A second quest prototype with the “Ocularis-Engine”! Coordination and Polishing If you understand quests as chains/trees/graphs of events and goals and the quest designer as the one responsible for such an entire experience, then seeing a coordinating aspect to that role is not far fetched. After all, it is not the quest designer who providesContinueContinue reading “#45 Coordination and Polishing: Ocularis”
Tag Archives: quest
#42 Quest Prototype: Ocularis
After a long time of failing to continue, finally a new post. Hopefully a series of them. Prototyping I bring with me something I learned during my university courses: Making a prototype is answering one question. So no matter how aesthatically unpleasant or technically unstable the result is, if it proposed answers to the questionContinueContinue reading “#42 Quest Prototype: Ocularis”
#35 Quest: The Lonelines of Old Eremites
After writing the last post, I decided to take another step against my drive for theory. This is on the one hand to get closer to the root motivation for the whole project – practical quest design – and on the other hand a reaction to the simple fact that I’m slowly but surely runningContinueContinue reading “#35 Quest: The Lonelines of Old Eremites”
#34 Quest Givers
Today we’ll inspect and deconstruct the concept of a quest giver. Following that I’ll start implementing the quest I devised last time. Quest Givers In stories, characters are one major source of movement/change. One specific figuration of that is a quest giver. Such characters provide the player with quests and are function thus as initiatorsContinueContinue reading “#34 Quest Givers”
#33 Quest Logs
This post is about quest logs, journals, in-game quest descriptions and the like. Following some paragraphs on the topic I’ll write a quest inspired by the ever glorious Diablo. Quest Logs In many games with a substantial narrative and goals related to space there is also some kind of quest log, oftentimes detailing what isContinueContinue reading “#33 Quest Logs”
#32 Quest Objectives
Today I’m gonna think and write about quest objectives. Indeed, making them distinct from quest goals will help understanding that matter more clearly, I feel. Events, Goals and Quest Objectives In my quest definitions so far one prevailing element is the existence and juxtaposition of events and goals. Since for me at least it neverContinueContinue reading “#32 Quest Objectives”
#31 Quest Items
Shifting to some more – well – profane, or rather: ‘classic’ quest design topics. The first one in the line is quest items. Items So what are items in the first place? The wictionary tells me, it is a “distinct physical object” and, more specifically for video games, “an object that can be picked upContinueContinue reading “#31 Quest Items”
#29 The Drive of Narration
This post is concerned with the potential of narrations to be captivating, such that you can’t wait to see what’s next. Narration Drive What do I mean by narration drive? Well, the drive (or drives) of a narration is that which makes the audience want to follow that particular telling of a narrative. This mightContinueContinue reading “#29 The Drive of Narration”
#26 Durability and Impact
Half a Century of Poetry Of late, I’ve been repeatedly thinking about why I actually write all these posts. Why did the bard Dandelion write all his ballads? Why do people write down all their thoughts into countless diaries, sheets of paper, books? One answer to these questions lies in the concept of durability, IContinueContinue reading “#26 Durability and Impact”
#24 Dialog Systems & Ocularis
Today we’re going to talk about dialog systems, their integration in quest systems, and how I implemented such a thing. Dialog Systems Let’s hear what Chris Bateman has to say about dialog systems (or engines): A dialogue engine is the means by which a game speaks. This software mediates the delivery of all dialogue (andContinueContinue reading “#24 Dialog Systems & Ocularis”
Gregor Sönnichsen 