Tharkian Tales

[Puebeck]

Hi y'all, I'm fairly new to RPG maker and its community, so I thought I'd share my current project with you and hope to get some feedback.

The name of the project is still subject to change, but Tharkia is the world it takes place in.

Tharkian Tales​

Story Synopsis:

Two characters travel the world of Tharkia in order to find the answers they are looking for. Neither is willing to divulge too much info about their personal lives: 

One is a woman with a dark past and seedy connection.

The other is a man with unknown origins, strange to the ways of Tharkia.

But that does not stop them from banding together, as they are stuck together. A dimensional rift caused an entire area to be engulfed into the unkown and they do not know where, or even when, they are.

Setting:

Tharkia is a world where different laws of physics apply. Yggdrasil roots sprout throughout the world and create instabilities in reality in their direct vicinity. These instabilities can be exploited, though, and the tharkians have learned to do just that. With the use of Aethium crystals and local instabilities they are able to tap energy and materials from alternate universes. The affinity of the Aethium determines the universe it taps into, and not all affinities are known.

But this source of has led to be lazy, and classical science became obsolete. Most forms of science have been neglected and it is for this reason that the world looks like it's in the middle ages.

Characters:

Justin Nowel: Electrical Engineer. He decided to live on his own for the sake of his research. He seems to be knowledgeable about the classical sciences.

Helga: Swordswoman. She was on the run from armored knights as she encounters Justin. Little is known about her.

                                             Bob: A frog who wields weapons. His purpose in life is quite unclear, but it seems that he seeks redemption.

Technical stuff:

 - Aethium Arts: The magic of this world. It requires the user to wield an Aethium Gem and Rheedum (consumable). There is no MP as of yet.

 - Dual Wielding: There are currently no 2h weapons, each weapon gives their own bonus and shoulds are considered weapons.

 - Item Based Stats: The player only gets HP boosts from leveling up, but nothing more. All other boosts come from the equiped items

 - Parallax mapping: I've used parallax mapping in order to get the effects I want. Otherwise it'd look too much like any other RPG maker game out there.

 - Lay-Meta: I've used the Lay-meta engine for areas where reality is supposed to be unstable, giving the areas a distinctly different feeling from the rest of the game.

Combat:

Combat uses GubiD's GTBS system, a grid based tactical system. Characters will have limited amount of range in which they can move which can only be increased by wearing the appropriate equipment.

Turns will work in teams, it's either the player turn or the opponents turn, and then all of their characters can move.

Each weapon will have different attributes and attack styles. A gun shoots in a straight line while a bow from any angle, but less powerful.

Screenshots:





This is the map where you truly begin the adventure after the introduction happens (which is still a work in progress)



These are my two main characters. I drew them myself. I'd like feedback on them (if possile )



This is the combat system. It's grid based tactical. It uses the GTBS v2.4 engine/scripts, whill upgrade it once 2.5 is released.



These are the weapon types available and their proficiencies. The colored gems represent mastery in Aethium Arts.

Why post this in early development? Because I have no idea how to go about this. I need help with the following:

 - Characterization: how do I make character? How do I make them come over the way I want them to?

 - Customization: How customizable should I make combat?

 - Graphics: How do I get new/different graphics for my game? I've been looking around ad am currently using a few from others, but where do I go to make specific art requests?

 - How should I make my damage formulae? Balancing them is really hard!

 - Well, anything that comes to mind really, this is my first project of this scale, so I could use every piece of advice/criticism I can get.

EDIT:

I have finally finalized a demo I think works proficiently enough. I cannot save, so I would really like it if you tested that for me

DEMO:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5LfZExNtylUVTR5Tl9IZWJ0cGM/view?usp=sharing

Please give feedback on the system as I am not entirely sure about it yet. There's so much potential, but tell me what you think

Credits:

I haven't creditted them ingame yet, but I would like to give credit to the following people:

 - GubiD (Combat System)

 - Cecilianna (Parallax images)

 - Yanfly (various scripts)

 - Victor (various scripts)

 - Khas (Pixel Movement)

 - Blodeuyn (music)

 - McTricky (music)

 - Gorlami (music)

 

[Puebeck]

I've uploaded a demo version so that you can test it. It's quite large though... I'll need to work on that...

 

[interplay]

Looks interesting. The unstable reality segments should make for some unique experiences. I hope the altered reality will affect the combat as well, and add some wonky effects (ex. ice attacks causing fire damage if you're adding elements to the game). But other than that, this game has potential to be a classic. It all depends on how much effort you invest

Initial impressions of the demo up until the first battle.

Spoiler

- Title screen graphic and music is nice, but the title screen itself has the default sound effects, try switching it up a little.

- Right off the bat, there are spelling errors. Always proofread whenever possible,

- The wall of text isn't the way to go. Let the player interact and uncover the game's plot piece by piece instead of spoonfeeding the story to the player.

- Mapping is impressive, I suggest blocking off the bare areas with trees. There were times during the intro where I thought I accessed an exit only to be blocked off.

- Set the butterflies to 'above characters'. That way, the player won't needlessly bump into them.

- Try implementing different expressions on the character busts. It doesn't feel right when they show surprise or amazement and their expression stays neutral.

- The characters are discussing matters such as Aethium and Yggsadril without a proper explanation beforehand. It leaves the player confused as to what's going on, try elaborating on what those are instead of assuming that the player understands what they are.

- You'd think that Justin would keep his experiments encased in glass or protected in some other fashion. It seems lazy and careless on his part to leave his experiments in a tiny cabin unprotected.

- Try explaining weapon abilities and effects immediately before or during battle. That way, the player won't forget as easily.

- Treasure chests don't open properly.

- Wait, I lost the battle, yet my characters are still alive AND the slimes were defeated? Weird.

 

[Puebeck]

Wow, thx for the feedback

I'll work on the trees a bit, the problem I had with them is that, if there were too many of them the map would feel very... claustrophobic.

I'm also kind of confused as to what you're getting at, you tell me there is too much text, but that the concepts aren't explained enough? Considering these things are "normal" in this universe, it would be odd for them to explain them all. I was planning on adding lore books later that explained the concepts in more detail. (since I'm a visual novel reader I found the amount of text really low, that's why I decided to post it here and get feedback )

And the busts I agree with, they're mainly just placeholders, as I'm not too fond of the art yet

As for the first battle, yes, you're supposed to survive even if you die because really, you probably died because you didn't equip anything. It serves as a reminder that equipment is REALLY important (as equipment defines all stats in the game) and the warning I gave beforehand is easily skipped over. All fights afterwards will definitely kill you though xD

As for the smaller details, I'll look into those right away I knew there were spelling mistakes but I wanted to finetune the system before I worried about that (heck, I only added the music right before uploading ).

EDIT: Quick question, were you able to save?

WAHAAAH, now I see what you mean with Aethium Arts being undefined. I had some text in front of it beforehand but I cut it for some reason

 

[interplay]

Wow, thx for the feedback

I'll work on the trees a bit, the problem I had with them is that, if there were too many of them the map would feel very... claustrophobic.

I'm also kind of confused as to what you're getting at, you tell me there is too much text, but that the concepts aren't explained enough? Considering these things are "normal" in this universe, it would be odd for them to explain them all. I was planning on adding lore books later that explained the concepts in more detail. (since I'm a visual novel reader I found the amount of text really low, that's why I decided to post it here and get feedback )

And the busts I agree with, they're mainly just placeholders, as I'm not too fond of the art yet

As for the first battle, yes, you're supposed to survive even if you die because really, you probably died because you didn't equip anything. It serves as a reminder that equipment is REALLY important (as equipment defines all stats in the game) and the warning I gave beforehand is easily skipped over. All fights afterwards will definitely kill you though xD

As for the smaller details, I'll look into those right away I knew there were spelling mistakes but I wanted to finetune the system before I worried about that (heck, I only added the music right before uploading ).

EDIT: Quick question, were you able to save?

WAHAAAH, now I see what you mean with Aethium Arts being undefined. I had some text in front of it beforehand but I cut it for some reason

No problem. I like the concept, it has the potential to be great.

I'm fine with the number of trees, just try positioning some of them to the outside edges besides the exit. That way, the player knows exactly where to go.

What I'm trying to convey is that you should force less text on the players. Or at least provide explanations, but make them optional. Give the player a choice to read the explanations for the different mechanics. I also wasn't able to save the game like you said. Besides that, I wish you luck in your game development. I'll definitely give it another try in the near-future.

 

[Puebeck]

Haha, thx I don't think you found it yet, but there's a button to skip through the wall of text. If you hold SHIFT it should go much faster

 

[interplay]

Haha, thx I don't think you found it yet, but there's a button to skip through the wall of text. If you hold SHIFT it should go much faster

Yes, I know of it. But it can get pretty hectic for those who are willing to read the story and lore.

 

[Miss Nile]

Unfortunately, I don't have time to try out the demo but I like the story and setting of this game. It looks like you've put a lot of thought into this. ^^ I like how the art is unique as well. One thing I noticed from the screenshots though is that the art is inconsistent a bit? Like the style in the normal gameplay screen is really beautiful but the battle scene is ehh, more pixel-y? XD The characters' art too could be more improved and all. ^^

Good luck with this project. ) I'll try to have a go at the demo sometime. ^^