Spectrum Seeker: A Quest for Color

[Fernyfer775]

It looks like it's being a little short of a year since the creator posted any updates...this was a project I was definitely looking forward to, but I have a feeling it died off.

 

[Tsukitsune]

How are things coming along?

This game looks stunning. The concept, the areas, the characters... Everything!

The ice cave seems to have a nice puzzle to it, explorable bit not daunting.

Is this still being worked on?

It looks like it's being a little short of a year since the creator posted any updates...this was a project I was definitely looking forward to, but I have a feeling it died off.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been updating at all.  It did sort of die off last year, short story is that I ran into some financial issues, motivation, difficulties with writing, time, and more excuses...

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So now that the excuses are out of the way, there's some good news.  First off is I'm going to be taking this project a lot more serious this year and be more dedicated.

Funding - This year I should be more well off and can dedicate more resources to the project, to start with using a good portion of tax returns when that comes around Feb.  Going to hire more help and get this thing moving along!

Writing - I'm not much of a writer, I'm more of a designer.  I can make story ideas and concepts, build worlds but when it comes to fleshing them out?  Writing out the scenes, dialogue, etc?  I fall short, take way too long, usually end up getting nothing done but wasting hours thinking about what to do.

So how am I fixing this?  I recently hired a writer and he'll be taking over in that regard, this way I can focus on other areas.

Mapping - parallax mapping takes stupid long to create, not going to lie I sort of got burned out.  Will be hiring people to help in this field, got a few people in mind already.

Scripter - Sort of lost my main scripter.  Nothing bad between us, he just moved onto other things outside of RPGMaker and I hope him the best.  However I'm in need of a new one that will be able to perform as amazing as he did.  If you're a scripter looking for work, please PM me your info.

LIVESTREAMING - I will show all of yousss my newfound dedication.  I plan on starting streaming again soon and start a regular schedule.  I'm thinking atleast 3 times a week.  It'll be whenenver I'm working on the game, whether parallax mapping, eventing, and other boring stuff.  But you'll get to see me do the boring stuff, offer input, and greatly help me out!

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Some stuff I did actually sorta work on last year"ish".

Example of skill transform system.  Basically lets you transform your skills based on stones that you socket into it.  You'll have a base normal skill and you can socket 6 colors.  Depending on the combinations you put in, you can find new abilities and ultimates.  So experimentation is encouraged.  

Spoiler

Example of combat system.  In the gif below Seiryuu uses an ultimate skill which brings up 3 command prompts or 3 colors, red, blue, and yellow.  Combine them to execute an ultimate move.  The button combo will be similar to what you input into the skill transformation above.  Aura Blade combo is Red > Purple (Red+Blue), to unlock that skill you insert those colors into the skill transform system.  Yayyy Ultimate Customizattionnn.

Spoiler

The Ice dungeon finished that I never posted because I don't know why...

Spoiler

But yeah, I'm back now, and hope you'll still follow the game's development.  Sorry for the hiatus.

PS. @ BCJ

I have a feeling in the future that I will be needing to hire you to help me with the Luna Engine.  Just throwing that out there.

 

[BCj]

Looks good so far, curious to see what this year'll bring for the project!


Sure! I'd love to work with you on your project, it's very inspiring by he way, I'm also a parallax mapper, if you're in need of any. Be sure to contact me with anything you'd like me to work on and we'll work something out

 

[Tsukitsune]

Hey guys, a little update.  Richard (my new writer) has been hard at work.  Outline for Ch1 is done and we're working on getting a portion of it fully written.  Draft 1 has been completed and I'm excited on what he's done so far.  I think you'll all enjoy it, here's a little piece of the story that's been reworked.

Humanity could do nothing against the Faded until the Chosen were formed.  Six leaders from the six 


nations of the world came together in the city of Gamut, the capital of the world and were selected by 


the Guardian to be given power over the forces of color.  Their strength would light the way toward 


destroying the Faded threat.


But alas, even their power was not great enough.  One-by-one they fell to the overwhelming power of 


the Faded.  And one-by-one the kingdoms of humanity fell as well, until only small pockets of 


humanity, protected from the Faded by strong natural obstacles, remained.


Fifteen years have passed since the fall of the capital.  The world has been without color for all that 


time.  But soon...soon a young man will stumble into an adventure that could make or break the world 


of Prisma.

aaand a little bit into Seiryuu's personality.  (Indrik and Kirin are his lucky subordinates)

[Kirin knocks on the door, but there's no answer.]


Kirin: The mayor must be asleep.  Well, I guess we should get going.


Seiryuu: Yeah I guess so...but wait!  What if he's been kidnapped, he could be getting robbed right 


now!  We should bust in and rescue him!


Indrik: Actually there's a note on the door that says...


Mayor's Note: Seiryuu, I'm just asleep.  Stop breaking out my windows, I'm perfectly fine.  ~Signed the 


Mayor.

Can't wait till the final is finished so I can start implementing it in the game!



As for me, I'm working on a new map, and potentially an extension to Azure village that might be necessary due to the change in story.  Aswell as going back and forth with Richard of course.

 

[taistelusopuli]

Great to see you returned to this production! I wish you the best while you are at it!


What I have seen here is beautiful, very beautiful and I hope to see it finished eventually.

 

[Tsukitsune]

@taistelusopuli Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it!


Recently finished this one up, click to view full image.


 

 


and a gif on my mapping process.

Spoiler

Mentioned this in a few posts, but would anyone be interested in some video tutorials on parallax mapping?  Also any requests on what type of map you'd like to see done?


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Besides that, I think my next crazy adventure will be a treetop village.  I've got some ideas, especially with Pandamaru's MV tiles!  This one will be quite complicated (like most of my maps unfortunately) and will take a while to finish... but it should be amazing if I can get it right.

 

[amaSenpai]

Absolutely gorgeous. Every new map you put out exceeds my expectations. At this point I think if you created a dumpster area filled with garbage it would still be beautiful and filled with color.


I wish you well with your new writer... I can't wait till this is completed.

 

[Tsukitsune]

Hey guys, we're in the middle of remaking some old interiors and replacing them with Celianna's Ancient Dungeon tiles. Since I'm replacing tiles, I figure I'd see how a different mapping style would look aswell and I need your opinion on it. Which style do you prefer, the wall overview (1st image) or floor cut-off style?


(Both gorgeous maps were created by @Musashi)

I'm personally leaning towards the floor cut-off style. Also below is the original map.

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Besides that, I've been eventing the first couple of scenes and trying to figure out ways to make the beginning more interesting. I'm unfortunately having to cut a good chunk out but it'll be best for the game.


My writer is currently working on the last half of chapter one. Chapter one will be the demo, and it's currently looking to be 2 hours worth of content alone, just judging from the first half that I've been working on ingame.


I'm also having my artist Risa1 (the one who made the characters) create a new one, it's going to be the Guardian of the Spectrum Tree. When I get sketches back I'll be sure to post them.


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I also have to finish updating the front page because it's been re-written but...I haven't gotten around to that yet.

 

[amaSenpai]

I'm a big fan of the cut off style, it seems more open and you can see a lot more of the detail. The updates look so comfy!

 

[Tsukitsune]

WIP on the combat UI and can't decide where I want to position the radial menu.


1. Above the active sprite


2. Off to the left for all characters.


3. Next to the active character's portrait.

 

[amaSenpai]

Active character placement works the best in my opinion. It's better for knowing at a glance whose turn it is, especially for easily distracted players. My LEAST favorite is by the enemy, it overwhelms the sprite ( I didn't even see it there at first ) !

 

[BCj]

3, I'd say. Makes it clear whose turn it is.

 

[Tsukitsune]

(


The idea that I've gotten for the UI so far, the Icons are just placeholder for the design mockup. Think they're guild wars or something. 


So I haven't exactly been too excited about my current battle system for a few reasons.  Right now it's got some things that are different but the core mechanics are still mainly the same boring front view based combat with a color gimmick thrown in. There wasn't a whole lot of depth, so while working on the UI design, I got a few ideas. I'm going to completely revamp my combat system, might as well since I"m paying for the coding anyway.


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The new planned system that sort of shown in the above image, will:


Be action based - not active timed battles, or turn battles, I mean you the player and the enemy will be actively attacking eachother using your skills. There'll be skill cooldowns, cast times, blocking, and more.


You start combat in attack stance (Z), and you can hit (Z) again to perform a regular attack.


The skills you see on QWEASD are all skills you bind to the hotbar outside of battle. You can only pick 1 skill per color (still deciding if I'm going to have 2 each or not). So you'll have to be strategic in what skills you bring into combat. There's also an ultimate.


Enemies will have a telegraph when they're attacking or using a skill so you know who they're going to hit and you can prepare for it. The timing will vary depending on the difficulty of the enemy. Time your blocks quickly as they'll block for only 1-2 seconds before going on a short cooldown (few seconds).


To block you hit (C) in which you'll enter the defense stance. In this stance you can't use your attack skills but you pick what color you're defending against to mitigate damage, and build PE (Prism Energy).


The new combat doesn't use mana, but instead uses PE for all skills and Ultimates. You gain PE by shattering the enemies core which you do by dealing enough damage with the opposing color (look at the spectrum star to easily tell). Another way to gain PE is by defending against the enemies attack using the same color they're attacking with. This requires timing however. I'm also considering using counter attacks aswell as another means but not sure yet.


At full PE gauge you can activate your ultimate by hitting a color sequence in it's correct order that the skill requires. ex. Blue blue red to use Flaming wave. Still deciding if each character can have a set number of ultimates they can use or if it's just 1 that you socket into the middle slot of the skill bar. I'm leaning towards multiple that they can call on aslong as they can remember the color combination.


So since ultimates and regular skills all cost PE, you'll have to be more strategic in how you use your skills and not just spam fireball or spam attack to win.


Also since the combat is always active, you can switch between each character at any time with the arrow keys. So switching characters and casting spells of 3 people, while timing your defenses too, I think it'd be an engaging system. But these are all just ideas right now, I'm still thinking on the design of everything. I"ll probably post a thread in the game mechanics area in the next day or two. But I'd like to know what everyone thinks about what I've got so far.


Thanks for all your input!

 

[Tsukitsune]

2 New sketches of the Spectrum Tree Guardian.  Which one do you think looks better?

 

[Iliketea]

I like the left one better ^^ cant really say way tho.

 

[amaSenpai]

I love almost all of the fully clothed model, but I prefer the skirt on the other one.


I love the eyes especially... the blue doesn't have the same depth to them.

 

[Tsukitsune]

Took some time but the Spectrum Guardian was recently finished! What do you all think of it? Also I need name ideas for her, please give me ideas!

....


...


...


ps. she's my waifu you can't have her.


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In regards to the combat system, a little bit at a time. Right now we have to finish the custom skill menu system as that'll be an integral part of the combat, since the skills you equip will transfer over into the combat HUD. Good news is the first part of the menu is done, the skill equip.

Screenshot of the menu my coder sent me while developing it (I did add the watermark though because art thieves suck). So the menu will be that, without the scary chicken thing. The looks are temporary but the functions are basically you can equip your "available skills" into the different skill slots on the left. There's 6 slots, one for each color and will be more obvious once I have proper colored skill icons... The background also changes depending on what skill color you are currently slotting. Right now the skill slot that's being equipped is Red so Voila! Red BG.

 

[BCj]

Did you change to MV?

 

[Tsukitsune]

Yup, still porting things over and will be sticking with the 32x32 grid. 

 

[futrchamp]

Wow, this project is seriously amazing. The attention to detail and mechanics, the art, everything is fantastic! Can't wait for a demo.