For the purposes of an ongoing collaborative project and to provide all other players my keys to creating a quest-based game, here are the methods and tools I used to develop Spell Book in 2024, this multi-level game where B had to go through several stages to complete the adventure. I hope these tools will be useful to others who are eager to embark on a similar game?! Plan. At first, I started empirically, having no idea how I was going to proceed. Quite quickly, I was faced with the need to organize myself and therefore create a plan. On paper, I quickly drew the already created levels and assigned spatial coordinates (X, Y, Z) to each of them. The first level (The Meadow) would be located at X=0, Y=0, Z=0, which would later give it the nomenclature: "0-0-0". The level located one notch further along the X axis would therefore be "1-0-0". Or the level one notch further along the Y axis would be "0-1-0". The Z axis is useful for levels that increase in altitude (e.g., the dungeon) Double Numbering Each level has received two numbers in its nomenclature: First, the three-digit number corresponding to the spatial coordinates. But also the number that identifies it in the quest (= spoiler number where to find it). e.g., from the meadow which is the level 1 in spoiler #1 (0-0-0_TheMeadow_1), it is possible to choose the path leading to the red house, above which we read the number "743." Getting there corresponds to a displacement of 1 on the X axis. The "smoking house" level will therefore be named 1-0-0_Smoking house_743. Organization Each level, once created, was kept in a dedicated directory with its own nomenclature. Once I was sure the version was final, I uploaded the level cards onto my Imgur account. Each image could then be linked, which was used in the nested spoilers. (Note: At that time, I was unaware of the Sandbox thread, which allows images to be uploaded directly to the forum without having to go through an external host. And I sure wanted the images not to appear anywhere before publication. Later on, Cimarronline performed the entire operation to host the images in the Sandbox thread while archiving the level in the "Notable Levels" thread. Thanks again to him for that. Nested Spoilers So that players could navigate from level to level by looking for numbers in the spoilers, I devised a system of nested spoilers (by hundreds, tens and units) to make it easy to find the desired number, while saving screen space. To do this, I created a spreadsheet (I used Open Office, free software) in which I was able to "industrialize" the creation of these spoilers, through a series of copy and paste operations. Here's what the spreadsheet looks like : Then, a special copy/paste of the group of cells in a text editor would allow to convert them in a single text paragraph, good to copy in a forum comment. ( Download link to 2 .ods files : empty matrix version + SpellBook version) Clickable and immediately playable cards So that players discovering the levels from the forum wouldn't need to download each image before playing, I found a way to use the forum's BBcode so that they only had to click on the image for the level to open in their web browser (through play.mekorama.com). The formula to use was given in the following thread. Note that the image still can be downloaded (left-click: save image as...) to be played normally in the application. Preparation To make the entire game playable quickly after its publication on the forum, it was necessary not only to have the spoiler links ready, but also the storyline and the explanations to be given to the player. Once everything was written, I used an old, useless comment in one of my previous levels - that no one would see - to test the process (correct display, playability, etc.). Errors (there are bound to be some!) Perhaps some will remember that when the game was first delivered, there were still some errors! The advantage of the architecture described here is that it allows you to quickly fix them without having to delete the level and repost it, which would have been a disaster for me (!) A problem with the numbering or an error in the design of a level? Simply modify the problematic level, re-export it, and then modify its link in the spoiler. And that's it! +++ That's basically how I proceeded. If you have more specific questions, feel free to write to me here!
