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Welcome to the COMPUTER CAMP CATASTROPHES page, which will eventually feature a short RPG demo I have created using RPG Toolkit 2.0. I am the Designer, Writer, Artist, Programmer, MIDI Composer, and Beta-Tester for this project and have it scheduled so I'll finish it in 5 weeks. The POST-MORTEM is available right below all the download sections I have just completed the GAME, and it's available to download in .ZIP format. Click on the link below, save it to your hardrive, unzip the files to a separate directory, then run setup.exe to install the game. A rough draft of the SCRIPT is available to download in .TXT format. Click on the link below to download. Just added the MIDI SOUNDTRACK to the game... Click on the link to download a ZIP file containing all the entire MIDI soundtrack for your aural pleasure. So far, all that's available is the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY and the GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT. To download either of these, please click on the links below. They are in .DOC format and were created with MS Word XP. |
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DOWNLOAD GAME |
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DOWNLOAD SCRIPT |
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DOWNLOAD MIDI |
DOWNLOAD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
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DOWNLOAD GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT |
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WHAT WENT RIGHT |
Setting up a game design document in advance certainly sped the initial writing process of the script along. It allowed me to outline what would happen in the game-- although the game is simplified from what is described in the game design document, the basics are all in there.Composing the MIDI music for the game is one of the most rewarding things I've done. Although the music isn't excellent, it manages to sound enough like video game music and convey the feelings I wanted it to for different parts of the game. Making a sample game was a great way to learn a lot more about RPG Toolkit. |
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WHAT WENT WRONG |
Setting a goal of five weeks for the project was, to put it mildly, insane. Although setting that strict goal allowed me to get the writing, composing, and some artwork done in a short amount of time, the programming is what took the longest. Although I'll have to teach kids this summer on how to program with RPG Toolkit, it'll go much faster because I have all my source code I can use as samples. I might even write some tutorials myself to make the teaching easier! Writing a rough draft of the script wasn't as useful as I would have hoped... I didn't include as much dialogue as I wrote in the script and tended to rewrite things on the spot. Still, the rough draft probably worked out most of the initial concepts. I didn't take advantage of the Help Forums over at the official RPG Toolkit website until fairly late into the process. I was able to get good answers in a short amount of time to whatever programming problems I ran across; if I would have used them earlier, I could have finished the game sooner. |
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CONCLUSION |
Computer Camp Catastrophes turned out to be a mixed bag. Working on an RPG by yourself is very challenging, even a simple demo like this one. It proves the concept that it's better to work on games in teams. Composing the music for the game was my favorite part and is something I would love to do again on another project. The artwork I'm not crazy about making, but I find doing pixel art more rewarding than 3-D Modeling, which I can't do well at all. Writing the game design documents helped move things along initially and planning the levels out was also fun; drawing is my least favorite part of the game design process, I guess. |
GAME DESIGN |
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DIGITAL MEDIA |
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HOMEPAGE |
RESUME |
BIO |