The Ardor project is around 9 years old. I started it with my best friend Wayne Kelley after I graduated from High School. We were deeply inspired by Squaresoft's "Golden Era", and we wanted to make the epic RPG to end all epic RPGs. We split the cost of Xenogears Perfect Works, a 200 page tome written in Japanese - that's how into RPG's we were. We plotted characters, story points, magic systems, mythologies, religions - real hard core world building. It was my first foray into game design of any kind.
It continues to be a lifelong dream to see the game made, but I've learned a lot about games, design, and (importantly) what makes a game sell. I've come to view world-building as a means to an end - unless the fact that it's pertinent to the player, the fact that the Bay of Splinters used to be called the Bay of Davorir isn't important.
How did Ardor get to be so old? Teenage me had a penchant for grand plans that were discarded. The failed novel, comic book, webcomic, anime newsletter - why did Ardor remain while these other efforts failed?
Passion.
Ardor was the only project I really cared about. Sure, I was inspired to write, to draw, but nothing stuck in my head like Ardor. It wasn't until I returned to college in 2006 that I considered a career in game design more than a fantasy, but when we started Ardor, it was always to be the magnum opus.
Ardor's real value to me is it's worth as an intellectual sandbox. I've created and discarded several battle systems - from RTS style unit management, to Strategy RPG grid-based battle, to classic JRPG Attack|Magic|Item|Flee turn based menus. Wayne and I have spent probably a hundred hours discussing the merits of a linear story vs. an open one, the development of characters, and what makes a game compelling. We've talked about the disjoint of having magical swords available in shops in peasant towns. We've seen The List of RPG Clichés, and reflected on them at length. Ardor has provided me a stable of characters that I've come to love deeply, and an established but mutable world in which to explore game concepts.
We have a wiki. I lost the password, because I haven't updated it in that form in about two years. Most of the information there I keep around as evidence of the project as it existed in 2007. Much has been changed in discussions between myself and Wayne. Much that hasn't been changed ought to - with every day of literary criticism and theory classes I take, I learn more about how our world works, how people respond to the forces in their lives, and the struggles for power that inevitably arise in any institution. I'm convinced that if I made Ardor now, it would be amazing; far better than it would have been had I made it years ago - but not nearly as good as if I make it tomorrow.
When I first started with XNA, Ardor was the first thing I wanted to make. I knew it was beyond my skills at the time, but I was going to use it as a learning experience. There were two iterations.
The first was just me exploring 3d modeling with Blender and XNA's 3d functions. I'm still proud of these simple little videos, because they represent a time when I demonstrated that I could learn a new product with haste. I came into XNA knowing nothing, and I managed in the span of a summer to create this.
The second was an AI mockup for the combat engine. There are a few variations here, and I can list exactly what they do, along with why I ultimately realized they weren't fun or didn't work.
This was the AI programming for the combat engine. I had a rock-paper-scissors paradigm going, but there are inherent logical issues with trying to make RPS a 4-way system. Also, it wasn't very fun, so I'm not sure I miss it.
Another video of the AI for the combat engine - this time what happens when a few dozen enemies get into a big fight. In this case, as I recall, the "Malhaven soldiers" in green manage to put down an equal number of "Brigands" in red.
Sadly, these were days when I was inexperienced in the treachery of 1's and 0's, and I lost all the code in a hard drive crash. See? Another learning experience. I now keep all game code backed up on an SVN repository on an external drive.
The downside of having characters I love and a solid setting is that I can't dream of letting it become a mediocre game. I have faith in my ability to make a good game, but this is a project I would only trust to a team that understands and shares my passion for it. I'm aware that a concept can't be refined forever - sometimes you have to sit down and make it. But perhaps the greatest benefit of indie development is that with persistent effort and enough time, a game can be exactly what you want it to be.
