How about a progress report about my C64 RPG?

Well, I’ve been busy coding the game, as well as designing the rest of the game flow. As the game is based on my Briley Witch novels, I had to decide how many books to include…

I’ve written 10 Briley novels, but for the game I’m only using the first 3. This gives me plenty of scope for making a game sequel, and possibly two. Using the first 3 books also provides a convenient ending point, as there are various story arcs that conclude with the end of book 3.

As a result, I’m looking at using “Briley Witch: Veritas” as a working title. The Veritas are a group of witch-hunters under the pay of Lord Grey, a character who emerges in book 2 of the series. Dealings with them conclude (briefly) at the end of book 3. So this gives the game an ultimate goal: make Briley safe from the hunters!

Oh, perhaps I should write a bit of back story for the game…

The Briley Witch Chronicles tells the story about Briley Forester, a modern girl (she’s a computer games programmer), and her cat, Smokey. Briley starts the series in the modern world, but is pulled over to a strange Anglo-Saxon-esque world during a bit of meditation…

She finds herself trapped in a backward little village where she’s expected to work as a delivery girl for the Baxter family. When she discovers that her cat Smokey can “speak” to her (she hears his words and those of other cats inside her head), things just get weirder. She also learns of the rich Whitehead family, who hate witches with a passion and will do anything against them. And when Briley learns she herself is a witch, her problems only escalate as the Whitehead family plot against her…

But the powers of witchcraft come in handy for her, and she learns the true meaning of friendship, with Smokey her trusted guide and helper. Okay, so Smokey’s a bit of a grump, but he has a soft spot for Briley in his heart, so he’ll do whatever he can to help and encourage his human. Briley soon befriends many of the villagers, her life taking her not only around the limits of the village of Maepole, but also beyond its gates, to far away towns and villages, all with secrets to discover…

I’ve been a big fan of Japanese-style RPGs (games like Sword Of Vermilion and Exile on the Sega Megadrive), so I wanted my game to be something similar. I knew coding an RPG on the C64 would be a good challenge.

Anyway, in the game, Briley starts off at home, and it’s down to the player to discover how to meditate… But there’s a dark spirit waiting for her, to transport her to another world…

As in the novels, Briley becomes a delivery girl working for the Baxter family. Talking to Clarissa Baxter gives Briley tasks to perform, mostly deliveries, plus the odd bucket of water to fetch from the river. Cutscenes are used to tell the story, triggered by either talking to other characters in the game, or by crossing certain areas. At the end of the day Briley goes to bed to recharge her health ready for the next day. Going to bed is just one way to restore health; there are plenty of other methods, and later in the game there will be guest houses which serve the same function – at a price.

Unlike the novels, I’m adding plenty of combat scenes where possible, and also relaxing Briley’s magic limits. You see, in the books there is Light magic and Dark magic, and Briley refrains from using harmful spells. In the books, murder and killing are seen as terrible deeds, but for a game, killing is essential for combat!

Okay, I’m getting around any killing by saying creatures or adversaries in combat are not killed, just knocked unconscious. This also fits with the player-side combat; I don’t allow characters to die as it would completely mess up the story line. I can’t have a cutscene with Smokey or Briley if they are dead! So in combat, if a character’s health drops to zero, they flash and drop out of combat. If all characters drop out, then it’s game over, and a return to a previously saved game. Otherwise, when combat ends, any unconscious characters are awoken with just 1 point of health.

Since the game is based on my novels, it is very much story-driven. This does mean there’s perhaps not quite as much freedom for the player, but it does mean an easy to follow progression. I’m trying to add as much variety as I can, so the player doesn’t get bored, and is hopefully surprised at various points…

I’ve been busy coding all the events for book 1, having chopped out some parts of the novel that are unsuitable for a game. To balance this, I’ve added some section that are not in the books, an example being an encounter with the angry honey bees. Most of the text in the game has come from my books, cut down where needed to keep the cutscenes down to a reasonable size.

The events from book 2 have been added to the design, and I’ve already started on the book 3 flow. At least I know where I am now, about 30% complete. Still a long way to go, but I’m having lots of fun with this!