Addenda [Demo!]

[Milennin]

- The Ghost, Difficulity, Etc


I had a bit of an idea about what you said. We can come to compromise here. At the very start, before the intro, I'll create a short sequence that basically asks "Do you want to play the Tutorial?" or something like that. It'll take you to a small map designed to teach you the basics with no risk. This way, people who've played before can opt-out it, rather than having it in the game as something you need to go through every time you start a new game (remember, it is going to be made with multiple playthroughs in mind.)

Yeah, an optional tutorial is always a good thing.=P

There's 2 mini-bosses in the dungeon. You'll need to walk around to get to both. If you really need the help, I've created a map. 


Warning: THIS IS A BIG IMAGE. It's not totally to scale. Some of these rooms are meant to overlap one another and stuff like that. But it gives the proper directions and everything.

Oh, lol. I missed those two mini-bosses.


-I just tried the ogre, and there's no way I can kill it at level 3 & 4. I tried it several times, but the damage goes way over what Kirk can heal, even when using guard.


-Went to the other mini-boss, and beat that one, got the Titanite Blade. I like that it gives me an unique skill when I have that weapon equipped.


-There needs to be a shortcut back to the main maze, because backtracking that long path isn't fun. At least the random encounter rate is low.


-Joseph got poisoned, and there's no way to get rid of it? It only went away after he levelled up.


-Went to the ogre again at level 5 & 6, using Titanite Splinter on it, and killed it in a few turns.


-Lol, I like that story about the Thieves' Guild.


-The thief is still blocking the way to the chest after killing the ogre.


Also just noticed that when meditate is used in combat, it says Kirkbegins to meditate (lacking a space)

 

[West Mains]

-I just tried the ogre, and there's no way I can kill it at level 3 & 4. I tried it several times, but the damage goes way over what Kirk can heal, even when using guard.

You're gonna have to use your cheese box. He's very tough, but he has 1 major weakness. He can't kill you if he can't hit you. Kirk's Unique spell 'Kateri' has a strong chance to cause Blindness and sometimes Sleep. Utilising this spell makes the fight so easy I considered buffing the bosses damage. 

-There needs to be a shortcut back to the main maze, because backtracking that long path isn't fun. At least the random encounter rate is low.

From the maze? Alright. I'll add a method of getting back faster. 

-Joseph got poisoned, and there's no way to get rid of it? It only went away after he levelled up.

Hmm. Was it those darn spiders? I'll change enemy loot to include an Anti-Venom.

-Went to the ogre again at level 5 & 6, using Titanite Splinter on it, and killed it in a few turns

It's a fantastic weapon, innit? I'm wondering if the Bleeding status is a little overkill, though. It debuffs Defence. I've gotta get Bleeding right because it's going to be the defining Status of any Bladed Weapons. 

-Lol, I like that story about the Thieves' Guild.

Nice. The story's basically copy-pasted from Fallout (see: the burned man), but I'm having too much fun developing the ideas for the Guild. They'll become an integral force of the plot later on in the game. 

-The thief is still blocking the way to the chest after killing the ogre.

I'm aware of this issue. It should be solved in the next Demo version.

- Also just noticed that when meditate is used in combat, it says Kirkbegins to meditate (lacking a space)

Augh!! I knew I forgot something!!!

Thanks so much for your continued testing. If you ever need some Music or testing for a future game, lemme know, I owe ya!

 

[Milennin]

You're gonna have to use your cheese box. He's very tough, but he has 1 major weakness. He can't kill you if he can't hit you. Kirk's Unique spell 'Kateri' has a strong chance to cause Blindness and sometimes Sleep. Utilising this spell makes the fight so easy I considered buffing the bosses damage.

Cheese box?
And yeah, I checked on that spell a few times, but it seemed to be greyed out. I just checked again, and apparently it requires MP (I guess the times I did check were when I was low on MP). But now I'm wondering why it's in a seperate menu when it uses the same resource as my other magic skills do? It's confusing, and unnecessary.

It's a fantastic weapon, innit? I'm wondering if the Bleeding status is a little overkill, though. It debuffs Defence. I've gotta get Bleeding right because it's going to be the defining Status of any Bladed Weapons. 

I did notice the skill doing tons of damage to the ogre (like around 200 every hit, and it strikes thrice). Considering the low cost required for it, it seems a bit overkill. The fight as it was felt pretty good when I did kill him. It sort of had a rush tactic to it, where I had to focus Joseph purely on offence to take down the big hitter as fast as possible.

Thanks so much for your continued testing. If you ever need some Music or testing for a future game, lemme know, I owe ya!

Lol, it's pretty fun to check out a new game in development.=P And glad I can help out, it's been pretty good so far.
Well, I should have a first demo out for the new game I've been working on by next week, so it would be nice to have someone else play it to see if it's any good.=P

 

[West Mains]

Cheese box?

And yeah, I checked on that spell a few times, but it seemed to be greyed out. I just checked again, and apparently it requires MP (I guess the times I did check were when I was low on MP). But now I'm wondering why it's in a seperate menu when it uses the same resource as my other magic skills do? It's confusing, and unnecessary.

I did notice the skill doing tons of damage to the ogre (like around 200 every hit, and it strikes thrice). Considering the low cost required for it, it seems a bit overkill. The fight as it was felt pretty good when I did kill him. It sort of had a rush tactic to it, where I had to focus Joseph purely on offence to take down the big hitter as fast as possible.

Lol, it's pretty fun to check out a new game in development.=P And glad I can help out, it's been pretty good so far.

Well, I should have a first demo out for the new game I've been working on by next week, so it would be nice to have someone else play it to see if it's any good.=P

Cheese box?

And yeah, I checked on that spell a few times, but it seemed to be greyed out. I just checked again, and apparently it requires MP (I guess the times I did check were when I was low on MP). But now I'm wondering why it's in a seperate menu when it uses the same resource as my other magic skills do? It's confusing, and unnecessary.

It's in a different menu because it's classified as a 'Unique' Skill; Kirk is the only one who can use it. Unique Skills get more important, and diversity of your party plays a role in how effective they are. Typically, Unique Skills use a Mixture of TP and MP, usually TP. However, I took the TP cost off of Kateri because the game only displays either TP or MP costs and it felt like overkill to charge both for what's a very useful skill for beginners.

(Cheese Box is another term for brain, noggin, noodle, thinking cap, etc, ,etc)

I did notice the skill doing tons of damage to the ogre (like around 200 every hit, and it strikes thrice). Considering the low cost required for it, it seems a bit overkill. The fight as it was felt pretty good when I did kill him. It sort of had a rush tactic to it, where I had to focus Joseph purely on offence to take down the big hitter as fast as possible.

Yeah, the problem with the Ogre is that he too doles out a lot of damage, and after a while he begins to use Cleave, which lets him attack everyone at once. I'm going to increase the TP cost of Titanite Spliters. Bear in mind the Ogre's defense is a little lower than it normally would be, and it has a very slightly weakness to the sword's attacks. I still feel the damage is fine, TP cost will shoot up, though. Glad the fight was enjoyable, at least. 

Well, I should have a first demo out for the new game I've been working on by next week, so it would be nice to have someone else play it to see if it's any good.

Excellent. I shall gladly playtest it.

 

[West Mains]

The Alpha Demo has just been uploaded.

Players should be able to play for the first hour of the game, depending on how much they explore/face random encounters/etc/etc.

Enjoy!

Please report any problems or bugs no matter how small and they'll be fixed for the next update.

 

[West Mains]

* Alpha Demo has been updated, some minor dialogue box issues have been fixed.

* Music has been added to the Screenshots/Video section. You can now listen to the Boss Battle, Regular Battle, East Kiria Battle Themes and the Game Over Music.

 

[Milennin]

I'm continuing from my old save file.


-The mine map looks visually better now, but too much zig-zagging from one end all the way to the other end of the map. It gets repetitive really fast.


-Slimes now drop anti-poison. That's good.


-Meditate Mind seems to not function as it should. When I use it, it sometimes makes the casting sound, but not raise my MP. When I then use it again, it raises my MP by +4 (as if the MP counter is lagging).


-Nice, got stats raised by examining a pillar. Lol, I love exploration.xP


-Going back to the main dungeon map from one of the side maps (I think it's the side map that leads to the map with the flower boss) brings me back to a different spot than where I entered it.


-Lol, that spider when I open the chest.xD


-Well, looks like I'm not going to get past that. I think I was fighting the thing for like 10 minutes or so, until party died. It seems to guard a lot of the times, but the poison continues to damage (had only 1 anti-poison). Both lightning and water magic didn't seem to do all that much damage, maybe I used them when it was guarding, but it's not worth the risk when Kirk's better off casting heal 90% of the time. The Titanite skill seems to be really weak now, hitting only in the 20's or so (maybe 70 total). Considering its cost is like twice that of the other skills I have at that point, that seems pretty weak.


Well, off to sleep now.

 

[West Mains]

I've no idea why Meditate mind has gone wonky. Does the problem exist if you start a new game?

The Mt. Spider is supposed to be tough (its original version was flat out sadistic) but it shouldnt be that hard. I'll go through everything and see what's up.

Check the Titanite Skill on other foes. The spider guards a lot and its got good Defence.

 

[West Mains]

I've been unable to recreate the problem with Meditate Mind. Try starting a new game and see if the problem continues.

I checked the Mt. Spider and I found out why it was resisting the damage. It has really high defence and only a 10% weakness to Earth. That has been changed to 30%, and the TP cost for Titanite Splinters has been lowered to 30. It should now deliver around 40dmg per hit, rather than 20-odd.

I've also changed the Mt. Spider loot, it now drops Spider Fangs (which will be useful in the next town), and has a 1/10 chance to drop a Blue Bear. 

I changed it's music as it should have been playing the Boss Theme. 

The chest has been changed to contain the Spider's Eggs loot which explain the triggered attack.

Some tips if you decide to fight the spider: it starts blocking at 30% health, this will give you an indicator of how far you are, but it will also allow you some time in between attacks to heal up. The Spider is especially weak against Dark Magic and Fire, since Kirk has a Dark spell (Kateri) this is a recommended attack. The Spider can avoid it quite well, so only use it if you want to try to put the spider to sleep. The spell can deliver around 300 damage (if it hits).

-Nice, got stats raised by examining a pillar. Lol, I love exploration.xP

There'll be a bunch of Edditch Tomes hidden around the world, but they'll get increasingly harder to find. 

Demo download link's been updated too.

 

[West Mains]

EDIT:

Alpha Demo version 3.5 is now live.

 

[Milennin]

You didn't change the file's name when you uploaded? Cause it's still giving me the old Alpha download.


I can give the spider another try with Kateri. I used it once in the previous fight, but I don't think it actually it. In the description it doesn't say that it does damage at all, which adds to the confusion. Also, if taking advantages of weaknesses is going to play an important role in the combat system I'd like for it to be more clear what stuff is what type (for example, a way for me to know that Kateri is a dark spell), and what enemies are weak to certain types (being able to find out the weakness of an enemy without guessing, or trying out every skill I have on it). As of now it's just a guessing game, trying out different things until I find out what works well on something.


-Used Kateri, and it did hit this time. It's good damage.


-Yeah, spamming Kateri on it finally killed it.


-Meditate Mind seems to work normally now. Could've been my PC being slow last night then, I don't know.


Going to continue playing later today.

 

[West Mains]

You didn't change the file's name when you uploaded? Cause it's still giving me the old Alpha download.

You're not the only one. I'm going to stop using Mediafire, I think.

On Kateri, none of the skills say they do any damage. I'll include something maybe to say it's Dark, but really, people are encouraged to just experiment and find out what works against what types of enemies. Kateri worked against the ogre because blinding melee fighters is a good strategy, it does good damage against the spider (weakness) but it can also blind and put it to sleep. 

-Yeah, spamming Kateri on it finally killed it.

Well, you really only had to use it the once to blind the spider, but whatever works.

I still can't figure out what was wrong with Meditate Mind. So I'll assume it was a problem on your end, but I'll continue to investigate it. 

I'm adding a new demo download within the hour on a different filehoster. Will make some minor changes.

 

[West Mains]

Alpha version 4 is up now.

 

[Milennin]

 On Kateri, none of the skills say they do any damage. I'll include something maybe to say it's Dark, but really, people are encouraged to just experiment and find out what works against what types of enemies. Kateri worked against the ogre because blinding melee fighters is a good strategy, it does good damage against the spider (weakness) but it can also blind and put it to sleep.

Like I said about difficulty, it's only fair and fun if the player knows what to do. Making it a guessing game is fake difficulty, it's frustrating, and a waste of my time. I don't want to go over the same encounter multiple times only because I'm using random skills to try to find a weakness to it. If I know a certain enemy is weak to something, then I know what I'll have to do, and I can focus on the actual execution of taking on the challenge.


I don't mind having to re-do a challenge if it's being fair and if I know that my lack of actual skill caused me to fail it.

Well, you really only had to use it the once to blind the spider, but whatever works.

Well, the fight still took a long time, and still got almost killed at least once (by his triple attacks near the end of the fight), so I doubt it would have worked with only one Kateri. I never saw blind being applied. The spider was put to sleep a few times, but never blinded I think.

 

[West Mains]

I'm going to include things to give explanations of studying effects, but they're not going to be tutorials as such. 

Ultimately, the spider can be defeated sans State ailments, but I know where you're coming from.

I'm gonna cut it's health down a little as my main concern is the time it takes. If it takes more than 5 minutes, then it needs shredded. 

 never saw blind being applied. The spider was put to sleep a few times, but never blinded I think.

Well, most of the time (because of the chances of them afflicting) it'll only do one of them. If it does both, it does say it at the top of the screen. If you aren't sure if it blinded, have everyone gaurd. If the spider misses 2 turns in a row, it's definitely blinded. 

Btw, for this battle are you having the Lucky Charm equipped? It's an accessory that drops from the Cave Ogre, boosts Luck and Evade. See the way it's been set up? The Death's Petal guards a weapon, the Ogre guards an accessory, the Exp and stat boosts from both prepare you quite well for the road ahead, but they aren't necessary either. 

Did you opt to fight the Mt. Spider every time? I wanted to know your opinion on the stuff in East Kiria (such as the scene that plays just before the end of the game.)

I will say, you can always go back later in the game to kill the spider. It drops a Fang which can later be crafted into a Poisonous Dagger (for a fee, of course.) The Spider's Eggs (in the chest) also play an interesting role, but I'm definitely not ready to start going into the details of that one!

 

[Milennin]

I'm going to include things to give explanations of studying effects, but they're not going to be tutorials as such.

Yeah, it's fine. Those don't need to be tutorials, as long as there's a way to check up on stuff that I need to know to beat the various challenges without guessing on what to do. Because I do enjoy the fights once I sort of know what to do. Like with the spider boss, it still felt like a nice challenge, even though I knew its weakness.

I'm gonna cut it's health down a little as my main concern is the time it takes. If it takes more than 5 minutes, then it needs shredded.

Hmm, I can't remember exactly how long it took me the second time, when I beat it. At least a few minutes, and that was exploiting its weakness with Kateri as much as I could.

Well, most of the time (because of the chances of them afflicting) it'll only do one of them. If it does both, it does say it at the top of the screen. If you aren't sure if it blinded, have everyone gaurd. If the spider misses 2 turns in a row, it's definitely blinded.

 
I think it would be nice if you could look into a script that shows which conditions the enemies are suffering frome. I'm not saying it's necessary to (maybe something to consider adding later on in development), but it would be nice, because sometimes I miss the text in the top of the screen, and then I don't know what really happened. Just some clearer visual feedback with what's going on during combat. Also a health bars script maybe (unless you don't want the player to see the actual monster HP).

Btw, for this battle are you having the Lucky Charm equipped? It's an accessory that drops from the Cave Ogre, boosts Luck and Evade. See the way it's been set up? The Death's Petal guards a weapon, the Ogre guards an accessory, the Exp and stat boosts from both prepare you quite well for the road ahead, but they aren't necessary either.

I do have the Lucky Charm, but neither character is able to equip it. Admittedly, I hadn't looked at it before you mentioned it in here. I did find a Leather Vest in one of the chests from the first demo that I put on Kirk.

Did you opt to fight the Mt. Spider every time? I wanted to know your opinion on the stuff in East Kiria (such as the scene that plays just before the end of the game.)

Lol, you can't put a chest in front of me and not expect me to open it.xD Well, unless it gives me a Game Over screen...=P


By the way, the link to your demo is down, so I can't get the new version. Meanwhile I'll continue on the old version (1st Alpha release).


-In East Kiria there's 3 houses that are really small. Maybe raise the walls with 1 tile.


-I'm able to walk behind a long row of trees just south of the town, and on the other side of the fence east of town, but it serves no purpose? Like, there's no item or anything to find there, and just seems strange that I'm able to get there.


-In the Watchtower, when Joseph says he saw a man where Kirk is standing, Kirk is behind him, whereas the man I examined was in front of me.


-Can't examine anything in the small camp? And I can't enter the tent.


-Lol, found Water Brew on a hidden spot.


-Change the battle backgrounds north of town. It shows a town background, but should show forest background. I'm pretty sure you can set which tile relates to which background somewhere under tile settings.


-When talking to Carmach for the first time, Kirk's dialogue is cut off at one part (it only shows the letter M at the edge of the text box).


-Oh, I saw Kateri putting blind + sleep on an enemy this time, but the text for blind is replaced by the text for sleep in a split second.


-The path to the east just north of the path that leads to Carmach is a dead end? I'm guessing it's missing a functional teleport event there?


-End of Demo at the forest entrance?


Not too much to comment about this time. The rate at which anti-poisons were dropped was just enough to go by, so that's a good balance there. The random battles were alright, and not too frequent. It feel the area was mostly lacking some examinable objects, and missing some things (probably cause it's still incomplete?)


A third party member should make things interesting, combat-wise.

 

[West Mains]

the area was mostly lacking some examinable objects, and missing some things (probably cause it's still incomplete?)

 

Yeah, there was some stuff added in V4, but not a lot.

 

I can't see why the Mediafire link went dead. I went and got the file, same link, and it worked. Try copy-pasting it from now on. 

 

-End of Demo at the forest entrance?

 

Should end after the tower sequence, but I don't know if the version you're on had it set to finish there.

 

-The path to the east just north of the path that leads to Carmach is a dead end? I'm guessing it's missing a functional teleport event there?

 

That's the path you're meant to go on to continue towards the forest/mountains, access is denied so far!

 

-When talking to Carmach for the first time, Kirk's dialogue is cut off at one part (it only shows the letter M at the edge of the text box).

 

I'm pretty sure this is fixed for V4.

 

-Change the battle backgrounds north of town. It shows a town background, but should show forest background. I'm pretty sure you can set which tile relates to which background somewhere under tile settings.

 

D'oh, of course! I'll get that done.

 

[Milennin]

I can't see why the Mediafire link went dead. I went and got the file, same link, and it worked. Try copy-pasting it from now on.

I now notice that you have 2 links under download section, but one is clickable, and the other isn't. The clickable link is dead, but the other one works. I've got the new version now.

 

[West Mains]

Yeah, I figured it was the link causing trouble.

 

[West Mains]

The next update will be a little delayed, I'm implementing some new features.

The Khas Lighting Effects are going to be added alongside Yanfly's Ace Battle Engine.