What Is An RPG And What Is An RPGMaker ?

What Is An RPG And What Is An RPGMaker ?

A Story by dw817
"

A slightly thorough study for this strong interest of mine, both in playing RPGs, building them, and writing engines to build them additionally.

"

  What Is A RPG ?  

 


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What Is An RPG ?
And What Is An RPG Maker ?


As seen through the eyes of David Wicker © Aug 2013
(Please do not reprint without permission)

 


 


So to begin with, very briefly "RPG" stands for "Role-Playing Game."


The computer version is not to be mistaken with the one that uses paper and dice from yesteryear, though is still immensely popular today. Although its origin stems from pencil and paper with dice, they are now quite a unique race of intellectual pursuit.

The PERSONAL COMPUTER today is a very lean and fine tuned machine unlike the cumbersome and bulky ones from yesteryear. Entertaining notions of writing RPGs and their Generators for computers has been well out of reach for more then several dozen years.


Dungeonmasters, or DMs as they are referred to, would lead a party of adventurers into an imaginary land comprise of dragons, fairies, damsels in dis-dress (my favorite!) *emo* , and they were fed and encumbered with complex strategies, armor class calculations, damage, experience, wisdom, intelligence.


Each of these attributes were given a value generally no lower then 9 and not higher then 18. Dungeons and Dragons is the one that started it all.


Perhaps it was Myth and Monsters by another team, but the concept in itself to have spanned as far and wide as it had is indeed contributed to the very many long and hard hours Dungeon Masters went to write on graph paper, make decision rolls based on the curve of the quest.


These adventures were entered by the creative minds of the DM, with dice, paper, and pencil. And so it has been for many years until the computer was founded.

 


Perhaps the first RPG or serious assisting program to a RPG was Dark Tower. It came not just with paper, and pieces but an electronic device, the tower itself that displayed LED lights, back-lit inserted cards, and played simple musical notes signifying the game's progress.


It was not a true Computer RPG in that it required external interface such as pieces and keeping track of cards and pegs and the like. But it was a start.


A start to a very long and amazing journey that we see in today's modern RPGs.




The Atari 400 was born and with it came perhaps the very best RPG for its time period called Adventure. Everything was represented in big blocky images but the fun in Adventure was the ability to explore multiple rooms.


And in using strange devices to assist you such as a Magnet, Portable Bridge, Sword, 3 different keys to open gates to colored castles, and the object of the game, to return the glowing Chalice to the Yellow Castle.


Hindering the player were fearsome hungry Dragons in poorly rendered pixels and an annoying little Bat that liked to swap items with you when you were in its presence.

Here's the thing though. It was not until a good =3= years later someone found a secret, in playing the hardest level, an invisible object was found. Carrying it and making sure not to drop it, you could cross over to the far left or right in what normally was a solid wall.


There was revealed in crude rough letters in this secret room, the original author of the now outdated Adventure game. It was so enchanting to find this ! A RPG Game that took maybe not a mere 15 minutes to play but several hours and a well-hidden secret in it to boot found only years later !


RPGs were well on their way to winning the hearts of the intellectual.

When the Apple ][+ came out, aside from the all-text-only adventure games by Scott Adams which were very popular and those that merged text-only with crude vector graphics by Penguinsoft, Richard Garriott introduced to us Ultima I.


 


The game was huge, enormous, it took several DAYS to play. After this came a large collection of Ultima wanna-be's and other creative RPGs. No longer were games crude and hand-drawn like early releases from Bill Budge like High Noon.


No, cleaner-carefully-thought-out graphics were drawn. The Apple ][+ was capable of very bare color and it was exploited to its full extent.


The only RPG I can remember that was true and lasted several years was the world reknowned Final Fantasy for the 8-bit Nintendo. Do you remember this system ?


 


This game took not mere hours or weeks to play but months ! Long months of playing time, and it was in very high demand and this game ALONE paved the way to almost every single RPG we see today.


Ultima was interesting but it was more tactical like the military and strategy games and did not have the human interaction, humor, and story-line like Final Fantasy provided. Squaresoft, the author of this very first and master RPG would become known in the future as the greatest RPG company of all time and rightly so deserved.


 


Not so many years ago when the Super Nintendo came out, Squaresoft released to the U.S., Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Final Fantasy 2 & 3, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, and several others.


Then it was time for the Playstation videogame console to come out and it was in very bad condition trying to compete against its leaner and smarter cousin, the Sega Saturn.


But Squaresoft dipped their hand in respect and provided the greatest RPG the world had ever known and even today is considered a massive and monumental achievement. Most Japanese companies it seems always holds back stock to their foreign countries, and to us, they were no different.


 


It is through Final Fantasy 7 alone that MORE Playstation consoles were purchased. And Squaresoft, already an EXTREME leader and contender in the RPG field, did not charge hundreds of dollars WHICH some Americans (including myself) would have GLADLY paid seeing the scope of this game.


No, it was a mere $50. This signaled the end to the Sega Saturn, and the rebirth of the most fortunate and lucky Playstation videogame console which surely would have to yield to its more powerful and graphical contender, the Sega Saturn which today is all but extinct.

What we called FF2 was to them FF5. We never saw the true FF2, FF4, and FF6 until emulators were released for other computer systems. It was with these emulators that you could 'emulate' other game systems. The Japanese market ACTUALLY believed we thought RPGs were boring and uninteresting.


A business decision they may yet regret for the rest of their financial and commercial lives.

Final Fantasy 7 was released for the Sony Playstation. Perhaps Squaresoft's greatest achievement to date. Greatest achievement that any videogame company would have liked to held the title for.


Over $100,000 dollars in sales were made =2= weeks BEFORE it was even on the shelf. That was in pre-sales alone !


It was that good. And yes, it is. The game boasted full 3-dimensional real-time 64 million color graphics, an amazing soundtrack of over 128 original beautiful compositions, draw-dropping special effects.


And super-computer generated backgrounds of the most exquisite and beautiful artwork to set the terrain and maps for the game. Claiming over 8-10 months of game play alone ! It was the most incredible game anyone had ever seen.


Now me, like several others enjoyed this game, but we hungered for more. And only after a long-period of playing several hundred RPGs which both BBSs and the internet have been kind enough to provide almost completely for free now, do we enter a new mode of thinking, a new desire.


Many programmers and beginning programmers were most interested in making their own custom RPGs at this time, and so several had. But some people, like me, wanted something deeper then this. Much deeper. Something much more flexible and a very all-consuming passion, obsession, and interest.


A RPG Generator.


 


Reading word for word when I did personal research on the internet into this mother of all projects I came across the following words:

"Be warned! This is perhaps the most ambitious project to date next to writing an entire complete operating system for a computer!"

This warning didn't stop me though, it only spurned me on as did the extreme LACK of any RPGMakers existing anywhere in the world prior to this time period. I thought I had something unique and original.


Sure there were some RPG Generators years ago like for the Commodore Amiga, but not one that you would become so comfortable in that it was like an entire unique world you could immerse yourself into on a daily basis as its own personal and benevolent overseer.


A GOD to your world, with you at the helm to design every single facet of your universe in it. That's quite a feeling when you get down to it. And then have the unique opportunity of SHARING your personal universe with others to play in, comment, criticize on and - you know it - to look forward to future creations you might make.

Most RPG Generators, the decent ones, are well-aware that building WORLDs with their systems takes many times more then a YEAR or so to do with these systems, so they have made them very clean efficient Engines to shorten this time period.


Added: RPG Makers today have made immensely complex strides towards simplifying the world building and game building process.


ASCII, perhaps the leader in game-builders, not just RPGMakers, but Fighter-Makers, Shooter-Makers, and Platform-Makers.

ASCII I believe pioneered the way for enterprising young RPG Generators of Engines like myself and others.




Unfortunately, ASCII sued Kanjihack more then a year ago for translating their complete 100% Japanese Dante RPGMaker and Super Dante RPGMaker 2 almost 80% into English. Their words, "Our programs were never designed or intended to be seen or used in the American marketplace."

Words they would learn to truly regret.


Added: We now know this to be the opposite and they are actively merchandising their wares and RPG Makers to us, the American Audience over the Internet.

Okay, we won't go there. :) But with the translation of systems, the fine work of Don Miguel translating most of ASCII's foreign RPGMakers 100% into English, many systems spanning greater then 7 megabytes a download, are we introduced to some crude and mechanical ways of building a decent RPG Generator for now and in the future.

Many others like myself, however, quietly squirreled away, collecting, learning, assessing, testing, and composing bits and pieces, chunks and fragments of own custom RPG Maker and Generator code.

Some have released their creations and are well-renowned today such as Verge, OhRRRPGCE, and a few others. There is not too much competition in the world of building RPG Generators because of the complexity and scope involved.


Added: We now know this to be the opposite and there are MANY RPG Makers out there on the Internet.

A decent RPG Generator in my opinion would have to have in it a few requisites:

 

+ Music & Emotions


at least more then 60 musical compositions to set  mood for: Happiness, Anger, Contentment,  Frustration, Loss, Bewilderment, Humor, Love, Compassion, and more. And of course the ever-popular Adventure and combat themes to get you into the mood.


 

+ Graphics & Craftsmanship


most RPG Generators are tile-based to  conserve memory. That is the MAPS and WORLDS are comprised of several hundred unique individual tiles that link together in much the same way LEGOs would to form larger and greater structures.


Today we are very shrewd and unforgiving to new entries into the RPG world and demand they use and have the very best graphics and capabilities or it is only 2nd best to Squaresoft.


 

+ Cinemography & Cut-Scenes


This WAS absent from most of the newest entries into the world of RPG Generators, and with good reason.


At the time it was EXTREMELY difficult to program a system that  acting upon certain flags, categories, talismans, events, and scope into a said custom-designed universe AND also provide hidden bonuses like image panels that moved the story along.


For this universe had to have the capability of changing the game's tempo, at an almost emotional level, the music, the theme, and allow entry and unique animations of several hundred sprites acting entirely upon a unique user-definable program.


To put into them and behaving - if I dare use the word, like a HUMAN would. Yielding the envelope of COMPASSION for the other computer-driven characters they meet in this unique world. ANGER towards the said bad-guys and villains in the series who almost always manage to get the goods before you do.


Squaresoft has done an INCREDIBLE job of keeping this very vital attribute in all of their creations.

For example, you touch a person somewhere, the music fades to a new emotion, text appears on the screen mentioning what the character you are talking to is saying, more people pour into your field of view, they introduce themselves as friends of whom you just conversed with.


Then they swap several items with you and set multiple invisible flags for the upcoming changes in the story.


Perhaps a few new players may now join you in your adventure, and it is your responsibility now for their well-being in the game you are playing, the quest is accomplished that one more 1% through more then a ten minute cinemagraphic RPG story.


This is a difficult thing to put in a RPG Generator but in my opinion absolutely VITAL. For without this human interaction, without this sorrow that a player sheds REAL tears over the loss of one of their close friends as played in a carefully thought-out loss scene, then the system is mechanical, robotic, and tactical. And it has no real soul.


Today any RPG that has no soul has a very short lifespan indeed irregardless of its fine or superior graphics and/or music. It must have a SOUL or it becomes predictable, boring, and uninteresting.


 

+ Animation & Emotional Expression


Most RPGs and RPG Generators allow the usual of 8 sprites per unique image of a person in the game. Squaresoft goes a few steps beyond this with head tilts to represent concern, eyes wide open comically to represent surprise, and a fallen form of them to represent a moment of weakness or defeat.


It is not just Squaresoft that makes these games. There are a large number of contenders out there who have made RPGs, but ONLY ASCII and a few programmers such as myself hack away at building a unique build-your-own-world system and interface.


Added: Today expression in RPG is done often will full cinematic scenes complete with voice-overs from actors portraying the characters in question to deeply immerse the player into the plot and game.


 

+ Special Effects & The "Thrill Of The Hunt"


Combat in most RPGs is frantic, funny, and frenzied, if it's done right and well. It occurs about every 1 minute of game play when exploring outside or in dangerous territories like dungeons and catacombs. They are called Encounters.


If it's NOT done well and happens too often, then it can pull the player away from the actual game and yields them to thoughts of boredom, frustration and inability to either want or need to continue playing, defeating the purpose of the game.


Special effects in combat are the icing to the cake.


Large several hundred color plasma explosions, ghosts of ray-traced summoned spirits and elemental-types, mind-boggling creative binding graphics that rival the best kaleidoscope that are never boring will always WOW the player are an important part of any good RPG or RPG Generator.


 

+ Growth & Maturity


Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo is a good example of a game that does NOT do this. This unusual RPG requires the player to FIND their growth. In this case, graphic images of HEARTS so they can have more Hit Points, the life points of a player or many players in a RPG.


Most RPGs and RPG Generators make use of a different sort of creature. A curious variable called Experience Points, which are granted and gained to all the active players in a combat party upon successfully defeating their said determined or random encounter opponent.


It is through experience points that a player is raised to a NEW LEVEL, with greater strengths, defense, cunning, and other marked abilities.


Experience Points if done WELL in a system gives the HUMAN player a feeling of growth themselves, of maturing in a game and of becoming wiser and smarter and bolder to exploring deeper and more dangerous territories in the game and finding greater treasures.

A well-designed system makes it harder with a larger number to get to even higher and higher levels. Naturally the more difficult the random encounters are in combat, the more experience points are to be gained.


 

+ Replay Ability & Interest


Ever gone to see a movie that  had good reviews and, after seeing it, you agreed  it was a good movie, BUT you would not want to  see it again ? What was missing. What elements could they have added or removed that would make you want to see it again ?


Chrono Trigger RPG (seen above) is a great example of Replay Ability. Once you win the game you are given the option to play it again from the beginning WITH all the weapons, armor, spells, and abilities you had !


This opens an excellent opportunity to explore the game deeply now and to see once again the great story unfold, but this time with no fear of losing your player to combat as your team will be considerably stronger than the initial monsters you encounter.


A great gift to be sure, this replay ability that Chrono Trigger offered to the player upon winning the game.


Also Chrono Trigger created a secret room that would only appear once you won the game. It went further. If you won the game prematurely, based upon where you were you in meeting the other characters, would see a unique alternative ending based upon the "miraculous" growth of your player.


There were in fact =13= endings in all ! You could play the game from the beginning to end and see a possible 13 outcomes !


This is a very rare attribute in programs years ago and is becoming a demanded item for today.


Critical reviewers of RPGs which tell the story to game players around the world are ruthless and cutting, just the way most video gamers like them to be, and will mention every single flaw a videogame has in it to detract the consumer.


They do not do this deliberately to be mean. We live in a world now where what was a minute a year ago today is now considered a second. We demand the very best in anything and replay ability in a game you purchase for a challenging entertainment must be amongst them.


Movie makers would like to make a movie that has re-watch value because the consumer will NOT ONLY go out to see it again with their friends but may go out to a store to purchase it as well so they can enjoy it on their own.


And if the producer has produced an exceptional product, then individuals may even recommend OTHERS to go buy and enjoy it themselves as well. That's marketing that goes beyond the printed page and sheets of advertising.

It is a rare ability and item for a video-game to have any really good replay value but in today's times is being assessed as one of the most sought after and valuable characteristics in a game.

Can you think of a video-game you've played all the way through recently and THEN want to play it again later ? That's re-play ability.


A game that has zero replay value will either be rented for a short while and returned, or have enough bad reviews written about it that it detracts would-be game players to it.


It DOESN'T MATTER how great or good the graphics, music, animation, or ANYTHING else in it are if it lacks re-play ability. This is needed, desired, and demanded upon by gamers today.


 

+ Manipulation and Change


A RPG or RPGMaker would not be so very interesting or desirable to keep if the elements stayed the same throughout the entire course of it's production. Final Fantasy 3 (in Japan, Final Fantasy 6) from Squaresoft is a good example of change.


First know this game takes a good 3-4 months to play and, of course, SAVING your game so you can play tomorrow is very vital. But then at that point, here is an example of outstanding change in a game that will bring the player back for more.

In Final Fantasy 3, Kefka, an evil dictator is seeking out the Espers, a magical race of beings, to usurp power and control the world. Halfway into the game enormous special-effects and story are introduced.


The entire planet they have been playing on since the beginning now cracks wide open from Kefka's meddling, images of hundreds of lives being lost are seen in full cinema animation done entirely by animating small sprites and people, shaking the screen, and the movement of tiles.


Known maps that the player has memorized over months in playing the system are reformed and restructured. Favorite party members in the quest are lost, irrevocably, so it seems. Flash, Fire, and Thunder rain down upon the earth, people scream, dramatic music plays, and the screen fades to serious blackness.

The screen then shows a 3-Dimensional view of the top of the world and its new map. The sound of seagulls are heard and the camera pans down to a small remote island where we find Celes.

Celes, is one of the main characters in the game and she finds herself on a small beach. Locke, her true love is not with her. She examines the new location she is in and muses to herself that nothing is important to her except being with him,  she cries and tears, all pixelated are seen in her eyes as she runs away.


She climbs to the top of a peak, the screen fades to a lovely violet/blue hue, the music is hushed for a moment. And then it changes to a heart-throbbing beautiful composition with strings and synthesizers. She jumps ... !


 


Now, if this game has done well so far, and if the game has REALLY hooked the player, then the ACTUAL real-live person playing the RPG game will be MOVED to real TEARS and cry as she commits this very emotional and distraught act of suicide for - LOST LOVE.


As she falls, the music cascades into a crystal of emotion, and the screen fades to black lingering on the last beautiful and delicate digital notes with very tiny sparkling crystals coming from her eyes to represent her tears of extreme sorrow as she falls - to oblivion.

Transition and change again, she is only slightly injured having fallen on some soft sand. Fate must have other plans for her and she finds Locke's scarf a small dove is carrying on the beach.


With new resolve and new commitment she now seeks to find him and continue on in this massive quest, despite the world being changed and all her friends lost. Any and all transportation such as boats and Airships to cross mighty distances have been lost.


The player is essentially 'penalized' for having come this far, but if the game has done a good job, and yes it has to this point, then the player feels refreshed and up to the challenge of traveling the new world on FOOT if need be, as if in the beginning of the game.


Back to Celes, she has fashioned a crude raft from timbers on the beach and sets out the open ocean completely alone by herself and seeks to recover and locate her lost 8 friends who are major characters in the game.

=IF= this game has entranced and captured the HUMAN LIVE player correctly, a mental and physical RUSH of adrenalin will be felt shivering them, and making them more HUNGRY and EAGER then ever before to see how the story turns out.


A story that they have complete control over themselves.

If a game is not capable of change, it becomes stagnant, predictable and uninteresting. Squaresoft introduced the most mighty of changes for Final Fantasy 3 by presenting an entire NEW WORLD in the middle of the game forcing the player to rethink strategies and to place new goals and new destinations in mind with them.


 

+ New Category (sub-quests)


This is being added. I have noticed that sub-quests are vitally important in RPGs as well. That is, you are permitted to stray from the fixed path and go do adventures that are not necessary to winning or accomplishing goals and may in fact be considerably difficult or challenging.


And yet - if it's done correctly, the player is rewarded with higher weapons, armor, spells, and talismans that they would normally not find if they stayed on the path to accomplishing the original goal.


Final Fantasy 1 (Origins) for instance is a good example of this. Despite having beaten the boss of the castle and you have traveled onto other things, you are made aware of in a quick cut-scene that a door you saw very early in the game that was once locked is now open.


You go to investigate, clearly against the grain of the path of the game going backwards in your progression and find enchanting new and somewhat silly quests to perform. A whole host of sub-quests awaiting the player.


Because you took the time out to explore this unnecessary path, the player is challenged with exceedingly difficult monsters, mazes, and brainy puzzles, but is also rewarded with exceptional treasures and prizes that can't be found anywhere else in the game.


This then is the importance of sub-quests, and I believe they are valid and vital for any RPG, especially for those players who like to explore every facet of a game.


 

+ The Anime Principle & The Cutesie Factor


It is not until recently (2002) has Anime, a unique type of cartoon that comes from Japan that has artwork of BIG round faces with BIG eyes, little bodies, and in almost all ways are insufferably cute and adorable.


This is getting to be a vital attribute for RPGs and RPG Generators. There is a very strong link between watching a Japanese Animation saga and playing a RPG.


It is not too surprising to find that most people who enjoy playing a RPG also enjoy immersing themselves into a rich and wonderful world that is presented in well-thought and and animated Japanese Anime.


To assist RPGs in this development, full-drawn faces to each of the important characters in the game are presented both in communicating with others and in viewing their vital statistics.


A RPG is much more interesting and believable to play when you can actually see your character and associate a fondness and familiarity with them by seeing their likeness.


Keeping tempo with all RPGs, most heroes and heroines are dazzlingly beautiful, severely innocent and naive in early stages of the RPG, and quite easy to become fond of for their list of misfortunes and bad luck.


I fully believe RPGs are more desired when the art and character sketches included are more along the lines of teen Anime rather than dramatic and serious persona and avatars.


 

+ Reward Factor & Collectible Tokens


Very few RPGs would be expressed with interest if there was not a reward factor involved. This then is the game rewarding the player through uncalled and above-board ingenuity in solving puzzles that very few people may understand or recognize in the course of the RPG.


The grand and glorious ending that MUST be in the RPG. I mean let's see now, over 8 months of playing a RPG you don't JUST want to see the text YOU WIN, GAME OVER, PLAY AGAIN ?


Nooo ! ... You wanna see ALL the important characters that you met and have literally gained a friendship and tangible attachment to. You want to see them all in their completed lives. You want to see an ending to a RPG that may go as long as a half hour or more playing incredible adrenalin-driven music.


Add to that BRIGHT and beaming faces of the literal THOUSANDS of people you had met in the game, and a sense of EXTREME satisfaction in having surmounted these incredible odds, these difficult journeys, these unbelievable escapades.


You want your player to cry REAL tears of JOY because the HUMAN player is so HAPPY to have done so much in this game to help and assist others over a period of TRUE 3-4 months of playing.

You want to travel the world at the speed of sound and see hundreds of people waving at you, read long messages on the screen as each famous character interacts with each other in a complex Cinematographic script for the very last time, each with their own dreams, ambitions, and desires known fully now to the human player, YOU.


You want to see all these things, a shimmering thousand rainbow crystals, two lovers reunited, kingdoms rebuilt, families found, and purposes attained once again. These then are the REWARDS that a RPG player will go to see and DEMAND to see in the most awe-inspiring and cataclysmically complex game type ever, the RPG.

Most recent additions to REWARD concepts in RPG is the introduction of tapestries and pictures that the player can WIN only through extremely difficult measures and carry around which is very well-drawn artwork of any of their player characters.


Usually they are of an enticing and provocative nature for a female, and heroic and gallant rigidity for the heroes, still maintaining cute features above all. It's a pretty new concept but one of which I plan to include in my own RPG system.


This then is the world of RPGs and RPGMakers. This then is perhaps the most intelligent and consuming of all videogame types that are out today. Sure, we all enjoy a good 3D Racer, maybe like to jump on the heads of critters in a cute platform game.

But have you noticed recently that most of these predictable games are introducing RPG elements into them now ? With the multiple facial expressions of our heroes and heroines in these shooters, platforms, and racers, slight RPG elements are seen such as verbal interaction with the player's competitors.


"Trophies" such as seeing their opponent defeated after a quick game and having a nice small if not outstanding ending are starting to be more and more added to these smaller games.

But never forget, nothing, absolutely nothing comes close to the complexity that spans beyond chess, the compassion that spans beyond the best romance novel, and the involvement of a player in the unique world of a RPG.


Nothing goes beyond this save the very under-estimated and mighty RPG Game.

 

AFTERWORD




Today ? RPGs are one very hot item and of extreme interest to millions of players, especially with the advent of super-computers and game machines like the PS3 that are capable of MILLIONS of 3-dimensional polygons now.


And the stories are that much more complex, the gameplay is that much deeper, and the plots are that much richer and detailed.


RPGs are definitely for those people that enjoy complex scenarios, and feed off of the difficult and seemingly impossible odds placed against them in the game.


These games are so consuming that even at 4 hours a day 7 days a week in playing them, perhaps only several months later even up to a YEAR would you see the grand and glorious ending to a single one of these modern RPG games.


The reward factor is high and it must be. After ever single combat or small puzzle solved a very catchy RIFF of music may be heard, new locks may be opened, and new paths may be explored.

We players are a demanding bunch of people now holding zero pity for any games made today that are not in every way excellent, flawless, and outstanding in every possible facet of its creation and existence.


RPGs are necessary I believe because they allow you and others, if even just for a moment to leave your own life and help and assist these other incredible, naive computer-driven characters and possibly other Online players into their world from their first humble beginnings to their final climactic endings.

From the time RPGs were many years ago to the paper, dice, and hand-drawn charts on graph paper to the Dungeon Master, so now do we yield to a greater and more complex form of entertainment.


No longer restricted by the limitations of memory and inability of poor computers. Creativity and raw brilliance and intelligence can be seen and highlighted on today's most modern of computers. With these computers of today, the awesome and mighty power of the average personal PC computer spans gigabytes of storage and boasting several hundred megahertz of speed (update - gigahertz).


So now, and beyond this momentous year 2000 can large companies and individuals like you and me consider this most amazing and difficult journey of all, to build your own custom RPG from generators and engines designed to listen to you and your dreams.


It is a system that is capable of building huge world files, and yes, it is an ambitious project and perhaps one of the most difficult challenging programming tasks to date for a programmer to build such an engine.


Yet I know from experience it is a unique and humbling feeling to have people build worlds in a system you personally created for their enjoyment and amusement.


It's a curious sensation to see massive games, to see world creations built lovingly from the ground up, thousands of hours later to express intimate and amazing stories all their own.


If you are up to the challenge, let it continue with you ...

 



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Featured Review

Jesus that was long. I've never been a gamer. To me RPG means rocket propelled grenade. They were one of Hajji's weapons of choice. They were slow enough to actually see them coming towards you but fast enough so you couldn't get out of the way. They sure could f**k up a soft skinned Humvee, that's for sure

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

10 Years Ago

There is a difference, Rico. The problem is with shooting real rockets and firing real guns is an im.. read more
Baby Ricochet

10 Years Ago

Sigh. I'm gonna have to share some thoughts. I don't care to be lectured to by a civilian about how .. read more
dw817

10 Years Ago

No, it's no game. But Iraq like Vietnam - was unnecessary. Have you seen a Vietnamese Music Video ? .. read more



Reviews

That was long and jam packed with info haha great job:)

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

9 Years Ago

Just getting around to answering this. Glad you liked it ! As of this moment I am deeply working on .. read more
I love playing video games (even though I suck at them), but anyways this was good to read. Good job! ^^

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

9 Years Ago

Thanks ! I think RPGs will always be part of my life. I'm ever fascinated by the stories behind them.. read more
I was really ignorant of what RPG is. Thankyou for your detailed description, it was really informative.

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

10 Years Ago

Well I think RPG can many things to many people. To me, it's the august interest I have in computer .. read more
Goodness Gracious. I feel like I got a gaming-history lesson. I enjoy gaming, though I'm not a huge gamer (my brother is). None the less, I skimmed throguh the article, and found it rather interesting, I knew nothing about RPGs before a few days ago, when I was introduced to the concept. Haha. Naive me.

Anyway... thank you for sharing! :)
Sylvia.

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

10 Years Ago

I like RPGs, Sylvia, cause they really give the brain a good workout. It's Chess in overdrive, and y.. read more
That was a really awesome piece. I got hooked by the title, being one of those old school paper and dice Dungeon Masters. Maybe I'm crazy... but I wouldn't give the old style up for all of the new computer generated versions of RPG's. In my mind, there is just something lacking in the new stuff. Maybe because it takes away from the constant fine tuning of a players and a DM's imagination. I guess it's my same philosophy that creates a dislike for video games in general. That's just me though. I'll slave away over a hand drawn world map, it's more fun. =)

Thanks for sharing!
Aaron

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

10 Years Ago

Ah ! A D&D Player ! I remember I was really interested in this when I was 12-14. Me, Brett, and his .. read more
Jesus that was long. I've never been a gamer. To me RPG means rocket propelled grenade. They were one of Hajji's weapons of choice. They were slow enough to actually see them coming towards you but fast enough so you couldn't get out of the way. They sure could f**k up a soft skinned Humvee, that's for sure

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

dw817

10 Years Ago

There is a difference, Rico. The problem is with shooting real rockets and firing real guns is an im.. read more
Baby Ricochet

10 Years Ago

Sigh. I'm gonna have to share some thoughts. I don't care to be lectured to by a civilian about how .. read more
dw817

10 Years Ago

No, it's no game. But Iraq like Vietnam - was unnecessary. Have you seen a Vietnamese Music Video ? .. read more

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dw817
dw817

Fort Worth, TX



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