Project Excellus v1.02 demo

[TetsuyaHikari]

I'm not entirely sure how many fans we have around here which enjoy games like Wizardry (or first person dungeon RPGs in general), but I've been working on one for the past few months now. Long story short, my HDD bit the dust because of a nasty virus, so I lost a few months of my work, then I bought an external HDD and reluctantly began to pick up where I left off. Now, here I am, lol.

Anyway, let's get started then!

Screenshots:

I've also posted some videos on my Youtube channel if you'd rather see it in action (they're the most recent ones, so they're not hard to find):

https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya

Synopsis:

The world you currently live in, Excellus, is on its third cycle. During each cycle, the world becomes reborn I guess you could say. During this time, "ancient" technology can still be found scattered across the world from during its previous cycle and so on. So, take Earth for example. It's currently 2015.

What would happen if our world became reborn and started over once it reached the year 3000? Later on, the Middle Ages would occur again, but the remnants of our past would remain, so it wouldn't be surprising for someone during the Middle Ages to find a gun, computer, or something else from our time. I guess it's hard to describe, but it explains why there will be modern/sci-fi elements in the game in one way or another, despite it being fantasy based. There is someone who wishes to control this cycle though in order to win a war... The war will continue long after he's gone, so in order to change history, he must prematurely start the next cycle, so it's up to you to decide the fate of the world.

The way I've decided to construct this particular part of the game is through the collection of jewels. Once someone has all of the jewels, the world can be changed through that person's will. However, I'd like to keep the game kind of open-ended in that regard so when that choice is finally to be made, then the player won't simply have a decision forced upon them. While I will be putting restrictions in some aspects of the game, I'll probably only be doing that when it's not related to the story and has to do more with the event running in the background in order to help it run better with the other events, heh.

As I've written it out though, the story has become a little more complicated (but not overly complex) than I had originally planned due to the introduction of outside forces, working towards their own agenda, but ultimately all of them wanting to change the world... For better or worse.

Character development:

Since I am giving the player the freedom to make their own characters, your characters won't be tied into the story much outside of simply being involved in the right place at the right time, basically. Instead, I've decided to focus on support characters and try to write up stories for them as you progress, so maybe that will be interesting to the player.

Features:

- Alchemy system. The Alchemy system was introduced to give me an excuse to include an Alchemist Technomancer as a class. However, despite the Alchemist Technomancer being able to create a multitude of items, please don't feel forced to have one in your party. The game will still be playable without one.

- Despite being in a fantasy setting, there is a gun type weapon for this game. I originally decided against it, but I couldn't figure out what to have the Alchemist Technomancer use as a weapon, so I assigned them a gun. Chalk it up to "ancient" technology and Alchemy as to why they can even use it. There will also be poison bullet, fire bullets, etc. that you can get later on as well. As of now, guns are specifically locked to this class.

- Combo system. When using specific skills/spells, you will be able to activate a combo depending on which skills/spells you have combined. Only two characters can combo though, so please keep this in mind when you see that one skill/spell combos with two other ones.

- Auto/Rush system. I know we all get tired of having to select 'fight' repeatedly during battles, especially when it's against trash that we've been killing for the past hour anyway, heh. With the implementation of the Auto/Rush system, the player will be able to skip the needless command picking and make the battle go faster. When selecting Auto, each player will be controlled automatically and may use skills or spells if they have the TP/MP to spend. When choosing Rush, every character will simply attack without wasting TP or MP.

- Switch system. The game will allow you to have 6 characters in your party at all times, but only 4 will ever be out in battle at any given time. Now, the game is already set up to distribute exp so your reserves get a fraction of it, so don't feel obligated to use the switch feature unless you want to since they will level up (albeit at a slower pace) regardless. When choosing the Switch option from the party menu, you will be allowed to immediately swap out with a reserve member and they will be able to take an action during that turn.

However, if you choose the Switch option in your character menu (when each character chooses their own action such as fight, special, guard, etc.), the character will not be allowed to take an action until the next turn. This is to allow the player to plan ahead and decide how they wish to use the Switch feature. From the party menu, the Switch feature can only be used once per turn while from the character menu, you will be able to switch with each individual character however many times you want... You just won't be granted the immediate action like you would if you used Switch from the party menu, so they both have their ups and downs.

- 160 faces to choose from. Since this is a DRPG, I've decided to remove the sprite aspect from the game altogether since you won't be able to see them anyway. Instead, I spent a few days creating transparent facesets to use for the game. Some of the faces still need some touching up, so I'll go back and work on those when I can, but most of them are presentable, I think.

- Over 10 classes to choose from. On top of the default classes, I've also added Alchemist Technomancer and Ninja. Both of these classes will have a steeper exp curve due to their potential. Ninjas have always been powerful in games like Wizardry and D&D, so I want to make sure the player has to work for it. So, it will take longer to level the Ninja, but once you get over that hump and you've managed to stick with it for a long time, the reward will be worth it.

I've also got a document filled with over 20 classes I could implement to the game, but I'll probably just narrow it down to 20 if I can.

- No treasure chests in dungeons. Due to the nature of the engine, I have been unable to find a way to actually incorporate these into the dungeons since it's in first-person. The graphic I used from VX Ace was very tiny and floating in the air when I tried using it, so I knew this was out of the question, haha. Instead, I've decided to reward players that explore. Since the floors won't actually be that big (maybe 30x30 or so), you will be rewarded with loot when stepping on random tiles. Sometimes it will just be an item sound effect followed by a display message, but maybe other times there might actually be a little backstory before you obtain the item, so please be sure to check every tile of that room, even if the room looks empty!

- Busts for NPCs. A lot of DRPGs use portraits as a staple for NPCs, so I wanted to do the same in my game. While I do like the faces since they show different emotions, I believe the busts are better for this type of presentation and will help with dialogue since they are more lifelike.

- Custom battlers and BGM. While I will be using stuff supplied in the RTP, no doubt, I have also gone out of my way to find over 200 battlers I can use (but I probably won't even get to use all of them, lol) and over 100 new songs for a multitude of scenarios. I believe these artists have made some really great stuff here and I think you'll like it too when you see it or hear it.

- Storage system. If you're a packrat like me, you're probably going to need a place to store all of that stuff you don't know what to do with. Well, thanks to a helpful script, you'll be able to do just that. I'm not entirely sure how many items it can actually hold, but I will say this... I haven't found a limit, heh. However, there isn't actually a storage system in the demo since I have it implemented for use in a town, not inside of a dungeon, so it's not included in this demo. Storage system is in the demo.

- Bestiary system. It's going to be a lot of work, but I've included a bestiary system so you can keep track of all the enemies you encounter. After killing a certain amount, you will unlock new information about them, such as their stats, their weaknesses, so forth and so on. On top of this, their description will also change as you kill more of them.
 

- Appraisal system. The current appraisal system can be accessed through a shop (set up in the church) or out on the field. You can either have a class which has learned the identify skill in your party or find a magnifying glass. Either of these will help you appraise the unknown item. Normally, there would be a service fee, but because I can only restrict this by item and not the shop itself, I've decided to keep it free all around (in other words, if I set the item to cost 200 gold to appraise, it would work for the shop, but it would be pretty silly to have to pay that when you do it yourself on the field, right? I mean... Who are you giving the money to anyway?)

- Quest system. Quests in a DRPG are a little more complicated to manage, but they're doable. I've got the general idea of them anyway, so I'll be including them in my project. Please just don't expect a whole lot of them (there might be 100 or so, I guess, maybe more if they're a bunch of easy ones to write up, lol).

- Trait system. Every now and then, your character will level up and receive a trait (also known as passive). Depending on your class, you will see an increase in the character's Max HP/MP, AGI, ATK, DEF, etc. As you progress, the effect of the passives will begin to increase (maybe 3% early on, but around 10% when level 20? something like that).

- New classes included. Dragoon, Blood Knight, Druid, Technomancer, and Ninja come with the demo.
 

- There may also be additional systems implemented in the future that I haven't thought of yet or there may be changes to the current systems in place. Please bear this in mind when playing the demo.

Credits:

MGC

Nicke

Kread-EX

Trihan

Hime Works

modern algebra

California Macky a.k.a. Neil

Fomar0153

Bigbadke12

De Mack

Galv

Mr. Bubble

Neon Black

V.M of D.T

Jeneeus Guruman

Venka

KilloZapit

CLOSET (also goes by F)
Presence of Music
RMN Music Pack (Jasprelao, Jeremiah "McTricky" George, Jude, Gamesfreak13563, Tarranon, Cornflake, Xcalnarok, Lana42, Kunsel, Subaru, NathanGDay, Snowy Fox, ReclaimedGlory, Apoc, hyde9318 and 800 M.P.H.)

Feedback:

I'm the only person working on this project, so naturally there will be things I've missed (or simply didn't think to try). If you download the demo and find a bug, please feel free to post it in this thread or send me a PM detailing where the bug occurred, what conditions were met (if any), and if it's reproduceable. I've done as much as I can here, so I hope you enjoy what I've got so far. If not, at least try to keep the critique constructive. Telling someone "this sucks" doesn't really help you or me, lol.


EDIT: Just realized the party actually isn't getting the exp reward when completing the last quest (although you may very well already be the max level (5) at that point anyway). I remember turning it off earlier because I got tired of the level up boxes constantly popping up when I was trying to test what came after that part, heh. Anyway, it's not that big of a deal unless you're not level 5 yet and want to see some of combos and skills you get at level 5 (but you'd be better off just grinding a little and testing them on random monsters outside of town instead of trying to experience it all in the last fight of the demo

). Uploading a fix for those that want it though.

Also, even though they are the same size, I'll upload a non-RTP version as well since I guess that's more convenient for some people. I figured the reason why some users preferred demos without RTP data was because of the difference in file size, but if it's more convenient for them this way, I'll give them that option too. Both links should be added in about 40 minutes or so, give or take.

EDIT2: Version fix and non-RTP version added.

EDIT3: Survey link has been added (no popups, don't worry) for those that wish to give their feedback that way as well (it provides some multiple choice questions and allows you to fill in the blanks for what you'd like to see and whatnot)

Download:

Project Excellus v1.02 demo (272M

Project Excellus v1.02 demo (non-RTP) (272M

Project Excellus feedback form

 

[Clangeddin]

When you level up, only get 1HP and 1MP per point rather than 10 and 5 like in character creation. I suspect this eventually destroys balance and progression.

Also, a sort of description for what classes do would be nice. In tutorial there's only the explanation of a few, but for example, the soldier can tank or is he just a melee dpser? I mean, does he get taunts or covers eventually?

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

When you level up, only get 1HP and 1MP per point rather than 10 and 5 like in character creation. I suspect this eventually destroys balance and progression.

Also, a sort of description for what classes do would be nice. In tutorial there's only the explanation of a few, but for example, the soldier can tank or is he just a melee dpser? I mean, does he get taunts or covers eventually?

Right. That's because in the character creation screen, those 10 points are your one time bonus, so they're meant to help you out a little more than the points you get later on. That's all explained in the tutorial.

Even if you don't dump those points into HP/MP though, don't worry. I plan on making the gear have HP/MP bonuses to make up for that. The reason most gear doesn't have those bonuses right now is because I wanted to test it with the HP and MP lower than normal in case the player hadn't updgraded their gear yet, but yeah... The gear should compensate for any HP/MP losses later.

As for the descriptions, I was going under the assumption that most of the users I would be distributing it to on these forums were already familiar with the default classes that come with the software, which is why I only included descriptions for the new classes (although, it's kind of hard to really describe Ninja since everyone pretty much already knows what to expect out of one, especially in a Wizardry-esque game, lol).

 

[Clangeddin]

There is no reason for those stat points to give 10/5/1 on creation and 1/1/1 after. You're artificially creating unbalance between the stats right away? Why should I invest in anything besides HP or MP at creation with these rules in place?

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

There is no reason for those stat points to give 10/5/1 on creation and 1/1/1 after. You're artificially creating unbalance between the stats right away? Why should I invest in anything besides HP or MP at creation with these rules in place?

It's called a "one time bonus" for a reason. The stats you obtain during character creation are to give the player an incentive to even bother creating a character to begin with, but as it's stated in the tutorial... If you choose to wait until later to create your character, then you will forfeit the bonus. Considering the bonus is a one time thing and only gives you an edge at the beginning of the game, it wouldn't really help you later on, when you actually need the better gear to survive attacks, regardless of whether you took the bonus in the beginning or not. This is why the one time bonus is not a necessity, but a, well... Bonus, heh.

Also, with how the level up script is structured, it was either I give the player 5 points and let each point be accountable for +1 or give the player 1 point and have it apply +5 to any stat.

 

[Clangeddin]

The tutorial states that you forfeit the 10 extra points, not that those points give more HP and MP compared to other stats at following levels.

I used them but still got 1 HP and 1 MP per point at level 2.

Besides, do you really believe that 1 HP = 1 MP = 1 other stat is balanced? No one's gonna spend on HP or MP from level 2 onwards with this system. May as well take them away from bonus selection.

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

The tutorial states that you forfeit the 10 extra points, not that those points give more HP and MP compared to other stats at following levels.

I used them but still got 1 HP and 1 MP per point at level 2.

Besides, do you really believe that 1 HP = 1 MP = 1 other stat is balanced? No one's gonna spend on HP or MP from level 2 onwards with this system. May as well take them away from bonus selection.

It also states it's a bonus, like I said, lol. Hell, the screen itself even tells you it's a bonus.

Since HP and MP are being handled differently in the game right now (as I mentioned in a previous post), it would have been incredibly unbalanced to allow them to get +5 for each point they put into a stat, which is why it's only applied to HP and MP. I didn't feel comfortable leaving HP at giving +5, so I bumped it up to +10. After all, you can have 100+ additional MP, but it won't mean anything if you're dead. Besides, this might be the time when you want to invest in HP if your class is a squishy mage anyway since most RPGs contain gear which increase the MP of magic users anyway, giving them a nice little boost along with increasing their magic attack power.

When you level up, if you notice, the stat screen doesn't say 'bonus' any more, does it? No. It simply reads 'points'. I had originally planned on having the player obtain only 1 point per level and keeping everything on the low end, including enemies, but I felt it would be better if they got 5 points each level. At least then they could see a noticeable difference between levels (unless they try to be a jack-of-all-trades and put 1 point into 5 different stats, then they really have no business complaining about dying since they've screwed over their build anyway). Trust me, the game runs a bit different if you have a Blood Knight in your party and you're constantly dumping their stat points into ATK, so there's obviously a difference being made, but it's really up to the player how to make that difference.

As it stands though, this is the Prologue, so it's doubtful you'll die anyway, even if you don't buy new gear. The bonus, stat allocation, all of that is kind of a moot point right now and will only matter when the enemies actually become more threatening. Also, very rarely do you ever see stat distribution that early in the game make much of a difference anyway, so I'm still not entirely sure why you feel as though the bonus (which didn't even have to be included to begin with, but was provided as an option to give players a helping hand) is going to make or break the game when the game hasn't even really begun.

One of two things will end up happening here when you level up though.

A: You will distribute your points into your stats to boost that class' strengths even more (see: Ninja's AGI).

or

B: You will be comfortable with where most of your stats are at the moment and use a level to put 5 points into HP or MP.

Remember, I said there would be gear that will increase your MP and HP. If you've got 155 MP and your next piece of gear gives you an additional 20 MP, that will bump you up to 175. Guess what. You're 5 points away from casting another heal/refresh/etc. all because you thought 5 points wouldn't be worth the investment. If there's one thing I've learned from DRPGs, it's that even the smallest bit can help you, especially in times of need.

I can't tell you how many times I've been saved by having 5-10 MP or HP. If this was pretty much any other type of RPG though, I would have been agreeing with you since the beginning, but that's just not how this genre operates (well, some of them are actually a little more forgiving in that regard, but not most).

 

[Clangeddin]

You could call them Icecream Points for all I care, it's not the bonus word the point here. Scenario B is not gonna happen, because 5 HP is nothing, the first monster was throwing fireballs for over 100, that's 20 levels worth of HP investment from the first monster I met in the game (the ghost). Getting 5 Magic Defense or Defense would always be more beneficial, all the way up to 999 (then there would be also offensive stats and agility, but by that time I suspect the game would be over already). Unless you would strat throwing defense bypassing maneuvers, but you would have to make this gimmick rather frequent, and it may lead to the opposite scenario where Magic Defense or Defense are completely useless, and anyway investing on offensive attributes may end up being still more beneficial. Especially if gear is intended to cover part of the HP/MP progression.

About the difference between the initial bonus and the level points, I'll tell you why it's wrong with a simple example:

1) Scenario 1. You spend the 10 points on HP and then get to level 3 spending all points in defense. You end up with +100 HP and +10 Defense.

2) Scenario 2. You spend the 10 points on defense and then get to level 3 spending all points in HP. You end up with +10 HP and +10 Defense.

A flat net loss just because you took the second stat choice order. The same stats in a different order. This is effectively taking the choice out of a player's hands (unless he wanted to penalize himself, but he could do that anyway by just skipping the bonus or not distributing points even if the two paths were equivalent). Moreover, when someone knows that they won't get that benefit from investing in HP anymore, they'll be even more incentivated to invest ALL in HP/MP and leaving the other stats. After all, for other stats, the bonus points are the equivalent of two levels. For MP they're the equivalent of 10 levels and for HP the equivalent of 20 levels.

You either remove HP/MP choice from stat on both bonus and levelup entirely and let that be dealt by gear and/or fixed class progression, or you keep the ratios consistent (and balanced, 1/1/1 is not no matter how much you try to sugar coat it, not here where you start with 300+ HP and monsters hit for 100 right off the bat, Now if you started the game with around 20 HP and 20 MP, monsters started hitting for 4-5 and spells costed 4-5 MP yeah that would be make more sense) throughout the game.

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

You could call them Icecream Points for all I care, it's not the bonus word the point here. Scenario B is not gonna happen, because 5 HP is nothing, the first monster was throwing fireballs for over 100, that's 20 levels worth of HP investment from the first monster I met in the game (the ghost). Getting 5 Magic Defense or Defense would always be more beneficial, all the way up to 999 (then there would be also offensive stats and agility, but by that time I suspect the game would be over already). Unless you would strat throwing defense bypassing maneuvers, but you would have to make this gimmick rather frequent, and it may lead to the opposite scenario where Magic Defense or Defense are completely useless, and anyway investing on offensive attributes may end up being still more beneficial. Especially if gear is intended to cover part of the HP/MP progression.

Well, for starters... That's the only boss in the first floor, so it's not like the entire floor is literred with those enemies (but they could be later, after you've obtained better gear with HP bonuses). Even without putting any bonus points into HP, the first boss shouldn't be killing you, even dealing over 100 points of damage (they're really not a threat, honestly). I mean, if you didn't have a healer in your party, things might get a little hectic towards the end, but I doubt it, honestly. You'll kill her before she kills you, lol.

So, yes, while you are right that 100 damage is 20 levels worth of HP investment, you're forgetting something. You don't know how much HP your gear will be giving you later. You may be getting body pieces with +200. You don't know and frankly, neither do I yet since I'm still collecting feedback at the moment to see if people are comfortable with how much damage the monsters are doing or if they want it increased, decreased, or what. As it stands though, you'll get gear which will make up for the lack of HP and stuff later on and increase your DEF/MDEF accordingly (hell, even accessories could remedy your concern with DEF/MDEF if you're that worried about the additional HP not being enough to keep you alive).

About the difference between the initial bonus and the level points, I'll tell you why it's wrong with a simple example:

1) Scenario 1. You spend the 10 points on HP and then get to level 3 spending all points in defense. You end up with +100 HP and +10 Defense.

2) Scenario 2. You spend the 10 points on defense and then get to level 3 spending all points in HP. You end up with +10 HP and +10 Defense.

And I'll tell you right now, you'd be fine doing that. If there's something in that demo that can kill you with a DEF that high at the beginning (since you'll be reaching 30 or will have already passed it by that point, depending on your class), then show me where it is, lol. I've run all of these battles with multiple setups and even my Druid with less than 25 DEF didn't drop the whole time (she does have a heal, so that helps, but if you're not running with a support class, you might have bigger problems, heh). Will that choice become a problem later on? Again, no, because your gear will give you the HP boost you missed earlier and/or the additional defense you didn't dump your points into.

I've got that covered, don't worry, lol.

A flat net loss just because you took the second stat choice order. The same stats in a different order. This is effectively taking the choice out of a player's hands (unless he wanted to penalize himself, but he could do that anyway by just skipping the bonus or not distributing points even if the two paths were equivalent). Moreover, when someone knows that they won't get that benefit from investing in HP anymore, they'll be even more incentivated to invest ALL in HP/MP and leaving the other stats. After all, for other stats, the bonus points are the equivalent of two levels. For MP they're the equivalent of 10 levels and for HP the equivalent of 20 levels.

This is a one time thing, so if they miss out on it one way or another, again... It will not hurt them. They can say "Oh, well this isn't fair." when they level and see they don't get as much HP/MP now, but they will realize later on why it was done that way when they get a piece of gear with +150 or more HP on it to make up for that. From that point on, they will go under the assumption that future gear will also have a HP/MP boost, so they can focus on the other stats now. I've accounted that loss, which is what I've been trying to tell you since the beginning, lol. I'm well aware of how unbalanced it seems right now, but you don't know what I know when it comes to what I have planned for my project, so that's why I've been trying to explain to you how this works.

Why do you think the Blood Knight's gear has a +100 increase on the body and +20 on the helmet already? It's because they use their HP, instead of TP, to activate skills and that's exactly why they get the HP bonus on their gear before any other class (Blood Knight is the only class with class-specific gear at the moment). I didn't include such a thing for the other classes in the demo because they just simply don't need it yet. Trust me, if HP was truly a problem for the content in the demo, I would have done things differently, but if I can go through the demo with multiple party setups and barely see my members drop below 100, I don't see any reason why other players can't get through it without a problem.

You either remove HP/MP choice from stat on both bonus and levelup entirely and let that be dealt by gear and/or fixed class progression, or you keep the ratios consistent (and balanced, 1/1/1 is not no matter how much you try to sugar coat it, not here where you start with 300+ HP and monsters hit for 100 right off the bat, Now if you started the game with around 20 HP and 20 MP, monsters started hitting for 4-5 and spells costed 4-5 MP yeah that would be make more sense) throughout the game.

Okay, first off... Your base HP has no impact on how much HP you'll be getting in the game. Not all games have a growth system like that. Hell, in older Wizardry games, you might get lucky to obtain +8 on a level up or +15 on a Fighter, but most of your members (especially magic users and thieves) usually only got around 5 or 7. They take a similar approach in SRPGs as well, like Fire Emblem, Dragon Force, etc. when your HP raises by like 1, maybe 2 per level, depending on your luck. Just because your party members start out with 300+ HP doesn't mean you should be getting 20 or 50 HP per level. Now you're just wanting to play a numbers game here, lol.

If it makes you feel a little better though, this is also why I included the trait system (oh yeah, I need to actually include this in my first post too). Some classes will receive a Max HP+ trait when they level (this will increase to ++ and so on as they level). As of right now, it gives them a 3% increase to their max HP (which can mean a 20 point jump, depending on the class). Other classes will see traits which increase their MP, AGI, DEF, ATK, MDEF, etc. I'm not particularly pleased with the way the HP is set up right now, because it does feel kind of low, but that's why I have taken precautions and certain measures to ensure that despite having a low amount of HP, you shouldn't have difficulty defeating the monsters in this demo, including bosses.

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

Replaced links with v1.01c release.

v1.01c patch notes

- Bug fixed which allowed players to receive free heals outside of battle

- Bug fixed which didn't transfer TP to MP after using the Recall skill during the Revelation of Wolf

EDIT:

Version has been updated to 1.02 as of tonight due to fixing a bug involving an exploit of stat points during the character creation process.

 

[hiromu656]

I gotta say, the "tutorial" has to go. It was just a barrage of text and I skipped just about all of it. Honestly, I did not play much of the game at all, I'm mostly interested in the concept really. It just isn't too interesting right now and I feel like you throw way to many mechanics and technical stuff at me right away. I followed the topic and all that, I'm really into Dungeon Crawlers, so I'm very interested in where the game goes from here. Just right now It's not really grabbing me. Best of luck, hope to see the game keep growing.

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

I gotta say, the "tutorial" has to go. It was just a barrage of text and I skipped just about all of it. Honestly, I did not play much of the game at all, I'm mostly interested in the concept really. It just isn't too interesting right now and I feel like you throw way to many mechanics and technical stuff at me right away. I followed the topic and all that, I'm really into Dungeon Crawlers, so I'm very interested in where the game goes from here. Just right now It's not really grabbing me. Best of luck, hope to see the game keep growing.

Well, it's a DRPG... Of course the tutorial is going to be a barrage of text, lol. I mean, I could change it to where the first battle introduces you to what Auto and Rush does, but this is also why you're allowed to skip the tutorial if you're the type of person that prefers to just jump right in and learn along the way. I could have just forced the tutorial to play without a skip function, heh.

Secondly, the mechanics and technical stuff is pretty standard these days anyway, honestly. It's more or less actually just there to inform you what technical stuff is in the game. A lot of DRPGs these days include a combo system/team attack, Auto/Rush command, and multiple classes (which, by the way, they don't bother explaining to you, but I've actually included descriptions for the new classes added to the game, aside from Ninja since everybody and their mom knows exactly what a Ninja is, especially those familiar with DRPGs, so it's kind of silly describing that class). Still, thanks for the luck and whatnot. I could use some more of that.

 

[hiromu656]

The skip function really only serves someone who has played your game before. I want to go through a tutorial, but an actual one, not a wall of text. Although such a thing occurs in some DRPGs, that doesn't make it a staple, nor does it make it any more useful/engaging for the player. Also, it's not that the mechanics in the game go over my head or something, just the pace that everything is thrown at you felt lazily done. You get a backstory, then straight into a really long explanation of the mechanics and classes, followed by editing characters and buying weapons, all while in the middle of a dungeon. It just feels a bit lifeless overall at the moment, so I don't have much motivation to play for too long.

Still, I haven't played very much of the game (~20 minutes actually), so I'm really only critiquing based on my very first impressions. I'm sure there's much more to see later on, but since I'm not there yet, I'm focusing on what I've played through. 

 

[TetsuyaHikari]

The skip function really only serves someone who has played your game before. I want to go through a tutorial, but an actual one, not a wall of text. Although such a thing occurs in some DRPGs, that doesn't make it a staple, nor does it make it any more useful/engaging for the player. Also, it's not that the mechanics in the game go over my head or something, just the pace that everything is thrown at you felt lazily done. You get a backstory, then straight into a really long explanation of the mechanics and classes, followed by editing characters and buying weapons, all while in the middle of a dungeon. It just feels a bit lifeless overall at the moment, so I don't have much motivation to play for too long.

Still, I haven't played very much of the game (~20 minutes actually), so I'm really only critiquing based on my very first impressions. I'm sure there's much more to see later on, but since I'm not there yet, I'm focusing on what I've played through. 

Considering the assets being used in this game, there's not really a whole lot that can be done about the presentation. If you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears, but because this isn't a third person RPG, it limits my options to what can be shown here. Also, the game is going under the assumption that your party has been travelling together (hence being put into the middle of a dungeon). There's really not much else I can do about the tutorial and it should be displayed as soon as possible.

As for the shop... That was the last thing implemented to that event for one reason. Since I have no idea what class people are going to pick for their characters, there wasn't any way to determine what gear to distribute. At first, I just had the player pick up multiples of weapons, armor, etc., but I did away with that because I realized they could get a lot of gold by selling the ones they aren't using in town. That brings me to my second point. If I started out with the players equipped with something, they'd just change classes and sell the equipment they were previously wearing anyway, so again... They'd be making gold pretty easily.

That's why I created the training gear to be supplied to the player early on. The base stats are a little lower than its counterpart, but it's enough to help you get started. Yes, it may be "lazily" slapped in, but it was either putting it there or having your characters not have any equipment at all (or have them take advantage of getting gold easily early on). So, you'll have to excuse me for not creating elaborate demonstrations or instructional videos for you to watch for the tutorial, but you're honestly the first person to even complain about the text so far.

I really don't see it as that big of a deal though. You get it right at the beginning of the game, it might take you a total of 5 minutes to read through to understand the mechanics, different class types, etc. and you never have to deal with it again. At worst, it might be a minor annoyance, but even that's kind of pushing it and this is coming from someone who has tested that particular scene, and read over the tutorial, well over a hundred times at this point. If I can stomach it for a few minutes, so can you, lol. Again though, DRPGs generally don't go out of their way to give you an in-depth tutorial though, so I'm still not entirely sure what you're expecting here.