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I wasn't implying that it was, I was just off on a tangent 
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning. And the sea's asleep and the rivers dream … People made of smoke and cities made of song … Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold!
I figure if I don't go off on at least one tangent I'm not having a proper conversation.
Speaking of which we ought to stop cluttering the Q&A thread.
Speaking of which we ought to stop cluttering the Q&A thread.
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning. And the sea's asleep and the rivers dream … People made of smoke and cities made of song … Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold!
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BasiliskWrangler
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This is really a question about game design in general....
A town with many people would appear realistic, but what purpose does it serve in the game? In a town of 200 people, not everyone can have a quest or an important piece of information, right? So to fully populate a town, that would make for a lot of extra design work that serves little or no purpose but to inflate the sense of artificial life. And dialogue work for 200 people would certainly require a full-time, dedicated writer unless 90% of the people just gave a generic "Good day!" type of response, but that's not very realistic either.
In Eschalon, towns do contain enough NPCs to make them appear to be functional, but they're not as "filled out" as you would expect a real town to be. Shop owners are present, as are guards and other townspeople doing their business. In traditional RPG terms, the towns in Eschalon appear to be very similar in design to most other classic RPGs.
A town with many people would appear realistic, but what purpose does it serve in the game? In a town of 200 people, not everyone can have a quest or an important piece of information, right? So to fully populate a town, that would make for a lot of extra design work that serves little or no purpose but to inflate the sense of artificial life. And dialogue work for 200 people would certainly require a full-time, dedicated writer unless 90% of the people just gave a generic "Good day!" type of response, but that's not very realistic either.
In Eschalon, towns do contain enough NPCs to make them appear to be functional, but they're not as "filled out" as you would expect a real town to be. Shop owners are present, as are guards and other townspeople doing their business. In traditional RPG terms, the towns in Eschalon appear to be very similar in design to most other classic RPGs.
Ok, I see, but it could be like in Fallout and like you said: many people can say only something like "good day", but I don't know if it would be a better way...BasiliskWrangler wrote:This is really a question about game design in general....
A town with many people would appear realistic, but what purpose does it serve in the game? In a town of 200 people, not everyone can have a quest or an important piece of information, right? So to fully populate a town, that would make for a lot of extra design work that serves little or no purpose but to inflate the sense of artificial life. And dialogue work for 200 people would certainly require a full-time, dedicated writer unless 90% of the people just gave a generic "Good day!" type of response, but that's not very realistic either.
In Eschalon, towns do contain enough NPCs to make them appear to be functional, but they're not as "filled out" as you would expect a real town to be. Shop owners are present, as are guards and other townspeople doing their business. In traditional RPG terms, the towns in Eschalon appear to be very similar in design to most other classic RPGs.
Just wanted to hear the answer, thanks.
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BasiliskWrangler
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No problem Vennor! The issue really comes down to development resources. I often point to Fallout's credit listing...there were 100+ people on that game and probably 3-5 million dollars of development cost. Basilisk Games has barely a fraction of those kinds of resources. 
We'll see where the future takes us. If Eschalon is successful, I have about 10 project ideas that I'd love to see make it into development, and future projects may not be as hampered by resource limitations.
We'll see where the future takes us. If Eschalon is successful, I have about 10 project ideas that I'd love to see make it into development, and future projects may not be as hampered by resource limitations.
Yeah, I know and once more I wish you (and Eschalon) good luck.BasiliskWrangler wrote:No problem Vennor! The issue really comes down to development resources. I often point to Fallout's credit listing...there were 100+ people on that game and probably 3-5 million dollars of development cost. Basilisk Games has barely a fraction of those kinds of resources.
We'll see where the future takes us. If Eschalon is successful, I have about 10 project ideas that I'd love to see make it into development, and future projects may not be as hampered by resource limitations.
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I have never really felt like large amounts of people in cities added much to the game. I think about the only real requirement should be is there enough people there for the amount of buildings and structure etc....Are all the major needs covered.....
I find that including the necessaties, like a smithy, a shop, a food shop, guards and maybe a town leader is plenty enough to work for the setting. As long as there are enough of those those types of dwellings with a handful townspeople thrown in its enough for me.
I find really large cities a little too complicated at times anyway...
Another question;
How many different types of music do you have in the game? Does each town or major area have its on background music?
I find that including the necessaties, like a smithy, a shop, a food shop, guards and maybe a town leader is plenty enough to work for the setting. As long as there are enough of those those types of dwellings with a handful townspeople thrown in its enough for me.
I find really large cities a little too complicated at times anyway...
Another question;
How many different types of music do you have in the game? Does each town or major area have its on background music?
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BasiliskWrangler
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We are still adding music tracks so the final count is yet to be determined.
Each map (zone) has two music tracks associated with it so you don't get sick listening to the same track repeated over and over. Some zones will share a music track with other zones, but I try to not put the same two music tracks with any two zones.
Each map (zone) has two music tracks associated with it so you don't get sick listening to the same track repeated over and over. Some zones will share a music track with other zones, but I try to not put the same two music tracks with any two zones.
Hi there! I've got a question about items. Are there any special items with magic powers that can only be found once? I mean like swords that shoot magic missles, things that produce infinite sources of light so you don't have to go out and buy torches every other second, etc. I remember objects like this in an old game called Angband; they were really rare and awesome.
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BasiliskWrangler
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