Over the last few years, the walls of my office have slowly become covered in pictures drawn by my kids.
There’s Aliens, Spiderman, Mario, Star Wars, T-Rex’s, Dragons, Dogs, Roads, Cars, Parents and Kids, Frogs, Knights, Snowmen, Horses, Airplanes, Castles, Futurama Characters, Houses and more.
One picture has a Dragon flying underneath Lightning Clouds and above two wizards dueling it out. Another has a Dragon breathing fire above Alien Spaceships beaming Aliens down to the ground, and the people are running away scared. Still another has a Frog Prince on a lily pad.
Kids minds are okay with crazy. If you throw together a Dragon and an Alien in a computer game, or a story, they’re not going to worry so long as it’s fun. So long as you let them play, let them imagine.
What’s the point?
In a Game or a Story, don’t be afraid to draw together elements that have no obvious connection.
Put all the ideas in a crazy mashed-up puzzle, and then work out where the bits fit.
That’s right!
With Space Office Fight 1 pretty much at a release (bare bones and all) stage, I’m working hard on the second chronicle in the Space Office Fight series.
What can you expect?
Get a gander at these planned Features:
- Missiles (of the Target Seeking kind)
- Attacking AI
- Music
- More Sound Effects
- All New Artwork
- New Powerups
- Highscore Table
- Options (sound, key-mapping, ..)
- Health Bar
Feeling stupid? I know I am!
Ahem, I mean EXCITED!
Bard’s Tale.
(Image from Wikipedia entry)
5th or 6th grade I think. Our first boarder (a blind kid) had a knack for understanding otherworldly utilities like “Bulletin Boards” and wotnot. Dad’s XT and Green Screen transported us to a world of magic and swords and stats. Stats like you wouldn’t believe. At least, for a small-brained individual such as myself, who at that time thought Dungeons and Dragons was pretty much of the devil. Course, I didn’t actually know what D&D _was_.
For us, this game was a boon. I played Bard’s Tale for what seems like an eternity in memory. The number of friday nights I told Mum I’d be in bed soon, “I’ve just got to map my way home”.
Mapping was such a big part of Bard’s Tale for me. Not just because I could use it as a map, but because it was an experience in itself. The graph paper, pencils, keeping them sharp, working out symbols for various in-game placements, encounters, and other stuff.
Sometimes I miss this. It’s a left behind mechanism. And it wasn’t a sold mechanism anyway, more of a by-product. These days you have in-game maps and mini-maps and sometimes even note taking abilities within the game.
But it doesn’t match up. There are some things that are far superior on the computer. I love have proper overhead maps and mini-maps for their purpose. But one day I’d like to make a game where people used exterior implements to fashion their own experiences of the world I’d created.
What are your earliest RPG memories?
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