Alora Fane

I did some stuff on this Belief Battles/Frayth thing this week: buildings and the interior areas they link to, and some concept designs for types of people you'd encounter.

I only lost a chunk of the week to mental health issues this time!! I'm still waiting on therapy. I tried talking to some new people online in a mental health context in the meantime, which was... mixed, mostly negative really, though I probably should get out of the habit of oversharing on this blog so I'll leave it at that.

I'm still lost, unsure about what exactly to focus on, but I seemed to have something resembling enthusiasm for this side-project-turned-maybe-promotion-practice-shorter-game this week so I thought I'd try to make use of that. I still haven't decided on a title, though!

One thing I did was make a simple building, which is the sort of unexciting background thing players just take for granted but which takes maybe a surprising amount of time and effort. I'm no good at - or really interested in - architecture, so hopefully the super simple low-poly houses etc I'll come up with are inoffensively functional if not awe-inspiringly spectacular.

I also had to make these buildings connect to internal areas, which took a while because I wanted to try something new with it, where interiors would be created and stored in the data differently to the other areas (with interiors being sub-objects of building instances rather than separate areas), and where you'd be able to enter and exit buildings instantly, with no fade transition, like in... I think it was Octopath Traveler, which did that, maybe? (Of what I've seen; surely other games have done it too, but I've not played them.)

The interior areas can include battles, so they'll all have to be ridiculously huge and designed in a not-exactly-sensible way with empty space in the middle and any furniture around the edges.

There were a bunch of issues and limitations with it all though - particularly because your allies follow you on the map but pathfinding across maps is non-trivial - so I just decided to go with a far simpler method which is basically the same as what my old games did: a basic fade-to-black transition that loads out the old area and loads in a new one.

I think that was the last of the major mechanical things I needed to make. Now all that's left is content. (Meaning I'm at the same point with this project as I am with Atonal Dreams.)

I intend for there to be six islands, each home to a faction of sorts related to the elements. Each of the factions might represent different attitudes towards a dying world/impending apocalypse which could at least vaguely relate to current cultural fears.

In the past I've been excited with generating ideas relating to things like this, though honestly this time it was a bit half-hearted due to the recent mental fog. Here are the vague ideas I came up with anyway:

The Viscereal area would be an ordinary village occupied by commoners who just want to live their simple lives like they always have. You might start there, and it might be called Villageville, with music and aesthetics inspired by the 'ordinary villages' in my old RPGs.

The Abstral area might be occupied by eccentrics who worship a crashed flying saucer, essentially an elaborated version of the Saucer Cultists who you can find in MARDEK 3. They hope the aliens will come and take them away to greener pastures.

The Discord area would be a Blight Wolves settlement, and perhaps the Blight Wolves could play a Team Rocket (etc) sort of role in that you encounter them throughout all the areas, they have their own battle music, and their boss is a (or the) primary villain who wants to eradicate any new religions that begin to grow. Something like that. Still just in the brainstorming phase though.

The Harmony area would be a settlement established by the Seraphim, or at least one Seraph, as a kind of base distant from their main hub. They want to essentially maintain the Unisis idea that the Aolmna taught when they were around, and 'civilisation' with rules and order and enforced, rigid morality.

The Gravitoom area might be full of apocalyptic doomsayers, fearful of the world's decline.

The Levitality area might be occupied by performers and aficionados who distract themselves from it all with entertainment.

For the sake of keeping things manageable, I thought each area could be home to just six person archetypes, each of which could have male and female variants. After some brainstorming, I had these possibilities (though there aren't yet six for each element):

Viscereal:
- Normie (ordinary commoner)
- Merchant (shopkeeper type)
- Hottie (attractive, flirty narcissist; Babe, Hunk)
- Labourer (blue collar worker)
- Jock (fitness fanatic)
- Cook (obsessed with food)

Abstral:
- Mystic (collects magic crystals and believes they can talk to ghosts)
- Cultist (calling to the aliens is their life)
- Lunatic (conspiracy theorist with a tinfoil hat)
- Nerd (scientifically curious and socially inept)
- Magician (performs the seemingly impossible to wow and awe)
- Snowflake (they're unique and special and different)

Discord:
- Lout (common delinquent)
- Bandit (organised brigand)
- Karen (overly entitled and demanding customer)
- Punk (chaotic anarchist)
- Crook (sleazy conman)
- ????

Harmony:
- Counsellor (helps you feel better by listening to your woes)
- Priest (keeps Unisis alive)
- Cherub (Seraph in training; active peace-spreader)
- Bureaucrat (designs society's cogs and keeps them turning)
- ????
- ????

Gravitoom:
- Doomsayer (the end is niiiigh!)
- Emo (sensitive and sorrowful)
- Goth (dark and spooky)
- Artiste (creates to bare their tender soul; pretentious)
- Prepper (busy every day stocking their bunker)
- ????

Levitality:
- Clown (a jester, comedian, harlequin, fool, or jokester)
- Performer (acts to entertain an audience)
- Nudist (sheds all worry to live freely in nature)
- Hippie (laid-back, goes with the flow)
- Influencer (smash that like button)
- ????

I also did some basic concept art for the Viscereal and Abstral archetypes:

...which is apparently the third time all year I've drawn anything, disappointingly. I also ran out of steam and time before attempting the other four elements.

They'll all have at least one unique clothing item, but ideally a lot of those clothing items will be palette swaps of the same model to speed up development (eg brown basic pants and black pants would use the same model but just in different colours... though it doesn't take long to make clothing pieces for these low-poly models anyway).

I've talked about this general idea of using (sub)cultural archetypes/stereotypes a few times over the months (years?) that I've been playing around with it, and as I've said those times too, the aim is to come up with things that are recogniseable, familiar, and (mildly) amusing without being offensive.

Some of these here might not exactly meet those criteria. I'm imagining complaints about the 'Snowflake' one in particular, which is based on a combination of this old meme thing I might have mentioned in this blog in the distant past:

Plus a kind of over-designed "look at how unique I am!" look that image searching "mary sue oc" brings up some examples of, combined with certain fashion choices some real-world people wear to show how unconventional they are (like everyone else doing the same).

I'd say that having 'Karen' as one is more potentially offensive, though I'm concerned that one ('Snowflake') might be more uncomfortably resonant with people who'd read this blog or play the game eventually. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, though.

If you find any issues with these, I'd appreciate knowing what you might do instead. I'm also very open to ideas for what could go in the slots I've yet to fill, and I feel some are maybe too similar or they don't fit perfectly... Coming to final decisions is likely to happen gradually over development.

Each area would also have a unique boss character comparable to Pokemon's Gym Leaders (though they'd join your party, like every other person you convinced), but I only have the vaguest of ideas for them currently.

I don't want to strive for perfection with any of these designs; I'd rather have things that are functional so I can get the project out of the way quickly.

While I've been 'enjoying' working on this to the degree that I'm able to enjoy anything through the annoyingly prolonged anhedonic fog, I know my time might be better spent finally getting the ports of my old games on Steam - or CBC at the very least - so I might try to focus on those next week instead. Depends how well I'm able to focus on anything, though.

I might also try reaching out to an alternative therapy service, though that might just mean being put on another months-long waiting list.

Also, have you been playing Tears of the Kingdom? I've been spending much of my time since it came out doing that. I'd rather take my time, but I hate how some people rush through it so they can post findings from the later parts online to show off. I've already seen posts about it I wish I hadn't. Ugh. Grumble.

(And of course I don't want to talk about it yet!)

4 COMMENTS

Lordofsea19~1Y

I got TotK two days ago. It's a lot of fun! I think the most interesting part so far is just.. figuring out how the abilities work. There seems to be a lot of depth to the mechanics, and while I've found some interesting ways to use them, I feel like I still haven't wrapped my head around the possibilities!

Maniafig222~1Y

Glad to hear you've waded a way out of the dark pool of depression! Therapy really can't come soon enough.

I believe Octopath did let you enter and exit buildings seemlessly, and they were actually to scale, so the exterior and interior matches.

I did actually think about Atonal Dreams the other day... I look forward to the next beta test, when that happens!

The factions sound about right. I'm guessing D would be the sceptic faction out of those six? I like that you're bringing back the Saucer Cult thing!

Some elements seem to be harder to think up stuff for than others, right?

Viscereal seems fine, though Cook and Merchant seem a bit narrow. I'm sort of missing a "Slob" type in there, that type of washed-up, has-been middle-aged person who spends all evening on the couch watching reality TV or sports or something.

Abstral is well-defined, though Magician stands out somewhat and overlaps with Performer. You could split Nerd into the socially inept and fandom-riddled Geek and the scatter-brained, logical and aloof Scientist or Professor.

Discord is definitely missing the classic Troll that one might find online! The Bandit seems kind of superfluous next to Crook and Lout, there's a lot of overlap there. Other ideas: Cynic, Sceptic, Contrarian, Naysayer. Debate Bro comes to mind, but that one I can't think of a female version of.

Harmony's a bit on the boring side. Priest, Cherub and Bureaucrat are good. Stepford Smiler immediately came to mind, herds of people insisting everything is fine and dandy and we should all just be happy and smile and be exactly like them! Could be called Unisisters, that's a funny name, though I see no male counterpart name. Maybe change Counsellor to the more defined Therapist? Could also put Zealot in there, for that Rohophian-esque variant of Bliss.

Gravitoom screams for the MIME. The tragic, sad and distinctly French counterpart to the clown.

Hard to think of a sixth type for Levitality. Consumer? Fanboy/Fangirl, perhaps? The people actually just mindlessly consuming and regurgitating all that entertaining content.

One of the bosses has to be a sleaze politician, of course!

I think the Snowflake one is fine except for the obviously charged name, I immediately thought of just outright calling them "OC" or "Mary/Gary Sue", tacky and garish, all-beloved ever-do-wells. The image you posted is grating since it's clearly being hyperbolic and the maker wouldn't really be complaining about Generic White Guy Protagonist #2354, would they?

The Karen one is also kinda fraught since people discuss what the word should even mean. It apparently used to be specifically for a sort of white woman who was racially entitled and would call the cops if she saw an UNKWOWN FOREIGNER in the neighbourhood and such, but now it's just sort of become a generic term tossed at any sort of real or perceived female entitlement, basically just a way to call someone a bitch but in a 'cool and hip' way. Too much baggage to be used as-is in the game, I reckon.

I look forward to seeing more! Also your artwork amuses me, as usual!

I would like to see a CBC port! And of course Taming Dreams, my beloved!

I've seen... interestingly innovative things people have been doing in Tears of the Kingdom. Very peculiar things.

Glad to hear you've waded a way out of the dark pool of depression! Therapy really can't come soon enough.

I believe Octopath did let you enter and exit buildings seemlessly, and they were actually to scale, so the exterior and interior matches.

I did actually think about Atonal Dreams the other day... I look forward to the next beta test, when that happens!

The factions sound about right. I'm guessing D would be the sceptic faction out of those six? I like that you're bringing back the Saucer Cult thing!

Some elements seem to be harder to think up stuff for than others, right?

Viscereal seems fine, though Cook and Merchant seem a bit narrow. I'm sort of missing a "Slob" type in there, that type of washed-up, has-been middle-aged person who spends all evening on the couch watching reality TV or sports or something.

Abstral is well-defined, though Magician stands out somewhat and overlaps with Performer. You could split Nerd into the socially inept and fandom-riddled Geek and the scatter-brained, logical and aloof Scientist or Professor.

Discord is definitely missing the classic Troll that one might find online! The Bandit seems kind of superfluous next to Crook and Lout, there's a lot of overlap there. Other ideas: Cynic, Sceptic, Contrarian, Naysayer. Debate Bro comes to mind, but that one I can't think of a female version of.

Harmony's a bit on the boring side. Priest, Cherub and Bureaucrat are good. Stepford Smiler immediately came to mind, herds of people insisting everything is fine and dandy and we should all just be happy and smile and be exactly like them! Could be called Unisisters, that's a funny name, though I see no male counterpart name. Maybe change Counsellor to the more defined Therapist? Could also put Zealot in there, for that Rohophian-esque variant of Bliss.

Gravitoom screams for the MIME. The tragic, sad and distinctly French counterpart to the clown.

Hard to think of a sixth type for Levitality. Consumer? Fanboy/Fangirl, perhaps? The people actually just mindlessly consuming and regurgitating all that entertaining content.

One of the bosses has to be a sleaze politician, of course!

I think the Snowflake one is fine except for the obviously charged name, I immediately thought of just outright calling them "OC" or "Mary/Gary Sue", tacky and garish, all-beloved ever-do-wells. The image you posted is grating since it's clearly being hyperbolic and the maker wouldn't really be complaining about Generic White Guy Protagonist #2354, would they?

The Karen one is also kinda fraught since people discuss what the word should even mean. It apparently used to be specifically for a sort of white woman who was racially entitled and would call the cops if she saw an UNKWOWN FOREIGNER in the neighbourhood and such, but now it's just sort of become a generic term tossed at any sort of real or perceived female entitlement, basically just a way to call someone a bitch but in a 'cool and hip' way. Too much baggage to be used as-is in the game, I reckon.

I look forward to seeing more! Also your artwork amuses me, as usual!

I would like to see a CBC port! And of course Taming Dreams, my beloved!

I've seen... interestingly innovative things people have been doing in Tears of the Kingdom. Very peculiar things.

Tobias 1115~1Y

Thanks for your detailed feedback! As always. I was actually worried you might have taken more issue with some things than you did, so that's a relief... I'm so paranoid these days.

I feel it'd be wise to decide on multi-purpose archetypes just so then I can minimise the amount of work that I have to do, so if there are any that are similar enough that combining them wouldn't seem too off, I'll be trying to do that.

The Discord Blight Wolves would be a faction of "you can't tell me what to do/think!" people, so they'd have a hostile view of new religions forming, though I'd also say the Viscereal ones are sceptical too, but in a "I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes" kind of way; more passive and less active than the Discord ones. Something like that.

I looked up various lists of archetypes/stereotypes - a subcultures wiki apparently exists - and asked ChatGPT for some suggestions too, and 'Slacker' or some equivalent came up enough that I probably should have something like that. But I don't know whether it should be Viscereal or Levitality, and whether it overlaps with Hippie (which also kind of overlaps with Nudist, conceptually?). Could replace Cook though; that one is narrow (and yet I've played a few Fantasy RPG-type things that include it as a class).

I liked Magician for the distinct outfit, mostly! It's tougher to know how a Geek might look, though I do find the idea of having both Geek and Nerd archetypes interesting.

It's not as easy to distinguish the concepts from the words alone, but I imagined Louts as being young ruffians who hang around on street corners in groups, aimlessly, while Bandits are a fantasy equivalent of aggressive, hands-on organised criminals (and the most typical Blight Wolves) and Crooks are slimy solo shysters who'd run rigged shell games and sell snake oil. I see them as distinct, though of course they're all Discord so they have that in common! I'm surprised I forgot Troll though, since I think I had that in an earlier version of this concept, years ago? I'll need to think about how it could work in the fantasy context.

I like Stepford Smiler! Well, the look and the concept, though annoyingly the name's too long, so I wonder if 'Smiler' would do? ...Though I just got lost in the TVTropes page about that (not for the first time), and wonder what message it might be communicating if only the Harmony area had people who were only pretending to be their element! Therapist seems more well-understood than Counsellor; how would they dress, anyway? I like Zealot, though I wonder how I'd distinguish that from Priest.

Mime could fall under Artiste (pretentious arty performer)... though they have a distinct look and comical appeal, so maybe??

I'd see Consumer as more Viscereal than Levitality, though actually, maybe the Fangirl/boy angle of that could just be Geek and they're Levitality rather than Abstral?? They'd maybe be something like axL, so still Abstral, but more Levitality.

I saw that specific meme image - if 'meme' is even the right term for what that is - years ago, and when I looked it up for this it seemed more mean-spirited than I remembered. I almost went with Mary Sue instead since that's the concept I had in mind, but it didn't feel quite right, plus I didn't know if it'd be widely-known enough. It's interesting how some terms feel more unacceptable though; Lout, Normie, Lunatic, Nerd, Geek, Artiste, etc all have the potential to be used as insults, but... well, I'd prefer a different name with the same connotations if I could think of one.

I wondered with Karen whether having something related to a current meme (in Dawkins' original meaning of the word) might be a talking point that'd help the game spread, though it'd date the game maybe more than some of the others since I can't imagine that slang lasting long (though 'boomer' seems to have endured longer than I would have expected; maybe I should have Boomer as... Viscereal? Discord?? Harmony?!?). Personally I see 'Karen' as a convenient descriptor for someone manifesting the Disagreeableness trait very obviously, and something like 'Rude Customer' is far less snappy! I'd be very open to alternatives though.

Anyway, I should stop distracting myself by rambling and get back to work.

Thanks for your detailed feedback! As always. I was actually worried you might have taken more issue with some things than you did, so that's a relief... I'm so paranoid these days.

I feel it'd be wise to decide on multi-purpose archetypes just so then I can minimise the amount of work that I have to do, so if there are any that are similar enough that combining them wouldn't seem too off, I'll be trying to do that.

The Discord Blight Wolves would be a faction of "you can't tell me what to do/think!" people, so they'd have a hostile view of new religions forming, though I'd also say the Viscereal ones are sceptical too, but in a "I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes" kind of way; more passive and less active than the Discord ones. Something like that.

I looked up various lists of archetypes/stereotypes - a subcultures wiki apparently exists - and asked ChatGPT for some suggestions too, and 'Slacker' or some equivalent came up enough that I probably should have something like that. But I don't know whether it should be Viscereal or Levitality, and whether it overlaps with Hippie (which also kind of overlaps with Nudist, conceptually?). Could replace Cook though; that one is narrow (and yet I've played a few Fantasy RPG-type things that include it as a class).

I liked Magician for the distinct outfit, mostly! It's tougher to know how a Geek might look, though I do find the idea of having both Geek and Nerd archetypes interesting.

It's not as easy to distinguish the concepts from the words alone, but I imagined Louts as being young ruffians who hang around on street corners in groups, aimlessly, while Bandits are a fantasy equivalent of aggressive, hands-on organised criminals (and the most typical Blight Wolves) and Crooks are slimy solo shysters who'd run rigged shell games and sell snake oil. I see them as distinct, though of course they're all Discord so they have that in common! I'm surprised I forgot Troll though, since I think I had that in an earlier version of this concept, years ago? I'll need to think about how it could work in the fantasy context.

I like Stepford Smiler! Well, the look and the concept, though annoyingly the name's too long, so I wonder if 'Smiler' would do? ...Though I just got lost in the TVTropes page about that (not for the first time), and wonder what message it might be communicating if only the Harmony area had people who were only pretending to be their element! Therapist seems more well-understood than Counsellor; how would they dress, anyway? I like Zealot, though I wonder how I'd distinguish that from Priest.

Mime could fall under Artiste (pretentious arty performer)... though they have a distinct look and comical appeal, so maybe??

I'd see Consumer as more Viscereal than Levitality, though actually, maybe the Fangirl/boy angle of that could just be Geek and they're Levitality rather than Abstral?? They'd maybe be something like axL, so still Abstral, but more Levitality.

I saw that specific meme image - if 'meme' is even the right term for what that is - years ago, and when I looked it up for this it seemed more mean-spirited than I remembered. I almost went with Mary Sue instead since that's the concept I had in mind, but it didn't feel quite right, plus I didn't know if it'd be widely-known enough. It's interesting how some terms feel more unacceptable though; Lout, Normie, Lunatic, Nerd, Geek, Artiste, etc all have the potential to be used as insults, but... well, I'd prefer a different name with the same connotations if I could think of one.

I wondered with Karen whether having something related to a current meme (in Dawkins' original meaning of the word) might be a talking point that'd help the game spread, though it'd date the game maybe more than some of the others since I can't imagine that slang lasting long (though 'boomer' seems to have endured longer than I would have expected; maybe I should have Boomer as... Viscereal? Discord?? Harmony?!?). Personally I see 'Karen' as a convenient descriptor for someone manifesting the Disagreeableness trait very obviously, and something like 'Rude Customer' is far less snappy! I'd be very open to alternatives though.

Anyway, I should stop distracting myself by rambling and get back to work.

Maniafig222~1Y

I suppose you were thinking I would have thoughts like those I expressed around the turn on the year on that Patreon post. While there are some similarities, I'm seeing this current project through a very different lens, seeing it more as a CBC-esque game with a solidly silly and crasser tone compared to Atonal Dreams. I do like engaging with your blogs!

Definitely some archetypes would crossover between the elements, that's fine cuz it also means you can keep a higher degree of enemy variety for every area! There's a lot of comedy to be had too in sprinkling in a few NPCs that clash with the area's philosophy, like an emo in a crowd of clowns, or a gaggle or nerds and a jock!

It's interesting how nerd and geek have sort of split off over time, nerd becoming mainstream while geek is still reserved for the real rabid folks, Trekkies to use an old example. Nerds get their homework done on time while Geeks will tell you about their insane AUs and crach ships or somesuch. "Have you read my YALORT x reader fic?!"

I was thinking Geek is more like someone who gets super invested in fictional lore while Fanboy would be the type to want their favourite band to sign their forehead or something like that. I suppose there's overlap, though!

I still think Mary Sue or just outright "OC" would work fine. It's not like your game is going to be played by 50 year olds who don't know basic concepts about internet culture, and maybe if someone does play it they'll look it up and learn something new!

I think a lot of things these days put in Karens, directly reference it even, so it won't exactly stand out, like "this brave game put in a Karen". Did you know there's a Karen horror movie out there? [LINK]

I suppose the thing is that if we put in a Karen, why not put in Chad and Stacy instead of a Jock? Or a Soyjak instead of a Nerd? Boomers and Zoomers. Tradwives instead of Smilers? Where does it end at that point, I suppose. Unfortunately, I don't have a better word either, because it is a fitting concept that does work well. Hm.

Definitely some archetypes would crossover between the elements, that's fine cuz it also means you can keep a higher degree of enemy variety for every area! There's a lot of comedy to be had too in sprinkling in a few NPCs that clash with the area's philosophy, like an emo in a crowd of clowns, or a gaggle or nerds and a jock!

It's interesting how nerd and geek have sort of split off over time, nerd becoming mainstream while geek is still reserved for the real rabid folks, Trekkies to use an old example. Nerds get their homework done on time while Geeks will tell you about their insane AUs and crach ships or somesuch. "Have you read my YALORT x reader fic?!"

I was thinking Geek is more like someone who gets super invested in fictional lore while Fanboy would be the type to want their favourite band to sign their forehead or something like that. I suppose there's overlap, though!

I still think Mary Sue or just outright "OC" would work fine. It's not like your game is going to be played by 50 year olds who don't know basic concepts about internet culture, and maybe if someone does play it they'll look it up and learn something new!

I think a lot of things these days put in Karens, directly reference it even, so it won't exactly stand out, like "this brave game put in a Karen". Did you know there's a Karen horror movie out there? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12636872/

I suppose the thing is that if we put in a Karen, why not put in Chad and Stacy instead of a Jock? Or a Soyjak instead of a Nerd? Boomers and Zoomers. Tradwives instead of Smilers? Where does it end at that point, I suppose. Unfortunately, I don't have a better word either, because it is a fitting concept that does work well. Hm.