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To be sure, this has been suggested elsewhere on more than one occasion, once even by myself in The Designers’ Forum. However, in an effort to further educate, and drive the point home, I shall once more elaborate. TAKE NOTES! Good, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I shall provide a bit more of a warrant. Complex scenario design inevitably requires the use of a good deal of variables, all of which it is futile to try and remember without aid. Do NOT fall into the “I’ll just use the SDFs that correspond with the town#” trap — it doesn’t work, and it never will. If nothing else, when you come back to your scenario in the future to repair/expand the scenario, you’ll be at a total loss without notes. Ahh — but the next logical question is, what kind of notes should one take? And perhaps a question not addressed as thoroughly as its predecessor. My answer is, broadly, take notes on those things that will aid you in quality and efficiency. Obviously, the most important thing to make not of is SDFs — what one’s you’ve used, and what they’ve been used for. I always make a list of items that have special item classes, but I tend to make a lot of use of these, so perhaps it won’t be necessary in your case. A list of the towns is always useful, especially as the scenario grows larger. This is especially useful if you’re using Variable Town Entries, as you’ll be better able to keep track of what version of Silvar is what. You may also want to make note of special items, if they are prolific. Finally, make note of the variable required to trigger complex events — for example, if Fort Za-Khazi falls on Day 21, make note of that, and the chains called to recognize it. Of course, it is inevitable that any verbal description of notes will necessarily fall short of a visual representation. To that end, I’ve included my notes from Redemption* and An Apology, in order to give a better feel for what I find effective. (OTT Stands for One Time Text response. I use the code OTT to stand for any one-time special node, including One Time and Sets, One Time Place Encounters, Give Special Item Nodes, and Trap nodes, as all of these nodes are functionally identical when it comes to SDF placement.) (Note from TM: Apologies, but it seems as if this part didn't come through when the Designer's Forum was recovered. Alcritas' notes, you must go without. Alas.) |
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