Since 2014, I have been working on fleshing out a world/universe that I have thought up. Originally, the focus and purpose of it was just to be a place for a game to take place in, because I am very passionate about designing games as well. But now, I have shifted away from that, and now the main purpose has shifted to be making a world for the sake of making a world, interesting, compelling, and so on. That has been an interesting transition for me, because now I am not necessarily putting the pressure of trying to cram it all in, and now I am developing it slowly, piece by piece, trying to make it all be more realistic and deep. Throughout development, I have also learned to just go along with what I end up thinking up, based on my further understanding of the world when I think it up; the latest seems to almost always be the best. One example of how this has drastically changed my world is simply by the map; if you look at image 1 in the slideshow below, it is what I originally had planned on the world looking it; it now looks very different, for a large number of reasons.
My love for history, video games, and fantasy has all come together to inspire me in this venture, that I expect will last my whole life, as one who makes these kinds of worlds are never really content and never really done, especially with the details.
The shift from just developing a game to developing the history has actually been parallel to my own life goals. I used to be positive that I wanted to be a game designer/programmer, but now I really am not sure. I may want it to be a hobby more than a job, especially because the world we live in is so competitive and making games isn't as easy as it needs to be if I want to do it really well and enjoy it at the same time. I am currently taking a bit of a break from the thought that I will pursue game design as a career, although I would love to, to try to re-evaluate what I need.
My love of video games has made me an incredibly analytical person, noticing details of mechanics and thus trying to figure them out, along with ways to exploit them. This passion has helped me to inversely learn how to design, and I think my first hand experience with so many ideas and games has helped to strengthen my understand of how it works and how players (at least myself) enjoy interacting with the game.
One example of a realistic system I have been working on is personal advancement of skills. The world is made up of elemental forces. You as a living thing absorbs these forces (which exist in an alternate realm) to both grow in knowledge of them, as well as grow in affinity with them. Thus, as you absorb more, you are more powerful, and can do more things with that power. That can simply be a representation of numerical experience, yet because of the logic behind it, it feels much better than just levels. Another mechanics is that you unlock abilities by witnessing or hearing about them. You must practice them until mastered, but once abilities are mastered, you can mix them to try to make your own skills. This type of progression should be fun and expansive and give tons of options, while not just being as simple as a stat creep.
Also, as a side note, I have far more than just the map's look done. I have many names, cultures, and mechanics of the world, as well as some history, already figured out, but I cannot convey that in any concise or clean way here.
My love for history, video games, and fantasy has all come together to inspire me in this venture, that I expect will last my whole life, as one who makes these kinds of worlds are never really content and never really done, especially with the details.
The shift from just developing a game to developing the history has actually been parallel to my own life goals. I used to be positive that I wanted to be a game designer/programmer, but now I really am not sure. I may want it to be a hobby more than a job, especially because the world we live in is so competitive and making games isn't as easy as it needs to be if I want to do it really well and enjoy it at the same time. I am currently taking a bit of a break from the thought that I will pursue game design as a career, although I would love to, to try to re-evaluate what I need.
My love of video games has made me an incredibly analytical person, noticing details of mechanics and thus trying to figure them out, along with ways to exploit them. This passion has helped me to inversely learn how to design, and I think my first hand experience with so many ideas and games has helped to strengthen my understand of how it works and how players (at least myself) enjoy interacting with the game.
One example of a realistic system I have been working on is personal advancement of skills. The world is made up of elemental forces. You as a living thing absorbs these forces (which exist in an alternate realm) to both grow in knowledge of them, as well as grow in affinity with them. Thus, as you absorb more, you are more powerful, and can do more things with that power. That can simply be a representation of numerical experience, yet because of the logic behind it, it feels much better than just levels. Another mechanics is that you unlock abilities by witnessing or hearing about them. You must practice them until mastered, but once abilities are mastered, you can mix them to try to make your own skills. This type of progression should be fun and expansive and give tons of options, while not just being as simple as a stat creep.
Also, as a side note, I have far more than just the map's look done. I have many names, cultures, and mechanics of the world, as well as some history, already figured out, but I cannot convey that in any concise or clean way here.