rpg

There aren't many hobbyist game devs working on role-playing games (RPGs). For those who are, it's useful to think about what the different parts of an RPG are, and how they fit together.

I won't talk about plot or characters; this blog entry is strictly about gameplay. Getting gameplay right in an RPG is hard enough without the burden of writing and editing a plot and characters.

There are 5 elements to any RPG:

• Roles
• Enemies
• Skills
• Items
• Exploration

Read on for their explanations.

Quipkit is a work-in-progress (read: not even near finished) indie RPG dev kit. This blog entry describes how we might make an RPG using Quipkit.

• 1 Vague Game Description
• 2 Initial Design
  • 2.1. Game States
  • 2.2. Resources
  • 2.3. Tools
• 3 Revising the Design
• 4 Making the RPG (Finally!)
  • 4.1. Programming the Game States
  • 4.2. Organising Resources
    • 4.2.1. Resource Support Code
    • 4.2.2. Making Custom Tools
    • 4.2.3. Make the Resources
  • 4.3. Testing the Game
• 5 Summary: The Finished RPG
• 6 Conclusion

1. Vague Game Description

Most games start as vague ideas, and indie RPGs are no exception. Here's one for our hypothetical RPG:

You play a guy in a traditional fantasy RPG. You walk around a map of grass and water, and every so often you encounter a monster. You exchange blows with said monster in the battle system until either you or it dies. If you win, you gain experience. With enough experience, the guy can gain a level and grow in strength. This continues until the player chooses to exit.

It shall be dubbed... Island Dude.

How would be breathe life into this little RPG? Read on!