Being the obsessive compulsive artist that I am, I felt I couldn't start designing the beach random encounter before I had finished polishing the ship wreck area. Immediately when I opened the area I was appalled by the beach and the transition between the beach and grass. Tsk tsk, I thought and got busy.
Now the area has more small hills, more palms, shrubs and plants. The rocks were given some green tint so they wouldn't blind everyone with a bright white light. Transition to the grass is still not perfect...but it's better (it used to be a rather violent change with a straight border). Now I'd only need to populate the area...ahem, maybe next time, or some day. Creating NPCs is one of my least favorite things to do. Right after editing long 2DA files.
Also I tested the new mountain road encounter area. It's pretty as hell, dare I say so myself. It's actually a shame it turned out so well and it will just be a fleeting moment during the whole campaign compared to everything else. Maybe that's okay. The main reason I'm doing this after all is the joy of creation, to better myself and to create various set pieces that convey a certain mood I'm looking for. Atmosphere is maybe the single most important thing to me when doing game designing or when I'm examining a game. That's not to mean I don't care about the mechanics and the story, I do, very much, but I'm just being honest here. Also you CAN create a terrific mood through mechanics, story and dialogue; I'm just relying heavily on area design, sounds and music.
I'm actually starting my IT studies next fall just so I can actually learn all the basics. My school luckily has a game lab and a chance to focus on game studies. Thus I'm hoping to actually make a full fledged game in some years. A game that is pretty much focused on creating mood and emotions, all while telling a story. Very ambitious etc. and I need to look out for the scope. I'm a prime example of poor judgement when it comes to scope. Just look at Crystals of the Lost. Playing the "prologue" part of the game takes most likely two to three hours, depending if the player decides to snoop around and do some side quests. And I immediately follow up with a choice between three quests, of which two were rather tiresome to make with all the scripting, planning and conversations, the third one was almost purely combat focused.
That being said, there is a LOT to be done, so I better go start my design on the beach encounter area.
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