Silver Town (Final Version)

[Bonkers]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Town will be a non commercial game.  It started as an adaptation of a home brew Dungeons and Dragons campaign using RPG Maker VX/Ace, and quickly grew into it's own story.

 

Genre: RPG, Fantasy, Comedic, Parody

 

 



 

This save is for people with XP machines who wish to continue past the Liche Fight, or if you want to resume from where the last demo left off due to old saves no longer functioning with the changes to skills: http://goo.gl/LZTewY

 

 

New Mechanics and changes to skills have been made.  The Game should be playable to it's conclusion.

 

 

The game is presented in a similar fashion to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.  Since buying RPG maker in March of 2013, I have spent this opportunity to try and translate the enjoyment and experience into a game for others to play.

 

The mining town was originally a resource gathering expedition for the Empire that spawned it.  

Unrest grew as the primary source of labor on the newly discovered continent, beast men, were exploited exclusively to labor in the mines.  People in service of the Empire their entire lives found little comfort in  hard work as harsh taxes and the rising cost of protection from their father land.  The army withdrew to pursue more lucrative locations leaving the fledgling town to fend for itself.  Still the Empire demanded it's taxes from the colonists.

 

During the time it took to establish a foothold for the colony the people rebelled. The rebellion was lead by Nidale a cleric of St. Cuthburt, Jura the right hand of the Emperor, and Heathcliff a beast man.  The betrayal of the Empire and their fellows was swift and merciless.  In the battle of Pax Anthor, the fort in which the Emperor's seat of power in the new continent had laid; the three rebel leaders decimated an entire battalion.  Even the Empire's prized weapon and servant the Demon King was vanquished, and sealed.  

 

After their miraculous victory over the Empire and it's demonic servant Nidale took over control of the mining town.  The resource operation restarted and the people made their own livelihoods in the shadow of the ruined fort.  The colony was renamed, and the Silver Kingdom was born. 

 

Nidale still refused to give the beast men the rights she had promised Heathcliff and made them exclusive labor to the mines to rush production.  Broken and spent from the battle Heathcliff succumbed to the plague. 

 

Twenty years later the mines have become corrupted by an unknown influence.  Ore and precious metals drawn from the mine are unable to be processed, and monsters flood the tunnels.  After all Nidale's options are exhausted she contacts Emmet, Heathcliff's son, in hopes of putting an end to the crisis.  Emmet responds to her request with less zeal than expected and is soon geased into serving her.  (Gease is a spell in DnD which forces someone to obey the will of the caster or suffer/die).

 

Unable to refuse Emmet goes into a very unwelcoming town in hopes of finding someone, anyone to help him.  

He will first need a cleric, a holy symbol, and a ritual to purify the mines.

 

You play the part of Emmet, and you will try to retrieve the special materials needed to save the town.



 

 

 

 

Emmet Lightmane

Spoiler

A beast man who lost his father to the plague.  He works as a woodcutter outside of the mining town, and generally avoids the townsfolk.  His distaste for the mines is due to his father's disgust for the use of impractical labor and the treatment of his fellows.  He is summoned into town and forced to work for Nidale after witnessing her bullying Lord Jura, guild master of the town's magi.  Emmet soon discovers the origins of his father are much more sinister than he could hope to realize, and that he may be a pawn in an elaborate plan for power.

 

Lord Jura (NPC)

Previously the Empire's most powerful magi, he is an elven necromancer who betrayed his station at the Emperor's side.  Now he runs the mage guild in Silver Town, with little more than a handful of initiates.  He does not cast necromancy spells for fear of being labeled as evil.  

 

Shade

Spoiler

An eccentric human woman born with the gift of magic.  Growing up in such a small country town has put her on edge and she is eager to begin her adventures.  Her Master Lord Jura has forbidden her from going to the mines and purging them.  She is an evocationist who specializes in utilitarians spells.  Shade rejects the rod and staff as too boring for a mage, and prefers books and orbs for her focuses.

 

 

 

Willard

Spoiler

A Human Cleric of Pelor who is not accepted by his fellows.  His weapon is the staff, which is incredibly versatile.  Staves add spells to a caster's list and function off of a charge system. When all charges from a staff are expended they become normal wooden non magical staves. As a cleric of the sun he has the unique skill to turn undead creatures when he is equipped with a holy symbol.  His spell list is directly affected by his faith, and reflects the flavor of his character.

  

 

 

Wolfe

Spoiler

A scared beast man who took to the streets after the mines closed in an attempt to rob the people of town.  His skills with explosives and lock picking make him a very able rogue. In close combat he is proficient with daggers and is the quintessential thief.

 



 

 

Clareain_Christopher drew Emmet =)

 

Makio-Kuta drew Willard =)

_elvenheart drew Emmet!



NPC drew Shade!

Nio Drew Emmet!

Bruka drew Shade!

Thank you to all of them for such a wonderful and kind gesture.



 

Tile sets 

Celianna 

Lunerea 

Panda Maru 

Enterbrain

Indhra 

Tokkuri

Liberity/KSI

Rainbow Sponge 

Yan's Roof Editor

Mack

Kingdom Rise and Fall So-ichi

Soruve

 

Icons:  Avy - Sundisc of Pelor

Check out her resource thread!



 

 

Sprites and Battlers:

 

Kingdom Rise and Fall 'So-ichi' aka 'Ichi that so' on First Seed

Kyrie - Rival Swordsman

Willard - Suspicious Archaeologist

Bartender - Dark Haired Man

Dark Rider - Horseman

Fairies - Various

Golem - Hulking Brute

Griffins - Bird People

Blackxwolfe - Arrow Pointers

 

Yomato - Bloody downed sprites

 

Kazzador

 

Lukinobu

Mushroom People

 

Therapie

Cowboys

 

PinedaVX

Assorted Final Fantasy Cast

 

First Seed/Magical Girl Project

Heathcliff - Redone Shogun with Eyepatch

Valmi

 

Scripts:

Dekita: Splash Screen for non repeating Logo

Yanfly's Shop, Name tag scripts, Event Window GAB, and Settings

Custom Libra, UDC, and Teleport Scripts by Mundy (Available for your games as well)

Custom Libra Script that exemplifies Shade and her personality as one of her unique spells by Mundy (Availible for your games as well)

Auto Battle Removed by Request of Players

Tsukihime Tag Manager (Provides Libra with tags and Turn Undead with an effect)

Journal Version 1.2 Author: Matt (McDohl) (Used for tracking quest objectives and Lore entries)

 

 

 

Music: All music listed is for free use with non commercial works.

Scythuz - Imperial Battle Theme

http://bc1281.wix.com/scythuz-music-web-1

From the Roots, by DaveyBrightRPG




Light in the Darkness Composer AshleyAley

Rose Midnight/Twilight  Composer: Nemesis Theory

Various Sound Effects Composer: Fins

The Human  Composer: Veneox  Lead Vocals: Jessismith

Chapel  Composer: ac371

Chase the Wind Composer: Jade-the-X9ian

World Elves Left Behind  Author: Setu-Firestorm Composer: George R. Powell

Never Gonna Give You Up! Remix: Author HalcyonicFalconX Composer: Rick Ashely

Chromatic Ride Composer hermes2507

Augmented Unatco Author: VideoGameManiac

Unseeing Composer:Skcy3 with FL studio 3 pianos 1 violin 1 cello and drums

Battle of the Brave Composer: Mattashi

CKiller Composer JacketFunk

Improvisations 1 through 5 Author: Tamel

Epic Boss Author: OctoEntandre

Depressed Treatment Author: stackz989

Falling Angels Author: MichaelJ

The Raining cave Author: DanJohnsansen



 

Playtesters: 

Devil_5

Katterly

Mundywoof

Sasuga



 

 

 

 

• Evolving main character with multiple sprites!  Watch Emmet grow with the story.
• New! Universal Damage\Healing Calculator with Colored Type for all skills
• 
• 

 Custom Stained Glass windows with Divine Light Overlay tiles

Spoiler

•  
• Classic DnD Items and charge system for magical items done with common events.
• Breaking the fourth wall, relax it's a game.
• FREE 3-4 hours of game play of a stand alone story
• The completed game will be non-encrypted.  If you choose to play this game I want it to be like Crysalis so you can take everything you can from it.  My experience, enjoyment, and anything you find of value.
• A working lighthouse with a world map event graphic that shows a moving light beam, (once it is activated in the plot).

Spoiler

 

• Spiral Staircases and various other unique resources.  
  

Spoiler

 

 

• Efficient use of eventing with NPCs, bookcases, and normal mundane items which allow the characters to be more direct to the player and show personality. (Example: a Bookcase which functions off of a variable and contains multiple books that can be cycled or randomized to show a wide breath of information rather than fit the trope of one book per bookcase. Another Example: NPCs that behave dynamically with the plot and decisions.)
• Pleasant puzzles which do not detract or grind the game to a halt. All the puzzles will be alterable and available to you the player for your own non commercial games.
• Custom anthropomorphic portraits which are available for your own non-commercial productions.  There was a severe lack of them wherever I looked, and I'd like to fill that void for the existing sprites on the readily available lists.  Example:  Emmet's completed Emo sheet

Spoiler

​

• Concept Work:  Demon King's Portrait  Example:

Spoiler

• A small, and simple world that doesn't impose anything on the player.  No big unpronounceable names, no outlandish intolerable dialogue, and no getting hopelessly frustrated with the plot.

 

We want to provide a simple and fun game.

 

Here is a simple banner you can copy and paste: 



 

Supporter Badge:  For your signature in support of Silver Town.

These graphics act as links to the OP.  You can highlight it "copy" and "paste" it anywhere and it will still function.

 

[Dalph]

Very promising stuff, I like it, overall it has some serious potential.

It's hard for me to see Kyrie as a female, since Indrah used that faceset for her character Owen...lol

But why don't you take a look at the mapping tutorials of this site?

They are very useful, so you can do the maps by yourself, I suggest you to do that.

 

[Bonkers]

Very promising stuff, I like it, overall it has some serious potential.

It's hard for me to see Kyrie as a female, since Indrah used that faceset for her character Owen...lol

But why don't you take a look at the mapping tutorials of this site?

They are very useful, so you can do the maps by yourself, I suggest you to do that.

Thank you, and I took a look at that project of Indrah's to see what you meant.  I wasn't expecting that.

I have started going over mapping tutorials like you suggested and I am starting to get bolder with my work.  It will take some time for all the lessons to kick in though.

Update: I've been away on both forums reviewing a variety of games hoping to network a bit, get to know developers and try to gauge people's expectations of what a game is suppose to offer.  I've gone back and added in people's portraits.  NPCS will have their portraits added to the introductory post next. Also I will be updating the title screen (Hopefully) in time for the first alpha build.  I may delay the release of the demo due to time constants for artwork.

 

So far it seems parallax mapping will be a necessity and my maps will all have to be redone.  I am currently converting over all the mp3s into ogg to  guarantee the smallest file size for download I can and expand my audience as much as possible.  This will include a graphics purge as well as a through cleaning of the database.

 

In the mean time I will be releasing a bare bones demo after the new year to display a portion of the game and the story I hope to tell.  The title screen is currently in the works and I have some sprites and screen shots for you in the mean time.

 

Here is Shade with her archmage robes, and some iounstones.  The sprite base was taken from first seed, frakensprited, and recolored.  Alpha testers liked these two pallets best.  Also a quick peak into Shade's Libra commentary

which is the "scan" spell of the game.  This is a custom script.  Here is the template for standard red iounstones if you like them.

 

Some screen shots of the resources I am using.  I needed to make individual burnt and soiled rugs, glowing mushroom events, shelf fungus, and some debris from the RTP and edit them accordingly onto a separate tile set to make them more appealing and the maps less empty.  In converting the maps over the parallax I hope to solve that problem of making everything so spacious without any substance for the player to look at or investigate.  This will show how weak my mapping skills are and what needs to be improved:

 

 

As you can see the maps still look empty.  This is being addressed ASAP.  I will begin parallaxing maps as early as mid January.

 

I've done subtle edits with loose stones and adding moss and plant life to give the lighthouse a much more aged and dilapidated feeling.  The lighthouse will be the first dungeon and the thing most play testers will see so I made sure to spend most of my time on that and it's effect in the world.  World map as well as the exterior map will have lit graphics to reflect when it is active.

 

I'm learning the very basics of clutter and how to introduce more varied elements into the map now.


 

Falling Rock Event

 

Glowing Mushrooms

 

Boss Battlers and sprites in progress.  These are originals made from scratch.

Spoiler

 

Emmet as the Avatar, and Bruin the Mercenary both fraken sprited.

 

Minotaur Blacksmith complete with sprite sheet for work.  This is linked in a CE, a regular parallel event, and finally a normal quest receiving and interactive event that will return to the previous two when the player starts to leave the building.  He reacts to movement too and away from him.  When he is working and sees you he will stop and go over to you if he isn't directly working molten metal.  Here is his concept artwork as well with a WIP shot of his emotions sheet.

 

Here's Bruin's in progress Emo Sheet as well as his concept art.

Here is an in progress Bromide of Emmet.

 

The raw title screen requires more work and is unavailable at this time.  It will feature Emmet, Willard, and Shade.  I am considering how to do a properly illustrated introduction and it will not be ready for the demo's release.

 

The Demo will be released 1/1/14

The demo that will be coming is going to be about 6 hours of content.  To respect your time and my own I've included several time saving events that will make play testing easier on you and allow you to enjoy content without grinding if you choose you don't want to slug your way through things.

 

A 'level orb' that will adjust the level of the party increasing and even decreasing by a 2 digit number at your discretion.  I realize this can be abused and will not be for final build.  I wanted it as a means to keep you from wasting time grinding.

 

'Chicken Ring' and 'Way of the Coward' are two artifacts that will stop or reduce the number of random encounters respectively when worn.  This is done to make sure if you encounter a rate that is too high for your tastes you aren't forced to endure anything that would impede on seeing as much content as possible.

 

Experience Gems and Shards will be scattered throughout the final build of the game as used as rewards from puzzles to entice players into solving nonessential materials as a means to counteract grinding.  If you decide you wanna commit the time to solve a puzzle, your playtime doesn't suffer as you can make up the same amount of time fighting monsters through consumable items for your efforts.

 

The message board's introductory quest may not be finished in time for the demo, and is considered low priority.

 

2 optional quests, one for each of the optional characters will be featured.  To avoid wasting your time I have included a play tester aiding event at the Pax Anthor quest line that will allow both optional characters to join your party to enforce speed testing.

 

A play tester aid is in place for Kendra should her spell list not load correctly or her graphic be the unintended sprite.

 

Optional content for Emmet's story has been added and I am reflecting it in the journal.

 

This is key: At no point should you be lost in the story or not know where to go or what to do.  If the journal doesn't update or an arrow mechanic/bubble no spawn please let me know.  The ease at which you experience content is very important to me and the primary focus of the first alpha build.

 

(Chapter 2 content is in placeholder mode only.  This means if you complete the first 6 hours of content and wish for another 2, you may do so at the acceptance that your time will not be used to the most efficient of means.  Shade's chapter needs a crucial mechanic to hot key or allow her scrolls of power to function without constantly going back into the inventory.  Alpha testers were very specific with this issue, and I do not wish to cause any unneeded frustration.

 

The Towers of Evil are currently being redone.  Taking Shade's quest will mean a lot of broken events and spells.  Please explore at your discretion.  All other content should be functional to a degree in Chapter 2.  Shade's content ends when you talk to Lord Ursus Longmane.  The battle is awaiting custom sprites and a variety of surprises.

 

If you wish to have a non encrypted version of the demo, I can private message you.  There should be no reason to alter any events at this time, but if you wish to take a closer look into the game and the event structure I will be happy to accommodate you.  This is done at my judgement, as only the final build will be publicly available un-encrypted as a learning tool.  I do not wish to confuse people with broken or sub-par results from an alpha).

 

I work 56 hours a week and help care for my father with pancreatic cancer so there are some back and forth errands.  I am trying very hard to get to know you all and enjoy your community.  Thank you for making me feel welcome and most of all for your interest in the game.

 

Learning Parallax will take some time, but I will keep this thread updated.  Since I am a better event-er\sprinter, and my partner is a better resource maker/script-er mapping is something we both need to learn from the very basics.

 

[Arkecia]

I saw your project in your sig and wanted to check it out since I noticed the non-human main character.

And in agreement with Dalph that you should learn to do the maps yourself, mainly because it's one of the many skills an RMer will want to master. Good mapping takes a lot of work, and parallaxing even more-so; depending on the graphics used it can take up quite a pit of project space too.  I tried parallax mapping mainly to see if I could do it; attention to detail raises by quite a bit, but I always had to be conscious of the grid constraints and make sure the player could navigate. (Even though these were just test maps lol)

You're definitely on the right track by making moving event decorations though! I think more people should do that to add life to their game, assuming there's no lag in place.

I can definitely see the DnD in the game, and would love to see how it is translated while supplying an interesting story; I love tales of oppression, so when you do have a demo planned I'll gladly play it!

 

[Bonkers]

I saw your project in your sig and wanted to check it out since I noticed the non-human main character.

And in agreement with Dalph that you should learn to do the maps yourself, mainly because it's one of the many skills an RMer will want to master. Good mapping takes a lot of work, and parallaxing even more-so; depending on the graphics used it can take up quite a pit of project space too.  I tried parallax mapping mainly to see if I could do it; attention to detail raises by quite a bit, but I always had to be conscious of the grid constraints and make sure the player could navigate. (Even though these were just test maps lol)

You're definitely on the right track by making moving event decorations though! I think more people should do that to add life to their game, assuming there's no lag in place.

I can definitely see the DnD in the game, and would love to see how it is translated while supplying an interesting story; I love tales of oppression, so when you do have a demo planned I'll gladly play it!

Thank you!  That means a lot to hear your support.  I'll get the code for a support bar ready for people if they choose to advertise the project.

Update: 

Things have been busy.  I apologize for the lack of work as I was asked to be at overtime for the 4th week in a row.  When at work I cannot design custom resources and art for the game, only test and design existing content.  My laptop cannot host tile set redesigns or construction till I purchase a new one during the coming sales.

 

More graphics were recolored to host a simple variable and trigger based puzzle.  This particular one is only for a single chest so it won't be too difficult, it's similar to a level puzzle with a small twist; you gain pressure for each level pulled which contributes to a solution.

 

Custom SEs were added for various features.  A "puzzle solved" sound "Journal Updated" tone, and "Main Quest" update tone were added.  Some sounds and songs were lowered in volume since 100-80% seems to high for them. This can be adjusted later if the new build isn't to snuff with all the alerts given.  All alerts are visual as well as auditory.  

 

New musical score have been added and the first post credits will reflect that shortly.  

 

I have eliminated all RTP music and compressed 180 megs of audio files into less than 40 megs of space.  This means the current build will be under 90 compressed and 98 megs extracted.  So under 50% of the files included will be music hopefully taking away some strain from the download.  I really hope to have a build out at the beginning of the month when people's overhead is reset.

 

A sound based puzzle is being designed since that seems to be a popular request.  Resources are being gathered to accommodate this small project.

 

Wolfe currently has no emo portrait aside from his "Dummy" default mood.  This is considered a low priority.

 

To accommodate the amount of free time people have I will attempt to release the demo on New Year's Eve.  This will mean the custom made intro will not be available this build.  I will still push to have at least a placeholder title instituted.

 

*Something I am very excited about.  When you play DnD at the table or an MMO online what is the first thing you experience being in a party when you kill a boss or open a chest? Loot.  And when you have loot that hosts a world of different classes people are always on the lookout for upgrades.  Silver Town is no different.

 

A special protocol named "Dibs" in CE was added and so far features random commentary from the first 3 main characters Shade, Emmet, and Willard. Here is how it works:

 

A chest contains a magic staff.  Willard is the only person in the party who can equip a staff.  When the chest is open the normal message is given.  In addition, a parallel event on the map is calling the CE Protocol "Dibs".  Attached to the chest is a variable which states this item is usable by Willard with his actor ID.

 

The CE then select's Willard's snappy saying from a list and rolls a random variable.  This variable is then selected and a message is produced along with a wait of 10th of a second and resetting the actor variable to ensure no duplicate messages are made to the player to create confusion.

 

I found this an enjoyable idea and I hope you will too.  Here are some screen shots in action along with a look at the protocol's guts:

 

*Something else I am happy to share:  "Healing" Protocol. 

When you have a healing spell you usually have to have your judgement about you since the messages only say "Heals a small, moderate, or large amount."  A parallel process is working, without slowing down the game's functions; to do the math for you based off the actor's stats and the skill formula for the direct healing spells.

 

So when you use "Cure light Wounds" the game will show you the average amount it can heal including any variance included.  This is shared through a variable for each skill used in "Healing", and then routed to your tool tips for those skills.

 

Here is a look at the protocol in action on the menu screen (it also functions in battle) and a shot of it's guts:

 

 

Ring of Protection types I through IV were added to the database.  So far the demo has Type I and II available as I doubt you will need much more.

 

Several cut scenes were added and improved upon to give the existing content a more flowing feel.  This includes the first fragment boss, the undead nexus boss and the lighthouse boss all available in the demo.

 

Without grinding and using the level orb and chicken ring/coward's way artifacts the demo should be about 3 hours at my last run through.

 

Journal Entries and Main Quest updates are being reworked to create less confusion.  More pointers and quest markers were added to show interaction and pace the game better.

 

If I cannot get the demo uploaded with this feature in time I will put it off to a later date.  Possibly February 1st.  I will continue to update with new features and puzzles as they become stable.

 

[Bonkers]

Happy New Year!

Please take a moment and visit Avy's Resource Thread.  She did a magnificent job on the Pelor Holy Symbol Graphic for Turn Undead.  I would link her support bar or wear it in my sig, but she doesn't have one yet.

Alpha is now available under spoiler(94 megs No RTP included):

Spoiler

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ro0yfn9fmko2ajt/SilverTown_original.exeThings to note:  I am parallaxing a few new maps and will post the results as time allow.  Criticism is still welcome in this area.  If you are a mapper or have a tutorial for me to look at, please by all means PM a link or lesson.  I need it.

I did not get to a custom introduction due to my tooth extraction, and I am on some drugs right now that inhibit my ability to concentrate.  What I have done is change the game's icon and given the title screen a simple look until I can design custom menu elements.  This was done for flavor, and if the icons are muddy is unable to be distinguished just let me know.

Message board quests are NYI and will span a great deal of content.

Your thoughts and feelings on quest icons, and item alerts, Custom SE's added and the non RTP music will be a primary concern for me.

Wolfe and Shade will be getting their custom Emo sheets next.

Renard now sings a song about punching bears if you choose him over Bruin.

Both the Good and Bad ending to the Demo should be functioning.  I may be slow to reply due to the pain killers, but I will keep an eye on the thread.

The data is encrypted until I can make custom balloons that aren't from the paid materials DS pack.  I do not want to be responsible for people getting materials they didn't pay to use honestly.

To preserve your time please note: Level Orb, Chicken Ring, Sasuaga's Lament, and the Coward's Way are for use at your discretion.  They are not to be included in the final build, and I hope they help should you not wish to grind out a level or two in order to progress.  The demo is at most 3 hours and at least 1 hours 30 mins with the artifact items.  

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

So far, I'm impressed by your project. I like the artwork and detailed updates.

Would you like me to do a feedback video for your demo?

 

[Bonkers]

So far, I'm impressed by your project. I like the artwork and detailed updates.

Would you like me to do a feedback video for your demo?

Thank you for your kind words and offer.  Yes, if you do not mind.  I'd love to hear and see what you have to say about the elements you liked and didn't  enjoy.  Please let me know if you require anything from me.

 

[Arkecia]

So I decided to give it a try and I'm at the end of the forest area after getting the Forrest Stone; I'll let you know what I like and don't like in spoilers below.

 
Things I liked:

Spoiler

- Obviously the thing that drew me to the project in the first place is the different races and that they are treated as second class citizens. This always makes for an interesting story for me.

- The dialogue itself (even though there are a few sentences that are cut off from the message box) is pretty interesting and I actually laughed at a couple of things, mostly Emmet's faces when reacting to things he finds ridiculous.

- That lighthouse animation is awesome!

- The TP skills are actually useful, and using Emmet's lion magic allows me not to worry about TP gain so long as its effect is in use. In the same vein, status lowering skills actually worked on the bosses which is always nice to see, and I really needed it for that fairy's agility.

- Most of the music is really great, the only thing I noticed were a few volume differences where sometimes the boss music was way too quiet, not to mention I realized under the lighthouse was a remix of a Kingdom Hearts song.

- I love the charge idea and the fact it tells you how much Willard will heal you by, knowing that helped me plan when to actually heal poor Emmet who always took heavy fire attacks.

- Boss battles themselves were paced pretty well and they did different things as you damaged them.
 

- I want Renard in my party lol.

Things that could be improved:

Spoiler

- When using the auto run item (good idea btw) I can still dash which effectively doubles my speed. So I can run while I am supposed to be auto running for more speed than usual. Many people will like this, but it comes into the second thing:

- The encounter rate is way too high for the random battles. I would literally go into a battle in the forest area every second. The battles in that particular area really drain the MP to be able to survive, so I had to teleport quite a bit to the INN.

- The mapping in many of the indoor areas are pretty huge with a lot of floor and nothing on said floor. You've already addressed it though, so I see no need to press further.

- I like a lot of the humor, but certain things are a little out there for me like referencing things that don't exist in their world.  I actually like mocking what terms and the game controls are since it reminds me of one of my favorite games humor-wise.

- Overuse of the word exposition, although that's usually the correct punchline for your jokes.

I have to stop here for the day since I have some New Years stuff to attend to, but I am definitely looking forward to what happens next!

 

[Bonkers]

So I decided to give it a try and I'm at the end of the forest area after getting the Forrest Stone; I'll let you know what I like and don't like in spoilers below.

Things I liked:

Spoiler

- Obviously the thing that drew me to the project in the first place is the different races and that they are treated as second class citizens. This always makes for an interesting story for me.

- The dialogue itself (even though there are a few sentences that are cut off from the message box) is pretty interesting and I actually laughed at a couple of things, mostly Emmet's faces when reacting to things he finds ridiculous.

- That lighthouse animation is awesome!

- The TP skills are actually useful, and using Emmet's lion magic allows me not to worry about TP gain so long as its effect is in use. In the same vein, status lowering skills actually worked on the bosses which is always nice to see, and I really needed it for that fairy's agility.

- Most of the music is really great, the only thing I noticed were a few volume differences where sometimes the boss music was way too quiet, not to mention I realized under the lighthouse was a remix of a Kingdom Hearts song.

- I love the charge idea and the fact it tells you how much Willard will heal you by, knowing that helped me plan when to actually heal poor Emmet who always took heavy fire attacks.

- Boss battles themselves were paced pretty well and they did different things as you damaged them.

- I want Renard in my party lol.

Spoiler

Things that could be improved:

- When using the auto run item (good idea btw) I can still dash which effectively doubles my speed. So I can run while I am supposed to be auto running for more speed than usual. Many people will like this, but it comes into the second thing:

- The encounter rate is way too high for the random battles. I would literally go into a battle in the forest area every second. The battles in that particular area really drain the MP to be able to survive, so I had to teleport quite a bit to the INN.

- The mapping in many of the indoor areas are pretty huge with a lot of floor and nothing on said floor. You've already addressed it though, so I see no need to press further.

- I like a lot of the humor, but certain things are a little out there for me like referencing things that don't exist in their world.  I actually like mocking what terms and the game controls are since it reminds me of one of my favorite games humor-wise.

- Overuse of the word exposition, although that's usually the correct punchline for your jokes.

I have to stop here for the day since I have some New Years stuff to attend to, but I am definitely looking forward to what happens next!

Wow!  A much better impression than I intended on, thank you for all the kind words.  The Lighthouse animation itself took around a full weekend of planning and work to execute correctly, both on the world map and on the local map exterior.  It took around 6 different sprites, all of which were moved slightly to give the illusion of genuine movement.  It's the only thing short of an actual animation to make the light beam work.  The window pane is actually two separate sprites working together.  I am so happy it was noticed =3

The encounter rate was touched upon by the testers, and that is exactly why the "Coward's Way" to half them, and "Chicken Ring" to cancel them all together exist.  Now that you have confirmed this I will adjust for the next build accordingly.  Thank you for your honesty in the matter.  Too often people will avoid telling me what is wrong with the current build, when it fact it hurts the game more to hear it later.  Did you find there was a good variety of enemies encountered, or did you see the same battles over and over?  My best indication to adjust the encounter rate is simply to see by what level I would like the player to be before the boss of the preceding area.  Some insight into this would be appreciated as I have no way of measuring their levels as they play.  I myself played through the entire forest as level 8, and did so simply to see if I could make it without items or heading back.  Level 6 proved to be too difficult.  What did you think of the slime fountain puzzle?

I'll tend to the word use of exposition.  Now that you mention it, it does stick out far too often.  I'll either have to space them out, or cut the use of the word for fear of being repetitive.

Again thank you for your time and I am glad you enjoyed yourself.

Edit:  I have confirmed it is indeed a Remix.  I will be removing it next build and replacing it with a more original, and hopefully more impactful song.  I am grateful you pointed out my oversight.  I do not wish to use remixes of popular games.  My goal is to use unknown original artists, much like the improvisations you hear for the mage guild, world map, Emmet's house and original scores used in the other locations.

I have found a replacement: "Light in the Darkness".  It carries a more rich melody, and deeper sense of forbidding composed by AshleyAlyse.

 

[Arkecia]

I decided myself that I wouldn't use any of the items so I can give you an honest test of what you had.  I was level 8 as well once I was in the forest thanks to the spider webs.  I am one of those weird people who hoard items, so that may have played a part in the backtracking for me.  I used MP as if it was going out of style as I fought off those pesky sap enemies; the orcs went down with two of Emmet's regular attacks since I found out an enemy in the lighthouse dropped Power Ups. Another indication is that I still have yet to buy any equipment for Willard or Shade, so that most likely played a part too.

As for enemy variation, I rarely fought the same troop twice in a row (only happened once in the forest) so I'd say it wasn't predictable what enemy I'd fight next, which is good since a lot of games tend to only throw two troops of the same enemies at you a dungeon.

I can understand what you mean by encounter rate since you wouldn't want people to be able to run through and only fight like two battles, but the solution (and one I did for my own game) I found best is to take a bit longer to make more dungeon areas, but less encounter rate so it still evens out.  I made my dungeons with encounter number in mind and only made it as long as I felt would be the best number.

Finding the right pressure points was interesting, and even though I took heavy damage figuring it out, the hairpin was worth it since like I said I had yet to buy any equipment and Shade needed some defense lol.

Also it's no problem; I can't wait to see what else you'll come up with in the future and when I get back home and rest off fatigue I'll finish the rest of what you do have.

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

Here's my feedback video. 

For the battles, I recommend looking into increasing the animation speed with this script.

There's also another script for controlling npcs not to go through doors and what not.

And I presume you're using Yanfly Engine Ace - Message System. Have the coding look like this:

[IMG]http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/20563/locker/Yanfly_Engine_Ace__Ace_Message_System_v104_textcutoff.png[/IMG]

Because I end up skipping dialogue boxes with the shift key a lot.

Cheers, and good job with your game so far.

 

[Bonkers]

Here's my feedback video. 

For the battles, I recommend looking into increasing the animation speed with this script.

There's also another script for controlling npcs not to go through doors and what not.

And I presume you're using Yanfly Engine Ace - Message System. Have the coding look like this:

Because I end up skipping dialogue boxes with the shift key a lot.

Cheers, and good job with your game so far.

I definitely will look into those scripts this weekend when I get a chance to work on the game again.  I'd have taken to them sooner if not for a tooth extraction, and being on a variety of painkillers at the moment.  I wanna say first off how grateful I am to have such staunch criticism so quickly.  Your time spent looking at the project has prompted some change already, and I hope it will show in the coming month when I preform some updates to the thread.  

The fact you were brave enough to say those things means a lot, and you let me know where the line was in terms of fighting trash and experiencing content.  Something I gravely need to learn, and I do struggle with.  you mentioned the negative, but you also touched on things you liked so you were fair to me; and that means more than pointless empty praise.  This exactly what I needed to hear, and what I was looking to have in front of me to improve the game.  Thank you.

Spoiler

I do agree with several of the points you made in your video, and I am working on the introduction as well as several other things about characterization.  I do have a long way to go with this project, and the most apparent part is Nidale and Emmet's relationship.  

You are right the work should stand on it's own, and I felt it had as a parody.  Obviously I've come up short, and need to dress down the humor aspect a lot if people want a serious game instead.  I'll make a better foundation for the humor to stand on.  I believe you are right about the dialogue bubbles, I'll try and tone down the opacity, and consolidate the information from the books to make it feel less cluttered.

Execution of some dialogue wasn't taken as intended.  Perhaps it was inflection.  I relied on spur of the moment what's being said, rather than what was said in a previous scene after more events had taken place.  I thought I had shown her feelings toward Emmet had changed when she mentioned he looked different and that she had genuine concern for him.  I'll possibly change this to her giving him a stipend or something else to show the change in character.  As opposed to having her tell it him after the Wolfe encounter.  I'll need to visibly change some dialogue in order to let the player see it's inward, you are absolutely right about that.  I keep using my own judgement as a means for displaying information, and that comes up short when the material leaves my hands. I'll rely more on action oriented cut scenes- giving the player something to look at rather than something to read.  

I swear musical notes worked for me in dialogue preview and play testing.  That's the first pair of boxes I've seen.  Oo  I'll leave certain things in spoilers to preserve some content.  No other tester told me about that, so thank you for coming forward.

Libra can have the elemental suffixes highlighted in a color, I will ask the scripter to look at it again and try myself to make it function as you suggested.  This shouldn't be too time consuming, but I'll get back to you when I have screen shots of the new look.  

I am very happy you liked warp.  I designed it as a fail safe for backtracking myself to the dungeon during testing, but I felt the player deserved to have a "check point" system for their trouble with avoiding trash.  This will of course cost mp final build, but in alpha it's a freebee.

I was hoping the enternal dash would be enough to keep players hand off the shift key as I used it to skip some lengthy cut scenes myself.  I'll be sure to look at the scripts you've shown me as well as the "/." pause suggestion.

Pentaslam is a spear skill, so I'll need to change the text to show Club Slam or Club Smash that the club does get used.  This was more of a humorous aspect that failed to preform as intended.  Again my oversight.  I'll work to improve it based on your feedback.  I can also edit the club entirely out of the battler, or redraw it too.

In regards to Emmet and Kendra:

Spoiler

You touched on Kendra's moment with Emmet and I think a decent cut scene would work well there to help establish the story better.

As for Emmet's personality I will need to show more up front and run a risk of revealing story elements.  I didn't intend on him being portrayed like that.  (As for changing Emmet into a criminal, this is definitive no).  

Wolfe is the one with criminal tendencies, and that is shown later, not told.  Emmet's character has lived outside of town, and self sufficient. Most of what he says is because he hasn't seen the full extent of the civil disorder, and that is already shown in the distance of his home from the town.  (Perhaps better reinforced with the introduction now being drawn).

You are right that I left a chunk of character development out, and it's puzzling for me to see how to integrate it all.  I don't want to bog down the player with cut scenes and flashbacks unless they are absolutely necessary.

Kendra has gone through her third incarnation, and sadly you have said what the other testers said about her the last two times she was redone.  This is not the first time I have heard that about poor little Kendra =D

I'll simply have to rework her design from the ground up.  On third attempt of salvaging her I think it isn't possible to do it again.

Wolfe's error explained:

Spoiler

Wolfe's event depends on Emmet's experience.  When you leveled to 99 it added that many levels to your current experience.  When you got Wolfe to join it added 99 levels of experience plus the initial 8 or so Emmet had on him.  While it worked for the existing characters in the party and doesn't exceed level 99 for current characters a level 1 in the wings waiting has 99 levels added to them to make 100+extra and will crash the game.  I will impose a level restriction of 30 max for the orb in order to counter this.  I had to think about this when I saw the game crash.  I'll develop a fix, but the easiest thing is just level below maximum.  This demo never saw the characters above level 30 for breezing through content so when you leveled to 99 my eyes bugged out.  I'll also consider adding in a conditional to the orb or party member joining event to route their levels if Emmet is 99.  

The sound effect was at 100% for some odd reason.  All other times it's 70%-50% since it doesn't need to be blasted, just simply enjoyed.  That was my error, and missed when I swapped out the RTP SE last go around.

That message about Gale in the main quest update was encountered far too soon.  I'll had to see how the script got tripped.  On my third run through this week I was making sure the journal and codex entries were working at bare minimum.  I goofed big time it seems.

The script itself allows me to edit the main quest entry at any time and it can overwrite the correct one.  That's a problem, and I'll have to see about backtracking through the message alerts.

Silver Town's inhabitants do change dialogue with quests and achievements, but it seems their personalities are too flat to be noticed casually.  Thank you for saying so.  I will do my best to make them "pop" more.

The poultry joke was far too subtle.  I'll be more direct like you said with the fairy as well.

I cannot argue your observations, but I can learn from them.  Here's hoping I can get some things turned around.

EDIT:  I just tried it, and the animation speed and text in battle is now boosted to a more comforting level to allow clearing of trash easily.  

as for unskippable text Galv had a solution http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/8589-solved-creating-unskippable-text/

I do enjoy the faster animation speeds.  I am most grateful for your genuine and complete feedback CC =D

 

[Clareain_Christopher]

Cool. Glad this was helpful. The whole criminal Emmet thing was spare of the moment on my part. I haven't even considered Wolfe until now. When in comes to Emmet being portrayed, to me, as a Cowardly Lion -- the main problem comes down to me not feeling the racism of the SilverTown inhabitants. Like I said in the video, the npcs weren't very impactful. And then there are characters like Augustus -- who had no problem acting suggestive in public. I don't think that would fly very well with racist humans in a bar located in the noble's district.  That humor is the thing, while chuckleworthy, will probably break the narrative. Be more subtle.

One thing I must point out is that I must move rather quickly through my critiques, to have time for personal projects. A lot of my points could be void when you consider other critics and gamers that aren't as impatient as me. Anyway, cheers.  BD  

 

[ChaoticLapras]

Downloading this now, will see what I think in half an hour or so... But, the description and stuff were v. good, and now I REALLY want to play this!

It was a bit troublesome to find the download link - could you put it in the first post at the bottom? I nearly gave up on downloading it...

EDIT: Okay, I was a bit busy this morning, but ended up spending about 1.5 hours on this! I have just beaten the Emperor's Lackey in the forest and am grinding before entering the cave. Anyway, spoilering my more detailed replies.

Likes:

Spoiler

Good general storyline, which is shown well in the game. Also, the tutorials spread throughout the game were helpful, as I really hate bits with a tutorial that lasts twenty minutes at the start of the game (unless they're done well). The maps were good, and believable, and I liked how some tougher enemies (particularly in the lighthouse tower) were placed on the map, but general enemies were just random encounters, which I think worked very well. The dislikes will probably be longer, as I will explain it more, but I think the goods outweigh the bads here, and this is an excellent game so far!

Dislikes:

Spoiler

Pointers showing treasure. I felt the pointers were helpful for quests and stuff, but I prefer personally finding the treasure, instead of the game going "Hey you! There's 1,000,000G in the corner!"... I'm sure many people will disagree with me, and like this feature, but possibly if you're up to it later, you could make it a setting to turn off? I'd be happy to help you with the scripting if that's necessary! Also, there were many movement errors. Many walls were walkable on, and raised platforms with stairs could occasionally be walked on and off without using the stairs. I would recommend that at some point in development, you or someone else goes around testing every tile on every map and rectifying the errors (using the tileset bit in the database). Next, in Silver Town the armour and weapon shops are basically useless, as neither Emmet or the other characters can equip armour? This seems intentional for Emmet (as he has the weird special armour), but the rest can't equip armour or weapons either? Finally, (as I forgot my final point -_-) I found that Willard was WAY overpowered (especially with a healing staff), keeping everyone alive and making the battles fairly easy. However, you have made the enemies very strong to compensate for this (either that or I'm underleveled by far). Also, Shade seems quite overpowered too, especially as often Emmet's attacks don't do much damage (meaning I save up TP for obliterate) and I often just leave Emmet dead, still able to win normal battles easily...

But, as I said earlier, this is an excellent game, which so far I have thoroughly enjoyed, and I will complete the demo soon, let you know what I think and then wait upon future updates!

*sighs*Phew, finally finished writing all of that...*sighs*

 

[Bonkers]

Downloading this now, will see what I think in half an hour or so... But, the description and stuff were v. good, and now I REALLY want to play this!

It was a bit troublesome to find the download link - could you put it in the first post at the bottom? I nearly gave up on downloading it...

EDIT: Okay, I was a bit busy this morning, but ended up spending about 1.5 hours on this! I have just beaten the Emperor's Lackey in the forest and am grinding before entering the cave. Anyway, spoilering my more detailed replies.

Likes:

Spoiler

Good general storyline, which is shown well in the game. Also, the tutorials spread throughout the game were helpful, as I really hate bits with a tutorial that lasts twenty minutes at the start of the game (unless they're done well). The maps were good, and believable, and I liked how some tougher enemies (particularly in the lighthouse tower) were placed on the map, but general enemies were just random encounters, which I think worked very well. The dislikes will probably be longer, as I will explain it more, but I think the goods outweigh the bads here, and this is an excellent game so far!

Spoiler

Dislikes:

Pointers showing treasure. I felt the pointers were helpful for quests and stuff, but I prefer personally finding the treasure, instead of the game going "Hey you! There's 1,000,000G in the corner!"... I'm sure many people will disagree with me, and like this feature, but possibly if you're up to it later, you could make it a setting to turn off? I'd be happy to help you with the scripting if that's necessary! Also, there were many movement errors. Many walls were walkable on, and raised platforms with stairs could occasionally be walked on and off without using the stairs. I would recommend that at some point in development, you or someone else goes around testing every tile on every map and rectifying the errors (using the tileset bit in the database). Next, in Silver Town the armour and weapon shops are basically useless, as neither Emmet or the other characters can equip armour? This seems intentional for Emmet (as he has the weird special armour), but the rest can't equip armour or weapons either? Finally, (as I forgot my final point -_-) I found that Willard was WAY overpowered (especially with a healing staff), keeping everyone alive and making the battles fairly easy. However, you have made the enemies very strong to compensate for this (either that or I'm underleveled by far). Also, Shade seems quite overpowered too, especially as often Emmet's attacks don't do much damage (meaning I save up TP for obliterate) and I often just leave Emmet dead, still able to win normal battles easily...

But, as I said earlier, this is an excellent game, which so far I have thoroughly enjoyed, and I will complete the demo soon, let you know what I think and then wait upon future updates!

*sighs*Phew, finally finished writing all of that...*sighs*

Thank you very much for your kind words and criticism.  I was unaware of so many tile errors, and will be going back over to find a majority of them.  It game to a point on some maps I simply put dummy events to prevent movement as I use the same tile sets for a majority of areas.  This will be rectified since I need to construct custom tile sets for most areas and that means gutting the RTP significantly.  I was unaware of this since I was new to the editor and will go so in a practical fashion.

The events which show treasure were put in simply to aid, and now that they are infringing on play will be removed.  I kept them in Emmet's house since many new players to RPGs wouldn't explore or interact with elements and I had felt they needed the beginning equipment to help them.  For other areas I will happily hide them.  I appreciate your offer, and if you can find some script or component of the editor that will make dialogue unskippable with shift or the confirmation button other than "\| x3" it would be most appreciated.

Silver Town Weapons and Armor are primarily for Bruin.  Cloth, Leather, and Robe wearers like shade are in the Human district along with accessories.  This is a major component that will be updated in the future, as all the shops will consolidated to the main street area of ST.  I didn't wish to confuse or discourage players by having Emmet's equipment set.  My goal was to eliminate his need of upgrades by having his armor and weapon automatically grow with the plot to accommodate him.  I'll also be adding in a traveling merchant who follows you to the areas you will not be able to shop to accommodate your needs.  This is very valuable feedback which will play a part in the redesigning of town, as I am making it a bit more fluid for player needs and realistic in terms of shop and residence placement.  Thank you for coming forward and telling me this.  The rest of the group can, but their weapons are find able/purchasable from the shops.  I didn't want to make one huge shop, so I scattered them throughout town which was a mistake.  They need a traditional whole marketplace where everyone is together.  

This is most disturbing.  Shade's had a nerf coming, and now due to you confirming her overachieving damage with base magic formulas the time has now come to swing the bat in her face, and the face of mages everywhere.  Expect her to launch a complaint next build with her base formula of 200+mag modifiers turn to 100+mag modifiers in the interests of keeping her at pace with the other characters.  

This was exceptional of you to go this far with your time and give me so much usable data.   I am glad I kept you interested with the story, and hope you enjoy the future elements.  Please do let me know how much 'grinding' was necessary for you to feel comfortable with the area if you can as I am adjusting to comfort levels for average players.

The demo has been moved to top of the first post under the title.  I am happy to make it easier to find.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Ah yeah! I've been looking forward to a demo of this. I love the way your Minotaurs look. Their faces are so expressive and that's a real nice treat because a lot of times they always have that one sourpuss, grump expression. I really admire the art direction of this project a lot~ (and it's what keeps drawing me back to this thread)


I'll let you know what I think when I have a chance to play!

 

[ChaoticLapras]

Spoiler

Thank you very much for your kind words and criticism.  I was unaware of so many tile errors, and will be going back over to find a majority of them.  It game to a point on some maps I simply put dummy events to prevent movement as I use the same tile sets for a majority of areas.  This will be rectified since I need to construct custom tile sets for most areas and that means gutting the RTP significantly.  I was unaware of this since I was new to the editor and will go so in a practical fashion.

The events which show treasure were put in simply to aid, and now that they are infringing on play will be removed.  I kept them in Emmet's house since many new players to RPGs wouldn't explore or interact with elements and I had felt they needed the beginning equipment to help them.  For other areas I will happily hide them.  I appreciate your offer, and if you can find some script or component of the editor that will make dialogue unskippable with shift or the confirmation button other than "\| x3" it would be most appreciated.

Silver Town Weapons and Armor are primarily for Bruin.  Cloth, Leather, and Robe wearers like shade are in the Human district along with accessories.  This is a major component that will be updated in the future, as all the shops will consolidated to the main street area of ST.  I didn't wish to confuse or discourage players by having Emmet's equipment set.  My goal was to eliminate his need of upgrades by having his armor and weapon automatically grow with the plot to accommodate him.  I'll also be adding in a traveling merchant who follows you to the areas you will not be able to shop to accommodate your needs.  This is very valuable feedback which will play a part in the redesigning of town, as I am making it a bit more fluid for player needs and realistic in terms of shop and residence placement.  Thank you for coming forward and telling me this.  The rest of the group can, but their weapons are find able/purchasable from the shops.  I didn't want to make one huge shop, so I scattered them throughout town which was a mistake.  They need a traditional whole marketplace where everyone is together.  

This is most disturbing.  Shade's had a nerf coming, and now due to you confirming her overachieving damage with base magic formulas the time has now come to swing the bat in her face, and the face of mages everywhere.  Expect her to launch a complaint next build with her base formula of 200+mag modifiers turn to 100+mag modifiers in the interests of keeping her at pace with the other characters.  

This was exceptional of you to go this far with your time and give me so much usable data.   I am glad I kept you interested with the story, and hope you enjoy the future elements.  Please do let me know how much 'grinding' was necessary for you to feel comfortable with the area if you can as I am adjusting to comfort levels for average players.

The demo has been moved to top of the first post under the title.  I am happy to make it easier to find.

My reply:

Spoiler

I often duplicate the tiles and have two tilesets for each I have - one that are all passable, and one that none are passable. It makes it much easier to map, and probably for you to correct this!
If you have them in the starter house, possibly you could have some tutorial text upon using them saying that outside of here there won't be these pointers, and to explore to find goodies! Some people might assume there is no more treasure...

Uh, is Bruin a later character to get in my party? Or am I being stupid and missing out on something... Also, I can't seem to equip armour to the other characters (except helmets and shields?).

Though, Shade's Libra ability is VERY useful, so definitely keep that, even if turning down her magic damage. However, I feel (completely up to you though) that Willard should have some attack powers. Her usual attack deals about 7 damage to enemies, and her sun sword and the other thing only do minimal damage (around 40)... Possibly give her attack power a boost to around 40, and her attacks to just over Shade's normal attack, making them still worthwhile? I believe that we need to get rid of the healer stereotype...

Anytime! I haven't ground anymore yet, but the zombie trios inside the cave can three-turn my team without healing (just). I can't remember what level I am, but will let you know how much grinding is necessary! Battles are quite difficult for me anyway, and I am usually underlevelled (I tend to rush through, getting all of the loot but only attacking monsters I encounter, not grinding at all, but never escaping. Many others use this tactic, and it is good to make sure it is hard to play like this, but still possible so as not to bore people (personally I grind when I need to, but...)!

Thanks for moving the demo link, and I'll see you again tomorrow when I've played some more! (I was out all day so am still outside that cave).

I put it in a spoiler as I wrote loads again, and didn't want to fill up loads of space!

EDIT: Just remembered, before the lighthouse key is gained, if I travel to the lighthouse Emmet repeats a phrase forever, trapping me and forcing me to shut the game -_-

EDIT 2: Uh. I was level seven without grinding... Definitely underlevelled, as you said the forest was impossible as six and I leveled up after beating the belly dancing troll! Am grinding now, and will let you know what the level I use for the cave is. By the way, the zombies are still beatable but almost kill Willard, half Emmet's health, and leave Shade with about 50 health...

EDIT 3: I don't think I've ever used a healing item - either make them more necessary or remove them altogether is my opinion...

EDIT 4: Ground to level 8.5 roughly and entered cave, in second room got level nine, now proceeding onwards.

EDIT 5: Level 10, in Nexxus B3. Saving and quitting for the night, no glitches so far in the cave, that I noticed...

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Woah---reading other people's comments I'm a bit confused.

Spoiler

I beat the fairy at the top of the tower and got a game over screen, so I assumed that was the end of the demo, but people are talking about forests and caves and junk I never got to see those things????? Did I break something keeping Willard at the lead of my party and having Emmet dead at the end of the battle? I couldn't myself... Willard has such nice hair. >.>

That aside! I'll comment on what I played. Starting with what was the highlight for me, your characters. They're a lot of fun. Willard and Emmet's interactions were really entertaining and Shade is well... her own special breed. I really enjoyed their interactions and dialogue. Some other characters felt like they were written a bit weaker, particularly Lord Jura (though, maybe that's just how he is. Insensitive jerkwad with short, terse phrases. haha If that's the case, ignore that statement.)


A lot of things felt really rushed and it would have been nice to have some more world building padding out the beginning so it didn't feel like 'It's GO TIME' right off the bat. Your world is rather interesting, so you should let the player learn more about it. There's lots of optional ways to, through talking with the NPCs, but it'd be nice to have some of that implemented in a way that can't be missed by the player. It'll help them feel more immersed.


There were a lot of tiny errors throughout what I saw of the demo. Text boxes with lines too long so they are cut off was something that increased dramatically as the game went on. Things like that should be caught during test playing. There were a few wrong word choices (which is easy to do when doing a lot of writing) one I remember specifically was stating that the mages' guild was 'next store' rather than 'next door.' I think you need to do some play testing where you pay close attention to your dialogue and try to stamp out some of those little errors.


Battles were... Willard is a god. All I need is Willard. Everyone else died constantly and I felt like Willard needed 2 turns because he had all the useful stuff. Emmet is the main character of the game, I think you should work to make his gameplay a bit more interesting. Otherwise, it will be harder for a player to enjoy him in combat and then that will impact how they enjoy him as a character through the rest of the game. He was bogging me down and I didn't want to think that way about him, but sorta had to... I'm sorry Emmet. You're a sweet heart but--ugh.


Again, I really love the world you've started to build in the demo. It certainly is the sort of world that can easily open itself up to a strong story and stronger characters. And the characters we saw already were so lovable--that alone is enough to make me want to play more to learn more about them. (gosh darn it Willard you are hiding things from me I can feel it)


Overall a nice demo! There's a lot of good things going on, and also some stuff that needs to be worked on. Best of luck! I look forward to seeing where you take people's feedback.


EDIT: I FORGOT! The 4th wall breaking had me laughing.

 

[Bonkers]

Woah---reading other people's comments I'm a bit confused.

Spoiler

I beat the fairy at the top of the tower and got a game over screen, so I assumed that was the end of the demo, but people are talking about forests and caves and junk I never got to see those things????? Did I break something keeping Willard at the lead of my party and having Emmet dead at the end of the battle? I couldn't myself... Willard has such nice hair. >.>

Spoiler

That aside! I'll comment on what I played. Starting with what was the highlight for me, your characters. They're a lot of fun. Willard and Emmet's interactions were really entertaining and Shade is well... her own special breed. I really enjoyed their interactions and dialogue. Some other characters felt like they were written a bit weaker, particularly Lord Jura (though, maybe that's just how he is. Insensitive jerkwad with short, terse phrases. haha If that's the case, ignore that statement.)

A lot of things felt really rushed and it would have been nice to have some more world building padding out the beginning so it didn't feel like 'It's GO TIME' right off the bat. Your world is rather interesting, so you should let the player learn more about it. There's lots of optional ways to, through talking with the NPCs, but it'd be nice to have some of that implemented in a way that can't be missed by the player. It'll help them feel more immersed.

There were a lot of tiny errors throughout what I saw of the demo. Text boxes with lines too long so they are cut off was something that increased dramatically as the game went on. Things like that should be caught during test playing. There were a few wrong word choices (which is easy to do when doing a lot of writing) one I remember specifically was stating that the mages' guild was 'next store' rather than 'next door.' I think you need to do some play testing where you pay close attention to your dialogue and try to stamp out some of those little errors.

Battles were... Willard is a god. All I need is Willard. Everyone else died constantly and I felt like Willard needed 2 turns because he had all the useful stuff. Emmet is the main character of the game, I think you should work to make his gameplay a bit more interesting. Otherwise, it will be harder for a player to enjoy him in combat and then that will impact how they enjoy him as a character through the rest of the game. He was bogging me down and I didn't want to think that way about him, but sorta had to... I'm sorry Emmet. You're a sweet heart but--ugh.

Again, I really love the world you've started to build in the demo. It certainly is the sort of world that can easily open itself up to a strong story and stronger characters. And the characters we saw already were so lovable--that alone is enough to make me want to play more to learn more about them. (gosh darn it Willard you are hiding things from me I can feel it)

Overall a nice demo! There's a lot of good things going on, and also some stuff that needs to be worked on. Best of luck! I look forward to seeing where you take people's feedback.

EDIT: I FORGOT! The 4th wall breaking had me laughing.

Hmm, I see what happened.  Very interesting.  You're the first to mention this, and it's clear from your information what happened. 

Spoiler

When you beat her Emmet may have been dead, so when you had Willard in the lead he was removed with Shade to continue the cut scene; removing them both from the party to allow their event stand ins to show.  When all living members were removed it meant that the game recognized Emmet as being dead and the only person in the party, so it concluded with game over.  I'll work to fix that oversight, and make sure the party is healed from the residual energy being released so that doesn't happen in the next build.  The change in party formation alone is unlikely to have led to this problem, but I will bear it in mind when going over the event process.  Thank you for trying something new which lead to a bug report.  That was very informative and helpful since you left me all the details for me to back track =3

This is very unusual.  Willard was the least liked of all the characters during the last live stream, as he constantly died each fight.  He has come full circle.  (I love blondes so his hair is something that was really eye catching to me as well).  This was after he had his staff system and charge protocol added.  

I guess during the last buff when I upped his stats and the new gear was added he became a one man army.  I'll have to take a look at his data again and make sure he gets balanced.  I was worried about Emmet overshadowing the two human characters and I did the exact opposite with this build.  Thankfully I have my laptop at work and it's a slow day so I can address this directly with the information you have given me.

Spoiler

Ah!  I found it.  Willard's heal spells were recently redesigned to feed him 1:1 ratio tp for every mp spent.  This means he can spam either damage or healing spells and feed his TP based abilities without any effort.  I may change his ratio to 1:2 to counter this in the next build.  As for his versatility he certainly has come a long way since he didn't have a staff before.  Staves make him a very powerful character as he has 50 casts of 'new' spells, and a 'free' spell from the staff for debuffing.I may remove "Fire" from the staff of light to keep his damage output down more.  This will cut down his output to 250 max instead of 600 max per turn since casting from the staff also uses the users base mag stat to contribute to the formula.  I can also rewrite the separate formula to do set damage rather than use his stats at all.  I'll adjust him to be more of a "cloistered cleric" than a 'battle cleric' to fit his bookish character.

Edit:  I may also add time delay to his spells to give him less of an instant response in battle like Shade's bigger spells.

 
I will do so with the little errors, as a majority of my play testing happens I am often called away from the laptop or main rig at home to address things and loose my place.  I'll be sure to keep a written log thanks to CC's video and your feedback.  Thank you for catching those.  I worked to improve things and bloated text dialogues in other places after using "Batch" entry to break up dialogue boxes which must have backfired.  I choose to edit on previewing alone for the final touches and it didn't pay off proper.  This will be corrected.  

Emmet does seem to need something given everyone so far has said he is lackluster this build.  I'll give roar a buff, and make sure that he gets something added to using his paladin abilities like a stacking attack buff or extra attack after they are used to make it more worthwhile in battle.  As for his mechanics I'll be sure that smite either debuffs a target of a particular "tag" element or alignment to increase his effectiveness in battle.  I was hoping Leonic Rage would be enough to keep him going and pumping out smites to contribute to damage.  He needs to be more melee active given his role, and his saint and holy word spells aren't adding well to his contributions.  I will need to rethink his skills a bit like I did for Bruin.  

I am very happy you enjoyed the dialogue.  This is a big part of the game to me, and really helps the player relax into the game without stopping things flat out for a cut scene.  Usually when the player senses an unusual element or something that's odd the characters will speak up first calling attention to it.

Edit:  You are the second person to mention the immersion.  This will be corrected next build as I am working to flesh out npcs, and add a few cut scenes pre lighthouse dungeon to give the player a bit more inclusion into the world, and allow them to walk around town witnessing things or simply time to look around.  I felt I had done this with the "Talk to these people before getting Willard" and showing you the market place in the human area, and letting you back track through about 10 npcs who talked about the social division.  I haven't lived up to my end in this fashion so I'll adjust starting play accordingly to give the player a more involved feel of the story to build a working foundation before pushing them off into adventure.  

(My goal was to make it fast paced to keep the player from feeling nothing was happening, again I accomplished the opposite of my intention.  ^^  So much learning, which is good). 

I feel very motivated to improve elements that you mentioned and agree with your observations.  Thank you for spending the time here on the forums to give me what I need to improve the game.

I have worked on something for the art updates you may enjoy since you mentioned Minotaur characters.  I am overjoyed you like them, as I take it very much to heart when designing them to make them feel like people rather than background monsters.  

I'll also post some additional things this weekend to show progress with the maps and a few edits.  You and everyone else are free to use what I post btw, so if you see a character you like such as the Minotaur blacksmith whom I frankensprited, they are yours to use for non commercial works.  If you feel that a character's emotional sheet should be expanded on I will be happy to do so as was suggested with Emmet by CC.

I am considering opening up a small shop for Anthropomorphic characters, sprites, portraits, and event elements to help showcase what I am creating to make the game and give those to people to use themselves.

Very grateful for your feedback here Canadian Goose.  It means a great deal to me.  I hope in a future build you get past the light house ^^;  I feel so silly.