Cyber Punkz

[cane_danko]

Game Synopsis

It is the year 2178. The earth is just a shadow of its former beauty. What was once the United States is now a Wasteland. The memory of the Old World has faded into legend and humankind struggles to rebuild itself from the ashes. Their triumph is the city of Asgard. Built out of the ruins of some forgotten metropolis, it has held a population of over four million for twenty years. The city is ruled by The Supreme Executive Council, a body of elite citizens that are voted in by the Upper Class. 

In the poorest section of the city, an outbreak has broken loose. Reports of undead creatures manifesting out of thin air have become the whispers of the underworld. The media reports a quarantine on that section of the city and military forces have been quiet on the matter since the catastrophe started.

 

Criminal syndicates have taken advantage of the preoccupied military and run rampant in the streets. They harass citizens and destroy property at a record scale. The Supreme Executive Council has declared martial law and is using what resources it has to quell the state of anarchy.

 

It has been over 50 years since the Apocalypse. People everywhere are trying to pick up the pieces of the past and rebuild. Marauder attacks, mutant beasts, and even poltergeist haunt people outside the city. 

 

 

Characters

Nomad- A gypsy who grew up in the Wastelands. He enters the city of Asgard as a vagabond and ends up working as a Runner for the guild Cyber Punkz. Runners earn credits in the city by doing dangerous jobs for rich clients. Their work ranges from bodyguard duty to investigation. Nomad's face remains scarred from his experience with marauders in the Wastelands. He is calm and collected with a very dry sense of humor.                      Ark- A mixed breed devil/demon, Ark is Nomad's travelling companion and familiar. His true origins remain a mystery but Ark feels compelled to help Nomad in his struggles through life. Ark is often time shunned for being different. His only form of communication is telepathy through which only Nomad can understand. Ark is a very powerful magic user and can heal through the power of licking.                        General Martuk- The commanding officer of the Republic Military. He is an upfront soldier who fought in the campaigns to take the ruins of Asgard 30 years ago. Four years ago to date, mystical portals began opening in Asgard located in the Lower Class Residential District. Ever since a war has raged in the city, the populace of that sector was wiped out due to a quarantine. Martuk struggles to fight for the people while losing a war of attrition against undead hordes in this section of the city.                      Eva- Working as an Occult Investigator, Eva has spent the past three years trying to uncover a lucrative occult known as the Golden Dawn. Her employer is Baron Vlad who is the Overseer where the military is fighting the brutal war against the creatures of the Void. Eva's past remains a mystery to Nomad but she is keenly interested in a prophecy which she believes has direct relevance to Nomad. She is a practicing Warlock and skilled in the arts of Dark Magic.                  Xavier- A Jesuit Monk and martial artist, Xavier spends most of his time doing dangerous missions for the Holy Diocese of Asgard. Recently, the Church has suffered from a schism within the city and has been cut off from the papacy for over a decade. The Inquisitors are a new faction within the Church which have adopted a medieval philosophy for rooting out heretics. The Jesuit monks have operated as a counter to their schemes and tensions rise as the city falls into more chaos.                        Manika- Outside the Wastes there are many different forms of life other than humans. One is a race called the Kalfar. Having pointed ears and a graceful demeanor, this race has been given the nickname "Dark Elves" by the human population of the Wastelands. Manika is a Dreamwalker, a Kalfar who has the ability to enter people's dreams. Her parents were killed in a war outside the Wastelands and she was rescued by missionaries and sent to live in an orphanage in the slums. Her psychic abilities have piqued an interest of a man named Nicoli who holds Manika as a hostage.                                       

 

 

Screenshots


 

 

 



 

 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

 



 

Features

 

-Active Time Battle System!

-Detailed Crafting System that encourages bartering with npcs

-Tons of Exploration of the Wastelands as well as the metropolis of Asgard

-Nonlinear cyberpunk story with religious and mystical themes

-Apocalyptic setting with very dark and brooding villains

-Tons of sidequests that can be skipped or done at the players leisure

-Factions in the city that can be joined or fought against

 

 

Download Link

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1eilhh3oagv7lx/Cyber%20Punkz.exe?dl=0

 

Credits: 

 

Victor Sant

Yami

modern algebra

Tsukihime

Mr. Bubble

Fomar0153

Raizen

Mithran

Craze

 

 

[Shelby]

"commander of the government military" Is to vague, give the name of the actual unit. The mapping needs more detail and variety.

 

[cane_danko]

Thank you for the feedback Shelby! Yes I will try reworking the introduction of the story to be a bit more specific. I am trying to also give the impression of a bit of mystery as well so the player can discover the things for themselves in the game world. The mapping is a work in progress and I could use any tips because this is my first project. Feel free to download the demo and tell me how you feel about the gameplay and the story progression. Right now I am debating whether to keep this project going or do I just need to dump it for something entirely. Meaning if this won't catch people's attention I need to start on something that will!

 

[Ms Littlefish]

[SIZE=11pt]Bare with me. This is my first time trying to give feedback. I know. I am a person who talks non-stop and I love talking with RPG Makers. But confession. I have yet to play an RPG Maker game. Crazy, right? (Boo, hiss) Writing long winded messages should be right up my alley, correct? Ok. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]So to start, reading the description. I quite like the premise and I'm curious to see what ways these magical forces are connected to this post-apocalyptic setting. Is it the demons causing it? Maybe it's someone higher up in the government? After all, it is common for a government trying to gain back order to be incompetent or have ulterior motives. Or maybe it's those criminal syndicates. I think that could be played many ways for an interesting outcome.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Ok, now downloading demo. Is 346 MB a typical size? I'm growing concerned with how long it is taking to download. Not in a, this will never finish (!), sort of way. But, I imagine a smaller size would be more tempting for people walking by to try out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Ok, I played up until the end of the quest with Xavier and the Turk Gang. I may play more and leave additional feedback but based on what I have played so far, these are the notes I have made.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]             General[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Ok, so. First of all. Spell out every word. Instead of “tho” write “though,” instead of ‘thru’ write “through.” It may seem to be a smallish detail but it’s important for professionalism to spell and grammar check everything. Also right in the opening there is a wrong usage of “to/too.” So, just look your text over and have someone else proof read it![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Many of your ellipses should be replaced with commas. You only need one question mark, ect. That sort of thing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]White text over the desert colors is a bit hard to read[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Strike a good balance of show versus tell, especially when we’re just introducing the whole game![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I don’t personally have an issue with these maps. Nothing feels too giant or excessive. But variation certainly is never a bad thing to keep my eyes interested.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Story[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I would highly recommend that you start the game with a playable scene that goes through the attack on Nomad’s caravan. I really believe it is better to have the game start with a playable scene before you delve into text heavy stuff so we can digest all this information. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Such a scene would also make the player feel more connected to Nomad and experience the themes of the game first hand, and the game play of course. This would also make the interaction with the priest more emotional if we could really see what Nomad had gone through. I like to start a game playing, ask questions, and get the answers later.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I think this scene would also make a good juxtaposition between the Nomad we meet who is committed to his caravan to the Nomad we meet in the future taking jobs in this big run down city.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Reading the dialogue in the budget meeting I am almost now certain something scummy is going on with this new government. I can feel the fore shadowing here. Good![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]You definitely have some strong themes in this story. The sense of corporatism versus faith is being played well so far. This is another great point! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I think you’re making a good use of your NPCs in the rooms trailing that opening dungeon. One should always talk to the NPCs and they should always say something useful. I was able to interact with the scenery and learn more about the background of my setting. Good job.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]And then that leads into the riot. That music. Is. Awesome.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Game play[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I think your class system will lead to some pretty good strategy. I like the concept of threat levels and lowering and raising that level.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Secondary classes will definitely be fun and in depth![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]The tutorial text “posters” at the start of the playable scene. This is another instance of striking a balance between show versus tell. I can read all of that (and did), but as a visual learner, I’m having trouble choking it down.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ATB is always nice![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]One thing I’d like to mention and I don’t know if this is typical or not of games. I picked mage as my starting class, but I did not start with an offensive spell of any sort! It just struck me something as odd but maybe that is due to the way changing classes and leveling are handled in your game (?). Since Ole’ Ben is a mage and had Ice lance I found it counter intuitive for me to keep Nomad a mage himself since he had no offensive spell. So, it’s kind of cool I could just go ahead and change him to something else. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]But, I wonder how all this class changing is going to affect stat growth and learning skills. Wouldn’t there be a “point of no return” so to speak? How do you create incentive to change classes?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Small detail, but it doesn’t make sense to me that a consumable or synthesizing item like a “mana gem” would be put into the “key items” pocket of the inventory.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I start out with a lot of recovery items. Maybe it is just me, but it kind of eliminates any challenge. I didn’t have to use any through the first area but if I was ever in a pinch I had all these items AND healing spells. The items are even pretty strong.  250 HP recovery to start out? Considering that my Nomad has 124 HP at level 3. Woah. As a player I like to be on my toes a little. Sure, one should come prepared but I have to admit I love the feeling of walking through the Viridian Forest with only one antidote, get what I’m saying?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Overall I feel slightly directionless. I actually kind of love that. It’s nice not being told what to do all the time and I like that I organically am encountering quests.  Keep that atmosphere in tact but at the same time I being to wonder. What is my goal? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] LoL, It’s clear why I have all these items now.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] In the beginning of the game I don’t think it’s a great idea to go from these la-dee-da trash mob encounters and into a “wtf?” difficulty boss. This battle with the Turk Boss has turned into him downing my characters every chance I get to revive them, me saying “thank God” when he misses me so I can heal them up in time before he sweeps me with his Electric Field spell again. This boss is pretty hard. He creamed me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I beat him! It was a fun battle. Don’t get me wrong. I had to think hard. But Wow-ee! It has been awhile since I ran to a save point that fast. I don't know if I was supposed to go somewhere else first or if I was under leveled.[/SIZE]

 

[Bonkers]

I'm going through my first run through and found a few errors, and things that as possible errors.

One thing that is strange is the spirit of "Saint Michael the Archangel".  Michael the Archangel and Michael and the Saint are two different figures, and the prayer and spell are both for St. Patrick.

There is too much scrolling text after the first interlude that leads me to loose my place in the story.

All the talk of a second Apocalypse is pretty low key.  You think they'd be more upset.

Your resolution is set larger than the default causing battle wipes, game over screen, and other effects meant for the default layout to duplicate themselves in the lower right hand corner.  You need to set the scripts to adapt the battle wipe png and the game over png to the correct sizes of the new window to compensate, or shrink the window back down.

The men and women in the first area after the neo wasps need "Fix direction" when you talk to them they turn into different people, as does the smoking woman who turns into a barbel lifting man when approached from the bottom.

When you defeat the Turk boss the message says gold, not credits.

Old Ben first has a different sprite when you talk to him and then switches to the correct one in the party.

The quest journal registers all rewards so far as as 2000 gold.

The car hoods can be walked through.

The dire wolf's portrait has a background with it.  No other portrait does.

The game looks and feels like Shadow Run.  That's why I do not mind the NPCs running off so quick after their business is done.

The music is immensely good!  The custom meta effects are very nice.  That being said, the coin sound each time for the cursor made me lower the SE in the status menu to minimum.  You may consider changing it.

I really liked I could set the main character as a number of different classes from the get go.

Some maps are better than others, because you left the game encrypted I can look back later and address which could use touching up.

The game's difficulty takes a major spike, and I managed to defeat the Turk boss on my second try with only Nomad alive.   

Still going here.  Need to take a break and look back at all the hidden items I found.  Thank you for being so generous to us in the demo, the extra items and money help me see how much there really is here.

 

[cane_danko]

Wow! Thank you both for the in depth feedback! You really have helped me loads because I was sitting here wondering out of all this stuff what people would actually "get" and what I was wasting my time on. I will definetley try to polish up these errors and hopefully you can continue playing the demo and just give feedback on what you like and dislike. The further into it you go the more mistakes you will be because I did not put a cut off point because I was hoping maybe someone would play and give ideas and thoughts on places such as "I would like to see something like this here..." etc. Actually just really glad for the feedback and thanks a million guys!

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Ok, session two. I have my coffee brewing. Wait till I’m about three cups in. Just you wait. My brain gets interesting.

So, I have noticed I’m bad at catching environment bugs. Palladinthug has listed a lot of things I did not catch at all!

For now I have played up to the Docks leading out of the Cyber Punkz Headquaters. I will remind you that I give live commentary as I play. I need a break!

General

·         The expanses of street are starting to get a bit large. If there is nothing going on in that space, you don’t need it. Avoid having a ton of objects there for objects sake or make some of it able to be interacted with. I like talking to everyone and checking everything looking for secrets, even if the reward is just a silly line of text.

·         Character biography on Dire Wolf (who I named Ryan) just says “Ryan the”

·         With some of the warehouses on Oak Street I can pass through the walls. Definitely keep an eye on passing through terrain.

Story

·         At this point two of my party members are non-speaking (beside animal noises). Having one silent character would give someone for the protagonist to air his thoughts to, but the second one adds nothing different.

·         The dialogue between Nomad and Eva seems forced and sudden. I know little about the two characters at this point so I am not really caring about this “romance.” Oops, I tabbed out and the dialogue went ahead without me. Now I don’t know what happened. L

·         Be careful with gratuitous use of profanity. It may just be my taste but I like to think of them as spices in food. Less is more. I understand the atmosphere  of “dog eat dog” and “punk” you’re trying to accomplish but some of the dialogue is uncomfortably vulgar.

·         Eva clearly is not a rainbows and kittens character, and it is an apocalypse, but she always comes off angry even when unprovoked.  I’m not relating to her and don’t understand her attitude. When she has the softer exchange with Nomad about him being a good guy it just comes off bipolar or even conniving because of the way she acts beforehand.

·         Try to have all the dialogue be important. It should tell something about the character’s personality, backstory, or the world they are living in. However, banter and off topic dialogue works in NPC exchanges or even in optional scenes. I quite like that, even. 

·         At this point I still feel like I know little about my actors and the world I’m living in. Kind of wondering more and more about this apocalypse.

·         No offense, but what is the point of the Dire Wolf?

·         I think it’s a good idea to have NPCs say something different if you talk to them again. I talked to the man (with his wife’s diabetes) again and it went through that long exchange of dialogue again.

·         The lack of face sets is starting to affect the delivery of the dialogue too much. Also, Nomad would certainly remember the person who killed his family at first sight, no? He would react more? Especially after being betrayed by Eva at the same time?

·         Chapter Two, now. What happened? Who is Ragnarok? That scrolling text really threw me for a loop.

Chapter Two

·         And now Eva is super apologetic? Let her go, Nomad! She ain’t good for you! We haven’t seen her for a year and we think she’s dead but she knows where to send me letters but at no point visits me? She doesn’t seem like a gal I want to be tied up with.

·         Answered the phone, “Oh, hi Naruto.”

·         Okay, so I’ve been introduced to lots of gang banging and vigilantism. What is the exact goal of the Runners? I’ve also been left pretty vague on all the void and robot army stuff from the opening scene.

·         Now there is Manika, Golden Dawn, and some elf war going on in the Wastes? I feel like this is an info dump. There is a lot of complexity in this world and that’s great, even more so when/if it all gets tied together, but I need something to break it all down. Recap, please! Friendly narrator? All these things and places and no visual reference or presentation.

·         This is another instance of show versus tell. I think it is better to show plot through action and have someone “tell” the recap. I’m a bit bogged down.

·         There are lots of concepts (dream walking, entering minds) and groups (Turks, Brawlers, Dark Elves, Golden Dawn, ect) introduced suddenly with little backstory, explanation, and cohesion. Who is who? Who hates who? Who is doing what and why? It’s a bit scattered and it all needs to start making sense. The player cannot simply accept new truths as true. You have some ‘splaing to do. What, when, why, where, how?

·         We had a lot of story at the beginning, much of which I cannot recall anymore, and now I’ve been crawling dungeons for a while without anything overly eventful happening. Just more and more getting told to me.

·         Your characters should be actors in your story and devices which the story is happening to, they need to do more and react to things happening. 

·         LOL. The scene where the Dire Wolf bites the guy's hand off and the other guy is like, “Haha, sucks to be you, bye.”  AND THEN THEY DIED.

·         Why would I get Manika back in my party for the fight against Nicoli if he has captured her and is entering her mind? Wouldn’t she be incapacitated and need to be saved first?

·         Now with Manika we have another example a sudden romance. All the while Nomad comes off as a womanizer. There is no emotion in either the relationships with Manika or Eva. I am not caring about either of them coming to fruition. Not only has Nomad not proven himself as a standup guy but none of these ladies present any interesting traits I would even find attractive. It is adding no depth to these characters or plots (yet). Everyone feels like strangers and barely know each other or interact with each other.

·         I need to know more about your characters. They are void of personality. Are they scared? What do they think about the things going on? Are they having fun at all? Do they like each other? Hate each other? Show me if they do. 

·         Gameplay

·         For Ark I think it would make more sense for his fire spells to be under ‘Magic’ and for this “Lick Wounds” ability to be under ‘Special’. Lick Wounds seems like a spell unique to Ark while the fire spells seem they would be more common. I always find myself clicking 'Magic' first when I want to use his fire spells. Especially when he learns the plain old “fire” spell it goes under 'Magic'.

·         Also, I find it odd that there is such a power discrepancy between Ark and Nomad. Ark has a lot less HP and his attacks don’t seem to do very much unless they happen to be weak to fire. I can’t equip any sort of weapon or raise his stats besides leveling up and select armors.

·         Oh, now he learned Fire and is quite strong. And it only costs 2MP? That’s a little too good to be true. That's a bit of a powerful nuke for such a low cost.

·         I would make your common encounters take a few less turns. No one wants to spend this much time on a run of the mill battle. If there is any need for grinding this would make it a lot more tedious.

·         I’m starting to wonder how useful it is to have both the TP and MP bars to draw from. I’m constantly out of TP but never worry about MP. Basically I don’t know why some spells use TP and some use MP. I think I might have glazed over this part of the tutorial. Something.

·         The Dire Wolf’s “Double Attack” does less total damage then the “Strong Attack” he starts with. Struck me as off.

·         So, Eva’s portrait has blue hair and her sprite has green hair. Small, but questionable.

·         Ok, so something I’ve realized is that when the ATB fills up, unless I see the bar finish, I can never tell whose turn it is and who I am attacking with. I always have to check the spells of the character to find out who I’m attacking with this turn.

·         So walking into my house heals my HP and my MP, but not my TP (which I have forever called ‘toilet paper’ since Tales of Symphonia)?

·         Why would an Iron Hammer (traditionally a heavy weapon) make me faster?

·         The vendors are now selling equips that are much weaker than the ones I am finding.

·         My copper goes in the regular “items” slot while other crafting materials are in the “key” items slot.

·         Ark’s Fire spell only costs 2 MP while my Nomad learned Fire and it cost 5 MP. It’s inconsistent.

·         Manika’s Alter Time spell is really good. Maybe a little too good. I’d either make it cost more TP or last fewer turns.

·         Something I have noticed is that once you defeat an enemy, it disappears forever, won’t this make grinding impossible if there is no respawn rate?

·         There is a giant hole in the wall where I get the Dire Wolf back and I cannot enter it. It looks like it should be entered but maybe it’s just there?

·         I finally found my way though that lab/tunnel/dungeon thing. It’s a good thing I am a clicker of everything otherwise I may not have found out how to complete that puzzle. Another reason why you need to get your player in the habit of checking for secrets. Someone who is not a natural clicker may get seriously stuck there.

·         Limit Chip is kind of an odd item. Does it just temporality increase my max TP by 10?

·         So, my Nomad is a Bezerker Class. Such a thing would make me think I could equip the Bezerker Collar. This did not happen.

Pros:

·         Battle system is fun, work on the kinks and balancing issues and this will be a definite strong suit

·         Open world experience and quest encountering keeps the game from feeling stale and allows the player to deviate from main goals.

·         Strong plot themes

Cons:

·         Characters at this point are pretty empty. They could be anyone and I wouldn’t even know yet.

·         Story overload. Spoon feed it. Show it. Have your actors act.

·         While the non linear game play is fun, free, and refreshing; I feel like this is affecting the player feeling like they have no ultimate goal or purpose. There definitely needs to be more careful and paced delivery of back story and a swath of explanations to break up all this dungeon crawling and quest completing.

 

[cane_danko]

Cons:

·         Characters at this point are pretty empty. They could be anyone and I wouldn’t even know yet.

·         Story overload. Spoon feed it. Show it. Have your actors act.

·         While the non linear game play is fun, free, and refreshing; I feel like this is affecting the player feeling like they have an ultimate goal or purpose. There definitely needs to be more careful and paced delivery of back story and a swath of explanations to break up all this dungeon crawling and quest completing.

Definetely something I was worried about but it is good to have confirmation. Reading your "live" commentary is actually helpful in the fact I can see the pacing at what is presented. To be honest the original goal of the characters where to be place holders for the different classes but I can clearly see now that the story cannot be carried by Nomad alone. As far as the overall goal I do see what you are saying... I am guessing some "in-between" eventing should be my next goal. I just worry about having too much dialogue also and boring the player with alot of talking. There is however ALOT of explanation at your next two locations. If you manage to get in some more play time then tell me what you think about it.

 

[JacobM]

So I grabbed demo and here are my impressions. (I'm not a bug testing kinda guy so none of that from me, sorry)

I must warn you though, I'm honest. XD

First of all, the synopsis for the game seems pretty solid and unique. Some VERY deep themes, that really catches my attention. 

The intro is a little long for my tastes but not utterly boring. 

I'm not quite sure what I think of the main character yet but I do know that I like the choices you give in customizing him with a class system.

The dialogue is decent on the surface but it could use work with, spelling, grammar and restructuring. I suggest using spell check in a word processor for any misspellings you may have and if you have any friends who are REALLY into english, have them read over it and help you reword parts... that has been a priceless asset for me. I personally have issues with writing and dialogue so I reached out to others who are good at it. If you don't have friends like that you may ask for help in the project recruitment section of the forum.

The story is good but I have to agree with others about the characters are needing more depth... sometimes that comes with time though.

Battle seems okay but as previously mentioned the balancing could use some work... so I wont beat it with a stick.

ATB is good and bad... I like ATB actually, but like another games with ATB... it's slow at the beginning. For those who haven't played the early FF games this could be annoying. But, I don't mind it so much. The monsters do move extremely fast tho. I'm walking around all enjoying the scenery and then..... MONSTER IN YO FACE! =P

I won't go into mapping right now since other things have already been said. I'm more forgiving because I know you can always go back and update the look of the game. To me, having a strong plot and excellent character development can make anyone overlook graphics... (to a point =P)

Anyway, keep up the good work! It looks like there's already some really good suggestions coming to you already, use them, love what you are doing, and you'll go very far!

note: I'm not done playing and I feel like I'm repeating some things that have already been said but I hope this helps somehow! If I think of anything else I'll let you know!

 

[cane_danko]

Thank you very much drassray! I have actually been working hardcore today on the intro. After having the feedback from non-friends and family... I have really begun to realize the importance of the characters. So I am in the process of scrapping the crappy ones and focusing on the few and the "good" ones. Going to "attempt" to squeeze in story to explain what exactly is going on a little better and try to get a better pace of how the game plays out. And yes I agree with you about alot in the dialogue... Actually reading some of it today and partially embarressed that I overlooked it. But as you can see I type faster than I think and my english is not so great even though it is my first language. I am glad everyone seems to enjoy the theme and setting though! This was my main worry all along. I was afraid having real-world religion would be a turn off for people but it has actually had quite the opposite effect. So having that in concrete will allow me to better pursue that aspect of the story and I will try not to exploit it because there I do want this to be a cyber punk game. It is difficult in that sense on building the mystery because I have come to find out... attention spans are not what they used to be maybe? But yes... this is a work in progress and I appreciate everyone's feedback truly. 

 

[Mouser]

A bit of feedback based on reading everything:

I take it the dire wolf is Fenrir. That would make 'the guy whose hand he bit off' Tew, and you kill him off?

Norse mythology is surprisingly contradictory and confusing at times, when you consider that it was a major religion only a thousand years ago. It does lend itself to deep and dark themes however: it's the only religion I can think of where the 'apocalypse' ends with the 'good guys' losing and the world destroyed.

 

[cane_danko]

I have a new demo up if anyone is interested in seeing the progress of the game. There are ALOT of changes and I won't mention them all but people who have played the game before will notice the start of the game is completely different. You will also notice the game is much less linear than it was originally and there is more a focus on the characters in the story... Anyways... Tell me what you think!

 

[Bonkers]

I will do so since things are slower at work than anticipated this week.  I shouldn't have too much of an issue trying out games now with the management lax this week.  I'm also eager to see what has changed.  

A few things:  I highly encourage you to customize your OP and organize a bit better.  Maybe put the screen shots under a spoiler tag, and get a header/logo for the top.  It will help =3

 

[JacobM]

I'll check it out when I get a little more time!

 

[Dalph]

Ok I played this new version for an hour or so:
 

Spoiler

Your game is promising danko, the post apocalyptic setting is certainly original and reminds me about Fallout in some way, plus the plot has a lot of potential and the music choice is nice (it fits with the game and add atmosphere to the locations) but...there are a lot of issues that should be fixed.
General Errors:
- Tin Mine Key, Leather Strips, Iron, Camouflage Cape and Circuit Board have no icon and description.
- Tin has no description.
- Steel, Explosive Powder, Wool Cloth, Light Bandage, Flint Lock, Frag Grenade, 9mm, Integrated Circuit and Light Crossbow have no icon.
- The Shadow Weapon skill has no icon.
- A lot of items don't have to be usable on Nomad from the inventory (like Steel, Wood, Leather Strips, Tin Mine Key...ecc).
- The mapped enemies move around weirdly (adjust their frequency and speed to 3) and make their type of movement as Casual\Random and not Approaching, because you can't avoid them in any way (and this can be frustrating).
- The Herb Item has no animation when I use it in battle (unsure if it's intentional or not).
- Add a few skills to some enemies (some them are only attacking, especially in the first part of the game).
- The Power Spike skill has no animation when I use it.
- That 4 years later text after the crucifixion...don't use a scrolling text just for that, use a normal text message in the window.

Mapping Errors:

This doesn't work danko (and looks weird ingame).
These two tiles are different and so they aren't meant to be used together, use the grey only or the brown only.

 
 I can't interact with this sparkle (not sure if it's supposed to be an item or not).

 
This caravan stares at me and turns into my direction when I enter into it (lmao), use the Direction Fix to fix this issue.

 
I can stand on the signal here.

 
When the guardian monster disappears (and so I can enter there) the baloon icon that was on his head is still there (and it's still looping).

 
Mapping errors here.

 
Missing font character error here (there were supposed to be arrows in the middle of the stats).I'm unsure about how this happened, since you didn't change the default font in the game...maybe there's something wrong with the YF's Victory Aftermath script.

 
This isn't a table danko (those are tiles) that's why it looks weird...and ofc that's why the carpet looks weird too.

 
This is how you have to do it (maybe make it bigger since I made mine small).

 

Mapping errors here too.

Some suggestions:
- Change the default font and windowkin, this isn't absolutely necessary but will make your game look different from all the others.
 
- There are too many ellipses in the dialogues, replace them with commas.
I suggest Alkorri Proofreading workshop if you need help (tell her that I sent you, ahah):
http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/28778-alkorris-proofreading-workshop/
 
- The ATB bar is too slow (improve its speed), because the battles can be boring...If you want an honest opinion however it's better if you remove it completely from the game (the ATB system is boring, frustrating and a lot of people hate it too).
 
- Use a frontal BS (it's better) most of the enemies aren't made for a sideview and it's a bit weird because they stare at the player and not at the characters.
 
About the Mapping:

The mapping in this game isn't that bad but it isn't even that good.

As I probably already mentioned in that old pm, there are really a lot of tutorials around to help you in improving it, I also suggest to looking at real pictures of real places...using them as references can help a lot when you make a map. Another hint is, to draw a rough sketch of your map on Paint (or maybe Photoshop or Gimp) before creating it in the editor, mainly to have a general idea of what you want to do and how to do it.

I hope I'm not too harsh danko and it's not because of my Evil badge, I do it only because I want to help you to improve the game. Despite the many problems, I like the game so far and I'll continue it soon as I find some spare time (and do another report too ofc).

 

[cane_danko]

Thank you for your feedback Dalph. Your critiques this time have gotten alot better too! (not saying the last time was crap but thinking maybe this version is just better than last time!) And yes I did a playthrough yesterday and was noticing some areas where the mapping could use some improvement. This game is huge (i forget how many maps but it is in the hundreds) so the minor graphical errors will be a work in progress. Thank you for using screenshots and such and describing it well so it will be easy for me to find. The proofreading is much improved from the last version but still needs work (i can write hella good but the proofreading i suck at). As far as the ATB well I am sorry that you don't enjoy it and I admit in the first five or so levels it does go slow. This will change soon enough though when you reach the city and get more agility and more characters. The game is focused at people who like games like final fantasy 6 and chrono trigger. And... oddly enough... the battle system is what has been given me the most positive feedback about the game since day 1. As well as my personal attachment to it... I just cannot remove it. If you make it for a second playthrough try and notice the things that you dislike about it (i.e. bars move to slow, not enough strategy in fights, etc.) so I can address these issues. As far as the enemies that approach you way fast... these are aggressive enemies and more or less need to be fought. The game difficulty spikes up after Nomad grows up and you enter the city and this is where the ATB shines. You can go straight through the game just fighting the minimum amount of enemies that attack on sight without grinding and exploring (though this will prove extremely difficult especially in the later levels). The game is designed for people who like to twink their characters (with both loot and grinding). Though the camp/grinding is unneccesary (where you just have to stay in one spot to keep leveling up in order to beat the next boss). It is a sacrifice I had to make because I really did not want to use random battles for this project and so far it has gotten alot of positive feedback as well. This has been the biggest update I have done on the game so far (as you can see the beginning of the game is completely different and much longer than before because you were unable to play as Nomad as a boy). I am very pleased with your feedback and hope more people can offer me some criticism because it is needed to get a good perspective about what can be changed in order to make it a better game. Anyways... thanks again Dalph and I hope you will be able to give it another go in the near future and tell me what you think of the new metropolis!

 

[ItsBuffy]

Hey,

I played your game for about an hour. I dl'ed your game mostly to have fun time tonight so I didnt focused too much on constructing a solid feedback like others there seem to have done. But still here are what  stick in my head in no particular order.

- Everything that is sound/music related is really really good. I mean really.

- The menu is easy, well done and fun to use

- The monk has slangs like ''tho'' at the beginning. I think you should not write using slangs unless it's some kind of punk or something

- one of the enemy drone is using Ark sprite for some reason. (on the map, not during the fight) I think it's a bug

- The scene on the cross is a little bit weird. I mean there's just flat square land and the cross in the middle. No doodads of any kind. It's also a little bit weird that ''anti-christ'' are using jesus punishement as a punishement. Maybe it's supposed to be a way to mock their belief ? I don't know it seems odd to me

- My favorite map is with the matter-thingy, very fitting.

- The TV moment with the girl reporter where the dude was beating everybody by himself (i dunno if u know what im talking about) Well once its done the TV disapear but the interrogation mark is still there.

- So far I think there's not enough lore related stuff/not enough text

- During the big meeting the scenator 1-2-3-4 (i think) had no image when they were talking which caused me to be confused.

- The snake enemy had trouble connecting to me and start a fight. it could pass through me several time before starting the battle.

- The level 8 requiered mission is not working. the game crash

Lastly - The game is way too easy for my taste. I will expand a little on this.

IMO :

The locus spell is overpowered

Nomad/Ark Heal spells def overpowered

Backstab spell is useless. It is useless because you can kill almost everybody in 1 turn and you never get the chance to reach 50TP. Even if you do, you don't have any incentive to use this spell since locus 1 shot almost everything and cost 20TP.

Herbs are too comon and way too cheap. Since you can rest for free, I don't see why it's 5$

The scorpion dmg is too low

9mm are overpowered

Battler on the main map become very irrelevant very quickly

 

[Dalph]

You're welcome and I'm glad that you appreciate the feedback, I was too busy time ago that's why I couldn't be detailed.

Spoiler

About the ATB:
It's ok if you want to keep it this way, as I said I'm not really a fan of it but...as long as the speed improves when you level up it's all good. When I reach level 8+ it gets more reasonable, I was complaining because at the start of the game things are really really slow.

About the mapped enemies:
I don't mind random encounters (I like both random and visible ones tbh) but if the enemies are meant to be aggressive then the chase is ok I think.
 
General Errors:
- Padder Armor, Arcane Rod, Attack Totem, Vampire Blood, Druid Coin have no icon and description.
- Battle Axe has no description.
- Onyx Ring, Light Bandage, Explosive Powder, Vacuum Tube, Medium Bandage, Reflex Implant, Arcane Crystal, Behemot Chip, Saphire Necklace, Ruby Necklace have no icon.
 
Mapping Errors:
Doors aren't meant to work like this danko, you don't have to add them in the interiors.

 
I don't think Nomad and Ark are supposed to be able to walk here.

 
The ground here doesn't look good, these tiles are meant to be used for roofs.

 
These are shelves, add them on a wall.

 
This is a trapdoor, not a door.

 
It's better if you don't mix the DS styled sprites with the RTP ones, they're in a whole different style and colour scheme and this guard looks like a weird intruder in the game.

 
There was a corpse of a man like Nomad here, but after the interaction the sprite changes and then disappears.

 
BEWARE! THIS IS A CRASH!
When I accept this mission...

 This happens!


It's a missing method error, not sure how it happened tbh...you should check it out.

Some suggestions:
- The Golden Dawn Assassin battle was very long, and all he did was attacking, I think his defense is way too high...it made the battle so slow paced (I even debuffed it), so I think you have to change things a little there.
I liked the music choice however and the transformation is a good idea.
 
- The design of the city is nice but the mapping in it is kinda weird, it needs to be improved.

The next post will be the last (for now) I will try to finish the whole demo.

 

[cane_danko]

Thank you, Dalph! I really appreciate the mapping tips. I watched tutorials and such but yeah... that crash is a quest log script that i took out... i will fix it for the next demo. Right now I am putting a new town in that exists outside the city. It is a port city that will be like a hub and introduce some of the factions in the game earlier on. There will be lore there and also the chance to buy a boat so you can freely explore the Wastes more when Nomad grows up. Also, alot of my time is going into putting back in the class system. I took them out in the previous demo but I felt it was too much a loss of the game to not have that for this project. I am also wanting the game to be harder but I have put in a difficulty setting script so the player can do easy or story mode if they want. So... yeah... still a work in progress but thanks for the feedback because really these impressions help how the game will unfold in the future.

 

[Bonkers]

I started to experiment with some glowing effects and some fonts that may help to dress up the OP a bit.  This is just a sample, but there is a a lot of potential to attract more players to this project with some extra elbow grease on the other side of production, which will still benefit your project.

Spoiler

Only had a few moments before work, but I think after that good editing and organizing job you did something like this will give your project a boost.  I'll see if I can get more to you as the week goes on.

 

 
The ground here doesn't look good, these tiles are meant to be used for roofs.

 

We could possibly edit those into road or pathway tiles with a little effort.  You'd still have the rivets and segments, but the edge and the depth will be taken out.  I could accept these are flooring, if the depth on the left side of the street matched the right, without causing a height error in the metal sidewalk.  Let me know what you want to do, and I can edit the roofing into a floor.

The thing that gets me about this map is the snow paths, one with a edge or rim, and the other without meeting without any sort of transition or shift click mapping.  That is fixable as well.

Also you have a wooden door intersecting a metal barred window.   And you have light coming from a lamp that is not lit ><  I'll share some edits for lighting the street lamps when I get a moment.