It’s time for a new release of RPG Playground! This time you can add characters and monsters to your levels. Unfortunately they currently just stand there doing nothing. But don’t worry, in the next releases the NPC’s will be able to talk, and the monsters will walk around and attack the hero.

When loading your old levels, you will see a popup that it is an old level. You can add characters to these levels as normal, and when you save them, they are automatically saved in the new format.

I also did some fixes and other things, so here is the full list of things that this new release brings:

• Errors that happen during the loading of levels are now shown
• A status bar is added at the bottom right that shows connection errors and other messages
• You can add and delete characters
• Fixed the ‘HTTP IO error’ issue when trying to save a level
• Main hero is replaced by one that matches the other characters
• Tiles are now placed at the correct mouse position

For the next release I’m going to improve the save/load project dialog. You will be able to give your project names, so that it’s easier to know which level to load, and that you don’t have to select the project every time you save.

Some of you are wondering where RPG Playground is actually going, so let me explain. I’m now working towards the most basic game you can imagine.

I took the RPG genre and dropped everything that can be dropped, and named that the 1.0 version. This means 1 level, your game character can walk around and can talk to NPC’s, who have only 1 thing to say (so no dialog tree). There are monsters walking around that you must avoid, else you will die. When you win, some NPC will probably tell you that you have won. When you die, the game is restarted.

And that’s it for the 1.0 version! No items, multiple levels, etc., not even a simple health potion. Kind of like a slimmed down Zelda game. My first thought was to include fighting with monsters hack ‘n slash style (so it’s an action RPG), but I even dropped that one (for the 1.0 version that is).

So I’m working towards that minimal version as fast as I can, so that you’re able to create such a game as soon as possible. And of course, I’m really curious what you’re going to create .

After that, more features will be added, but it’s mainly up to you what goes in first. I can imagine that obvious things like fighting, items, multiple levels, extra tilesets, dialog trees and magic will probably be added at some point. But if RPG Playground is headed towards an MMO or single player experience, I honestly don’t know yet. This will depend on what you want to create at that point. If most of you want to create MMO’s, then I will provide the framework for that.

Some of you already asked me to add some extra tilesets, or an option to include your own artwork, so that will probably be the next thing after the 1.0 release.

And of course, suggestions for the things you want to see in RPG Playground are always welcome! So definitely let me know what’s on your mind and leave a comment below, or leave a message on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

I already posted this on my Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts, but I thought some of my blog followers might be up for this challenge.

I want to change the Koonsolo background on these accounts to an RPG Playground level. So if you created a nice looking level, or want to create one, let me know! Then your level will be used as background on one or all of these accounts .

Time for the second update of RPG Playground this weekend! Imagine what I could do if I did this full-time . This time I added a ’share project’ button where you can generate a link to your level. This way you can share your creations with anyone! It’s located in the top-right menu.

You first need to save your level before you can generate the link. When pressing the ’share project’ menu item, the URL to your level will be copied to the system clipboard. So after that you can paste it anywhere you want.

So go create your own RPG level and send me the link (through twitter, facebook, a comment below, email, …). Your level doesn’t have to be completely finished yet, I’m just curious what kind of levels you guys and gals are creating right now.

I just deployed the new version of RPG Playground at http://www.rpgplayground.com/, which allows you to store up to 8 levels per user. When saving or loading a project, a new dialog will pop up where you can select where to save or load your level. Your old level will be available at the first slot.

The next thing I’m working on is sharing your levels with others. This way you can show off your amazing creations .

A lot of you have been waiting for this, so here it comes: You can now save and load your levels in RPG Playground! Currently only 1 level can be saved an loaded again, but hey, you got to start somewhere. I just put the new version online, so go check it out at http://rpgplayground.com.

The next thing on my list is to allow you to save and load multiple levels.

Plenty of people have mailed me with the request to port Mystic Mine to some platform X (because that would be really cool!). Or to distribute Mystic Mine where it’s currently not available. But the sad truth is that I can’t put much energy in Mystic Mine because I’m focussing on RPG Playground. I feel sad about this, because it would indeed be cool if Mystic Mine received more attention.

Therefore I decided to release Mystic Mine as Open Source, both the source code and as much content as possible. All source code and content is now released under the MIT license at https://github.com/koonsolo/MysticMine. This includes:

• All source code (mainly written in python)
• All graphics (Blender 3D and Gimp files included)

Unfortunately the music and sound of the original game were bought under a royalty free license, and so they cannot be distributed here. Currently all those files are silent. I hope someone can find a proper replacement for these sounds and music files, so that the Open Source release of Mystic Mine becomes a complete game.

Commercially I don’t have much to gain from this, but there’s a huge list of things that would make me very happy:

• My fans creating their own levels (There’s an ingame level editor that my friends and I used to create all those levels. Check the sources for hidden keyboard shortcuts).
• Modifications, adaptions and improvements that I would never have thought of myself.
• ’sudo aptitute install mysticmine’
• Mystic Mine running on all kinds of different platforms.
• The Open Source community receiving something back from me. As you probably know I’m a huge fan of Open Source. Mystic Mine was created on Linux using python, pygame, gVim, Blender 3D, The Gimp, Audacity, … . After receiving so much, it makes me happy to give something small back.

You can find all files at https://github.com/koonsolo/MysticMine.

Enjoy, and have fun! (and tell all your friends )

I just put the new release of RPG Playground online, which features a login and registering system. Unfortunately logging in doesn’t have any real purpose yet, but it’s the first step towards saving levels, since that will require you to log in.

I tried to make it as easy as possible to create a new account on RPG Playground, and I think the final result is perfect. You can read more about it in my previous blog post.

Fortunately for you, I also added some real functionality, although a small one: You can now switch to fullscreen mode by using the fullscreen button at the bottom right.

Implementing this release was a heavy one. My plan was to include saving and loading levels in the 0.2 release, but this functionality requires a login framework, which also includes password resets etc. So first I worked on the login system, but this alone already required a vast amount of work. I didn’t have any server code yet, and my GUI framework was build for games and not really for GUI heavy programs. So it took me some time to implement the entire framework.

I wanted to include the saving and loading levels in the 0.2 release, but since it took so much time, I’m now releasing the login functionality first, and the saving and loading levels will be for the next release (Since I now have the main framework running, this shouldn’t take so much time)

So try the new version, and see if you can register and log in: http://rpgplayground.com.

RPG Playground needs a way to save and load levels. But for that to happen, it needs a proper login system, to store your data online.

I thought a lot about a proper login and registering system, and I think I found the perfect one.

I didn’t copy any other system found on the web. I just hate it when you create a new account for some service, and have to provide a bunch-load of info, double fields for email and password, wait for a confirmation email, etc. I know a lot of people, including myself, think this is a barrier for signing up to a new service.

So what I did is drop everything but the absolutely necessary.

As it turned out, it seems you can drop almost everything. Creating an account is as easy as logging in. All you have to do is enter your email and password, and click on the “Create Account” button. I dropped all the usual bloated features that other systems use:

• Second password field for validation: This is used to make sure you typed in your password correctly. But since you can reset your password at any time (in case you forgot it for example), entering a wrong password is not a big deal, so RPG Playground doesn’t require you to enter your password twice.
• Login name: Why need a login name when you have an email address? I sometimes forget my login name at certain websites, but I never forget my own email address. Besides, it’s unique, so no need for those annoying “there is already a user named johndoe85, please try another name”.
• Email validation: RPG Playground doesn’t validate your email address. The only reason I need your email address is for when you forgot your password. When that happens, you can request an email which allows you to reset your password. So you can enter a fake email address or that from someone else, but when you do, you cannot reset your password, or even worse, the one with the real email address can reset it and take over your account. So filling in a wrong email address is not a problem for me, but it can be for you. Since I won’t use this email address for bugging you with commercial mails, I don’t see the need to validate it.
• Personal info: Name, address, telephone number, …, I don’t see why I would need this. You won’t receive phone calls or bulk emails that have your name in it to look personalized.

So basically registering is as easy as logging in, you just need to click the “Create Account” button instead of the “Log in” button.

There was one other issue that I had trouble with: the names for the buttons. For logging in, possible names are “Login”, “Log in”, “Sign in”, and for registering: “Join”, “Register”, “Sign up” and “Create Account”. Every website seems to handle this differently. I found a bunch of good information on this, and went for the “Log in”/”Create Account” combo. See

1. Web Form Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms
2. When to use “join,” “register,” or “sign up”?
3. Using “Sign in” vs using “Log in”
4. Why Sign Up and Sign In Should Never Go Together

So I will create the easiest registering system in the world for my RPG Editor. But unfortunately for now, it won’t remember your login, so you will have to log in after you close it. That’s one feature I would like to add in the future.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. — Albert Einstein

I have just put the first alpha version of RPG Playground online at http://rpgplayground.com. Remark that this is an alpha version, so nothing works, except for the most basic functionality. You can walk around with your game character, and when pressing the ‘edit’ button in the top-left corner, you can add and remove objects/tiles. So it’s already possible to create some cool looking levels.

Unfortunately saving levels isn’t implemented yet, so once you close your browser, your newly created level is gone. But don’t worry, it’s the next thing I’m working on.

So go ahead, experiment with some level creation at http://rpgplayground.com, and let me know what you think, or send me some screenshots of your work.

Have fun!