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| Project News | General Info | Screenshots | Downloads |
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Welcome to DzikoSoft Spreadsheet RPG.XLS Project! | |
Last update: May 10, 2009 - new version of RPG.XLS engine. | |
1. Read general introduction to RPG.XLS project. | |
Excel RPG... a crazy challenge?Being both the MS Excel freak and great fan of computer role playing games inevitably leads me to finally start making role playing game as an Excel workbook. I have both experience with creating simple CRPG (see my Lords of Doom) and Excel gaming, but combining these two - it’s a definitely challenging, not to say crazy, undertaking. | |
Role playing games are very complex and requires months, or rather years, to develop. It is easy to get lost in the maze of design problems and other challenges. That’s why I take an open design approach - Excel gamers will be able to see the development of the game almost from the scratch. You may provide feedback and even join development process. | |
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What I am trying to accomplish: an "old-school" single character top-down fantasy role playing game in the style of early Ultimas. Do not be mislead by the "old-school" label. Role playing games produced in early 1990s cannot compete with modern "Action RPGs" in terms of graphics or sound effects, but they offered deeper and more challenging gameplay as well as more complex RPG mechanics. | |
For such a project being manageable, I have to impose some constrains on its complexity. It is much better to finish a simpler game than to lose months trying hopelessly to produce extremely advanced game - the rule many independent developers seem not to be aware of. | |
Therefore, do not expect things like real-time combat against monsters with super AI in RPG.XLS. On the other hand, some things that look quite complex and add a lot of flavor are relatively easy to code. For example the game will feature complex dialogue trees with many options based on characters’ knowledge and the state of the game world. | |
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Due to the open-ended character of the project, the RPG mechanics, plot, settings, and interface are still in the stage of emergence. However, you can now read about the settings and general RPG mechanics in a new RPG Settings section. The Engine Design section explains some technical details - VBA programmers and game developers may find it useful. | |
I started Project RPG.XLS as a testing ground, a long prelude to huge and very complex full-scale RPG in Excel, I called Project TOTL, but this is question of distant, unforeseen future. At that moment, download latest version of RPG Engine and enjoy. Tell other Excel and RPG freaks abut RPG.XLS and feel free to leave your feedback about this project:  Excel is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation®
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