The Space Toast Pages

Not Another Game Idea

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Dumped, like the browser-based kart game, so that I may free up some synapses.

The Idea:

A browser-based sidescroller
Based on an inversion of Christina Rosetti's "The Prince's Progress"
With high realism movement, ala Flashback: The Quest for Identity
Built in SVG and JavaScript
With zooming in-engine cutscenes

The Unusual Bit:

The game can be ended at the end of each level
Via branching dialogue
With a woman one encounters there
Triggering a cutscene showing the future
The endings are better the earlier one stops playing

Because no one will stop playing
There is no woman at the end of the last level

The Story:

Rosetti's poem follows a prince's voyage to meet his unknown beloved

He dallies too much with wrong turns and mystical women
When he gets to the castle, the princess has died

I wrote (but never finished editing) a response
This game is based on my version

The prince meets a series of mystical women
He could have (should have?) stayed with any one of them
He doesn't
He journeys on to meet his perfect beloved
He finds the castle at the edge of the world
Inside, no one opposes him
No one's ever lived there

The Art:

Animated vector graphics
Multiple foregrounds and backgrounds
Not quite a sidescroller

Camera usually stationary
Re-centers when the character reaches predetermined spots
Foreground and background layers adjust

Foregrounds and backgrounds less detailed than midground
Expressive style
24 frame per second character animation
Realistic motion
Zoomed in in-engine cutscene

The Gameplay:

A mix of platforming and combat
Level passwords
No HUD, health bars, or data overlays of any kind
Character can't do anything a reasonably fit person can't do

Can only fall so far
No twenty foot vertical jumps
No changing direction in midair
Must leap, grasp and climb to reach higher ledges

"Step based" movement

No creeping one pixel at a time ever necessary
One walking step the minimum distance a movement can take
Running, leaping, climbing, swimming, etc. all in increments

Character Mechanics:

No lives or continues
Health recharges

No "medkits"
Short recovery period

Character movement indicates health

Extremely low health makes character weave back and forth
Requires micro-correcting
With left and right keys
To keep character from falling down

Falling Down:

Not "death" as such
"If you want to teach players not to do something,

you don't need to smack them.
You need to give them zero feedback."

Tile the player falls on stretches past edges of screen left and right

Player must get up (weaving initially) and walk across flat ground
Uninteresting expanse takes time to cross

Long enough to dissuade
Not long enough to ruin game

Poem displayed in BG
Expanse ends at portion of the game world just as it was

Level resumes without break

No real death, lives or continues -- just the expanse to pass

Levels:

The Ravine

Mostly platforming
Lush green riverside
Moon maiden at end

The Desert

Black rocks
Ground crawling with scorpions
Character weakens as level goes on

Heavy use of weaving mechanic

Alchemist at end

The Valley

Rivers
Final long swim

Lose your armor, all but knife and gloves

The Ariel Sisters at end

The Edge of the World

(Movement noticeably sprightlier without gear)
Mountain slope
Crags
Endless field of white flowers

Clouds

Castle, overgrown by enormous tree

Phantoms "attack" inside
Vanish before they reach you

Empty room at top

Plaster tubs, drop cloths, uninstalled windows
Overgrown with white flowers from window box
No one's ever lived there

The Moon Maiden

Milkmaid
Starry cloak
(Midevil milkmaids rarely got smallpox)
(Exposure to milder cowpox virus vaccinated them)
(Origin of the "clear/white faced milkmaid" literary meme)
Best ending

In-engine zoomed in cutscene of player with family
Carefree young children
Spreading the starry cloak on a hilltop at night
Watching the stars wheel overhead together

Older woman, works a forge, strength and wisdom
Second best ending

Zooms in for cutscene as a couple
Lonely in the desert
Always working forge

The Ariel Sisters

Three nymphlike sisters
Rescue you from river in the valley
Flighty, impossible to pin down
Other two give you more attention the more you focus on one

One you focus on colder toward you
Always out of reach

A lot of trouble for a neutral ending

The Princess

Doesn't exist
Cutscene shows only the unfinished state of the chamber
No ending
Level just leaves you to wander until you quit the game

Engine would have to be built from scratch
Lots of art assets
Lots of animation
Small potential of SVG drawing speed problems

SVG a low priority in modern browsers

Animation toolchain would have to be built from scratch

No SVG drawing program does animation yet
If one adds support, it will likely save as SMIL

(Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language)
Despite being a standard, no browser supports SMIL

Would have to use JavaScript for animation instead
Animation would either have to use substitution

(One unique SVG image every frame, 24 frames/second)

Or morphing

(SVG objects changed by JavaScript every frame)
Even more complicated to develop toolchain for
Morphing better, would allow some smoothing between actions
Would allow some physics as well (cloaks, particle, etc.)

No clear business plan beyond banner ads on the homepage

Banner ads in-game would kill the mood
Would also slow down the browser, in the real world

Is it possible to sell access to a browser-based game?
Game that subverts common mechanics of genre to ask questions

Would be compared to Braid
Would lose the comparison

Role Playing Games

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:00:00 GMT

You arrive in the town. You check into an inn. It's on a back street. Out of the way. You're wanted criminals, so best not to draw attention to yourselves.

You've been trying to find Tintmere since the airship crash. She should be in this town. But where?

Porcelain and little Night set off with a shopping list. You and Kell head upstairs.

There's a window. The room overlooks an equally rickety row of buildings. Fourth floor. Lots of crisscrossing clotheslines and rising steam, people milling about below. In the distance over the rooflines: the Lightning Tower. Your ultimate goal.

Concrete pebbles fall discretely into the drowned, weedy flower pot in front of you. You crane, look up.

A bounty hunter tromps silently across the rusty pipes on the roof. The shadows of two more flit between the eaves.

You lean back in, smile, head gesture to Kell. A row of shurikens materialize in his hand, and he melts into the shadows. Hazard another glance out.

There's a bamboo-like pole caught between your building and the one across the street. One floor down. It looks tenuous. But you have been working on your balance.

The next room? The walls can't be too thick.

Nah. More fun to hide in the ratan basket.

Moments later, light feet land on the windowsill. Simultaneously, the door flies off its hinges. Two bounty hunters race into the empty room. They look around, walk to the center of the room. Suddenly a basket and a shadow burst to life, and both bounty hunters are flung out the open window with hardly a cry.

The ceiling caves in. It's time for the big daddy bounty hunter. You exchange blows, and are both parried and thrown back. Not good. He hasn't even broken a sweat. You grab Kell, flip him up onto the roof and climb out. The wall explodes. You make a grab for a drain pipe, swing out across sickening open space, and -- Kell's throw line jerks the pipe up toward the roof. You land. Smile. And RUN!

Rooftop chase, as the overpowered bounty hunter hurls force blasts after you, shredding the ancient stone. Chickens squawk. Cisterns topple. An adorable little girl tends a lovely three foot square rooftop garden; you scoop her up as you run by, and apologize, as the bounty hunter smashes her four flowers.

You give the girl to Kell, saying you'd like to try something. You insult the giant. A lot. Kell breaks left, sliding down the side of a building. You break right. It worked! He's following you.

Crap.

Fight! Fighting doesn't work. Escape! He catches you in midair. The bounty hunter sneers that the fee still gets paid if all your limbs have been pulled off. This is it.

Shwunk! The bounty hunter shakes you, looks around indeterminately. He reaches back. A magic dagger wrapped in lace protrudes from between his shoulder blades. He topples, turning to wood. The wood bleaches, hollows, cracks, shatters -- poof! Nothing but dust.

You pick yourself up, squint into the sun. A lace-adorned figure steps toward you through the haze, waving. Tintmere!

-----

Now imagine that the preceeding had been generated: The overall plot. The long separation from a comrade. The clues that led you to her. The streets. The repetition of the larger goal. The foreshadowed tip-off at the flower box. The personally appropriate strategy options. The easy mini-bosses. The unstoppable mega boss. The setback getting onto the roof. The dramatic save. The comic timing. The race. The moral choice. The losing battle. The last minute save, leading into the storyline completing reunion.

As flashy as today's RPGs are, they're still not true Role Playing Games. In them, players are rewarded for figuring out how the game engine works and finding ways to best it, not -- as the name would suggest -- for immersing themselves in the role of the character.

How does a game engine implement literary devices? How do you reinforce the players' choice to have more fun with the story, rather than the choice to simply learn better chess positions? Printed paper+pencil+friends role playing games have invented some interesting story game concepts, but digital RPGs still rely largely on grinding in the final analysis.

I'm not suggesting that hard work shouldn't bring character improvement, but I sanction it only because that too is a literary device. It's not, however, the only literary device. In the early days of computer games, perhaps it was the only trope that could be realistically implemented. Are we at the end of the beginning of computer games yet?

Those looking for something a little more crunchy may enjoy my RPG Stats Comparison Chart.

RPG Stats Comparison

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:00:00 GMT

A comparison of the stats used to define a character across eleven popular videogame and pencil-and-paper roleplaying games. (20k PDF)

Not included on the chart are depletable scores. Each game seems to have a concept of Hit Points, a number representing the character's moment-to-moment health, with the possible exception of outlier EVE Online and it's complete lack of physical traits. Most games that invoke magic of one sort or another have a rechargeable score representing the total amount of magic which may be invested in an action at any given time. Wealth is typically also a depletable score.

All games surveyed also deal with situational bonuses. These may be weapons and armor, single-use or depletable items, or learned skills. Even games with simple stat structures like Shining Force II create highly varied play structures using such bonuses.

Being essentially combat-based, none of the games surveyed had more than one social stat, and the majority had none. For those that did, it was always "charisma" -- an ability to gain tangible favors from others. Combat-free games like Harvest Moon may deal more fully with a character's social aspects, but as a component of adventure storytelling it appears tellingly neglected.

Admiral Bulletin

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:00:00 GMT

A game of storytelling
Rules for v0.1 (first beta)

[This document pertains to the version 0.1 rules. $file::bulletingame is the latest version.]
[Printer-friendly version]

Admiral Bulletin is a storytelling game set against a '30s pulp adventure backdrop. 3-6 players cooperate to tell a classic adventure in 9 chapters. There are no winners or losers, no stats, and no dispute resolution -- just rewards for bringing the awesome. Players begin by deciding what genre themes are allowed, deciding on a title, and coming up with locations. Play is a simple matter of speaking as many lines as you're allowed every round while trying to work in certain events that must take place in the chapter. As the game advances through three acts, these events change subtly, pushing the story toward its thrilling conclusion.

1. SETUP

To get started, players will need:

1 to 5 dice (six-sided)
Counters (beads, pennies, etc.)
Scrap paper

Optionally, players can print off from this site:

A game sheet
Event cards
Character cards

One player elects to keep the game sheet. His or her job will be to keep track of Chapters and Locations.

Put a pile of counters into the middle of the table and give each player 4. These are the Awesome. Every piece of the Awesome is equal to one natural speaking breath.

Prepare three columns for Character cards somewhere on the table. These columns will track Protagonists (Pro), Neutral (Neu) Characters, and Villains (Vil). Characters are represented by a name on a piece paper. Two Characters are required in the Protagonist column at the start of play: Admiral Bulletin and Miranda. (See APPENDIX A. - CHARACTERS)

2. THEMES

Themes give a rough sanity to the game by deciding its boundaries. Themes must be chosen unanimously. Players may select as many or as few Themes as they'd like -- none at all is often a good place to start. (For available themes, see APPENDIX B. - THEMES)

3. TITLE

Players now choose a title for the Bulletin book they're creating. (Classic examples include Admiral Bulletin and the Snows of Tan Ana, Admiral Bulletin and the Lost Fleet, Admiral Bulletin and the Eudoxian Delay and Admiral Bulletin and the Foreign Star.) Record the Title on the game sheet.

4. LOCATIONS

Each player now secretly writes down four locations.

Every chapter takes place in one location. Locations can be as specific (The British Museum, The H.M.S. Reliant) or as general (France, The Pacific) as a player likes, as straightforward (Shanghai, The South Pole) or as intangible (Among the Ruins, At Tea) as need be.

The first player writes down "Eppings on High St." as the location for Chapter 1 and initials it. A Bulletin book always starts here, at Bulletin's headquarters.

Play proceeds to the right. The next player selects one of his or her Locations, and announces it as the Location for Chapter 2. This is recorded on the game sheet, along with the player's initials. The next player to the right may now choose one of his or her Locations, or return to one which has been used previously. Continue choosing locations in this manner until Chapters 1-9 have all been filled.

5. EVENTS

Before Chapter 1 can begin, the Events that take place within it must be decided. Roll 5 dice, and place the 5 Event cards corresponding to the dice rolls into a pile in the middle. (Printable Event cards are available on this site.) Add one additional, special Event card: The Hook. This is the Event that allows the player to end the Chapter. A Hook may not be played until all other Event cards have been used.

The player who rolled the location of the Chapter chooses one Event from the pile. Continue to the right. The next player may select any of the remaining events. Continue until all are gone, including the Hook.

Events behave differently depending on the Act of the Chapter in which they happen. (For all Events, listed by Act, see APPENDIX C. - EVENTS)

6. CHAPTERS

We're about ready to begin Chapter 1. The person who selected the Location (check the initials on the game sheet) starts. He or she announces the Chapter number and Location. All dialogue hereafter during the Chapter should be story content.

As previously stated, each of the 4 pieces of the Awesome a player begins with equal one natural speaking breath.

To begin, the first player slides one piece back toward the pile and speaks the first line. He or she continues until all four pieces have been used, and then recovers the 4 pieces for his or her next turn.

Example:

[Player slides first piece forward]
"Admiral Bulletin sat down at his desk, opened the paper, and grimmaced."
[Slides second piece]
"It was New Years Eve, and a light coat of snow sparkled on London's copper rooftops."
[Slides third]
"The newspaper felt damp from being flung carelessly into the snow that morning."
[Slides final piece]
"Bloody hell. The fire had barely made page 1."

Lets say another player liked the bit about the fire in this example. He or she may award the speaker more of the Awesome from the pile in the middle -- completely on a whim. Use the Awesome to reward what you enjoy. The next time it is the first player's turn, he or she will be able to use the additional Awesome to speak more, or hang onto it for later.

Each player also has one or more Events which must be worked into the story. To play an Event card, he or she narrates its payload into the storyline and discards the card to the center of the table.

Example:

[Slides first piece of the Awesome forward]
"Bulletin tossed the paper away and rubbed his temples."
[Discards "MEANWHILE: Pro Neu Vil" Event to the center of the table]
[Slides second piece]
"Three floors down, Miranda examined a newspaper."
[Slides third piece]
"It had been collected two years previous on their journey through Nepal, chasing the Brake Men."
[Slides final piece]
"It was a modern newspaper in every respect, but printed in a form of Chinese that neither she nor a cache of experts had ever been able to identify."

The cast is tracked with Character cards (which need only be scraps of paper with a name on them) in the Protagonist, Neutral and Villain columns. CAST Event cards allow addition and subtraction of Characters in these columns. SWITCH cards allow the movement of Characters from column to column.

Example:

[Player slides first piece of the Awesome forward]
"There was a light, hurried knock at the door."
[Slides second piece]
"'Come in, Mimi,' said Bulletin."
[Discards "CAST: +Pro Neu Vil" Event to the center of the table]
[Places Mimi's card in the Protagonist column]
[Slides third piece]
"'How did you know it was me?' Merideth Songbird asked, entering with a tall stack of files."
[Slides final piece forward]
"'You knock like a hummingbird,' said Bulletin."

When all Events for a given Chapter have been achieved, the player holding the Hook card is free to conclude the Chapter on any of his or her subsequent turns.

The procedure for beginning a Chapter repeats. Players roll the 5 Events for the next Chapter, add the Hook, and divide them up. The player who initially chose the Location for the Chapter announces the Chapter number and Location, and begins speaking.

7. ACTS

Chapters 1-3 make up Act I. This is the Act for introductions, both of characters and the overall contents of the story.

At the beginning of Chapter 4, Events change slightly. Act II -- Chapters 4-6 -- is the Act of switching. SWITCH Events can go in either direction, pushing the secondary cast regularly between columns. Your MISC. Event becomes a change of overall objective for the team.

Act III -- Chapters 7-9 -- are about danger and, ultimately, resolution. Characters can no longer be introduced with CAST Events. SWITCH will only resolve Neutral Characters into Protagonists or Villains. MISC. Events trigger dire snap decisions or the catastrophically unexpected.

APPENDIX A. - CHARACTERS

Some classic Bulletin characters are provided below to get you started. Printable Character cards are available on this site. Note that some Characters are restricted to certain columns, unless playing with the "Literary" or "Countercannon" themes.

Admiral Bulletin - PRO
-Must be in play
Our hero. Head of the British Office of Special Projects, based out of the old Eppings Bank building on High Street in London, UK.

Miranda - PRO
-Must be in play
Bulletin's second in command. A woman of mysterious past. Crisp, dry and sharp, she is the brains behind the Bulletin. When not on missions, she spends her days pondering and cataloguing the mysteries she's packed away from past adventures in the Eppings vaults. The precise nature of her relationship with Bulletin is an enduring mystery.

Dr. Posthaste - PRO / NEU
The Admiral Bulletin of a couple generations previous. He keeps a room at Eppings on High Street and serves as Bulletin's mentor. He has a taste for good mysteries and good scotch, and keeps a remarkably full schedule for an old man enjoying retirement.

Robespierre - PRO / NEU
-Requires Magic
The jovial and unswervable Frenchman, with only a confusing swirl of illusions for a head. Overtaken by the mystical energies within at a young age, he has spent his life searching for the secrets of his peculiar transformation. One of Bulletin's oldest and most loyal comrades.

Lord Timothy - PRO / NEU
-Requires Antagonism
So closely Bulletin's match in duties, rank and age that it's inevitable that they should deeply loathe one another, Lord Timothy never the less will work with Bulletin when the well-being of Britain is at stake. Suggestion of a past with Miranda, who is oddly pleasant with him.

Merideth "Mimi" Songbird - PRO
The front desk girl at Eppings on High Street, rarely brought on missions. She is young, anxious to please, and very smart. Mimi spends much of her time assisting Miranda, and regards the older woman with a hero's worship. Lord Timothy was somehow involved in her decision to leave New Zealand, and she becomes brittle at his mention.

Madame LaChance - PRO / NEU
-Requires Spiritualism or Magic
French-Creole spiritualist given to remarkable feats of intuition -- or are they messages from the spirit world? Silky and aloof, but prone to open flirtation with Bulletin -- especially with Miranda in earshot.

Space Boy - PRO / NEU / VIL
-Requires Sci-fi
An astronaut of the Royal Space Force, somehow transported back to Bulletin's day. He is garrulous, gee-whiz and mischievous -- not to mention a bit annoying.

Tackwater - PRO / NEU / VIL
-Requires Potboiler
Headquartered in a forgotten office in the London Police Annex, Tackwater has men in high places, low places and everywhere inbetween. Sharp-featured, angular and greying, the ambiguity of his rank and responsibilities bequeaths him a great deal of power. Apt to call Bulletin in when he smells something above the profitable levels of corruption.

Jim Gear - PRO / NEU
Bulletin's miracle mechanic. A young Scotsman prone to shouting, cussing, cracking jokes and loudly complaining. If Gear can't fix it, it's a hippopotamus.

APPENDIX B. - THEMES

The currently available Themes are as follows. A game may include as many or as few as the players wish.

Americans - Bloody hell, here come the Yanks
Antagonism - Protagonists can have open animosity toward Bulletin
Countercannon - Ignore Pro/Neu/Vil limits on all Characters, i.e. Bulletin or Miranda can become Vil, etc.
Crossover [with ________] - Crossovers with other literary canons
Literary - Pro/Neu/Vil limits expanded by 1, i.e. Miranda can become Neu, Timothy can become Vil, etc.
Magic - Spells, sorcery and really magic things
Mythos - Elder gods and cults of alien machinery
Potboiler - Radically shrinks the scope of the story and refocuses it on slow-burn urban intrigue, typically in London
Sci-Fi - Rocket ships and laser pistols
Spinoff Adventure - Game does not require Bulletin or Miranda
Spiritualism - A more subdued form of magic, typically offscreen and mysterious
Steampunk - More subtle than sci-fi, focused mainly on anachronistic technology

APPENDIX C. - EVENTS

Printable Event cards are available on this site.

Act I (Chapters 1-3)

(1 or 6) CAST: + Pro Neu Vil
Add a Protagonist, Neutral Character, or Villain to the storyline.
(2) SWITCH: Pro <-- Neu <-- Vil
An apparently Neutral Character becomes a Protagonist, or an apparent Villain becomes a Neutral Character.
(3) BACKSTORY: Pro Flashback
A Flashback begins, focusing on a Protagonist. This flashback may be exited by any subsequent player at any time.
(4) MEANWHILE: Pro, Neu, Vil
The scene cuts to another character in the given Location. In Act I, this can be a Protagonist, a Neutral Character or a Villain. Both storylines may be intercut for the rest of the Chapter.
(5) MISC: Shift in Weather
The weather changes.

Act II (Chapters 4-6)

(1 or 6) CAST: + - Neu Vil
Add or eliminate a Neutral Character or Villain.
(2) SWITCH: Pro <--> Neu <--> Vil
Move a character by one column in either direction.
(3) BACKSTORY: Neu Flashback
A Flashback begins, focusing on a Neutral Character. The flashback may be exited by any subsequent player at any time.
(4) MEANWHILE: Pro, Neu
The scene cuts to another character in the given Location. In Act II, this can only be a Protagonist or a Neutral Character. Both storylines may be intercut for the rest of the Chapter.
(5) MISC: Change of Objective
The team makes a discovery that alters their line of investigation.

Act III (Chapters 7-9)

(1 or 6) CAST: - Pro Neu Vil
Eliminate a Protagonist, Neutral Character or Villain.
(2) SWITCH: Pro <-- Neu --> Vil
A Neutral Character resolves as either a Protagonist or a Villain.
(3) BACKSTORY: Vil Monologue
A Villain begins to give a monologue. The monologue may be exited by any subsequent player at any time.
(4) MEANWHILE: Pro
The scene cuts to another character in the given Location. In Act III, this can only be a Protagonist. Both storylines may be intercut for the rest of the Chapter.
(5) MISC: Act of God or Desperation
A desperate act by one of our characters, or a sudden catastrophic change.

APPENDIX D. - VERSION CHANGES

This is the first beta release.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.

Admiral Bulletin PDFs

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:00:00 GMT

The following are (optional) printable materials for use with the Admiral Bulletin version 0.1 (beta 1) game rules.

Game Sheet
Print 1 copy per game. The Game Sheet tracks the Title, Locations and Themes for a game.

Action Cards (sheet 1)
Print 1 copy and cut out the 8 individual cards. This sheet contains:

5 CAST Action cards
1 SWITCH Action card
1 BACKSTORY Action card
1 MEANWHILE Action card
1 MISC. Action card
1 HOOK Action card

Action Cards (sheet 2)
Print 2 copies and cut out both sets of 8 cards. This sheet contains:

2 CAST Action cards
2 SWITCH Action cards
2 BACKSTORY Action cards
2 MEANWHILE Action cards
2 MISC. Action cards

Character Cards
Print 1 copy and cut out the 10 cards. This sheet contains sample Character Cards for:

Admiral Bulletin
Miranda
Dr. Posthaste
Robespierre
Lord Timothy
Merideth "Mimi" Songbird
Madame LaChance
Space Boy
Tackwater
Jim Gear

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.