps styled light to dark from up to down. As I explained above, I made the floor tiles the simplest so that they contrasted with the walls and ceiling. You will also notice that the top and wall are variations of the same tile. This was a standard of the time. In many RPGs, particularly on the gameboy, a dungeon's motif would feature the same tile for top, wall, and floor only toned separately. It is hard to resist temptation to add more trappings to maps like the one above. I resisted because my goal was to make the map clearly appear as what it was meant to (a castle). Once I felt this was convincing enough, I moved on.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wZlBbhlmb2E/TqDg6kDf6gI/AAAAAAAAAJc/jk7KC653Lws/s1600/FF2%2Bhall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="224" width="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wZlBbhlmb2E/TqDg6kDf6gI/AAAAAAAAAJc/jk7KC653Lws/s320/FF2%2Bhall.png" /></a></div><br />
This is an interior screen shot from Final Fantasy II. Like me, once they succeeded in making the map look like what it was supposed to be, they only furnished it with such trappings that label an area in as simple a way possible.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9H-jiwTtIdA/TqDhA1pEdaI/AAAAAAAAAJo/H8214poA2AA/s1600/Chamber.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9H-jiwTtIdA/TqDhA1pEdaI/AAAAAAAAAJo/H8214poA2AA/s320/Chamber.png" /></a></div><br />
In this chamber I made for Valor Seed, you can see that I convey two things: it is a bedroom, and that the occupant likes to read.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QeUDCwUR25Y/TqDh3B0xdGI/AAAAAAAAAKA/qpGNAfKO514/s1600/Storeroom.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="235" width="217" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QeUDCwUR25Y/TqDh3B0xdGI/AAAAAAAAAKA/qpGNAfKO514/s320/Storeroom.png" /></a></div><br />
This room is very clearly used for storage. By arranging the trappings symmetrically, I show that the owner of the room is very tidy and organized. This can easily reinforce belief that this map is part of a military base or business.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FY1sjawmV5M/TqDhKlD3MXI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/uBCb9ObgZ14/s1600/Storeroom%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="224" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FY1sjawmV5M/TqDhKlD3MXI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/uBCb9ObgZ14/s320/Storeroom%2B2.png" /></a></div><br />
This storeroom tells a different story. The contents of this room are in disarray to the point where they are not all equally accessible. This could be the loot repository for a bandit gang. This room also serves an example of how to make dungeons by destroying a building.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EXCD5wmjSd0/TqDiBWLvp_I/AAAAAAAAAKM/Up4JLTViS_Q/s1600/Fastness.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="194" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EXCD5wmjSd0/TqDiBWLvp_I/AAAAAAAAAKM/Up4JLTViS_Q/s320/Fastness.png" /></a></div><br />
When it comes to designing dungeons, there are a lot of things to consider. The first and most important thing, is that dungeons are the locations in an RPG that serve to challenge players the most. Solving dungeons is the goal of an RPG. The whole point of training levels, buying healing items, and arming up with new gear is all for surviving the game's dungeons. The challenge of a dungeon should be the player estimating the amount of resources that will be needed to complete it. Failure means that the player's party runs out of hit points and healing and gets wiped out. What matters next is what kind of dungeons to use. All dungeons, in order to challenge players, must be labyrinthine. But does that mean they have to be a labyrinth? Also, all dungeons must either be natural, or man-made. <br />
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My above dungeon represents one that is clearly man-made, and is some kind of keep or castle. In the game you are playing human characters, native to buildings, so making a labyrinth out of a building (unless its an actual labyrinth) should be a function of something that is wrong with the building, or by there being a psychological need to not go first where one should logically go. It was my choice to make some of my dungeons look like they once had a purpose that was not being a dungeon. Such places, if large enough, can become a maze of choices rather than walls. Buildings are basically stacks of rooms, rooms are made for serving a purpose. If it has been evident that the goal of the dungeon is to go upstairs, yet there is clearly a another staircase going down, what can the benefit of going down be? If there is a point in doing anything in an RPG, there is also a point in doing everything. The main path through a dungeon may be only a short portion of the dungeon itself. The rest of the dungeon is not necessary to further the story, but will surely be crammed full of loot if explored. I make it a point to reward wanderlust in Valor Seed. The above map was designed by my brother, James Simpson. Jay has been playing D&D for nearly thirty years, 90% of the time as the DM. He's got a sixth sense for side-tracking adventurers through a dungeon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHaLT9WDJSQ/TqDiRusZKzI/AAAAAAAAAKY/5krBqI_Wolo/s1600/Cave.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="315" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHaLT9WDJSQ/TqDiRusZKzI/AAAAAAAAAKY/5krBqI_Wolo/s320/Cave.png" /></a></div><br />
This is a dungeon from my game that is natural. The design differences are clear from the dungeon shown above. The passages are not sized to accommodate space. The walls are not truly walls, but places where the earth has not been tunneled out. Figuring out where to go is the challenge of natural dungeons. And when that is accomplished, the player may still wish to go back and look down tunnels previously ignored . There is still more to natural dungeons than just their lack of prescription.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uM-QLTIBdqo/TqDiZyf777I/AAAAAAAAAKk/Cj9EyiGktqk/s1600/Torchlight.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="237" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uM-QLTIBdqo/TqDiZyf777I/AAAAAAAAAKk/Cj9EyiGktqk/s320/Torchlight.png" /></a></div><br />
This is one way I make gameplay in natural dungeons interesting. Light is a providence of the sun or fire, the former having no say below the ground. Dragon Warrior taught us to fear this mechanic, and rightly so—its was sadistic. I am not going have exhaustible sources of light. This is your light radius at all times, unless you choose to make it more...or less.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2sSUTfhXtug/TqDifnEmcrI/AAAAAAAAAKw/yn4rs7nrwxM/s1600/Torchlight%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="317" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2sSUTfhXtug/TqDifnEmcrI/AAAAAAAAAKw/yn4rs7nrwxM/s320/Torchlight%2B2.png" /></a></div><br />
Dragon Warrior was fully equipped with a charming little spell called Radiant. Valor Seed has a similar spell. As part of my effort to make spells less battle exclusive, when used from the menu, and when in a dark area, this spell expands the visible light radius. When used in battle, this spell blinds enemies. Many spells have similar duel function.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_XuYKKjC2w/TqDik1zEBiI/AAAAAAAAAK8/plvtXtflUts/s1600/Torchlight%2B3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="317" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_XuYKKjC2w/TqDik1zEBiI/AAAAAAAAAK8/plvtXtflUts/s320/Torchlight%2B3.png" /></a></div><br />
Another spell causes this to happen. This may not look very fun, but I assure you it is. Though this spell greatly reduces your radius of light, it also turns off random encounters. Furthermore, you can use this spell in any lit map, other than the world map (where the sun is just too badass to avoid).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5L8-ly62cjg/TqDiraB6q1I/AAAAAAAAALI/HLX3PNHcEb8/s1600/Flying.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="319" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5L8-ly62cjg/TqDiraB6q1I/AAAAAAAAALI/HLX3PNHcEb8/s320/Flying.png" /></a></div><br />
While we're on the subject of spells—who needs an airship when you can freakin' fly?<br />
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The best thing I can say about what I am trying to do with Valor Seed, is that it is going to have all the same old crap you have seen a million times, but I am going to use it in ways that are more plausible.Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634118024437952464.post-27510669307040734312011-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:002013-08-08T05:14:49.835-07:00The "Why" of What We DoHello. My name is Wes Falls. In September of last year my friend Robert Jenkins and I decided to make us an RPG. The game we envisioned would be created entirely from ideas found in every RPG. We then brainstormed the whole of the story, and what would be included. The last part of that discussion involved the game's title. We wanted something that sounded like a Japanese console RPG--English words that sound like they could be describing a fantasy role-playing game, but otherwise made no sense in particular. We named the game Valor Seed.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uEIC6sX1n2Y/Tp55mGgMQuI/AAAAAAAAAIU/FT2JBrppmHE/s1600/valorseedtitle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uEIC6sX1n2Y/Tp55mGgMQuI/AAAAAAAAAIU/FT2JBrppmHE/s320/valorseedtitle.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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At first, we wanted to make Valor Seed a pastiche of every Japanese console RPG. This seemed to be really funny at first. Then I got to digging around, particularly through my own vast collection of console RPGs. I had an epiphany: every RPG is already a pastiche of every RPG. <br />
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It was then that we decided to focus our attention on a particular era of RPG's, and on what we liked about them. We decided to make an RPG that looks, sounds, and feels like it is being played on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but with modern game play elements. I found the NES' color palette, and researched its display capabilities. I hired a professional composer to score the game. He had never worked with chiptunes before, but neither had Yuji Hori before Dragon Quest. I respect chiptune composers very much, but to get a score that sounded like a real Nintendo game, I wanted someone who would write the music the way they always do, and then try to make it sound good using the NES' sound chip.<br />
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Here is an example of what Sean created:<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F13040836&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff7700"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F13040836&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff7700" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <a href="http://soundcloud.com/sean-beeson/mana-overload-8bit-rpg-boss">Mana Overload - RPG Boss Battle</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/sean-beeson">Sean Beeson</a><br />
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My original plan was to create it to be a short romp of a game, but after the score arrived, and I counted all the hours I had put into development, I decided to work to making it a commercial title.<br />
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One particular source inspired me into this. Zeboyd Games' two indie-games, Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World, had both been absolute godsends to me. I was just about to throw away any hope of getting a new RPG like the ones I was raised on, and then I met a skeleton named Dem. I pester Robert Boyd of Zeboyd Games every so often on Twitter and Gmail. When I say pester, I mean, write a four-page, barely coherent diatribe about twenty topics that has just no possibility for a response. Still, he responds. I really am not good at flattery, and I suspect Robert is not good at being flattered, so there is always this awkwardness like when you realize you've just called a "ma'am" a "sir".<br />
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When it came time to start on the script, I was hesitant. You never know how hard being creative is until you have tried to make an RPG by yourself. You spend so much time designing maps (I actually studied the maps of Final Fantasies 1-3 intensely to understand the logic used in their design), and then choosing enemies, and then making weapons, and spells and then what does what, but when, and how long and so on, that when it comes to writing the dialog to the story, you just cannot do it, and I am no slouch when it comes to writing. I knew what the characters were like, and how the world worked, and the backstory, and the mythology, and all the events that would happen--but the actual way they said it? I got about fifteen pages, I think, of script and then I just sort of felt very grim about it.<br />
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This is not where I tell you that everything worked out for it. This is where I tell you that it started to look better. The script is still not fully done--there is no final revision of it yet. If you don't know who Alexander O. Smith is, he is the man who made Vagrant Story absolutely the dopest shit ever. He has done many kickass things since, like making sure the voice acting for Final Fantasy XII did not suck the excellence right out of his script by producing the audio himself. I played the Japanese original of that game, and if Steve Blum, Crispin Freeman, or Cam Clarke had gone anywhere near the main cast I would have...commented about it angrily on a forum somewhere, probably. But the game would not have been as good. One of the most important parts of an RPG is communicating with the player--if your script sucks, or is too literal a translation, the player just will not try as hard to win the game. As there was no way in Hell I could afford to pay Alexander O. Smith, or any professional, to write my script, I started looking around to who I knew. My friend Jeremy Bauman, probably more of an AOS fan than me, had studied Shakespeare in college and was all about the Elizabethan parlance and stuff. Jeremy put together a treatment of my script, but then had to go and work and make a living. Wes Fallshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503255130034810633noreply@blogger.com0