Single Player Game
Overview- The game is an action platformer that takes place in 13th century Transylvannia where the player fights Dracula and other vampires.
Story- Dracula infects Adelbert Zsigmond with Vampirism in an attempt to throw the vampire hnting knights, "The Order of the Dragon," off his tail while he conducts a ritual to reach the apothesis of his dark powers. Now Adelbert must battle against Dracula's minions and the vampire hunters in order to free himself of this dark curse. For more information see the Story Appendix.
Hours of Gameplay Well that's a tricky question, a player could blast through the tutorial levels, and barge his way into Dracula's chambers in as little as four hours if particualrly determined to do so. However if the player actually explores the area and gathers power-ups I'd place the total play time at around twenty to twenty-five hours depending if they go for every power up in the game.
Victory Conditions- The only condition for winning the game is the death of Dracula, and he awaits at his castle as soon as the tutorial levels are over. Whether the player gets the good or evil ending depends soley on whether they have more good or evil points when they defeat Dracula.
Multiplayer Game
Overview- Two players play as two different vampires, one with mostly good powers and one with mostly evil powers, and are thrust into Dracula's throne room to fight it out. They can work together to take down Dracula, but the only winner is the last one standing, so the player has to decide whether to risk getting overwhelmed by Dracula's forces, or launching a surprise attack against his distracted opponent.
Maximum Number of Players- Two, having too many moving parts during the elaborate Dracula boss fight would be ill-advised, paring it down to two keeps it simple.
Online Play- Online match-making over X-Box Live and Playstation Network are likely additions, although this feature is built with local multiplayer in mind, so you can curse out your friend, as he backstabs you right before you land the killing blow on Dracula.
Alright, that's the end of our first Design Document, the appendicies will be added to the final Google Doc that'll go up Tuesday.I made the decision to post the appendices seperately, (thus making this installment rather sparse), because that stuff isn't really of general interest to somebody who wouldn't just go ahead and read the document. I'll update this post with a link to the document first thing Tuesday, as well as post a new article. See you then.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Design Document: Dracula's Castle Part 5
Wow, finally all done. It is however rather unwieldy with all the appendices, so I'm splitting it into two different parts. Here is part one of the final installment of Dracula's Castle Design Document, tune in Thursday for the finale.
World Overview
World Map
The City
Dracula's Castle
Game Characters
Adelbert Zsigmond
Ilka Fekete
Adelbert's sweat-heart, although his family and friends are quick to point out that Adelbert doesn't know if she returns the feelings. She recently left her home town for Dracula Manor without much notice, only leaving a short note for Adelbert which he found upon his return. Physically Ilka is a young woman, with black hair and blue eyes, and a good couple inches taller than Adelbert, (pre-transformation). She has a similar build to Adelbert, in her youth she used to explore the countryside with Adelbert, and developed the climbers physique as well, although she also has considerable strength (at least as far as the weakling Adelbert remembers it), as she helped with the harvest and such, although it doesn't really show. Although she grew up working hard on the farm, her features are now quite soft, having spent the last couple of years working the relatively untaxing position as servant to the local noble. She generally dresses in simple work clothes, or a travelers cloak, a practical habit she picked up from Adelbert.
Father Fény
The good hearted churchman that serves as a mentor for Adelbert for the beginning of the game. It is hi wise and caring voice that coaches Adelbert through the tutorial section of the game. The man himself claims to be visiting clergy on his way to the Manor, who offers to help Adelbert to his destination. While Father Fény may be a man of the cloth, he is no fat friar or doubty deacon, the years spent as a traveling priest have kept him fit evidently. Although his white hair and dimming brown eyes indicate that he is of advanced years, he doesn't lean on his ever present walking stick, but rather walks up right, with the pride of a warrior.
Character Customization
Outside of the stylistic changes that come from Adelbert's choosing good or evil there isn't any. Character customization for largely single player games is little more than a novelty in my opinion, (with a possible exception being roleplaying games where making your own character is kind of the point).
Enemies and Monsters
Dracula - The final boss of the game, incredibly fast and strong, and capable of transforming into a monstrous form if pressed. With all these powers he is rather difficult to beat, but even still he is no fool and calls upon any allies that may be around for aid. Very difficult to defeat, it might be in the players best interest to target some of his allies before taking him on. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Dracula's Three Brides - The sub-bosses of Dracula's Castle, dangerous and deadly in their own right, when working together under Dracula's direction, they are nearly unstoppable. If Dracula is forced into a confrontation he will call upon his Vampire Brides to help him, however outside of Dracula's purview their dislike of one another prevents them from coming to one another rescue. So it would be simpler to face them each individually before attacking Dracula, but if the player has a death wish he may fight them all alongside Dracula in his throne room. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Undead - Dracula uses these mindless corpses as foot soldiers within his domain, throwing them in waves against his enemies. Dracula has no shortage of raw material, with his victims, the dead Ottoman's from the failed invasions, and not to mention those long buried in the myriad boneyards found around his manor. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Wolves - Dracula has some foul power over the wild creatures that roam his domain, in order to keep unwelcome guests off of his territory he often sends packs to hunt and kill those who wander where they should not be. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
For the rest of the list see, Enemy Appendix.
User Interface
Controls X - Jump
Square - Attack, (hold down longer for stronger attack)
Triangle - Use Selected Item
Circle - Transform into Monster Form (if Horror Meter is full)
Right Thumb Stick - Camera
Left Thumb Stick - Move
R1 & L1 - Switch Weapon
R2 & L2 - Switch Item
Start - Pause
Select - Map
Health and Other Meters
Health will be displayed in as a red horizontal meter across the top of the screen, that leads into an indicator of which item is currently selected and how much of that item is left, this being the most important meter it is positioned at the top so players know where to look when the situation gets dicey. The Horror Meter is a deep purplish, almost shadowlike color, that fills up the more you character kills things on screen, innocents as well as enemies. When the Horror Meter is full the player can transform into the bestial vampire form.
Pause Menu
A scroll of paper with an option for Map, Display Options, or Sound written on what appears to be old parchment, the current selected item appears to have a drop of blood next as an indication. The players inventory appears below that, and they may scroll down and check their belongings, a little window offering information on the currently selected option appears on the right hand side, so players can easily ignore it if they don't care for the information, but easily find it if they need it.
Map Screen
Rolls down from the scroll if selected from the pause menu, appears to be hand drawn by Adelbert as areas are explored, can cycle through the various areas in the game with the L1 and R1 buttons.
Weapons
Dragon's Hammer - A holy hammer given to Adelbert early in the game by Father Fény, the basic weapon used by the Order of the Dragon to drive stakes into the hearts of Vampires, also doubles as an absolutely brutal war hammer. For more information see Equipment Appendix.
Claws - Who needs the weapons of mortals when you can just manifest bestial claws. The curse of the vampire may leave it's victims damned, but it certainly doesn't leave them defenseless. These rending claws are the primary offensive weapon for the vampires who tread the path of evil. For more information see Equipment Appendix.
For a complete list of Weapons and Equipment see the Equipment Appendix
Musical Score
The score should be heavily instrumental, with lots of deep bass and wistful flute melodies. Sad cello's should remind the player he's all alone in this world, and boss battle themes should sink start out hopeful, then sink into something similar to Bach's Toccato and Fugue, until finally emerging out the other side with a few triumphant chords at the end to bring the player up, before realizing he still has a job to do and he'd better get to it. Some brief thoughts on the themes for the various areas:
The Southern Road
The music should start out low and forlorn, a slow beat with few notes driving home how far away from life the player is. As they get closer to the city the tempo climbs a bit, more note are added to music and the player no longer feels quite so alone, however the music starts to take on a greater and greater aspect of anxiety. So the player must chose, face the isolation in the wilderness, or walk into the dangerous walls of the city. If the player wanders down one of the side paths, the melody gets discordant and alien, really hammering home that they aren't in a natural wilderness environment at all.
The Western Mountains
The mountains should be full of the sounds of struggle, with a hint of danger running throughout. At the beginning of the climb upward, the music should start off with a lot of energy, going in loud and up-tempo. As the player climbs and hits more and more difficult areas to platform across, the music starts to lose it's confidence, slowly parts of the orchestra start to fade out, leaving only a simple tune to comfort the player as the reach the highest parts of the mountain, and even that struggles against the fantastically high altitudes, and dangerous terrain. Finally, when the player reaches the top the music returns full force, although Dracula's will prevents the player from moving any farther beyond, they get the feeling that once they defeat Dracula, and move beyond the mountain pass, better things lie in that direction.
The Northern River
Not many people venture to the lands of the North, so the music should sound a little different than the music elsewhere. Although the music will still have the same themes of danger and isolation present in the other areas of the game it will also have an unnatural flow to it, like the river itself characterizes the music. The music will also lead to a false sense of security, it doesn't change tempo when danger is afoot, leaving the player feeling vulnerable and paranoid.
Southern Marsh
The music starts out down-tempo, and only gets gloomier from there. It's like the Marsh was trying to warn you to stay away from it just by the ambient sound. As you reach the center of the marsh, the music seems interspersed with what sound like the dying gasps of a drowning victim.
Dracula's Manor - Town
The score seems more natural and familiar, but that doesn't necessarily make it welcoming. The tempo increases as the player approaches other villagers, letting the player know of the increasing tension between the towns people and this outsider. The score may be on more of an even keel in the town, but that doesn't mean it's soothing or up-beat, the music in the city is more harmonious than outside the city, but there is little relief inside the walls of civilization.
Dracula's Manor - Castle
The score inside is a lot more ordered, like a military march, the music should convey the power that Dracula commands. The notes should be loud and almost over-powering, the aura of power Dracula likes to cultivate is less reassuring, and more intimidating, with hints of dark menace in the refrain.
Sound Effects
Combat sound effects shouldn't really be too graphic for the standard attacks against the various enemies, the player shouldn't come to be sick of the constant squish and rip of bodies. However the sound design should turned up a bit when an enemy lands a killing blow on the player, really make the death sound gory and painful, although not too over the top.
The sound effects for picking up power-ups should be a brief up-beat chord, as power-ups should feel like short reprieves from the dangers of the dark world surrounding the player. Although players regaining health by sucking blood from villagers and the like aren't treated to the dulcet tones of the power up sound, but rather the helpless wails of their victims.
Ambient sounds should be harsh and guttural, with wolves howling out in the wilderness, and plodding footsteps following unseen in the city. If a gate needs to be raised the mechanism should scrape, scratch and clank as it is put into motion. Nothing is in proper working order, so doors should squeal on their hinges and floorboards creak underfoot.
World Overview
World Map
The City
Dracula's Castle
Game Characters
Adelbert Zsigmond
Ilka Fekete
Adelbert's sweat-heart, although his family and friends are quick to point out that Adelbert doesn't know if she returns the feelings. She recently left her home town for Dracula Manor without much notice, only leaving a short note for Adelbert which he found upon his return. Physically Ilka is a young woman, with black hair and blue eyes, and a good couple inches taller than Adelbert, (pre-transformation). She has a similar build to Adelbert, in her youth she used to explore the countryside with Adelbert, and developed the climbers physique as well, although she also has considerable strength (at least as far as the weakling Adelbert remembers it), as she helped with the harvest and such, although it doesn't really show. Although she grew up working hard on the farm, her features are now quite soft, having spent the last couple of years working the relatively untaxing position as servant to the local noble. She generally dresses in simple work clothes, or a travelers cloak, a practical habit she picked up from Adelbert.
Father Fény
The good hearted churchman that serves as a mentor for Adelbert for the beginning of the game. It is hi wise and caring voice that coaches Adelbert through the tutorial section of the game. The man himself claims to be visiting clergy on his way to the Manor, who offers to help Adelbert to his destination. While Father Fény may be a man of the cloth, he is no fat friar or doubty deacon, the years spent as a traveling priest have kept him fit evidently. Although his white hair and dimming brown eyes indicate that he is of advanced years, he doesn't lean on his ever present walking stick, but rather walks up right, with the pride of a warrior.
Character Customization
Outside of the stylistic changes that come from Adelbert's choosing good or evil there isn't any. Character customization for largely single player games is little more than a novelty in my opinion, (with a possible exception being roleplaying games where making your own character is kind of the point).
Enemies and Monsters
Dracula - The final boss of the game, incredibly fast and strong, and capable of transforming into a monstrous form if pressed. With all these powers he is rather difficult to beat, but even still he is no fool and calls upon any allies that may be around for aid. Very difficult to defeat, it might be in the players best interest to target some of his allies before taking him on. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Dracula's Three Brides - The sub-bosses of Dracula's Castle, dangerous and deadly in their own right, when working together under Dracula's direction, they are nearly unstoppable. If Dracula is forced into a confrontation he will call upon his Vampire Brides to help him, however outside of Dracula's purview their dislike of one another prevents them from coming to one another rescue. So it would be simpler to face them each individually before attacking Dracula, but if the player has a death wish he may fight them all alongside Dracula in his throne room. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Undead - Dracula uses these mindless corpses as foot soldiers within his domain, throwing them in waves against his enemies. Dracula has no shortage of raw material, with his victims, the dead Ottoman's from the failed invasions, and not to mention those long buried in the myriad boneyards found around his manor. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
Wolves - Dracula has some foul power over the wild creatures that roam his domain, in order to keep unwelcome guests off of his territory he often sends packs to hunt and kill those who wander where they should not be. For more information see Enemy Appendix.
For the rest of the list see, Enemy Appendix.
User Interface
Controls X - Jump
Square - Attack, (hold down longer for stronger attack)
Triangle - Use Selected Item
Circle - Transform into Monster Form (if Horror Meter is full)
Right Thumb Stick - Camera
Left Thumb Stick - Move
R1 & L1 - Switch Weapon
R2 & L2 - Switch Item
Start - Pause
Select - Map
Health and Other Meters
Health will be displayed in as a red horizontal meter across the top of the screen, that leads into an indicator of which item is currently selected and how much of that item is left, this being the most important meter it is positioned at the top so players know where to look when the situation gets dicey. The Horror Meter is a deep purplish, almost shadowlike color, that fills up the more you character kills things on screen, innocents as well as enemies. When the Horror Meter is full the player can transform into the bestial vampire form.
Pause Menu
A scroll of paper with an option for Map, Display Options, or Sound written on what appears to be old parchment, the current selected item appears to have a drop of blood next as an indication. The players inventory appears below that, and they may scroll down and check their belongings, a little window offering information on the currently selected option appears on the right hand side, so players can easily ignore it if they don't care for the information, but easily find it if they need it.
Map Screen
Rolls down from the scroll if selected from the pause menu, appears to be hand drawn by Adelbert as areas are explored, can cycle through the various areas in the game with the L1 and R1 buttons.
Weapons
Dragon's Hammer - A holy hammer given to Adelbert early in the game by Father Fény, the basic weapon used by the Order of the Dragon to drive stakes into the hearts of Vampires, also doubles as an absolutely brutal war hammer. For more information see Equipment Appendix.
Claws - Who needs the weapons of mortals when you can just manifest bestial claws. The curse of the vampire may leave it's victims damned, but it certainly doesn't leave them defenseless. These rending claws are the primary offensive weapon for the vampires who tread the path of evil. For more information see Equipment Appendix.
For a complete list of Weapons and Equipment see the Equipment Appendix
Musical Score
The score should be heavily instrumental, with lots of deep bass and wistful flute melodies. Sad cello's should remind the player he's all alone in this world, and boss battle themes should sink start out hopeful, then sink into something similar to Bach's Toccato and Fugue, until finally emerging out the other side with a few triumphant chords at the end to bring the player up, before realizing he still has a job to do and he'd better get to it. Some brief thoughts on the themes for the various areas:
The Southern Road
The music should start out low and forlorn, a slow beat with few notes driving home how far away from life the player is. As they get closer to the city the tempo climbs a bit, more note are added to music and the player no longer feels quite so alone, however the music starts to take on a greater and greater aspect of anxiety. So the player must chose, face the isolation in the wilderness, or walk into the dangerous walls of the city. If the player wanders down one of the side paths, the melody gets discordant and alien, really hammering home that they aren't in a natural wilderness environment at all.
The Western Mountains
The mountains should be full of the sounds of struggle, with a hint of danger running throughout. At the beginning of the climb upward, the music should start off with a lot of energy, going in loud and up-tempo. As the player climbs and hits more and more difficult areas to platform across, the music starts to lose it's confidence, slowly parts of the orchestra start to fade out, leaving only a simple tune to comfort the player as the reach the highest parts of the mountain, and even that struggles against the fantastically high altitudes, and dangerous terrain. Finally, when the player reaches the top the music returns full force, although Dracula's will prevents the player from moving any farther beyond, they get the feeling that once they defeat Dracula, and move beyond the mountain pass, better things lie in that direction.
The Northern River
Not many people venture to the lands of the North, so the music should sound a little different than the music elsewhere. Although the music will still have the same themes of danger and isolation present in the other areas of the game it will also have an unnatural flow to it, like the river itself characterizes the music. The music will also lead to a false sense of security, it doesn't change tempo when danger is afoot, leaving the player feeling vulnerable and paranoid.
Southern Marsh
The music starts out down-tempo, and only gets gloomier from there. It's like the Marsh was trying to warn you to stay away from it just by the ambient sound. As you reach the center of the marsh, the music seems interspersed with what sound like the dying gasps of a drowning victim.
Dracula's Manor - Town
The score seems more natural and familiar, but that doesn't necessarily make it welcoming. The tempo increases as the player approaches other villagers, letting the player know of the increasing tension between the towns people and this outsider. The score may be on more of an even keel in the town, but that doesn't mean it's soothing or up-beat, the music in the city is more harmonious than outside the city, but there is little relief inside the walls of civilization.
Dracula's Manor - Castle
The score inside is a lot more ordered, like a military march, the music should convey the power that Dracula commands. The notes should be loud and almost over-powering, the aura of power Dracula likes to cultivate is less reassuring, and more intimidating, with hints of dark menace in the refrain.
Sound Effects
Combat sound effects shouldn't really be too graphic for the standard attacks against the various enemies, the player shouldn't come to be sick of the constant squish and rip of bodies. However the sound design should turned up a bit when an enemy lands a killing blow on the player, really make the death sound gory and painful, although not too over the top.
The sound effects for picking up power-ups should be a brief up-beat chord, as power-ups should feel like short reprieves from the dangers of the dark world surrounding the player. Although players regaining health by sucking blood from villagers and the like aren't treated to the dulcet tones of the power up sound, but rather the helpless wails of their victims.
Ambient sounds should be harsh and guttural, with wolves howling out in the wilderness, and plodding footsteps following unseen in the city. If a gate needs to be raised the mechanism should scrape, scratch and clank as it is put into motion. Nothing is in proper working order, so doors should squeal on their hinges and floorboards creak underfoot.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Winter Holiday
Hey everybody, I'm going to have to take today off for the holiday, but I'll be back on Tuesday with the last segment of the Design Document.
Happy Holidays from,
-practicallyevil
Happy Holidays from,
-practicallyevil
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Creating Conflict: "We're not so different, you and I."
Now I know I should be finishing up this Design Document, but every time I think about posting the finished product, I reread it and see evidence of a concept I want to discuss. So I figure it's best to push it back a week and address the concept so you the readers can appreciate it too, without calling it out inside the Design Document.
This week I want to talk about creating conflict in games, and not in the sense of actual physical combat, but rather in the sense of why each character within the game chooses to fight. I think the conflict in Dracula's Castle is a good example of this, in the sense that it is simple enough to serve as a straight-forward example. Here the basic conflict is that Dracula is faced with a group of vampire hunters, and it is only a matter of time before they find out he is a vampire. He needs someone to take the fall, or at least serve as a distraction, somebody no one knows or cares about, and Adelbert Zsigsimond is a perfect candidate.
This set up makes for great conflict, now everyone involved has a reason to fight against each other. If the players look at why Dracula took the action that he did from his perspective it adds up, when thinking about how to cover up a serious crime, it's not a huge leap of logic to pin it on a lone drifter. From the vampire hunters perspective Adelbert is now definitely a vampire, even if he isn't the vampire that they are looking for, and are therefore duty bound to kill him. From Adelbert's perspective, he has to fight to escape being made a thrall of Dracula, while fighting the vampire hunters in self defense.
Everybody has very clear cut consequences for failing to succeed in their goal: if Dracula fails to shift the blame to Adelbert, he will die at the hands of the vampire hunters. If the vampire hunters fail then a vampire will prey on the innocents of this village on their watch. Finally if Adelbert fails he'll either die, or worse turn into a vampiric thrall. It really helps when your players know what the stakes are for every given faction, and what they stand to lose if they fail.
A player should not only understand the conflicts between himself and his enemies, but also the internal conflict within himself, enemies should be used as metaphors for the internal struggles within the character and the player. For example the player is understandably angry with Dracula, he made him into a vampire and is clearly the bad guy, but there will always be the nagging feeling that they really can't be mad at him too much, because he''s basically in the same situation the player is in. Those vampire hunters are dangerous,and the more they hound the player, the more the player understands just how badly Dracula wanted to avoid being in such a situation. As the game progresses, it will be readily apparent that the player would be lost without his vampiric powers, and if he is ever prompted to call to mind Dracula's situation, he'll realize that Dracula wouldn't have been able to defeat the Ottoman's without those same powers. How can the player be mad with Dracula for doing essentially what they themselves are doing? Villains shouldn't be the complete opposites of the heroes they face, they should share some common ground so the player can relate with them and create a deeper conflict within himself.
Consider also the so-called good guys among the vampire hunters, they are clearly Adelbert's and by extension the players enemies. They attack the player on sight for the mere fact of being a vampire, regardless of his actions, and that's totally unfair. But what about the undead hordes the players has been scything through? Did the player put any more thought into it outside of, "they're undead, therefore it is okay to kill them?" If not, can you really blame the vampire hunters for attacking you? And doesn't this whole conundrum make the player even more sympathetic to his undead enemies?
This is the nature of conflict, one cannot easily grapple with another opponent without seeing something of himself in his adversary creating tension. The more someone battles against a foe, the more they battle against themselves. This is the proper use of conflict in games, a means to get the player to realize something about himself and not just violence for its own sake. When creating enemies, try not to think so much of how they are different from the character, but in what ways they are the same.
This week I want to talk about creating conflict in games, and not in the sense of actual physical combat, but rather in the sense of why each character within the game chooses to fight. I think the conflict in Dracula's Castle is a good example of this, in the sense that it is simple enough to serve as a straight-forward example. Here the basic conflict is that Dracula is faced with a group of vampire hunters, and it is only a matter of time before they find out he is a vampire. He needs someone to take the fall, or at least serve as a distraction, somebody no one knows or cares about, and Adelbert Zsigsimond is a perfect candidate.
This set up makes for great conflict, now everyone involved has a reason to fight against each other. If the players look at why Dracula took the action that he did from his perspective it adds up, when thinking about how to cover up a serious crime, it's not a huge leap of logic to pin it on a lone drifter. From the vampire hunters perspective Adelbert is now definitely a vampire, even if he isn't the vampire that they are looking for, and are therefore duty bound to kill him. From Adelbert's perspective, he has to fight to escape being made a thrall of Dracula, while fighting the vampire hunters in self defense.
Everybody has very clear cut consequences for failing to succeed in their goal: if Dracula fails to shift the blame to Adelbert, he will die at the hands of the vampire hunters. If the vampire hunters fail then a vampire will prey on the innocents of this village on their watch. Finally if Adelbert fails he'll either die, or worse turn into a vampiric thrall. It really helps when your players know what the stakes are for every given faction, and what they stand to lose if they fail.
A player should not only understand the conflicts between himself and his enemies, but also the internal conflict within himself, enemies should be used as metaphors for the internal struggles within the character and the player. For example the player is understandably angry with Dracula, he made him into a vampire and is clearly the bad guy, but there will always be the nagging feeling that they really can't be mad at him too much, because he''s basically in the same situation the player is in. Those vampire hunters are dangerous,and the more they hound the player, the more the player understands just how badly Dracula wanted to avoid being in such a situation. As the game progresses, it will be readily apparent that the player would be lost without his vampiric powers, and if he is ever prompted to call to mind Dracula's situation, he'll realize that Dracula wouldn't have been able to defeat the Ottoman's without those same powers. How can the player be mad with Dracula for doing essentially what they themselves are doing? Villains shouldn't be the complete opposites of the heroes they face, they should share some common ground so the player can relate with them and create a deeper conflict within himself.
Consider also the so-called good guys among the vampire hunters, they are clearly Adelbert's and by extension the players enemies. They attack the player on sight for the mere fact of being a vampire, regardless of his actions, and that's totally unfair. But what about the undead hordes the players has been scything through? Did the player put any more thought into it outside of, "they're undead, therefore it is okay to kill them?" If not, can you really blame the vampire hunters for attacking you? And doesn't this whole conundrum make the player even more sympathetic to his undead enemies?
This is the nature of conflict, one cannot easily grapple with another opponent without seeing something of himself in his adversary creating tension. The more someone battles against a foe, the more they battle against themselves. This is the proper use of conflict in games, a means to get the player to realize something about himself and not just violence for its own sake. When creating enemies, try not to think so much of how they are different from the character, but in what ways they are the same.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Crypto-Cartography: How to Sketch a Map of Someplace That Doesn't Exist
Now that we are back from our regularly scheduled break time, I'm putting the finishing touches on the Dracula's Castle Design Document. While I was doing some quick sketches of the game world I thought that a quick tutorial on how to make map's of fake places might be interesting to our my readers so I'll share with you.
I did this in MS-Paint, quickly doodling for a few hours of free time, while I was caught on a computer that didn't have Adobe Photoshop. If you are going to make map's like this I recommend Photoshop, as it allows you to play with layers, but for instructional purposes Paint is just fine.
First start with a blank canvas, but make the background color something other than white, there is going to be a lot of information in these maps, and pure white space distracts from it. I chose an earthy brown for my map of the environs around Dracula's Castle, observe:
Now that we have the basic area, we need to start with the geography of the region, the change in elevation, and the geological features of the landscape affect everything else in the environment as we shall soon see. I did up the higher elevations in a darker color brown, the big blob to the west is the mountains described in Design Document 2, the one in the center is the sheer cliff Dracula's Castle is situated on, and the third in the upper right is just for fun:
Now we have the cliff for Dracula's Castle, so we know about where the city will be, why not put it in right now? Because as a general rule the most important factor when building a city is its proximity to water, and the local water sources should be squared away before you start adding in any details about the inhabitants. I mentioned the tributary of the Danube to the north, so lets add that right now. Before we go on I'd like to note that I like to use calligraphy brushes for rivers, as rivers are generally thinner when they curve, and widen out in straight lines like a calligraphy brush. They do cause some issues if you want to do a horse-shoe bend, but those are rare in rivers, anyways take a look:
Now the rivers flow may seem arbitrary, but there is a method here. Water seeks it's own level, and as you can see the course of the river seems to flow away from the areas with higher elevation, unless your map encompasses the start and end of a river this handy short-cut will make the flow of a river seem natural.
The first river shoots of the Danube, but another good origin for a water source is to be a mountain spring formed by snow-melt to trickle down from the mountains. If you're looking for a handy water source to supply your quaint little RPG starting hamlet, that's a good place to start. I'll throw in one of those stream just for fun, it's okay to have more than one water source on a map, just don't get bogged down with them. Here is how it looks on the map:
Okay, we have the high elevation and water flow, but there is little indication which way the water is flowing. Let's mark some marshland so you can tell where the low point is:
Now that we have the geography down let's add the city. In modern times cities sprawl out, but in this time period cities are bound by walls or palisades. A common border to a city is a circular wooden palisade, so the black ring around the city represents that, the grey within is the constrained urban spread:
Every city needs roads to go to it. I mentioned earlier that the main road to the city came in from the South, let's add that:
Now a few lesser roads. First a somewhat smaller road leading to the mountain pass for trade, and then an even smaller road leading north to the ill used river crossing:
Finally to flesh out a few details, by adding a small sheep road into the marsh. Then a slightly less dark shade of brown for the higher, but not mountainous elevations. Finally we use a warm green to mark the woods to the South we mentioned earlier:
Now to add some label the points of interest and we are done!
Hope you learned something from this, enjoy!
I did this in MS-Paint, quickly doodling for a few hours of free time, while I was caught on a computer that didn't have Adobe Photoshop. If you are going to make map's like this I recommend Photoshop, as it allows you to play with layers, but for instructional purposes Paint is just fine.
First start with a blank canvas, but make the background color something other than white, there is going to be a lot of information in these maps, and pure white space distracts from it. I chose an earthy brown for my map of the environs around Dracula's Castle, observe:
Now that we have the basic area, we need to start with the geography of the region, the change in elevation, and the geological features of the landscape affect everything else in the environment as we shall soon see. I did up the higher elevations in a darker color brown, the big blob to the west is the mountains described in Design Document 2, the one in the center is the sheer cliff Dracula's Castle is situated on, and the third in the upper right is just for fun:
Now we have the cliff for Dracula's Castle, so we know about where the city will be, why not put it in right now? Because as a general rule the most important factor when building a city is its proximity to water, and the local water sources should be squared away before you start adding in any details about the inhabitants. I mentioned the tributary of the Danube to the north, so lets add that right now. Before we go on I'd like to note that I like to use calligraphy brushes for rivers, as rivers are generally thinner when they curve, and widen out in straight lines like a calligraphy brush. They do cause some issues if you want to do a horse-shoe bend, but those are rare in rivers, anyways take a look:
Now the rivers flow may seem arbitrary, but there is a method here. Water seeks it's own level, and as you can see the course of the river seems to flow away from the areas with higher elevation, unless your map encompasses the start and end of a river this handy short-cut will make the flow of a river seem natural.
The first river shoots of the Danube, but another good origin for a water source is to be a mountain spring formed by snow-melt to trickle down from the mountains. If you're looking for a handy water source to supply your quaint little RPG starting hamlet, that's a good place to start. I'll throw in one of those stream just for fun, it's okay to have more than one water source on a map, just don't get bogged down with them. Here is how it looks on the map:
Okay, we have the high elevation and water flow, but there is little indication which way the water is flowing. Let's mark some marshland so you can tell where the low point is:
Now that we have the geography down let's add the city. In modern times cities sprawl out, but in this time period cities are bound by walls or palisades. A common border to a city is a circular wooden palisade, so the black ring around the city represents that, the grey within is the constrained urban spread:
Every city needs roads to go to it. I mentioned earlier that the main road to the city came in from the South, let's add that:
Now a few lesser roads. First a somewhat smaller road leading to the mountain pass for trade, and then an even smaller road leading north to the ill used river crossing:
Finally to flesh out a few details, by adding a small sheep road into the marsh. Then a slightly less dark shade of brown for the higher, but not mountainous elevations. Finally we use a warm green to mark the woods to the South we mentioned earlier:
Now to add some label the points of interest and we are done!
Hope you learned something from this, enjoy!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Character Profile: Adelbert Zsigmond
To get us started with with the new more frequent update schedule I thought I'd start off slow and also take the opportunity to introduce a new segment, where I make a character sketch in prose of a character in the game I'm designing. Hopefully I'll be able to make one for each principle character.
Name: Adelbert Zsigmond
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Hunedoara, Wallachia
Age: 20
Physical Description: (Prior to Transformation) - Medium build, looks fairly gaunt and somewhat bookish, but also has the air of an outdoors man too him, with a comportment of a climber. He has deep brown hair, a light complexion (we are assuming that the weather in Transylvania is always poor, and people rarely have reason to leave their homes), with light green eyes covered by thin framed glasses. His clothes are well in order and practical, he wears a travelers cloak, (although he wears the hood down even while it's raining because it inhibits his view), over a set of dark, old going on thread-bare formal clothes, an indication of his families failing fortunes. He also carries with him a large pack, which he uses to carry his various effects, and also stow his various gear as he likes to be prepared. His hands are neat and well groomed, the tips of his fingers are however ink-stained from his constant map making. His body language is that of a man out of his depth, in awe of the majesty of the world around him, but quite frightened by the dark shadows the new scenery casts. His voice is slightly nervous, afraid that he's asking too much for you to acknowledge his presence, but with an undercurrent of kindness.
(Post Transformation) - It appears that during the transformation into a vampire Adelbert gained a few inches in height, although that might just be in the way he carries himself now. He still gives off an aura of athleticism, but his feats of climbing seem to come a lot easier to him now, as if they took no effort at all. He still wears the cloak from before, (although he never takes it off, so what became of the clothes beneath is unknown), but wisely decides to hide his face from the public and wears the hood up, giving him a slightly sinister look. The pupils on his eyes become slightly deformed, and now his eyes look like those of a jungle predator, the darker shade of green in them suggesting a deep sense of avarice. His large pack also survives the transformation, although several of the necessities like the bed roll and portable cooking iron have been cast off, as an indication of his detachment from humanity. His body language changes to that of an animal in a new environment, searching the surroundings for some advantage he can gain, but also casting about paranoid glances for larger predators. His voice at times keeps the nervous quality, but now he's more afraid of what he is going to do to other people, not what others will do to him, and the times when his voice becomes calm it begins to sound laden with ill intent.
Recent History: Adelbert has until just recently been away at university in Budapest, learning his letters and picking up the trade of cartography. It is a natural enough business for him to go into, combining his love of books and learning with his love of exploration and travel. He has come home to Hunedoara to find his childhood sweet-heart Ilka Fekete has picked up stakes and left for Dracula's manor without telling anyone. Deciding to take a risk for once in his life Adelbert followed Ilka to Dracula's Manor against the anxious advice of his friend and family, hoping to find Ilka and propose to her or at least protect her from whatever danger she is sure to find herself in, while visiting what is currently an active war-zone. Oddly enough the Count somehow hears of his coming and has sent word by messenger that he'd like to meet with the young man upon his arrival, as visitors are rare in his neck of the woods. The game begins with Adelbert on the last leg of the trade road leading into the city.
Motivation: At first Adelbert's main motivation is to find Ilka and propose, but as he gets farther from the Wallachian border it becomes mostly fear that motivates him to go forward. Adelbert reasons that he's farther in than he is out, and that he should be more worried about the more "real" threat of wolves and bandits that are just as likely anywhere on the path, as opposed to the superstitious tales he has grown immune to during his time at University. After his transformation into a vampire, Adelbert's primary motivation is somewhat up to the player, although we can assume the desire to escape the vampiric curse in the event of a "good" play through, or the desire for power in the "bad" play through.
Personality: Adelbert thinks of the world in stark rigid terms, 'I'm going to march down to Dracula's Manor and propose to Ilka and that will be that", "there are no such things as vampires, end of discussion," etc. After his embrace into the real of the undead, you can see how he might reject every rule he's established with himself, including moral ones as a result of his supernatural experience, or you could see his fight against Dracula as an attempt to reestablish the natural order in the face of this paranormal threat. Adelbert also finds relaxation in drawing maps and likes to explore new places, even if they are a bit scary his curiosity gets the better of him. This will help the players relate to him more, and add some context to the mapping system in game, a player could easily imagine the mini-map in the corner to be Adelbert's "mental map" of the area, and the map in the pause menu can be assumed to have been created by Adelbert himself, possibly with little notes inscribed in the margins giving some insight into his inner thoughts, as he moves along either path of morality. In this way Adelbert reflects a lot of the traits the players themselves will have, giving the character a clear motivation to do what the players are naturally inclined to do anyways.
Name: Adelbert Zsigmond
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Hunedoara, Wallachia
Age: 20
Physical Description: (Prior to Transformation) - Medium build, looks fairly gaunt and somewhat bookish, but also has the air of an outdoors man too him, with a comportment of a climber. He has deep brown hair, a light complexion (we are assuming that the weather in Transylvania is always poor, and people rarely have reason to leave their homes), with light green eyes covered by thin framed glasses. His clothes are well in order and practical, he wears a travelers cloak, (although he wears the hood down even while it's raining because it inhibits his view), over a set of dark, old going on thread-bare formal clothes, an indication of his families failing fortunes. He also carries with him a large pack, which he uses to carry his various effects, and also stow his various gear as he likes to be prepared. His hands are neat and well groomed, the tips of his fingers are however ink-stained from his constant map making. His body language is that of a man out of his depth, in awe of the majesty of the world around him, but quite frightened by the dark shadows the new scenery casts. His voice is slightly nervous, afraid that he's asking too much for you to acknowledge his presence, but with an undercurrent of kindness.
(Post Transformation) - It appears that during the transformation into a vampire Adelbert gained a few inches in height, although that might just be in the way he carries himself now. He still gives off an aura of athleticism, but his feats of climbing seem to come a lot easier to him now, as if they took no effort at all. He still wears the cloak from before, (although he never takes it off, so what became of the clothes beneath is unknown), but wisely decides to hide his face from the public and wears the hood up, giving him a slightly sinister look. The pupils on his eyes become slightly deformed, and now his eyes look like those of a jungle predator, the darker shade of green in them suggesting a deep sense of avarice. His large pack also survives the transformation, although several of the necessities like the bed roll and portable cooking iron have been cast off, as an indication of his detachment from humanity. His body language changes to that of an animal in a new environment, searching the surroundings for some advantage he can gain, but also casting about paranoid glances for larger predators. His voice at times keeps the nervous quality, but now he's more afraid of what he is going to do to other people, not what others will do to him, and the times when his voice becomes calm it begins to sound laden with ill intent.
Recent History: Adelbert has until just recently been away at university in Budapest, learning his letters and picking up the trade of cartography. It is a natural enough business for him to go into, combining his love of books and learning with his love of exploration and travel. He has come home to Hunedoara to find his childhood sweet-heart Ilka Fekete has picked up stakes and left for Dracula's manor without telling anyone. Deciding to take a risk for once in his life Adelbert followed Ilka to Dracula's Manor against the anxious advice of his friend and family, hoping to find Ilka and propose to her or at least protect her from whatever danger she is sure to find herself in, while visiting what is currently an active war-zone. Oddly enough the Count somehow hears of his coming and has sent word by messenger that he'd like to meet with the young man upon his arrival, as visitors are rare in his neck of the woods. The game begins with Adelbert on the last leg of the trade road leading into the city.
Motivation: At first Adelbert's main motivation is to find Ilka and propose, but as he gets farther from the Wallachian border it becomes mostly fear that motivates him to go forward. Adelbert reasons that he's farther in than he is out, and that he should be more worried about the more "real" threat of wolves and bandits that are just as likely anywhere on the path, as opposed to the superstitious tales he has grown immune to during his time at University. After his transformation into a vampire, Adelbert's primary motivation is somewhat up to the player, although we can assume the desire to escape the vampiric curse in the event of a "good" play through, or the desire for power in the "bad" play through.
Personality: Adelbert thinks of the world in stark rigid terms, 'I'm going to march down to Dracula's Manor and propose to Ilka and that will be that", "there are no such things as vampires, end of discussion," etc. After his embrace into the real of the undead, you can see how he might reject every rule he's established with himself, including moral ones as a result of his supernatural experience, or you could see his fight against Dracula as an attempt to reestablish the natural order in the face of this paranormal threat. Adelbert also finds relaxation in drawing maps and likes to explore new places, even if they are a bit scary his curiosity gets the better of him. This will help the players relate to him more, and add some context to the mapping system in game, a player could easily imagine the mini-map in the corner to be Adelbert's "mental map" of the area, and the map in the pause menu can be assumed to have been created by Adelbert himself, possibly with little notes inscribed in the margins giving some insight into his inner thoughts, as he moves along either path of morality. In this way Adelbert reflects a lot of the traits the players themselves will have, giving the character a clear motivation to do what the players are naturally inclined to do anyways.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Site Changes
Hi everyone,
Today's regularly scheduled blog update has been preempted by preparations to change the update schedule. From this point forward the blog will update on Tuesdays. Later starting the week of the 19th I will be updating Tuesdays and Thursdays, and over the course of the winter holidays I will be improving the graphical layout a bit.
,
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Today's regularly scheduled blog update has been preempted by preparations to change the update schedule. From this point forward the blog will update on Tuesdays. Later starting the week of the 19th I will be updating Tuesdays and Thursdays, and over the course of the winter holidays I will be improving the graphical layout a bit.
,
I apologize for the inconvenience.
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