While there are still plenty of bugs, typos, and other errors, I did just drop a small update to fix some of the most obnoxious ones that I could find. Still more to fix though and I am eager to add more content. Hopefully more incoming in due time . . .
1 Like
Work on the next update continues. No ETA as of yet, but progress is on going.
I have decided to close the polls as I felt they had run long enough. The results were interesting and I will bare them in mind. For the first poll, regarding in game in game religion . . . In short, it was pretty much a coin toss on whether to have deities be the same or different from campaign to campaign. Certainly, in the real world, dieties often differ. For example, the Gods of Dragon Lance are not the Gods of Forgotten Realms; indeed, the dieties help give each campaign world a bit of its motif and ambiance and expand the story structure of that game worlds universe. On the other hand, well, its a lot easier to code and create and maintain one in game religion than many . . . I’m going to let this question percolate in my mind for the time being. I think certainly the deities introduced in Lyr(a)'s campaign world will continue on for their games, but for other campaigns under other DMs, when we get there . . . I am tenatively leaning towards having those differ per campaign . . . but this is a bit in the future yet. Probably won’t reach it with this round of updates.
Now, for the next question, if in game in game deities should be customizable or not, it was even more of a coin toss. Having the deities be static certainly would be easier to code and help with cohesiveness, but it does seem more fun to let you the player at least have some customization powers. If I do decide to add that, the question would be when . . . I could either let you do it at the very start of the larger game, or I could have you do it probably right before the first game under that campaign world . . . as with the prior question, I am going to think on it for a while. If it is added, I doubt it will be in the current round of updates, but we shall see.
Lastly, as far as which parody campaign setting players would most like added, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Forgotten Realms won by a good margin. As this is perhaps one of the most iconic setting of D&D and the one most often depicted in other media, such as video games, this is perhaps as expected, and I have seen some other creators make parodied works of this campaign setting . . . though before I’d add it, I’d want to make sure I understand both the open gaming license and the laws and rules of making parodies better first. Plus, making such a parody campaign within the larger game is also a bit in the future. The current round of updates will focus on other, simpler matters first. I should note Dragon Lance, Ravenloft , and Spell Jammers were all tied for second place . . . really most of these I can envision parody material for, so perhaps we might see some of these in game at some point, though its to early to tell just yet.
What content gets added or won’t must ultimitely depend on progress and ease. I think as coding the game progresses it gets a bit easier, but we still have a long way to go. As mentioned previously, this next update will be regarding the ingame session DMed by Lyr(a). Getting the mechanics locked down and telling an interesting IF story is my goal for this bit, using some of the methods I have discussed earlier in this thread. Upon completing that, I would like to potentially get more progress on the real world problem side stories and the fandoms, but those are pending enough progress on the current primary goal. A tertiary goal would be tightening up the life sim portion of this game, as it isn’t very strongly defined yet, but it is unlikely I would reach that this next update. Lastly, I would still sort of like to have an alternative start to the game where you just have a pickup game of D&D with either a randomized DM or a user defined DM . . . not sure of the finer details of that, but it would let players game in game a bit faster and help show case and even test some of the functionality for the in game gaming.
Anyway, I’ll update again when the next update is ready.
(Note: in game in game refers to the tabletop roleplaying game that takes place within the larger Dice & Dungeon Masters game. Sorry, embarasingly enough couldn’t think of a better way to describe it just now.)
4 Likes
Tiny bug filled update away!
Ah, yeah, sorry to state this update has a few known bugs, but being that the next week and a half are going to be rather busy for me in the real world, I probably won’t be able to get much more progress done until near the end of the month. And I feel like there is enough content to warrant an update, though I wish it were a bit more polished.
So what is in this update?
-A good deal of new content for chapter 3.
-A small amount of content expansion for chapter 4.
-Addition of “character goals” which are used to trigger unique diologue and action choices through out the in-game-in-game session. More of these will be added, but there is already a descent selection; what options are available will depend on your prot.
-While we still have a loooong way to go, some of the players stats and skills now matter a bit. For players that want a lot of ability I’d suggest trying to raise Confidence, Creativity, and Acting.
Overall I’m pretty happy with the expansion of the actual story, and aside from some of the new mechanics like character goals (which I am so excited and pleased with!) I think that’s the best thing for this update.
Now, as far as known bugs, sadly it seems you still get stuck with a pregen this time around - which was not my goal. There is some unknown bug that is forcing this for the prot; I’m going to try to have that fixed by next update. My goal was to have options for prot and the other two players to all finish making their own characters, but I failed to reach a finish point for the other two players. Why the prot doesn’t get their own character made, I’m a bit mistified at . . . a number of tags are used to check for completness and my guess is I probably missed or misassigned one of them, which seems likely . . . once more hoping to have this fixed.
There is also a bug where sometimes the other players get blank characters assigned. I am mystified on this too - probably a misfired conditional somewhere, but will take me a while to track down.
Anyway, for those that try this update, I hope you enjoy it. I honestly did on my play throughs. For those waiting for a longer, less buggy update, totally understandable - hoping to maybe have some sort of bug fix+ update late this month or early next month, though no promises. In addition to that I’d like to have one more substantial update before the game goes to break for a while and focus switches to other projects for a bit.
5 Likes
Tried it a bit and the bugs didn’t bother me much
1 Like
Thanks Dragomer. Yeah, I think the story still works despite the bugs, though I look forward to fixing them and making it even better.
1 Like
While I haven’t been able to get enough progress on the project to release even a mini-update or new bugfix+ update yet, next week I will be on vacation from work and so am optimistic - baring any sort of emergency - that I’ll be able to get one underway then.
In the meantime, I’m going to release a few polls that I’ve been kind of mulling over for a while.
While geek culture and nerdiness is often depicted as a staple for D&D and roleplaying culture in general, in the first chapter of this game I make the argument that tabletop gamers are just as likely to be normal as the next person, which, to my experience, is largely true. While I tend to be a bit on the nerdy/geeky side myself, I’ve played with plenty of more culturally normed folks in my years gaming - i.e. Highschool football players, business orientated people, people that serve in the military - so that I think my argument holds true . . . D&D players and tabletop role players are just as likely to be “geeky” or “nerdy” as they are to be not.
Now that all stated, one of my goals with this game is to provide comedy and to hopefully give a playful but immersive experience of the roleplaying lifestyle, so it is that I’ve been reconsidering the geek/nerd culture aesthetics of this game. Geek/nerd culture, as say popularized by media such as The Big Bang Theory is rife with opportunities for comedy and I feel that the game at times might be enhanced experientially for comic effect by emphasizing Geek/Nerd culture more than I have. Coming to my poll question then, would you like there to be more emphasis on Geek/Nerd culture in the game?
- Yes - I’d like the protagonist and other characters and the atmosphere to emphasize and celebrate Geek/Nerd culture as much as possible.
- Meh - the game is already doing a good job of balancing these aspects and doesn’t need to be tweaked one way or another.
- No - the game actually already goes to far. These aspects should be less emphasized rather than more emphasized.
0
voters
The second matter is a two-part question: I’d like to delve into is regarding content and target audience for this game. When I first presented this game around a couple years ago, I presented it as intended for young adults. Overall, I think it still is probably around a PG-13 rating . . . there is rarely some innuendo and some minor hints at off camera adult action, but on camera no adult content. So the first part of the poll is to confirm that: What rating would you consider this game, as far as age target audience?
- G Rated - This game is okay for all ages and even young children should be able to play this game
- PG - Maybe reeeeally young children shouldn’t play this game, but otherwise its okay for everyone
- PG-13 - Pretty much teen and up can safely play this game
- R - Only older teens and adults should play this game
- eXtreme - this game should only be played by adults
0
voters
Second part is if you could magically snap your finger and have corresponding age related content added to the game, what sort of content would you want in this game?
- G Rated - This game should be accesible to all ages and so should have no great scenes of violence, sexuality, etc.
- PG Rated - This game should only have minor scenes of violence and should not have any strong hints of more mature content
- PG-13 Rated - This game should have violence and some hints of mature content but no actual depictions thereof
- R Rated - I wish this game had more violence and/or adult content, but I would not want it to be anything crazy extreme
- eXtreme Rated - I wish this game had lots of adult content in addition to violence and other mature content
0
voters
Note: Nothing will be presently changed, but good to have a feel for the audiences perceptions and wishes. Possible changes down the road if there is a strong inititive one way or another, but never any promises
Anyway, baring emergencies, hoping to have at least a little update for you guys next week, but we shall see.
3 Likes
Interesting questions, not really sure on the answers but so far I find the game fine as is.
1 Like
Thank you. Think that seems to mostly be the takeaway from the polls too, with maybe a slight wish for more violence and mature content. Thank you to everyone that voted.
2 Likes
So, the good - another tiny update. And you should now be able to play as a non-pregen in the first session. The player NPC’s, however, are still stuck with pregens. Hoping to have that fixed next update. Various other bugs were fixed, though some new ones popped up and some note worthy ones remain, one of which I suspect players may actually like a lot … eventually these will be fixed but may be a while.
Some new scenes were also added into chapter 4, though most of these need to be expanded at some point. Some are a bit rough, but overall, I am relatively pleased - the adventure does indeed continue.
If any of you encounter major issues or want something in the game badly that is lacking, let me know. No promises, but I am happy for feedback.
Anywho, there will be at least one more update before this goes into pause, though the next update may be a month or two away. I am probably going to wait a bit before starting on the next update as I need to get some promised linear work done for my other project Sense & Sorvcery, but after that I will recomence work on this project.
5 Likes
I really need to redo a playthrough from the start, a lot seems to have changed
Thank you for your continued interest in the game. There is a modest amount of new content to chapter 4, and I am really excited for the progress of the game, however . . .
To be honest, a good amount of the recent changes and work has been focused on mostly stuff in the background coding to get around and track some of the bugs, though sadly I had to create new variables, which unfortunately causes saves to not continue on correctly. This will probably be the trend for a while, I regret to state . . . if anyone wants to wait until the next update to retry the game, I completely understand as I will unfortunately probably need to add some more new variables next time to, which will once more crash saves.
4 Likes
Just a heads up that I am kicking all of my planned project updates back a couple weeks to a month as I am a bit behind due to family stuff. Sorry for the expanded delays.
7 Likes
No issue, good luck with your personal stuff
1 Like
Thank you Dragomer.
1 Like
Progress continues, though it is slow. In late September I get a few days off for my birthday, so I’m hoping I can get some more momentum on it then. Though to be honest with you guys, this last update before pause is probably going to be a bit smaller and more simple than I was hoping for . . . though this will give good opportunity for expansion once we return from the pause in the future.
One problem that I think is gradually cropping up for the game is that as it’s taking a lot of time to make progress, things that were relatively contemporary culture wise at the start of making the game are gradually falling intro retro-culture (Example, some of the fandoms, i.e. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is done, Witcher series is more or less done, etc.) . Being that the game is taking place in a quirky alternate reality to our own, I kind of hope that this won’t be a big issue . . . also allows option to lean into the retro culture aspects too, though I think that would add an extra ball to the juggling act of the game that isn’t really needed.
But what do you think?
- Doesn’t really matter that the culture of the game is no longer contemporary
- I’d still play it, but would be nice if the culture of the game would remain contemporary
- I don’t know . . . if it feels to old school, this might not be the game for me.
0
voters
Anyway, hopefully I’ll get this update rolling, though once more it’ll probably be a bit yet and will likely be somewhat smaller and less complete than I had originally hoped for.
2 Likes
Personally I don’t care either way. Good luck on the update.
2 Likes
Thank you; my game and I appreciate the luck.
I also closed the poll as it seemed conclusive from the given votes and was kind of what I was leaning towards anyways.
2 Likes
Hello all - work on the current update continues, albeit slowly. I was hoping to maybe have it out by now, but no such luck as I was crazy sick for a few days. Slowly kicking whatever I was sick with, but it cost me a good bit of time.
Looking forward from the near update, I am kind of 50/50 on trying to sneak in one more tiny update during November, during nano-wri-month, before the project goes on pseudo-haitus for a bit while Sense & Sorcery is hopefully moved to completion, which will probably take about a year at least. If I do try for that November update I might try to focus on making a few things in the game a bit more crisp and filling in a few of the more neglected portions of the game, but we shall see.
Now, once we are on pseudo haitus, after november, there will probably not be any true updates, major or minor, for a while, unless I suddenly feel a ton of energy for the project and need a break badly from working on S&S. However, I’d like to try to keep the thread open, if possible, which means one post every 60 days. What I’ve been doing for my other thread is to release some linear fiction, which is kind of good as it helps me expand my writing collection and refine my skills at the same time. For Sense & Sorcery, the choice of linear fiction was kind of obvious - short stories taking place in that universe, which is a Sword & Sorcery - Regency mix.
For Dice & Dungeon Masters, however, I don’t think it is quite so clear cut.
If I start a linear fiction section for this game, Dice & Dungeon Masters I can see a lot of possibilities, such as the following:
-The Dreaded Slice of Life Story: Now, I usually desperately try to avoid writing these . . . but if its a slice of life story revolving around roleplaying, I could see it working and being a potentially fun story.
-LitRPG linear fiction: Basically, these are fiction stories taking place in usually a high fantasy world where the characters are at least subconsciously aware of some of the tropes of tabletop roleplaying (i.e. gaining experience, leveling, classes,) and the world mechanics work somewhat similarly to the mechanics in tabletop roleplaying.
-Metafiction: Think works like Jumangi or Drew Hayes’s “Spells, Swords & Stealth” series where the game world and the “real world” interact in unexpected ways, often mixing characters and settings in someways.
-Standard High Fantasy: Not much to really say there - just your average high fantasy story. I’d probably write using one of my own settings, maybe the setting from the first session inside of Dice & Dungeon Masters, which if I did the last would have a flip on a lot of the tropes in the standard high fantasy setting.
-Urban Fantasy: Magic and fantasy, but set in our own contemporary world today.
Not 100% sure that I will have time and energy to do a short story every 60 days, but it would be nice to keep the thread going while I work on finishing the other project, before hopefully returning to this one afterwards. And it might help expand some ideas and in-game settings as well.
So . . . a quick poll . . . .if I add a linear fiction section to Dice and Dungen Masters, which type of short linear fiction story would you most like to see?
- Litrpg
- Metafiction revolving rpg worlds and the real world mixing
- Slice of life revolving around roleplaying
- High Fantasy
- High Fantasy but done in the opposite style presented in the first session in game
- Urban Fantasy
- Some other type of story
0
voters
Alright - thank you for your time on reading this. Hoping I’ll have the actual update out of for you all sooner rather than later! Thank you for your patience.
8 Likes
Urban Fantasy seems like it would provide the best contrast to the actual game.
1 Like
It is certainly a popular option and I’m sure I could have fun with that. I’ll let the poll run a bit longer, but probably the top three will be the main focus for linear story genres to add to the game.
Sadly update STILL is not ready, even the modest one I have currently planned. This coming week will likely be pretty intense with real world stuff, but next weekend I have off and hopefully will get stuff going then. Thank you for everyone’s patience. Sorry it’s taking a long while.
3 Likes