Frayed Knights Dev Diary: First Five Minutes Walkthrough
This week - a class project! A walkthrough! And a plea for help!

Scheduling Woes
I started scheduling last week. Yes, I know, I'm over a month into this project, and I'm only now scheduling. But with the design doc done, and the prototyping (well, "stubbing") of the systems in place to help me see the big picture, I felt more confident in being able to enumerate all the main and secondary tasks that need to be completed to make Frayed Knights work.

I worked backwards from the final date of April 31, 2008 for the "free demo version" of Frayed Knights, which I have submitted for the MyDreamRPG contest (there's still time to enter if you haven't already, BTW). Aside from testing / slosh time, I split my remaining time almost down the middle. The first half of development is focused on getting the engine completed, and the second half on getting the demo-version content completed and working within the engine.

I have an advantage with the engine in that I'm adapting Torque, so some of the work is already done. My job is mostly it's creating all game-specific systems: Combat, conversations, interaction with objects, AI, zone transitions, saving / loading games, character leveling, the quest system, inventory, events and triggers, and so forth. All the stuff I've been designing, prototyping and "stubbing out" the last few weeks.

A Plea For Help
So I've set an aggressive schedule for myself. The game code / engine is supposed to be "alpha complete" on November 1, 2007. After that it will be all content-creation and refinement.

Just looking at my incredibly scaled-down content requirements, I also realized just how very screwed I am. I can't put off all content creation until December. I can't do it myself, either. I need help. And content packs / stock content. Anybody with some skill at 3D modeling (or 2D art) who thinks they'd like to help out - I can only offer game credit and pizza money, but please contact me at jayb (at) rampantgames dot com if you are interested. Send me a link to your portfolio page or some samples of your work. I have a music guy lined up, so I think I'm covered there.

Planning the Next Milestone
June, July, August, September, and October are slated for getting the engine done ("alpha complete"). While I am still trying to go for a more "iterative" evolutionary prototype process, it's going to have to happen in phases.

I continued to work backwards. Splitting the time almost in half again, I decided that August 1st will be my "First Five Minutes" milestone. In other words, the first five minutes of gameplay will be "complete," playable, and resemble the finished game from a code perspective (there'll still be tons of stand-in content).

The First Five Minutes
The First Few Minutes of game is important to me. That's where you hook the player, and set their expectations. One of the cardinal failures of RPGs is that the first few minutes of gameplay are boring, clumsy, confusing, or otherwise lame. I wonder how many would-be RPG players were turned off from ever trying the genre because their only experience has been fifteen minutes of exposition, background history, and confusion over having to build a character for an unfamiliar game system when they were really chomping at the bit to go out and explore the game world seen in the screen shots?

To try and prevent this --- and to create a "paper prototype" of the game to shoot for in programming (and generate something of a "user story" - in actual story form), I created a walkthrough of the First Five Minutes of gameplay in the design document. This is what I'll be shooting for as a deliverable (to myself) on August 1st. I'm pretty much copying-and-pasting directly from the design document.

Because I intend this dev diary series to be interactive, I'm going to submit my "first five minutes" walkthrough to the community here. I'd like your feedback. I'm including some screenshots from the current prototype to help visualization. Let me know what you think! Help me polish this, if you feel so inclined!

First Few Minutes Walkthrough
After installing and starting the game, the player finds himself at the main menu. He chooses “Begin New Game” from the list of options.

The four adventurers (the player's characters), Arianna, Benjamin, Dirk, and Chloe have entered the dank and forbidding Temple of Pokmor Xang, an underground temple to a vile god. The game begins with them standing just inside the threshold of the temple.

The Entry Hall is old, the paint long cracked and faded, but exudes a feel of traveling into the insides of some dead, decaying giant. The afternoon sun casts a reddish light the tinge of dried blood through the open doorway, the doors askew after breaking free of their top hinges, like long-rotted meat slewing off bone. The entry hall contains six pillars, all of which cast dark shadows against the side walls like towering sentinels. The light halts just short of the far wall, where an open doorway stands decorated with curious (and disgusting) decorations of pock-marks and infected blisters.

Before anything else occurs, the four characters begin the following STATIC DIALOG:

Arianna: Okay, people, let's do this one by the numbers! I don't want a repeat of last time!

Dirk: Why are you looking at me? That explosive trap wasn't my fault! We should have been a good three feet past the minimum safe distance!

Arianna: I'm not JUST talking about that, Dirk. Benjamin's heals could have been a little more punctual in the battle against the weed-goblins.

Benjamin: That's not fair! Nobody told me we were under attack.

Arianna: Just please pay more attention next time. And Chloe, please refrain from blowing up treasure rooms in the future.

Chloe: Hmmm? Oh, right. No exploding the treasure chests.

Arianna: Right

Chloe: That's Dirk's job, anyway.

Dirk: HEY!

Chloe: *Giggle*

The player gets a modal popup window at this point informing him how to turn, walk, and move forward. A little bit of experimentation ensues, where the player figures out how to perform this basic operation of gameplay. Once he’s got this under his belt, he walks to the end of the hall.

This triggers another STATIC DIALOG:

Dirk: So this is the temple of the goddess of disease?

Ben: Nope, that's Neutoxis. This was the temple of Pokmor-Xang, the god of boils, blisters, and pimples.

Chloe: Ew! I don't feel bad about raiding his temple, then. He owes me for my teenaged years!

Dirk: So, what if you get a disease that gives you boils? Which god is responsible?

Ben: I think they both are.

Chloe: Okay, I'm really not fond of this god.

Arianna: Shhh! I don't think we're alone, here. This temple may not be abandoned after all.

The player goes through the doorway into the Meditation Chamber. This room is lit by torchlight, and the walls are decorated with tapestries. There are cushions on the floor, and a fountain at the far side of the room. At this point, the player engages in his first combat. Four vaguely humanoid, legless blob-like creatures rush (well, slither) at the party. Before fighting commences, another STATIC DIALOG is triggered:

Chloe: EWW! Pus! I hate these things.

Arianna: Waitaminute! That’s PUS covering these monsters?

Chloe: Worse. I think these are pus-golems, creatures magically built out of pus.

Arianna: Someone deliberately manufactured these things?

Dirk: How would someone do that?

Benjamin: Why would someone do that?

Chloe: You think these are bad? Pray we never run into a snot-golem!

With that, the game goes into combat mode.

Dirk is the first one to react. Unsure of what options are available to Dirk, the player chooses to attack the nearest pus golem – the one to the right. Dirk attacks, and hits. Some numbers appear over the golem, showing the damage that was dealt. Dirk’s endurance – the blue marker – drops a few points.

Next up is Chloe. The player clicks on a golem, and sees the “cast spell” option appear. He chooses it, and finds a spell that sounds interesting… “Prickling Spray.” Chloe fires off the spell, which results in a quick particle animation. The effect kills the golem already injured by Dirk, and damages two others. Chloe’s blue endurance meter drops by quite a bit.

Two golems go next. One attacks Dirk, doing 3 points of damage, and the other attacks and misses Arianna.

It is Arianna’s turn next. She attacks the foremost (remaining) golem, killing it immediately. The other two golems in the rear automatically “advance.”

The last golem gets to act, attacking Arianna and missing.

It’s the player’s action again, this time acting on behalf on Benjamin. The player also chooses to cast a spell against one of the golems, choosing “Weeds of Anklebiting.” A quick animation shows the golem entangled by weeds, taking damage.

Dirk’s turn is again next. The player chooses to have him attack the golem under the influence of the “Weeds of Anklebiting” spell. Because the victim is bound by the spell, Dirk’s attack not only lands but does exceptional damage! The golem is killed.

Because the combat goes based on action delays, it doesn’t follow strictly the same order every time. This time, it is Arianna’s attack. Unfortunately, her attack against the sole remaining golem fails.

The pus golem acts next, attacking Dirk and missing.

Now it Chloe’s turn. The player again has her cast a spell at the golem, this time choosing “Pernicious Perforation.” More cool particle effects fire off, and in the combat results window it notes that the last golem is filled full of holes and has now expired. The player is advised that the party has received some experience points and a drama star point. The combat is over.

The player ignores the two exits, and pushes further to the fountain at the far side of the room. As he approaches the fountain, the cursor hovering over the fountain transforms into the action cursor.

The player clicks on the fountain, and a pop-up appears with a description and a menu of possible actions:

FROTHING FOUNTAIN

This isn’t so much a fountain as a churning, bubbling pool of murky, watery fluid. Bubbles form on the surface with an oily sheen, and try as they might the party can’t see through the murk to the bottom of the fountain. What do you do?

Try to discover the depth of the fountain

Toss a coin into the fountain and make a wish

Drink from the Fountain

CANCEL

The player attempts the first option. The pop-up window text is replaced by the following:

FROTHING FOUNTAIN

The party members take turns sticking various items in their inventory into the fountain (except Chloe, who stubbornly refuses to let anything in her possession touch the “icky water”. Eventually they determine that the water is at least eight feet deep, but they are unable to establish exactly how deep it is. What do you do?

Dive into the fountain and swim to the bottom

Toss a coin into the fountain and make a wish

Drink from the Fountain

CANCEL

Feeling a little perverse, the player chooses “Drink from the fountain.” The player is then prompted to choose who drinks from the fountain. He chooses Arianna. The pop-ups close, and the following STATIC DIALOG takes place:

Dirk: Drink it! I dare you!

Arianna: What possible purpose would that serve?

Dirk: Well, it’s obviously not a normal fountain. Tasting it might give us some clue as to its function.

Benjamin: I could probably heal you if it makes you ill.

Chloe: If I have to watch her drinking it then I will be ill!

Arianna: I know I’m going to regret this.

Chloe: I can’t watch!

Benjamin: She did it! I can’t believe she did it.

Dirk: Ew! Hey, Arianna, I was only kidding.

Arianna: I think I’m going to be sick.

Arianna is immediately afflicted with a temporary nausea effect which will last several turns, and the player is given a drama star point.

Still curious, the player clicks on the fountain again. The original menu and description pops up, but the “Drink from the fountain” menu option no longer appears, and the “Try to discover the depth of the fountain” option has been replaced with the option to “Dive into the fountain and swim to the bottom” (as it was earlier).

The player chooses the option to dive into the fountain. A narrative dialog pop-up appears:

Dirk excitedly volunteers to leap into the unknown fluid. Before the rest of the party can protest, he leaps headfirst into the murky liquid. Twelve feet down, he discovers the bottom of the pool, and a metal lever mounted there. Heedless of the possible consequences, Dirk throws the lever. Everyone hears the brief but distinct rumbling of machinery, followed by Dirk’s sputtering as he emerges from the pool.

“Wow,” he announces. “That was pretty disgusting!”

Dirk is now afflicted with the temporary nausea effect as well, and the player is given a drama star point.

Further attempts to click on the fountain bring up the message, “There is nothing further that the party is willing to do with the fountain.”

So, How Am I Doing?
Your turn. Comments / Evaluations / Snarkiness? If you were this player, at this point, what would your reaction be?

(a) Deleting the game from your hard drive,

(b) Unsure, but willing to play further to see if the game is a keeper or not, or

(c) Cheering and preparing to send The Rampant Coyote money for the full version of the game, but unwilling to be torn away from it for even a moment.

Or somewhere in-between? If your answer isn't (a) or (b) (and I'm really not expecting anyone to say "c", don't try to spare my feelings), are there any changes that would improve your reaction? More dialog? Less dialog? It's not as funny as you'd hoped? Problems with the combat? Pissed that you didn't get to spend the first five minutes making your characters?

Please post away on for forum. If you don't want to say anything in public, email me at the email address I listed above (or feedback at rampantgames dot com).


(Vaguely) related failed attempts to appear smarter than I am:
* The Rules of Game Design, Part I
* How to Get Me To Buy Your Indie RPG
* Frayed Knights: Background and High Concept
* Frayed Knights: Design Doc Fun!
* RPG Combat Design
* Designing a Computer RPG Rule System


COMMENTS! (And snark at no additional cost!)

Labels: Frayed Knights, Game Design, Roleplaying Games

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