RMMV MechScape- RELEASES 11/22!

[MechScapeZH]

Very cool game. I like the art. The dialogue loses me a bit but I get the gist of it. I really like the digital theme and the main character getting whatever skills he wants. The first boss was pretty tough so I couldn't experiment with the skills at that point(Waved him to death) and even after I got to the grindy part(stopped playing at Chapter 3, wave 3) I don't know what the hacking stuff does. Digistroke is insane. One shots almost everything. ^_^

You can change the loading screen graphic in System by the way if you didn't know. That way you can make the loading screen have the same font as everything else or you could just put another image in it's place or leave it blank.

Good game. It's a bit too dialogue heavy for my tastes so I ended up skipping some(I'm just not big into reading a lot but I see what you're going for and I may be the minority). The Chapter 3 grind is too much for me too. Initially I dodged everything and it seemed to go on forever until I touched the green area and it told me to fight a few battles. It didn't lead to anything though. Just another stage with even more battles. I stopped after part 3 where there's a 10 battle requirement.

Edit: Oh you finished the game? Congrats! Looks like I came a bit late for feedback so apologies.

Oh, no no no! I'll take any feedback- I can change anything at any time. That's the beauty of releasing digitally. I know the game's far from perfect.

The dialogue is in a very specific style- it's supposed to be in imitation of late 90s comic books. (Marvel especially- guys like Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, David Michelinie, John Semper... I don't know if any of those names ring a bell. They're known mostly to comic fans. A lot of high-concept ideas flying at you at once. Oh, and some Star Trek writers- Dorothy Fontana, mainly. Tetsuya Nomura too, to an extent. This style of writing was very popular at the turn of the century, and I have a lot of nostalgia for it.) Honestly, this type of stuff loses a lot of people... It's very... what sci-fi is known for, haha. Lots of technobabble and such. I know it's very niche. I'm glad it didn't impede your enjoyment of the game too much. The first boss wasn't originally this strong, but people said he was easy so I increased his strength- is he too strong now? I can still rebalance him. The idea is that you experiment (if that's what you want to do) when you're replaying the levels- the first time around, you can't survive while experimenting, so the player is encouraged to replay them. The Hack[element] skills are debuffs. Yeah, DigiStrike is useful for now... But as you get farther into the game, it gets less useful since it depends on your MP, which some enemies in the final stages sap. It's designed as a way for the player to more easily complete the third Chapter.

I know that the loading image can be changed, but honestly I didn't bother since it won't be shown in the final version. The reason it's showing up now is because the game is exported to a web app- it'll be downloadable in the final release.

You're in the majority- my game's very niche and is supposed to replicate the style of a certain time period. I put most of the dialogue in dialogue boxes rather than having it be contained within animated videos (as I originally did) so that it could be easily skipped.

The Chapter 3 grind is... not my best designed solution, I recognize that. I wanted to make the Chapter 3 stage different from the Chapter 2 stage since they're right next to each other and they're very similar, and people were complaining that the game was too short, so I thought I'd solve both problems at once by making destroying the viruses in the Chapter 3 stage mandatory rather than optional- if you read the tutorial text before the stage, it tells you this, but I realize that by that point many players, like yourself, will just skip the text, haha. And I thought that, well, lots of games have such... grindy parts, but it only happens once so... Would you suggest reducing the number from 10, or would another solution be more appropriate?

Thanks for playing, @FleshToDust- you're awesome!

 

[FleshToDust]

Oh so that's the thing with the dialogue. I knew it felt weird but couldn't place exactly why. Yeah I think the Chapter 1 boss is too hard. Only way to win seems to be spamming Wave(and repair if you're hit) before your MP hits 0. Maybe a tad less HP would help? For chapter 3 seeing the number 10 put a downer on me so maybe going with... 1, 3 and 5 would be better than 4, 7, 10? 10 was a bit of a punch to the gut for me.

Still really like the game though. It's unique.

 

[MechScapeZH]

Oh so that's the thing with the dialogue. I knew it felt weird but couldn't place exactly why. Yeah I think the Chapter 1 boss is too hard. Only way to win seems to be spamming Wave(and repair if you're hit) before your MP hits 0. Maybe a tad less HP would help? For chapter 3 seeing the number 10 put a downer on me so maybe going with... 1, 3 and 5 would be better than 4, 7, 10? 10 was a bit of a punch to the gut for me.

Still really like the game though. It's unique.

Got it.

The first boss's HP has been changed from 650 to 500.

Honestly, I don't like the idea of having the first stage require only 1- if it's only 1, what's the point? It might as well be 0.

Is 3, 5, 7 better? Or should there be less? Is 7 too much even for the final stage?

Thank you!

 

[FleshToDust]

3, 5, 7 works. On stage 2 when I did 7 it didn't bother me.

 

[MechScapeZH]

3, 5, 7 works. On stage 2 when I did 7 it didn't bother me.

Great! The GameJolt page has been updated with the new version- hopefully it works. I just replaced the JS and Data folders since only the 3 maps were changed- hopefully not replacing the other folders didn't break anything. Your save file should still work, since I hardly changed anything.

Thank you so much @FleshToDust! For both playing & for your feedback!

 

[MechScapeZH]

RELEASE DATE!!!!
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Ok, everyone! I am very, very pleased to announce that the game has a release date!

Here's the download on the release of the MechScape cyber-simulation-

MechScape will be released on November 22, 2019 on GameJolt and itch.io! As mentioned before, it will be sold for $4.99- an "early bird price."

I extend my thanks to everyone who's helped & supported me throughout this development cycle- as I said, I'll do a more comprehensive "thank-you post" closer to release. But for now- thank you, everyone. You're all amazing.

So grab your headsets on November 22nd netsurfers, and you'll be able to stream all the MechScape cyber-goodness straight into your optics. Don't be a bithead- get it on release!

I had to use the cyberpunk slang at least once, you know.


And in accordance with what I said before, here's some more behind-the-scenes content:

Spoiler: GlitchKing concept

GlitchKing concept art- this design didn't change much from concept to final. You can see that it originally had the "grid" texture, though- that ended up being far too busy to keep.

Spoiler: Copter concept art

Copter concept art- now this one changed. It was originally meant to be more helicopter than bug, but I ended up switching the... helicopter/bug ratio at some point. Makes it creepier.

Again, thanks for all the support- much more to come! (...The game! The game is what's to come. )

 

[MechScapeZH]

3 DAYS TO RELEASE UPDATE!!
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Wow. I can't believe I've made it this far- it's still honestly pretty surreal to be wrapping up the final build & such. I've been working on this so long, and I wouldn't have gotten here without the help of all of you.

And with that (yes, this is the "thank-you post" I've been meaning to write) I'd like to thank (in order of when they were added to my credits, which is pretty much chronological order as far as them helping me)-

-@Biestmann, who was the very first person to ever comment on MechScape & has supported me throughout the entire development cycle liking each and every update- I can't even say how much this helped me finish the development of MechScape- it may seem like a small thing & it probably didn't take you that much time to do, but the impact was immeasurable. Without your support, I simply would've lost motivation and given up at some point, but your liking the posts made me feel like my working on this mean something. You even wrote in to my letters page, which was a dream I've had since I was a little kid- if I ever wrote something, I'd have a letters page and would answer letters like... like a bunch of comic book writers/editors that I could name but won't for the sake of making this post succinct, and I'd know I was a successful write because people would write in. And I didn't know if anyone would write in- in fact, I didn't think anyone would but I felt like I should open letter submissions for the sake of this stupid dream of mine- but you wrote in. And now I have a letters page. (...Dream achieved, haha.) So thank you- I'll support whatever games you make.
@Canini , my first playtester who made the game... not bad, haha. It would've been a shell of what it is now without his input. "Just another bad RPG Maker game," right? That's what it would've been if not for you. And you wrote a letter too- as I said above, that just meant so much to me- that you wrote in. And with such a creative submission too- thank you, "young child fan!" Your feedback was the start of making the game... good, haha. Thank you- I'll support you in whatever games you make.
@caethyril , @Silenity, @Aesica, @Poryg, @ConfliKt, @gambitben, @Aloe Guvner, @Andar, and everyone else who helped me in the MV Support section of the forum- as you all know well by now, I am no programmer. I can't do JavaScript to save my life. But all of you helped me & answered all my questions & dealt with my complete lack of knowledge so patiently- thank you. Without your expertise & support MechScape would not be what it is now- it'd be a lot more... default, haha. Thank you all!
-@FleshtoDust, who has been greatly supporting me lately as the development of MechScape reaches its difficult last stretch. He even tested the game and fixed some pressing issues that I hadn't yet addressed (...I did end up changing the loading screen, haha). The game would've been released without being fully balanced without you. Thank you!
@Eric Matyas , the amazing musician who composed the music I used in MechScape. It literally couldn't be more perfect- it's exactly the kind of techno tunes that this project needed. Its appropriateness is frankly uncanny, haha. Literally 100% of the people who have played MechScape compliment me on the music & I always say "it's not my music! It's Eric Matayas'!" Music is everything when setting the mood of a game, and your music is pretty much solely responsible for the mood of mine. Thank you, Mr. Matyas- may you have success in all your endeavors- I will support them.
-Of course, the makers of the incredible plugins that I used in this project- @Yanfly, (enjoy your retirement!) @Victor Sant, @DreamX, Moghunter, Kadokawa itself (for both the plugins and this amazing software), @Galv, @Zevia, SumRndmDde, and @SilverDash. As I said before, JavaScript is a mysterious, magical art to me and you all work with it like it's nothing. (...You're all... code druids or something, haha. Code sorcerers. Your abilities are downright magical, is what I'm saying, haha.) Your generosity in giving these plugins to the community is truly admirable, and you're all amazing at what you do. Thank you all for your hard work and generosity.
-All the "guest" users that have been viewing my game (that's right! I see you- your numbers show up at the bottom of the page!). Thank you all for your support- I've viewed many, many games without commenting myself & I know that it isn't always something you want to do. (Signing up for the site, etc. etc.) But your support is felt and much appreciated- thank you.
-And last but certainly, certainly not least, the moderators who run this site- @Kes, @Ms Littlefish, @hiddenone, @bgillisp and whoever I may have missed- I don't know if I have cited all the mods, but I have cited the ones who have moderated me, haha. Thank you all for making this a safe & fun place to be- this is the very first online community I have ever joined & I only did so because I needed to promote my game somehow (I always thought of online as like, an unsafe place to be or something- I'm a very shy personality as well, so I don't really go out of my way to talk to people) and you have all been so welcoming and patient as I learned the rules and such- and I ended up having a lot of fun here as well . You're the reason this place is what it is- thank you.

Again, thank you everyone! Any success that MechScape garners is that of everyone credited. It's really thanks to all of you.

And now moving on, haha...

To make a very, very long story short, GameJolt has been giving me a headache at the last minute for accepting-payment-related reasons that I don't fully understand (oh sure, bring it up now... but anything has its last-minute headaches. I almost expected it, especially with my luck). So only itch.io for now- it still launches Friday, though!

Also, this is what's going to happen when the game releases:
You'll find a new thread (on Friday) in Commercial Games with the game information & the itch.io link where you can buy the game. In accordance with @Kes 's great advice, that's what I've decided to do- making a new thread will mean that people new to the game won't get confused by all the in-progress updates & the game info at the top of the thread will be new & current. (Btw, it comes with some bonus wallpapers. ) The "Early Bird" price will be in full effect- you can read about that about a page back.

And in accordance with what I said before, more behind-the-scenes content:

Spoiler: Unused Boss Design

Here's a blast from the past for me- concept art for an unused boss. It was to be called the Leviathan, and it would've been the boss of an early version of the 3rd chapter that took place in a cyber-ocean. It was replaced by the GlitchKing & the purple grid cyber-environment due to the difficulties of rendering water in 3D. The creature might still show up in future DLC, though- I haven't decided yet. I'm not sure if it's clear at this stage, but the Leviathan's supposed to be an eel. (Looks more like a sea serpent, though- I didn't draw this too well.) We'll see what happens with this design- I still like it enough to bring it back, but we'll see. We'll see.

Again, thanks to everyone who supported me, and look for the game on Friday!

 

[FleshToDust]

Congrats on your progress and final release. Not a lot of people cross the finish line but you made it.

 

[MechScapeZH]

Congrats on your progress and final release. Not a lot of people cross the finish line but you made it.

Thank you! And yeah, I'm just stubborn that way, haha. I don't know when to quit. But it's done- it's really done. (Except for the DLC, but the base game is done.) Thank you so much for your support.

 

[Biestmann]

Look at you! I am busy for a week and return to see you put up a proper release date for your game! I'll be there day 1 of course! I may be three days early, but congratulations!

 

[MechScapeZH]

Look at you! I am busy for a week and return to see you put up a proper release date for your game! I'll be there day 1 of course! I may be three days early, but congratulations!

Thank you! Again, your support has been so appreciated throughout this- I literally wouldn't have completed it without you & your encouragement. You're really the best.

 

[MechScapeZH]

RELEASED!
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Oh my gosh, it's done. It is completed.

THE GAME IS RELEASED! As a completed commercial game, it has a new thread in the Commercial games section of the forum- here's a link to the thread. Please post there from now on.

Again, many, many thanks to everyone I mentioned in my last post- you're all the best. Without you, this release wouldn't have been possible.

 

[Kes]

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