Ashworth

[Jesse - PVGames]

Update 6/17/14

About 9/10 of the story is now fully implemented in the game. Just need to create the very end which will be several cutscenes. Whipped up another cutscene image (below), dug up some new sound effects. Should have the story finalized and in-game tomorrow. 

 

 

[valkill101]

Wow, you're on fire. Can't wait to play this. I'll be posting my entry by tomorrow as well as progress. There will be a pretty good number of games to check out for this contest. I can hardly wait.

 

[Dark Gaia]

Your screenshots are consistently stunning, PVGames. Your artwork will really give this game an edge, I think. You seem to have the story pretty much wrapped up. What else is left to do now? Battles, events, etc? You're making good progress.

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

Update 6/18/14

I finished implementing the story. The game is now fully playable start to finish. I decided to create a new ending for the game though than originally planned. I added in NPCs for the town (shopkeepers, the like). 

After fiddling around, I decided to scrap the idea that after each in-game day the sanity effects progress from one phase to the next. I don't think I have the time to really implement a day-night cycle to make that functional, and I don't want things to just appear on screen once the variable ticks away. So I changed it so that after every x minutes (10-15 typically for this) a cutscene will appear signifying the change of one phase of sanity to the next. I whipped up a couple of the cutscene images (below). 

Screenshots (6/18/14)

 

@Dark Gaia - Thanks man. I do have to set up the battles and equipment and skills, that is all left to do. Then just the sanity system and that is it. The game isn't going to be heavy on combat, combat is there more to shake things up a little bit, maybe give a physical face to the mental horrors occurring. 

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

6/18/14 - 6/19/14

Today I finished making the Sanity Effects transition scenes. After a period of time your sanity slips further and further from you, and this is denoted by a short cutscene. I started implementing various sanity effects that will occur randomly during each phase of sanity, and added some static/stationary effects as well. Added animated battlers for the intended enemies in the game, and set up some of their database information. Still contemplating on how/where/when to engage in the first battle which will be the tutorial type battle.

 

[Dark Gaia]

That's always a hard decision in a horror game -- when exactly do you introduce the first monster? Even if your game is combat-lite, you still change the tone and atmosphere considerably once enemies start to appear. You have to think about it carefully. Even though it's the tutorial battle, make it an encounter that the player will remember and build up to it with lots of tension.

 

[LoneWolfDon]

This looks awesome! I can hardly wait to play it.  I wish you best of luck for the contest.

Keep up the great work. ---Don

 

[kartersaint]

I have to keep following your game.

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

Update 6/21/14

 

Worked on combat a lot today, and a friend and I went through and polished the game overall, fixing bugs, adding some elements that made things work a little better. Overall, the game is pretty much done except for more polish, bells, whistles, and refinement.

As such, I am looking for a few people who would be interested in testing out Ashworth and giving me some feedback. If interested, please send me a PM! Thanks!

 

[Dark Gaia]

Oh my, those battle screens look amazing! I love the poses you've made for Richard firing his gun. I'm just using the standard Yanfly system -- take a step forward, play attack animation, and then step back again.


Are those scripted battles, or are there random encounters/wandering monsters to fight too?

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

6/22/14 

Got some great feedback from Lonewolf Don who did a very thorough playthrough with what he could before encountering game-breaking bugs. I have spent the day fixing all of the issues he came across (luckily there weren't *too* many!) And I spent more time balancing the numbers in the database for combat, added some new items in the world. I changed what happens when your Sanity hits zero - you now get a cutscene and end up in the Dalwick Asylum. 

@Dark Gaia - The battles are mostly with wandering monsters. As each phase of sanity progresses, more, tougher monsters appear. There are a couple of scripted battles, such as the tutorial battle, but not very many at all.

 

[Dark Gaia]

I know it's getting long in the tooth now with regards to the deadline, but after reading what happens when your Sanity drops to zero, I had an idea...


What if you tied the Sanity rating to a "bad ending" of sorts? If you complete the game with low Sanity, you awaken in the asylum again after the final cutscene, where it's revealed that Richard basically hallucinated the events of the game and is now hopelessly insane. That would allow the Sanity to have an actual effect on each playthrough of the game, and give the player a good reason to pay attention to it.

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

Without spoiling anything, it does play into a 'bad end' sort of thing. After X amount of time you get the 'bad end', going insane makes you reach that end quicker. 

 

[??????]

I'm gonna have to play this again I think...  I got stuck after losing my sanity from that big

Spoiler

thing ... Ended up running around the asylum for about half an hour :/ lol

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

Er - why did that take half an hour?  It's a small map!

 

[??????]

...small map...

Dude, your funny... What is that map, like 250x250 lol...

I kind of kept running in circles and couldnt find my way back to where I was :/

Total newb over here lol

 

[Dark Gaia]

Yeah, the maps in Ashworth are a little on the large side. I kept getting lost exploring the town (but I like that -- it's very Silent Hill). I have no clue how PV Games found the time to put so much detail into them


I'd recommend adding an auto-dash option to the game, like the one in Yanfly's Options Menu. That way, we can set it so Richard is always running, which would make the navigation a bit less overwhelming.


EDIT: Been playing a bit, so I thought I'd come back and post some more feedback. I don't really have anything specific to say, but I like the atmosphere of the game. I think you could probably get away with a couple more jumpscares here and there -- the tone of the game is surreal and unsettling, but it doesn't really get under my skin. There's a constant sense of something not being quite right, but it's never terrifyingly so. I didn't really feel as if Richard's life was in danger, just that he was solving a mystery. I understand finding out the truth behind his mother's death is important, but there should be more of a motivation to simply survive the strange things happening in town, as well.


It's still an awesome game, though. I just prefer a fight for survival over solving a mystery

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

Update 6/23/14

Going off of feedback from some of the testers, I fixed a few bugs that were found and balanced the numbers a bit more for combat. One thing that pops up often is that people are confused where to go sometimes, so I am going to see about making the directions a bit more clear whilst still trying to avoid blatant hand-holding. 

I removed the combat with the big five-armed creature following not getting a riddle correct. Instead you get a cutscene and are transported to this strange place...

 

A couple of the effects that were intentional are going to be removed because they often get confused with being bugs, such as the corpse sliding around the floor in the police station. Some strange things that happen that are little bizarre to some players will remain because once you get to the end, it should all make sense

@Dekita - Maybe I misunderstood. I thought you meant that you got lost inside of the Asylum itself for 30 minutes. The Asylum being small on the inside, I found that a bit tough to believe But wandering around town, I suppose I could believe 30 minutes   The town map is 170x150 tiles, and since that includes the border regions where you can't even go, its probably closer to 140x130ish.

@Dark Gaia - There is an auto-run feature already. If you go to System in the menu, it is in there. I appreciate that you said that it could use more jumpscares lol because some of the testers thought they were too scary and did not want to play anymore after the first one or two because they were afraid of more scary ones popping up later

 

[Alkorri]

Really excited for this, PV. Screenshots look gorgeous. Makes me wish I didn't miss the call for beta testers

 

[hyde9318]

This game truly looks amazing. I can't wait to see the finished product. Good luck on the judging, I know you are going to score really high!