Les Visiteurs Dans L'Espace [Download Available]

[Yellow_Magic]

Hi guys! Some of you might know me from RPGMaker.net (particularly the IRC channel #rpgmaker.net, where I'm an OP).

I know the deadline's in four hours and people are gonna be scouting for cool games, so I thought I'd just spread the word about my own battle-heavy, slightly farfetched entry. Hope you guys enjoy it!

 

Les Visiteurs Dans L'Espace​

Contest Entry (with Download Link)
Version 2 (NON-CONTEST) with updated ending​

RMN Entry​

 
Abstract:
Three medieval warriors and a priest wake up in a spaceship. Why are they here?
 
Genre: 
RPG
 
Average Game Time:
45 minutes - 1 hour
 
 
Story:
Join a handful of medieval types as they dungeon crawl through a spaceship, piecing together clues as to the reason behind this bizarre scenario. 

Naturally, it turns out that there is far more to the events unfolding than meets the eye...but will our noble heroes find out what in time? Play this game to find out.

 
Character Bios:

Spoiler

Lin
A high-ranking magician, or Magus, within the Kingdom of Alabastre with a shedload of blood on her hands. If anyone deserves to be stuck in this predicament, it's her.
 
Lin's black magic is powerful enough to consider her as the main damage dealer, but she's pretty slow and defensively frail.
 
Tyrell
A devoted priest serving in the House of Pasamena. 
 
Has sworn the Vow of Pasa, meaning he cannot deal any sort of damage to enemies. Luckily, though, he's got a fairly useful array of support spells so he's not entirely useless!
 
Dirk
A mysterious traveller, formerly of the House of Oleyn (why 'formerly', we wonder?).
 
The fastest member of the group with a decent balance of offensive and support skills.
 
Alexis
One of the noble Order of the Falcons, currently stationed in Colinvale. Alexis' job as a 'Falcon' is to protect the vicinity and uphold justice, so what has she done to deserve this?
 
A valiant swordswoman, her attacks can be pretty brutal given the right combination, and she can learn some pretty nifty support skills to boot. She's very susceptible to magic spells, however.

 
Features:

Spoiler

- My first real project with RPG Maker VX Ace, borrowing heavily from the generous amount of content provided in the recent Humble Weekly Bundle. Many thanks to everyone who made it possible!
- Usage of Yanfly Battle Scripts to change around the DBS, but nothing too fancy. Most notably, the 'Attack' command is removed, so no button-bashing your way through this one.
- No random encounters and a 100% Steal success rate.
- Earn SP by fighting enemies and use these points to learn new skills in the form of either Tech, costing TP, or Magic, costing MP.
- Lots of dungeon crawling to awesome techno music.

 
Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

Credits:

Spoiler

TESTERS
-CaitSith2
caitsith2.com
-NeverSilent
http://rpgmaker.net/users/NeverSilent/
 
STORY
-Yellow Magic
 
DIALOGUE
-Yellow Magic
 
EVENTING
-Yellow Magic
-CaitSith2
 
SCRIPTS
-Yanfly
http://yanflychannel.wordpress.com/
-Khas Arcthunder
arcthunder.site40.net
-Xypher 
http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/user/1688-xypher/
-CaitSith2
-Minor tweaks/additions by Yellow Magic
 
GRAPHICS
-RPG Maker VX Ace RTP
-RPG MAKER Futuristic Tiles Resource Pack
[Copyright]© 2012 ENTERBRAIN, INC; artist Celianna.
-HIGH FANTASY I RESOURCE PACK 
[Copyright]© 2014 ENTERBRAIN, INC; 
artist: PVGames.
-Khas Arcthunder
 
MUSIC
-Rayspark Industries
(http://www.last.fm/music/Rayspark+Industries)
-Scott Valance
(http://www.last.fm/music/Scott+Vallance)
-Dark Energy
(http://www.last.fm/music/Dark+Energy)
 
 
Please note that all materials used in the creation
of this game, including the engine, scripts, 
graphics and music, have been acquired legally and 
are not meant to be distributed for commercial use
without permission from the respective
authors.
 
 
SPECIAL THANKS
-The great guys at #rpgmaker.net, who
helped me come up with this idea through
banterful discussion
(shout-out to Shinan, who came up with the name
of this game!)

 
 





 

No RTP required. Simply run the .exe and play.​

 

[Indrah]

Here's my very quick and sketchy take on the game (link for info on why it's so short and all that jazz)




 
+Interesting concept of medieval people in futuristic spaceship setting. (I think)
+Unique party roles.
+I like patrol enemies I can evade.
-I do NOT like empty rooms with an enemy ambush I can’t evade.
-Waiting is not a good game mechanic. I don’t want to HAVE to guard to do things, let me just DO them!
-The enemies are very lackluster and not “spacey” at all. The zombies were particularly unfitting and bland.
-The introduction feels too long and poorly conveyed.
-Personal bias, but I’ve never been a fan of the old timey speak mode. I have a hard time digesting what is being said.
-The characters seem to have barely any personality.
-Can’t be sure at this point, but combat balance seems a bit iffy (an enemy smashed through my healed in a hit? Ok…)
-While the mapping isn’t BAD it lacks detail and feels a bit barebones.
-That mil drinking comparison was ridonkolous.
-What’s the use of making up lore and dumping it all on me if you’re not going to use it? (Falcon? Nah I’m just a plain swordsman, yo)
 
To the developer: My main issue in this game is the intro. As I mention in the video it feels like a more visual “now in medieval razed town, now in spaceship (or whatever)” would have worked SO much better rather than a long dialog fest of characters I can’t bring myself to care about. Show, don’t tell. I KNOW the characters are going to be surprised, there’s no need to relay in bland dialog constantly what they think. It’s a case where less is more, and simply showing the situation and letting the player look for himself would have worked better.

 

[Yellow_Magic]

Hi Indrah,

First, I'll acknowledge a few individual things:

- You're right, I should have used the actual lore in the menu. My bad.
- The enemies...honestly, I intended for them to be a bit non-standard for a spacey environment because I thought it went well with the whole mismash of anachronisms.

- The one ambush monster...you seem to have handled them pretty well, so I'm not sure what the problem was.

- You have a problem with..guarding in RPGs...I'm not really sure what to say to this. 

- You are the only person who's said my characters were bland...I'm wondering if this goes with you not really understanding the characters.
- It doesn't look like you realised you could learn individual skills that could cost either TP and MP for all characters (apart from Tyrell, IIRC, but he was just a healer/buffer so..yeah)

- I can't do much but disagree with your take on the intro, sorry. You think THAT was too long? Have you played Painted Heart yet (great game by the way, I'm not hating on it accha & co!)? Honestly, you're so far the only one who's had an issue with it out of everyone who's played my game: The same can be said for battle balance. To be honest, it didn't like like you were interested in fighting strategically, so I can understand why you were infuriated, in a way.

Usually I would say thanks a whole bunch for the feedback (especially with an entire LP devoted to a game, so thanks for the effort I guess?), but as a developer who put a lot of work into their game, even if in a tight period of time, I do not appreciate having to sit through 20 minutes of OTT swearing simply because of, like, characters walking into a room and speaking in a manner you cannot understand - if you have a problem with the way the characters speak, this game was not meant for you to begin with, I'm afraid.

I've had a lot of very valid criticisms presented in a very suitable manner that I agreed were my faults, and I went about fixing them as best as I could - I've even made a version 2 of this game changing my original ending simply because I realised it was very bad and others helped me realise that in a very proper way. Therefore, I hope you understand why I'm upset at the manner in which the game was LP'ed, and would advise you to change your style if you want those like myself to take such feedback seriously. If anyone DOES take this kind of feedback seriously, well, more power to them, but there's better out there. 

Just to be clear: Honest critique is appreciated, violent critique is not.

Anyway, I originally came here today to post a link to version 2 of the game but I've been turned off this site a bit, soo............

 

[xeroborn]

How you receive criticism is very important to getting better, no matter what you are doing. 

When you put yourself out there more you start to understand the different kinds of feedback that people give. Filtering this information is crucial.

I attend a local writers group, where everyone is published except me. This group is absolutely brutal. At my first meeting, I saw these people rip apart a person's story. Just mercilessly. The guy who wrote that story never came back. I realized very quickly what kind of feedback they give and how they give it. Underneath the criticism I saw that everyone just wanted the other writers to do the best work they could. The generally harsh tone didn't come from a place of spite or belittling. I listen to what they say very carefully. 

Now, on the other hand, we have the internet where it is much more difficult to discern a person's intention. I agree that the feedback on this forum is harsh, and borderline useless in many cases. I wonder why some of the reviews are so negative. I think its a strange mixture of people trying to make their own games look better, rampant egos, and this should surprise no one, a strong feeling amongst most of us that our game is genius and if you can't see that then you are wrong.

Which brings me to my main point. Have faith and confidence in yourself. Don't take the criticism personally. Look past the unnecessary bashing to find the truth of what someone says. And once you do that, you have a decision to make. Do you change your game or not? Try to be honest with yourself. If what somebody says would make the game better, then do it.

I had not seen this thread or heard of your game before you bumped it today. I think you should post your updated project.

 

[Ralpf]

I really enjoyed it, probably the most complete game I have played from the contest (I have only played about 8, but still), most I have come across are all story with lacking gameplay.

Combat was challenging but not too much, was pretty balanced I thought (I lost once to an encounter, didn't die to the bosses, but they were tough, the first one tougher than the second), though I didn't like the get TP by guarding thing either, seemed like all battles started pretty much the same because of limits of 5TP. It could work though if the TP gained by guarding was more significant and you started with a little more (though that would effect combat balance without redoing some things), though I'm not sure I will ever really like it, just dislike it less. All-in-all I liked the combat, though.

The characters where good, the story was OK (the first interactions between the characters wasn't great, but that got better), the ending was a bit disappointing (The one on the contest page would be your original ending, right?). I thought the writing was good, 'old timey' writing can get annoying if over-the-top, but I don't think your's reached that level, don't remember having to read anything twice.

Mapping could have been better, there was a lot of empty space, that could be explained away by the ending (but that isn't a valid reason, even if it did enter your mind), but I think smaller rooms in general would have been better, had a very empty look.

I would give it a 4/5.

 

[Yellow_Magic]

How you receive criticism is very important to getting better, no matter what you are doing. 

When you put yourself out there more you start to understand the different kinds of feedback that people give. Filtering this information is crucial.

I attend a local writers group, where everyone is published except me. This group is absolutely brutal. At my first meeting, I saw these people rip apart a person's story. Just mercilessly. The guy who wrote that story never came back. I realized very quickly what kind of feedback they give and how they give it. Underneath the criticism I saw that everyone just wanted the other writers to do the best work they could. The generally harsh tone didn't come from a place of spite or belittling. I listen to what they say very carefully. 

Now, on the other hand, we have the internet where it is much more difficult to discern a person's intention. I agree that the feedback on this forum is harsh, and borderline useless in many cases. I wonder why some of the reviews are so negative. I think its a strange mixture of people trying to make their own games look better, rampant egos, and this should surprise no one, a strong feeling amongst most of us that our game is genius and if you can't see that then you are wrong.

Which brings me to my main point. Have faith and confidence in yourself. Don't take the criticism personally. Look past the unnecessary bashing to find the truth of what someone says. And once you do that, you have a decision to make. Do you change your game or not? Try to be honest with yourself. If what somebody says would make the game better, then do it.

I had not seen this thread or heard of your game before you bumped it today. I think you should post your updated project.

I really wish I could agree with this, but here's the thing: If you had a choice between presenting criticism in a meaningful way or presenting criticism horribly, with swearing all over the place, why on Earth would you ever pick the latter? I can't see a reason for it, myself. I like to think I'm fine with criticism - like I said, version 2 of this game was created after some quite blunt but very necessary and well-presented remarks - but I don't think there's an excuse for such harsh tones when it comes to critique. It will always be harder to take such seriously - it's not my responsibility to look past someone's hostility, it's their's to not sound as hostile. Sure, media of this kind is always susceptible to criticism and I put out this game understanding that , but usually I'm not masochistic enough to sit through 20 minutes of swearing like a sailor. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

With regards to the writer's group: I'm not sure how the fact that your group is harsh, or indeed whether any such group is harsh, makes the harshness right in any way. I understand that "feedback is a gift" or whatever, but I would rather receive no feedback than poorly-presented feedback. Keep in mind we're all humans behind these computer screens: I was having a very bad day before I saw the LP video, and it certainly didn't make my day any better. No one's going to hate you for showing a little decency.

@Ralpf: Thanks for playing, much appreciated! With regards to the TP with guarding, my thought process was that as many monsters would be able to punish you severely with single hits, it'd be great to have some sort of incentive to guarding. I guess overall the damage output may have been a bit too high for it to really work that way...it's something I'll definitely keep in mind for the future, so thanks alot!

Yes, that's the original contest ending, and I can't do much more than apologise about it - quite honestly, I liked it, but the overwhelming reaction's been largely negative and I can see why. With version 2, I tried to make it so that my original point came across without sacrificing character development - so far I think it's worked out okay.

Mapping: Yeah, I've been around RPG Maker for quite a while now (almost a decade wow time flies) but it's never been one of my strong points Practice makes perfect, I guess.

EDIT: While I'm unhappy with a certain brand of criticism that seems acceptable here, I've swallowed my pride and updated the original post with a link to version 2 of the game. Happy visiting....

 

[Indrah]

I made a really long and ranty post but figured this wasn't really the place so here's the tl;dr version

I'm fine if you disagree with the written review. That's the "edited" version where I try to balance out my natural...swearishness. A dev can disagree with the feedback given. That's fine, I've done it myself. I can think some points were valid regardless, but it's your game, not mine. Your call.

Some developers seem to be under the impression that I make these videos for them. Not true. I make them mostly for the folks who watch the streams/videos and who laugh at them and at me being an idiot. I am not playing them tailed to feedback, I play them and comment as I go. I give feedback TOO of course, but I don't set out to do these to talk directly to the the dev, it's more of an aside. The written feedback is bit aimed at devs specially, not the vids.

So yeah, I'll do what I like in the vids. It's me playing games, not mr objective master judge. It's fine if you disagree.

 

[Ralpf]

@Ralpf: Thanks for playing, much appreciated! With regards to the TP with guarding, my thought process was that as many monsters would be able to punish you severely with single hits, it'd be great to have some sort of incentive to guarding. I guess overall the damage output may have been a bit too high for it to really work that way...it's something I'll definitely keep in mind for the future, so thanks alot!

Yes, that's the original contest ending, and I can't do much more than apologise about it - quite honestly, I liked it, but the overwhelming reaction's been largely negative and I can see why. With version 2, I tried to make it so that my original point came across without sacrificing character development - so far I think it's worked out okay.

Mapping: Yeah, I've been around RPG Maker for quite a while now (almost a decade wow time flies) but it's never been one of my strong points Practice makes perfect, I guess.

It may have inadvertently come in handy a couple of times, one of the times I fought the group of three skeletons (I think probably the hardest encounter in the game, just from sheer damage output), one time I specifically remember guarding with Dirk and swordswoman (I'm bad with names) and all three of them attacked those two, so it paid off that time. It's just unreliable.

On the mapping, just to reiterate, it wasn't bad (I don't remember any glaring errors), it just could have been better. Wide open spaces don't make a lot of sense to me on a ship.

 

[Yellow_Magic]

I'm fine if you disagree with the written review. That's the "edited" version where I try to balance out my natural...swearishness. A dev can disagree with the feedback given. That's fine, I've done it myself. I can think some points were valid regardless, but it's your game, not mine. Your call.

Some developers seem to be under the impression that I make these videos for them. Not true. I make them mostly for the folks who watch the streams/videos and who laugh at them and at me being an idiot. I am not playing them tailed to feedback, I play them and comment as I go. I give feedback TOO of course, but I don't set out to do these to talk directly to the the dev, it's more of an aside. The written feedback is bit aimed at devs specially, not the vids.

So yeah, I'll do what I like in the vids. It's me playing games, not mr objective master judge. It's fine if you disagree.

And I think some of your points were valid, but was that kind of presentation...necessary? I can understand if the videos are not aimed for the developers, but I think any dev would be interested in someone performing an LP of their game. And whoever the target audience, a bad impression of the game can be created simply by one's tone and play style - so obviously I'm not going to feel great about it.

You're free to do what you like, of course, but I hope you understand that some devs like myself have as much of a right to call you out on your videos as you have to make them in the first place.

It may have inadvertently come in handy a couple of times, one of the times I fought the group of three skeletons (I think probably the hardest encounter in the game, just from sheer damage output), one time I specifically remember guarding with Dirk and swordswoman (I'm bad with names) and all three of them attacked those two, so it paid off that time. It's just unreliable.

On the mapping, just to reiterate, it wasn't bad (I don't remember any glaring errors), it just could have been better. Wide open spaces don't make a lot of sense to me on a ship.

Yeah, I was on-the-fence whether to include the three skeleton group or not...in the end, I decided since there's Save Anywhere functionality in the game the worst-case scenario of losing wouldn't be that bad. Your feedback wrt: Guarding is definitely very interesting and useful to me, though!

Again I'll keep your mapping feedback in mind for the future- thanks!