October Goals & Progress Thread

[Kes]

@Schlangan

Those 2 characters now sound much more interesting - though I will be honest and say that I am not keen on stamina systems and it sounds as if you have it (or maybe not?) for Michael.  That is purely personal preference, though, and I know that many players enjoy them.  Is his automatic mode 50/50 attack/do nothing?  If so, in a 4 member party, that's a bit tough, particularly as your remark about the player having try during a fight to work out what's going on, which implies that they go into this blind.  Wouldn't he say something to the other members first?  It would be very strange if he kept silent about it.  Is he such an unknown that they have never heard of this disconcerting behaviour beforehand?

@bgillisp

Oooh, if you've sorted out the intro that much, then I'm definitely playing the next iteration of the demo - assuming that there will be one.  At some stage you're going to have to stop issuing demos if it's going to be a commercial game, otherwise people will have played it all for free!

@mlogan

Thanks for the further suggestions.  I really want this geomancer thing to work well - I can't think of any game where the main protagonist is that class, and in fact as a class it doesn't feature much at all, not in comparison with other classes, so there's little precedent to go by.  But that's an advantage as well, it means I can do what I like without people saying that it's 'wrong'.

I like the idea of cyberpunk, it's got a good feel to it.  There doesn't seem to be all that much in the way of quality resources, though, except for Celianna's/Lunaera's tiles.  Or have you found a source that I've not noticed?

@Amysaurus

Welcome to the thread, and good luck with your goals.

@Chiara

How very true - difficult indeed to get the customs and cultural rules over to the player without an info dump.  I love that bit of dialogue, I wish I'd thought of it!  In that short piece you manage to convey a lot about the character.  And I agree with you about planning on paper first, that's what I do.  And I do not agree with you that 2 hours of sketching, on top of everything else, equals tiny amounts of progress.

My update

More messing around with tiles.  Done the structure of the first map of this area.  A bit slow today for some reason.  Put in the tiles I've got so far, but I need more.  It's tricky though, because of the type of terrain.  It's right next to the coast, so the floor is sand.  That rules out most vegetation.  It's enclosed, sort of cave like, so sea debris is not available either.  I think I've given myself a headache with this one.

As for the skull lanterns, some are strung between 2 posts, a few are on the walls, a couple are strung across the stairs leading up to the surface.  In game you can see that there is a nice flicker on the face of the skull which is part of the light effect.  But because the face of a skull is small, the flicker has to be as well, as it is meant to be the light inside the skull shining out, so the player will only be able to see it when fairly close to one.

 

[Schlangan]

Just a short reply,


@ksjp17 :


Stamina is in my game the equivalent of MP, and food regenerate stamina. Using Michael's karate skills will hence use stamina. If you only use normal attacks with him, he cannot enter the dark aura mode (except if the story requires it). His automatic mode is 25% doing nothing, 75% normal attack if his health is over 50%. Otherwise, it is 85% normal attack and 15% powerful energy attack. As for the condition, Michaël himself is unaware of it. The party members however know how to deal with it. At the moment the character appears, he is not in the party, and his dark aura is stopped by the party during a cutscene by giving him food. So, the player should know that food stops his aura. However, it is not explicitly said that it will work during a fight. They have to try it to be sure.

 

[Kes]

@Schlangan

ah, that now makes a lot more sense.  From the way it was originally phrased, it sounded like it was one of those sometimes arbitrary stamina systems which operate on top of the ordinary HP/MP system.  Your approach seems much more coherent, and those percentages look good.  With a hint like that, a reasonably competent player should be able to work it out, and a less competent player will probably get there second time round.

 

[bgillisp]

@Mlogan: I suppose that makes sense. Have you considered just making an episode, and running with it? That's kind of what I did, and I think honestly my game is about game #8 in the game world. But, it will end up being game #1 or #2 in the order it is released. The others are in as lore, so they still have some use.

@Amysaurus: Welcome to the party. We have cookies.

@Chiara: That's what I'm hoping. The original events set me up for a gaping plot hole, so I'm removing things referenced in there that make no sense.

@Schlangan: That's kind of what I'm doing right now, redoing the events to make them (hopefully) better. The disadvantage is I'll have to reproof them for typos, but oh well.

@Ace_of_Aces_Mod: I'll have to consider that compression technique myself when the game is close to release.

@ksjp17: Valid point, though my demo has always been just Chapter 1 of the game. If you complete the demo it fades to credits and then returns to title screen, though if does (or should) save your game as an autosave before you enter the events that would end the demo for you. Though, that's also why I go so long between demo updates, as I have to make the separated build for the intro every time, and that always seems to take 1 - 2 weeks.

10.8 Update: The entire introduction has been redone! Now there's even a couple cutscenes of the bad guys plotting inserted into the intro (which was not there before), and my earlier attempt at having it be an intro narrated by the MC is out. I think it flows better this way.

Next up is to tweak the start of Chapter 1 to compensate for the slight changes in the intro. Once that is done, it should roll right into the story from here, as I already added references to this changed intro back when I fixed the plot hole in Chapters 1/2 back a couple months ago. Still probably going to do a playthrough this weekend and make sure though, I'm sure a couple lines here and there will need to be tweaked.  

 

[Marquise*]

@Chiara


that creature I see it more isopod if you mean more than 10 legs. Ack I have a paperday too to do and you just reminded me... I want to... procrastinate....


@Shlangan


I didn't made the original work but watch out what I think to do on the side! (I just calculated the surrounding eye space!)


@ksjp17


Awww one leg at the time! I did only the weird blurb in second row... And I will also have to find a way to make the move more apparents on the legs of the originals on the first row -I had to place them prior treatment-.


@TheGreatEater


I should try Blender some day!


Progress... I get something out in order... I get 20 others not at their place! I wanna cry and procrastinate!!! *Sigh* On a positive note there is no boxes in front of my bath... on a so so note that corridor is tricky with so many boxes in the legs! I play the inverted Tetris tango here... and I still try to change my mind by trying to host a RPG by internet with other folks. (Would be nice my system hybridation getting into a RPGMaker form some day!) Sorry for the kinda lack of RPGMaking progress :S

 

[Schlangan]

@TheGreatEater : I tried to make an humanoid before in Blender, and it was a magnificent fail. I'll look at that Makehuman then


@AceOfAces_Mod : Auto-Backup ? What do you mean ?


@bgillisp : Nice progress. It's always nice to have bad guys somehow appearing in the introduction. Because when you see them in the game later, it's like "Ah ! It's them !"


@Marquise* : I can't wait to see what you planned


My update :


I'm done with Michaël's behavior during the fight. I also added the new dialog possibilites with the new team for mission 10. Michaël's dark aura saved the day against the boss of that mission, since the new team is less strong than the four soldiers. I still recommend to do mission 10 before mission 11, but well. I also added a new option, to change the ATB gauge speed, and I made possible to already unlock mission 12 (Though it might not be playable in v1.10)


Now I'm wondering about what comes next. I'll probably wait for MV before working on the facesets; Even if I finally decide to stick with XP, MV's generator will help me a lot for the facesets. So, in the mean time I should work on mission 12. But things are getting faster than I expected in that case

 

[Zoltor]

Lots, and I do mean lots of simple, boring to make, one room empty maps,  Then if I can get that done, I'll work on adding them to the random generator, as well as eventing the procedure to lock rooms into place.

That's a lot of work, so I don't see me finishing all of that this month, but if all goes as planned, the next month is where the fun part begins.

 

[BlackRoseMii]

Another friday and guess what?

All events in my main game are done!!!!

...Well, the raw versions anyway. I still need to add music and refine everything and test it...but still, one of the worst tasks is over!

I was also able to finish all important dialogues for my side game.

Which means, I can move on to databasing, refining events, redoing all character graphics (again ^^°) and writing skits. 

I still have no idea which of them I'll do first. Probably all at the same time ^^°

 

[TheGreatEater]

@Marquise*: It's an awesome program. I seriously enjoy all the little things about the previous version, and once they get all the bugs fixed out of the new one it'll be amazing. That and there are lots of awesome videos on how to use it. 

@Schlangan: Make sure to go to user preferences, add-ons, and check the "Import/Export: Makehuman [Mhx]". And it's awesome, a bit high in the polygon counts. But it makes an amazing human, and it comes rigged and everything. It's been very helpful. 

 

[Kyuukon]

@BlackRoseMii: You're so productive lol. I envy you xD!

 

[Kes]

@bgillisp Even one week sounds a long time.  What happens with mine for the demo that gets released at the same time as the full game is straightforward - though it helps that my map tree tends to be extremely well ordered.  All maps after the cut off point are deleted; unused music is deleted; the final event which takes the player out of the demo and into some text or other saying if you want to know what happens, buy the game is created, and that's basically it.  What are you doing that it takes as long as it does?

@Marquise* Boxes in the corridor?  And even if it is only leg on the second row, it's a start.

@Schlangan Progress seems to be hurtling along, or am I imagining it?  Good job on finishing off Michael's behaviour.  

@BlackRoseMii That's excellent news, well done.

My update

Still tweaking tiles around for my underground burial chamber(s).  Did the battleback, started working on the skills for the opening enemies.  Here's where the nightmare begins already.  If the player has been thorough in their exploration, the 2 characters will already have found enough EXP for the second character to go up a level (the first one starts at level 3, so needs more).  I also have the stat distribution system at each level up, so already I cannot know for sure what stats the characters will have - and they haven't hit their first battle yet.  I shall just have to do what I did for The Tale of a Common Man - do all my playthroughs with a middle of the road, neutral sort of build.  Oh, what I shall also have to do is to run 2 playthroughs simultaneously, one for each of the possible classes for character 2.  I think this is going to do my head in.

 

[AceOfAces_Mod]

@Shalagan, Auto-Backup is a routine of the launcher where it backs up the save files to a folder of the player's choice. It's more effective if it is use with a service like OneDrive.

@bgilisp, good luck compressing all the RTP graphics. It was quite a hassle (but worth it). I can give you these if you want.

Progress Report #10

-Did a small test on the update mechanism of the installer. Works fine and replaces all the changes I made well (thank god!), although Installshield is quite limited (and it costs 200 - 300 euros for the express version, which allows making patches ).

-Tweak-athlon at the scripts. I still can't force Zeus81's Fullscreen++ to save at AppData.

 

[bgillisp]

@Marquise: Maybe you can make tetris...in your house!

@Schlangan: I didn't know you could do missions out of order in your game. I'm guessing there are some restrictions to stop a player from doing mission 1 then mission 471?

@Zoltor: What game are you making that needs the random maps?

@Blackrosemii: You're done with the main game? Tell us your secrets oh great one!

@ksjp17: Bad organization more than anything. I didn't organize the first maps well in the database, and so it makes it tough to splice things well. Then I have to test it multiple times, and that takes 2 - 3 hours each run through (I average 2 - 2.5 hours playtime on my save at the end of Chapter 1). Add that up and well, there's where the time goes.

@Aceofaces_mod: I'll keep that in mind when I'm at release point. Thanks!

10.9 Update: Tweaked all the Elmwood scenes to handle the changes to the intro. The plot flows well up to the rest scene at the house at the end of day 1. Almost to the point where I did my last tweak though, so the end is in sight! Though, I'll have to change my variable counters some, as the meanwhile cutscenes have thrown off the old counts a little. Still, not too hard to make those changes though, but it does mean a full run through of Chapter 1 is needed to make sure I didn't break anything.

Though, I did also decide to add Modern Algebra's quest script to my game today too. Currently it is only set up for the for the part of the main plot in the demo as well as the 4 side quests the player can do in the demo. Will be slowly adding to it as I work on other things.

Plan is to try and write the rest of the scenes up to the last plot fix up, which was at about the 1 hour point in the playtime (I'm at the 30 - 35 minute point now). Though, 20 minutes or so of that is the dungeon that is coming up, so not too much dialogue left to fix!

 

[Marquise*]

I'm almost in hibernating mode.  Well Daughter cat and me have some nice cuddling time. I still think she wants to make little kitties all over the place sometimes... not good for her health and age!  I am still spinning almost like a top in the apartment...  This could be almost a videogame to try to fit everything somewhere until everything is back in place!   Not sure it would be a big seller as a RPGMaker game.  XD

Uh well, making papers now and then getting back reading some game mechanics

 

[Zoltor]

To Bgilisp: Haven't officially named the game yet, but It's in the Legends of the Chosen universe(a saga type story I created), this game Isn't going to play out what has been written so far, It's more along the lines of going to be the next chapter in the story. I'll probally give it the main title of Legends of the Chosen, and then give it a subtitle.

The random dungeon in question, is going to specifically be used for a side quest(and the dungeon its self, is going to in pretty much every way, function differently then the other dungeons in the game).

 

[BlackRoseMii]

@bgillisp: Oh, I'm definitely NOT done XD This was just the raw version. I still need to refine them, test them, add music. Then the events would be done. But there's also still the whole databasing and balancing to do. It's just one of many things I finished. It's still not sure whether or not I'll be able to at least release a demo this year ^^°

 

[Schlangan]

@bgillisp : In fact, primary missions follow a given order, but secondary mission do not. However, several missions are easier than others, and some primary missions will make secondary missions unavailable. But you'll always be warned if secondary missions are about to disappear, for you to be able to do them before.


My progress:


Nothing for once. My roommate took out his old Super Nintendo, so we played Donkey Kong Country x)

 

[TheGreatEater]

After 2 days, decided that I'd use paint [on object] in blender to give the nipples color. Finally found a color combination that doesn't look utterly hideous, got every pixel done so there's no gaps at any angle. Then discovered my female characters nipples [and the males since I'll just be altering female to make a male.] are magic. 

Look up close they look normal. But the further away you scroll the bigger they grow until they cover the entire chest. Like magical, fleshy armor ... I don't know whether to keep it for the lols, or fix it. I just thought that bit of progress would be hilarious to share. After I color the next nipple. I'll be moving onto the eyes, then body hair. Then I'll have my first human done [did the chest area first, mostly because make human made it the same color as the rest of the body and it was looking really weird imo. Especially since I'm going for semi-realism with a fantasy flair.]. Then it's making the other 2 Racial variations for the planets humans. 

Edit:

Turns out the paint didn't render. So I just redid everything with adding texture colors. Was much faster than the other way. Looks a little bit better as well.

 

[Kes]

@AceofAces_Mod

Yes, Installshield is expensive, no getting away from it, but it is worth it in the end.

@bgillisp

My first database was a chaotic mess, my first script editor likewise, but for some reason my map tree has been well organised from the moment I got the engine.  Weird, I know.  I think it has saved me a huge amount of time over the course of the 3 games so I really recommend it for your next game.  When you are doing multiple run throughs of the same section (in your case another travel through Chapter 1) do you find that sheer familiarity with the material means that your eyes see what they expect to see?  I was wondering because I remember you saying that you have a terrifically fast reading speed, and I was asking myself how that impacted on things like proof reading your text and checking for mapping errors, things like that.

@Marquise*

Yeah, really, daughter cat is probably a bit too old now.  I had a mental tussle trying to put together visually the info that you are almost in hibernating mode and that you are spinning like a top around the flat.  I've more or less settled on the idea of that trance-like state that some dancers in some religions reach when their whirling seems to put them into a different mental plane.

@BlackRoseMii

Databasing and balancing always take more time than one thinks they are going to, at least for many people, so yes, I can see why you hesitate about the possibility of getting your demo out this year.

@Schlangan

A day off every now and then is a great thing.

@theGreatEater

I'd fix it, I really would!  Sounds amazing, though.

My update

Started eventing the battle tutorial.  First battles did not go well.  For one of character 2's classes they were overwhelming, for the other a bit of a pushover.  Then I remembered that I hadn't done the stat allocation for the problem class.  That was, however, only after I'd spent time in the data base, trying all sorts of different combinations.  Wasted time.  Also realised that I hadn't edited the sprite for character 1 to give him his metal hand (sad accident that the player hasn't learnt about yet)  That saying about the iron fist in the velvet glove is literally true in this case.  So a bitty sort of day, with lots of RL to be dealt with as well.

 

[bgillisp]

@Marquise: Can't blame her, I feel like hibernating right now too.

@Zoltor: Sounds interesting. Will this be the first game you've released in the universe?

@Blackrosemii: I totally understand. I'm right now going over an earlier chapter to make the 75% done events closer to 100%. Still time consuming.

@Schlangan: Makes sense. Enjoy the off day.

@Thegreateater: Sounds like the art is coming along.

@ksjp17: It does factor in with reading, yes. Plus, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between lll and ll and li and il in that engine. I honestly which RPGMaker had a built in spellcheck, just to help us catch those silly errors that are hard (if not impossible on some resolutions) to spot. As it is, I've taken to copy/pasting my text into word when I suspect it is off, but some typos still slip by.

10.10 Update: Edited the events up to the middle of Chapter 1 now. I feel like the events are needing less editing now, as I'm entering the area I tweaked last time. Now it feels more like it is remove a line here, add a line here, remove an event that no longer does what it intended, change who said what to better fit their characters, add in a couple little events. In short, minor stuff. I figure it will still take until about this time next week to have all of Chapter 1 tweaked, but once that's done I'll have met my 3rd and final October goal, so will be entering into my stretch goals at that point.

Also made up a to-do list of what is missing from the game for all chapters (though 6 - 9 it was simple: everything), and added more entries to the quest script from modern algebra.

Plan was to work longer, but I found myself just staring at the screen so decided to just stop and take the evening off. Got some RL work to do and will have to direct the refrigerator man around Monday so might be slowed down some til Wednesday. Probably will dabble still and add in more quests into the database at least.