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[quote=”Fasoldgames” post=3321]Looks very nice!
But for some constructive criticism, the large yellow slabs on the map look a bit empty…or are they going to be filled in later?[/quote]
I’m all for constructive criticism!
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Edit: It occurred to me later that by large slabs you were referring to the grain fields, not the little yellow squares with numbers in them. My bad lol.The fields look odd at that angle and resolution, but from the top down you can see the shadows of the fences and silos surrounding them.
—–But yes, they actually represent the “movement fields” on the map. Characters move along the roads to the numbered map fields. They also serve as the places where other tokens are placed on the map.
So starting the game the map will look like this:
(Map ‘E’, the city of Whitstone, is intentionally left without counters)
And as the game is played it will start to get filled out like this:
(this was from my last playtest, taken right after I ‘won’ the game).
Mechanically I borrowed extremely heavily from Return of the Heroes -my game actually started out as a giant houserule for that game, and I ended up adding and changing so much I just made it a new game (I should mention I have zero commercial aspirations for this, it is purely a fun hobby project).
Still has some work to do, I don’t like the bottom two mountain maps, they’re totally out of place, and some of my tasks and skills still need re-doing.
I realized yesterday I totally forgot to write the rules around an entire mechanic I added :/
I remember you said something about the game being single player? I can see where the game could work as multiplayer as well.
It is single player, but can easily be played co-op with each player having a different character. The game is designed with a scaling difficulty, and combined with a bit of randomness, can be very difficult for two players or possibly even three, or be fairly easy for one player.
The thing I really like about playing this game co-op is that it really is a co-operative game where each player has their own character, and players can work toward a common goal (the win condition), but act completely independently. Many co-op games tend to be more of a “solo by committee” where the game plays essentially the same solo or co-op, just with more tokens on the board.
Looks very nice, and quite a large project! Are you using Tabletop Simulator to test it? I remember I had it on steam once, on a long lost account…
I like co-op games myself, to fight together against the computer or the system, instead of against each other.
Looking at the vastness of the game board and the places that can be visited, there must be quite a story involved. How much pages is it right now? 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Yup, the entire thing is being prototyped in Tabletop Simulator. Makes everything easier and way faster (not to mention cheaper lol).
According to my outline, it’s 16 short stories. 6 of them are in various states of completion (anywhere from ‘still drafting’ to ‘editing’ to ‘completed’). So far about 78 typed pages, plus a handful of pages of little snippets that I haven’t fit in yet.
The boardgame is based on the characters and events in the stories, but it’s still a boardgame so it’s not that close 😛
It seems like an interesting project, so best of luck to you!
Looking at your project, I think it could also be made well as a computer game, in the RPG Maker engine, which I am currently using.
Anyway, I have some experience with the engine now, and if I could help with anything in the future, I would be glad to 🙂It could work Ok-ish as a computer game. My style of writing is generally very dialogue-driven though, but I’ve thought of doing some type of computer game adaption just for fun.
I’ve worked with RPG Maker but I don’t really like it. I can’t stand the art style, and even with assets like the High Fantasy pack, it’s really designed to do JRPG-style of games, which I’m also not a fan of. Just personal preference. Though if I’m being honest I haven’t spent much time with the new battle scripts or anything.
I’m most familiar with Gamemaker Studio (I’ve actually been using GM for over 10 years), but it also has it’s issues for doing an RPG-like game (it’s more than capable of it.. the issue is I don’t have the patience to write my own backend system required to support that type of gameplay).
I was thinking of giving UE4 a shot, mostly because it doesn’t require coding. I have nothing against programming (GM above actually uses it’s own internal language based on Delphi), it’s more I just don’t have the time anymore to dedicate to learning a new programming language as a hobby project. Sometimes I miss being a college student lol (no, not really…. 😛 ).
Of course, I have zero artistic talent whatsoever, so that always gives me an asset problem, especially with 3D where most free assets are quite frankly terrible or in need of work (and I have no patience for Blender -that’s the 2nd most obtuse program I’ve ever used in my life), or designed for commercial use and are thus very expensive ($70+ CAD per asset.. yikes).
I’d love to do more computer game work, the problem is unless you’re willing to do everything yourself it’s really out of reach of a hobbyist. It’s one huge disadvantage of games now being of such high graphical quality.
Just my two cents, but I woldn’t say you will be better off using UE4 instead of GM. The blueprint system in Unreal is very convenient, yes, but you will face a lot of lower level issues compared to an easy to pickup tool like GameMaker. As for 2D games I’m generally against using UE. You can get the PlayMaker plugin for Unity though, which will prove a visual scripting interface similar to blueprints, but has a much wider range of free assets available, as well as better support for 2D.
I don’t really like the anime art style of RPG maker either, but it can all be swapped out. In my game, I’ve taken out all the ‘chibi’ style characters and replaced them, so you don’t really have to go with the anime style if you don’t want to.
I kind of have to disagree with the idea that games require AAA graphic quality nowadays. Plenty of indie games use pixel art, or have a game concept in which the graphics are not that important.
And of course, we have Epic Character Generator! In my game, 90% of all enemies and NPC’s are made with epic generator, and I am quite happy with the result.
Still, a computer game is quite a bit of work indeed!
[quote=”LBandy” post=3329]Just my two cents, but I woldn’t say you will be better off using UE4 instead of GM. The blueprint system in Unreal is very convenient, yes, but you will face a lot of lower level issues compared to an easy to pickup tool like GameMaker. As for 2D games I’m generally against using UE. You can get the PlayMaker plugin for Unity though, which will prove a visual scripting interface similar to blueprints, but has a much wider range of free assets available, as well as better support for 2D.[/quote]
For the most part I don’t mind GM for 2D. I’m very comfortable with GML and so far there hasn’t been too much I haven’t been able to accomplish with it (though I gave up on my last attempt of an isometric RTS, but that was because of art asset issues more than anything 🙁 ).
I took a quick look at UE and Unity, and I think I’d encounter the same issue with them -lack of diverse 3D art assets.
[quote=”Fasoldgames” post=3330]I don’t really like the anime art style of RPG maker either, but it can all be swapped out. In my game, I’ve taken out all the ‘chibi’ style characters and replaced them, so you don’t really have to go with the anime style if you don’t want to.[/quote]
I have almost all of the High Fantasy resource packs. I really like that art style but I’ve never been able to get them working in the game the way I want. It seems an astounding amount of effort required to get them to work properly (outside of simply creating the map and then a parallex image in an external graphics program, which IMO partially defeats the purpose of RPG Maker anyway).
Really annoys me because I’d love to create something with those packs.
I kind of have to disagree with the idea that games require AAA graphic quality nowadays. Plenty of indie games use pixel art, or have a game concept in which the graphics are not that important.
Never said anything about AAA quality graphics 😛
Pixel art is a bit misleading though.. it’s still very difficult to create a unified aesthetic with pixel art, and even then you still need UI and other graphics.. doesn’t really solve anything lol.
Specifically though I was referring to using low poly 3D models. They’re fine for an RTS, but unless your entire game is designed around low poly stuff, they just don’t work well in modern engines. Again, I’m not an artist. I can use Sketchup for 3D modelling, that’s about it (it’s a CAD program though, like CC3, which is why I can use it. I just don’t get 3D modelling software.. it just doesn’t click with me).
And of course, we have Epic Character Generator! In my game, 90% of all enemies and NPC’s are made with epic generator, and I am quite happy with the result.
Yea, it’s great unless you need something animated. Great for boardgame or static stuff though.
Still, a computer game is quite a bit of work indeed!
It can be. I enjoy the problem solving that comes with coding and figuring out solutions to problems. I don’t enjoy using MS Paint stick figures to represent my characters lol.
Yeah, I should get back to it as well, many new idea’s floating around in my head….somewhere….if only I could find them 🙂
Anyway, nice image! I like the color composition and all the details.
Started work on a new project that was running around in my head for a while. A new board game using a modified system I used in my ‘Whitstone’ project (which, in itself, is a heavily modified Return of the Heroes system).
Not sure how much use I’ll be able to make of Epic, but I have a couple of ideas rolling around in my head.
(That’s the final version of the character cards for Whitstone).
I may have “borrowed” a theme for my new project 😛
“Character” cards aren’t done yet, you’ll see some components from the Whitstone card in there.
Nice! If you are looking to create a prototype, I can recommend The Game Crafter!
Not really keeping an eye on the websiteservice these days, but I remember it to be quite good.
[quote=”Fasoldgames” post=3560]Nice! If you are looking to create a prototype, I can recommend The Game Crafter!
Not really keeping an eye on the websiteservice these days, but I remember it to be quite good.[/quote]
I’ve looked into them before, but nothing more than curious browsing.
These days for prototyping I’ve been using Tabletop Simulator. Though when I do finally get Whitstone finished I may look into Game Crafter just so I have a hard copy for myself.
I have no commercial aspirations at all with my work, it’s purely a for-fun hobby.
I used to do stuff like this, but TS has made this WAAAY easier:
(mat is from HotzMats, counters are from Battlefleet Gothic, and I made the ship box-models using LDRAW and printing them out and assembling them).
So honestly this wasn’t SUPPOSED to be this long…
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Alrighty.. so I think this next entry needs a bit of background. Like Antheia this is a character made for my story fiction, not my boardgame (though it’s basically the same background…).
Without going into too much detail -mainly because I haven’t finished writing it- some Bad Things™ end up happening between Antheia and Marcelllus. I alluded to some of it when I posted Antheia. Lets just say the resulting conflicts between his love for Antheia, Penelope, loyalty to an old friend didn’t end well. Marcellus, having spent so much time in the south in general and with Penelope specifically did not realize just how deep and powerful was the Kharunian hatred for mages. And it ended up costing him. A lot.
So fast forward a while…
He ends up leaving Ardanya and travelling across the ocean east to Kembria. Kembria, where Valwyrian elves, Kharunians, and Ardanians are rarely seen. In Kembria Marcellus started a school teaching his own form of the Kharunian sword arts (his own form because the three forms used by the Tali’Centi take years to master and were not well suited to the type of swordplay used in Kembria). While he intended his form to be a martial combat art, it actually ends up a new favored art of the social elite (partially due to it’s origins in the “fabled Kharunian sword art”, which was known even in Kambria), earning Marcallus quite a reputation. Within 12 months he’s making a comfortable living with one-on-one teaching of nobles, aristocrats, and other elites, and within 18 months prospective students have to be on a waiting list.
ANYWAY…
So enter Aeron De’Rourke. Not a noble, but might as well be. The De’Rourke family is one of the wealthiest in Ludfordshire and very much members of the social elite. As such, De’Rourke decided it would be advantageous to enroll his daughter in Marcellus’ school. It would of course be a great riposte for Aeron and Annabel to boast that their daughter is trained in Kharunian swordplay.
This brings us to Isobel De’Rourke.
Now in his travels around Ardanya (and even in the court of Kharuna) Marcellus has known quite a few “nobles’ daughters” and political and social elite. He could count on zero fingers the number of them he actually liked or in any way could relate to.
Thus Isobel was quite a shock to him. Like many in Kembria, completely devoid of any prejudice or preconceived notions toward Kharunians. Enthusiastic, energetic, attentive, and while she exhibited the perfectionism that’s common among the high class of Kembria, she was genuinely interested in learning from Marcellus. While her parents saw the training as another step on the never ending ladder of the social elite, Isobel was happy and excited to be doing something that didn’t involve parties, social gatherings, pleasantries, fake smiles, and otherwise being a good host or putting a facade of friendship in a den of sharks. Marcellus of course cared little for social standing (ironic, really, since as a Tali’Centi and betrothed to a temple priestess he always enjoyed very high social standing in Kharuna).
And that is really where the story of these two starts. Isobel gradually learns she can drop the shell society has imposed on her and discovers she can be spontaneous and passionate and generally enjoy life on her own terms. And Marcellus, for the first time in a very long time, finds someone who isn’t demanding anything from him.
And I’ll leave it at that 🙂
(of course, about 2 years after arriving in Kembria part of Marc’s pre-Kembrian past catches up to him.. and I haven’t decided whether or not he gives that past the middle finger. It will depend on where he and Isobel sit I think.. I don’t know.. I haven’t written it yet lol).
Marcellus and Isobel, once he convinces her that she cannot, in fact, wear a heavy styled dress while swordfighting.
Isobel, dressed in what she’d consider “inappropriately casual”.I still need to touch these images up a bit. Isobel doesn’t look quite right, but pretty close. At least her eyes are the correct colour.
I’d love to see the “Makeup” layer make a comeback from Season 1…
A bit more background…
So I intended Isobel to be quite young, younger than Antheia.. but then I realized how young I actually wrote Antheia (she’s 24 when her and Marcellus meet). So I’m not sure about that. Marc is 38 at this point (after being in Kembria for 2 years). So I might just be ambiguous with character ages and just let readers infer.
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