Scripting Geek and Old Time Gamer

[gentlemike2]

Greetings.

Here are somethings to know about me:

1. I am a poor artist and struggle through map making.
2. I am deeply interested in demographics.
3. I am a self-taught programmer and scripter. My specialty is php and MySql
4. I am a great number cruncher

I've spent the last few years researching medieval demographics and script-modeling various scenarios, such as small community demographics, life expectancy, racial distributions in a fantasy setting, class or profession distributions in a fantasy setting, and historical cycles. My current project is a land/nation/kingdom generator that will populate continents with various lands, populations, government types, and religions. The script is flexible, allowing the easy substitutions of datasets. My goal is to be able to create a very immersive and organic experience for my players.

I am here to learn what I can about map making. Eventually, my number crunching has to be transformed into hills, and lakes, mountains, cities, and valleys.

[Chick]

Hello Mike, welcome to the Guild! I think you'll find a lot of people around who have done similar things such as you are planning, so I'm sure you'll get lots of good ideas here.

[Cat]

By old time gamer does that mean OTG type or just an older man that games? Either way, Hello!

[gentlemike2]

I've been gaming since the late 70's. I worked in a game store in the early 90's for awhile. I've been around the block a few times in the RPG world.

[xpian]

@gentlemike2 - Based on your interests and skills, I feel I need to introduce you (if you're not already aware of her) to one of my favorite thinkers in the realm of realistic, science-based fantasy economics: "multiplexer", the author of the Dungeonomics blog.

LINK > http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/ca.../dungeonomics/

Seriously, I anticipate that her philosophy is right up your alley. With solid, scientific economic principles under her belt, she models fantasy societies and picks apart common tropes in DnD, taking them to their logical extreme and often finding a great deal of humor in the process. NOTE: what we call "adventurers", she calls "murder hobos". With good reason, if you think about it.

I mean, how can you go wrong with titles like:
Dragons and the Free Rider Problem > http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/20...rider-problem/
and
Dungeon Hazards and Wage Differentials > http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/20...differentials/

[Larb]

Ahh she mentions the Tontine investment concept in her articles! (I just took a look at those links). The tontine makes for a fantastic plot device.