Frostblade

I've been experimenting with Windows' AVIFile API for the last couple of days; based on this experimentation, I've scraped a video capture DLL together. It exports three functions that allow you to record everything displayed by the host game into an .avi file, compressed using a codec of your choice. The .dll can be downloaded here.

As noted, this dll is very bare-bones. I might come back to it and add a few features to it if it gathers any sort of interest. Any suggestions are of course welcome.

The three functions are as follows:

vcapture_begin( window_handle, filename, fps)

Deletes any file currently occupying filename, creates an avi file in its place and prepares it for recording. The DLL can only record into one file at a time. Pass window_handle() as the first argument, and the video's playback FPS as the third.
When this function is called, the game will pause and the user will be presented with a dialog to select a codec with which the video will be compressed. For some codecs, compression settings can be modified within the dialog. Only codecs installed on the host system will be displayed.
If the user selects Cancel on the dialog, this function returns false (and the following functions will cause your game to hang). Otherwise, the function will return true.

vcapture_frame()

Takes a snapshot of the game, and appends it into the current video file. This can probably be called anywhere outside a Draw event. If the window is minimized, out of focus or outside the desktop area, the frame appended will be incorrect. Bear in mind that this function's speed is dictated by the codec and compression settings used.

vcapture_save()

Ends all video capture operations and finalises the .avi file. The video's filesize will not be visible until this function is called. Once this function has been called, vcapture_begin can be called again to start a new video file. If your game ends after calling vcapture_frame but before calling this function, the file will fail to save and you'll most likely be left with a memory leak.

A few words of warning:

• I haven't tested, or accounted for, what happens when the functions are called out of the correct sequence. Memory leaks seem likely.
• Never use any codec marked as "uncompressed". They will leave you with a ridiculously large filesize, as large as a hundred megabytes for a couple of seconds of video. Ideally, to make best use of this tool, you should download a popular modern codec such as DivX or XVid.
• Not every codec in the list is guaranteed to work. If some codecs don't save frames into the target file, it's probably not the fault of this dll.

Game Design Links

This topic is intended to be a library of websites that are useful, helpful or interesting for game designers. Feel free to suggest any websites that you think might be appropriate, from blogs to single articles to full game-design communities. Please note that, since we hope to emphasise quality over quantity, only particularly useful suggestions will be incorporated into this first post.

A few things to consider before making your suggestion:

• Game design is by no means specific to Game Maker, or even video games. If you find a particularly interesting article on, say, the design ethic of Connect Four, don't be reluctant to suggest it.
• Any content should be easily accessible. If the website requires payment or a login, their audience is going to be severely restricted.
• You're welcome to suggest your own websites, but be sure that they have significant design content first. A blog with a single post, or with only a vague focus on design, is unlikely to be appropriate.

Websites:

Three Hundred

• URL: http://www.squidi.net/three/index.php
• Description: An (unfortunately lapsed) attempt to develop 300 unique and original game ideas in 300 days. The author has some excellent ideas, and tends to describe and discuss his design process in great detail.

TVTropes: Video Games

• URL: http://tvtropes.org/...VideogameTropes
• Description: A wiki-style attempt to catalogue, dissect and explain every video game trope- that is, any pattern that tends to crop up a lot, like Bonus Bosses and Save Points. The website as a whole is also useful for storyline writers, and a reliably excellent source of inspiration.

Blogs:

YoYoGames Glog: Game Design section

• URL: http://glog.yoyogames.com/?cat=6
• Description: Mark Overmars' personal insights into game design. While he hasn't posted in a while, the points he makes are still very relevant.

I've run into a pretty persistent design problem in my current project, and I'm hoping GI&D can help me through it.

For the purposes of this topic, you can think of the project as an Eastern RPG (Grandia, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy and so on). Thanks to certain gameplay mechanics I'm using, it would be very awkward (if not impossible) to implement a party system; therefore, the game involves only one player character at any point.

When it comes to designing the battle system, it turns out that having only one PC is a pretty massive problem. Most RPG battle systems bring in strategy through the actions and interactions of the party as a whole; with only one route to interact with the gameworld, the gameplay loses out on a lot of complexity, unpredictability and interest. Since I don't know of any one-character RPGs, I'm also missing a lot of context and experience that might otherwise have been helpful.

Can anybody think of ways to alleviate this problem? I've dedicated two or three days to trying to solve it, with no success. Please note that the out-of-battle gameplay is almost finalised, and not really negotiable; what I need are ways to take the player's out-of-battle development and planning, and challenge it in an interesting way.

Multiplayer games are becoming more and more popular, both within the GMC and elsewhere. Games without some form of multiplayer gameplay are rapidly becoming the exception rather than the rule- and why not, after all? Playing with others brings in attractions that single-player gameplay cannot match: AI is no longer an issue, teamwork becomes a treat instead of a chore, and the fun, social side of gaming can be enhanced.

However, many multiplayer games- particularly RPGs, such as World of Warcraft- are falling into the same problems. Emergent strategy is discouraged in favour of robot-like efficiency; roles become set and predictable instead of interesting and adaptable; and in general, multiplayer games are failing to consider what average, casual gamers want. This applies to both traditional group play, and single-player gameplay in a multiplayer world.

On that note, I've created this topic to discuss the general design philosophy and methods of multiplayer gaming: where existing games execute it badly, how theoretical games could make it better, and what constitutes "good" and "bad" multiplayer. Any thoughts on the matter are welcome.

Traditionally in fantasy settings, Mages and Warriors have filled very specific roles. Mages are the wish-fulfillment fantasies; they can do amazing things, alter reality with a gesture, and they're often more powerful than a dozen nonmagical opponents. Warriors are the characters the player can relate to; they work within physical capabilities and rarely have supernatural aid, but they still have the ability to change the world.

These archetypes work very well within a story, but in the translation to gaming they've caused a lot of problems. In almost all cases where the player chooses between a magical character and a physical one, the warrior is either simple or underpowered, while mages have all the utility and interesting mechanics. The logic behind this is obvious (magic is always going to be more interesting and versatile than boring physics), but I think this is an instance where realism has gone too far.

The purpose of this topic is to brainstorm ways to overcome the problem. It's something that I haven't seen solved even in commercial RPGs (Oblivion and Final Fantasy spring to mind), but I'm sure there's a solution out there somewhere.

Earlier attempts to solve the problem:

• Make magical combat almost identical to physical combat (see: Fire Emblem). This solves the problem of balance, but exacarbates the problem of combat being simple and unimaginative- it means nobody on the battlefield can do particularly exciting things. I'd rather not have a game where every unit can do nothing but attack.
• Place limitations on casters, such as an MP system (see: Final Fantasy). This doesn't really solve any problems- it just means that mages toggle between 'overpowered and interesting' and 'completely useless'.
• Give casters glaring weaknesses, such as low HP and the inability to wear armour (see: Oblivion). Like the first example, this creates balance but doesn't eliminate utility. Take a look at Oblivion- mage-type characters aren't much more powerful, but they can cast illusions, trap souls, summon allies, and take advantage of dozens of other effects. Warriors just hit things with battleaxes.

Any thoughts?