Fixed, Jashiin - that paragraph was a quick filler, which has now been finalized. Kickass - I was going to combine steal and pickpocket, but decided that stealing is more like taking things from a chest, while pickpocketing is more of a talent requiring finesse to grab something from a person's pocket without him knowing. Don't get caught! You'll be sent to the terrible Blasted Lands of volcanic fire and brimstone! Of course, there may be reasons you want to go there...
Franco - you ask the ultimate question. MadMan is largely based on Joseph Conrad's literary classic, "Lord Jim". Jim had jumped into a life boat from a sinking ship and watched as people died on that ship, knowing that if it weren't for his cowardice, someone else could have taken his place in the life boat. This haunted him for the rest of his life. Years later, he ran into a similar situation. And this time he didn't run, and no one knew the real reason, that he was restoring his lost sense of honor, commensurate with a dignified and noble death.
So the madman is a similar character, bordering on madness because of the guilt he feels over a bad situation that happened back in his own land. He finds himself in a new land, where the people and situations seem to be an odd reflection of his inner turmoil, and where he may have to sacrifice his very life to avert the ultimate danger threatening the land...
Although I wrote up his personality many years ago, I suppose the madman could be thought of as a cross between someone like the "Witcher" and TNO from Planescape.
Right now I'm finishing up the "roll over" system where you get detailed information about everything on the create panel by moving the mouse. After that, the manual. Final chore is the save and load game functions, and the game itself is basically done. Maybe 2 weeks of work.
The real issue looms. ART! There's only so much I can do on my own - many portraits need to be made, and possibly a few cut scenes.
Since MadMan is very character-driven, and I went to great lengths to make each NPC have a distinctive personality. Quality portraits are a must. What I'm thinking here is portraits similar to those in a game like Icewind Dale, which I thought were very nice. This could be costly indeed, but with the rest of the game nearly done, it has indeed become the biggest problem.
- Dr. D.