Design

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Revision as of 05:35, 25 January 2010 by Eshme (Talk | contribs) (Designer resources)

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Game Design is everything from creating this NPC, to being ready to export everything to be used in Game. This is all made via various sections of the Dragon Age Toolset.

Overview

The Toolset can probably be seen as multiple tools ,with the resources it creates being somewhat independently editable, with the connection being internal references. This is mananged thru a database ,and allows for multiple persons to work in only specific areas of the Toolset, without hindering another. As a whole it is probably too much to learn for one person alone. But the toolset gets it all together.

Anything you design is a single resource for the next step, so one can separate the tools into resource categories, as seen with the Resource palette. Dragon Age has two main classes of resources. Designer resources that are stored in the database and art resources that are stored as files in your filesystem, with art resources being supplemental to what is covered here.

The other important resource are two-dimensional Arrays (2DA's) ,which amongst other things contain variables and definitions, that the designer can "play out". Or are merely supplemental.


See resource list for a comprehensive list of all of the resource types.

Designer resources

This is what the designer creates, and when talking about designing a resource the resource category is what matters here. Designer resources are stored in the toolset's accompanying database and are for the most part focused on the mechanics of the game - the stuff that makes an adventure "work".

Designer Resources include the following, but not exclusivly:

See Main Article: Resource Palette, for the main interface for selecting designer resources for editing.


  • String editor - A tool that allows quick and easy access to all text that might be presented to the player in the game.

Exporting resources

  • Builder to builder - The mechanisms used by the toolset that allow packages of game resources to be shared between multiple collaborating builders. This is not intended for builder to player packaging, which produces installable files suitable for distribution to end users.