Swords & Circuitry

Swords & Circuitry: A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games, By Neal Halford


Athough this book was made in 2001 and is not as up-to-date as other books, Swords & Circuitry is a great book for anyone who wants to develop a computer role-playing game. Unlike similar books, it is not about programming and you wont find a single line of source code in this book. Instead, the book explains the design process of a role-playing game and gives an in-depth look at game design.

Swords & Circuitry begins by giving an introduction to the history of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and theoretical information about game design. However, Part Three is where the book gets more practical and starts explaining basics of how to design your own role-playing game (RPG). It covers many concepts explicit to RPGs such as Game Objectives, Rewards, Quest Structures, Balance, NPC/Creature AI, Combat System, Storytelling, Inventory, etc. Along the way, the book gives several example from famous CRPG's, such as Deus Ex, Fallout, Beytrayal at Krondor, Nox etc.

In Chapter Nine, you will find six interviews with successful, top selling RPG designers. There are interviews with the developers of Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights, Pool Of Radiance II, Might & Magic, and Ultima Online. These interviews give an interesting insight into the way game designers work.

Part Five of the book contains real world examples on Proposals, Design Documents, World Layouts and Dialogue Scripts.

Overall, Swords & Circuitry is invaluable for anyone who plans to develop a RPG and who isn't sure how to start. However, the book lacks significant technical information about concepts such as quest construction and NPC (non-player character) interaction. But nevertheless, Swords & Circuitry remains very satisfying and is written in easily understandable language so that even a beginning game designer can understand the concepts detailed in the book.

Swords & Circuitry, by Neal Halford is available on Amazon.com at the link below.

Link to buy Swords & Circuitry