Worse than that, my original intention had been to give the player options to interact with the conversations. But, someone wisely said to me that if all paths are going to lead to the same place, it's better to just have the conversations rather than give the false illusion of choice. I agree with that.
So, here's the way it was going to be...
 |
| The "New" way is now the "Old" way. |
Instead, I went back to the way it was, which was more like the classic "Gold-Box" games of the 80s and early 90s. And it feels like the right move. I would rather pay homage to those games anyway, since the point of this project is to capture an old-school feel.
Sure, the artwork is newer, but that's okay. We all like good artwork.
So, here is what it looks like now that I've reverted it...
 |
| The "Old" way is now the "New" way. |
Personally, I'm glad I went back to it. You may not be able to have the kind of interactive conversations you got with later games (like Baldur's Gate), but that's okay. I find the story easier to read anyway. When there's something to be said during the game, I want to make sure that the player reads it.
I'd like to hear opinions about it. So, let me know if you have any.
Unless, I'm the only one reading this blog. Sometimes it feels that way...like I'm just talking to myself. I certainly hope when the game is done there will be an audience of people to play it.
I may have mentioned before that I've considered turning this into a Kickstarter project. I've seen worse projects there, and I could use the funding to hire another programmer and maybe someone who can handle the UI graphics. Or someone who can turn this into a full 3D project (some Direct X programmer, perhaps). Anyone have any insight into that?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good move. Dialogue without consequence dont serve any purpose.
ReplyDeleteFor kickstarter, I dont have a slightest idea, but showing some footage of the game seems the way to go.
I mean, I'd like to also see some footage right here, if you can easily record some video.
But going full 3D .. hum ... Not exactly good for the old-school feel you want. Even Legend of Grimrock was more of a limited 3D.
(I was the above google account.. I hate having ton of them, I never post with the right one)
I have no experience with Kickstarter (other than browsing through the various projects), but I've still got a few suggestions. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how far along your game is and how much coding is left, but I recommend finishing the first version as the sole programmer. Each new coder increases communication requirements and code conflicts (SVN is crucial then). You could spend more time managing than just getting things done.
Now I said you should finish as the sole programmer, but if you need help with art or sounds or story or testing or whatnot then that's fine to bring in more people. The smaller the team the better though: Better to have 1 artist that makes a uniform graphical feel across the whole game than multiple conflicting styles. Same goes for sound and story.
After your version 1 of the game is done and you want to make a bigger project with full 3-D / networking / etc then you may need more coders. Give them well defined tasks - coder A handles 3-D, coder B handles networking, etc.
Kickstarter could be used to fund the larger project, and you'll be able to use your version 1 of the game as credentials that you can actually finish a fun, playable game. Plus your Kickstarter campaign could be very well structured: I need $5,000 to pay the 3-D artist. I need $3,000 to pay for sounds, etc.
Stay away from partnerships at all cost. If you want to hire someone to help, great, but you're the boss and make the final decisions (and you own full-rights to everything). You wouldn't want to lose the ability to finish/ship your game because a silly disagreement with a partner that blew well out of proportions. Offering a percentage of profits is fine, but you still own it all. The only ship that won't sail is a partnership.
I'm still offering to be a beta-tester (with a debugger!) for your game if you'd like some help!
Clint