RPG Codex - Articles On Video Game Design

chadeo writes "Ok all you arm chair game developers, listen up. Over at RPG Codex there are currently 4 articles, written by professionals in the industry, on RPG design. There is A Christmas lesson in CRPG design by Timothy Cain, Thoughts on RPG development by Leon Boyarsky, Hand of Gosh Darn Good Design by Chris Taylor, and Treatise on Combat to Pink Floyd by Gareth Davies. All of them are a great read, and you can join in the discussion with the authors and see how your ideas stack up. What do you think is the key to a great RPG?"

Re:Common sense

[MadBabbler]

I agree that what makes a good game has little to do with its coding. On the other hand there are those of us who have worked game design and learned to code to facilitate that. Coding and game design are not mutually exclusive. Just a thought.

Re:Common sense

[Joe Tie.]

I think it depends on what kind of game you're talking about. These days I'd agree that far more likley than not you'll find little active cross development betwean the people doing the code, character design and story in games under development from actual companies.

But I think the previous post here was instead referring to development of games simply for the love of the genre, or as shareware.In that sense I don't think it's at all uncommon to find both story and coding done by the same person. And perhaps surprisingly, I think a lot of people might even prefer games that fit into this catagory. What's lost in in having the latest whizbang graphics engine I think is made up for by being able to avoid the need to almost sneak a real rpg past the management that Leon Boyarsky mentioned in his article. Heck, I think the best example of a person doing double duty and getting good result is one that was eventually picked up by a company, ripped from the author, and turned into a big mess, Ultima.