Swords & Circuitry
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Swords & Circuitry
A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games
by Neal Hallford
- Rating: 4/5
- Requires: nothing
Dating from 2001 this book is not among the newest but I can recommend it to anyone who wants to develop a computer role-playing game! It is not about programming and you wont find one single line of source code in this book. What the book does is explaining the design process of a role-playing game and it does that well!
It starts with a chapter of the history of CRPGs and some more theoretical information until part 3 where it gets more practical and starts on how to design an RPG. It covers all the genre specific stuff like Game Objective, Rewards, Quest Structure, Balance, NPC/Creature AI, Combat System, Storytelling, Inventory, etc. Along the way it shows several example from some famous CRPG's like Deus Ex, Fallout, Beytrayal at Krondor, Nox etc.
Chapter 9 is packed with 6 interviews with some of the top selling RPG designers, like the one's from Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights, Pool Of Radiance II, Might & Magic and Ultima Online and give an interesting insight of the way other designers work. In Part 5 you will find real world examples on Proposals, Design Documents, World Layout and Dialogue Script.
Overall this book is invaluable for anyone who plans to develop a RPG and who isn't sure how to start. The only reason why I gave this book only 4 of 5 points is that I had wished there would be even more technical information about things like quest construction and NPC interaction. But overall this book is very satisfying and written in easily understandable, and slightly satirical English.
Swords & Circuitry on amazon.com
