RMMV And Remember Tomorrow [Surrealistic][Action][RPG]

[ShadowDragon]

you do an amazing things in it, when do you think the demo will be out to play?

you might be one of the most uniques game created in MV like that, but I also seen
some very unique battle mechanic, so there is alot possible when you know javascript
or use the right plugins to create something unique.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

Thanks! I definitely strive to be as unique as possible, for better or worse. This engine truly is capable of some amazing things once you get under the hood with PIXI and JS.

As for releasing a demo, originally the demo was supposed to be out around er... well now. Or at least a prototype. But it's taken so long to make my world creator not slowly overload processors, even now if you stay on the same map for 7-8 minutes it will start to slow down. But without it's rendering system "protecting" the user's computer, it will instantly use 100% processing (I've got a Ryzen 7 2700x to give you an idea) because these maps aren't normally possible. But with it running, usage typically doesn't spike to above 20-30% (on a single core). So now that is finally relatively stable...

I'm a couple of months behind my time table, but I didn't want to design a game loop and have it be impossible to implement. So what's between me and releasing a demo is implementing said gameplay loop, and the writing the story. Aside from that, there's some debugging to do, and enemy "AI" to work on. I'm hoping a couple of months for the demo. I might be able to get it done faster depending on real world stuff.

Also depending on how long that takes, I had a prologue chapter I was going to make... But I will cut that if it looks like it will simply take too long. It's not absolutely necessary, and would require a lot to implement.

 

[ShadowDragon]

well, it is worth the wait, if you have a prototype, let us know, story can always be implented,
but we can give feedback as well.

another game I playtest before public stops updates and push alot of things directly,
so we need to wait a while before that release come, and the game is nice, so it's
worth the wait

so take your timee

 

[deficiencyproductionz]

well, it is worth the wait, if you have a prototype, let us know, story can always be implented,
but we can give feedback as well.

another game I playtest before public stops updates and push alot of things directly,
so we need to wait a while before that release come, and the game is nice, so it's
worth the wait

so take your timee

I'm also interested in giving feedback!

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

I realize it's been almost a month since I updated stuff. Much has changed... The game now uses a 1920x1080 resolution. Maps are now much more solid. Maps have depth now, and colliders for everything. Also working on a boss fight...

I've created a new ability, which is used extensively in the boss fight. Quaintly dubbed "Comet mode". You'll notice I've updated the amount of particles used to well.. Stupid levels because why not?

Going to update some character models, and create a progression system now that I have a better idea how I want combat to go. Also I'll almost certainly tone down the difficulty of this fight. I've just tested it so many times, that I made it harder intentionally for the video. Basically sparkly "Dark Souls" just for me.

 

[Nectar]

Cool but no my taste. I prefer the simpler FF-style RPGs ^<^

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

@Nectar Fair enough, I definitely figured it wouldn't be to everybody's tastes. Thanks for taking a look just the same.

And to everybody else, I've been working on my randomly generated space maps. Should make the previous fight way more interesting. Also er... my Dev Room (pictured here) is kind of like an awkward space screensaver now with all the shifting gases, asteroids and stuff.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

Alright, so in the last 12 days I've created lots of graphics for space. Updated the Boss's particles/graphics... And created a "dark" form (these aren't their final names just dev names). Where as the "light" form powers up Comet mode (the invincible sparkly light ball). Dark mode as a gravity well pulling the mobs to the player, while also providing a damage absorbing shield. A simple touch of a button changes the forms (though I may put a cooldown in to make things more interesting).

Other forms will be added, of course the player's only going to default with the light form, the others will be unlocked as the game progresses. I don't want to overwhelm the player, and I really need to devise a better interface for when there's more forms to avoid that.

Also don't worry about how everything does 1 damage at the moment. I simply haven't put in any kind of meaningful progression yet. Nor have I really bothered with improving the Interface since I keep adding/changing stuff. I'll get to that later.

Still stuff is progressing nicely. I've also done a huge amount of work improving the light plugin so the game has almost no slowdown and runs at 58-60FPS at all times. Except a 20 frame drop for 1-2 second when a new map is made. But you see that happen a lot of times in the video, so as you can see it's not really that noticeable.

Also recently I shifted a bit where the game starts. I wasn't actually going to make this "first chapter" because I was concerned I wouldn't be able to pull it off. But you know what? Then I made a whole lot of graphics for space, I loved how they looked, so I guess it's back on the menu.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

So I've been testing disintegrating a map from left to right over about a minute and thirty seconds. And giving the player that long to drag stuff to a portal on the opposite side they'd like to keep, along with accomplishing any side objectives.

They can of course permanently abandon the map at any time, as no two maps are ever exactly the same. I may or may not allow them the option to replay objectives... Even if the map layout will be different. Maybe not though as I kind of like the finality of it. Though if the player dies, they'll get to retry of course.

Also what's disintegrating the map hurts the player if it hits them... So if they stay too long, they'll of course die a horrible death.

Of course there's no visible timer, I think the world disintegrating behind you is enough of an indicator that you should probably go fast, and er... not in that direction. Definitely doing a very "Half Minute Hero" vibe here, since well... I have infinite maps, might as well take advantage of that.

I've been spending so much time optimizing stuff lately (especially the lighting plugin) and creating a system to disintegrate the map. But some potential ideas I'm going to test are....

1. Power ups/treasures/important items that can be dragged to the portal to keep them.
2. Devices that when activated either slow, or temporarily push back the maps disintegration.
3. Safe hub maps for story and/or status stuff.
4. Potentially stuff that if rescued upgrades future maps, such as making new stuff spawn on them.
5. Possibly a boss/mini boss who blocks the portal and must be defeated before escape is possible.

Anyway these are just my current thoughts.... No idea exactly what will make it to the final game. Most of the time it's whatever I end up testing and it plays out well. But since it's been over a month since I last added to the thread, I figured I'd update people.

 

[Nekohime1989]

This is gorgeous IVillain.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

Thanks! Since I'm responsible for a lot of the graphics, it's always great to hear people like them.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

I already posted these in my profile posts, but I guess I should post these here too what with them being for the game and all.

Map Stuff
So I've begun working on area maps, that allow the player to enter specific levels through the landmarks for story and mirrors for combat areas. This map is not randomized except for the space portion below the map which is randomized every time. Also the lights are currently randomized, though I might actually fix those for these area maps to maximize the looks.

The maps are already using pixel hit detection, so if it looks solid it is. I'm going to add flourishes/animations for each location when the player is nearby. Along with wobbling text appearing above it to say what it is (like in some of my previous videos). Also my working version also reduces the character's size for the area maps, so Lumina (the character running around) will be smaller on the area map than pictured.

On a side note, combat maps have been improved to make the randomized placement of important objects not appear on top things they shouldn't. So less enemies looking helplessly at you due to being unable to move.

Story Stuff
This particular map will also represent chapter 1, which is the intended demo section of the game. The intention is 7 chapters, though I may or may not adjust that number if I decide I want to add/remove stuff. So that number is tentative. Tentative chapter names are Dying Light, From Darkness, Into the Nightmare, Denial, Sanity's End, House of Madness, and Corrupted Light.

I've also started a World Anvil to sort my notes, work on story, and eventually just have a place besides this thread to showcase game stuff. Links to that will be added once I've gotten it into a reasonable shape.

State of the Demo
In order to release a demo I need to finish the following....
1. Dialogue for the first chapter.
2. Area maps for the story locations.
3. Boss animations
4. Combat Interface
5. Solidify a progression system.

I've got some ideas on how I want the progression system to be. But it needs some serious balancing... I'm leaning towards a more meaningful progression system and less just "Lolz bigger numbers" which I honestly find to be very boring.

Anyway more to come... I'll also try and remember to post new stuff here more often. I swear my profile posts is a better thread for this game than the actual game's thread is.

 

[ShadowDragon]

if you need a story locations for the demo state, how will it be
done if 2 maps are never the same?

Anyway, looking forward to the demo, just wanna see things in action already ^^
keep up the nice work.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

I've been finding a real problem in the nature of random maps. It's very hard to tell a meaningful story when you have no idea what the scenery will be. I've experimented with giving the NPCs behavior patterns to deal with objects that I won't know their placement in advance, and even unique structures that spawn in.

It works, but it leads to an ironic problem. Though the maps are random, they start to feel the same after awhile because none of them are overwhelmingly unique. They still share similar characteristics, which is fine when you're racing around them fighting, as it's essentially just rearranged obstacles. But when you compare those maps against the ones I've added here to this post... You can really see how maps like this serve to better tell a story.

The other problem is that the gameplay is simply too fast. If you're used to a level with roughly a minute and thirty seconds to beat it, but then you suddenly encounter a similar looking area where you have infinite time, it just makes for weird gameplay.

Anyway the new plan is randomize the combat areas, but to create actual story maps. Which should solve a lot of problems I was having, and hopefully the speed the process of actually releasing something. Which I really want to do ASAP even if it's just a prototype.

 

[ImaginaryVillain]

Here's the early work in progress video for the chapter 1 world map and a few story areas. A lot's still up in the air, as this is a pretty recent direction for the game. Still it's kind of cool to see it with the dynamic lighting and sound effects. Plus as an added bonus I've included Lumina's run effect now that's she entirely a particle.

Also in the works, I've created a mini map system to track everything on the randomized maps in real time. And created a health bar that's the character's image disintegrating as she's damaged, and a shooting star behind her that disintegrates as she runs out of whatever power is in use at the time.



Aside from that, next week I should have a video for the gameplay of a level, which is quite different than the boss fight previously shown.