The Legendary Quest

So here you are, treading along the mysterious and sometimes winding paths of the unnatural land known as the Internet.  After a long visit at one of the inns along the road, you decide to head out again.  Suddenly, a gust of wind whips up the data that had lay still on the road moments before.  Shielding yourself from the blast, you notice a brand-new piece of rolled parchment flailing against your foot.  How it came to appear there and in such good condition, you do not know.  But with a  strange glimmer of curiosity, you bend down and pick it up.  As you unfurl it, words suddenly spring to life, scratching themselves across the vellum in a flow of dark ink.  Surprised, you can’t help but read the following:

To the one who is readin’ these words now,

Here be the tale of the Legendary Quest of a Future Game Designer.

If you are expectin’ a whole story, you be sorely mistaken.

Return to this scroll oft as the days roll by.

For this tale… has only jus’ begun.

You tilt your head in confusion, wondering what these cryptic words could mean when you notice that this scroll contained another line of text, the latter part hidden by your thumb as you attempt to keep the scroll open.  It was written in a different colour ink, a sure marking of a portal more formally known as a hyperlink.

0.  The Beginning

For some unknown reason, most likely out of some sort of bizarre curiosity more than anything, you keep checking the scroll for new scrawlings.  Most times, you see nothing, but on the odd occasion, new words appear!

1.0.  The First Questgiver

1.1.  Dissecting level 1 mobs?  Nope, dissecting goals!

1.2  The Cold Debuff

*

2.0  Dramatic Return to the Questgiver

2.1  My Mount is a Drama Llama

*

3.0  The Questgiver is on Schedule?

3.1  Checking over the Quest Log

3.2  Meeting Other TLQers

3.3  Call to Arms!

3.4  Call to Arms – A Success!

3.5  Battling the Black Hole

3.6  The Reality of Goals

*

4.0  Weapon Check

*

5.0  Wise Wizards Join the Fight Against the Fog

5.1  Nanowrimo: A Very Belated Post-mortem

5.2  Group LF Juggernaut, Off-spec Cheerleader

5.3  Leveling Characters & Building Worlds

*

6.0  Searching for Profitable Profession

6.1   Searching for a Voivode of Visuals

6.2  The Hunters Progress

6.3  A Campaign for Backers

*

7.0  Time in Another Realm

7.1   Multiplicity of Maps!

7.2  One Physical Step…

*

B1  Boss Encounter: The Dreaded Dialogue of the Hunters

B2  Boss Encounter 2: Phantom of the Hunter Narrative

There are 2 comments

  1. parjude

    Good start, Retridemption; you’ve introduced the protagonists and some of the characteristics, and mentioned a battle, but nothing about it. Next step: set the scene and background. In writing there are a few ways to do it: first before anything else, after the characters have been in an initial event, or in a “look up the info in the back of the book “(which often includes a map somewhere in the book or the end flaps). And in TV or Movies, for years the first was generally Act I, preceded by the teaser on TV. George Lucas changed that order with his Star Wars Episodes (I grew up with Star Trek, and the summer Star Wars arrived in theaters, 1977, I was finishing my dissertation (no creative writing there…I had to use my advisor’s style…which bored me, and when that happened I would go to the theater and watch Star Wars: seven times. The movie could finally duplicate an author’s world. And it started in the middle of the entire tale. (There will be a Star Wars 7, with the original stars, and new members, I read today, made by Disney which bought Lucasfilm in 2012…we’ll see if it will spark as have all the Star Trek spinoffs.) (The point being people like alternative universes, as long as the are believable and not corny). Now that CGI-Computer Generated Imagery-has gotten to a state where they can produce such realities, and now there are “gazillions” of games with CGI (though not all of them are good). It’s almost as good as using your imagination while reading a book. But it means you have to work hard to create a believable universe (and one that’s your own idea). You might take a look at Ursula K. le Guin, daughter of a famous anthropologist, a happenstance that lead her to create an integrated universe with cultures, norms, family structures, economic systems, religions, and so forth (http://www.ursulakleguin.com). Frank Herbert in Dune, J.R.R. Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings, and the one that introduced children in my generation to a designed alternate universe: C.S. Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia (a step up from Dr. Seuss, who definitely created different universes that usually ended with a lesson on a particular behavior). There are others, and in other countries, but most don’t get translated. Dr. Seuss required the suspended belief, The Chronicles of Narnia required a lot less suspended belief and also teaches a lesson, and Frank Herbert’s Dune is almost real (and still teaches a lesson). Now there is Avatar: hyper-real. And that’s where you are today. You’re characters, while well-styled cartoons, could become 3D CGI characters in the near future. It’s like making a movie: script, sets, time limit, and add game rules. And to read one of the most creative Fantasy/Fiction writer’s of the day: Orson Scott Card, whose first book published was “Ender’s Game” , now a movie, but that was just the beginning of his creativity, and he’s a prolific writer. Most authors write way too much and return to edit, which forces them to clearly identify what is essential to the story, and sometimes what’s cut out becomes another story. Make it believable, keep the essential actions (to keep interest), and use some creative game rules. Good start.

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    1. Retridemption

      Ahhhh… *sweatdrop* This is actually a funny intro to my real life Legendary Quest of becoming a Game Designer. I was trying to find a good way to introduce it and this is what I’ve come up with. Sorry if it confused you. If you read the actual parts, you’ll see this is about my real life. Thanks for the comments though. I shall be taking them aboard.

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