|
1 <?xml version='1.0'?> |
|
2 <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" |
|
3 "/usr/share/sgml/docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> |
|
4 <article> |
|
5 <articleinfo> |
|
6 <title>System Color</title> |
|
7 <subtitle>A typology of RPG mechanics</subtitle> |
|
8 <abstract> |
|
9 <para>Role playing game design is an art, <quote>a system of |
|
10 principles and rules for attaining a desired end</quote>. |
|
11 However, it's an art in its infancy. Although many models |
|
12 have been available to describe the experience of role-playing |
|
13 game, not much have been done regarding mechanics. We have |
|
14 the DKF description, some designation regarding levels of |
|
15 design or mechanics elements but mostly nothing about goal of |
|
16 mechanics, or only in a very abstract form. This article aim |
|
17 to explore a single aspect of game mechanics, which is to |
|
18 determine which qualities are necessary or at least desirable |
|
19 in all role playing games. This, we hope, will be a first |
|
20 premise to more characterization of mechanics, helping us to |
|
21 discuss and evaluate different systems, and, with the help of |
|
22 other tools, finally create a real science of role-playing |
|
23 game design.</para> |
|
24 </abstract> |
|
25 <keywordset> |
|
26 <keyword>GDS model</keyword> |
|
27 <keyword>role-playing game</keyword> |
|
28 <keyword>system design</keyword> |
|
29 <keyword>simulationism, gamism and narrativism</keyword> |
|
30 </keywordset> |
|
31 <author> |
|
32 <firstname>Fabien</firstname> |
|
33 <surname>Niñoles</surname> |
|
34 </author> |
|
35 <copyright> |
|
36 <year>2002-2003</year> |
|
37 <holder>Fabien Niñoles</holder> |
|
38 </copyright> |
|
39 |
|
40 <revhistory> |
|
41 <revision> |
|
42 <revnumber>0.5r3 :</revnumber> |
|
43 <date>2003-06-02</date> |
|
44 <revdescription> |
|
45 <para>Add a paragraph about the link between Beauty and |
|
46 colors. Add some keywords to the document. A small |
|
47 remarks is add about the adaptability section.</para> |
|
48 </revdescription> |
|
49 </revision> |
|
50 <revision> |
|
51 <revnumber>0.4r4:</revnumber> |
|
52 <date>2003-01-26</date> |
|
53 <revdescription> |
|
54 <para>A lot of minor revisions. Reverse Cyan and Magenta |
|
55 association. Mixed up colors, sorry! Nostalgic Magenta is |
|
56 now called Expressive Magenta, and Dream Blue is now |
|
57 Immersive Blue. I think a lot about adding a new chapter |
|
58 about this. Also, change the title since this is really a |
|
59 Typology of mechanics.</para> |
|
60 </revdescription> |
|
61 </revision> |
|
62 <revision> |
|
63 <revnumber>0.3r2 :</revnumber> |
|
64 <date>2003-01-10</date> |
|
65 <revdescription> |
|
66 <para>Add Brightness description. Move Transparency into |
|
67 Brightness and add a note about difference Transparent |
|
68 system and Transparent <emphasis>Color</emphasis> |
|
69 system.</para> |
|
70 </revdescription> |
|
71 </revision> |
|
72 <revision> |
|
73 <revnumber>0.2 :</revnumber> |
|
74 <date>2003-01-10</date> |
|
75 <revdescription> |
|
76 <para>First complete release (public).</para> |
|
77 </revdescription> |
|
78 </revision> |
|
79 <revision> |
|
80 <revnumber>0.1 :</revnumber> |
|
81 <date>2003-01-01</date> |
|
82 <revdescription> |
|
83 <para>Initial release (incomplete).</para> |
|
84 </revdescription> |
|
85 </revision> |
|
86 </revhistory> |
|
87 </articleinfo> |
|
88 <section id="intro"> |
|
89 <title>Introduction</title> |
|
90 |
|
91 <para>What's the art of game design? The Webster 1913 defined art |
|
92 as a system of rules and principles for attaining a desired end. |
|
93 So, what are those rules, those principles, and more important, |
|
94 what's this desired end? For this last question, I think you |
|
95 can have as many answers as there are role players. Although |
|
96 some people have defined and described carefully the motivations |
|
97 and goals of players, not much have be done regarding how those |
|
98 goals can be satisfied.</para> |
|
99 |
|
100 <para>The goal of this article is to make a new step in this |
|
101 direction. What I try to do is to answer to a single question: |
|
102 <quote>What's desirable, if not necessary, in every role |
|
103 playing game system?</quote> That's a very hard question to |
|
104 answer since most role playing games have different goals, |
|
105 different settings, different ways to make the role playing |
|
106 experience exciting and fun. But strangely, this appeared to be |
|
107 the easier obstacle encountered on this road. The bigger |
|
108 obstacle I met were the lack of a common vocabulary among |
|
109 designers. No designer has the same way of naming things, and |
|
110 that's true either in French or English. Also, people often |
|
111 used the same word for talking about very different things. So |
|
112 to avoid this problem, I chose a very different approach: I |
|
113 decided to use a color metaphor. Since colors are a bit opaque |
|
114 to role playing system terminology, which doesn't help at all |
|
115 for a tool aim to help communication, I had to add some |
|
116 adjectives to them, just clear enough to hint the new reader |
|
117 about the possible meaning of such colors.</para> |
|
118 |
|
119 <para>The first version of this paper will solely be about those |
|
120 colors of mechanics, as well as a short presentations of |
|
121 examples. I however plan to add more to it, especially |
|
122 regarding other aspects of role playing, like the relation |
|
123 between those colors and the already existing typologies, like |
|
124 GNS. But for the beginning, we have to define first what |
|
125 constitutes a role playing game, and especially, what's a role |
|
126 playing game system.</para> |
|
127 </section> |
|
128 |
|
129 <section id="rpgdef"> |
|
130 <title>What's a Role Playing Game?</title> |
|
131 |
|
132 <para>This section is not about defining in details what's a role |
|
133 playing game but mostly to propose a common vocabulary about |
|
134 what constitutes a role playing game, so that we can know what |
|
135 we are talking about. A typical role playing game can be seen |
|
136 to be constituted of two parts:</para> |
|
137 |
|
138 <itemizedlist> |
|
139 <listitem> |
|
140 <para>a description of an imaginary universe called the |
|
141 <emphasis>setting</emphasis>;</para> |
|
142 </listitem> |
|
143 <listitem> |
|
144 <para>a set of rules to handle events resolution in the |
|
145 setting, called the <emphasis>system</emphasis>.</para> |
|
146 </listitem> |
|
147 </itemizedlist> |
|
148 |
|
149 <para>Usually, the setting is divided in many more elements, like |
|
150 the characters we can encounter in this particular universe, the |
|
151 environment (either social, technological, historical and/or |
|
152 geographical) in which those characters evolve, examples of |
|
153 situations those characters can encounter, as well as notes |
|
154 about the intended atmosphere of this universe. Some or even |
|
155 all of those elements can be omitted or more or less detailed. |
|
156 When most elements are omitted, or without specified with much |
|
157 details, we call this kind of system universal or generic. I |
|
158 prefer the second appellation because, although most generic |
|
159 system pretend to be usable in any setting, they are often just |
|
160 a generalization of one or many settings, sharing some common |
|
161 elements. Except for this small difference, we will now only |
|
162 talk about setting and generic setting as a whole, without |
|
163 addressing more concerns about their internal elements. Is not |
|
164 that those elements aren't important in designing a good role |
|
165 playing game, but it's a way to stay on our focus.</para> |
|
166 |
|
167 <para>Systems are also often divided into multiple parts, |
|
168 classified in multiple differents ways, etc. Systems often even |
|
169 contains some elements of setting, like particularity of the |
|
170 environment. For now, we just want to consider systems as a |
|
171 whole. We only make one distinction: system elements that |
|
172 contain no element which can be considered part of the setting |
|
173 would be called mechanics, and mechanics or system elements that |
|
174 contains or describe part of the setting (including situational |
|
175 elements like combat or character description) will be called |
|
176 rules. This is certainly not enough for a more in-depth |
|
177 exploration of system composition but it will be sufficient for |
|
178 our purpose.</para> |
|
179 |
|
180 <para>Meta-gaming elements are elements often external to a role |
|
181 playing game. They included things like the location where the |
|
182 game is set, the current mood of the players, their perception |
|
183 of the reality, the quality (access, language, medium) of |
|
184 communication between them, the presence of materials, their |
|
185 relationship, etc. They are aspects of the gaming experience |
|
186 which can be seen as out of the current setting but are still |
|
187 part of the role playing experience. Some systems or even |
|
188 setting elements can influence or help to make some meta-gaming |
|
189 elements either less intrusive or more fun and interesting. |
|
190 They can also adapt to accommodate some less optimal meta-gaming |
|
191 elements, like the presence of a noisy environment. Meta-gaming |
|
192 elements can often influenced both (although the designer have |
|
193 mostly no control over them except written recommendation) and |
|
194 some role playing games even used them to enhance the role |
|
195 playing experience.</para> |
|
196 |
|
197 </section> |
|
198 |
|
199 <section id="colormodel"> |
|
200 <title>The color model</title> |
|
201 |
|
202 <para>The color model are composed of the three primary additive |
|
203 colors: red, green and blue. Just like any colors, some people |
|
204 prefers some of them more than the others. That's OK, from |
|
205 taste and colors, one can't discuss. However, we want to make a |
|
206 small exception to this rule: we will supposed that everyone |
|
207 will prefer bright colors instead of darker one. Brightness |
|
208 represent the adherence of a system to a specific color (mix are |
|
209 allowed). So, since we supposed that any color are at least |
|
210 desirable, you'll always prefer a brighter mechanic instead of a |
|
211 darker one, as long as it is of the right color. Take note that |
|
212 a system that mix all colors will be white and bright. And a |
|
213 system that have no color at all will be black. Maybe you still |
|
214 prefer darker colors in real life (like most role players, if |
|
215 you look at the way most of them are dressed up), but make a |
|
216 small effort now or use negative vision. Elsewhere, you'll just |
|
217 fall in the darker side of role playing game, full of munchkins |
|
218 and rules lawyers. Are you sure you want to go there?</para> |
|
219 |
|
220 <para>To help to better understand the concept behind each color, |
|
221 especially when talking to a non-initiate, an adjective is |
|
222 added to each of them. You are free to used it when you think |
|
223 is necessary but try to make a link to this page for reference |
|
224 so people know what you are talking about.</para> |
|
225 |
|
226 <para>Here is the three primary colors and their definitions:</para> |
|
227 |
|
228 <variablelist> |
|
229 <varlistentry id="reddef"> |
|
230 <term>Consistent Red</term> |
|
231 |
|
232 <listitem> |
|
233 <para>Consistent Red is the color of system that are |
|
234 consistent with the setting elements they are supposed to |
|
235 describe. If your setting describe, or more often |
|
236 suppose, swords as more lethal than daggers, the system |
|
237 should respect this and not make daggers equally or more |
|
238 lethal than swords. A dark red system tend to interfere |
|
239 with <literal>Suspension of Disbelief</literal>. Break in |
|
240 Suspension of Disbelief is a phenomena which can be best |
|
241 described as players rolling their eyes toward you, the |
|
242 mouth wide open in an expression of incredulity, and |
|
243 leaving your table to never came back again (and no, |
|
244 that's not because their lost their way to the |
|
245 refrigerator). Red was chose because of the its relation |
|
246 with this <emphasis>stop attitude</emphasis>, as well as |
|
247 the tendency of very high red system to be a bit bloody in |
|
248 action. <emphasis>This is not, however, a universal |
|
249 characteristic!</emphasis></para> |
|
250 |
|
251 <para>A good example of system with a strong red color is |
|
252 <trademark>RoleMaster</trademark> with their very detailed |
|
253 systems for med-fan universe<footnote> |
|
254 |
|
255 <para>Really, I'm not sure if this is a good example. |
|
256 Any better suggestions welcome.</para> |
|
257 |
|
258 </footnote>.</para> |
|
259 </listitem> |
|
260 </varlistentry> |
|
261 <varlistentry id="greendef"> |
|
262 <term>Fluid<footnote> |
|
263 |
|
264 <para>Don't like this name but I want to avoid using |
|
265 Simple in it, since Green is much more than only |
|
266 Simplicity. Fluid is currently the only word I can |
|
267 think.</para> |
|
268 |
|
269 </footnote> Green</term> |
|
270 |
|
271 <listitem> |
|
272 <para>Fluid Green system are easy to learn and have often |
|
273 low search and resolution time. They can however have a |
|
274 lot of options to chose from, as long as those options are |
|
275 clear and easy to handle. Those systems are often perfect |
|
276 for beginners or people wanting quick pace systems, |
|
277 without stopping to details. This is two good reasons to |
|
278 give them the green color, this color being often |
|
279 associated with beginners and speed.</para> |
|
280 |
|
281 <para>A good example of a green system is <trademark |
|
282 class="copyright">The Window</trademark>, a free RPG game |
|
283 with very simple mechanics.</para> |
|
284 </listitem> |
|
285 </varlistentry> |
|
286 |
|
287 <varlistentry id="bluedef"> |
|
288 <term>Immersive Blue</term> |
|
289 <listitem> |
|
290 <para>Immersive Blue rules help to sustain a particular |
|
291 atmosphere in a game. This atmosphere can be either |
|
292 dramatic, heroic, epic, scary, peaceful, imaginative, or |
|
293 all of them at the same time. Just like the Consistent |
|
294 Red, blue rules are strongly associated with the setting. |
|
295 Blue was chose because of its association with atmosphere |
|
296 and emotions.</para> |
|
297 |
|
298 <para>One of the bluest system that the author know is |
|
299 <trademark class="copyright">eight</trademark>, a free RPG |
|
300 where all of the few rules participate to the setting |
|
301 atmosphere.</para> |
|
302 </listitem> |
|
303 </varlistentry> |
|
304 </variablelist> |
|
305 |
|
306 <para>All of the three colors can be mixed together, in different |
|
307 quantities. This give us 4 more different colors<footnote> |
|
308 |
|
309 <para>Remember, this is the three |
|
310 <emphasis>additive</emphasis> primary colors, just like your |
|
311 television but unlike water painting, which used primary |
|
312 <emphasis>subtractive</emphasis> colors.</para> |
|
313 |
|
314 </footnote>:</para> |
|
315 |
|
316 <variablelist> |
|
317 <varlistentry id="yellowdef"> |
|
318 <term>Clear-Sight Yellow (Red and Green)</term> |
|
319 |
|
320 <listitem> |
|
321 <para>Usually, when you want brighter red, you compromise on |
|
322 a darker green, and when you want brighter green, you |
|
323 often compromise with darker red. So this color is quite |
|
324 rare, and yellow rules are real pearl of wisdom. Yellow |
|
325 systems are able to give a maximum of consistency and |
|
326 details from your setting, without removing speed and ease |
|
327 of play. They promised really good play for those who |
|
328 like to explore different elements of the setting.</para> |
|
329 |
|
330 <para>As I said, yellow rules are quite rare. Yellow |
|
331 systems even more. I failed to see a system where this |
|
332 color dominate. If you think you have one, please tell |
|
333 me.</para> |
|
334 </listitem> |
|
335 </varlistentry> |
|
336 <varlistentry id="cyandef"> |
|
337 <term>Dramatic Cyan (Green and Blue)</term> |
|
338 |
|
339 <listitem> |
|
340 <para>One of the most popular color in new games presently. |
|
341 The Cyan systems bring to front a very narrative aspect |
|
342 with quick pace and easy rules. Consistent is not really |
|
343 important since GM will just adjust the plot consequently. |
|
344 This however give somewhat limited play and one should be |
|
345 careful with the Suspension of Disbelief syndrome which |
|
346 often augment with those kind of systems.</para> |
|
347 |
|
348 <para>One popular example of Cyan systems are |
|
349 <trademark>Nobilis</trademark> and the |
|
350 <trademark>Storyteller</trademark> system (at least by |
|
351 intentions).</para> |
|
352 </listitem> |
|
353 </varlistentry> |
|
354 <varlistentry id="magentadef"> |
|
355 <term>Expressive Magenta (Red and Blue)</term> |
|
356 |
|
357 <listitem> |
|
358 <para>A rare combination: Magenta systems tend to immersed |
|
359 you into details. <emphasis>Many</emphasis> details. You |
|
360 will be transport in a world where everything, actions or |
|
361 materials, are described to the finest element. The trap |
|
362 is that, too often, the lack of green in those systems |
|
363 lead to a very hard to use and very slow progression of |
|
364 the action. The players must be patient or the GM a real |
|
365 expert to be able to handle such systems.</para> |
|
366 |
|
367 <para>Good examples of those systems included mostly |
|
368 science-fiction or military oriented settings. |
|
369 <trademark>Heavy Gear</trademark> can be described as one |
|
370 of them under certain aspects.</para> |
|
371 </listitem> |
|
372 </varlistentry> |
|
373 <varlistentry id="whitedef"> |
|
374 <term>Pure White (Red, Green and Blue)</term> |
|
375 |
|
376 <listitem> |
|
377 <para>White system can be think as the perfect system and |
|
378 can be easy obtain for a very limited and specific |
|
379 setting. However, such settings are often very limited in |
|
380 use and, as we will see later, white system tend to dilute |
|
381 (we call this a lack of Tenacity) and get darker very |
|
382 easily.</para> |
|
383 |
|
384 <para>I have no really good example of such systems. As |
|
385 said, most white system tend to became darker with usage |
|
386 and/or a new color quickly dominate.</para> |
|
387 </listitem> |
|
388 </varlistentry> |
|
389 </variablelist> |
|
390 |
|
391 </section> |
|
392 |
|
393 <section id="freedom"> |
|
394 <title>Freedom</title> |
|
395 |
|
396 <para>Since both the red and blue colors have deep root in the |
|
397 setting, we also want to know how colors are affect by change to |
|
398 the setting. For this, we defined two different movements or |
|
399 degrees of freedom for the color:</para> |
|
400 |
|
401 <variablelist> |
|
402 <varlistentry id="tenacitydef"> |
|
403 <term>Tenacity</term> |
|
404 |
|
405 <listitem> |
|
406 <para>Tenacity represent how much a system retains the same |
|
407 color when the setting change. This is a researched |
|
408 quality for generic systems, but also for RPG with a very |
|
409 diversified setting. Systems that are limited to a few |
|
410 character types or situations (like only combat) doesn't |
|
411 need a great Tenacity in their colors.</para> |
|
412 |
|
413 <para>Example of system with a good Tenacity is |
|
414 <trademark>GURPS</trademark>.</para> |
|
415 </listitem> |
|
416 </varlistentry> |
|
417 <varlistentry id="chameleondef"> |
|
418 <term>Chameleon</term> |
|
419 |
|
420 <listitem> |
|
421 <para>Chameleon systems are able to change their colors to |
|
422 fit better with the new setting. This is a very rare |
|
423 quality, mostly research for generic system.</para> |
|
424 |
|
425 <para>The only system I know which try to be chameleon is |
|
426 <trademark>Multiverser</trademark>, a system with a bias |
|
427 parameter for fitting with different universes.</para> |
|
428 </listitem> |
|
429 </varlistentry> |
|
430 </variablelist> |
|
431 |
|
432 <para>Both degrees of freedom can appear together for a particular |
|
433 system and react differently. They can also keep their quality |
|
434 only for a specific range of settings. For example, the D&D |
|
435 system has a Tenacity mostly in general medieval-fantastic |
|
436 settings.<footnote> |
|
437 |
|
438 <para>I think the best way to describe of this components is |
|
439 talking about inertia and direction changes, but this add a |
|
440 new level of metaphor so I ended up inventing new terms that will |
|
441 fit better with the metaphor. What do you think about?</para> |
|
442 |
|
443 </footnote></para> |
|
444 |
|
445 <remark>I currently doesn't like this section much. The old idea |
|
446 behind adaptability is not well enough represent. But for this, |
|
447 I should probably work a little more with the background |
|
448 setting.</remark> |
|
449 |
|
450 </section> |
|
451 |
|
452 <section id="beauty"> |
|
453 <title>Beauty of the system</title> |
|
454 |
|
455 <para>The colors aren't the only important qualities of a system. |
|
456 One very important, if not the most important one, is the fun |
|
457 factor. We are doing role playing for only one thing: having |
|
458 fun. However, fun is a very personal thing where everyone have |
|
459 opinion about. Some people can find one system fun and other |
|
460 can find them dull. Since fun are <quote>in the eye of the |
|
461 beholder</quote>, we use another quality related to our painting |
|
462 metaphor that have the same characteristic: Beauty.</para> |
|
463 |
|
464 <para>Why some people find something beautiful and not something |
|
465 else? Well, there is too much factors to enumerate all of them, |
|
466 but colors can have something to do with it. Someone can prefer |
|
467 the red color, and another one will prefer a yellow color. Same |
|
468 thing for mechanics. Some people can prefer Red Mechanics, |
|
469 other want Yellow mechanics and dislike Blue mechanics. Could |
|
470 you satisfy all of them? Well, the golden rule in RPG is that |
|
471 if you dislike a rule, ignored it. It's very easy to ignore a |
|
472 rule, less easy to change it or replace it. In the color |
|
473 metaphore, this is equivalent to wearing colorized glasses. If |
|
474 you have some white light and wear yellow glasses, you'll see |
|
475 the world in yellow. But if you only have blue light, your |
|
476 yellow glasses will block it and you'll see nothing. Same thing |
|
477 for mechanics. White mechanics are good because you can please |
|
478 everyone by simply using the right filter on everyone. If one |
|
479 color is lacking, however, whatever the color of your glasses, |
|
480 you will not be able to create it, except if the mechanics is |
|
481 sufficiently <link linkend="transparency">Transparent</link>, a |
|
482 matter we will see later in <xref linkend="brightness"/>.</para> |
|
483 |
|
484 </section> |
|
485 |
|
486 <section id="visibility"> |
|
487 <title>The visibility of the rules</title> |
|
488 |
|
489 <para>Systems are composed of rules, but not all rules are |
|
490 necessary of the same color. How each rule influence the global |
|
491 system apparency is called the visibility of the rule. |
|
492 Visibility represent mostly how often a rule can be used and |
|
493 what will be their influence on the current game. This is an |
|
494 important aspect when designing a role playing system. Often, |
|
495 you can make a tradeoff in a not so much visible aspect of the |
|
496 system without affecting the whole color. By |
|
497 <emphasis>hiding</emphasis> such color into less visible aspect, |
|
498 you can, for example, achieve an overall more reddish system, |
|
499 without necessary affecting the green brightness.</para> |
|
500 |
|
501 <para>Visible rules are often the resolution mechanism, combat |
|
502 rules (in action oriented settings) and PC statistics. Less |
|
503 visible rules are often the initial creation mechanism (you just |
|
504 used it once) and evolution mechanics of the character (which |
|
505 usually only happens at the end of a game).</para> |
|
506 |
|
507 </section> |
|
508 |
|
509 <section id="brightness"> |
|
510 <title>Brightness and Transparency</title> |
|
511 |
|
512 <para>Before going further, a little more clarification is needed. |
|
513 What is Brightness? How it affects the role playing |
|
514 experience?</para> |
|
515 |
|
516 <para>Well, Brightness in this model looks more like a spell of |
|
517 Light, and is opposite, the spell of Darkness. Dark colors will |
|
518 not only have a low effect but even make your settings and your |
|
519 whole role playing experience <emphasis>darker</emphasis>, which |
|
520 means less fun and less interesting. On the opposite way, a |
|
521 brighter system will not only let your setting and GM talents |
|
522 show up, but will enhance your experience, sustaining and even |
|
523 creating a more fun and entertaining experience.</para> |
|
524 |
|
525 <para>So one should not think that ignoring a color will do no |
|
526 harm. All colors are necessary, but some settings and/or GM can |
|
527 provide their own light to the role playing experience and so |
|
528 don't need much. So, the point where a rule color switch from |
|
529 being dark to bright really depends on the quality of the |
|
530 setting and the talents of the GM. A beginner GM will find a |
|
531 system very bright that a more experienced GM will find too dark |
|
532 for him. This is however not a good reason to compare GM with |
|
533 the color system. How a GM can make a system looks Greener, |
|
534 Bluer or Redder for the players it's an open question not |
|
535 address in this article. Same thing about the settings. But |
|
536 it's clear that the brighter the system, the best it can help |
|
537 the GM to make a good role playing experience for his players, |
|
538 and fit the needs of more GM.</para> |
|
539 |
|
540 <section id="transparency"> |
|
541 <title>Transparency</title> |
|
542 |
|
543 <para>There is some system which depends a lot on the GM |
|
544 abilities to bring some brightness to it. We call this |
|
545 characteristic Transparency. A Transparent system let the GM |
|
546 take more decisions about the right way to handle differents |
|
547 situations. They have a very low strictness, often just |
|
548 providing guidelines on how to interpret some results, |
|
549 determine difficulty, or even how to resolve differents |
|
550 situations.</para> |
|
551 |
|
552 <para>There are two common misconceptions with Transparent |
|
553 systems. The first is that Transparent System necessary |
|
554 Green. This is not true at all. By letting the GM abilities |
|
555 take care of many aspects of the role playing experience, |
|
556 transparent system are mainly for mature and experienced |
|
557 players, which is the opposite of some Green qualities.</para> |
|
558 |
|
559 <para>The other misconception is that Green systems are |
|
560 Transparent. This misconception is part due to the fact that |
|
561 Green systems seems to go mostly with the flow that we have |
|
562 the impression that the system is absent, the game going by |
|
563 itself. This is a quality of Green systems, not Transparent |
|
564 one, although that with a good GM, it can be seen this way. |
|
565 In fact, transparent systems take more easily the color the GM |
|
566 want and, for this, looks a lot like <link |
|
567 linkend="chameleondef">Chameleon</link> systems.<footnote> |
|
568 |
|
569 <para>Transparent system denomination is often in a more |
|
570 broad context than here. The right definition seems to |
|
571 vary a lot and so, I prefer to make my own. Generally |
|
572 speaking, what people seems to call transparent systems |
|
573 seems to be more a kind of either Bright Green or |
|
574 Transparent systems in the Colors model. Try to not |
|
575 confuse people by specifying clearly that you are talking |
|
576 about Transparent Color systems.</para> |
|
577 |
|
578 </footnote></para> |
|
579 |
|
580 <para>Transparency, however, is not necessary a goal desirable |
|
581 for any RPG system. As we have said, Transparent system can |
|
582 be very hard on newcomers to RPG. They need some experience |
|
583 from the GM and also the players to make the role playing |
|
584 experience fun and interesting. Transparent systems provide |
|
585 no light by them self, but also no darkness. So, if you're an |
|
586 experienced GM or aim your game to experienced GM, transparent |
|
587 system can be great.</para> |
|
588 |
|
589 <para>Examples of transparent systems include <trademark |
|
590 class="copyright">The Window</trademark> and <trademark>Hero |
|
591 Wars</trademark>.</para> |
|
592 |
|
593 </section> |
|
594 |
|
595 </section> |
|
596 |
|
597 <section id="red"> |
|
598 <title>The red color</title> |
|
599 |
|
600 <para>Consistent Red elements of a particular system are hard to |
|
601 define. The first thing to know when trying to set the red part |
|
602 of a system (or to evaluate the red component of a system) is to |
|
603 know what's the particular element of the setting which is |
|
604 currently simulate and how this element must be and behave. For |
|
605 most setting elements, the creator simply doesn't know.</para> |
|
606 |
|
607 <para>A common assumption is to considered the setting as an image |
|
608 of our reality. This assumption is good most of the time except |
|
609 that there is also many parts, not always explicitly state as |
|
610 so, that differs from our reality laws. For example, we want |
|
611 our characters to be greater than normal, to have special |
|
612 powers, to not die easily and we have this special race which |
|
613 are incredibly big or small and which could not have survived |
|
614 within our physical laws or those spaceships that can warp the |
|
615 universe using an improbability motor. For all of this, as well |
|
616 as for avoiding useless complication, we normally don't want our |
|
617 system to be an exact simulation of <emphasis>our</emphasis> |
|
618 reality. We want it to allow some break with our normal |
|
619 physical laws and history, without affecting too much the |
|
620 overall credibility of the setting. Players are usually ready |
|
621 and even interest to accept such break with the normal rules of |
|
622 our daily reality, in exchange of some fantasy.</para> |
|
623 |
|
624 <para>But here an important word was said: |
|
625 <emphasis>credibility</emphasis>. What's make a system |
|
626 credible? A credible system act in a predictable way when you |
|
627 ask it to simulate different setting aspects. If the setting |
|
628 say that an experienced fighter will be able to resist easily |
|
629 and with no danger to a peasant, the simulation should represent |
|
630 this by giving greatest chance to the fighter to win against the |
|
631 peasant. How much exactly is a matter of perception, but here |
|
632 again, another important word was said: the system must be |
|
633 <emphasis>predictable</emphasis>. With a predictable system, |
|
634 the creator or the GM can adjust the representation of the |
|
635 setting elements in the system, the way she expects them to |
|
636 react, which is certainly the best way to have a credible |
|
637 system.</para> |
|
638 |
|
639 <para>Another important factor for reddish system is about limits. |
|
640 The setting often put some limits on the capacity of many of its |
|
641 elements. A fighter can't lift more than a certain amount of |
|
642 weight and magic power couldn't change the past for example. |
|
643 Those limits must be represent in the system. Although those |
|
644 limits can often be directly imposed by the mechanics used in |
|
645 the system, another way is to use a limitless mechanics and to |
|
646 let arbitration imposed such limits. This make things more |
|
647 complex a little but act like a chameleon mechanism to the |
|
648 system. So the creator or the GM don't have to change the core |
|
649 mechanics when the setting change, they just have to change the |
|
650 few rules that set the limits.</para> |
|
651 |
|
652 <para>Having a limitless mechanism also give another degree of |
|
653 freedom to the system. Limitless mechanism act on a more |
|
654 broader range of settings by definition and so have a better |
|
655 Tenacity. Finding what's the limits of a system is a very good |
|
656 way to evaluate both the red component of a system, as well as |
|
657 its Tenacity. A system that have some setting elements out of |
|
658 its limits doesn't have a bright red color, and a system that |
|
659 have limits very close to the setting elements usually doesn't |
|
660 have a good Tenacity neither. System that can move its limits |
|
661 however without big modification also have a good Chameleon |
|
662 freedom.</para> |
|
663 |
|
664 <para>Finally, an important thing to understand about this color |
|
665 it is that's not because you put more details that your system |
|
666 became necessary redder! Details often just add to the |
|
667 complexity, without giving any real brightness to the red |
|
668 components. To add brightness to the red color, details must |
|
669 really sustain a dissimilar assets to the setting elements |
|
670 linked to it and this asset must be justified in the |
|
671 setting.</para> |
|
672 |
|
673 </section> |
|
674 |
|
675 <section id="green"> |
|
676 <title>The green color</title> |
|
677 |
|
678 <para>The green color is probably the color which is the more |
|
679 affected by the <link linkend="visibility">visibility</link>. |
|
680 Putting a green element on a low visibility aspect of your |
|
681 setting will probably not affect your gaming experience very |
|
682 much, but putting a bright green element on a very visible |
|
683 system can totally change it.</para> |
|
684 |
|
685 <para>The green color is the only one who addresses only system or |
|
686 meta-gaming aspects. The setting isn't touch by it, at least |
|
687 not directly. Its importance however is very high if you want |
|
688 to let the setting take some place since a dark green system |
|
689 often take all the place in the game, taking away all the other |
|
690 elements. The Green color help a lot to not let the system |
|
691 impede into the role playing experience.</para> |
|
692 |
|
693 <para>There is many way to make a system greener, some of them |
|
694 being quite opposed to each other and more a question of |
|
695 balance. For example, a complex formula can be replace by a |
|
696 chart for a better access, but too many charts is slower than |
|
697 using a generic formula. There is also a learning curves that |
|
698 can change the color aspect: a system can have a very stiff |
|
699 learning curve (making it very dark green for a beginner) but |
|
700 once learn and some practice add to it, becoming very quick and |
|
701 easy to use (bright green). The best is to have both aspect |
|
702 together (smooth learning curve and fast resolution time) but |
|
703 it's all a question of tradeoff.</para> |
|
704 |
|
705 <para>Using character classes, not only make the system greener, |
|
706 but can also help to aboard the setting. Using derived |
|
707 attributes instead of summing them in play can also help, as |
|
708 long as they aren't too much. This method is especially useful |
|
709 for high visible elements of the system. There can be many |
|
710 gaming help also like a good index, summary charts for most |
|
711 visible elements, especially on the player character sheet or |
|
712 the game master screen. Multiple rolls or too much dice can |
|
713 also slow down the game, as well as too complex formula or too |
|
714 many factors. Try to combine them when needed in just one roll |
|
715 and avoid adding unnecessary randomness. For example, use the |
|
716 success margin of a <literal>to hit</literal> roll instead of |
|
717 rolling another dice to determine the level of damage can help |
|
718 if the margin of success is easy to determine, or in an |
|
719 opposition roll, let only one opponent roll instead of both: the |
|
720 result will automatically determine the result of the other |
|
721 guy.<footnote> |
|
722 |
|
723 <para>This is good only if that make sense, like in a strength |
|
724 test. If they are some chance for both opponents to fail |
|
725 simultaneously, just allowing this kind of rolls could |
|
726 tarnish the red color of your system.</para> |
|
727 |
|
728 </footnote></para> |
|
729 </section> |
|
730 |
|
731 <section id="blue"> |
|
732 <title>The blue color</title> |
|
733 |
|
734 <para>This color is clearly the more difficult to talk about. |
|
735 Blue is the less <link linkend="tenacitydef">tenacious</link> |
|
736 color and is mostly based on the setting elements. More over, |
|
737 contrarily to the red color, there is no clear common ground of |
|
738 setting elements that we can consider to be desirable for most |
|
739 settings. So, the only way we can speak about the blue color, |
|
740 is by speaking about genre.</para> |
|
741 |
|
742 <para>Genre is a very vague term defined as a specific kind of |
|
743 artistic work. For our concern, we will define genre as a set |
|
744 of different setting elements share between many settings. |
|
745 Genre can overlap between them and a setting can have different |
|
746 genres at the same time. The most common elements addressed by |
|
747 rules are the following:</para> |
|
748 |
|
749 <variablelist> |
|
750 <varlistentry id="risk"> |
|
751 <term>Risk factor</term> |
|
752 <listitem> |
|
753 <para>The risk factor is a common concern of many genres. |
|
754 It measures the importance or consequence of decision by |
|
755 the players. A very risky setting will put players on |
|
756 their toes, carefully thinking about any decision. Rare |
|
757 and scarce resources (like hit points), with very hard |
|
758 actions difficulties and possibility of botches, increase |
|
759 this aspect. High risk factor is popular in the horror |
|
760 genre and some very <emphasis>realistic</emphasis> |
|
761 setting.</para> |
|
762 |
|
763 <para>On the other side, a low risk setting will encourage |
|
764 players to try different things and take risk. Generous |
|
765 resources or a resolution mechanism allowing impossible |
|
766 actions to be succeed (like destiny points) are different |
|
767 ways to achieve such goals. Low risk factor is especially |
|
768 popular in the so-called epic and heroic genres.</para> |
|
769 |
|
770 <para>It's not very clear how Fortune mechanics (mechanics |
|
771 primarily based on random elements) can affect this |
|
772 aspect. A very high fortune system may allow incredible |
|
773 success but also incredible fumbles. So, how much an |
|
774 open-ended dice affect this factor is not clear at all and |
|
775 can vary.</para> |
|
776 </listitem> |
|
777 </varlistentry> |
|
778 <varlistentry id="destiny"> |
|
779 <term>We are heroes</term> |
|
780 <listitem> |
|
781 <para>Heroism is for characters that are kind of chosen by |
|
782 their Gods. They aren't allow to fail easily nor even to |
|
783 die. For this, they often have a kind of Destiny points |
|
784 that can be spent at critical moment to avoid a fatal hit |
|
785 or succeed a critical action. They can also be more |
|
786 powerful than most of the other characters, either by |
|
787 greater statistics, special gifts, or a systematic |
|
788 advantages against their opponents. Sometime, this |
|
789 systematic advantage is replace by a systematic |
|
790 disadvantage towards minor NPC, which are treated as a |
|
791 single opponent, how many they are. Those advantages |
|
792 aren't necessary reserved for PC. Important NPC have |
|
793 often similar advantages and so, constitute greater |
|
794 adversaries for the PC.</para> |
|
795 |
|
796 <para>This aspect is part of many genres, including heroism, |
|
797 action movies, super heroes and often space opera. They |
|
798 are often link with a low risk factor, although not |
|
799 necessary.</para> |
|
800 </listitem> |
|
801 </varlistentry> |
|
802 <varlistentry> |
|
803 <term>Temptation of the Dark Side</term> |
|
804 |
|
805 <listitem> |
|
806 <para>Temptation is an important part of many fantasy |
|
807 settings (either medieval, modern or space opera) and |
|
808 represent the struggle of passion where a character lost |
|
809 control upon herself. It is usually represented with a |
|
810 counter that count down (sometime without even the |
|
811 possibility of reversal) and make the player lost the |
|
812 control over her character. Each time the player do |
|
813 something wrong or are in contact with a temptation, the |
|
814 counter can decrease (may be after a failed test) and the |
|
815 PC must check if it doesn't fall in the dark side (often |
|
816 represent by some frenzy). The check usually represent |
|
817 just a temporary lost of control, but when the counter |
|
818 goes down to zero, the PC is, must of the time, considered |
|
819 a NPC, and the player must create a new one.</para> |
|
820 |
|
821 <para>Temptation can also take another aspect of opposite |
|
822 values (like Chastity and Lust) going from one side to the |
|
823 other. Each test failed reinforce the Value on the |
|
824 victorious side, making each new test either more harder |
|
825 to resist. It's usually very hard to change the balance of |
|
826 the pairs of value otherwise.</para> |
|
827 </listitem> |
|
828 </varlistentry> |
|
829 </variablelist> |
|
830 |
|
831 <para>This list is very partial and mostly presented here as |
|
832 examples of blue color rules. A more complete study of genres |
|
833 and their support in system elements are expected in a future |
|
834 project, not yet plan however. One important thing to note is |
|
835 that the system is not the more important part into getting the |
|
836 right atmosphere to a setting. The GM style and the setting is |
|
837 often far more important. The blue color is more about how a |
|
838 system can support such atmospheres but doesn't necessary create |
|
839 neither guarantee it at all.</para> |
|
840 |
|
841 <section id="metagaming"> |
|
842 |
|
843 <title>Meta-gaming elements</title> |
|
844 |
|
845 <para>Meta-gaming elements can be as important to a role-playing |
|
846 game as the system or even the setting. Why not rules can |
|
847 used them as well to encourage a better role playing |
|
848 experience? In the color model, system that encourage some |
|
849 positive meta-gaming elements are considered bluer. This is |
|
850 mostly because positive meta-gaming elements often also |
|
851 encourage to create a better atmosphere for game play.</para> |
|
852 |
|
853 <para>Although citing every way a system can encourage the usage |
|
854 of positive meta-gaming elements to sustain a good playing |
|
855 experience is not the scope of this article, a good example |
|
856 how this can be achieve is by rewarding (either in direct |
|
857 action bonus, or gain of some resources like Destiny points or |
|
858 XP) for good role playing attitude (good description, |
|
859 character sacrifice that increase the drama, etc.), extra work |
|
860 on the character background, or log keeping for the group, |
|
861 etc. Some games even have very specific mechanism for |
|
862 meta-gaming, like <trademark>Marvel Super Heroes</trademark>'s |
|
863 Humor Points. One could even encourage other players to |
|
864 participate into this kind of rewarding by allowing them a |
|
865 certain amount of points to give each session to other |
|
866 players.</para> |
|
867 </section> |
|
868 |
|
869 </section> |
|
870 |
|
871 <section id="gds"> |
|
872 <title>GDS-derived model and colors</title> |
|
873 |
|
874 <para>The GDS model, also known as <ulink |
|
875 url="http://www.darkshire.org/~jhkim/rpg/styles/faq_v1/faq1.art">Threefold |
|
876 model</ulink> was created to address the concern that many role |
|
877 players have diverse interests in role playing games. How those |
|
878 aspects are exactly defined or even named vary between people, |
|
879 and how those aspects must be addressed by role playing games |
|
880 vary even more, to the point of complete contradiction between |
|
881 different opinions. However, I will try to see how system can |
|
882 sustain the different interests expressed in the models, using |
|
883 the colors. It's clear that, by definition, all colors are |
|
884 important, but we will try to see why they are, and how much, |
|
885 relatively to each other, for each group of interests.</para> |
|
886 |
|
887 <section id="gamist"> |
|
888 <title>Gamist interests</title> |
|
889 |
|
890 <para>Gamist interests can be seen as mainly defined by challenge |
|
891 and fair play. Importance is set to being able to have |
|
892 relatively large set of options to influence the game (and |
|
893 make the challenges interesting), to be able to have good |
|
894 knowledge of the situation for fair decision, and some |
|
895 measurable goals must be set to determine a condition of |
|
896 victory.</para> |
|
897 |
|
898 <para>This is probably the most difficult aspect to determine |
|
899 the right color, but will we go for the <link |
|
900 linkend="red">Red</link> color. This color is important to |
|
901 provide a good environment for fair play. If the rules are |
|
902 incoherent, your players will begin to play by the rules |
|
903 instead of letting them go in character, to have some chance |
|
904 of winning. You'll recognized this by sentences like: |
|
905 <quote>I do this since it gives me a greater bonus</quote> |
|
906 instead of <quote>I do this since it puts me in a better |
|
907 position.</quote></para> |
|
908 |
|
909 <para>The <link linkend="green">Green</link> color is also |
|
910 important, as long as it doesn't remove dissimilarities of |
|
911 assets. The player should be able to distinguish between |
|
912 different options here and there and their decision shouldn't |
|
913 be simply based on pure luck. Green rules can still lead to a |
|
914 very good set of options with a lot of complexity in it. |
|
915 Think about games like chess. Also, green rules allow someone |
|
916 to more quickly be efficient, so the mental abilities of the |
|
917 players become more important than it's knowledge of the game |
|
918 rules, although this can also be taken as an element of |
|
919 competition that please to some gamist oriented |
|
920 players.</para> |
|
921 |
|
922 <para>Finally, the <link linkend="blue">Blue</link> color can |
|
923 sometime help to give players some goals to reach. This |
|
924 shouldn't be neglected although, sometime, the goal |
|
925 of gamers can be in a more <link |
|
926 linkend="metagaming">meta-gaming</link> level.</para> |
|
927 </section> |
|
928 |
|
929 <section id="dramatist"> |
|
930 <title>Dramatist interests</title> |
|
931 |
|
932 <para>Dramatists interests are mostly toward the story line. |
|
933 They tend to consider a good story as the most important part |
|
934 of role playing, with interests directed more toward a good |
|
935 drama then victory or even verisimilitude. The system must |
|
936 give them greater control upon the events with, if possible, |
|
937 mechanics to create good climax and interesting endings, while |
|
938 sustaining the right atmosphere for the game.</para> |
|
939 |
|
940 <para>The must important color of dramatist is <link |
|
941 linkend="blue">Blue</link>. A blue system have a lot of |
|
942 elements to favor climax and atmosphere. The <link |
|
943 linkend="green">Green</link> color is also important since it |
|
944 usually give a little more control in the hand of the GM, and |
|
945 doesn't impede too much into the flow of the game. Finally, |
|
946 the <link linkend="red">Red</link> have still an important |
|
947 part to play to enforce some verisimilitude of the story, as |
|
948 long as this doesn't contradict with the goals of the |
|
949 story.</para> |
|
950 </section> |
|
951 |
|
952 <section id="simulationnist"> |
|
953 <title>Simulationnist interests</title> |
|
954 |
|
955 <para>Simulationist interests are also called Explorer interests |
|
956 and I tend to prefer this latter term. Explorers are mostly |
|
957 interest in discovering new setting elements, but also, to a |
|
958 minor extend, some elements of the system or even meta-gaming |
|
959 aspects (like how players react to RPG situations).</para> |
|
960 |
|
961 <para>For Simulationists, the <link linkend="red">Red</link> |
|
962 color is the more important. An inconsistent system will |
|
963 invalidate the exploration experience, making the situation |
|
964 sound not very believable. The <link |
|
965 linkend="blue">Blue</link> color is also very interesting for |
|
966 this kind of interests, allowing them to better immerse into |
|
967 the game world, sustaining the experience by itself. Finally, |
|
968 the <link linkend="green">Green</link> color is seen more like |
|
969 a default necessity, the system must be fluid enough to not |
|
970 impede into the exploration experience.</para> |
|
971 </section> |
|
972 |
|
973 <section id="gdscolors"> |
|
974 <title>Summary</title> |
|
975 |
|
976 <para>So, Gamers are mostly Orange (Red, Green and Blue), |
|
977 Dramatists are Turquoise (Blue, Green, Red), and |
|
978 Simulationists are Purple (Red, Blue and Green). This is very |
|
979 near the <link linkend="yellowdef">Clear-Sight Yellow</link>, |
|
980 <link linkend="magentadef">Dramatic Cyan</link> and <link |
|
981 linkend="cyandef">Expressive Magenta</link> of the <xref |
|
982 linkend="colormodel"/>, seen before. Those colors are called |
|
983 complementary of each other and make me think that the colors |
|
984 model is complementary to the threefold model about role |
|
985 playing games and so shouldn't be ignored when designing game. |
|
986 It make in contrast the fact that's different kind of |
|
987 interests can be addressed by the same system, although some |
|
988 tradeoffs are often necessary.</para> |
|
989 </section> |
|
990 |
|
991 </section> |
|
992 |
|
993 <section id="history"> |
|
994 <title>A SCARy history</title> |
|
995 |
|
996 <para>The story of the color model begin with a heat discussion |
|
997 between me and Cédric Lemaire on the createurs-jdr mailing list. |
|
998 The thread subject was about what's a better system, or what's |
|
999 can be ameliorate in a given system, regardless of personal |
|
1000 taste. We quickly find that we were talking about different |
|
1001 things using the same words, and so that we need to find a |
|
1002 little bit of vocabulary. After some work, we find up four |
|
1003 qualities upon which we agree that can only be an asset for any |
|
1004 role playing games, with particular definition for each, since |
|
1005 some of this qualities aren't very well defined when applied to |
|
1006 role playing game.</para> |
|
1007 |
|
1008 <para>Months passed and I began to follow the English RPG forums |
|
1009 on Game Design. I found a lot of new theories about RPG but |
|
1010 nothing like the four qualities we have ended up on the French |
|
1011 mailing list. I decide to make an attempt to translate them and |
|
1012 call this system SCARF, including a new fifth quality to it, the |
|
1013 Fun factor. SCARF stand for Simplicity, Coherence, |
|
1014 Adaptability, Realism and Fun, and the definition were very |
|
1015 conceived (for example, a better definition of Realism should |
|
1016 have been Consistency between setting and system). The awaited |
|
1017 flame war that follow were bigger than I was expecting and I was |
|
1018 a bit surprise. On a somewhat impulsive reply where it seems |
|
1019 that all this mess where mostly a question of vocabulary, I |
|
1020 ended up to suggest that the SCARy Qualities were replace with |
|
1021 colors. I set Green for Simplicity, Blue for Coherence, and Red |
|
1022 for Realism. Adaptability was declared to be Tenacity.</para> |
|
1023 |
|
1024 <para>It ended up that I really like the system. True, this were |
|
1025 more opaque than the precedent, but the color metaphor bring |
|
1026 with it many different aspects, especially the some undiscover |
|
1027 one, like the fact that Adaptability wasn't truly a Quality by |
|
1028 itself, but a Quality over the other Qualities. I promise to |
|
1029 get back with a more develop version of the SCAR color model and |
|
1030 return to the createurs-jdr mailing list. One post and a few |
|
1031 replies later, I quickly added new aspects to the Tenacity |
|
1032 model, dividing it between Tenacity, Chameleon and Transparency. |
|
1033 A remark about <trademark>Légendes</trademark> as a bright green |
|
1034 system once you pass the creation rules made me think about the |
|
1035 Visibility of a rule. Some more thoughts, and reading from the |
|
1036 Forge make me push Transparency was move from the colors freedom |
|
1037 to the Visibility section and finally to Brightness section |
|
1038 (which was mostly create the same day, with the Darkness Spell |
|
1039 metaphor add to it.).</para> |
|
1040 |
|
1041 <para>That's all for the moment folks, but I think the color model |
|
1042 doesn't have entirely reveal itself and can still reserved some |
|
1043 good surprises. More works on it is to come soon, I |
|
1044 hope.</para> |
|
1045 |
|
1046 </section> |
|
1047 |
|
1048 <section id="ack"> |
|
1049 <title>Acknowledgements</title> |
|
1050 |
|
1051 <para>I would like to thank Cédric Lemaire, with which I develop, |
|
1052 in the context of a very heat flame war, the SCAR model, the |
|
1053 createurs-jdr mailing list members for their first commentary on |
|
1054 this system, John H. Kim, Brian Gleichman and Ron Edwards for |
|
1055 their wonderful works on RPG theory, and the members of the Art |
|
1056 of Game Design RPGnet forum for their inspirational comments that |
|
1057 lead to the colors model.</para> |
|
1058 </section> |
|
1059 |
|
1060 </article> |
|
1061 <!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file |
|
1062 Local variables: |
|
1063 mode: xml |
|
1064 sgml-omittag:nil |
|
1065 sgml-shorttag:nil |
|
1066 sgml-namecase-general:nil |
|
1067 sgml-general-insert-case:lower |
|
1068 sgml-minimize-attributes:nil |
|
1069 sgml-always-quote-attributes:t |
|
1070 sgml-indent-step:2 |
|
1071 sgml-indent-data:t |
|
1072 sgml-parent-document:nil |
|
1073 sgml-default-dtd-file:"~/.sgml/article.ced" |
|
1074 sgml-exposed-tags:nil |
|
1075 sgml-local-catalogs:nil |
|
1076 sgml-local-ecat-files:nil |
|
1077 End: |
|
1078 --> |