Thoughts on Omeluum vs the Emperor

I love that Omeluum exists as a character for many reasons. It's a fantastic character, even given the very small role it plays in the story. It gives us a context that sets up the reveal of the Emperor later, the idea an illithid can (and would likely want to) escape from the Grand Design. It's also just a good person who genuinely wants to help people and cares deeply about his research (and implied possibly romantic) partner, Blurg. But, unlike the Emperor, it is very distinctly illithid. It doesn't behave in a human manner. It doesn't speak in a human manner, it doesn't emote in a human manner. It doesn't feel in a human manner. But it is a good person. It doesn't need to be at all human to be a good person. It is undeniably illithid in everything about it, but it defies the social structure that Elder Brains impose on illithid and therefore does not reflect the values we might expect from an illithid. It's not manipulative. It's not dishonest. It never hides who or what it is or what its intentions are. It's not selfish. In fact, it will try to convince you to save Duke Ravengard in the Iron Throne, at the expense of its own life, because it knows the Duke has more of a capacity to help people than it does. But it never becomes more "human". It doesn't need to. Because it doesn't have to be human to be a good person. Compare that to the Emperor, who constantly insists how different he is from other mind flayers, who constantly compares himself and the player character. He speaks, emotes, and acts very human. He still considers himself to be the same person he was before his ceremorphosis. But he is a bad person. He is manipulative. He is dishonest. He lies to the player character constantly, never giving them the whole truth and, when lies don't work, he resorts to threats, then outright violence. And he is, more than anything, selfish. He cares more about preserving his own life than anything and will betray even those closest to him in order to do so. He kills first and rationalizes it afterwards. Despite not being a slave to an Elder Brain, he is everything the Grand Design desires that illithid should be, save for obedient, though he's more than willing to submit to the Absolute the second he feels like his life could be in danger from not doing so. It gives great insight to him as a character and the way that, in basically all things, he acts the way that benefits him, then finds a way to justify it afterwards, both to others and to himself. He didn't tell you he was a mind flayer because you would have killed him. Except that, from your interaction with Omeluum, he could have clearly seen you wouldn't have. He insists that his constant manipulation is just his nature, yet we clearly see with Omeluum that that nature is not set in stone and does not have to be manipulative to the point of maliciousness. It's not being a mind flayer that made Balduran this way, it was his own personality. Which is why he desperately wants the player to make the same choices he did, to agree that they are the same. He's convinced himself he was forced into every horrible decision of his life or that it was inevitable. Which is why he gets so upset when you deviate from the path he himself took. Because you, like Omeluum, prove that it wasn't nature that made the Emperor, it was conscious choices that he tries to retroactively justify. Ironically, if you don't buy into his lies, he eventually tells you he'll resort to force to make you "accept your potential". He needs so badly to believe you would make his mistakes that he'd force you to.

Possibly odd question, I'm trying to prepare to write my undergraduate thesis next year and I'm going to do it on creating battle AIs. Is there any chance I could possibly ask about how the battle system AI in 'in stars and time' works? Totally okay if not or if you're busy!

I'm just especially interested in the design decisions that go behind how especially smaller games handle enemies and creat fun/well weighted battles :D

(all the screencaps will be in JPN because I am currently working on the JPN version ok!!!)

i would love to talk about battle AI and this definitely didn't turn into a "this is how I think about random enemies for In Stars and Time which you should wishlist and play the demo of" just deal with it ok

ok so first I gotta explain how RPGMaker's AI works.

You can give skills to enemies, and you can tell them 1. Conditions, aka when to do a certain skill (always? only on certain turns? only if under a certain state? only if under 50%HP?) and 2. Ratings, aka how high that skill is on the action list.

So for example, this is a Paper Tristesse's attack patterns:

Paper Tristesse's [Paper] attack (which attacks only one target) is set to Always, so they'll always have the possibility to do this attack. [Paper (All)] (which targets the whole party) will be activated only if Tristesse's HP is under 50%, and [Does Something] (which actually just... gives a line of dialogue and nothing else) also always has the possibility to happen. BUT those Rating numbers are different- the higher the number, the more likely that skill is to be activated. So [Paper] happens pretty often, [Paper (All)] less often, and only if Tristesse's HP is under 50%, and [Does Something] is even less likely to happen than both of those.

Paper Tristesse doesn't have a whole lot of attacks, because it's easier for the player so they can keep track of what attacks the enemy has, and it's easier for me. So I don't have. To figure out a whole damn complicated AI when this works great (some other enemies have very long lists of patterns but they're spoilers ok!!!)

(sidenote: [Does Something] is here to give a tiny bit of worldbuilding (how does the Tristesse act?) and to make the enemy skip a turn, giving the player some room to breathe and plan. So sometimes instead of attacking Tristesse goes "(Tristesse is distracted.)" I'm being so nice to players)

This simple pattern of 3 attacks is used by enemies that my producer calls "Goomba enemies", which are random encounters that are supposed to be very simple and not time intensive for the player! For the demo, Tristesse enemies are Goombas, and the triplets (seen below)/Rancoeur+Amertume encounters are made to be slightly harder and ask you to think a lil bit.

(oooh what's the difference between those three lil ladies?????)

The way I'm thinking about random enemies is, they should all teach the player something. Basic Tristesse enemies are here to teach you about the basics of Rock Paper Scissors and have pretty low stakes (just one weak enemy to focus on! Not a lot of attacks to keep track of!), the triplets are here to teach you that HEY WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE THREE SEEMINGLY IDENTICAL ENEMIES DO YOU GET WHAT YOU SHOULD LOOK AT YET (it's their hands, because they do different hand signs depending on their RPS type), and Rancoeur+Amertume are here to teach you about enemies with different goals/patterns (Rancoeur buffs, Amertume attacks), and also that enemies can buff themselves, and also about player priorities to a certain extent- which one to focus on first??? And learning those things are useful against bosses and midbosses!

tldr: rpgmaker's AI is pretty simple and so my enemy AI is also pretty simple but it works well so it's perfect. for me ✨

INTERVIEW WITH SHIGENOBU MATSUYAMA - PRODUCER ON SILENT HILL THE ARCADE

I had the pleasure of interviewing Matsuyama-san, one of the producers on Silent Hill the Arcade! Here's what he had to say :)

Q - How did the idea for Silent Hill The Arcade come to be?

A - During the arcade boom of the 1990s and the 2000s, a desire was born to combine the unique worldview of the Silent Hill series - which was already a very strong IP console game-wise – with the haunted houses one might find in an amusement part. We wanted something that could provide an easy and pleasurable experience to an extremely varied range of customers… as in, the casual users. This is the idea that brought Silent Hill Arcade (SHA in short) to life. However, since our goal was to create a new kind of experience that could not be replicated anywhere else, we designed a game that could make the most effective use of the 5.1ch surround sound system, which was something that arcade games hadn’t adopted until that point, with a type of cabinet that could be somewhat isolated from the rest of the arcade via the use of curtains.

Q - Roughly how long did development for the game take?

A - At the time, the development cycle of an arcade game was so short it would be unimaginable today. The shortest one was around six months, the longest about one year and a half. I think SHA took us around one year and two months.

Q - What parts of development were most enjoyable for you?

A – Usually, arcade games are tested a certain number of times, both during development and just before launch in each and every country where their release has been scheduled (which, for SHA, meant Japan, the US, the UK, Italy, Spain, France, Hong Kong and Singapore). In order to keep the development budget for SHA as low as possible, however, I personally traveled alone to the US for the market testing, assembled the cabinet all by myself, repaired it when it was out of order, and stood next to it for days on end, pen and paper in my hand, ready to collect the players’ data. Game development, nearly 20 years ago, was very much an analog experience. It was also hard work, but when I look back, I have so many good memories of that time.

Q - Do you remember any kinds of ideas that you and the team wanted to include in the game, but didn’t in the end?

A – I’m sure this will sound obvious, since SHA was based on a pre-existing IP, but since the framework was pretty much already set when it came to characters and plot, we had to be extremely careful not to deviate from it so that we wouldn’t create inconsistencies. Personally, I would have loved to take the story in slightly wilder directions and include new and fresh ideas.

Q - I loved seeing so many locations from Silent Hill 3 and 4 make an appearance in the game! Was the team who worked on those two games involved in making any decisions for Silent Hill The Arcade?

A - We of course personally consulted select staff members of Konami, like for example Producer Yamaoka, with whom I had been acquainted with since before SHA. However, most development teams had a mix of internal and external members that changed pretty fluidly with each and every year, so there was no real collaboration between the various teams.

Q - What level of freedom were you given for creating this original story within the Silent Hill universe? Were you given any specific directives on what you could or could not integrate/use in the story?

A - If I have to express my personal point of view on the matter, however, should you compare the storyline for SHA with the timeline of the other games, you would indeed notice a few minor inconsistencies that we were not able to completely solve. That’s something I still have regrets about.

Q - Tell me about translating a traditional survival horror experience into the rail shooter genre and control style. What kind of considerations did you have to make for this?

A - The biggest challenge was by far to design a game system that could be as simple as possible, and to regulate the level of challenge in a way that felt balanced, because we didn't want to force complicated controls or an exceedingly high difficulty level on the casual arcade players. Moreover, there was another balance we had to strike perfectly: more specifically, the one between the aforementioned "haunted house" element - the one that was unique to SHA, with its sequences of terrifying events - and the thrilling playstyle that a rail shooter should provide to the player.

Q - As a final product, what are your personal thoughts on the game?

A - I think it had a state-of-the-art sound system, that the design of the cabinet, with its creepy-looking curtains, made people want to take a peek inside, and that the rail shooting system was simple and could be enjoyed by virtually everyone. I think we managed to combine these various elements with a one-of-a-kind worldview of Silent Hill in a way that was in my opinion pretty good! Of course, each and every member of the staff did their part, and I thank all of them wholeheartedly.

Q - Are you working on anything currently that you’d like me to mention?

A - Feel free to write whatever you prefer! If anything, I should thank you, since you allowed me to walk down the nostalgia lane and recall memories from almost 20 years ago that had been dimmed down by the passage of time. Thank you very much!

Shigenobu Matsuyama's site: shig.jp

Troubling Thoughts on Wyllstarion from my Wyll Origin Playthrough

I started a new run to fulfill my Wyllstarion fantasies of princely good boy Wyll learning to let loose while teaching manic-pixie-dream-pire Astarion about true love. But I'm near the end of act 1 and as I'm gaining a better understanding of these boys, it's pretty clear that this relationship is going to be bleak.

Putting Wyll in the position of the player character, where he narratively has total agency, but also no pre-determined stances on the events of the story, is oddly perfect for him. My initial read on Wyll was that he's an idealist with a rigidly lawful-good alignment that makes him an easy mark for hucksters. But now I get the sense that, rather than having too strict a moral code, his gullibility ultimately stems from being too weak-willed (no pun intended).

He wants to do the right thing, but other than "self-sacrifice = hero = good", he doesn't have a strong idea of what that means. He doesn't have a clear ideology or divine mandate to guide him like a lot of the other companions do, but he also doesn't have any newfound freedom to embrace like Astarion and Karlach. All he has are fairy tales and an adolescent understanding of his father's politics. His confident bravado thrives when there are innocents to protect and/or villains to slay, but the moment a situation becomes more morally complicated than that, he's totally lost.

It's why Wyll the monster hunter still has dialogue options to immediately offer himself up to Astarion the undead vampire without any real convincing. It's why the drama around Mizora is more about her being an abusive boss he personally has to bear, rather than any larger ethical concern about his work aiding an objectively evil demon's agenda - but also why he's so easily convinced to disobey Mizora and accept Karlach. (Also-also, and this may be a cope on my part, I think it explains why tav/durge has to make the decision for him about selling his soul again in act 3. He truly can't handle it.) There's no need to manipulate a man who's already so desperate to martyr himself, or better yet, to have someone just tell him the right thing to do.

To bring it back to the point, Astarion's seduction is designed to ensnare insecure romantics like Wyll. On top of that, his tortured backstory hits all of Wyll's pain points. The fact that Cazador was operating right under his nose, in his city, while he was off dancing at balls (maybe even with representatives of the Szar family) would send him into a spiral. Did the other nobles know? Did his father know? What more could have been done? It chips away at his reality, and he looks to absolute pinnacle of mental health and stability, Astarion Ancunin, to fill in the gaps.

Even if both of them come into the relationship with the best of intentions, neither are emotionally equipped to move past a victim/savior dynamic. Astarion makes Wyll feel like a hero and Wyll makes Astarion feel safe. No one pushes the other to learn or grow. In act 3, Wyll helps Astarion ascend as a kind of reparation for his suffering, Astarion convinces Wyll to put himself first for once and keep his soul. Even if they rescue Ulder in time, eventually the title will pass down. I don't see this going any other way than ascended!Astarion using his spawn Duke Wyll Ravengard to rule over Baldur's Gate with an iron fist for time eternal.

If my feelings change as I continue the playthrough, I might add some updates, but I'm also interested to hear other's thoughts about this, so feel free to add on!

(To clarify, I don’t have any preferences on genre or tone here, just budget. Or lack thereof I guess.)

THEME: Free TTRPGs (2/2)

I’m so so glad that you posted two asks because holy shit do I have recommendations. This is the second part, once again organized into different pieces of advice!

4. Unofficial games based on a licensed IP. 

Yeah, people do crazy things for the stuff they love, including designing an entire roleplaying game and then releasing it for free! Here’s a few that I’ve found.

Unofficial Hollow Knight RPG, by HKRPG Team.

Vast kingdoms, ancient mysteries, and adversaries far beyond reckoning await you.

The Unofficial Hollow Knight RPG is an original tabletop role-playing system inspired by Team Cherry's hit indie title. In HKRPG, players take the form of daring bugs going on adventures in the strange and wondrous world of Hollow Knight and its insect-populated kingdoms. 

What a labour of love this game is. This TTRPG feels dungeon-crawly, which makes sense considering the game it’s designed after. Each bug has hit points, stamina points, and Soul, referring to their magical reserves. Inventory is also tracked, using a pool called Stash. There are three Bug templates available for you to choose: Small, Average and Large, with different benefits and drawbacks for each template. There’s over 100 pages of character traits and abilities, spells, charms and rituals, items and obstacles, which allow for complex character builds.

On the GM side, there’s links to info for settings and NPCs, as well as Lands Beyond, a supplement that allows you to create your own insect kingdoms and gives you four random roll tables to aid you in this creation. If you want to replicate your own little traumatized bug adventure, this game is absolutely for you!

Skyfarer, by Failbetter Games.

Queen Victoria has brought London into the heavens. The High Wilderness stretches out ahead of you; cruel, unwelcoming, and filled with opportunity. Here you make your living as a Skyfarer, working on board a locomotive jury-rigged to fly through these cold skies and raging winds. Your captain has taken you to the Reach, a frontier on the edge of civilization, in search of fame, fortune and adventure.

You will change out here, where the Empire’s light falters and casts deep shadows, where rebels stake their claim on fragments of sky-rock riddled with fungus, where pillagers dig into ruins built by the now-dead sun. 

Players form the crew of a spacefaring steam locomotive. Gunners, quartermasters, engineers, signallers – even mascots – are brought to the fore as the Captain is struck down by misfortune and the crew must band together to get out of (or into) many surprising kinds of trouble.

Using a simple dice-based system, Skyfarer allows players and game-masters to easily tell stories set in the Fallen London universe with plenty of climactic moments, tense stand-offs, and grim decisions. As characters risk life and limb, they’ll accrue Peril – the more Peril they have, the greater the chance of them meeting a grisly and permanent end.

This game uses both d6s and d10s, and leans more towards the narrative side: your character qualities are descriptive, and your abilities are abstract representations, titled Iron, Mirrors, Veils and Hearts. You’ll collaboratively come up with your starting situation, and include details like who your Captain is, what the current crisis is, and what kinds of Allies and Antagonists are involved. 

One thing that’s really unique about this game is that there’s a character that the GM must play - the Captain, someone who gives orders to others, but for the purpose of this game, can’t carry out their normal duties for some reason or another. Once you set up your characters and determine what your starting scenario looks like, you’re good to go!

5. Playtests.

Sometimes the playtest of a game is released free of charge, with all of its editing errors and without any art. These games won’t be perfect, but they contain rules, as much of the setting as the creator has managed to flesh out so far, and the spark of creativity that can pull you into a fantastic community. Get in early on a playtest and you might find yourself holding the early stages of something truly great - and you’ll get a sense of warmth knowing you got to be part of it.

Aeronauts: Flight After Fall, by Electric Purple Studios.

The world is covered in purple mist, the legacy of some cataclysm long past. Through the haze have risen several powerful city-states, built where the mist is thin enough that they are not constantly besieged by the fog’s lurking horrors. Now airships fly above the mist, and a new era of trade and conflict has begun to bustle in. The city-states, previously only in contact through small trading caravans, are now forced to face the reality of different cultures, different ways of life, and the possibility of war.

Aeronauts: Flight After Fall is a TTRPG of grand quests and small moments, of journeys from the tops of the clouds to the depths of the darkest tunnels. You and your friends tell the story of the crew of a small airship, trying to make their way in a world that is rapidly changing around you. Are you diplomatic envoys endeavoring to build connections, or are you a group of ragtag scoundrels simply trying to survive? It’s up to you.

Aeronauts uses a 3d6 system, and emphasizes narrative role-playing, similar to games like Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark. When you roll, you add up your dice - a 15 is a critical success, 10-24 is a partial success, and a 9 or less is a failure. You will have access to a pool called Focus, which can add a bonus to your check, as well as tokens, which can be gained using certain actions and spent to alter certain types of rolls. Finally, there is a tool called Kismet, which allows characters to establish details within the narrative, either for their benefit or just to put their own personal stamp on part of the story. 

The rules as put out here are simple, but the ways you can use them and your characters go into much more detail, taking up 198 pages in total. There’s rules for different kinds of combat, examples of how to use certain parts of your character sheet, a delve into the lore, and pre-made characters who want to pick up the game sooner rather than later. There’s also a community Discord advertised in case you want to find other players, talk about the game, and get updates about changes as they happen. 

The Modern Eldritch, by Moondog Gaming Press.

The Modern Eldritch leads you into a world run by mega-corps headed by eldritch horrors who demand brand loyalty over blood sacrifice, wizards who believe themselves better than worldly governments, and non-profits who leverage vast intelligence networks to find donors. Players take on the roles of average citizens who have had their lives shattered by these systems, and now must journey through this world to fight for some sense of normalcy. 

The Modern Eldritch utilizes quick character creation, which revolves around crafting motivations and backstory; a wide skill set and freeform magic system which encourage roleplay and creativity to tackle obstacles; and a unique exhaustion system that invites players to gamble with their own sanity to increase their odds of success.

This PDF starts off with a quick introduction to the world and an outline of some basic concessions that the group should agree on before getting ready to play. Character abilities are ranked from a d4 to a d12, and character skills are ranked from 1 to 5. You’ll be rolling dice pools, and adding up the results to determine whether or not you succeed. You’ll also assign positive and negative elements to your character, to flesh them out and give them exploitable weaknesses - this is an eldritch horror game, after all. 

This game is also supported by a Discord server, and also provides a link to a Playtest Survey, where you can send in your feedback for future edits! My only complaint is that the PDF takes a little bit long to load - it takes patience!

6. SRDs - write your own game!

Maybe you have the perfect idea of a game in your head. Maybe you have a setting that you absolutely adore - you just need rules to tell you how to play a character in that setting. Maybe you really really like filling all of your free hours with matching character tropes to game stats and putting together character sheets and writing random tables…. maybe I’m just calling myself out here.

SRDs are tools to help you design your own game in your own setting using rules that have already been sorted out. They will contain advice about the kinds of games that were in the creator’s mind when designing the rules system, and steps through what a character will need. Creators often offer them up for free, out of the kindness of their hearts and the desire to see just how far people can take their rules and bend the genre.

Caltrop Core, by titanomachyRPG.

Ever wondered how to make your own TTRPG? Welcome to v1.0 of Caltrop Core, an introductory game design system using the humble and sharp d4! It's extremely simple and bare bones so anyone can make a game with it, regardless of your experience level! It can have as much or as little complexity as you like.

This game is extremely beginner friendly, and familiarizes you with the core dice-rolling mechanic before introducing you to character building blocks, ways to communicate genre and tone, and optional elements that help characters change the narrative. There’s also an entire collection of Caltrop Core games for you to check out (some of which are free to download!) that really show off what this system can do!

Titanomachy has also released Caltrop Core EX, which they refer to as a “director’s cut” of the regular SRD, and EMERGE8, an SRD that’s designed to help you create your game as you play it. It uses a d8 dice mechanic that takes inspiration from World of Darkness dice pools, as well as a few other tips and tricks that encourage collaboration between players and GM. 

VRBS SRD, by David Garrett.

VRBS is an ultralight system for creating highly improvisational role-playing games that reward creative, heroic action. It has a universal conflict resolution mechanic that requires a single six-sided die. In VRBS, characters are defined by what they do, not by abstract statistics. Characters can attempt anything that a creative hero would be able to reasonably accomplish and they either succeed or grow in the process.

The VRBS SRD is easy to understand and is excellent for games that need a tight session with an easy-to-predict end time. It uses only d6’s - the easiest-to-find dice - and sets up your characters to move through three scenes, plus one scene through each member of the group. Throughout the game, they will draw on a pool of Energy. If you finish the final Scene without depleting your Energy, you are sucessful! Run out of energy, you go home. Try again tomorrow.

Full disclosure, I have designed a game using this SRD before - Mischief by Moonlight, a game about small gods getting up to shenanigans inside a museum where their relics have been trapped. (Go ahead and download it for free!)

Finally…

Games I’ve recommended in the past!

Mothership, by Tuesday Knight Games.

IronSworn, by Shawn Tomkin.

Straight to VHS, by Lost Cat Games.

Small Tears of the Kingdom changes that could have done a lot

(at least according to me, the one singular flawed person writing this post)

In my desperate attempt to close off the Tears of the Kingdom season on my side of the internet (failing so far), I wanted to join the proposals of a couple of small restructurations/rewrites I've seen on my dashboard. These wouldn't change much of the game, but enough to boisten some of the themes and make the experience both more open and more streamlined. They try to ignore a lot of my own biases towards what I would have loved to see explored within the game and focus on what already exists (I said try). These changes are not only story-driven but also focus on quest design and narrative reward logic, which puzzled me even more than the story itself.

It's obviously not the end all be all of everything, there's a ton of small things that aren't fully adressed, etc.

Here are the 3 main tenants of this proposal:

We know about Fake Zelda by the end of the tutorial section. We see glimpses of her all the way, even though Rauru doesn't seem to be aware she's here, and most of our obstacles come from us trying to reach and save her. Then, by the end, she tries to kill us in the Temple of Time, and we realize she's fake and a lure (it could be a small mini boss, nothing too severe; just something to prove we understand combat). It could also be an earlier occasion to have Ganondorf shit-talk us using his creepy voice through her body, that could build up a better sense of rivalry going forward and make the betrayal of him using her body sting much more than it does in the current version.

Ganondorf, using Fake Zelda, tries to antagonizes each region of Hyrule towards their princess --and, the very important part, it works. The kingdom is splintering apart as he plans his return and his invasion. The goal in each region is not to vaguely solve the weird local problem, but, using the regional hero that knows and trusts Link, to prove that whatever is happening isn't Zelda's fault. This allows to build some sense of tension and stakes, makes us deeply empathize with an overwhelmed Zelda trying to step up as a leader in the aftermath of the Calamity and isn't here to defend herself (and then when we learn where she is and what she did it hurts so much more). The camp where Purah is could also double-down as the beating heart of Hyrule trying to reconnect with the suspicious regions suffering the turmoil isolated from each other.

The Dragon's Tears questline is overhauled, and that can happen in two simultaneous ways. Some of these memories remain Zelda's, but now only some of them, perhaps those who are connected to Zelda's decision to become a dragon without ever spilling it out (and could even focus more on her insecurities as a young ruler and her relationship to her ancestors), remain sprinkled into the land to reward those who want to understand more about her motivations. But now, each of the secret stones collected along the way also function as tears, and instead of being treated to another delicious serving or The Imprisoning War? The Demon King??? we get to discover a little bit more of the mystery. The way it could work is quite simple: the Sage introduces us briefly to their own perspective into the war outside of a voiced cutscene to give the writing more flexibility regarding what the player already did to avoid repetition ( :) :) ), and then plays a pre-determined cutscene in a linear fashion, which is one of Rauru's memories embedded within the secret stone and tells the story of the fall of his kingdom to Ganondorf. (also bonus: now Zelda's tears don't embody the entire kingdom anymore, which was very strange and never sat right with me)

So what we did is to separate the different stories while intertwining them: Zelda's struggles and sacrifice on one hand, Rauru's regrets and bitterness on the other (lololol sorry), and Ganondorf's attempt to break the kingdom apart --which would feed into both Zelda's anxieties and Rauru's long winded defeat. The bonus to this approach would also be to question Hyrule's legitimacy: the various races would then need to decide, after having actively questioned the young princess, that they actually still believe in Hyrule and a future they all get to live in together.

This would also give a little bit more teeth to Ganondorf's motivation, his deep envy for the power of Hyrule and the fact that his own people chose it over him, let alone everyone else. As for the Link's motivation, trying to have everyone see that Zelda is worth it and stop that evil force from shattering her image while also acknowledging the faults of the past could make the player invested in wanting to bring Zelda back down after everything she went through and all the sacrifices she made to prove herself a worthy ruler (Rauru's forcefulness in assimilating the realm under his banner even though he meant well being his actual character flaw that Mineru could eventually acknowledge, to give her something to do instead of... feeling bad for no clear reason!! Also just *give emotional weight* to that time she holds Rauru's hand again when she swears fealty to Link, this was so simple and obvious how was it not given the time it needed for us to care about what was lost!!! aaa)

Yes, it's still about the power of love and sacrifice over ruthless domination, but now characters have a little bit more agency and we feel a little less like they have a zonai knife under their throats the entire time forcing them to always be happy and enthusiastic about swearing fealty to the immortal kingdom. They find out about the past but get to redefine their future instead of falling over themselves in worship; literally using pieces and bits of the past in the form of zonai tech to rebuild their own kingdom and their future dreams. Together they are stronger; but because they all chose to believe in that mantra instead of having it being imposed by long dead kings and faceless ancestors expecting them to die for a war that shouldn't concern them.

(Also, obviously, the gerudo region has to reckon with the Demon King being particularly angry at them for betraying him, and them deciding to reject his rule a second time and embrace their own path, because in the original TotK Ganondorf being gerudo could be removed entirely without any consequence, which is pretty sad since it's basically an enormous part of what makes him compelling as a villain for a lot of people and keeps him from being a completely generic Nintendo stock villain!!)

And honestly? Beyond a couple of dialogue changes and slightly different setups and reasonings for Link to do certain things, especially in the various regional quests? Most of everything else could stay roughly the same. The bones are here! They're just arranged in a really weird way.

(except for Ganondorf surviving as a big bad dragon in the end through the sacrifice of his mind to immortality because that's just much more interesting than turning him into a supernova --but that's really a bonus honestly)

Hello IEYTD fandom, I know I'm not much of someone who... participates much. I lurk, I drop in to throw an ieytd fic at y'all and put Jackson through more hell, but... I have a legitimate question. Please don't be mad if I am out of line, but I'm genuinely confused as someone who is a storyteller himself and is learning game design in college. This leads me into another point here-

This will go into game and story analysis!

I'll admit most of my questions are rhetorical, so as rude as I may accidentally sound... I want to have a genuine discussion about this fandom, and I am coming in as a third party who doesn't partake in anything here really other then loving people's fanfiction and art. I watch, I listen, and yet... I am utterly exhausted and kind of frustrated with the state of this fandom as a mostly outside observer.

So, I'm legitimately just putting these questions out there to get them off my mind, and I really don't have the energy to partake in any arguments. I am not looking for any arguments like "well I don't think so" or "I don't see that." I have been here silently watching and yet what I shall bring up has stood out to me near-constantly.

Why is there just... such blatant mischaracterization in this fandom? And why, furthermore, are people so... shocked that people enjoy villainous characters? And even furthermore.... why are people constantly dumbing down antagonists? As a writer myself, I often constantly find myself mentally praising Schell on this amazing trilogy of games. Especially because 99.9 percent of the characters are villains. A hero is only as good as their villain - that is a crucial part of video game development. Of storytelling as a whole.

I am studying game design. Actively going to college for this.

I have been reading and consuming and analyzing fiction since I was a kid.

I've been working on an RPG for the past three years, my passion project.

No matter if you're reading a story, watching a movie, or in this case playing a video game, this is a fundamental concept. A hero is only as good as their villain. That is what makes us root for a hero. A villain has to be menacing, a threat to the main hero, needs to be compelling, and furthermore most of the time needs to be understandable. A villain that you can see exactly how they got to that point and can kind of empathize with that is a well written villain.

Being able to see or analyze how a villain got to that point is not excusing their bad actions or ignoring that a character is a bad guy.

That is someone critically analyzing a character and enjoying their arc. And furthermore, that is a testament to good writing.

Being able to understand exactly how a villain got to the point they're at makes them more terrifying.

Characters like Sephiroth (honestly most Final Fantasy antagonists, really), the Dead Three's Chosen from Baldur's Gate, basically every villain from Splatoon, Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario and so much more are not beloved characters just because they're just like, considered hot (idk fandoms be wild) or blorboified (is that even a term?).

They're loved because they are genuine threats who have such depth to their character and are interesting because they are villains. And furthermore, vanquishing or going against these villains feels important because they have depth. Because they can be analyzed.

That's what I love about IEYTD as both a gamer, and a storyteller myself. The Phoenix is a complete blank slate. The Phoenix is a player insert. That is not a personal stance. That is an intentional game mechanic. That is not a consequence of IEYTD being a VR game - many VR games have a proper named main character, even if they are a silent protagonist. The Phoenix is once again a blank slate for the player to project onto, and that is an intentional decision by Schell. This is how they wanted to tell their story. I love an oc-ified Phoenix as much as the the next person - I mean, look at Jackson - but the Phoenix is a literal blank slate. You cannot ignore that.

So how do you make a silent character with no appearance or voice interesting? How do you make the player care? Furthermore, how do you make the game feel rewarding?

You fill the game with a plethora of characters - primarily villains - that have enough character and drive that make the player feel good about overcoming the challenges and trials that come. That is just good game design.

Every single villain - from someone who barely gets any mention like Daniel Sans, to major, major villains like Solaris, Juniper, and Prism, to even a villain who we don't know shit about like Zor - is a menacing force. Overcoming the obstacles that are sent your way leads to a rewarding game play loop where you, the player, actually give a shit about the story, the world, the villains, and the player insert of the Phoenix themselves.

There is so much to every single villain that one can pick apart, that it becomes insulting to the characters and honestly to Schell's writers when you reduce their characters to just "a girlboss who kills people" (Fabricator) or "a whiny bitch of a privileged asshole" (Juniper) or "just a silly guy who likes bees" (Hivemind) or "she didn't do anything wrong, she was just manipulated" (Prism).

Even the most minor of a villain in this game has so, so many layers you could pick apart and analyze and... so many people in this fandom all but Flanderize them. It almost feels like people in this fandom cannot grasp the concept of characters being multifaceted.

And even more, that they cannot imagine liking a villain even though they are a villain.

This is a trend that I've seen a lot within fandom recently and... it's something I don't get. Writing a character who is a terrible person (and liking said character) does not make someone a terrible person. That is something that people do not seem to get nowadays thanks to likely lack of media literacy and... it kind of kills me a little bit as someone who analyzes so many types of media and is working on a story driven RPG, and once again is going to college for game design.

A character who is flawed is believable. No realistic character is infallible.

John Juniper is prone to anger, he is a man who is egotistical, arrogant, and a bit of a prick. However, these bad traits of his were likely preyed upon by Zoraxis and he became worse because of that. I am not saying he did no wrong, I am saying that you have to acknowledge that he is multifaceted.

The Fabricator has a fair bit of flair too, but to reduce her to just a quote-en-quote girlboss ignores her work. She makes Saw-esque death traps and delights in the pain and ultimately death her traps make.

Hivemind delights in killing people with literal bee stings. Think about that, think of how brutal of a death that would be. The average adult can withstand over one-thousand bee stings, or approximately ten stings per pound. And he laughs about it.

Prism knew what she was getting into, and hearing people say she did nothing wrong is... confusing. She worked for the EOD. She knew who Zor was. She knew what they would do. It is no secret that they regularly backstab their own employees. Zoraxis elite have a target on their back from their own employer. Prism likely knew that, and yet worked for them anyways. Yes, she helps the Phoenix in the end. But that is the culmination of her arc. You have to acknowledge that.

These are but a few examples - I am not going into full rants about every single character. I have an essay due on Sunday, I need some of my sanity left. But I feel like this had to be said.

To reduce these characters to Flanderized versions of themselves is to almost insult the writing in these games. To insult the very complexity and depth and thought that was put into these characters. And as a lover of story driven media who often analyzes - occasionally over-analyzing - these sorts of games for fun, and is aspiring to complete a story driven RPG with hopefully in-depth villains.... it is simply saddening to witness.

I felt this had to be said, thank you for your time if you read this. I now hopefully should have some peace of mind for the time being.

i made a "talking about things i do not like" tag and then pretty much never used it, but i woke up today annoyed about undertale again so i guess i'm finally cracking it out

there's all the little things that made undertale a negative experience for me personally - the save system, the combat system being everything i hate about social interactions as an autistic person (guess what this person wants from this interaction and how to give it to them or else be punished!), the fact that it's a bullet hell game -

and all the ways people's reception of it made me bitter when i didn't end up liking it - why are these characters applauded as compelling and meaningful when i got made fun of for loving characters with just as much (read: little) depth?, why did everyone say this is an RPG when it's a bullet hell game?, why do i feel like i'm not allowed to dislike it? -

but fundamentally. the thing that makes me think about it three years later and grit my teeth in frustration is that toby fox and i are both game designers and we have completely different perspectives on game design. and his grinds my gears and from anyone other than a game designer who pours so much of his time and energy into games pings my "does not respect games as an art form" alert!

hear me out. i think people hold video game players to an unfair moral standard compared to interacting with other types of art. people think of people's decisions in video games as more reflective of their real life beliefs and actions than they do other types of media. and i don't mean this to say that video games shouldn't be held accountable for their portrayal of marginalized people and serious topics - but i mean i think people can be more inclined to judge someone for playing call of duty than watching captain america or top gun, even if they're all similar types of US military propaganda.

to me, making a choice in a video game is the same thing as opening a book. i'm not actually the one making the choice - the game developer(s), who spent time creating the writing, code, graphics, etc. for the choice, did. they included this option for a reason. let's find out why!

but people have a habit of judging people for opening that book to read it for themselves and decide how they feel. i saw this with dragon age and i'm seeing it with baldur's gate. i saw it with how people talked about twelve minutes. it is the central conceit of undertale: if someone makes a choice in a video game, it has to be because they want it to happen, or they think it doesn't really matter. it can't be because they're curious what the game developer has to say about it.

from my perspective on video games, toby fox wants you to play no mercy route. he wrote it! he spent all that time writing and programming it, designing extremely challenging battles, creating subtle branches for different versions of increasingly violent neutral routes. he clearly has something to say about it.

that something, of course, then turns out to be punishing you for listening to him and telling you you were wrong and cruel for being curious what he had to say.

the clearest, least-inflammatory comparison i can think of is saw vi, a movie where the jigsaw killer puts an insurance executive in a gauntlet of traps meant to illustrate how evil he is for denying people coverage. i watched that movie specifically because i was curious what it had to say about pre-obamacare united states health insurance. undertale's approach to no mercy route feels like if at the end of that movie the director walked in front of the camera and called me a murderous asshole for watching it.

my partner is always talking about how art is a conversation. it's about communication between the creator and the audience. in that metaphor, undertale is going to a lecture and then being scoffed at for asking questions. it's not my idea of a good conversation, a good story, or a good game.

as a tldr: this backlogged review always makes me laugh

Matthew Mercer, Will, and Player/Character Needs in C3e34

Now that I've typed out the Will/Orym scene including Matt's narration, I have feelings. Namely, how Matt used this scene to satisfy player and character needs in a situation where there was potential for the two to conflict. I will also probably ramble about Will as a character in another post because he fascinates me more with every piece of info we get about him.

Obviously, spoilers for c3e34 are here.

We're at a stage in the game where no one's stories are really complete. Once the decision is made to resurrect a character and the roll succeeds, it then becomes Matt's job to weave a satisfactory scene for a player/character in a way that allows their story to continue, while respecting the way that character is feeling in the moment.

With Ashley/Fearne, Matt didn't have to give her too much. Fearne is a creature of whim and everyone she loves is alive, as far as we know. Matt did offer a confusing and even a little scary peek of an afterlife for her, which Fearne naturally rejected.

Liam/Orym needed more. Because clearly Liam wanted Orym's story to continue, but Orym died with a heavy sense of failure and defeat. And he was clearly hoping to see Will and Derrig again. He had very valid reasons to throw in the towel.

Orym knew that he needed to go back, but he was so torn between a task he was carrying out for the sake of his loved ones, and between getting to stay with them (Will and Derrig both) after having lost them under horrific, violent circumstances that still haunt him to this day.

So, what did Matt do? He gave Liam the tragic reunion scene, knowing he would eat it right up, but he didn't stop at Will telling Orym to go back.

He had Will choose for him.

In sparing Orym from that heartbreaking decision, Liam is able to continue this story. Would Orym have chosen to go back if he'd had to make the choice himself? Probably, especially if Will was still telling him to.

But Orym has been through a lot, and I imagine Liam and Matt discussed at length the balance between what Orym's narrative needed vs what Orym himself needed as a character. Orym needed to be pushed (i.e. lovingly tossed) by the very person whose death put him on this path to begin with.

As a result, we can already see Orym rallying himself, digging deep to give himself and the Hells fresh motivation and drive to keep pushing onward. He was quite assertive in the remainder of the episode, offering up huge solutions (let's go Kiki!) and even stepping in to threaten Treshi when their designated intimidator fell short.

Is it all sunshine and rainbows for Orym from here? Of course the fuck not. But this decision to have Will take charge in that scene and do what would have shattered Orym to do has not only allowed his story to continue, but to do so in a way that galvanises him.

I also foresee Orym potentially opening up to the rest of the Hells about Will in the not-too-distant future, especially since he's indicating feeling kinship with Imogen over the way she's feeling and acting about Laudna's (hopefully fixable) death.

love is an open door | stepdad!anthony beauvillier

A/n: I had this idea forever, it started w an ask and I decided to turn it into an imagine. It's quite simple, I hope you guys like it. Oh! and I'm sorry, sweeties, it's not proofread!!!

word count: 1.8k

warnings: baby talk, supportive parents (maybe this should be a tw, not sure, but better be safe than sorry), food mention and that's pretty much all I guess. Let me know if you find any other <3 oh! and be aware this is pure fluff!

pairing: stepdad!anthony beauvillier x female!singlemom!reader

Summary: y/n is a single mother who starts dating a hockey player. Months into the relationship, she begins falling in love with said player, but the last thing she was expecting was her daughter to love him too to the point of asking Anthony to be her father.

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none of these pics are mine, they're from Pinterest. the only thing I own is the design!

Being a “single mother” -as people liked to call it- wasn’t easy. Especially considering y/n has been doing it since she was eighteen years old, all by herself, granted she had her parent’s help, but she wanted to take the responsibility and although she counted on her dad to take care of Madison during finals, or her mom to pick up the kid on daycare while she was busy with work, y/n used to do everything in her power to not fill her parents with her duties. For four years she only had time for Madison and her work, the former being her main priority since the beginning, so that meant not only didn’t y/n have time for boyfriends, but she also didn’t want to. She didn’t want to risk getting heartbroken again and now involving her daughter in the process, she didn’t want to spend her energy getting to know someone only to realize that he was not the one, that he wouldn’t be a good person to keep around her kid. So she carried on happily going with things, proud of her growth, proud of her baby girl, proud of everything she had accomplished, and she was sure there wouldn’t be anybody else for a long time, that life would consist only of her and Madison…until Anthony came around. 

She was afraid at first because being around Anthony made her feel safe and cared about, and what if things don’t work out? What if Maddie doesn’t like him? Her head was full of “what if’s”, but not for long whereas Tito was fast to brush them away, he talked and talked, and told her about how he felt and how he wanted to get into her life and meet Madison, and how he respected her decision whatever it was and he would wait patiently, always. 

And that he did.

Their relationship would only get stronger with time, both of them had now on each other a shoulder to lean on, and while Tito didn’t meet Maddie y/n would tell him everything about the kid, her likes and dislikes, her favorite color, what she hated and what would make her giggle. And weren’t Anthony falling even harder after all these details?! Every passing month there was the hope that this would be the one where he would meet the kid, where he and y/n would finally let all their walls down. It was a couple of months, but he was understanding. 

After all, all this waiting and anguish proved to be worth it when he first met Madison. Your shy four year old fell in love instantly with Anthony and he became part of your life completely. Not only did he know Maddie, but she actually enjoyed his company and he proved to be great with kids. Tito would have tea parties with her and they would watch movies together whenever she asked him because he would give in just that easily, she would ask him whatever she wanted and he would gladly answer yes. 

That’s how y/n ended up getting ready for a movie theater night on her free day from work. Frozen II was finally out on the theater and Madison wanted to watch the sequel. No doubt, she wanted Beau to be there because they would watch the first one together on the couch whenever he visited. Over the moon because Anthony was joining the movie theater that night she asked to wear her favorite overalls and held tight to her stuffed dragon Beauvillier gifted her a while ago. 

When Beauvillire rings the bell, Madison runs so fast to open the door y/n can’t help but laugh. He’s standing there holding a bag of something and y/n instantly knows it's for Maddie because he loves to spoil her and she can smell the sugar from afar. 

“Hey, little one!” there's a bright smile on his face, a full and big smile she came to realize he doesn’t use with everyone. “I got you and mommy some chocolate chip cookies from my favorite coffee shop,” he crouches down to her level and she smiles before wrapping her little arms around him and saying a shy thank you. He gets up and y/n hugs him too, leaving a small peck on his lips. 

After settling Madison on the baby car seat he bought specially for her -his nephew and niece being way too small for the seat- they drove to the theater. The whole ride there’s some calm music playing while Madison goes on about how Frozen 2 is gonna be cool and she can’t help but watch it, while Tito agrees and they discuss theories -because yes, she got him into the movie just like she does with everyone around, Madison was this charismatic. 

The night went on smoothly, the three of them shared a medium popcorn bucket, Tito drank orange juice with Maddie while y/n went with water and they shared a bag of skittles close to the end of the movie. He would smile at y/n every once in a while and hold her hand, but his focus was mainly on Maddie because she seemed so happy and energetic, she was glowing and so was y/n because Madison’s happiness was hers too. 

When the movie was over y/n went to the bathroom and Maddie waited for her mother with Beau, her small hands being swallowed by his and y/n couldn’t help but notice how they looked for the people passing by. They looked like father and daughter. Y/n took her time washing her face and fixing her hair since the two times she came to the bathroom during the movie was to take Maddie to pee. After washing and drying her hands she got out and the scene in front of her melted her heart. Madison is now on Tito’s arms, head rested on his shoulder and eyes closed, her face seems so peaceful y/n instantly knows she’s in her deep slumber, she smiles walking to them. 

“Hey,” it's a whisper, even though the place is full of people and there’s noise enough to wake Madison. 

“Hey, there” he answers, giving y/n one of his signature smiles, “she seemed tired and she asked me to hold her, is she asleep?” he asked, turning a bit so she could see Maddie’s face. 

“Yup, it usually takes forever for her to sleep outside especially when it’s noisy around,” y/n points out and he smiles shyly. “Thank you,” she whispers holding his free hand and Tito blinks at her. 

“No need to thank me, y/n. You know I love her,” he voices while holding her close. He motions for y/n to grab his hand when she starts to walk to the parking lot, their fingers thread together and his hold is warm, Tito always feels so warm. There’s the safety sensation around, he makes y/n’s heart warm too and she knows it’s real love, she knows she was finally the lucky one. 

It’s only months later, Tito being around more than ever, that Maddie decides that she wants him to come to the parent's reunion at school. Tito only went to Madison’s school a couple of times, most of them to either drop her or get her after classes, only two of them for her recital/presentation. That being said, it would only take a bat of an eyelash and a pout for Tito to do whatever she wanted, so that's how y/n found herself sitting together at a small chair sided by Anthony who held Madison on his lap. She had this big smile on her face, and her expression only grew prideful when the kindergarten teacher dropped some drawings and exercises on the table. 

“As I was saying, Maddie is such a great kid. She’s fast to learn, always curious, and ready to help others” the teacher smiles at both of you. 

“Look, daddy!!! I made this one just yesterday, it’s me, you, and mommy!!” Madison kept explaining the colorful sheet and y/n could see the doubtful expression her boyfriend gave her as if asking if that was ok. 

Tito smiled attentively at Maddie’s explanation. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and y/n smiled without really knowing what to do. The teacher went on talking about Madison, mainly good things, while Tito nodded his head and eventually asked some things. Y/n only had the energy to say goodbye at the end of the meeting and try to pretend she wasn’t shocked while Tito drove them home. 

Their routine went on, they would have dinner together, maybe watch a movie or play with Madison, she would fall asleep easily afterwards and Tito and y/n would take the time to enjoy each other all alone. This time however, both of them were distracted by what Madison kept calling Anthony. 

“Baby, why are you calling Tito your daddy?” y/n asked once they got home and changed, Madie sitting between both of them, small eyes focused on the screen. 

“because, mommy, in school one of my friends told me that a daddy is someone who takes care of you, gets you to school and reads for you to sleep…daddy Tito also loves me, right?” She looked over at him as if waiting for confirmation and he smiled and nodded.

“I do love you, sweetheart.”

Your heart melted when she climbed closer to him and laid her head on his chest.

“You can be my daddy, right?!” she asked, looking at him, curiosity and hope all over her small eyes. Anthony caressed her curly hair, kissed her forehead and looked briefly at y/n as if asking. Y/n’s heart skipped a beat when Madison asked again and she couldn’t help but nod to him. She knew he loved both of them, knew he would be a permanent figure in their lives. He was kind, generous and caring. He was everything Madie needed in a father figure and he was also everything you once looked for in a lover.

“Of course, sweetheart, I would love to be your daddy,” his reply is soft and y/n can see some tears streaming down his face. Madison is quick to notice as well, and her kid brain cannot help but ask: “are you sad, daddy?? What happened?” 

“I’m not sad, love. These are happy tears. Daddy is really happy to have you and your mom, that’s all,” he explains and y/n feels her face wet. Madison hugs him tight and Beauvillier extends his arms, opening space for his girlfriend. The three of them hug, the adults knowing they’ll eventually have a deeper conversation about the topic, and Madison happy to have the family she always dreamt about.

Love was really an open door and y/n had just pushed it wider to walk in with her daughter and Anthony.  

taglist: @iwantahockeyhimbo @sorryjustafangirl @mortirolo @barzysreputation @stuetzlesbitch @gotpucks @extratragic @ebonyyyy-e @tysonsjosty @elitebarzal @heatherawoowoo @joshsandersons @beauvious @besthockeyfics @barzal-burakovsky @matbarzls @fallinallincurls @sweetlittlegingy @calgarycanuck @boqvistsbabe @stars-canucks @davopuck @hockeyplayerstories (strikethrough texts are urls I wasnt able to find/tag)

I'm averse to including any customization options that either don't contribute to the overall experience of the story/worldbuilding or restrict the player's imagination unnecessarily. I consider colour options to be both of those, at least in this game. So no

not the same anon, but im genuinely really curious as to why you think this. I think it's a really interesting perspective. i was wondering if you could perhaps expand on this. 👀 /g

i hope it doesn't come off as rude, im genuinely interested to know more about your perspective on this,only if you feel comfortable doing so ofc, if not feel free to ignore this ask. 😅

I am always open to rambling about my game design philosophy anon 😌

I am of the opinion that every single choice you make in game design must serve the game in some specific, defensible way. If it isn't serving the game, it's bloat, and it needs to be excised. The number one thing that kills a project (especially in indie) is feature creep, so for me, being conservative with game design is extremely important. This is also going to probably be in my portfolio, meaning it's especially important to show a future employer that I know how to manage a project like this, since at the kind of indie studio I want to work at people tend to wear a lot of hats.

The number one example I can give you of feature creep to explain why it's so deadly is Yandere Simulator. Funny game concept, terrible execution. Why? Feature creep. Also the dev is a creep. But primarily feature creep. The game had a whole slew of clubs you could join, a full menu of dozens of easter eggs, a bunch of carefully crafted events with placeholder characters... He was so busy implementing random crap and then fixing all the bugs he introduced that he did not implement the first rival, the purpose of the game, for like 8 years.

What the fuck does that mean? It means if you let the project get bloated, you let it get fucking bad. There is no fixing Yandere Simulator now. Those decisions have doomed it.

Tight game design, on the other hand, feels great. This is why I love Apocalypse World so much. Everything is deeply intentional and extremely tight. That kind of tight, focused game design is what I'm trying to aim for here. Everything must serve the game.

With that in mind, how about I show you how Apocalypse World handles character customization? Here's the Skinner playbook:

Mwah. Beautiful. They show you only enough to clue you in on who your character might be- showy, expressive, troubled, lush. These are playbook specific, meaning a different character will have a different array of options. It's minimalist, it's focused, and it has no fluff.

It's easy to think about character creation as "just what you need to do before the game starts," but that's a misunderstanding. Character creation is the first impression a player gets of your world and its rules. And just like you want to present yourself well in your job interview, you want to present your game well in the "am I going to bother playing this" interview.

The approach I've chosen is meant to mirror that anti-bloat philosophy. What I want to tell players is that this game is gonna be stylish, a little more mechanically involved than what they're used to, but importantly, tight as fuck. So choosing the options wisely and removing bloat means getting that message across. Colour is bloat. The game will never reference your character's skin or hair or eye colour, because that's just not really how I write. It doesn't contribute to the worldbuilding, and the player will naturally decide those things themselves regardless of whether I give them the option. So it's gotta be cut.

Does that mean this approach should apply to everything? No. You've gotta make sure it fits your game. For example, for another game technically inspired by Apocalypse World (twice removed haha), @zorlok-if does this incredibly well. It has an absolutely bonkers amount of customization, a real maximalist approach that makes a huge impact when you start up the game- it makes you feel like a kid in a candy store. And it works great, because it matches the feel of the game.

All of this is a long way of saying that you've got to be intentional with every aspect of your game design, even the ones that don't feel like they matter much.

Before you leave this account, you should take the time to tell us why you like Dishonored so much. The pictures and gifs you reblog are mesmerizing in aesthetic. I am contemplating watching a walkthrough/playthrough of either that or one of the Assassin's Creed games, and an advertisement would do wonders to help me decide. :3

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Dishonored is that it is extremely immersive. I fell in love with it when I was still a kid and much of my enjoyment can be attributed to nostalgia, but, having replayed the game, I understand why I liked it back then and have come to appreciate it even more as an adult. Thematically, the story has a lot going for it: technology, magic, religion, the occult, assassin syndicates, covens, dystopian themes, gods and people trying to comprehend godhood (and failing which is both realistic and funny). Dishonored has one of the most interesting and aesthetically pleasing deity characters I've personally seen in a series, the rest of the cast is well-written as well and makes the game feel like an interactive book more than anything. What I like about this game is that it has a "show don't tell" kind of storytelling where you get bits and pieces of the worldbuilding through dialogue, books and radio announcements, the zones feel organic to explore and the story is not in your face with huge walls of quest text. The environment is responsive to the player's decisions and your choices matter a LOT, it has a stranded feeling to it where you are left to fend for yourself but never alone with how lively the questing hubs are. It is also designed with both combat and stealthy playstyle in mind so you can choose to play it in a way that you want. This is just me listing my positive impressions before getting to the actual gem of the series - its visual design, because it is amazing. Every frame deserves recognition, it is even more relevant to the second installation which, in my opinion, a rare case of a sequel surpassing the original. To say that architecture in this game is impressive is not to say anything, the Clockwork mansion alone has beaten all of my expectations when it comes to level design. The same can be said about the game's soundtrack which is memorable and at times eerie, a perfect fit for a grim world like Dishonored's. It is an engaging universe with interesting characters and balanced storytelling, so I definitely recommend playing this game if any of this resonates with you.

Today I Played: Daybreak

Daybreak is a cool new game from the makers of Pandemic. In it, players cooperate to try and stop climate change. One of the big design goals was to avoid the "mastermind" problem of Pandemic: often you'd have 1 or 2 people telling everyone else what to do.

I definitely feel like this is a lot more fun than Pandemic in terms of "I'm actually playing my turn by myself", but it also means that player interaction is a lot lower - you can potentially have a game where the players never interact in any meaningful way.

Each player has 5 regions, which start with a single project. Each project gives a unique action you can take, such as increasing green power, phasing out dirty emissions, drawing more cards, and so forth. Additional project cards can either be used to replace what action a region gives you, or discarded underneath the existing project to add support symbols - for instance, a card might add +1 Funding to a project that lets you draw a card for every Funding you have in that region.

At the start of the game, emissions are out of control and everything is very quickly catching on fire. The goal is to get things under control and eventually hit negative emissions. If you can survive the remaining climate crisis cards after achieving this, you win! Let the climate get too far gone, or let your own people get too far into crisis, and you lose.

Me and my husband have played it a few times, and it's a very solid 2 player game. There's a few trading mechanics and a few joint decisions, so you're not totally isolated. That said, it's definitely less interactive than I'm used to in cooperative games. I definitely felt like it lived up to the goal of "each player focuses on their own board".

Each player has a unique faction to play, with it's own challenges and strengths. This definitely helped encourage a bit of cooperation - for instance, China produces a lot more dirty electricity than the US, so when I (USA) draw a clean energy card I know China might be interested in trading for it. On the other hand, the USA produces a lot more auto emissions, so my husband (China) knows I'd dearly love to trade for any cards that help with that.

The difficulty can be tuned in a variety of ways, which I enjoy. Different faction combinations are stronger or weaker. There are also cards to give advantages, disadvantages, or just shift things up - both for the group, or a single player. So you can easily give a new player a small random advantage, or handicap the expert player.

One of the few Kickstarter board games I was still excited about when it arrived.

As a bonus for theming, the game avoids any plastic components, does 100% sustainable/renewably sourced components, etc.. Not something I personally tend to care about, but it helps support the theme and there was obviously a lot of thought into how to still produce a high-quality experience despite that limitation

As you can probably tell from my incredibly enthusiastic opinion on Frontiers, I too would rather go for '06, Golden Nipples and all. I know some fans will think I'm a hypocrite because "You complained about us saying the Pontaff games are worse!!!", but what they'd be omitting is that unlike them, I can still say that '06 is /functionally/ worse. I just find Frontiers more /personally/ infuriating, and whereas '06 had a lot of unintended comedy gold, Frontiers is just miserable Flynn-stroking.

As games, I haven't watched playthroughs of Frontiers (simply because the game is too long and if the player doesn't know what to do it seems boring), but we all know that '06 is barely held together by sticks and prayers, and it has some mindboggling design decisions like the billiard puzzle or EOTW's gimmick. Frontiers seems to be solid, maybe even fun, it depends on your tastes.

As stories, the two are very similar but give me slightly different vibes. Both are obviously undercooked (but only one got flack for it, hmmmm 🤔), both of them bore me out of my skull due to wooden voice direction and uninteresting choreography, and both of them play themselves so painfully straight and have barely any moment of hilarity, not even unintentional like ShTH... but Frontiers smacks as much, much more pretentious. '06 wanted to be a reboot with a story worthy of standing alongside the Adventure games. Frontiers wants to be the knight in shining armor saving the franchise and possibly being better than its predecessors. And then you look deep into it, and you realize, the story is even emptier than '06's. Shit happened in '06. Boring shit, outrageous shit like the Kiss, shit that self-retconned, but it happened. We can rightfully complain about how Sonic got relegated to a sideplot similar to Big's in SA1, but the game doesn't jerk off for its decision in the same way Frontiers stands here, smug that it "fixed" the cast, when it retreads old character arcs pretending that they were innovative storylines. And that, that I can't stand.

I'm not angry about Frontiers anymore, and I don't resent it. But it broke me. I had to leave Sonic to the side because it was genuinely upsetting me. I may sound dramatic, but it was a horrible experience for someone who has loved the franchise since I was 8.

also '06 has shadow kicking silver in the back of the head. that is better than anything that came out of frontiers

Please tell the masses the ideas you’ve had for Calem and Serena!! Your designs for them are adorable and I’d love to hear more about your interpretations of The Frenchies

Sure thing!

Both of them have bits about them that represent different parts of the player character.

Calem: I made him selectively mute because he's meant to represent the main player character who doesn't have a lot of dialogue. He will talk when he feels like it and that's mostly with the friend group, Sycamore, His mother, or if he feels its absolutely necessary. He mainly uses sign language and occasionally the holocaster/a notepad if he's not speaking with someone who knows sign. His friends and Sycamore learned sign to make conversations more inclusive for him.

I gave him the female excusive nickname C-Kins because honestly the only gendered nick name is Lady and this is my house. The group started calling him Seaking because C-Kins sounded like Seaking if said fast enough. He loves the nickname.

He's the son of Grace. Which contrasts to the Serena usually being her daughter (anime/manga). He actually enjoys rhyhorn racing and doesnt mind his mom teaching him. Him being selected to be a dex holder was his mothers idea to get him out of the house a bit and Sycamore was happy to include him. He picked Froakie as a starter.

His journey wasn't about being the best trainer but more so about exploration. He likes helping Shauna with her scrapbook and stopping to take it all in. He did obtain the 8 badges but never really beat the league because well it was never on his to do list. Even so he still gave Serena a challenge.

The feather in his hair is a molted feather from his mothers Fletchling. It makes him feel close to home as he travels.

Serena: She's Meant to represent the main rival but has some Player characteristics to her. Shes the one with the mega ring and beat the Champion. Unlike in the anime and manga she's the daughter of the 'amazing trainers' mentioned by Shauna. Serena loves training to the point she's often sunburnt from staying out doing so and forgetting to use sunscreen. Most people assumed her passion is because her parents pressured her but that's false. Her starter was Chespin. and she has the Battle Chateau title of Marchioness.

Out of the friend group she's the natural leader. Despite having a fiery nature to her she's the coolest under pressure and tends to step in to be the voice of reason when situations get tense. Part of training is patience and quick decision making and since battling is second nature to her it carries over into other parts of her life. Not to say she's never acted impulsively. The team flare situation was a bunch of quick decisions some of which were impulsive or heavily influenced by emotion. She tends to keep Shauna and Tierno (the most emotionally driven people in the group) from acting based on feelings if it would be detrimental to them. She knows your heart is in the right place but you cant help anyone if you get hurt by not having a plan. She knows youre upset but this argument isn't going to solve the problem. And yet in situations like Trevor's mom or Team Flare all that's thrown out the window and she's also acting on emotion and adrenaline.

She got the nickname of S- Meister (its my house gendered nicknames don't exist anymore brought to you by nonbinary gang/lh). Tierno gave it to her because of her skills as a trainer. But Shauna calls her Rena/Rina. She enjoys participating in her friends passions so they have a reason to push themselves further. Trevor likes dex battles? ok! lets go fishing to see who can catch the most individual water pokemon. Tierno likes dance? Cool! lets make a pair choreography! Shauna likes scrapbooking and writing journals about her journey? Time to make as many memories together as possible! Calem likes Ryhorn racing? Even if its casual shes happy to learn from him to give him a bit of friendly competition.

So, because I’m a massive geek with a fondness for learning whatever random trivia I can dig up about my fav franchises, I ended up discovering the BS Zelda games (there were two, though only one had an actual story as far as I can tell). While their place in canon is debatable, I personally include them. But both the LU series and your Player AU made me wonder how one would handle incorporating that rather odd chapter of hyrulian history.

(WARNING! GIANT BLOCK OF TEXT AHEAD!)

For those who have yet to stumble upon this bit of LoZ esoterica, Ancient Stone Tablets (the one with a plot, however flimsy) happens six years after A Link to the Past and during Link's absence (I don’t think it was ever explained what exactly he was doing, just that he wasn’t immediately available and couldn’t be reached in time). Instead “you” end up saving the day from Ganon after being temporarily (and in my opinion somewhat unceremoniously) slotted into his role by the powers that be. How, exactly,“you” end up in Hyrule is never clearly explained beyond some shenaniganry involving a mysterious Fortune Teller's house that wasn’t in town before, a golden bee that “you” follow to the back of said house (yes, really. And no, it’s never explained why such a nonsensical decision was made), and some apparently strong magic (tied, unfortunately, to Ganon (more on that later)) tearing open a portal between Earth and Hyrule. Whereupon a blinding light bright enough to be seen from the castle drops you out of the @#$%#! sky causing you to promptly pass out after faceplanting into the ground (ye-ouch!). “You” are moved to safety by a very confused and slightly frazzled Zelda and the equally confused but more put-together younger brother of the wise man Sahasrahla, named Aginah. Zelda is convinced that they’re strangely dressed mystery visitor was the “Hero of Light” (basically a wild-card the goddesses can throw at the current ‘problem of the minute’ whenever something’s tied up their usual method of dealing with things – I.E.: Link. Unfortunately, because this stand-in hero is largely unaffected by fate, it’s pretty much a gamble whether their designated temp-hero wins, fails or decides it’s not worth it and swan off, they can't rail-road them like they can Link). Uh, there’s one point in the game where you need to translate some tablets and Zelda has you go to Link’s place to nick the Book of Mudora for a bit (one can imagine the vet was not real happy after finally returning home and finding out that little detail). It’s revealed later in the story that Ganon’s lingering spirit had somehow learned of an annoyingly undefined power that “you” apparently had and somehow managed to pull “you” into Hyrule with the intentions using said power to be fully reborn. Interestingly, you beat him not with any kind of sword but the Silver Arrows. Then “you” return home the same way you left (oooowww......).

Something neat about the BS games was that you could actually choose whether your avatar was male or female (alas, no customization options though), hence why I wrote this giant text-novel the way I did. They’re also the only branch of the Zelda franchise with actual voice acting (discounting the player avatar who remains mute). “You” inexplicitly already seem to have familiarity with using the varies weapons and items you collect, magic, and Hyrule’s many, many dangers despite being from the modern day (which, at the time of release, was 1995) real world. Which makes me wonder, what if Player was targeted by the shadow before their grand adventure started in contrast to the chain who are on their newest journey after their known adventures concluded.

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PIXIE I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH!

But I am still a little confused, could you explain the BS games a bit more?