As I write this, a hammer drill echoes through the house as workmen sort an issue for my wife and I. Furthermore, this noise and distraction may last some time, meaning all production of the module will be compromised. Don't worry, once the house work is complete, I hope to regain my pace, but for now, progress may be slower, and this will also be reflected in fewer blogs until things are back to normal. Read on for latest ...
Latest Area
Recently, I have been writing conversations which handle a number of key quests surrounding a location, which the players will encounter nearer the end of the module. I have now sorted much of the initial stages of these quests, but am now working on one of the areas where the action takes place. Progress is slow, simply because I find area design difficult. Also, I have the added consideration of balancing some new game mechanics that take place in this area. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean, but this part of the module plays with some added game mechanics, which require careful application while designing the areas that use them. It all takes time.
The Journal Notes
Another gaming aspect I have been making good use of of late is my Journal Note System, which I first wrote about around this time last year. It has become a very useful tool, not only to help give players a gentle reminder of certain gaming points, but is also useful when keeping track of what players should know at any given time. It acts as a dynamic notebook, with updated notes that players may or may not act upon, but also allows me to observe different variable states that these journal notes may represent. As an example, a player may have a conversation with an NPC and learn of a clue about something the NPC mentions. This will update the journal note system, allowing the player to refer to it, to remind them of some useful piece of information, without incrementing a quest stage. It is also useful for me to observe in testing various variables.
There is not much else to report at this stage, and so leave you with another screenshot from the area I am working on. It may be a little while before I write Episode 42, but hopefully, by the time I do, I will have more to report.
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| Unusual Objects! |
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