The character walkabout graphics are done for all of the major heroes. Top to bottom are:

Kay Berec – Warlock
Helms Martak – Cleric
Jaina Fleetfingers – Thief
Gayla Fleetfingers – Pirate
Molok Thangur – Acolyte (Think necromancer, but with less death)
Tira Sogin – Paladin
Hector Sogin – Blackguard
Belor – Barbarian
Melin Uldor – Monk

Here’s a rough guestimated breakdown of what I’ve got so far:

Story: 60%
Dialogue: 5%
Tilemaps: 25%
Battle sprites: 0%
Walkabout sprites: 20%
Music: 0%
Sound effects: 0%
Battle graphics: 0%

Well, that’s all for now, cheers!

I don’t really have anything substantial to show yet, but I do rather enjoy the discipline of working on tilemaps, making sure that they work well, and the constraints of using only a few colors. I know it sounds like a bunch of techno-babble, but hey, to each his own.

Screenies of what I’ve got so far are also in this post if anyone wants to see them:

A basic dungeon cell

A dungeon(?) scene with nothing going on

A cave network with water

Anyways, just a quick blurb from me for now, I shall return!

Today, you cannot get by without knowing how to read and write. It’s impossible to get along in life without knowledge of letters. People will say, “It’s as basic as reading, how can you not know that?” or “As long as you know how to read, you’ll do fine.” both of which are good examples of how important literacy is today. Today, more than an art-form, more than just something utilitarian, literacy has become a basic need of life.

By contrast, today, computer programming is something that fits more closely with the traditional role of writing centuries ago. No one really needs to know how computers work, leave that to the techs that operate behind the scenes. I believe however, that that will be something that will change in the future. No, I sincerely doubt that anyone of us here now will see it in our lifetime. In the future I foresee that being able to poke around the innards of a computer and its software will be just as important as the ABCs of today.

Perhaps I’m a bit too entrenched in cyberpunk and whatnot, and my programming background may have influenced this opinion somewhat, but considering the rapid pace of technology today, I believe such a future is not entirely far-fetched. True, the world won’t be composed of a bunch of super-hackers, and I doubt that everyone or even anyone will be able to work their way into the Pentagon. But by that same note, the world is not currently filled with Shakespeares though everyone can write.

I see the future then that everyone will know how to program a computer, sure, easy enough. I also see that perhaps learning how to program will be a necessity and not just an esoteric art. Perhaps the cult of the hacker will have disappeared by then, or have just become even more mysterious and complicated. Who knows? It’s sad that I won’t be around to see it, but it sure does make for interesting thinking.

I find that certain music does a lot to affect my writing. Compare writing with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 playing in the background to doing the same with Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 or Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and you’ll most assuredly see a difference. Depending on my mood, I’ll listen to different things. Also depending on what I want my mood to be, I’ll also listen to different things.

Anywho, just a short little blurb from me. That’s all, cheers!

Part 2 – Of Maps and Mountains

Now, I find that when writing fiction, it’s not really neccesary to actually publish the map for your world. There are many authors who didn’t have extremely detailed maps for their worlds. Then again, there are some who did, and very elaborately at that.

Now, I’m not going to argue either way as to which is better. There are many reasons to not make maps, and then again, there are many reasons to make maps. Personally, I prefer to go with the making of maps as I tend to be a bit obsessive with keeping my worlds as realistic and believable as possible.

Distance in Fantasy Worlds

I find that one of the most important things that I need to know when building worlds is distance. For me, it’s important to know just how far away city A is from city B. This helps me to figure out just how long it takes characters to get from one point to another or how long it’ll take the army of the big bad to get to the good guys.

When writing, I tend to use the league. True, no one uses it now except perhaps fantasy writers and game developers. In the modern world, measurements such as miles or kilometers are much more prevalent. The problem is, if you tell me that something is X miles away, or Y kilometers away, chances are, unless I’m from the same part of the world as you, I won’t have a really good idea about how far that actually is.

In some places, just saying, “Oh, it’s just a mile or so that way” gives a very good idea about how far something is. Other parts of the world are more used to saying, “Oh, it’s just and hour or so that way” and everyone will be able to picture the distance. This is one of the reasons that I use leagues, as a more culture neutral sort of measurement. But, that’s not the main reason that I use leagues for measurement.

The main reason I use leagues, is that a league is roughly equivalent to how far an average, healthy, and physically fit adult human can walk in an hour at an average brisk pace. Although I’m hardly “physically fit”, it does give me a better idea in terms of distance. I can imagine myself walking for an hour, or I can go outside and actually walk if the mood so takes me, and I can get an idea of distance. This unit is based on Roman measurements used for their legions on the march. Now, measurements do vary, but a league is roughly equal to 3 miles, give or take. If you want to be more precise, one league is 3.4523 miles or 5.556 kilometers but for the sake of quick and dirty measurements, I’ll stick with 3 for now.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

This is useful for me, because if I know that City X is 172 leagues from City Y, then I can easily calculate how long it would take a character to get there. On average, a person can walk six to eight hours in a day on even terrain. Roman legions walked around four to six hours in a day, with the rest of the time being spent fortifying their position and resting. An individual however, should be able to do eight hours without too much trouble. I get a rough formula then of:

172 leagues / 8 leagues per day = 21.5 days

So I now know that, considering the terrain is roughly the same all throughout, my character could make it from City X to City Y in a little over three weeks, barring any interference. This prevents any problems with, “Hey, how did get here so quickly? It’s only been three days, and that city is 138 miles away!”

Issues like this however, can always be solved with magic. It’s a simple matter to say that a powerful wizard transported them through mystical passes that are known only to the wise. But this has always seemed to me to be a cheap way out, especially if no mention was made of it beforehand.

Travel time will never however (hey, a rhyme!), be without effect from the terrain. Walking through a forest will obviously slow someone down, and travel on plains will be a lot faster than through swamps. This is another reason why I make maps, as if I know where all the different geological features are, then I can plot my characters’ path and figure out how long it will take them.

Which brings me nicely to my next point, terrain.

What I am saying is that you should try writing your characters as real people. You should know their traits, quirks, and failings. When asked the question, “If you had one wish, what would it be?” Darth Vader would answer very differently as compared to the stereotypical dumb-blonde (or light–haired, intellectually sub–par individual if you prefer to be PC). Take the following as an example:

Interviewer: Well, many famous people have found various things and aspects of their fame to be the most rewarding in their lives. What would you guys say was the most fulfilling part of fame?

Interviewee One: Crushing my enemies, seeing them driven before me, and hearing the lamentation of their women!

Interviewer: I see… And how about you, Sir… I’m sorry, how should I call you?

Interviewee Two: It stoles our precious!

Interviewer: Aha. Moving on… How about you miss?

Interviewee Three: Well, I’d just like to like, uhm, like say it’s totally cool to like be talking to you like this you know? And like, I think it’s like totally like oh yeah, nice to see everyone like here right now like this! And oh, I brought my puppy and he’s like totally cute and sweet isn’t he? And, oh, world peace!

Interviewee One cuts Interviewee Three’s head off

See how that works? There you have three different characters (kudos to you if you know who the first interviewee was) with three very different answers. It should be no different with your characters. If you ask one of your characters a question, then that character should respond differently from your other characters.