LinkWorlds 2017 Update 002
crossposted from Lee Edward McIlmoyle's blog
I’m working on more story ideas for another section of the game series, which I refer to as the Pilot Episode. It consists of the original three ‘worlds’ (genres, really; they exist on the same planet) that Rodney and I concocted for the LINK: West RPG back in 2003. I really want to find a way that makes these separate sections separated by a barrier that forces players to ‘link’ to other realms, so the basic mechanic of the game is revealed in the gameplay of the pilot. Problem is, Rodney doesn’t like my time warp idea. I think he’s afraid I plan to spoil his Amerius campaign with more metaphysical stuff. Not at all. I just want a game/plot device that unites but divides the three genres in a way that prevents players from being in three or more places at once on the same planet.
A key mechanic of this game is the nexus point, which basically acts as a space saver/alarm system/backdoor for LinkBeings to instantaneously step back into previous locations that may need their personal attention. This was done to avoid the need for Risk-type troop/resource management, while still creating some basic strategy implementation. I didn’t want to get too caught up in the mechanics of combat, because I regard this game as more of a story game than as either a combat RPG or a combat strategy game. If you have between four and eight nexus points, you can basically be in many places almost at the same time, which makes it more personal. As well, the nexus points require power to maintain, so using more than a few of them can lead to severely weakening the player’s character. But being able to exist in several places on the same plane at once is kind of cheating, and I want to avoid the possibility of it becoming an overused exploit, like the super powered ‘cowboys with capes’ problem we failed to predict in the original RPG manual (we really should have playtested it more).
I could be wrong (I often am), but I suspect my wife is right in believing the game should open with the basic linking mechanic and make the separate realms require linking instead of requiring months of physical travel to reach each location, just so you can travel to them near-simultaneously after your nexus points are established. Rodney is right that the world of Amerius, Britannia and Euroboros is a low-level Decay world… but we haven’t really formalized exactly what that really looks like in practical, and I don’t think there is a serious problem with adding a mutated Bermuda Triangle to the mix. I actually think it’s just what this world has needed to make it a more ‘true’ LinkWorld. But hey, who am I to talk (besides being the mere creator/author of over four fifths of the Link Continuum)?
Anyway, here’s what the game series looks like at present (click to embiggen):
Thanks for reading. More to come soon.
Lee.
I’m working on more story ideas for another section of the game series, which I refer to as the Pilot Episode. It consists of the original three ‘worlds’ (genres, really; they exist on the same planet) that Rodney and I concocted for the LINK: West RPG back in 2003. I really want to find a way that makes these separate sections separated by a barrier that forces players to ‘link’ to other realms, so the basic mechanic of the game is revealed in the gameplay of the pilot. Problem is, Rodney doesn’t like my time warp idea. I think he’s afraid I plan to spoil his Amerius campaign with more metaphysical stuff. Not at all. I just want a game/plot device that unites but divides the three genres in a way that prevents players from being in three or more places at once on the same planet.
A key mechanic of this game is the nexus point, which basically acts as a space saver/alarm system/backdoor for LinkBeings to instantaneously step back into previous locations that may need their personal attention. This was done to avoid the need for Risk-type troop/resource management, while still creating some basic strategy implementation. I didn’t want to get too caught up in the mechanics of combat, because I regard this game as more of a story game than as either a combat RPG or a combat strategy game. If you have between four and eight nexus points, you can basically be in many places almost at the same time, which makes it more personal. As well, the nexus points require power to maintain, so using more than a few of them can lead to severely weakening the player’s character. But being able to exist in several places on the same plane at once is kind of cheating, and I want to avoid the possibility of it becoming an overused exploit, like the super powered ‘cowboys with capes’ problem we failed to predict in the original RPG manual (we really should have playtested it more).
I could be wrong (I often am), but I suspect my wife is right in believing the game should open with the basic linking mechanic and make the separate realms require linking instead of requiring months of physical travel to reach each location, just so you can travel to them near-simultaneously after your nexus points are established. Rodney is right that the world of Amerius, Britannia and Euroboros is a low-level Decay world… but we haven’t really formalized exactly what that really looks like in practical, and I don’t think there is a serious problem with adding a mutated Bermuda Triangle to the mix. I actually think it’s just what this world has needed to make it a more ‘true’ LinkWorld. But hey, who am I to talk (besides being the mere creator/author of over four fifths of the Link Continuum)?
Anyway, here’s what the game series looks like at present (click to embiggen):
Thanks for reading. More to come soon.
Lee.