Screenshot Saturday: NanoWriMo

I know I've been falling behind with the 'must do mondays' and 'screenshot saturdays', but here is why. I've joined NaNoWriMo!

Now, I don't know if the game script will actually be 50,000 words (ouch) but at least this is motivating me to write it out.

World Building Wednesday 10: music

As mentioned previously, there are different cultures in this world, each inspired by an animal group. It makes sense that different cultures have different musical instruments, as we see in real life.

So this got me thinking...

What sort of instrument would a dog-inspired people have? When I think of dogs, I think of whistles, so perhaps the wind instrument variety (flutes / pipes / etc).

What about the bird race? Initially I would have said wind just because birds -> air -> wind, but perhaps stringed would suit them better?

I imagine the race inspired by the Tasmanian devils would be tone-deaf, so definitely percussion for them ^_^

And the cats? Maybe less instrumental and more voice-based?

And then the bigger question - what resources are out there that I could use for these purposes? RPG Maker has quite a few.

What is your favourite source of music for your games?

World Building Wednesday 9: Map making

Time for a confession - I actually don't like world-mapping very much. Geography sometimes just feels like it gets in the way of a good story XD

Now, put down your pitchforks... I realise geography plays a huge role in forming a story (Lord of the Rings is a case in point). I guess my problem is that I think of the story first and, when trying to make a map that is interesting, I realise the story needs to change.

For example, here's a map I made.. uhhh... last year? See those mountains separating the desert and the grassland? How would my protagonists get past those quickly, which they need to do to rescue a character. That funny swamp in the below middle - how did it form as no rivers feed into it?

The map will need to be revised, but as I'm rewriting the script I'm going to try, God willing, to keep geography in mind more ^_^

Technical Tuesday 8: Getting inspiration

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9

It's common for people to see a mechanic in a game and think that it would make a good addition to their game. For me, I love the original Deus Ex's mechanics of augment slots that you could choose how to fill depending on your playing style.

But we need to be careful not to just steal an idea. RPG Maker blog has a post on this topic:

http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/tutorials/on-the-shoulders-of-giants/

Don’t rip things off. Examine, adapt, create, and make it your own. Your mechanic should play and feel different. And never, ever forget the giants whose shoulders you are standing on.

It reminds me of the article about Game Choices a couple of weeks ago actually.

Anyway, back to Deus Ex. My game world (simple fantasy RPG) can't exactly use augments, but instead I am hoping to capture the feel by giving each playable character a skill that you can level up with experience points based on how you like to play. Quick, light attacks? Strong, slower attacks? Status effects? Your choice!

What game has a mechanic that you personally love and would use in your own game (if you are making one)? How are you changing it to match your game world?

World Building Wednesday 8: Lori and Keet

Time for my favourite twins <3

This is Lori (female) and Keet (male).

This character concept (below) is a bit old as they were originally going to be playable fighters, but as the story grew they have instead become part of the royal family (hence the crowns in the above sprites) and non-playable. 

These two are based on the rainbow lorikeet, hence their very colourful wings and red eyes. I made these two twins as there is normally little difference between male and female lorikeets, and you often see them in pairs (to be fair, the pairs are mating pairs not siblings, but I took some creative licence).

By Tatiana Gerus - originally posted to Flickr as Lorikeet's wings, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6552046

World Building Wednesday 7: Ren

Time to introduce the main character!

This is Ren. He's a half-blood (hence why his wings are not full sized). Ren will have middle-level  stats and will be the most customisable of the playable characters.

Ren is inspired by... wait for it... the wren. I do love those little birds <3 actually my favourite is the Superb Fairy Wren (pictured below), but I didn't want the main character to have blue hair >3>

By JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12075434

World Building Wednesday 6: Yesha

This week's world-building spotlight is on an NPC, Yesha.

Yesha is actually based on a cat I used to own - a beautiful ragdoll who unfortunately passed away before he turned two (rare incurable disease called FIP). At the time I took to drawing him as a way of coping with my grief and, given my developing characters based on animals previously, it just seemed to make sense to draw him as a person too.

He somehow managed to worm his way into the story and the rest is history.

He is 9 years old, very friendly and playful. Although he is an NPC, he will be paired with another character that will be playable so expect to see him a fair amount in the story. 

Screenshot Saturday 5: design documents

Lately I have been focusing on documenting various aspects of the game, inspired by this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Level-Guide-Great-Video-Design/dp/1118877160

God willing, if I ever release this game, this document could easily turn into the official guide with strategies and things :)

Here are some screenshots:

'Beat chart'

Crafting items 

Ingredients

Meals

World Building Wednesday 5: Converting character concepts into sprite art

The past three weeks I've shared character concept art for three of the seven playable characters - Bimbi, James and Wedge.

I thought this week it would be fun to have a sneak peek at the sprites that the concept art inspired!

I'm using the 'MACK / Looseleaf' style rather than the standard VX Ace or MV style as I prefer the proportions - more realistic and yet still rather cute and anime-esque.

I use the Game Character Hub (GCH) to make my sprites as it has a large number of clothing items that you can add easily to the character. GCH has a bit of a bad reputation (as per this review) but for my purposes it's ok. The feature I like is a little window in the corner that shows what the sprite looks like walking in all four directions (up/down/left/right).

Anyway, without much further ado, here's Bimbi, James and Wedge.

You may NOT use or share these sprites.

World Building Wednesday 4: Wedge

The next character off the ranks is one of my personal favourites - Wedge.

Aside from Bimbi, Wedge is one of the very first characters that came into being and is also one of the ones that has had the fewest changes over the years. 

Wedge

Inspired by the Wedge Tailed Eagle

By Taken byfir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.auCanon 20D + Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3209915

The wedge-tailed eagle is the largest bird of prey in Australia. It's also one of the types of 'booted eagle' (i.e. those with feathers on their lower legs). Although they mainly eat carrion, they have been known to take down kangaroos and even horses.

Wedge is a fighter with heavy strength and stamina, but lower defence and accuracy. He's not playable immediately but will be unlockable after the first or second major quest.

World building Wednesday 3: Captain James

Next up after last week's spotlight on Bimbi, is Captain James

Captain James is based on the blue-winged kookaburra

By Adrian Pingstone - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3338744

I love kookaburras. Although they are more famous for their laughter, kookaburras are actually fierce hunters. They even take out snakes, which is a big plus in my book! Plus that blue on their wings <3

Captain James draws inspiration from these birds. He is a fierce warrior who quickly dispatches any threats. Unfortunately his military training has taken away his more jovial personality and he rarely laughs now.

James is a playable character. He will have above average strength and accuracy, but below average agility.

World-building Wednesday 2

Building on last week's world building Wednesday, having established the general characteristics of a particular kingdom, let's turn attention to the characters.

One of the main characters is a young female Avian named Bimbi. She is inspired by a bower bird, renowned for stealing shiny blue things to build its nest. With this in mind, it makes sense to find out that she is a thief and loves shiny things, a characteristic that gets her into trouble in the story when she steals on particular shiny thing that is of utmost importance.

Here is the original bird (sourced from Wikipedia)

By Tatiana Gerus - originally posted to Flickr as Satin Bowerbird - female?, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5676585

'Bimbi' itself means 'bird' in one of the Indigenous Australian languages. Most of the names of my characters have double meanings :) I won't always post what they are, so see if you can guess them in the future :D

Thoughtful Thursdays 1

In a similar vein to yesterday's post, here is an article from the RPG Maker Official Blog about learning from and respecting real-world cultures:
http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/opinion/creating-fictional-cultures/

I particularly like this quote:

The best way to do this is to understand the culture you are borrowing. Why did they become the way they did? Take the Japanese obsession with fish dishes. Of course, they are obsessed with fish dishes, they are an island nation! A culture that grew somewhere away from the coast, with similar beliefs, would develop different food.

Or take the creation of the folded steel of the Japanese Katana. The reason for this is the quality of iron found in Japan was not as good as the ore found in Europe. Because of this, they had to develop a method that would turn that iron into a higher quality steel blade. A culture that has rich iron mines would probably never develop such a technique.

World-building Wednesdays 1

Welcome to the first 'World Building Wednesday'!

My game, tentatively called 'Wings of the Heart'  is set in a medieval world with races inspired by Australian fauna. The main race, the Avians, are a kingdom of winged people. Other races include:

• Kasuari (native): winged but flightless 
• Harrisii (native): loud, easily angered people. They are wingless and inspired by the Tasmanian Devil. 
• Canici (native): dog-like people inspired by the Australian dingo 
• Vulpi (not-native): fox-like people 
• Fellin (not-native): cat-like people

When basing my races and characters off Australia fauna, I get inspiration from the personalities, habitats and physical attributes of the animals to shape the culture of each race.

How do you get inspiration for the characters and cultures in your game or story?