Putting Together a Full Game(1)
Designing the Sample Game
Now comes the time to commence creating the book’s sample game—"The rooad of warrior".
The game does put together all the gaming
pieces you need to complete a game. The purpose of "The rooad of warrior" is to show every
component in its proper place, including tech engines, map and level management,
character control, and scripting.
The game’s creation starts with the design. You need to write the story, create the
levels, develop characters, design items, and devise spells. To help set a context, I
will kick off the design process with a short story describing what occurs up to the
time the player enters the game. This story explains how the player came to be
within the vicinity of the game, what set the mood, and so on.
Writing the Game’s Story
Part of the experience of picking up a new game is to delve into the game’s instruction
booklet to read up on the game’s controls, characters, and the pre-game story.
That’s right, not only do you need a story for your game, but also you generally
write a small pre-game story that precedes the action that takes place at the start
of your game.
The pre-game story, much like the following one, sets the mood for your game (or
at least for the beginning of the game), introduces the player to his alter-ego, and
thrusts the player right into the actual story. For "The rooad of warrior", I wrote the following
pre-game story to let the player know his role and the kind of situation he is in
at the beginning of the game.
NOTE
For your game, instead of writing a pre-game story in the game’s
instruction booklet, you might choose to include the story in your
game. For example, when the player begins his first game, you might display
the pre-game story immediately before the game commences.
The day’s travel has gone well. After a quick stop in the quaint village of
Dunsberry, our hero once again sets off to explore the rolling plains of the
Eastern Lands. Thrice before he had adventured forth to those Lands—they
were quickly becoming his favorite romping
grounds, and for good reason. With each visit, our hero has found thrilling adventures,
amazing treasures, and the most intriguing people he has ever had the pleasure
of encountering.
With high hopes on his mind and the setting sun at his back, our lone adventurer
journeys onward. If he makes good time, he should reach the village of Grandere
before dawn. Once there, he will take a break for some well-deserved rest and
relaxation before entering the center plains of the Lands, where he hopes to find
a grand quest upon which to embark.
With a sudden, loud clap of thunder, the glorious dreams of conquest are swept
from his mind. The day is ending—the sun setting. A shrill wind arises, bringing
forth dark, rolling clouds. The night grows darker, and with every passing moment
the wind grows stronger and the clouds thicken. A heavy hit of thunder echoes in
the air, and a brief flash of lightning illuminates the plains in a sickly blue hue.
The storm forming over the plains is quickly building in strength. With one last
deafening clap of thunder, clouds pour forth their watery innards. Relentlessly, the
clouds unleash their fury—driving rain drenches the land, making further travel
impossible. Our adventurer needs to find shelter, or this storm will claim his life.
Staggering forward, he comes upon a small clump of trees within which he hoists
his tent. With his remaining energy, the now-exhausted adventurer closes the flap
to his hastily erected tent and buries himself in his makeshift bed of water-logged
hay and cloth. Unconsciousness soon comes over him, pulling him into a deep,
restless sleep. Visions of hideous scaled demons fill his dreams. A grand tower
looms over him, casting a dark shadow over the surrounding land. A small village
appears in front of the hero—the way is clear; the village beckons him forth.
As you can see, although the story starts off fairly well for the would-be hero, circumstances
turn everything upside down. A mysterious storm appears and forces
him to take shelter. At the completion of this part of the story, the game-play begins.
What the preceding story does not detail is what happens to the hero as he enters
the village in his dream. What you need to do now is define the purpose of the
story—that is, what the player (as the game’s hero) needs to do from this point on
in the story.