@Azure Lazuline: I really like the design of that enemy. Reminds me a bit of 02 from Kirby64.

My team and I are attempting to tackle an episodic IF-type dealio.

Right now the engine looks like this:



And sprites look like this (these ones are cropped):



Layering/sizing/script parsing is working, so next we've got to work on asset loading. DevBlog is here http://www.exitcorners.com/ and has a few more (full) sprites and I guess some insight on design n' stuff.

Development is going a little slowly, but progress is progress.

[context, potential emotional connection, and sense of extrapolated space and time]

Percon, I disagree with you. That's a dangerous statement to make, because all sorts of people have all sorts of different thoughts about what a "story" is. If you mean only to discourage walls of text between levels of space invaders, then... well, okay.

There are times when the context, potential emotional connection, and sense of extrapolated space and time of pieces of story--or, frequently, well-used 'story elements' (i.e. THEME SETTING PLOT CHARACTERS! I REMEMBER GRADE 10 ENGLISH CLASS)--can really hit home and make a game feel that much better.



So, ah, still: I, too, think story should be approached in an "all or nothing" kind of way, but that shouldn't mean "make a game that's all about story or don't touch story with a ten-foot pole". Just don't half-ass it.

(That's not saying much, though, because it should probably be understood that unless you want to half-ass the game, don't add anything to it you're not willing to full-ass.)

Fair enough; I guess I was being a bit too extreme in what I was trying to say. If the gameplay comes before the story, though, I would hope that the developers don't compromise any part of the gameplay for a halfhearted story.

When it comes to story in games, I think they should be approached in an "all or nothing" kind of way. If you really have a story you want to tell through an interactive medium, then you should make something where the story comes first, though you'd need to ensure that the the story is best told through an interactive medium and not a book or a movie. If the game doesn't need a story, then it shouldn't be attempted at all, as it'll usually only serve to get in the way of the game.

I think a linear RPG adventure can also be done tastefully; it's all a matter of execution. I feel that two best ways to make the story of an RPG engaging are developing the characters and developing the world. Character development generally benefits more from a non-linear approach while world development is benefited more from a more open-ended approach.

Of course, this is all just my personal opinion.