Saturday, January 28, 2023

What a Silly Thing To Do...

Well that was indeed silly... I only went and opened the toolset, and before I knew what was happening, I'd opened a conversation file and started tinkering again.

Does this mean there's hope after all?  Hmmm... to be honest I'd say there's currently about 20% of what I intended for chapter 2, and even if I magically got it to 100%, it would still end on a bit of a cliff hanger much like Chapter 1.  It was always my intent that Chapter 3 would resolve the cliff hanger of Chapter 2 on completion, with Chapter 4 offering a multiplayer game where friends could play as the 3 main characters from the previous chapters.  That, I am painfully aware, is far too ambitious.  Having said that, I found nostalgia had me yearning to do more, or at the very least, complete enough of Chapter 2 that it would provide some nostalgia for those who enjoyed Chapter 1.  It would be a shame to shelve it completely, particularly with the work that has gone into it so far.

Players of the original may recall the effort I went to.  There was a real sense of story with a rich mythology.  Anything that could be clicked on had a unique description and nothing felt out of place.

What exists in Chapter 2 strives to have the same level of detail, and much like Chapter 1, combat is light to begin with.  As Chapter 2 involves playing a Thief, the story starts with a cutscene in which the player is tasked in a threatening manner to steal a sword.  I didn't want this to simply be a case of beating up a shop keeper, so some elaborate planning has been undertaken to ensure it felt like a real accomplishment.  The heist has to be carefully planned with a number of tasks undertaken to warrant success.  It seems a shame to let such planning go to waste, so I'm seriously considering if I can just get the heist section sorted it would be worthy of an upload, even if just so that someone else can use it in a bigger project of their own.  Of course, there's always the danger that I'll end up thinking I may as well do a little more.  We shall see.

So, I expanded on a conversation file.  I always enjoy those.  They can end up quite detailed.  I end up checking lines of dialogue and asking myself if some animation would add to the scene, such as drinking or a simple head scratch.  It's always nice if you can get nearby characters to interject too as it can make a scene feel so much more alive... curses!  I only opened the dam thing because I thought it was worth copying the text from items if I planned on releasing a book about running a roleplaying game in Relbonia, and now I find myself bitten by the bug again!

Ah well.  Have to work tomorrow.  Will see how I feel the day after.

Happy gaming all. :)

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