Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 RPG Basics
A (Relatively) Brief History of Computer RPGs
What Makes Up an RPG?
Designing an RPG
The Design Document
Decisions to Make
Our Design Document
Game World Overview
Camera
Game Characters
User Interface
Items
Music
Single-Player Game
Multiplayer Game
Next Up
Chapter 2 RPG Entities — Characters, NPCs, and Monsters
Stats
Races
Entity Classes
Entities
The Toolset
Summary
Chapter 3 Skills
The Skill Class
Creating and Storing Skill Data
Learning Skills
Using Skills
Chapter 4 Magic
The Spell Class
Learning Spells
Using Magic
The Spell Book
Chapter 5 Items and Loot
The BaseItem Class
The Item Class
The Weapon Class
The Armor Class
The Chest Class
The EntityItem Class
The Inventory Class
Chapter 6 Combat (or “It’s Clobberin’ Time”)
Ready… Fight
The Combat Engine
The Combat Simulator
There’s Always Room for Improvement
Chapter 7 Audio
Playing Sounds with the SoundEffect and SoundEffectInstance Classes
Playing Songs
XACT
Creating Sounds with XACT
Playing 2D Sound
Chapter 8 Creating the Tile Engine and Level Editor
Tiles
The Level Class
The Level Editor
Chapter 9 Interface
The Toolbar
The Inventory Window
GUI Libraries
Areas for Improvement
Chapter 10 Quests
The Quest Class
Entity Class Changes
Creating Quests
Chapter 11 Conversations/Scripting
The Conversation Class
Testing the Conversation
Chapter 12 Multiplayer Considerations
Who’s the Boss?
Multiple-Player Party
GM-Controlled Game
Players as Both Good and Bad Entities
Setting Up for Multiplayer
Getting Started
In-Game Chat
“I sense a presence…”
Session Management
Chapter 13 Putting It All Together
Making It Better
Appendix Additional Resources
Index
