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Epic of Serinor Dev Log

Saturday, 29 March 2008
Gruedorf Update 17
Topic: Progress Report

So this week, I finally got cable Internet in my very own home for the first time in...  well, ever for cable, a couple years now for Internet at all.  It's really very, very nice.  Serinor might have languished even more than has been the case the past few weeks, since I was also spending time trying to replace my dead Grand Am.  I believe the Prius I'll be picking up today will do the job quite nicely.

I did, in the end, go in and increase the ratio of total gained experience new heroes receive when moved out of the hostel from 1 per 50 to 1 per 30.  I also started work on an actual training mission other than the admittedly over-difficult cave out west.  This includes providing the party with starting equipment, spells, and basic explanation of the use of said equipment and spells.  It's still a work in progress.


Posted by Eldritch at 8:37 AM EDT

Thursday, 20 March 2008
Leveling the Learning Curve
Topic: Small Talk

So I've been agonizing over Serinor the past several weeks, but in reality, when I compare the things I'm trying to "fix" with the comments I've actually gotten in over the past three years...  Well, they don't exactly align.  I'm trying to tinker with combat and leveling and classes when the comments about the game are almost universally identical:

The game starts off way too hard.

I've ignored the comment.  Yes, it's hard.  It's that way on purpose.  The heroes start off very, incredibly weak.  Somebody's likely to die at least once before you reach level 2.  But once the reach the teens, they're good for nearly anything on Amin.  By their 20's, they've nearly stopped getting stronger.  Past 30 and they're pretty much only gaining more time between rests because they've got all the power they're ever going to get.

But it doesn't change the problem.  The game starts off brutally hard.  And, well...  Mea culpa.  It's been said too often, and I've ignored it too long.  The trick here is that I really do want the party to start out very painfully weak.  So a system needs to be in place to get the party up to level 2 (literally twice as sturdy) without mitigating the pain that is level 1.  I'm thinking a training dungeon inside the High Temple.  Maybe one where earned experience goes into starting experience on a 1 for 1 basis, so once the party's level 2, all new heroes will start at level 2 also.

Oh, and I'm likely going to increase the portion of experience going to starting experience from 1 per 50 to 1 per 30.  We'll see how that works out.

Doesn't actually solve my world building crises, though.


Posted by Eldritch at 10:49 PM EDT
Gruedorf Update 16
Topic: Progress Report

New ooze monster from Syn this week, which is, again, much appreciated.  My attention has been elsewhere.  Serinor still, but not the one I've been working on for over three years now.

I went back and looked at my compo entry game from this summer, Echoes of Llygam.  It was never really finished and a lot of the interface/design needed redoing.  In reality, it was really pretty bad.  I've done a number of touch-ups, including:

  • Vastly reduced the experience cost of skill training.
  • Added keyboard shortcuts for Yes/No prompts (Y/N).
  • Added WASD to valid walkabout movement controls.
  • Pressing Enter in combat will automatically select standard actions.
  • The screen no longer shakes when enemies deal no damage.
  • Reduced the thresholds for extra detail using cartography.

It's better, but it still needs lot of love.  And I'm looking at redoing Serinor and working on Syn's game and maybe looking at using the system from Syn's game for something else.  So I'm busy.  And that's something.


Posted by Eldritch at 3:43 PM EDT

Saturday, 15 March 2008
Gruedorf Update 15
Topic: Progress Report

So.  No screenshot this week, since most of my update takes place in the several pages of notes I've written my notebooks.  I've been looking into redoing a lot of the underlying system, mostly centering around combat and the massive amount of level grinding that I want to try and mitigate.  I'm not certain I want to do that simply by, like, doubling the experience you get.  It doesn't solve the underlying problem.  But that means looking into a lot of the way the class/level system works.  In short, I don't know.

But I have some ideas in mind that reduce the importance of levels.  Fortunately, Serinor already has some systems in place for that, namely the fact that any character can equip any piece of equipment at any level.  A character added to a high level party may not have the HP/MP totals or the abilities of his comrades, but he certainly has the attack and defense to match them.  It's just a matter of bringing HP/MP into line without making them obsolete entirely.

Fortunately, some of the system I'm looking at for Gelardia may actually apply.  It's interesting, and it's work I enjoy, which I can't say for most of the work Serinor actually needs at the moment.


Posted by Eldritch at 10:42 PM EDT

Saturday, 8 March 2008
Gruedorf Update 14
Topic: Progress Report

I really hope Syn keeps sending monsters, because it's the only thing keeping me from failing on Serinor completely.  Observe, a new shadow.  A bit of a different take than the vaguely humanoid black blob that I made.

My main news has been in the [sigh] other games I'm working on.  (I have issues with doing one thing for too long.  And Serinor's just so big.)  I have two side projects that I'll share.  They both involve revisioning or revising old projects.


The first is a revision of an old V2 game I did, Gelardia: Decadence.  I started working on it to try out a few things.  The big one was to see how well V3 handled running a 320x240 game at 640x480.  Results are favorable, so though maps and entities are at the lower resolution, battles, text, and the menu seen above are actually at 640x480.  It's kind of cool.  It also uses the text boxes I designed for Syn's game which...


I'm still doing work on.  Current project for him: see how well I can make Torin's old Castle Heck raycaster fit his needs.  This screenshot shows the Ensign engine I designed for Syn's interactive novel operating within Torin's raycaster, which is running at 640x480.  If I can get the graphics to the level Syn expects, it'll likely be pretty cool.  Props to Torin for an amazing faux-3D engine.  I'll likely end up using what I come up with even if Syn doesn't.

So that's where I am.  Serinor's lost some of its allure for me.  It's over three years old now, and the part of the work that I enjoy doing (system design, world design, story design, any sort of design really) is done.  It's the building that's left, and that part just wears on me.  I don't want to drop it, but it's just not fun at the moment, and I have a lot of other things to do that I actually enjoy.  I'll keep at it, just slowly.  The shiny things get preference.


Posted by Eldritch at 12:26 PM EST

Friday, 29 February 2008
Gruedorf Update 13
Topic: Progress Report
  • Design Changes
    • Updated the text system to the new one I did for Syn.
  • Art & Music Changes
    • Pathseeker submitted an updated thoqqua graphic.
    • Syn submitted an updated thoqqua graphic.

In an amazing bit of lack of communication, both my monster artists redid the same monster.  I've posted both, along with the original graphic.

Hopefully it won't take to the end of the week to update next week.


Posted by Eldritch at 10:00 PM EST

Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Gruedorf Update 12
Topic: Progress Report
  • Art & Music Changes
    • Accepted alterations on the rock monster graphics from Syn.
    • Accepted a new sprite from Syn for Sage Lobup in the Goblin Village.

It's not actually Serinor news, but all of my development time this past week was spent on finishing up the basic system for the interactive novel system for Syn's Gruedorf game.  So he worked on mine and I worked on his.  Of course, he doesn't actually have it yet.  Over 4 megs is a lot to upload over dial up, and I didn't bring my flash drive to work, so he still can't have it.  Not exactly a fair trade, but it'll happen eventually.

And I'm only late if you count 7 days from the previous update.  I've pretty consistantly made updates every calendar week.  The issue is more a matter of finding time on the Internet than actually doing the work.  But, get this, I may have a personal Internet connection for the first time in two years within a couple weeks.  It'll be amazing.


Posted by Eldritch at 9:55 PM EST

Monday, 11 February 2008
Gruedorf Update 11
Topic: Progress Report
  • Game Progress
    • Mapped the Isle of Esselte.
  • Art & Music Changes
    • Accepted new monster artwork from Syn.

The stallos is an interesting and unsolicited dontation from Syn this week.  I know I'll find a place for the crystalline rhinoceri somewhere, but there's a part of me that can't help but think of Pokemon everytime I look at the thing.  Of course, I've always wanted to try my hand at designing a game in the style of Pokemon or Dragon Warrior Monsters.  Who knows?

Esselte's all mapped out, part of the larger project of getting northern Thornner open.  If it seems like development keeps jumping around, it's because I'm bored.  Happens.

But now I'm leaving, because this computer lab isn't heated and my fingers are freezing.


Posted by Eldritch at 11:34 PM EST

Thursday, 7 February 2008
Gruedorf Update 10 Addendum
Topic: Progress Report

I say a lot of things I don't actually mean.

That, and the screenshot is kind of embarassing.  But here it is, for what it's worth.  You can rest assured there are grues in that darkness, just waiting to bite you.


Posted by Eldritch at 10:18 PM EST

Monday, 4 February 2008
Gruedorf Update 10
Topic: Progress Report
  • Game Progress
    • Completed the Mental Dungeon
  • Design Changes
    • Staying at the inn now heals all characters in the hostels as well.

Next step, script the faction quest part of the dungeon.  This is another one of those "easy for the dev, hard for the player" dungeons.  Actually, I think most of my dark caves are like that.  It turns out not being able to see where you're going is kind of a big deal.  Who knew?

Picture tomorrow.  I promise.


Posted by Eldritch at 10:09 PM EST

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