This week we’re (slighltly) altering our approach to dungeon design, and also reaching for a better understanding of our cast of characters.
Merrix focused on rewriting our dungeon generation systems. He’s swapping to an approach that uses pre-designed rooms or elements in a random way; the point, then, would be to design the pieces and then randomly place those pieces. As part of this, he’s developing a tool that lets us define rooms quicker in-editor, and while this could take a while to get working really nicely, it may pay off in the long run: as Merrix puts it, we could spend an hour making each individual room in the game, or we could take a week designing a tool that lets us design a room in 5 minutes.
Me, I’ve been trying to write quests, and really struggling, especially with dialogue. I can’t seem to hear the characters in my head the way writers often describe, and this makes it understandably difficult to “feel out” the characters behind the names and faces we’ve chosen. So I end up with just that; cardboard cut-out characters with no voices. No wonder the scenes I’ve written feel pretty dull.
So I am taking a break from content creation to address this issue and really, really get to know these characters. I’ll be considering background, name, appearance, and voice, but also more nuanced things like: What is their worldview/opinion on the fictional world in which they exist? What relationships matter to them, and why? What do they think of themselves? What do they think others think about them? How much or how little do they talk? And what are their opinions on other people in the town – all of them? (We have a fairly large cast, but it’s still a small town, so I’ll be thinking about every single connection!)
I’m excited about this venture, and I hope to have a lot to discuss next week. I’ll certainly know our characters a little better. Maybe I’ll pick up some town gossip, some rumors from the tavern, or even a little lore. Some of these characters have seemed reluctant to become clear to me, but maybe they’ll get comfortable enough to let something slip…
Thanks for following along thus far. See you next week!
-Peri