I hate having only First Impact posts go up, but I am trying to make money at this writing thing, so. Anyway, here are some of the things I've been doing in the last few weeks instead of blogging.
ON TORMENT...
Designing an alignment system. Basically codifying all of human experience and emotion into little boxes so we can tell the player things like, "You're Lawful Good." (Note: We're not using Lawful Good.) FUN LEVEL: High.
Thinking about what makes RPG combat interesting. There is quite a lot of debate in the hardcore CRPG world about whether combat should be turn-based or not. Part of my job has been to think about this a lot. FUN LEVEL: Medium (only because I'd rather get into specifics, but I can't yet).
Writing design docs. Fact: if we don't document it, it gets forgotten. FUN LEVEL: Tedious (but like our producer told me and Colin the other day, we don't get to do the fun stuff until we actually have money to do it).
(Anyway, tedious is a relative term. The most boring game design task is way cooler than anything I did for my
Office Space job. I just want to think up cool stuff all day and have
someone else write it down for me, is all.)
Writing Kickstarter copy. You'd be surprised how much work goes into a major crowd-funding campaign. I mean, look at a typical big-budget Kickstarter. Someone has to write all that stuff. FUN LEVEL: Tedious.
Planning Kickstarter videos. FUN LEVEL: High (until they start talking about my video update, then Abject Terror).
Iterating. I get an e-mail asking what I think of a design doc. I critique said design doc. What do I think of the latest concept art? Review and reply with my thoughts. Music? Videos? Someone's possible response to a forum question? Review and respond. Oh, and also respond to all the critiques of my stuff. FUN LEVEL: Surprisingly High.
OTHER THINGS I'M DOING...
Waiting on Air Pirates. Submissions, man. FUN LEVEL: Zero.
Revising Post-Apoc Ninjas. FUN LEVEL: Really slow.
Playing chess online. Our producer, Kevin, saw this drawing and said he might challenge me sometime. I can't let him win. FUN LEVEL: High.
Playing games with the kids. We raise gamers. I can't imagine why. FUN LEVEL: High until their attention spans wear out (so about five minutes).
Fending off tiny tyrants. This one, in particular. She gets mad at me when I work. Or cook. Or read. Or do anything except give her 110% of my attention. FUN LEVEL: I don't like it when she screams at me.
Driving. Yeah. I'm basically a soccer dad. FUN LEVEL: Usually High (this is where I come up with ideas).
So... what are you all up to?
You're certainly up to a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time in a while I've been able to actually do some blog reading AND commenting. Been doing a lot of writing and planning since I have an MG story I'm working on, the NEO Chronicles I'm working on and am about to release the first novella in that, not-so-much promo of Neverlove and lots of thinking on the the sequel to Neverlove that I HAVE to get started like...yesterday lol!!!
Wishing you the best with all your projects.
I prefer turn based, but I will say that the combat structure in Age of Conan was probably the funnest to play.
ReplyDeleteWe've already talked about this, but I suppose RTWP is the best compromise, even though as a purist I would love to see a new fangled and awesomeized turn based system.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you pretty much know what I'm up to. Writing is going especially well this year. And I'm getting really close to being ready for betas on the newest WIP. If it were any other year, I would ask you to read it, but I think you've got enough on your plate right now.
That tiny tyrant is adorable :-)
ReplyDeleteMy edits are going slowly too... Hope to be ALMOST done this weekend. If I can finish by March I'll be gleeful!
Why can't the combat by optionally real-time/turn-based like the Infinity engine games? That was always my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI liked the combat in Baldur's Gate! Yay, I was helpful...
ReplyDeleteI'm building two small desks with my husband, designed by us, one for each of us. I've been jigsawing dragons into mine! Fun level: High (except when sanding, then it plummets)
And I'm trying to kick my butt into revising my book more in preparation for the OK Writing Conference in May where I will be meeting in person several agents I would like to snag.
Good luck with Torment! Can't wait to play it.
@Cap'n: Infinity Engine's system is called "Real-Time with Pause," and some turn-based diehards really hated it apparently.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like both systems for different things. That's part of what I'm thinking about: what will work best for our new combat system.