Automation
Posted by DanielWhile making an RPG, you spend a lot more time on tedious tasks than you do on creative ones. I’m talking about things like putting barrels in every room or setting up the extra party members on each map so they can appear during scenes. These are things that players will never notice but they take up so much development time. They also cause the most bugs.
The Stupid Reset Switches
With each successive game I’ve been developing techniques to automate as many of these tasks as possible. For example, in Dawn’s Light, the reset switches were done manually. I would have to move each piece of the puzzle back to its starting position. Then I would have to make sure all state changes were reverted – things like rocks being in water. Even after I’d figured out the reset system, setting up the resets took time, especially if I had to change a puzzle later on.
The Lovely Reset Switches
In Lilly and Sasha, I have an automatic reset system. I just make a list of the objects involved and call a function – init_puzzle(id,objects). Then to reset I can just call reset_puzzle(id). The time I spent making these functions is far less than the time it would have taken me to do them manually. I can also use the same system for future games.
Super Common Events
Recently I’ve devised a new system for speeding up development. Replacing tiles with events. Every save in Dawn’s Light was pasted from our master save book. Now we can just draw a tile, like we would a rock or tree and it will be automatically replaced with the save. This means we can easily change the graphics or functionality without having to replace every save book in the game. Think of them as super common events, if you know what a common event is.
Walk Right
My favorite trick is automatic map transfers. For every doorway or map change in Dawn’s Light we had to manually select a map to move to and pinpoint the position where you would end up. Now we can just draw an arrow in the direction of the transfer and the rest takes care of itself. One of the common bugs that pops up during development is a transfer to a room that’s changed. This won’t be a problem anymore because the room is checked and the player is always placed at the doorway.
Less Tedium, More Speedium
There’s a bunch of other ones as well but you probably get the idea by now. The plan is to make the tedious parts easier so we can concentrate on the good parts that players actually see.
Now I need to write a system to replace a tile with a puzzle or some witty dialogue. 
Now I know why I don’t try to make my own games. I am glad there are people around like you and Andrew who do. I can hardly wait for your next games. They are always so much fun and so beautiful to look at. I love the puzzles and the new battle system works so well. I know it is still being made but can you give us a hint when we will be getting it to play.
Most of this stuff is for our other secret project. The game we’ve shown screens for is a smaller game and it’s almost done. I just need to put in a few days work and it will be ready for testing.
I’m not sure when I’ll get those few days though.
that’s all right Daniel We know it will worth the wait because your games are so great to play. in the mean time I will play Lilly and Sasha again
Efficiency is always a good thing that way you can focus more on what makes John Wizard games great…puzzles, dialogue, and storyline.
Hi Guys,
Looks like you have been busy creating another great game(YEAH!). After reading the blog, I can see just a portion of how much work you guys put into making a game. What amazes me is the talent and inteligence you all have in inventing new ways to make designing a game faster and more efficent. Way to go! Better for us because your games are so cool and fun to play. I’ve been away playing other RPG games. None as good as L&S and I’ve played four. The only one that came close was “Dreamscape”. It was creative and fun to play, but no puzzles other than gameplay. I read the three reviews and they were fantastic. I new L&S was going to be a winner. Well, I’m ready for another game and can’t wait until your next one comes out. Thanks for all your hard work.
Hi guys, the tax man was nice to me and gave me some money to spend so I will be saving it for the next game when soon we hope.
Wow, Daniel, should you get bored of making RPGs, you could always release your own super-user-friendly RPG maker software!
That would be AWESOME. If you ever get the chance, Dan, DO IT.
It’s really boring working out the miniature details.I’m facing the same trouble with my upcoming game.Thanks for sharing your boredom,I thought I was the only one who loses interest quickly hehe