RMMV Archtross: (subtitle still undecided)

[Marquise*]

I do admit, I myself do have the same height/flat floor problem while transferring a flat plan map as in D&D mapping and then INTO RPGM format. Like all halls and corridors needs stretching. A bit like getting scissors and plan ahead to cut all rooms of a copy of the original plan, then drawing ceiling heights over each rooms and then just spread that over a bigger grid paper.

After that, it might looks what it may risk to look like in RPGM. I admit, being dyslexic, this gets funny in my head looking everything back.

 

[Skurge]

UPDATE 2021

Hi everyone, it has been a busy couple of weeks and I have made some progress of substance.
As most people who have been keeping an eye on the project know that I am after perfecting the game's structure and ironing out the bugs before moving onto developing the game progression
but sometimes that requires actually stepping into those boundaries.

I have made a handful of quests/missions that I estimate rack up to about an hour's worth of game play. Maybe more depending if you are unfamiliar with the city layout. So far there is only a few bugs that need fixing such as Vehicle speed, vehicle positioning on script call and a variety of of minor bugs.

There is however a lack of music at the moment which I am hoping to later acquire but for now it is mostly mute, if a game demo is constructed before I find suitable custom music I will be using music I feel appropriate, same goes for sound effects. (I'm currently not much aware of how sound effect royalties work) but the audio department is all subject to change.

NOTABLE UPDATES:

• New Garrison sectors added.
• New over world character graphics added
• New weapons
• New skills
• New plugins
• 8 missions
• New animated mugshots
• New title screen art.

SCREENSHOTS

*This is a mock image of all current overworld maps combined, some seem out of sequence but in game they do add up*


ART



VIDEO FOOTAGE

*Videos contain in game bug testing, scenery and mission events.

 

[Skurge]

Sorry again everyone who likes where this project is going, it's been one of those dreaded procrastination kinda months. I honestly should be dedicating myself to working on this thing but it's been one of those really busy months where I needed to replace my car and work much longer shifts that I'm used to, and with what spare time I have I honestly lack the drive and spend a bit of gaming time.
I am still doing what little progress I can do at the time, I currently have finished the second dungeon-like mission and continuing to expand the first island to better fit more objectives.

Updates:

• New tilesets added, thanks to Winlu who has made some exceptional graphics.
• New enemies added.
• New Items added.
• New mission.
• Changes made to some special interactions.
• Edited two previous city areas and made them larger and more convenient.
• Reworked traffic control, vehicles are processed more effectively and now supply lights.

To be worked on:

• Music (This is perhaps the most difficult to organize since I'll be after a musician or two or a music pack.
• Player vehicle audio
• Certain combat note tag animations to be better enhanced.
• Bullet drop/casings should be animated with additional frames.
• Map tiles will need a update, they look to plain and could do with some character.
• Plugin fixes on certain NPC behaviors like region restrictions and movement patterns.

 

[Skurge]

I am at a point where Archtross is almost ready for a demo release.
The things needed to finish off are tedious but are being worked on asap (RL Work and creative block hold me back)

• Animated introductions, only a handful remaining (storyboard essentially done)
• Introduction setup almost ready (player first interacting with world.
• There is music available to use but some mostly are not that really gratifying (will be working on this)
• Skill sets needed to be added.
• Maybe 1-2 more quests to add.
• Spelling check (I normally proof read this **** but I would certainly need to go through and make sure)
• Bug fixes, there are only a few minor ones remaining that need to be ironed out, and a handful of other plugins that are disabled due to crash issues.

SCREENSHOTS/ART PROGRESS

 

[Skurge]

Just a little dev log update:

So far things are going very nicely, the bugs are getting wiped out- and so far from memory 1-2 game crashing ones at least are still present.
Story/game play wise- things are getting refined, story is being extensively ironed out as I had problems making it seem interesting instead of simple (get job/complete job) kinda deal. I actually have a pretty good way to flesh out the characters more in particular the player's purpose.

There was a thing bothering me about FPS performance which I believe has been fixed, technically speaking this game is running on an outdated engine but it should be optimized enough to run on current PCs. When the project is ready for it's first chapter (demo) deployment i'll be testing this on various computers, namely ones that are running windows 7 and 10.

There is also still the problem with music and sound, while I'm happy to keep the sound effects as they are (at least for a non-commercial deployment) the music department is something I am still looking through, I want to find a suitable set of music tracks but I want to steer from the typical snyth-wave style most futuristic RPG games follow through. We have plenty of those and I want this project to be different to an extent, but that doesn't mean that there won't be that particular type of music ruled out entirely.

There does exist some plugins that seriously need to be worked on, or down right just remade anew.
I have various ones that are essential for how the game plays but they do not give me the customized options I need, fortunately I have a few connections that are more than happy to help out on the odd occasion when they have time. This is something that will probably take the most time to flesh out.

And lastly to note down in this dev log is a new mechanic i've introduced into the project.
Upon gaining a level you will acquire a skill point that you can spend on various perks when resting.
So far these perks are Traps, Lock picking and Computers.
During game play you will encounter some instances where you may need to be experienced in order to bypass some hurtles like a trap filled room, or by accessing a computer network for intel.
Although they won't be all a necessity to progress the game- they will make life easier.
Successfully rolling against these hurtles will reward you Xp and other goodies like money, items and information you can use later to your advantage.

I'll be looking forward to revealing more in the future.

 

[Skurge]

Small dev update:

Bugs:

• There is a problem with the project event layering, something is causing events to randomly choose whether to be under or over terrain and other events making things very awkward looking.
• Some NPC vehicles are disappearing or ignoring move route commands winding themselves up into blocked off areas, (probably caused by large event plugins)
• There are 1-2 enemies that have this obscene glitch in regards to the animated battler plugin, animations displayed over the sprite are dramatically offset from there position they are supposed to be generated from, 0 idea why but my guess is the sprite size.
• Speaking of the glitch above^ I will be remaking said enemy graphics.

Story:
There has been alot of doubt about how the story is fleshed out, some of the characters are not that interesting and will need a huge overhaul in how the player interacts with them, there will be a restructure on how the introductory missions are laid out.
Once I iron out some of the bugs I will be making a backup of the project and redoing the quests, some have already been done but will need to be put into different sequences to make more sense of the game events.

Mechanic implementation:
There has been a new skillset/point addition into the game that will unlock pathways into the game.
So far there is a trap skill which will allow the player to detect and disarm traps to gain XP and to reduce damage or status de buffs while traversing enemy gang territory. We also have computers which will allow the player to bypass certain security doors, automated defenses and even access to computers for valuable information/bank accounts etc. And finally our 3rd the lock skill which allows you to bypass locks into non-electrical doors, crates and other things.
These will be upgraded by spending points on them earned by leveling up once you rest up.

These will exist to make the game easier in some aspects such as gaining that little XP, money or bonus items but won't be essential to progress the story ultimately. However some key moments may require balancing your skill points but won't be impossible to achieve by alternative means. I.E using rare and expensive explosives for certain doors you may have difficulty hacking.

Music:
I have always had a weakness for music, but I have learned of a few artists that might be able to help create some.

Media:
I am considering making a Twitter and itchio page for the project. But before doing so I want to have more substance to show off.

 

[Skurge]

Small but productive update:

• Skills, weapons and sound files have been restructured for better organization, these changes although initiating to sit through and fix will make things easier for me in the future.

• Common events have been rearranged and fixed, the mechanics on which the game runs on will greatly improve with these changes.

• Subway system has been improved, there is now a fully functional sector transporter in place, all that it needs now is more destinations to add to.

(More to come)

 

[Skurge]

Dev update:

Fixes and additions

• Redone the 'Chinatown' section of Garrison from 'Wet Market' to 'North Lowly' a sector that is more ironed out and populated better than before with it's out of place style and layout.
• Weapons and skills have now a more polish set up, note tags are made more clear for future additions when it comes to player/enemy sequencing.
• Audio SFX have had a restructure and new additions, eventually will have to replace all of these with licensed or custome made resources if this project ever falls into commercial territory.

Bugs and annoying s&*%.

• Going through a VERY stressful time with a VERY annoying graphical error, Party members and events are having randomly alternating layering properties, sometimes events set above each other or other terrain that is higher than them. Plugins have been checked multiple times to confirm if they are the cause but so far all variables point to a recent upgrade I made via following the guidelines to this topic. https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...dramatically-improve-game-performance.131620/ this isn't effecting the game itself, it's still playable without crashes, but it's too distracting to ignore. Map and event layer properties are where they are supposed to be. If anyone can help me with this please inform me asap.
• Some vehicles seem to be ignoring there strict pathing and taking strange actions like driving on sidewalks, getting stuck on terrain and even phasing out of existence and resetting there page layout when not prompted.

 

[akahi]

wonderful art！

 

[Skurge]

Thank you!

UPDATE:
Happy belated new year, I am now a pathetic 6 years in on this project and still no demo.
I confess I do have a problem with development, constant hurtles, IRL occurrences and programming bungles. I still am determined to make this project into a completed game.

While small changes have been made over last December, we have improvements made over combat but some regrettable issues I cannot bypass.

There are performance upgrade options namely playing around with the NJWs files and pixi etc etc, while it makes the game run beautifully, there is something I cannot stand and that is graphical errors.
During numerous months of testing I found I could not fix the issues where graphics failed to operate properly, layering issues, random crash reports that made 0 sense- constant testing with back up projects and fresh projects for plugin compatibility issues, I just cannot win with it.
In other words I am sick and tired of having to go over and fix issues instead of progressing in terms of story and game play. The thing that drives me the most when it comes to developing a game project is when I can enjoy it, fixing bugs constantly is not enjoyable for me.

So to put things into perspective, my next move may be to port to MZ which I've been told performs massively compared to MV, my reasons to consider this are obviously to improve the project so that it can be built upon more efficiently but to also perform better for players. I cannot realistically expect gamers to put up with horrible FPS, lag, etc. I do not want to disappoint people.

I will be contacting various people that have helped me in the past in regards to porting to MZ and may
yet test it on a trial version.

 

[Skurge]

Update!​

So it's been an interesting couple of months and in terms of porting to MZ it's been so far very good.

Thanks primarily to Siglegna, the project has been ported successfully to MZ and it runs a heap better than MV, never did I realize how badly MV was bad in comparison.


Majority of game functions have been replaced with new and improved plugin versions including new standalone plugins provided by Sirlegna, combat is improved like never before, taking full advantage of particle animations and hit/miss/evade effects unseen on any other RPG Maker game.

Map visuals have been improved where some changes were made to better suit the environment of a polluted off world mega city. Immersion is definitely a key goal here to take you out of the real world into a wacky future.

There are some small things to fix such as icon allocation, vehicle pathing, and mechanics such as
the perk system I had been working on before the port. Vehicles currently do not have any of the desired functions such as physical size and other rules, we have now overhauled most of the city's mechanics for ease of programming such as spawning traffic light functions, pedestrians and many more.

The ideal goal here is to bring the project back to speed to how it was on the MV project but better,
and to merge both Garrison and Morrowsbrook into one connecting island- that means a dozen+ maps have been added. When things are back to speed, missions will be remade at great efficiency
and there will be plenty of already prepared areas to traverse to in order to complete them. The larger the areas are the more better missions will be.

Here is a preview of the work in progress map merging.


Now to finally add, IRL has me still working a job and other responsibilities so trying to devote time working on this will be random. I hope to soon get some time to work further on this as I am gaining motivation with MZ.