2022 Goals and Progress Thread

[slimmmeiske2]

@ElCheffe Oh, I do that all the time. Progress is progress, even if it wasn't the goals you put foward.
@Kes Thanks. Seems like you've been making good progress as well.
@bgillisp Those are some lofty goals, but I noticed you're missing an important one: Where's the Harold in spaaaaaaaaace goal?

Progress so far:
* Played three more games from the Touch the Stars jam. Still a lot more to go
* Finished two maps for the Harold jam and added several interactable decoration events to it.
* Wrote the first two cutscenes for the Harold jam.
While writing the third one, I've come to realize I didn't really like the theme I went with, which was "The Return of Harold". The issue is that I had an idea for the jam, but missed the part of the main themes. So I've been retroactively trying to add it, but this one just doesn't fit; it feels a bit too juvenile and tacked on. Now I don't want to change my idea, so instead I'm just changing my main theme to the "Harold: Origins" one. I will need to change a couple of things (for example instead of Harold being a retired hero, he'll be a wannabe hero instead) in story, as well as the map I made for his home, since it houses an armory currently, but I believe it will be for the better.

Today's goal:
* Play Castle of the Stolen Star.
* Make a new sprite for Harold, Reid and Lucius.
* Make a list of all the resources I still need.

 

[Ninjakillzu]

I made a chunk of progress on the story during the past week, but I realized that I wrote myself into a corner on an earlier part where the logic doesn't make sense. Now I have to change it...

I also added a few more weapons and armor to the database along with additional mapping.

 

[bgillisp]

My progress this week:

-I've been dabbling with assets and figuring out the FSM tilesets. Seems I bought them ages ago but never used them so I tried to map one map with them. Also played around with VS generator for taller sprites. Now deciding what I think of these.
-Also working on the skill and status ailment overhauls. I think I'm going to go with 8 main status ailments, one for each element. That should keep it from being too overloaded.

And one funny story too as well. If you want to see something silly select in a move route jump x +30 y +0 when you meant wait 30 frames and watch the sprite yeet off screen. I accidentally did that when setting up a move route and was like why did that sprite just yeet like that? Anyways thought maybe someone could get a good laugh out of that.

 

[BreakerZero]

Ultimately for technical and progression reasons (among others) I decided to keep what I have even though it's not ideal for support reasons so I'm back to my existing implementation. Even so, all of the stuff I invested in for my short experiment is still there for a potential sequel if I choose to switch engines (or if I tackle a game jam which I have been wanting to do for awhile).

EDIT: Speaking of sequel plans, I have been throwing ideas around which use cut content and locations from an earlier, scrapped concept along with more divine record materials from even more interpretations thereof, along with an early plot twist involving the "big bad" from the first game. As for the current project, I'm considering a move to save points because the difficulty curve that I have implemented would be too generous if I were to keep the "save anywhere" design.

EDIT 2: I am also looking into possibly having anime or manga cutscenes with voice acting. If anyone is interested in that I can PM you with the Discord server and casting page.

 

[Kes]

Also played around with VS generator for taller sprites.

Which generator is this? Thanks

 

[bgillisp]

@Kes : It is here: https://visustella.itch.io/stella-character-generator

The 2nd screenshot shows what you get for walking sprites. They are 72 x 48 in size.

 

[Kes]

@bgillisp Ah, how silly of me - I've got that. I shan't even be thinking of using this until I've finished When the Light Dies. My concern is that last time I checked, there were still no battlers. With a lot of editing I can fill out the somewhat meagre clothing selection (I don't want modern), but battlers would defeat me.

 

[bgillisp]

@Kes : Yeah the side view battlers are a DLC that is in early access. Probably best to wait on that until a couple more games are done honestly, and see what the final product is like.

 

[lesbrarians]

My goal for August was to finish one sprite for each of my main 10 NPCs. I've only finished two so far, and I haven't worked on anything in the past week or so because I've been devoting my out-of-work time to gaming, lol. Scaling back my expectations for myself for August: I'd like to finish the base body types for my demon, orc, and dwarf characters.

 

[Marquise*]

Goal for the year: Complete enough of my game as to get the main questline done. That would be great!

Goal for the month to crawl towards the yearly goal: Currently working on the character portraits for the main heroes. After, will work on the villain's. I currently have five portraits done, though one is a prominent npc guide and nonjoinable, and the halfling (Bellarose) I am uncertain if she is even going to stay in the game. I am currently working on Sigurd's sister, Sigrun.

Left to right: Lady Rhoswen of the White Rose, Saga, Sigurd, Pindar and Bellarose.
[ISPOILER]

View attachment 195581[/ISPOILER]

I am certain many might want to adopt Bellarose :3 she's so cute ^^

@BreakerZero Awwwwwww... will miss you.

@Kes woah your graphics... in fact I feel I am away a month and everyone's graphics quality exponenciate. Really beautiful.

On my side, I broke my scrolling/zooming middle mouse button. I dunno how I keep killing my mice. But it is very hot in here.

So this is the ship I am REALLY hoping to finish yesterday.

Will try to bolean it and paint it soon.

 

[bgillisp]

Update:
-I did a lot of work on Montagor's Legacy this week. I ended up deciding to go with FSM thanks to @slimmmeiske2 showing me where to get the matching tiles I needed for some upcoming areas that would be impossible otherwise. Mapped out the maps for most of the prologue.
-Also got the encounter system working. Now if you attack the enemy from behind you will get a surprise attack.
-Testing a new break shield idea too. Think Persona 3 - 5 if you played that, where if you hit a weakness you stun the enemy. Still figuring out how to balance that with the players, right now I just disabled it for players for now. Bosses also have more than 1 shield so you can't just stun lock them.
-Added some more events and plot items. I think if school was not about to start I could probably finish the prologue in another two weeks. As it is, 1 - 2 months is more realistic.

I also made a short silly game based on a joke on Studio Blue's server, and submitted it for a game jam. I won't post it officially here as it is a silly game that is maybe 5 - 10 minutes long, tops.

No shipwrecked work this week. I was on a roll with the other game.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

@bgillisp Glad I could help you out. Progress seems to be going good ^^
@Marquise* Looking really awesome ^^

Alright, I know I haven't posted in a while, due to procrastination and a sudden lack of motivation. But I can proudly say I've finished my entry for the Harold jam. You can check it out here. (Voting will open in 2 hours.)

As for new goals:
* Finish up playing the Touch the Stars jam entries on my list.
* Fix the bugs in The Magical Star Guardians and The Amazing Shockingly Origin of The Hero Harold. (I know what you're thinking; the title is too short)
* Relax and rest. I need it.

 

[BreakerZero]

Not much in progress aside from getting a party catch-up to (partially) work in my (still) in progress multiplayer, but I did make one unfortunate decision: I'm dropping macOS from my roadmap. Since I'm not sure how long x64 is expected to be supported officially due to Apple's refocusing on its own processors, and due to the lack of required software libraries for these processors, I don't feel as if it's even worth the risk at the present time.

But on a more positive note, I have also posted my demo to Steam.

 

[bgillisp]

Progress report for the week:

For Shipwrecked:
-Added motion to all cutscenes up to the 2nd to last boss battle.
-Added dialogue to the 2nd to last boss battle.
-Final boss fight is implemented.

At this point the game just needs final balancing, adding a couple little cutscenes, and writing up the last cutscene and the ending.

For Montagor's Legacy:
-Figured out my status ailments. Trying to reduce the number from the last game.
-Made a train map
-Wrote the cutscene to go from the Prologue to start of Chapter 1.
-Implemented the break shields system.
-Came up with more of the skills/spells for the game as more of the mechanics are set up now.

School starts Monday so updates will be slowing down some sadly. We'll see how this goes.

 

[Kes]

@bgillisp Does this mean that you can see a release date for Shipwrecked? I'm looking forward to trying it out.

As it's the end of August, time to see how I did with my goals.

Finish stats and skills and test, test, test. Done
Sort out loot to find (items and gear) Done
Do a big cutscene with a number of battles in it. A lot of choreography required. Done

In addition, I have completed all the mapping, troops etc. So unless I find it needs a little more polishing on the final playthrough, I'm counting that as done.

September Goals
The final dungeon is now at hand. So...

• Find all the tiles I need. I already know that means editing some tiles to within an inch of their life and making many more.
• Mapping. I find mapping large internal dungeons much more work than external ones. I can romp through woods/swamps/mountains/etc., but inside buildings always takes me ages.
• Make the enemy battler sprites. I know what I want to do for these, it's just finding the will power to do them.
• Make the enemy on-map sprites. No idea at the moment.
• Enemy skills and stats.

I know in my head what I want to do for the final boss, but it's going to require an awkward cutscene (well, 2 actually) so I doubt that will even get started this month. Even the above list feels like a big ask at the moment.

 

[AssumedPseudonym]

…Okay, I had no goals for 2021, but let’s see what I’ve got on progress since late June:

» General game idea happened. (I blame the VXA soundtrack.)
» RPG Maker MV acquired. (VXA acquired later so I wouldn’t have to re-source music.)
» Confirmed I can run MV. (Always a question when you’re on Linux. No Wine needed, happily!)
» Confirmed I can do at least the basics.
» Test project successfully created.
» Forum account created. (Hi! ^.^ )
» Google Doc of aforementioned game ideas, plot, snippets, and etc.
» Minimal prototype of aforementioned game idea created:
　— Basics of the plot.
　— Placeholder maps of required locations.
　— Cutscene tests.
　— Some basic mechanics testing.
» Aforementioned game idea progress:
　— Over one hundred maps. (Overworld, underworld, towns, buildings therein, no dungeons yet.)
　— Minor bits of JavaScript here and there thanks to help on the Discord server.
　— Damage formula idea in place, other combat related stuff on hold until later in development.
　— That’s… mostly it so far… <.< >.> <.<;

And now I’m about to take an enforced break for a week or so because Dragon*Con. Hopefully I don’t lose momentum in the meantime.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

My small break felt nice. I ended up rating 39 games in the Touch the Stars jam. That said I totally forgot to actually bugfix my jam games xD I did write everything down, so it shouldn't be a hassle.

September goals:
* Play & rate the other entries in the Harold jam. So far I've done 8.
* Fix bugs of The Magical Star Guardians and upload this version.
* Fix bugs in The Amazing Shockingly Origin of the Hero Harold and upload this version.
* Enter Drifty's and Hawk's jams, because I'm an idiot and I promised to.
* Optional: Work on my Little Red Riding Hood game.

 

[ElCheffe]

Wow, time sure flies and it's already a new month.

If I recap my plans, it didn't go as I thought it would. Guess I needed a break but now I'm back and ready to work.

Results of plans for August:
Complete rework of forest based maps in all chapters: 60%
Integrate new busts in chapter 0: 75%
Complete encounters for chapter 1: 0%

It didn't go as planned but I'm satisfied and guess the overall goal of having the demo completed by the end of the year is still realistic.

Targets for September:
- Finally create a posting for my game in "Games in Development"
- Integrate the final bust in chapter 0
- Format some of the conversations to improve the readability

I'm really motivated to get things moving again, so let's do it!

 

[Kes]

@ElCheffe When you changed the font colour back from orange/blue/red, you didn't pick Automatic, (or whatever it calls itself) but black (probably). In dark theme it is literally unreadable unless I highlight it. Could you edit it into the normal colour? Quite a lot of people use the dark theme.
Thanks.

 

[bgillisp]

@Kes : Its likely a Beta can go out this year. Since Shipwrecked is a free to play game I'll probably make the Beta public and then adjust based on feedback from that.

No updates in last 2 weeks too, adjusting to work schedule.