Archive for the ‘Developer Rants’ Category

Judging art via the artist

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

“What are your religious beliefs?” I’ve gotten this question a few times now from a small number of people who’ve played the Telepath RPG: Servants of God demo. Some of them are just curious fans looking for hints as to the direction the game is going. Others have skin in the game, so to speak–people with definite, already-formed ideas about religion and the existence of God who are trying to decide ahead of time if they’re going to like what I have to say with TSoG.

So far, I’ve given them all the same answer: “I’m not saying.”

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Don’t count out dialog in games.

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Someone please enlighten me: what is with indie game designers who come out with one visually pleasing game, then decide that they are the Lords of Game Design, with the authority to insist that every game must rely on visuals to communicate its underlying message?

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A good review?

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

As a game designer, sometimes you receive news, and you’re not sure whether it’s good news or bad news. For example, Telepath: Psy Arena 2 has just received its most positive review yet! But it’s posted on a site called HarryBalls.com. Um, yeah.

From the review:

The care Sinister has put into this game is very clear, from the surprisingly good soundtrack, to the hilarious dialog, and the slick graphics, you can see the love behind this. I have been a fan of the genre for years, and after being disappointed with almost every offering the mainstream publisher’s has thrown up at us, It’s good to see that someone out there actually gives a crap about quality.

I guess it’s hard for me to ignore praise like that, even if it is on a website called HarryBalls.com.

Telepath RPG Graphics: Now and Then

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I have to brag a little bit here. I was just comparing some graphics from TRPG2 side-by-side with some of the new-and-improved stuff from TSoG, and I must say, I have improved a lot. Just look at these shadowling dwellings, for instance:

It’s like the old one was made by some primordial, cave man version of myself. And check out The Great Forest:

I mean, geez. I don’t know whether to be proud of Current Me, or appalled at Past Me. One thing is for certain, though: the graphics are getting an upgrade.

Have you noticed anything that you think looks better in TSoG? Talk about it in the comments below!

The Top 6 Reasons to Support Indie RPGs

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

This topic has been addressed before by other people, but in light of recent news, I figured I’d compile a list that takes certain, ah, new factors into account.

So let’s say that you have some disposable income, and that you’re trying to decide whether to spend it on big studio games or indie RPGs. Here are the top 6 best reasons why you should spend at least some of it on indie RPGs.

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Interview with GameDevHub

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I thought you might like to know that GameDevHub.com has published an interview with me about game development and Telepath RPG: Servants of God in particular. Here’s an excerpt:

GDH: When you begin development of a game, what area do you start with? For example, with the Telepath games, had you created the Cera Bella setting or was it constructed around the mechanics of the game?

Craig: It honestly depends on the game. It’s just a matter of what ideas I have going into it, and what area those ideas happen to reside in. With the Telepath games, I went in with a rather limited idea of the setting, and sort of built as I went. I come from a creative writing background, and I believe that as an author, it’s important for your understanding of story elements to arise organically. It doesn’t do to start off a game with hard-and-fast preconceptions, then try to shoehorn game elements to fit those preconceptions. That’s the sort of approach that leads to unconvincing plotlines, wooden dialog and flat characters.

For example, take character development. I learn more about my characters as development proceeds by thinking through the sort of conversations they would have with each other. I let the characters’ voices come through, and so I learn about them during the process of writing their dialog. That’s not something I can effectively plan ahead of time: the process is key. Cera Bella has been a lot like that: I learn about the world as I create it.

You can read the full interview here.

TRPG3 = TSoG

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Telepath RPG Chapter 3 is now Telepath RPG: Servants of God. Some of you may have noticed me quietly changing the name here and there over the past week or two. Hit the jump to read my reasons.

Telepath RPG: Servants of God

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Game Design Interview

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

As I was looking through some of my backup DVDs this morning, I found an interview I did back in December with Dale Rogers, a teacher at Nashville State Community College. Dale wanted to have it to show to his multimedia design class. In the interview, I talk about game design and the Telepath RPG series. I thought some folks here might find it interesting, so I’ve uploaded an mp3 of the interview (40 MB).

Lessons from Telepath Psy Arena

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

I was just playing through a little bit of the original Telepath Psy Arena, and I was struck by some of the areas where it was lacking.

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