Sunday, April 25, 2010

Game Design: Organizing the Art

Art is something that can really help bring out the imagery with a cost efficient expense of effort. My inspiration are the first empires and how they became myths and legends of unattainable greatness contrasted with the present and the rise of new empires.

The chapter is mostly finished with most of the work left being house cleaning and layout its time to start thinking about art.

Quality output: sketchy and rough. I'm my own artist and I need to take it easy or else burn out.

Introduction Art
Product: 2 page spread image with 1/2 page of text
Features: Silhouettes of a great city and armies (clashing or marching from it)
Prep: Choose from a set of grand city scape angles (will be hard part and take the most time), sketch, and find a way to create armies. If unsuccessful with 2d, fall back on a 3d, then trace over and embellish.
Decision: (noting my decisions so that when I do change my mind, and do alterations when I begin I can follow the chain of reasoning). - An RPG without Dungeons (Blashphemy), it is about climbing the status quo to be great princes, kings, generals, warlords or emperors.
- estimated time 2-3 weeks. 1 week looking for a good pic. +1 week with basic 3d work.

Character Creation: Ability Scores
Product: 18 sketched elements. 4-5 elements occupying 1/5 to 1/4 page.
Features: 3 per ability score, equal distribution of gender and featuring all races. Ideally exceptions: smart Orc, charismatic dwarf, strong elf, weak orc, ailing dwarf, graceless elf or gallyn. Mental attributes can be displayed via symbolism surrounding the character: Alphabets, language, numbers, etc for Int. Wis is represented by intuitive symbols, which I will research. Charisma can be seen a physical and mental.
Prep: Just use the Fantasy Reference: Fantasy Figures. Must make list of what to draw: 18 quick sketches. research appropriate symbols for mental attributes.
Decision: This is low priority but one of the easiest to do. Sketches for this is good practice and allows me to brush up on my skills, as I move to more difficult works.

Character Creation: Background: Races and Social Status
Product: Peoples and Races make about 18 sketches. Occupies 1/4-1/5 for every 3 or 4.
Features: Features art for each peoples, races, social status, and samples of their genders.
Prep: Researching Ancient Near East modern interpretations. Not much in costumes, but stressing more on physical features. Some peoples look very much a like.
Decision: For the small size of these pictures, they pretty much sum up more than words what the player is going for. I think it is always important that such background distinctions be made. Detailed text regarding backgrounds of cultures will be left for the Campaign setting Chapter for Players.

Character Creation: Professions
Product: 12 Archetype drawings occupying 1/4-1/5 page for every 3 or 4.
Features: 12 Achretype portraits. Probably between half and full shot.
Prep: List of Races and Archetypes and what they will be doing. Sample poses for these characters. A list of 12.
Decision: Like backgrounds, important. Particularly dispelling how Uncool certain achetypes are and marketing each archetype as playable by any style.


Character Creation: Character Values
Product: A page of Symbols and Imagery of Concepts incorporated in the layout.
Features: A tree of images and a metaphorical tree.
Prep: ??? Will figure this out.
Decision: Represent the concept of self-interest and how decisions are based on this, regadless of the rationality of it all.

Character Creation: Starting Equipment
Product: 4 Half pages of items.
Features: Illustrating items to show what they are and their parts.
Prep: Get a short list of most important Items. At the quality expected 20 key items. This includes slaves and servants.
Decision: Illustrate, that way when players want to modify and customize bits of their gear there will be a baseline for it.

Character Creation: End page
Product: 1 or 1/2 page
Features: Either an outpost, inn, camp or oasis where strangers meet and stories exchanged.
Prep: Finalize what it is going to be.
Decision: Closure for the chapter and the player to know what is enough to start.


A new Gaming Template: Instead of Party of Adventures jumping into a dungeon, killing and taking stuff move towards something slightly different. Diving into Conflicts, and giving this conflict an image: Intrigue, Espionage, War, Politics, Trade etc. Give it an image so that people can approach it.
Ethics and RPGs. a game that allows GMs who want to try ethical problem solving. Game Theory branched out from Economics, as more mathematically precise tools to predict human behavior and decision making. The ability to predict social consequences to actions was once monopolized by great empire builders are now in the hands of players. The ability to shape a civilizations and peoples becomes a new sense of accomplishment beyond gold, treasure and xp. While the GMs have better tools in simulating these things and providing the neccessary challenge and unforseen consequence.

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