Lords of the Wasteland (with Demo version 1.06)

[McTone]

Version 1.05 on the site? Did you get the bug patch too?

 

[Matseb2611]

Yeah, the latest version. Although I didn't know about the bug fix patch. Maybe that is why. I didn't realise there'd be a separate file for that. I'll let you know if this works or not perhaps tomorrow once I get a chance to play some more.

EDIT: OK, I can't seem to download the bug fix patch. Whenever I press 'Download' on it, it opens up a page full of weird symbols. 

 

[McTone]

I didn't have any trouble downloading it...that's really odd. I'll put up a dropbox link later today.

Update:

Here's the link!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ts32e00n9tzefyk/Patch1394653987.rvdata2

 

[McTone]

An update to express my renewed efforts toward this and other gaming projects. I've had a cramped schedule for a bit, but I hope that didn't harm too much of the generous support I've found here. I'm anxious to get started and hear more from this community.

 

[McTone]

Okay, long overdue update!

When last I was working on this game I was in the last bit of my Master's program, and had a little extra time on my hands. Right after I graduated I became swamped with work and preparing for my PhD program. Now I'm a full time PhD student, and I don't have to work so all of that to say this:

I'm picking this project back up!

I've been tweaking a few things here and there when I've had time over the last few weeks, and soon enough we will be on Christmas break so I'll have nearly a month free and clear. As a non-working student I have LOADS more free time than I've had since I was a high school student (so many moons ago), and I'm really anxious to get back into my creative outlet. 

I have other games in the works as well, but this one is my pet so it'll likely receive the most attention. Anyone who would like to check out the demo again and give me some fresh feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who has supported me before, and especially to those who will continue to do so. I'm genuinely excited about getting this moving again, and I can't wait to hear back from some people.

Thanks again to all of you in the community, and see you soon!

 

[McTone]

Okay! Spring Break has afforded me some time to work on this project, and I've been pretty productive. I was able to make some significant edits to several maps, including completely replacing a few of them. This was one of the more common pieces of feedback I received so I'm hoping that spruced it up a good bit. I've made some minor bug fixes, formula adjustments, and other edits/fixes to keep things running smoothly. Plus I pretty significantly increased the number of lootable objects. Overall it should be a more balanced, polished game. 

Thanks to everyone who has supported me so far, and please let me know what you think! The newest version (1.06) can be found at the link from the original post, my signature, or right here:

http://rpgmaker.net/games/6082/

Let me know what you think! 

 

[McTone]

Leave it to me to come out strong!

There is a serious bug that will freeze the game if you finish a fight with the paralysis state on any of the characters. This only is a threat during the Mt. Himmelen mine portion of Sebastian's chapter, and it doesn't always happen. I'm working to figure out what the issue is, but if you get there before I can patch it just be sure to save after each fight! Sorry about that everyone!

UPDATE:

I've added a patch to the download page. This has a few more edits and bug fixes throughout the game, and should add them seamlessly in if you've already started. Unfortunately, this still doesn't fix the aforementioned paralysis bug so make sure you save often in that area! No other major bugs should be present, and please let me know if you find any issues at all! Thanks again!

 

[McTone]

Just a quick update to show some progress I've made.

Check out the first area for the 3rd chapter, and its main character (plus a couple extras!)

Thanks for keeping up with me! I'm making good headway!

 

[KanaX]

I played the full demo and I kept quite a bit of notes along the way. Because of the big number, I'll have to reference them by order of notice, but I may come back to some points.

Synopsis

Lords of the Wasteland follows the familiar style of epic questing in an ancient land in the midst (or perhaps dawn) of turmoil. In the demo, we play as different characters that are distributed between two story-lines that get interconnected to some extend. Fires of war have started from multiple sides with assassinations, sieges and ravaging of towns taking place, while a huge natural disaster is imminent. There is a variety of nations, each with its own rules, customs and religions. We play as Aeros Tachys who, with his father, act as mercenaries of sorts, that handle business of any nature for the right amount of money. We also play as Sebastian Dozent a brilliant mind of a different nation who has made his way to the top of society and is involved with many people and projects.

Notes

Spoiler

1. Changing Title Screen pictures are always welcome to keep things fresh and spice up the experience.

2.The automatic, inescapable fullscreen was EXTREMELY frustrating. I couldn't keep notes, I couldn't respond to my facebook, I couldn't lower the sound volume which was way too loud. I was seriously tempted to decrypt your project and remove whatever script you had that causes this mess. I understand that you want to create a true fullscreen (not limited to the 544x416 resolution), but this is NOT the way to do it.

3. I enjoyed the dynamic start, in a perilous situation, It made me want to get into it. I think that the area needs a little polish, though.

• You have a spelling error when the costumer says "gentlemen"
• While the design of the innards of the beast is clever, it disn't make any sense that we could see the outside. On the contrary I believe that if I couldn't see outside I'd feel more unnerved.
• I now that this is still an alpha and changes are going to happen, but you really need to change the enemy sprites and pictures to some more appropriate ones.
• The battles can be a little too tricky for a beginner, especially for those who scan the whole map to find everything and fight everything. The worst was the fear I that would run out healing items. Then the beat battle at the end would be much more difficult.
• Also I don't know how to feel about the sprites vs pictures style that you have.If you could animate the enemies, it would be much better.

4. I failed to understand why we had to drink a shrinking potion. Was it mentioned somewhere? Did I miss it? If so, forgive me.

5. The job ends on a disappointing (for the heroes) tone and they are supposed to return "home". Then I'm transfered to a world map. In retrospect, there are only two places to go to from that point and most people would avoid the woods. Still, a confirmation when they reach Corsair (like "home, sweet home") would help a lot. I felt a little lost. "Where am I? I want to follow the flow of the story for now, not get mingled in a myriad sub-quests."

6. Corsair is a little bleak in general and in comparison to other towns. Then again, it's supposed to be that way doesn't it.

7. I like the interior stylistic choice, where we can see outside the building.

8. You should probably lower your BGM a tad. They might be a little to loud.

9. Enjoyable little comedic moment where we are kicked out of the shop. It happens again in other locations too

10. When we speak to the "soldier" a "through" was cut by the text box.

11. We enter the woods. Nothing worth really noticing in here except for the fact that I enjoyed the surprise of the heirloom  pendant, during battle. Affliction of the same status ailment as the one the wielder has, right?

12. The NPCs in the city are nice. Definitely a better designed area than corsair.

13. The notes write "Sexy plot twist". I think that covers it.

14. Maybe you should make the soldiers a bit more tough? Give me a reason to want to avoid them and escape?

15. Some of the NPCs change their lines after the assassination, but some don't.

16. The tree joke was... well, it was!

17. The new area has multiple levels of platforms, in and out of the mountain (something enjoyable) but the monsters CAN attack you if they are "next" to you, even though they are a level above, or below.

18. The stun is BRUTAL. I have heard that the default stun mechanic is pretty unforgiving, so I would presume that you are using that. I would suggest using a different one.

19. Some of the dead (naked?) trees are passable.

20. This torch needs a direction fix.

21. Fell down the hole near the top of the mountain, and I made my way up. The problem is that when I found myself in the place where the hole opened (consistency, I like that) I couldn't move or return back into the mountain, so I had to restart the game, having to replay a big chink of the mountain area. To be fair, when testing/reviewing a demo you have to save often, so it's not your fault, but think that someone inexperienced might play just to have fun. Replaying is NOT fun.

At this point the second story line begins, with Sebastian. Since I now can compare some matters between the the two protagonists, here are my osbervations:

• This may be because Aeros and Davos are more straightforward, silent types, but Sebastian's character seem to be written much better. He has a certain style, idealism that are obvious and his sexuality makes him a fresh character. Not so much for his sexuality on its own, but for the fact that this matter is rarely touched in RM games AND games in general. I thoroughly enjoyed sebastian.
• Even beyond the limits of Sebastian, the second chapter has a better story, more interesting characters and more well developed maps. Then again, the first chapter always has to be more simple and open to the new player. Just try to give Aeros (and other chapters) as much love as you gave to Sebastian.
• I refrained from mentioning the comedic item descriptions until this point, because I wanted Sebastian into the equation. Unfortunately, I don't like them. At least not the way they are now. Don't get me wrong I enjoy stupid jokes as much as the next guy, but the way they are right now, they just don't fit. Aeros, Davos and Sebastian are not your typical jokesters and because of that incompatibility, it looks like you, the developer, try to break the fourth wall to get the players attention with those little silly descriptions. It just doesn't fit with with the flow of the game. If one of the characters has a lighthearted, funny individual it would make sense. EVEN BETTER you could have custom item descriptions for every character. THAT would be great. So keep them, just not the way they are now. Also if you are going to use them try to keep it consistent. Half of them have funny descriptions while others don't.

22. The cut from one character to the other is endearing and fun.

23. The song stuck in the soldier's head might be something from KiSS or the Wilhelm scream.

24. The camp, is too wide, too empty, too bleak. Then again, it might be exactly what you wanted it to be.

25. I p;ayed as the captain, which served as a great way to foreshadow a very strong opponent in the future, but something that bugged me is that the "Nirvana" attack is the deadliest one in is attire, while in general "Nirvana" is associated with peace and pasisvism. Nothing serious, but still.

26. ...Do Aeros and Sebastian share inventories? Because Sebastian has some items that it wouldn't make sense for him to have. Like the bat wing, from when Aeros killed Antropos.

27. I don't understand what the Fade stat does. Actually, you should have an optional battle/stat tutorial somewhere. It would be wise not to anticipate only experienced RM users to play your game. Make it amateur-friendly.

28. The Relic ship crashes  on a mountain. Sebastian doesn't seem fazed in the least, or care about the others (presumably dead). I suggest you use a Direction Fix ON and Walking animation OFF when Sebastian get dragged away by the wind.

29.We visit Hardelund Keep. Sebastian doesn't seem it be in the least bit of hurry. He has to report the imminent world disaster, the attack by the formidable new opponent and the consequential casualties but he casually stays in the Keep AND volunteers to help in the rescue mission. Not even a letter?

30. Ever since I visited the temple in Corsair, I have been seeing deity statuses around and I can immediately tell the religion each city practices. A lovely graphic detail.

31. The battle in the longhouse was... less than enticing. I don't know how you could fix it, or what you wanted the player to get from it, but it just didn't do it for me.

32. The character development for Sebastian and the new characters were exquisite.

32+. Arrow in the knee joke. Final Verdict 0/10 do not play.

33. The merchant outside the keep talks about monopoly and I said to myself "Oh man, he is gonna rip me off"... I was disappointed when he didn't. These mechanic/story merges are very nice if you can pull them off.

34. We stand outside the door to the mines of Moria and Dverde (my favsie) says "HEY, open up". That was an incredibly anti-climactic execution of the LOTR-esque moment. Especially since the doors are not operated by friends on the inside and therefore are automatic. Have the BGS and BGM fade out, darken the sky for a little while, have a dramatic pause and say a password that has some impact. OR you could have Sebastian anticipate a grand gesture and password, and then Dverde can just be "Hey, open up". That way you can have a very comedic scene.

35. This is where things get confusing. The get to the upper external sector of the mountain where the wind bows us down the edges, annoying, but respectable and clever. But some of the times you have to fall down those edges to progress and you cannot do voluntarily. Why? It had me stuck for quite while. When we climb up even more we get to a lengthy map with a passage that is two or the tiles wide. The trick there was to hide behind trees whenever the wind blew (nice). It took me a while to figure out, so I fell down some times to the base of the mountain. Half of those times I ended up in the place where I entered, but the other half I ended up on a completely new location. When I ended up in the new location, I had an irrelevant monologue pop up that seemed to fit in when Sebastian crashed on the mountain initially. The most confusing thing is that when we entered the mines from the new location it was like we entered it from EXACTLY the same door as the first time.

36. The new area is HUGE and EMPTY. TOO huge and empty. Very pointless. Also I saw this:

Spoiler

37. Even when I'm inside a cave I can still hear the wind outside.

38. I noticed a game breaking-bug. When I escape at the moment when i try to escape a battle while an enemy is attacking, I get stuck in a frozen battle sequence, while BGM plays.

The game continues as normal I fight the lost brother (tough but balanced), I go to Grenda and travel by ship to Hafen (I really want to learn more about the Sky Island).

39. I saw the three guys that I saw in Asticus (think) over a map. Those guys are up to something... I like it!

40. Now for the main story in Hafen. Pretty great! Mature, fulfilling, treats characters with respect. Sebastian meeting Davos was something that fits incredibly well (although I thought that Davos had something to do with the assassination in Asticus and the pillaging of Corsair).

41. I failed to realize that I had to sleep in a bed to make time move forward and I went on exploring in the town... But I couldnt. As soon as I left the establishment where the captain (now general) was, all I saw was black. (Perhaps no fade in?)

42. It's evening now and I think that the interior of the houses/shops should be a little more bright. Purely up to you.

43. I go into the maze (which I surprisingly enjoyed). I tried to find everything. Some may find the maze too dark, but it works for me.

44. I think the thug artwork doesn't really fit. Too modern.

45. Once again I escaped during an attack at the end of the maze and I had to replay the whooole section,

46. Another good dialog between Davos and Sebastian and some soldiers to fight. I found the bright sunny background kinda unfitting for the night I was used to.

47. I get to Grofstadt. Arguably your best city. It's full, diverse and beautiful.

48. As happy as I was to see Lehrs again, I couldn't help but wonder how did he escape? And why was he in the hospital? And why is he kinda weirdly formal around Sebastian (he was back in the camp too). He is not gonna pull an Allan Turring on Sebastian, is he? Also the small steps in Sebastian's House got me stuck.

49. A SOUND FILE IS MISSING for a house in the left side of town. Had to replay the whooole maze again.

50. We visit the magister and DEAR LORD the plot thickens beautifully. So complex, but sensible! So interesting! Heck even the play itself even though inconsequential(?) was masterfully done. I was thirsty for more after that but unfortunately the demo ended. I thought that I would have more content than the available demo.

Overall

It won't give a great impression to the ones that play for a limited fixed amount of time. It needs some digging in, to find it games true beauty. The greatest asset is clearly the story and visual details (sometimes). Appealing and intriguing it is definitely better than a lot of other immature scenarios out there. There are obviously some bugs and the battle system needs a bit of tampering.
The graphics are not something to mention, but the placement (especially in later maps) is great. I feel like I can see you maturing as a developer along the way.

I expect to play more in the future!

EDIT: Apparently, I missed a patch where some of the issues I mentioned are already fixed. I apologize to the developer.

 

[kanis999]

Hey man, I really like your aesthetic choices. Keep up the hard work!

 

[DoubleX]

38. I noticed a game breaking-bug. When I escape at the moment when i try to escape a battle while an enemy is attacking, I get stuck in a frozen battle sequence, while BGM plays.

This really catches my interest. If this game doesn't use DoubleX RMVXA Bug Fix to YSA Battle System: Classical ATB v1.03a+ as well(the newest is v1.05b), the exact same error will occur:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/22142-doublex-rmvxa-bug-fixes-to-ysa-battle-system-classical-atb/

An evidence is that, unless some other scripts come into play, using the bug fix as well should disable escaping while an action's executing(in your case, an enemy's attacking) altogether.

If this game does have the bug fix as well, then either the bug fix failed to do the job(and I'll have to investigate further), or there are some other scripts causing your situation

 

[McTone]

I haven't used that script. Thanks so much! I'll add it in, and hopefully that'll eliminate the problem.