Cassiopeia: The workshop

How to create and customize your equipment

Space is large, huge really, and adventurers exploring the deep dark nothingness will frequently find themselves alone and without access to supplies. Weapons will become worn out, equipment will break due to frequent use and enemy attacks will tax their medical and ammunition supplies. The adventureres may be able to find ample supplies of raw materials on undiscovered planets, but without equipment to refine those materials they are largely useless.

All adventurers will want a workshop! A place where they can fix their equipment, either by repairing, modifying or creating it. Of course, such processes are complex and will require a person specialized in them. The engineer is an integral part of any adventuring party. Any exploration attempt will soon grind to a halt without her efforts. The workshop is the engineer's second home. 

So let us actually talk about the workshop for a while.

The workshop is nothing but an empty room at first. The players will need to find, purchase and install whatever machinery and/or tools they deem fit for their adventures. Each piece of workshop equipment serves a unique purpose and differs in complexity.

An adventurer with the correct knowledge will be able to successfully use the workshop to modify, create or break down equipment.

I follow the same reasoning when developing this crafting system as I do when I designed the diplomacy system, which I mentioned in this post. Playing a skilled engineer must involve more than simply rolling a few dice, adding a skill bonus and creating stuff based on that result. It must involve some thinking on the player's part and also give a chance for character improvement and a sense of achievement.

Modifying

The current modification design is based on grids. Each item has a number on customization grids and each modification also has a grid. Both also have a shape. The trick is to fit the modification grid inside the item grid, successfully doing so means that the engineer managed to customize the item. I suppose the crafting in Cassiopeia is quite similar to Tetris in a way. Meaning that modifying equipment is a form of puzzle.

Creating

Creating equipment works slightly differently. This is actually based on a series of dice rolls that determine how well you manufacture an item. Each item can be created from different materials and patterns. Materials and patterns determine the quality, attributes and abilites of the item. It is up to the engineer to design and gather the required materials for the creation. The difficulty and number of rolls depend on how advanced the item is to create. Rolling badly on the creation rolls can apply negative effects to the item, quirks so to speak. These quirks are never obscenely bad but they do give some flavor to the item as well as a sense of its quality.

Breaking

Breaking down items into their component parts is simple enough, just roll a die and the result determine how large a percentage you manage to recover.

Summary

This crafting system is, in my humble opinion, rather complex and awards a thinking player. It is a game of resource management mixed with Tetris, creativity and offers room for growth, both on a personal player level and for the character itself. The key to creating good game mechanics is to allow the player to learn and feel that they improve, I talked about this in one of my earlier posts that you can find here.

Crafting in Cassiopeia is a valid alternative to diplomacy and combat, it is designed to cater to the people who just love to modify and create equipment for their characters.

I hope you will enjoy this crafting system, stay tuned for more Cassiopeia in the future!

Mod support in your game

How to create great mod support

Welcome to yet another post about games! Today I have another exciting topic to discuss. A matter that is of the out most importance to the longevity of games and key to involving your players in the creative process that is game creation. Phew, I need to breathe after that sentence. Anyway, I am going to discuss modding and how to prepare your game for it. Let us get started!

Why would you want to let players mod your game? They will only ruin your careful balancing, create ugly models to replace your beautiful ones and generally take away your control and create something completely different from what you had in mind. At least, that is how some developers, or publishers, seem to think. I would instead argue that mods serve to engage the community by letting your players have a hand in game balancing and feature creation. Modders often implement features that are difficult to implement when you are on a tight budget with even tighter deadlines. They do not need to worry about de-scoping, harsh deadlines or any of those other obstacles that feature prominently in game development projects.

Developers can benefit from a living and prosperous modding community in several ways:

• Mod support creates goodwill towards the developers
• Some mods may improve upon the original game in such a way that additional players purchase your game, thus increasing the game's revenue.
• Certain modders may be skilled enough that you would actually like to recruit them. You would have had no idea that they existed if there was no modding community through which they could rise to prominence.
• Mods help extend the life span of your game via unofficial patches, running their own servers and improving on features long after you have closed down any official support for the game.

The above benefits does not even take into account the joy some developers would get from observing players enjoying their game, even taking part in the creative process. Many developers wish for a closer cooperation with their player, for the veil of secrecy to fall and to be able to discuss their games with their players. Mods are a key ingredient to create such a discussion.

Now that we have established the fact that mods do in fact lead to benefits for the company and developers, what can we do to improve the chances of such a modding community springing up? 

We will first analyze what a modder needs to be able to mod and what I consider to be good mod support.

Mod to the left. Basic game to the right.
A striking difference in graphics, both in lushness and quality. Such user generated content would not be possible without good mod support.

Core principles of mod support

I will base my list of principles on my own experiences, both from a personal modding interest and observation of thriving modding communities such as the nexus sites or the Mount and Blade community.

A modder need to be able to open your source files, modify them and replace the old ones. This is the core of modding. In order to do that you will need to ensure that all source files are saved in such a manner that this process is quick and painless. Do not pack all your files into strange data folders that you can only access via your own tools or by hacking them. Such a practice will lead to you limiting your mod support to only include the people who already have knowledge of such things (a very small minority of all players). Use common formats used by common programs such as notepad, photoshop, paint and blender. Once we have established the practice of using common formats we know that our modders will not need to search for obscure programs just to express their creativity.

But just being able to open your files is not enough. A modder will need to be able to modify them. This is primarily related to the variables coded into the game. Ensure that all variables can be modified via configuration files, ordinary text files. Do not hide hardcoded variables deep in the C++ code since very few modders have the knowledge of deciphering C++ in any efficient manner. Make sure to use proper naming conventions for your variables in the configuration files so that a person completely outside your development team can understand what they mean.

Alright, if you have managed to follow these first two steps you have already done more than most developers since players can now open and modify your files. Well done indeed! Here comes the tricky part.

The next step is to help the modders with replacing your files in a way that does not break the game. Create a sub folder inside the game root named "Mods" or something similar. The purpose of this folder is for players to place all their mod resources inside it without overwriting your own files. Prepare your game launcher in such a way that it contains a drop down list where the player can select any of the mods in the mod folder or the basic game. The game will then use that mod's resources instead of the basic files, effectively prioritizing the mod over the basic game. This ensures that a player can install as many mods as she likes without compromising the integrity of the basic game. A player will also be able to change mods on the fly, tailoring her experience depending on her wishes at any given time.

If you as a developer can manage these three steps you will have a game that is easy to mod and transparent. It will also be simple for players to install mods and actually play them. Players will not be forced to carefully back up all the basic files out of fear of overwriting the wrong one.

This still leaves us with one problem though. The problem of tools. 

As a developers you surely use quite advanced tools to create levels, models and modify variables. If you were to work without those tools your work would probably become much more complicated and time consuming. The same logic applies to modders who do not have access to your tools. To remedy that situation you should release as many of your tools to your community as possible. However, sometimes legal or other insurmountable obstacles prevent you from doing so. Let your community know if such obstacles exist and tell your community manager to give them some tips when they attempt to bypass that obstacle by creating their own tools.

In a perfect world your development studio has followed these steps and have a game that:

• Is easily modified
• Can have several mods installed at the same time without compromising basic game integrity
• Has easy to use tools to reduce the required learning curve for new modders.

I am going to provide three examples of developers that have much to thank their modding community for, just to further strengthen my point. These companies follow some, but not always all, of the above points and it has helped them immensely:

1. Bethesda
2. The Creative Assembly
3. Taleworlds

Conclusion

Hopefully you can agree with me when I state that mods can play a crucial role for your game, community and future fan base. I hope that you will keep this short summary in mind when you plan your next project if you want to make modding a part of the experience you present to the players:

• Use common file formats
• Use easy to understand naming conventions for all variables and file names
• Use a separate mod folder where mods can be installed
• Implement a drop down list in the game's launcher where mods can be selected and activated
• Release your development tools or help your community create their own mod tools

That is all for this post. I hope you find it enlightening and most of all, useful in your work. Leave a comment if you agree with my points, disagree with them or just have another angle to discuss with regards to mod support.

Cassiopeia: Space flight

Ships and space flight

Space, the final frontier. At least that is how the saying goes. In Cassiopeia it is more like the first frontier. Humanity is rediscovering old secrets, techonlogy and conflicts. The players are at the front of this journey of discovery and will need a ship to traverse the cold darkness of space.

But how will it work I hear you cry. Worry not fellow conquistadores, I shall tell you what you need to know.

Space is massive and there are no warp drives or light speed engines in Cassiopeia. Travellers are instead dependant on giant tunnel gates that link sections of space together. Humanity have lost the capacity to create these gates and those that remain are highly guarded and regulated. Finding and activating a gate is something many dream about since great riches could be found on the other side. In reality opening a new gate is always extremely dangerous, not only because of what might exist on the other side but also because every other fortune seeker and military force in the known regions will fight over possessing it.

Ships fulfill many different purposes in Cassiopeia. From trading to transportation to fighting. As such there is a myriad of ships available. They do have a few things in common though:

• They are based on real world 15th and 16th century ships. That means Carracks, Galleons, Cogs, Colliers and Pinques to name a few.
• All ships require a crew of at least two persons to operate. There are no massive fleets of fighters in Cassiopeia. Broadsides, massive battleships and boarding actions is the latest fashion.
• Ships sail on solar winds. But there are no open decks, that would be suicidal!

This is what I am going for. With a more spacey twist of course.
Source.

On to mechanics.

Each ship has a number of attributes:

• Speed rating between 1 and 10 indicating how fast the ship is.
• Maneuverability rating between 1 and 10 indicating how nimble the ship is.
• Hull rating indicating how sturdy the hull is.
• Hardpoints showing my many different components can be installed on the ship.
• Vogue indicating how fashionable and visually impressive the ship is.

Different components include but is not limited to:

• Guns
• Shields
• Engines
• Crew quarters
• Storage

Certain ship classes are more adaptable than others and as such they contain more free hardpoints than more specialized ships. Specialized ships usually have more efficient configurations though.

A ship serves as a home away from home and as such adventurers are encouraged to customize it, adapt it and generally make it more cozy. This is done via the workshop mechanics which I will elaborate on in a later post. I am putting plenty of though into how I can give ships personality and life, making them a part of the adventuring party.

If two ships are engaged in combat they are locked in that combat until one party is defeated or manages to escape. It is only possible to escape if you are faster than your opponent. It is also preferable to outmaneuver your opponent before running away or he will get to fire at you while you break away.

Ships are not just for battle though. The vogue value ensures that a diplomat will want to have a visually impressive ship to gain bonuses to any negotiations that take place in the ships. Traders or adventurers that expect to haul lots of cargo will want more cargo space. Ultimately it is up to the players to decide what kind of game they want to play, their ship will reflect that choice.

Ships do not require fuel to run but do need other supplies in the form of ammunition, food, water and spare parts. Adventurers are away during long periods of time since they usually do not travel via gates. There are two methods for adventurers to land their ships on a celestial body:

1. They land in water or another soft substance. All ships in Cassiopeia can sail inside atmospheres. 
2. Launch drop pods and come pick them up later.

This is a short introduction to ships in Cassiopeia. Hopefully this answers any preliminary questions you might have. Now go get your pack, polish sabers and load the muscets. New undiscovered worlds await!

Announcing youtube channel

I youtube, therefore I am.

Hello there friends! I have decided to expand my presence in this wonderful digital world and as such I will start uploading videos of various games to the fabulous youtube.

I will start by uploading some Planetside 2 tactics tips to start learning this magical editing business. Keeping it simple for now but we will delve into mer advanced stuff later.

You can find the video here.

Subscribe, like if you like and remember to leave a comment. 

Now I need to get back to capturing more footage, never imagined it would be so much work involved in a simple video. Nevermind the fact that I am obscenely rusty at commenting my own video, I am getting better all the time though. The end goal is to create a steady stream of gameplay commentaries, tips, let's play episodes and mayb even some live streaming.

On another note. Work on Cassiopeia is progressing well. I will hopefully have a post up tomorrow about ships, space flight and the mechanics governing them. Stay tuned!