RiddlerocksHello, friends! I’d like to announce my new DF-based StoryNexus game, Riddlerocks. It’s been posted in the Creative Projects forum for a while now, while I laid in most of the groundwork. Now I’m getting close to finishing this tedious preparation. I’m nearly at the point where I can move on to adding interesting stories and plots to the game. Goals to strive for, mysteries to solve, catsplosions to wrestle with, and projects to complete.
And I need testers.
Right now, the game is still in early development. You can wander around the fortress, Riddlerocks, discover and train up 9 different job skills, and earn favor of various types with the residents. You can get hurt badly enough to end up in the hospital, and get in enough trouble to serve time in the cells. And for now, that’s about it. But it's growing fast.
StoryNexus is the system used to make
Fallen London, which many B12ers enjoy playing. They offer their system for free, for anyone to make a game. There’s not a whole lot in the way of game mechanics available, but the real fun is in the story. It's like an online choose your own adventure game combined with the randomness of a pen-and-paper RPG.
-The game is in Quarantine right now, to the general public, so that I can limit who pokes around my early game. Any B12er is welcome to test the game – but you need to tell me your character name so I can unlock it for you.
-There is a “reset” option in your room, in the residential quarters (which will unlock as soon as you find a room, your first task when you enter Riddlerocks). You can use this to reset your character and explore new content at lower levels than you currently have, or try different paths – but you will have to start over when you do this.
-Once I decide to end the testing period, all characters will be reset – BUT, all testers will be given a special thank you package with extra stuff when the game is released.
Naturally I welcome all general suggestions, concerns, and observations, but there are a few thing in particular that I ask.
-Please check the spelling of words, and watch for typos.
-Please watch for direct references to DF – although I’m basing the game heavily on it, I don’t want to steal directly. The only direct references I make are dwarf names. If you see that I have slipped up and used Armok or plump helmets or other such things, let me know.
-Please watch for slip-ups where I say “man” instead of “dwarf.”
-Please watch for the use of “dwarves” and “dwarven” (should be “dwarfs” and “dwarfish,” respectively).
-Certain terms should always be capitalized: Haulers, Higher-Ups, Manager, Bookkeeper, Captain of the Guard, Chief Medical Dwarf.
-I recently renamed the skill “Violence” to Force. Please check that I didn’t miss the change anywhere.
-Please include your character name on all bug reports!
I’m nearly finished laying the boring groundwork. Then I will start to implement little plots and stories for you all to explore. Here are a few of the ones I’m excited about:
-Exploration (underground to start with, and eventually above-ground as well). You’ll be able to search for underground caves and tunnels, and explore caverns once they’re unlocked. There will be many interesting things to find.
-Climb the ranks and make a name for yourself. There will be many ways to do this. Become a leader in the fortress guard, or a legendary fighter. Make a name as a hero. Play the political game and claim a position as one of the Higher-Ups. Become a leader amongst the unskilled Haulers.
-Earn nicer quarters and other property. Most of what exists in Riddlerocks is the property of the community, but you will find a few bits and pieces to call your own. There will be ways to get your own kitchen and dining room, a patch of land to farm mushrooms, a glorious tomb awaiting your last day.
-Pets. A stray cat might adopt you, or you might become attached to a dog, horse, or cave turtle. Each will have its own advantages and stories.
-Political intrigue and plots. Not everyone has the good of the fortress in mind. Do you?
-Strange Moods and Megaprojects which will require finding the proper materials and craftsdwarfship.
-Sieges. Riddlerocks is not without enemies, and eventually they will make their move. Will you take up arms and help to fight them off, or find another way to break the siege?
-Trade caravans and diplomatic relations. Craft items to trade, negotiate with the tall ones, steal from their wagons, or cause an international incident.
-Insanity. They say if you spend too long around the trees, the elves will plant a seed of madness in you. They also say if you see too many horrible things, you sink into a melancholy that few escape.
-More jobs, and the ability to become a Master of your profession.
-Social actions that allow you to interact with other residents of Riddlerocks, and explore plots you cannot deal with by yourself.
-Death and reincarnation (distant future). Maybe you want to try a different gender, or see what happens when you make different choices. There will eventually be a way for high-level characters to die, and reincarnate. Reincarnated players will keep many of their old possessions as “inheritance,” and gain access to new stories.
Riddlerocks will always be free to play. However, if it becomes successful, I may eventually add some pay-to-play content. Just like Fallen London, this would only be extra stories, and it will NEVER be necessary to pay for anything. Because this game is based so heavily on DF, I promise that I will always donate a large percentage of any money I earn from the game to Toady. I will not implement any pay content at all without Toady’s permission, and in any case there will not be any pay content for a long time yet.
As you can see, this is a very ambitious project, and it will be some time before all of these ideas are implemented. However, the beauty of the StoryNexus system is that it doesn’t require any programming skill. All I have to do is write. So I’m limited only by my free time and creative energies. Just this weekend I increased the amount of content in the game by about 30%.
So please give the game a try, and send me your feedback. Have fun!
Notes: There are a few problems which are not my doing and which I cannot fix. StoryNexus is very limited and I do not have the ability to change certain things. Some images are broken (during travel between areas) - I can't fix that. And by the way, I have no choice about the images. There is a set library that I must choose from. Most of the pictures are horribly inappropriate for a dwarf game, but so far we don't have any possibility to replace or add to them. The StoryNexus folks promise that this will change in the future - I hope so! Finally, Nenjin pointed out that some of the formatting is a bit ugly - how when you mouseover a card, for example, it displays in ugly detail exactly which factors allowed you to see the card. I wish I could hide that, but there doesn't seem to be a way.
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Topic: Riddlerocks: DF-Based StoryNexus Game (Playtesters/Artists Wanted!) (Read 6432 times)