Pirates: Testing Drive

[hyde9318]

Hey there guys, Hyde here, needing a bit of help. Before I get to askin', let me explain the project and short story behind it so you know where you fit in on this.


About a year ago (maybe a bit more), RMWeb held a contest to put together a small rpg within (I think) two weeks (if I am wrong, feel free to correct me). I had my mind set on putting together a small game for this contest, but life hit me hard with work, work, and tons more work. Needless to say, I never got past the first major map when the second week came around, so I pushed the idea to the side and honestly forgot about it until recently.

While working on my games, I every once in a while like to take a small break and work on something else for a few days so that I am not constantly looking at the same few maps, and overall to just get my mind wandering again (like "What ideas would work best here" and "how can I make this part really stand out"). So I skimmed through my other projects to find something to tinker with and I found the project for the game that never was... Pirates. As I remembered what it was and the details of the contest, I decided I wanted to pick it back up and finish it finally, however it must be under the same conditions as before with the contest (because I like the idea of the challenge).

• Two weeks to work on it.
• Must be made in RPG Maker Vx Ace LITE only (so no scripting, limited maps, limited database, etc.)

So... I found the game and I started anew (minus the logo... I am keeping the original logo, no exceptions). I started friday (friday, January 10th, 2014). My deadline will be Friday, January 24th. What happens happens.
 


 
So, the game itself is a simple (very simple) Japanese styled rpg set on a single island that contains multiple areas (I guess they could technically be called dungeons?) to explore. A few puzzles here and there, some gathering missions, and a few different bosses to knock out before the final boss. What the hell, I may even do a post-game super boss for those die hard JRPG fans. 
 
I don't plan on going ALL OUT on this as it really is more of a side project testing to see how Ace LITE is. I'm not going to completely half ass the game as I take pride in my work, but it won't be a 12 hour long story complete with random dungeons and 100s of side-quests. It will probably end up a nice little rpg to drop some time into when you have time to spare. 
 

 
 
Anyways, what do I need? I need testers. I will give you early builds of the game, ranging from one or two dungeons being done to the whole thing being playable, depending on when you get the test build from me. I will be working quickly, so I could really use someone who has some time these coming weeks. I don't need my testers to be 100% open to do my bidding at all hours, I am actually a VERY easy guy to work with and understand that you guys have lives too. BUT, that said, I will have at least three days of debugging/balancing time set aside towards the middle to end of next week. I will be running tests this week too as I go, but those debugging/balancing days are the biggest and most important ones on the schedule. So far, here is a mock-up schedule that I myself am going by...
 
 

The way it is set up is simple to follow and is color coded to show everything better.

Dark Grey boxes mean no work will be done on my part. On my current schedule, Sundays belong to the wife and nothing comes before her in my book. Colored boxes represent different segments of the project. Blue is the starting day. Green is general work... so mapping, databasing, etc. Orange (20th-22nd) are the debugging/balancing days that I have planned. Red is the wrap up. I put wrap up for two full days on purpose though. I am shooting to have EVERYTHING completely done by the 23rd, but I wanted to give myself that extra day just in case things go a bit over. I like giving myself the comfort of finishing early instead of coming up on the last hour not knowing if I can finish or not. You will also notice that some colored days are darkened out a bit. The darker colored days are days where I can not spend the entire day on the game. Tuesdays, I have a class to attend in the morning, but then have the rest of the day to myself. Thursday, I have that same class, but then I have to teach a class that night as well, so less time there. I do have some time on both days to work, just not as much.

So what do I need in detail?
 

• 2 or more (preferably more) testers - 

Testers must act professional please. I am easy to work with, but I can't fix things when I get a message that says "Damn bro, there is a tile overlapping another tile in the wrong way in this game. Then there was a monster who kicked my arse even though I was at the recommended level". I need details. Please tell me what happened, where. The quicker I can find the problem, the quicker it can be fixed. Testers also need to battle, battle, battle! The game has different partners for you to team up with, each with different classes and play styles. While I don't need every single party combination tested, I would love to know if a certain team up makes the game harder or much easier. Finally, I want the game broken. Get the game, beat it once to know what is going on, and then restart and try to break the game. I mean intentionally try to cause as many bugs/balance issues/problems as you can, then report what you did. This helps me understand what I left open to get broken. I don't like leaving loop holes open that lets players accidentally break the game if they don't want to, so I like my testers to actually try breaking it on purpose.

• Resource Tracker -

Trackers are people who hunt down the name(s) of artists. I have a couple tiles and a sprite I would like to use, but I refuse to use them without knowing who made them. They somehow were not organized into my normal folder system on my laptop like resources normally are, so any help I can get tracking their origins down would be great. I don't need many trackers at all, maybe one or two tops as I myself plan on doing this job as well.


So that is it. Anyone to help will absolutely get their name in the credits in big bold letters. I give credit where credit is due and nobody gets left out. Want your game production company's name in the credits instead of your username? Let me know, I'll change your credits name to whatever you would like, I'm not picky.

If you would like to help out with this project, please post here. 

Info I need:

Your Name - (As it should be shown in the credits)

Position You Would Like - (Tester, Tracker)

What days you can work - (As shown on schedule above)(You can work on days I don't if you want, the grayed out days are just my personal issues)

Anyways, thank you all so much for your time. I appreciate any help whatsoever. Anyone that helps me out here feel free to request graphics from me (titles, logos, game overs, HUDs, etc). If you put in a posted application containing the info stated above, I will let you know via post if you are accepted or not as soon as I can so you are not left in the dark. 

Thank you all again. You all have a wonderful day.

 

[Jiggy]

Hello! I see you're looking for testers I would love to be one of your testers. I must say, I'm a fan of your works, and I would really love to test out your game.

Your Name - Jiggyjiggyjigs

Position You Would Like - Tester

What days you can work - I could work any day as long as I'm not busy as heck (which is rare)

 

[Seacliff]

Yes! You know that everyone at Pokemon Corner respects you Hyde. I like pirates too.

Your Name - Seacliff217

Position You Would Like - Tester

What days you can work - Right now, any day but Thursdays, I'll let you know otherwise.

 

[hyde9318]

Hello! I see you're looking for testers I would love to be one of your testers. I must say, I'm a fan of your works, and I would really love to test out your game.


Your Name - Jiggyjiggyjigs


Position You Would Like - Tester


What days you can work - I could work any day as long as I'm not busy as heck (which is rare)

 
Perfect. And thank you for your kinds words. Welcome to the team.

Yes! You know that everyone at Pokemon Corner respects you Hyde. I like pirates too.


Your Name - Seacliff217


Position You Would Like - Tester


What days you can work - Right now, any day but Thursdays, I'll let you know otherwise.

Again with the kind words. You guys flatter me too much, lol. As before, welcome to the team.


I got to work on things today a bit, so I will be getting to hopefully having a bit playable soon. You may not be able to battle your way through the game just yet, but you should at least be able to acquire a few of the items and play through a bit of it. I'll let you guys know when I have something for you.


Anyways, I am still accepting team members to anyone interested. Recruitment is open until I say otherwise.

 

[hyde9318]

So I am running a little bit behind, but I am making progress. I have what I like to call Alpha v0.1, lol.


Maps are DONE, minus possible little tweaks here and there if there are problems during testing for some reason. Database has been started and a nice dent has been put in it, but I need to know how unbalanced things are at this point, big time. I tested things a little bit myself, but I am not completely sure what other opinions would be.


So, the state of the 0.1 Alpha model is you can roam everywhere. Go ahead and check out the maps themselves if you would like. The world map is currently the only map with encounters (yes, random... It is because of the 10 event limit that lite puts on you or else I would have had touch encounters). There are different encounters on the world map the further you go (so the first part of the map has weaker monsters compared to further on... past the bridge, hint hint). There is also the first mini-boss type battle, but it is the final thing of the test model currently. Once I get this all balanced, the rest will come quicker cause then I know how to scale it better.


Note for my testers, make sure to explore the camp you start in. Talk to everyone. Go in the cave, interact with the bunks/beds.


Anyways, I will message all current testers with download links. The file is compressed, but unencrypted due to lite limitations. You are alright to go through things if you really need to, but I warn you that the entire thing is a complete mess right now. I have a weird work space that doesn't get cleaned up until the finishing steps, so beware and enter at your own risk.


Next thing... Would testers like to sign up for dropbox? If you do, I will invite you guys to a public folder and we can go from there. What that would do is connect a single folder to all of us so whenever I update something, it comes to you automatically and you dont have to keep downloading things. plus, all you have to do is go to the folder on your computer and test the game right there, no waiting. If this interests you guys, please let me know.


Last but not least, I put together a very temporary website just in case anyone wanted an easier way to track bugs.


http://hpbugtesting.wikidot.com/


If you open that up, you will see it is literally as easy as hitting "Submit new bug" and then typing the problem. The site automatically archives and sorts them out for you and opens each one up for discussion so we can figure out the problem. This site is VERY temporary, in which I mean I am only opening it for this current project. I plan on working on it a lot more in the future and then reopening it in a more appealing form so that members can archive bug tests, but currently it is only for us to use and see how the site works. You do not have to use it and can easily just send reports to me via message, but I wanted to give you the option.


If you guys have any more questions, please feel free to let me know. Also, i am still recruiting, so if you are interested, please let me know soonish.

 

[killerkane567]

Hello! I would love to work on this amazing project(Funny thing,sundays are for my wife too!) I will gladly test on the 18th(today) though...

 

[hyde9318]

Welcome to the group then, lol. I will invite you to the group conversation soon so you can catch up.


Anyways, news time. Things are coming along (my testers know the current state), but I have hit a MAJOR snag.


A friend of mine currently is in jail and is look at twenty years time for something I truly believe he is innocent of. While I do not want to talk about what happened, I can say that the prosecuting attorney is taking things too far in the name of making an example of my friend. SO, he is going to have to go before a judge this week. While I am not involved in the problem, I can't leave him there by himself, so I am going to have to (very regretfully) push the project back just a few days. This is in no way me backing out or even pushing it back a full week. I just want to take a couple days off to give him some company.


I understand this kind of breaks the point of developing the game within two weeks' time, but I feel I need to do this. My apologies to anyone patiently waiting on my progress. However, I feel I am on track enough to still make very good time (I'm no where as good as Indrah on these timed development projects, but I feel I am competent enough to kick some butt once I get back).


So, to my testers, I will give you more info soon as to when we will get back to work. Sorry to everyone again.