January Role of the Hero Blog
by Kevin McLaughlin · 01/31/2008 (8:54 pm) · 1 comments
If any of you have been following my main blog, bless you. If not, and you're interested in the trials and travails of trying to make an online RPG by myself, the site is here:
http://roleplayersworld.wordpress.com/
I haven't updated my progress here in a bit, and it's past time. So, a quick overview:
* For those who have forgotten, this project is part of the Dream Games $10k contest. Goal: produce a game using Torque in one year.
* Project: to produce a smallscale online game where players interact in a role-first story focused campaign. The goal is to demonstrate that a story based approach is viable in an online multiplayer environment. And ideally, to create a game that's fun to play, too.
It's been an odd couple of months.
I've almost dropped out of the contest more than once - out of frustration, lack of time, and a level of uncertainty whether the core premise is even workable on a production level. I've hemmed and hawed about engine mod choices. Finally, the end of December I was left knowing it was time to figure out what needed doing, and do it. Or drop out.
So I sat down, realized I had made a few crucial errors:
* I was still trying to make the game I dreamed of making, instead of getting a basic game done.
* I was using delays in the Gryphon and PG Kit engines as an excuse to not get things done.
* I was allowing feature creep in a big way, despite talking about "simplest game"; I was trying to make something complex, instead of keeping it at a more basic and accomplishable level.
Making a game, even a mediocre one, is better than sitting around not doing anything. Even if this premise fails, at least I will know that and can move on from there. And, I'll have the experience of having accomplished another game under my belt too, which is never a bad thing!
So, I tossed out darn near everything I had done so far, and pushed ahead with a more basic design. With only two months left til the initial Alpha was due (one month now!) and only another two months after that before the contest is over, I am out of time to mess about. So now - after having given myself permission to fail (which is really a freeing process!), and kicking off an idea I don't have near as much of myself invested in, I'm making strong forward progress.
Upcoming:
* I had hoped for screenshots of the dungeon I've been working on, but I've got a bad brush somewhere that I have to locate. I'll get those up soon. Screenshots of the landscape, however, I do have:
* Last spring I released my design doc on my blog. I'll be releasing the new and improved/updated version shortly in the same space.
* Alpha test is still online for the start of March. Should be interesting to see how far I get by then. ;)
Edit:
Well, I snagged a teaser shot of the dungeon-in-progress anyway, just for show. This is a Constructor shot though, not an ingame one:
I'll try to get some more action-oriented shots into next months blog!
http://roleplayersworld.wordpress.com/
I haven't updated my progress here in a bit, and it's past time. So, a quick overview:
* For those who have forgotten, this project is part of the Dream Games $10k contest. Goal: produce a game using Torque in one year.
* Project: to produce a smallscale online game where players interact in a role-first story focused campaign. The goal is to demonstrate that a story based approach is viable in an online multiplayer environment. And ideally, to create a game that's fun to play, too.
It's been an odd couple of months.
I've almost dropped out of the contest more than once - out of frustration, lack of time, and a level of uncertainty whether the core premise is even workable on a production level. I've hemmed and hawed about engine mod choices. Finally, the end of December I was left knowing it was time to figure out what needed doing, and do it. Or drop out.
So I sat down, realized I had made a few crucial errors:
* I was still trying to make the game I dreamed of making, instead of getting a basic game done.
* I was using delays in the Gryphon and PG Kit engines as an excuse to not get things done.
* I was allowing feature creep in a big way, despite talking about "simplest game"; I was trying to make something complex, instead of keeping it at a more basic and accomplishable level.
Making a game, even a mediocre one, is better than sitting around not doing anything. Even if this premise fails, at least I will know that and can move on from there. And, I'll have the experience of having accomplished another game under my belt too, which is never a bad thing!
So, I tossed out darn near everything I had done so far, and pushed ahead with a more basic design. With only two months left til the initial Alpha was due (one month now!) and only another two months after that before the contest is over, I am out of time to mess about. So now - after having given myself permission to fail (which is really a freeing process!), and kicking off an idea I don't have near as much of myself invested in, I'm making strong forward progress.
Upcoming:
* I had hoped for screenshots of the dungeon I've been working on, but I've got a bad brush somewhere that I have to locate. I'll get those up soon. Screenshots of the landscape, however, I do have:
* Last spring I released my design doc on my blog. I'll be releasing the new and improved/updated version shortly in the same space.
* Alpha test is still online for the start of March. Should be interesting to see how far I get by then. ;)
Edit:
Well, I snagged a teaser shot of the dungeon-in-progress anyway, just for show. This is a Constructor shot though, not an ingame one:
I'll try to get some more action-oriented shots into next months blog!
Torque Owner Cinder Games
I'm trying to make my "dream game" but i've had to cut back on many things due to frustation with time/skill.
I've spent most of my time laying down ground work, systems, subsystems for my RPG. Slowly i've been working on adding/improving art. But i'm still a long way away from having a game. For now, i just refer to it as my project.