Recent Posts

0

Official tetragon website launched!

Since the tetragon engine is such a big and ambitious project it was probably inevitable but I decided that the engine deserves it's own dedicated website which can host all the information related to it.

So if you're seeking further information on tetragon and looking forward to track the project in the future head over to tetragon.hexagonstar.com. That's where all the past information and any future info's, docs and tutorials for tetragon will be hosted.

This domain on the other hand will continue to serve as a platform for Independent Game releases, from third parties as well as my own. But the visual theme that is site is now based on (a commercial WordPress theme) has far too many down-sides with all it's theme-dependent short-tags etc. that it's no joy to use it as a frequently updated blogging platform. It makes me consider if I want to continue using this theme. On the front-end it looks great but it's a nightmare on the back-end.

Either way, for anything tetragon-related please head over to the URL mentioned above. Hope to see you over there!

0

Hexagonstar.com launched!

Finally, after sorrow, after tears, I'm here to whisper sweet things in your ears ... hexagonstar.com has finally been *cough* launched! Well, actually it has been launched already years ago but so far you have only been able to see a bland 'under maintenance' page here. However this time it's for real!

hexagonstar.com is going to focus more on game development and releasing indie games, in particular this site is going to become the platform for future game and software releases as well as talk and chat about tech-heavy topics about RPG system design and regarding the game engine I'm developing and using, called tetragon.

So by all means check back here, have a seat and stay for a while and enjoy the ambiance of our finely pixeled tea room wallpaper.

0

RPG Design: Character Development Example

Welcome back to the RPG Design series where I try to talk a bit about the work and progress on my game project, the development of the darkish, space -themed computer role-playing game Stellar Conspiracy: Entanglements Of The Marenis Sector (working title).

In the last part I've introduced the character design template I'm using and mentioned to post a character example next time which I'm doing hereby while introducing you to Eliza Retinienne, a Gessjanian security systems expert from the planet Shielle, a small world bordering on the fringe of the Suulun Sector which in turn stretches over a large area of the southern galaxy.

Eliza is one of the key characters in the game's story and one of the characters whom the player is supposed to encounter and who eventually joins the player's party. She is also supposed to receive her own side-quest in which the player can engage to help her out of the threatening situation she is currently in.

Note that this sheet is basically just here to give an example of how the character design template can be used to shape out a character so I suggest not to look too critically into the details. Things can (and will) still change and also the sheet is not filled out completely, for one reason because some details are irrelevant for this character and for another that I haven't found any other suitable details for her yet. Either way I hope this gives a good example of how to utilize the template!

Read more

0

RPG Design: Character Development

And back to the game design topic! The part I love most about game design is that you can create worlds full of life, intricacy, intrigue and interesting characters, experimenting with scenarios and situations (that would otherwise probably have negative repercussions in RL™).

As a programmer you'd ever only write your code and if you are happy with it that's fine but we one-man-game-developer types are more like Jack of all trades who want to create complete worlds ... and stories. And then tell those stories by means of the game. And maybe throw a bit (or a large chunk) of dynamics in there again ... as programmers.

One extremely satisfying aspect of game design (for games where narrative is important) is the development of characters that should act throughout the game. Creating characters is just as much fun as the other bases! If you do it right and create deep and sympathetic characters people will love them.

And even villains can be sympathetic. In fact they should be! Who likes an antagonist that is completely unsympathetic? Nobody, right? But why should you even like a villain, after all he's the guy who needs to be defeated? The answer to this is that the guy who is the villain is so only in the context of our story. Maybe he's not so bad after all in a different context. Or in short: Antagonists also have a life, feelings ... but guess what? Now I totally digress! I actually wanted to show you my new and all fresh character template that I came up with to shape out characters for my game.

Read more

0

RPG Design: Choosing the right Graphical Projection

I've been designing on a rather ambitious Role-Playing game project since a while now (in fact quite a long while but I'm not in hurry to finish it anytime soon) and while I'm in the process of working out the story, technical details like the combat mechanics, skill system etc. and creating interesting characters I still haven't made a decision on the type of graphical projection for the game so far. I've been thinking about five kinds of projection from the most basic one (2D orthographic) up to full dynamic 3D which would be quite an effort. As my development platform of choice happens to be Flash, the resources in terms of 3D are limited.

So with that in mind I thought it would be good opportunity to introduce some of the most-used projections in computer and video role-playing games to get to know them a little better. This is by no means a complete list of all sorts of projection used in games but I believe these the ones most commonly used for role-playing games.

Read more