Frayed Knights - Update

Over at Tales of the Rampant Coyote, Jay Barnson has put up an update for his indie rpg in development, Frayed Knights, focusing on the design side of creating explorable wilderlands:

…For me, it was all about the exploration. The expectation that behind every tree, over every hill was an adventure, beneath every rock there was a treasure or mystery to be explained, and behind every closed door was something wonderful or terrible waiting to be discovered.

I'd love one of these Wilderlands-style encounters or discoveries to be around every corner. I want an open-ended game-world bursting at the seams with details, mysteries, mayhem, adventure, and wonder…
…In an RPG, you don't want the player to have to go moving around too long or too far without stumbling into something to do or a decision to make. Big, empty worlds are boring.

Likewise, the modern design school of blocking off all the "uninteresting" parts is also frustrating to my exploration-seeking mind. As someone who is always wondering what is behind the next door, it's frustrating to find that all but three doors in the town are merely backdrops, untouchable and unenterable, and those back alleys and side-streets are blocked off. As my brain is always seeking what's beyond the horizon, I'm always disappointed to have those horizons taken away from me.

More information.

Likewise, the modern design school of blocking off all the "uninteresting" parts is also frustrating to my exploration-seeking mind. As someone who is always wondering what is behind the next door, it's frustrating to find that all but three doors in the town are merely backdrops, untouchable and unenterable, and those back alleys and side-streets are blocked off.

I totally agree. Which let me feel angry and confused about some small areas in Drakensang.

One can't climb several hills, for example.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I totally agree. Which let me feel angry and confused about some small areas in Drakensang.

One can't climb several hills, for example.

Sadly, I like that. I have an obsessive compulsive need to have to explore every possible knock and cranny of every game i play. This is the reason I stop playing most games. I'll get to the next big city and I just don't have it in me to explore it all, but if i keep playing I have to. So the modern games I finish tend to have very small and linear exploration areas, such as Kotor. So i don't finish games I love (such as Arcanum) and do the games I don't.

I loved it when I couldn't enter interiors in the Drakensang demo. I hate load screens just to enter a house to loot stupid crap while the tenant retardedly stands there letting me pilfer their belongings.

perhaps you need some therapy mr. Unrestigered
Arcanum is like one of the finest games ever !.

Minus the combat, I agree. But the huge explorable areas were to much. tarant was enough to break almost anyone with my exploration syndrome, and thats at the beginning of the game. I almost beat it like 5 times.

Originally Posted by ikbenrichard
perhaps you need some therapy mr. Unrestigered
Arcanum is like one of the finest games ever !.

I couldn't get into it. I don't remember why, I think it was the steampunk gothic style. To me, technology and magic are like water and oil, they don't mix

Originally Posted by wolfing
I couldn't get into it. I don't remember why, I think it was the steampunk gothic style. To me, technology and magic are like water and oil, they don't mix

i do know what you mean but later on i was all used to it.