[HN Gopher] Deconstructing the Role-Playing Video Game
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Deconstructing the Role-Playing Video Game
Author : todsacerdoti
Score : 63 points
Date : 2024-07-16 16:09 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (olano.dev)
(TXT) w3m dump (olano.dev)
| lovegrenoble wrote:
| That's an interesting read, thank you, btw I also contributed to
| RPG games by making this generator a couple of years ago:
| https://tabletopy.com
| Nav_Panel wrote:
| Really liked this post, thanks for sharing all the references. I
| actually did a similar project recently of playing a lot of
| classic JRPGs, but my research only culminated in a blogpost
| (https://snav.substack.com/p/26-analysis-rainbow-silkroad) rather
| than any sort of actual project -- the filesystem RPG is a very
| cool idea!! Would be fun to get some autogenerated fs dungeons :)
| msla wrote:
| The "mercantile RPG" genre sounds a bit like "Drug Wars" or
| "Taipan!"
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Wars_%28video_game%29
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipan%21
| zer0tonin wrote:
| That's funny, I remember playing a little bit of a Silkroad
| themed (MMO)RPG as a teenager
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkroad_Online). I wonder if
| this game inspired it somehow.
| AdmiralAsshat wrote:
| > Over in Japan, the Enyx designers combined the dungeon crawling
| from Wizardry and the over-world exploration of Ultima, adjusting
| them to the limitations of the Famicom/NES console--and to the
| tastes of the local public. With a linear story, streamlined
| systems focused on battles, and a more forgiving difficulty
| level, Dragon Quest became the blueprint of what would become the
| Japanese RPG genre.
|
| "Enix", I assume?
|
| Also, while Enix was the publisher behind Dragon Quest (and
| pretty much made the series the core of the company's identity),
| the original DQ was actually developed by ChunSoft.
| drewcoo wrote:
| To further correct that article snippet . . .
|
| Dragon Quest did not have Wizardry-like dungeon crawling. It
| had Ultima-like dungeon crawling. Ultima III had top-down tiled
| dungeons in '83.
| smcameron wrote:
| > Ultima III had top-down tiled dungeons in '83.
|
| That's not what I remember, Ultima III had crude 3D dungeons
| similar to Wizardry's dungeons. The _maps_ of the dungeon
| levels were 2D and tiled. Google image search for "ultima
| iii dungeon" confirms my memory.
| CamperBob2 wrote:
| In fact, all of the Ultimas through V had first-person
| dungeon views.
|
| Wizardry's wireframe dungeon renderer was a bit more
| advanced, though, in the sense that it supported empty
| space and disjoint 'islands' in the map, while Ultima I and
| II could only display corridors.
|
| IIRC that limitation was fixed by III, but it may have been
| IV. It was definitely fixed by V.
| tmtvl wrote:
| I dunno about Ultima III, but QotA had 'battle screen'
| sections of dungeon, which basically means a top-down
| section. I believe the altars are in such sections? I do
| know there's a three-way split in the Stygian Abyss,
| because I accidentally went around in a circle last time
| I played.
|
| QotA is really awesome, I should play it again some time.
| CamperBob2 wrote:
| It had both top-down 'combat rooms' and a 3D first-person
| view (as did Ultima III.)
|
| Of course, in Ultima III, you couldn't leave the top-down
| combat arena until the monsters were dead or you were.
| That was also fixed in Ultima IV, where you could chicken
| out at the cost of some Valor.
| markus_zhang wrote:
| Just to comment on the choice to go text instead of graphics.
|
| I actually think it's pretty easy to program a graphic based 2d
| game. SDL2 is very easy to use and can blit graphics easily. I do
| agree it increases the complexity though.
| HideousKojima wrote:
| Or even simpler, you could do a roguelike with a custom
| graphical font
| markus_zhang wrote:
| Yeah, I remember using bearlibterminal library to make a
| simple roguelike, which contains a set of graphical font.
| spondylosaurus wrote:
| There are a bunch of GUI-based 2D games tools, too. RPGMaker is
| probably the most famous.
| chrisweekly wrote:
| Tangent: the novel "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by
| Gabrielle Zevin is a well-written book about a fictional video
| game studio. I'm not a game designer but it went into a fair
| amount of detail and seemed pretty authentic. Curious if others
| here have read it and can comment.
| jhbadger wrote:
| Another similar novel which I liked is Austin Grossman's _You_
| (bad title, I know), also about a fictional game studio in the
| 1980s and 1990s.
| jaaron wrote:
| Game developer here. Read Zevin's book. As expected, some parts
| are spot on, some are wildly off, but within the industry there
| is also a wide range of experiences.
|
| If you want to learn more about actual game development
| stories, I recommend Blood, Sweat, and Pixels:
|
| https://www.harpercollins.com/products/blood-sweat-and-pixel...
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(page generated 2024-07-16 23:00 UTC)