Stop Complaining and Make Your Own Game
- Thread starter machineiv
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You're absolutely correct.
What I've done here is given a basic outline for putting down a design document, which for most video game companies is the heart of the process. It's not dissimilar at all.
(That's not a coincidence, most game designers seem to have a background in tabletop gaming.)
What I've done here is given a basic outline for putting down a design document, which for most video game companies is the heart of the process. It's not dissimilar at all.
(That's not a coincidence, most game designers seem to have a background in tabletop gaming.)
Except for those of us who wanted 4th Ed to be more like Star Wars SAGA edition... for us rare folk Pathfinder is just a new coat of paint on the broken down 3.5 system.Simriel said:
For the record, before I read this article I already had a separate window open where I'm trying to build my own game. The process is difficult.
Not a really good argument for me, I like the Overpoweredness of 4th and SAGA, if I wanted to play gritty fantasy I'd play either the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Burning Wheel, both do it better than DnD or Pathfinder.Simriel said:
My primary issue with Pathfinder is that it doesn't fix NEARLY enough to make me happy, there's no incentive system (see something like Fate Points in Burning Wheel, Bennies in Savage Worlds or Destiny Points in Star Wars), there are too many useless skills and it still takes FOREVER to stat anything out, unless you just want to use monsters straight out of the monster manual.
BUY PATHFINDERSimriel said:
/courage wolf
ROLL TWENTIES
to hell with making the actual picture. Great game though.
I've been playing RPGs for, what, almost ten years now and the first time I run a game that I didn't create, mechanics and settings and everything, from the ground up, was, well, last week.
I'm personally of the opinion that Bards are always awesome, regardless of the system. In 3.5 one of my favorite class combos was to spec a bard into Loremaster. It was a little wonky setting it up and it took some time to hit the prereqs but the flavor of it always appealed to me.Simriel said:
I would like to try this sometime. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get together a group of friends who can get along and stay focused for 4 hours. Excellent tips, though.
While I support the overall message of this article, 4E does suck.
Not that this point really needs my support, but of the various garage game projects I've worked for myself or with friends, the ones that turn out the best are the ones where we used a tabletop prototype to pin down the gameplay. Don't even think about coding until you've got a completed design document. This sounds like it could be a programmer's nightmare, having to bring into existence a game designed without regard for technical limitations, but it shouldn't be. Very rarely does pushing technical limits yield a better game, and if you've been working with that tabletop prototype you simply cannot go beyond technical limits. There are no day/night cycles or weather effects on your tabletop. There is no depth or field or motion blur. You can declare that it is night time and raining, and because of that archers have a penalty to hit (or whatever), but this can be as simple as having a token or a spinner to indicate the time of day and weather conditions. Keep it simple, especially if you haven't done this sort of thing before.
Not that this point really needs my support, but of the various garage game projects I've worked for myself or with friends, the ones that turn out the best are the ones where we used a tabletop prototype to pin down the gameplay. Don't even think about coding until you've got a completed design document. This sounds like it could be a programmer's nightmare, having to bring into existence a game designed without regard for technical limitations, but it shouldn't be. Very rarely does pushing technical limits yield a better game, and if you've been working with that tabletop prototype you simply cannot go beyond technical limits. There are no day/night cycles or weather effects on your tabletop. There is no depth or field or motion blur. You can declare that it is night time and raining, and because of that archers have a penalty to hit (or whatever), but this can be as simple as having a token or a spinner to indicate the time of day and weather conditions. Keep it simple, especially if you haven't done this sort of thing before.
Meh. That's a perfectly valid opinion. I've been playing 4e with some regularity. I don't like it as much as the games I tend to play most (World of Darkness and my own games mostly topping that list,) but it certainly does what it's supposed to do rather well.TheEndlessGrey said:
Absolutely. When working on video game material, I think you're best served by working with your head in the clouds, letting the actual technical material reign you in than to try to make something within constraints first. Pushing boundaries brings us the best video games in the world.TheEndlessGrey said:
Holy shit, that could work. I'm gonna write this down for a future date, when i have friends near-by that share this interest. that was the saddest sentence of my life. But i just thoughtn of someone who could help.