Frayed Knights - Development Update

Jay Barnson has kicked up an update on the development of Frayed Knights that includes cold medicine and haunted dreams - it's hard to quote in context, so head over if you are following this one.
More information.

Woo-hoo! I wrote one that is hard to quote in context!

Oh, wait, that probably means I suck.

Part of the purpose of the Frayed Knights development updates was just to keep something of a diary of progress in indie development. Sometimes there are some interesting angles to discuss. But other times, there just isn't much more to say than, "I put a polygon here… and then I put a polygon there."

A whole lot of game development is what is best described as "butt in chair work," and there's just not much to say.

I certainly hope that's why it's been so quiet on the Broken Hourglass front…

But I hope the glimpse at Florentine made things interesting.

Didn't mean to sound disparaging - I just thought it was better for interested folks to read the whole thing than have me quote a snip about a cold.

It was a very strange week. Not to worry.

To me, it was very funny to read it !

I do think there needs to be at least mention (if not more) of a nasty cold in the game. In fact, why not make it so a whole town is infected, and by taking some dubious cure from the town shaman, they turned into zombies

Dang it, who leaked my notes on Frayed Knights 2: The Wrath of Juan?



Actually, that is a pretty fun, twisted, Frayed Knights-sounding storyline!

Originally Posted by wolfing
and by taking some dubious cure from the town shaman, they turned into zombies

Depends on what happens with the Zombies.

Variant a) All Zombies attack and must therefore be killed -> the town is empty afterwards - no-one's there to trade with …

a.1 : The key to the only shop in town is lost with the killed Zombie
a.2 : The key to the only shop in town can be gathered from the corpse of the dead Zombie -> dice roll of what TDE knows as "fear of the dead", don't know how this could be translated, and/or fear of fiddling a tiny metal key from a really stinking, ugly, rotting corpse -> dice roll for constitution (or something similar) -> if failed -> vomit, if not failed -> taking the key succeeds (plus, maybe, a drama point for that char)
a.3 : The key to the only shop in town is lost, but the lock can be broken or something similar

Variant b) All Zombies must be cured WITHOUT killing them - which means the characters must use stealth and be very, very, veray careful (or simply running away by sheer speed). And then a REAL cure must be found - or even better : Be mixed through the combining of inmgredients which must be collected first …

b.1 : The Zombies must be lured into traps (cages ?) which hold them meanwhile the party is looking for a cure.
b.2 : Same as above, only with a limited time available to find the real cure.


That's what I'd be thinking of that.
And of course I'd grant the Variant b with MORE experience points, personally …
Or/and maybe even with something SPECIAL the party couldn't get if all Zombies were dead …

Great update and I liked the suggestion of making a cameo appereance, like Lord British, in that hall you were dreaming about or at least have some sniffling and sneezing noises in there

Haha, fun article.
Iīm really looking forward to this game. Seems like lighthearted rpg done right and Iīm getting some Wizardry/Ultima Underworld vibes from it which is a big plus.

Ghost architect idea sounds fitting.
Iīm expecting to learn Power Word: Cough spell somewhere around, ideally behind the door with the mysterious sign reading DLOC SUX .

Power Word: Expectorate? >

I like it.

I finally got the very last of the geometry done / fixed for the Tower of Almost Certain Death. There are some very strange idiosynchracies with the engine, particularly with lighting.

The next "big dungeon" we're tackling is actually a series of small caverns… the Caverns of Anarchy. Sort of a monster apartment complex.

Where do you come up with these ideas? Monster apartment complex funny man. That's what I loved about the…..tech demo?…not sure what the demo you released was techincally called, but in any case it was one of the most memorable tiny RPGs I've played in awhile. Just flat out funny. The way you tweak normal RPG fare is great.

I just read your latest post and can't wait to see if you put in mimics or not and if you tweak them to your style of humor Plus, I'm in total agreement with adding details to even grunt NPCs is what makes a "normal" RPG great. A little backstory to the boss characters goes a long ways and even, like you said, with the merchants. Reminds me a little of how TOEE did a great job in the town and even by choosing which alignment you were. Everyone in town seemed fleshed out and there was motives to their behaviour. Unfortuantly, they failed to follow up in the dungeons, imo.

Originally Posted by RampantCoyote
The next "big dungeon" we're tackling is actually a series of small caverns… the Caverns of Anarchy. Sort of a monster apartment complex.

Reminds me of what my dictionary translates as "appartment-sharing community" or "flat-sharing community".

Does that mean they're in 2D, rather than 3D, if they're 'flat'?

Well, my dictionary translates an appartment into British English as a "flat".

Of course, 2D would be an nice easter egg …