Jordan Weisman’s CV is something to behold. It begins in 1980, when he co-founded FASA Corporation, maker of the enduring tabletop games Shadowrun and BattleTech; in the early 1990s, the latter series birthed a chain of BattleTech Centers, pioneering virtual entertainment venues with 3D networked combat. He’s also at least partly responsible for the MechWarrior videogames, the Crimson Skies universe, collectible miniatures company WizKids, and Harebrained Schemes, developer of assorted videogames, primarily based on Weisman’s creations.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/6668971868.jpg]
In short, then, he is something of a serial entrepreneur, always looking for the next big idea. His latest is Adventure Forge, a creation tool that lets players develop their own narrative games – digital ones, that is, though informed by his years spent working in tabletop gaming. “Some of my favourite stories are the stories that players have told me,” Weisman tells us. “I feel that the roleplaying universes that I created just kind of set the table, and then they made the meal. And they make wonderful, wonderful meals.” What if he could enable video game players to tell their own stories, regardless of aptitude? “All of us can pick up a paintbrush and paint badly,” he says, “but it’s very hard to make games of any kind, good or bad.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/1698186168.jpg]
Adventure Forge aims to change that by eliminating coding completely, replacing it with a series of contextual dropdown menus. Selecting a character or object will populate the menus with options, allowing the player to assign conditions and outcomes – such as triggering an explosion if the character steps on a booby trap. Weisman says Adventure Forge can be used to create a broad spectrum of narrative games, from text-only Choose Your Own Adventure-style scenarios to visual novels, Telltale-like games, and even sophisticated isometric RPGs in the Shadowrun vein.
To help creators along the way, Weisman plans to utilise artificial intelligence, although he is quick to point out that it will merely be an aide, rather than the driving force for creation: Adventure Forge won’t be filled with NPCs spouting AI-generated quests on the fly. Instead, users can ask the AI, which leverages ChatGPT, to extrapolate from sentences or prompts. Weisman says that, even with his own writing, “getting a bunch of crap generated by a computer” can help to spark ideas. “I can replace it with better stuff faster than I could if I stared at a blank sheet of paper.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/2962627922.jpg]
Adventure Forge likewise uses AI to help with art creation. Users can upload their own art assets, but can also type prompts to create them. The visuals are generated using Scenario. gg, which has been trained on the particular style of isometric art used in Adventure Forge to ensure consistency.
The software will ship with a selection of pre-made scenarios to give players ideas about how the toolset can be used, Weisman explains. “We wanted to give people a world to play with right off the bat,” so that they’re not faced with that dreaded blank sheet. The initial world is ...
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/6668971868.jpg]
In short, then, he is something of a serial entrepreneur, always looking for the next big idea. His latest is Adventure Forge, a creation tool that lets players develop their own narrative games – digital ones, that is, though informed by his years spent working in tabletop gaming. “Some of my favourite stories are the stories that players have told me,” Weisman tells us. “I feel that the roleplaying universes that I created just kind of set the table, and then they made the meal. And they make wonderful, wonderful meals.” What if he could enable video game players to tell their own stories, regardless of aptitude? “All of us can pick up a paintbrush and paint badly,” he says, “but it’s very hard to make games of any kind, good or bad.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/1698186168.jpg]
Adventure Forge aims to change that by eliminating coding completely, replacing it with a series of contextual dropdown menus. Selecting a character or object will populate the menus with options, allowing the player to assign conditions and outcomes – such as triggering an explosion if the character steps on a booby trap. Weisman says Adventure Forge can be used to create a broad spectrum of narrative games, from text-only Choose Your Own Adventure-style scenarios to visual novels, Telltale-like games, and even sophisticated isometric RPGs in the Shadowrun vein.
To help creators along the way, Weisman plans to utilise artificial intelligence, although he is quick to point out that it will merely be an aide, rather than the driving force for creation: Adventure Forge won’t be filled with NPCs spouting AI-generated quests on the fly. Instead, users can ask the AI, which leverages ChatGPT, to extrapolate from sentences or prompts. Weisman says that, even with his own writing, “getting a bunch of crap generated by a computer” can help to spark ideas. “I can replace it with better stuff faster than I could if I stared at a blank sheet of paper.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1686816559/articles/pnbyYN6VY1686824887986/2962627922.jpg]
Adventure Forge likewise uses AI to help with art creation. Users can upload their own art assets, but can also type prompts to create them. The visuals are generated using Scenario. gg, which has been trained on the particular style of isometric art used in Adventure Forge to ensure consistency.
The software will ship with a selection of pre-made scenarios to give players ideas about how the toolset can be used, Weisman explains. “We wanted to give people a world to play with right off the bat,” so that they’re not faced with that dreaded blank sheet. The initial world is ...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2023