Saturday, 5 October 2013

That pesky content - part 2

There has been a subtle but important change from engine programming to content creation in this project. A common misconception is that roguelikes don't require that much content, because they are random(ly generated). It's not that simple. Sometimes they do require a lot of content and randomness is only an extra layer on top of it.

An example is creating equipment for creatures. Today I started with helmets or headgear. For them the race and profession both determine the type of headgear. It's mostly the profession. Fighters and knights could wear a metal helmet, but wizards should wear a pointy hat. But if you always have the same decisions the gameplay becomes dull and predictable. There should be some kind of random variation, but in some kind of context. A knight could be wearing a crude helmet if he has lost his metal helmet and a wizard could be wearing a studded leather helmet. Helmets itself could have an importance value what comes to the decision how often they are created, because they were in reality the most important piece of armour.

The details of decisions can be complex and decisions or their "engine" itself are hand-picked content. More intelligent races and professions means more decisions. I already regret I made goblins an intelligent race like dwarves. Maybe they are removed or the amount of professions reduced.

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