Introducing Myself

[Arithmetician]

Greetings, RPG Maker community.


I've made a handful of posts before, but I just noticed that there is a place for introductions on these forums, so I figured that I should take the opportunity to formally introduce myself.


I have chosen the username of Arithmetician, after the job in Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions.  To be honest, I was surprised that the name hadn't already been taken by someone.  I also chose the name because I have worked as a substitute mathematics teacher.  


I've been playing JRPGs for about sixteen years.  My earliest experiences with the genre were Paper Mario and Lunar Legend.  After those, I played Golden Sun, and I introduced myself to Final Fantasy through Final Fantasy XII, and have currently completed IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, Tactics: WotL, and Dimensions in that series, while I'm part way through one of its spinoffs, Bravely Default.  Later, I learned about Shin Megami Tensei and the Persona sub-series, and I've completed P3P, P3FES: The Answer, P4, P4G, and SMT I iOS.  I've done a few other dungeon crawlers, such as Etrian Odyssey Untold (though I haven't completed it yet), and Demon Gaze.  I've also played a handful of RPGs based on visual novel or anime franchises that I like, such as Fate/Extra and Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment.  While I have some action RPGs in the Tales series, I haven't gotten around to completing them yet.  I've also played Fire Emblem Awakening on the tactical side.  Edit:  And how could I forget Chromo Trigger?


I like playing around with game mechanics and design for fun, hence my interest in RPG Maker.  I do not have any commercial aspirations; it's just a hobby for me.


I've previously used RPG Maker 3, and I made maybe about 3/4 of a moderate-length game with it, though I never really got around to developing the story scenes beyond a token (and cliche) plot, there were obvious balance problems, and the system was very limiting.  Later, I started to make another game with it, where you could choose different characters, each with a different class for your party, but again, the limitations on skills and inherent balance issues to its mechanics frustrated me there.


In contrast, I've been quite pleased with what I can accomplish with RPG Maker MV, my first non-console RPG Maker (I couldn't run the other ones because I have a Mac), particularly with the vast library of plugins available from people like Yanfly.  I've played with the program for a bit more than 40 hours so far, mainly just making simple "games" that are not so much full games but excuses to conveniently test different mechanics and the engine's limitations, learning as I go.... and I still have a lot to learn.


I'd like to get started on a more serious effort soon.  I have two different thoughts on how I'd like to proceed.


Firstly, I love the amount of customization that comes with a job system... V, Dimensions, Bravely Default, and FFT offered rich options to the player... and X could also be played somewhat like a job system, if you veered off the sphere grid's pre-defined paths  (hello Black Mage Tidus from my play through on the Remaster!).  Though the necessity of creating a bunch of jobs for this system makes it perhaps too ambitious for a first project, unless I approach it in a more episodic manner.


On the other hand, I could take an approach more closely inspired by the SMT/Persona/Etrian series... more of a dungeon crawler.  I know it's more trouble than it's worth to make a first-person crawler in this program, and that's not what I'm going for.  I just mean that I'm not so concerned about having a deep story (though that's always a plus) with my first attempt, so long as it's mechanically sound and the gameplay's challenging, with most the effort being devoted to combat and dungeons.   So one could have a small party of characters with mostly predefined abilities, and the ability to swap them in battle with Yanfly's plug-in (which is nice for strategy).  Of course, some customization would be good, but it wouldn't be as extensive as a job system.  Plus, with Thalzon's Tarot battlers pack and his free Ars Goetia battlers, I pretty much have what I need for a SMT/Persona feel.  Alternatively, the Cover Art characters would make for a convenient pre-made party for a more Etrian-styled game.


Of course, there are lots of other things one can do with the editor.  But since there are few truly original ideas, these seemed like good jumping off points for a first project which I can put my own spin on.


Anyways, that's my introduction.  I hope to learn a lot from all of you.

 

[Cadh20000]

Welcome to the group!

I'd advise you to keep one of those pointless projects around even after you start one you care about, that way you have something to try out new things you think of in without risking your main project(s).

Golden Sun eh? You know that is the 1st of 3 games, right? And that the second one is a direct continuation and can make use of your save file from the first one(can be used at any point prior to the party from the first game joining the party from the second game, roughly 1/2 way through "The Lost Age")?
The 3 in order are "Golden Sun"(first game), "Golden Sun: The Lost Age"(direct continuation of the first game), and "Golden Sun: Dark Dawn"(next generation and focused on the children of the party members from the other 2 games).

 

[Arithmetician]

Welcome to the group!

I'd advise you to keep one of those pointless projects around even after you start one you care about, that way you have something to try out new things you think of in without risking your main project(s).

Golden Sun eh? You know that is the 1st of 3 games, right? And that the second one is a direct continuation and can make use of your save file from the first one(can be used at any point prior to the party from the first game joining the party from the second game, roughly 1/2 way through "The Lost Age")?
The 3 in order are "Golden Sun"(first game), "Golden Sun: The Lost Age"(direct continuation of the first game), and "Golden Sun: Dark Dawn"(next generation and focused on the children of the party members from the other 2 games).

Yeah, I played the Lost Age as well and completed it.


I picked up Dark Dawn for $5 in the bargain bin a while ago, though I haven't played much of it yet.  Though my brother (currently studying abroad) says that it's disappointingly easy.


Yes, that's good advice about keeping around those pointless projects.


One such "pointless" project just has a pre-loaded world map and an airship, a town (although only one shop and the inn are functional), a tiny dungeon with a boss inside, a pair of random encounters on the map, an "F.O.E." style encounter  (a strong enemy wandering the map which engages you when you touch its event), a rudimentary Bravely Default style class system (about 7-8 classes with skills that can be equipped from other clases, including passives, though most only have 1-2 skills at present), and one of the default characters replaced by one made in the character generator, and a number of skills reproduced from Final Fantasy, such as Break, Gravity, and Heartless Angel.   Everything was placed in close proximity  for easy testing.


Another I have is potentially the prototype of a longer game, but it's so far more me experimenting with actually designing my own town maps, more complex eventing, and expanding the character generator for possible use in a job system (e.g. different sprites for each job).  I also tried out a number of different damage formulae and character growth curves here.

 

[Cadh20000]

Most of Dark Dawn has been pretty easy as far as I have played, but one dungeon has me completely lost, it feels like no matter what I try I just end up back at the entrance. DX