New Guy from NZ

[rolytnz]

Hi Everyone,


I've been a long time fan of RPG Maker since about RPG Maker 2000 when I was introduced to it by a relative. I aquired RPGMVXA through the Humble Bundle a while ago and have been struggling with a project.


I have found one.


In my internet travels I have found a few in-depth sites on one of the greatest groundbreaking games ever, Ultima IV - a game i have very fond memories of playing 30 years ago (!) on my Apple ][e (green screen, 5.25" floppy, AND in 64 kilobytes of memory).


So I have started building in VX Ace, I know it will be a mammoth project, with a steep learning curve; one I am looking forward to and it's going to take a while. The screen shot is what I have after a few days, as follows:

• World Map
  
• Castle Britannia, that's the big one in the middle
• Time of day Day/Night Chronograph, a minute passes about every second(ish).
  
• Moon Phasings in line with U IV 28-day cycle - my first crack at Ruby scripting was surprisingly successful!
  
• Artwork for moons, chronograph, and moongates made by me, everything else is RPGMXVA out-the-box assets.
  
•  
  

Still a proverbial Mt Everest to climb so I'm learning a lot as I go about the limitations and advantages of RPGMVXA - I'm sure I will be visiting these forums a lot in the coming year.


My experience, in terms of computers goes back about 35 years (the Apple ][e was a hint), I can program/script  to varying degrees in about 30 different languages and I usually learn what I need to fulfill a function then move on, worked in a number of different graphic packages and game-maker type things so am familiar with how this stuff works - I am well aware of the complexities that these packages and it's when you really start delving into them you find the goodies. This is part of the aim of my project here.


If anyone wished to collaborate on this game for fun with me, drop me a line, I am sure I can find mapping work - there's 4 castles (several levels), 12 towns (with associated basements or multiple levels), 10 or 11 dungeons (8 levels each) and more NPCs that you can throw a stick at. Oh, plus a completely different magic system. That's going to be fun


Last words: I look forward to being part of this amazing worldwide community!


Cheers!


Roly 

 

[Cr1t1cal]

Hey man welcome,


Like that moon phase cycle quite a neat idea man


And haha apple sorry man I detest apple products to the core, but 5.25 floppy and 64kb ram damn she sounded classy 

 

[rolytnz]

Hey man welcome,


Like that moon phase cycle quite a neat idea man


And haha apple sorry man I detest apple products to the core, but 5.25 floppy and 64kb ram damn she sounded classy 

@Cr1t1cal - keep in mind that was when Apple was innovating, the the hardware was built by Steve Wozniak who wanted to continue with an open source style artchitecture . Jobs shafted him out to continue down the proprietary lock-in path. The rest is history.

 

[rolytnz]

Mini-Project Update:

• Ultima IV's simple NPC conversation system built and tests nicely.
  
• Removed Chronograph, and day/night. That will be more for when I do Ultima V
• Moon phases are show at top of screen, no border or window (see below)
  
• Moongate travel working, based on Ultima IV rules.
  
•  
  

 

[rolytnz]

Hi All,

It's been a while since I posted. I decided about six weeks ago to jump to RPG Maker MV, so there's been a long learning curve - mainly around re-learning Javascript (ATOM is a great editor btw, https://atom.io ), building plugins, and more. I have used and re-used a lot of plugins and resources fromt he web and I will ensure full credit is given to everyone I can remember.

On my Ultima IV remake, I'm enhancing and tweaking as I go to smooth the game experience and make it portable as well.

So here's progress so far:

• Fully built conversation system, using the full text from the OG Ultima IV.
• Enhanced Moongate System fully working - gates are two-way now.
• Lord Britishes' Castle done, full conversations with Hawkwind and LB completed.
• Two towns completed, Britain and Moonglow, populated with NPC's to talk to.
• Shops to buy things in towns, and Inn's that heal you and your party - need to re-build items.
• Virtue gain/loss in line with OG Ultima IV.
• Every NPC lovingly hand crafted using the character generator). Some are from a generic pool - guards, children) everyone else is unique as possible.
• Two characters can join the party now - Iolo and Mariah.

Here's some screen shots.

Moonglow


Outside Moonglow, by Moongate (from the moon phase, it would take me to Skara Brae)


Talking to Lord British