SpawnHero RPG:
Planning & Prototyping
SpawnHero RPG
SpawnHero RPG is a tiny game framework for building a simple role playing game. With this framework, you can design a simple game level with a player, quests, enemies, coins, equippable items, and weapons.
How do you win?
The game ends when the win condition is met. It is entirely up to the game developer to determine what the win condition is. Some examples of possible win conditions are:
- When all coins on the map are collected.
- When all quests are completed.
- When all treasure is found.
- When all enemies have been defeated.
- When all enemies have been evaded.
- When a riddle is solved.
Types of Items
When planning your game map, it is also important to know what types of items can be placed on the map. Note that just because an items is called 'enemy', it does not have to look like an enemy or behave like an enemy. There are many creative ways to use these items to make them look & behave in creative ways.
Hero: Main character of the game that can interact with interactable objects, attack enemies, and pick up collectable items.
Enemy: Antagonist characters that walk back and forth along a set path. If an enemy touches the Hero, the Hero's Life will be decremented by 1. If the Hero attacks the enemy with [Spacebar], the enemy will be destroyed.
Coin: A coin is automatically picked up when the hero touches it. A coin can be worth any number of points.
Collectable: A collectable is picked up when the hero touches it and presses [Enter]. A collectable is added to the hero's inventory until it is delivered to it's target.
Weapon: A weapon is picked up when the hero touches it and presses [Enter]. The weapon is added to the hero's inventory and is immediately equipped.
Ranged Weapon: A ranged weapon is a weapon that shoots a projectile when the hero touches it and presses [Enter]. The weapon is added to the hero's inventory and is immediately equipped.
Interactable: An interactable is activated up when the hero touches it and presses [Enter]. An interactable has many properties that can change if the developer adds in additional code.
Object: An object is an unmovable, unless the developer adds additional code to make it move out of the way.
Powerups: Powerups can freeze, slow, or speed up a player when touched.
It is critical to review the SpawnHero RPG Docs for descriptions of how each element affects game play, and to learn the rules and constraints of the system. This will allow you to design a level that is actually possible to build with the tools that are available.
SpawnHero RPG Prototype
You don't need to do a prototype if you are starting from a demo level. However, if you are designing a brand new level, you should start with a prototype.
A prototype is a map for building the game, so you can focus on making the game challenging and fun, without worrying about the code.
The game default map size is 46 by 34 tiles. Each block is 40px by 40px, making the total map size 1840px by 1360px (really really big!). It's best to actually start with a very small map area (typically 15 x 10 tiles or so), just to get a feel for the game engine.
Prototype on Paper
Using grid paper, sketch the level you want to build.
Prototype in Adobe Illustrator
If you know how to use the eyedropper tool, LivePaint, and drag to copy & paste in Illustrator, you can quickly mock up a level in Illustrator. Download Illustrator Map 1, Illustrator Map 2, or Illustrator Map 3 to create a prototype in Adobe Illustrator. Note that the demos provided are very big maps. It is better to start with a very small room, instead of the full map shown in the Illustrator template.
Prototyping Difficulty
Very easy to plan a level. (Could be difficult to build the level if it is designed to be very complex).