I'm feeling in a Game Design-ey mood tonight, so I figured I might as well write a few lines on what makes a good game. Admittedly, I've written only a few games, the most recent of which would be Crack Kung Fu Fighting Bunnies, Go!, and Yakuza Armageddon. I'd like to think that I did a passable effort of them, considering that each one was made in the span of 24 real time hours. I'm sure if I had more time, I could have polished them up to something even greater.
Anyway, enough of plugging my games, I'm joining Alex in putting together a solid effort of a game. Can't discuss too much about the details yes as we're still pretty much in the nebulous planning phase, but having talked about it, we've come up with a list of things to take note of in making a good rpg.
Important considerations for Game Design:
Evocative setting – An evocative setting promotes a sense of wonder in the people reading about it, or playing in the setting. A sufficiently deep (though not necessarily complex) setting encourages players to explore and find out more about it.
Easy and flexible rules – Rules must be complete enough to give GMs a basis for their rulings, yet not too complicated as to drive away those who don't consider looking up a dozen tables for calculating hit locations, shock, bleeding and infection from a single hit to be fun.
Genre emulation – The rules should tie in to the setting mechanics in some way that fulfills the “feel” of the game. This is a little vague, but it's something that is crucial to giving a game it's personality. I suppose the best example of this is the Sanity system of Call of Cthulhu. Investigators can and will lose their sanity no matter what they do, it's just a matter of when, and how much. Contrary to what it might seem like, this actually promotes better play as players watch their characters change with the loss of sanity.
Open for expansion – Primarily from a business standpoint, it would be a good idea to make a game open to further expansion, either from Rules or Setting. While this is not necessary for all games (my two 24 Hour RPGs are self-contained, for example) truly large settings may encourage further development as the designers pay attention to geographic regions, specific character groups, or even the technology or magic of the setting.
Sense of Purpose – RPGs require a sense of direction for the players. While this is partially the job of the GM, the game also holds half of the equation. If the game is unable to give a good reason to strike out and get stuff done, then the game fails to encourage people to play it. A game about being office furniture in a Marketing Firm could be written extremely well, but without any sort of direction, players would just shrug and decide to play something else.
Things are still percolating in my head right now for ideas in the game we're making, and once we've got something on paper, I might post a thing or two here.
Oh, by the way, there's this really good PDF about the patterns fo RPG game design that I'm currently reading. It's a monster of a book... over 200+ pages or so, but it's fascinating. If you want to check it out, you can grab it over at Legendary Quest's downloads section. Just scroll to the bottom and download the only pdf under "Rpg Design"
Well, that's it for now, I'm going back to reading this thing and see if I can learn a thing or two.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Mmmm... Brownie Mix
I'm eating brownie mix right now.
Not baked brownies, but brownie mix.
Sort of.
You see, I was mixing a cup of hot chocolate when I failed to realize that there was no water in the water cooler/heater. Hence, only about a thimbleful of hot water tumbled into my cup, reducing whatever overwhelming about of chocolate powder I put in there into sludge.
Wonderful.
Though, it is actually pretty good. Makes me feel like I was stealing a taste from the mixing bowl as a child.
Not baked brownies, but brownie mix.
Sort of.
You see, I was mixing a cup of hot chocolate when I failed to realize that there was no water in the water cooler/heater. Hence, only about a thimbleful of hot water tumbled into my cup, reducing whatever overwhelming about of chocolate powder I put in there into sludge.
Wonderful.
Though, it is actually pretty good. Makes me feel like I was stealing a taste from the mixing bowl as a child.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Chinese Banquets
I attended the wedding reception of one of my college friends today, and it struck me just how... formulaic the food there is. I have nothing against good food, mind you, but I have noticed that in every single Chinese Wedding I have ever attended, there has only been a single menu. And thus I provide:
Pointyman's guide to the modern Chinese Banquet:
Hot and Cold Cuts
- This means seaweed, roasted pork slices, sliced century eggs, sliced soy chicken and whatever else they can slice and put in there to look good.
Steamed Prawn in Garlic Sauce
- I can't complain about this. I'm a big fan of tiger prawns swimming in garlic. I'm glad this is a staple of these big multi-course meals.
Hot and Sour Soup
- Technically, it could be any kind of soup, but most of the time it is this favorite of most Filipino Chinese families that gets served, alongside some black vinegar to add to the taste.
Abalone and Mushrooms served on a bed of lettuce in Brown Sauce
- I have never been able to decipher brown sauce. It goes well with the Abalones and Mushrooms though. A word of warning however, there are some Chinese restaurants that serve this with Abalones straight from a can. While that normally shouldn't be too bad (we're all allowed to cheat now and then after all), the bad part is if they're improperly drained and not left to soak. The result is tough abalone meat that tastes like battery acid.
Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce
- It's really difficult to make a mistake with this, so if you're ever in a Chinese restaurant, you can pretty much order this and expect to have a pleasant viand to go with your rice. I personally prefer plain white rice to go with this, but some people can't get enough of their Yang Chow Fried Rice.
Fried Pigeon and Prawn Crackers
- Fried Pigeon is pretty good stuff... if you don't fear heart disease. I stayed away from this one, but I do have enough happy memories of having this before as a child to satisfy me. Don't feel sorry for the birds, eat up, it's good stuff.
- As a side note, the puffy prawn crackers more commonly known here by it's endearing name of kropek is something that kids can't seem to get enough of. Then again, it's deep fried, crunchy, and they provide hours of entertainment to children.
Obligatory Meat Dish
- The name speaks for itself. Normally, there's some sort of meat dish here, usually Braised Beef. Being no longer a beef eater, I am unable to provide additional tips aside from this: floss well.
Crabstick and Mango Rolls
- Japanese synthetic crabsticks and ripe mango cubes in mayonnaise folded into a flour wrapper, coated in bread crumbs and then deep fried. Dying by gastronomy was never this good.
Steamed Crab
- Ah yes, steamed crab. Admittedly the crowning moment for a lot of these events (at least for the eating half). I'm sure the bride and groom were preoccupied by the various songs, games and whatnot to appreciate it last night. Anyway, hardly a complicated dish, large crabs cleaned then steamed red with some ginger inside the top shell to get rid of any leftover smell, helpfully cracked in all the right places to assist in the more dainty of the guests to enjoy their meal.
- The crab also serve as a secondary form of entertainment to the guests, as flying splinters of crab shell from overzealous eaters tend to fly unerringly into the designer gowns. I wore a ready to wear short sleeved button down shirt, and thus was immune to the emotional stress that could have been caused by such an incident.
Noodles
- Well, of course there are the noodles. Swimming in sauce and filled with pork slices, beans, carrots and the occasional orange colored quail eggs, these noodles represent long life. Everyone is familiar with this stuff, and this scores as one of the most kid friendly foods on the menu.
Dessert
- A rather interesting way to cap off the meal, desserts in Chinese Banquets are always fruit based. Anything from intricate Fruit Platters sliced to highlight the creativity of the chef, Mango and Tapioca Shakes to the less than stellar Fruit Cocktail straight from the can.
---
And there you have it. The quick and dirty guide to Chinese Banquets (in the Philippines at least). So the next time you're invited to a Chinese Banquet for any occasion, watch out for the usual suspects. As for me, any Chinese Banquet is like meeting and old friend.
"Hello, Mister Crab!"
Pointyman's guide to the modern Chinese Banquet:
Hot and Cold Cuts
- This means seaweed, roasted pork slices, sliced century eggs, sliced soy chicken and whatever else they can slice and put in there to look good.
Steamed Prawn in Garlic Sauce
- I can't complain about this. I'm a big fan of tiger prawns swimming in garlic. I'm glad this is a staple of these big multi-course meals.
Hot and Sour Soup
- Technically, it could be any kind of soup, but most of the time it is this favorite of most Filipino Chinese families that gets served, alongside some black vinegar to add to the taste.
Abalone and Mushrooms served on a bed of lettuce in Brown Sauce
- I have never been able to decipher brown sauce. It goes well with the Abalones and Mushrooms though. A word of warning however, there are some Chinese restaurants that serve this with Abalones straight from a can. While that normally shouldn't be too bad (we're all allowed to cheat now and then after all), the bad part is if they're improperly drained and not left to soak. The result is tough abalone meat that tastes like battery acid.
Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce
- It's really difficult to make a mistake with this, so if you're ever in a Chinese restaurant, you can pretty much order this and expect to have a pleasant viand to go with your rice. I personally prefer plain white rice to go with this, but some people can't get enough of their Yang Chow Fried Rice.
Fried Pigeon and Prawn Crackers
- Fried Pigeon is pretty good stuff... if you don't fear heart disease. I stayed away from this one, but I do have enough happy memories of having this before as a child to satisfy me. Don't feel sorry for the birds, eat up, it's good stuff.
- As a side note, the puffy prawn crackers more commonly known here by it's endearing name of kropek is something that kids can't seem to get enough of. Then again, it's deep fried, crunchy, and they provide hours of entertainment to children.
Obligatory Meat Dish
- The name speaks for itself. Normally, there's some sort of meat dish here, usually Braised Beef. Being no longer a beef eater, I am unable to provide additional tips aside from this: floss well.
Crabstick and Mango Rolls
- Japanese synthetic crabsticks and ripe mango cubes in mayonnaise folded into a flour wrapper, coated in bread crumbs and then deep fried. Dying by gastronomy was never this good.
Steamed Crab
- Ah yes, steamed crab. Admittedly the crowning moment for a lot of these events (at least for the eating half). I'm sure the bride and groom were preoccupied by the various songs, games and whatnot to appreciate it last night. Anyway, hardly a complicated dish, large crabs cleaned then steamed red with some ginger inside the top shell to get rid of any leftover smell, helpfully cracked in all the right places to assist in the more dainty of the guests to enjoy their meal.
- The crab also serve as a secondary form of entertainment to the guests, as flying splinters of crab shell from overzealous eaters tend to fly unerringly into the designer gowns. I wore a ready to wear short sleeved button down shirt, and thus was immune to the emotional stress that could have been caused by such an incident.
Noodles
- Well, of course there are the noodles. Swimming in sauce and filled with pork slices, beans, carrots and the occasional orange colored quail eggs, these noodles represent long life. Everyone is familiar with this stuff, and this scores as one of the most kid friendly foods on the menu.
Dessert
- A rather interesting way to cap off the meal, desserts in Chinese Banquets are always fruit based. Anything from intricate Fruit Platters sliced to highlight the creativity of the chef, Mango and Tapioca Shakes to the less than stellar Fruit Cocktail straight from the can.
---
And there you have it. The quick and dirty guide to Chinese Banquets (in the Philippines at least). So the next time you're invited to a Chinese Banquet for any occasion, watch out for the usual suspects. As for me, any Chinese Banquet is like meeting and old friend.
"Hello, Mister Crab!"
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