RMMV The Chevalier's Course (No Travel Game Jam Entry)

[Joker101]

The Chevalier's Course

​

With how things are currently going, I decided to join the No Travel Game Jam to pass the time and finally test some ideas that have been on the back burner. “The Chevalier’s Course” was a way for me to experiment with visual and mechanical elements that I would like to implement into my main project as well as worldbuilding for this smaller project. This entry is short and contained, but I had a lot of fun making it!

SYNOPSIS

Spoiler

Join our freshly appointed Cherry Chevalier, Baylee as she braves the sugary depths of the Confection Kingdom Sewers. The Princess's treasured necklace was stolen by a nimble monster and you're the girl for the job! Feast your eyes upon the mysterious and dangerous creatures that will try to stop you! Baylee may be alone, but her spirit and tenacity will see this mission to the end.

Battle your way through four (4) floors of colorful creatures with expressive animations in this bite-sized story! Show them what it means to be a one-man army, using a plethora of items tandem with Baylee's growing arsenal of tantalizing tactics to maximize your chances of sweet victory!

In “The Chevalier’s Course”, the player controls a single character as they battle through various enemies in turn-based combat; you will be outnumbered, but will have the advantage of using an item before you act to keep yourself shipshape. Furthermore, Baylee’s sheer tenacity will give her a leg-up should she find herself in danger; play dangerously to reap this benefit or play cautiously and make use of the benefit when it comes!

Estimated playtime is 30-40min.

Currently available for Windows and Mac!

IMAGES/SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

DOWNLOAD LINK

Spoiler

The Chevalier's Course by Joker_101

Brave the sewers and retrieve the Royal Necklace!

joker-101.itch.io

CREDITS
Special Thanks to:

-Yanfly (Plug-ins)

-Himeworks (Plug-ins)

-Galv (Plug-ins)

-Moghunter (Plug-ins)

-Modern Algebra (Plug-ins)

-SumRndmDde (Plug-ins)

-Iavra (Plug-ins)

-RM CoreScript Team (Plug-ins)

-TrueCynder (Special enemy idea)

 

[Wazzzyki]

Whooo!~

What a ride! The game really made me go serious towards the end game.

Things I liked:

* Very nice intro, appreciated having to choose whether to know a bit of backstory.
* The music really fits the game.
* The mechanics of being healed after leveling up is a nice way of making players get risky and gamble on not healing to save up items.
* Nice animation of having defeated enemies bounce back before disappearing.
* Passive is really handy but also very risky come end game because you might miscalculate and end up not surviving the damage
* Cutscenes are simple but well done.
* The giant jelly not letting you pass was hilarious.
* Plus points for giving out that info why monster are on the sewers.
* Feature of having enemies you flee from stay in the map, both nice and frustrating if one is low on health and supplies- I don't suggest removing it though as it adds to the challenge.
* Megumi coiling up was cute haha.

Things to point out:

* Name was Bailey instead of Baylee during the tips regarding the "ramen."
* The area where you jump over to reach the three items on the ground- you jump over the first item and does not pick it up-you had to move and step on it again.
* Same as jumping over an enemy, it does not trigger a fight- they just pass through.
* Eye beam, Flambe, Sour Surge, and the other skill of Megumi- animation happens on top-right of Baylee instead of hitting directly.
* The Gear being accessible on the vending machine seems unnecessary.
* You also have triumphent instead of triumphant in the ending narration.
* Upon picking up Recipes- maybe have a tip pop up that says where to go and learn it? Some might overlook it since it can't be spotted immediately because it is in the key items. I first thought it would be used for a cooking function later and almost not check it out lols.
* Not a fan of the animation going down the stairs.
* What was that ticking sound and flashing of Baylee after fleeing?

All in all, the game is fairly challenging, I had to be more careful after easily using up two ramens early game. Also started to avoid encounters upon reaching max level, since I no longer have the heal benefit- I was also already speedrunning it at this point hehe.
Nonetheless, this one really gave me that gameboy-game feels... The design suits the theme perfectly for me too.

Personal Note: I think your game really has potential. Maybe you can build up the story more and have another chapter for the game, as I've said, it got me invested as I thought I was doing a play-through of a bigger game. Props for the job well done!

Spoiler: Cutie Megumi xD

 

[Joker101]

Sorry for the late reply, but I'm glad you enjoyed my little project! Definitely had fun experimenting with new mechanics and visuals; in the end it gave me newfound confidence and materials to work with for my main project. Thank you very much for also providing a detailed critique, there was a lot to do and unfortunately I was unable to fine tune some aspects as much as I would've liked but live and learn. I appreciate any and all feedback when I can get it! As for the flashing and ticking sound that happens when Baylee flees, it is supposed to be an indicator that you cannot get into another encounter until Baylee stops flashing. I would like to expand upon this project, though it'll be on the back burner for a bit longer.

 

[hiddenone]

I gave your game a try, I enjoyed the art and story quite a bit but felt the battles could use a bit more work.

Spoiler: Feedback

⦁ The custom art is nice, though I almost feel like you could've gone for the full drawn look instead of sticking to pixels. The drawn Jelli on the title screen was a lot cuter than the in-battle sprited one, I would've preferred to see more art like that (though I do understand it was all done under a time constraint)

⦁ The pauses after periods threw me off a bit when reading. I don't think you really need them, but if you want them then maybe make them optional for fast readers?

⦁ Why do Abilities have 'Chg' listed for the cost but Baylee's bar says 'SP'?

⦁ Baylee's animations during battles are pretty cute and well done

⦁ Try to be consistent when mapping edges, there are a few spots where I thought I'd be able to go to a new map but couldn't. If you don't want to have solid walls on the map edges, then please consider having transfer markers so the player knows right away if they can go that way or not

⦁ Since there seems to only be Baylee as a team member, why not have the Ability Recipes automatically teach her the skills? Having to go into the Items menu to activate them seems like an unneeded step

⦁ Lycheye's Eye Beam seems to hit above Baylee, not on her battler

⦁ The game said Baylee learned Cure, but it's not an option in any menu???

⦁ While that battles are interesting, there is a big spike in power between things like the Jellis and things like the Lycheye or Mussel, which makes some of the fights feel unfair because I have to use so many items to stay alive

⦁ Oooh, I just realized Flambe hits all the enemies... It may be a good idea to explain that better in the skill description

⦁ While I can understand having a max level to keep things balanced, it does mean that I have no real reason to fight any more normal enemies

⦁ The ending was well done, but I feel bad about beating up Megumi... I wish there'd been a way to trade with her instead, maybe she would've liked some cake? That's mostly due to her cute design though

Overall, I really did enjoy the style of the game, but I wish the battles were funner to match the rest of the game better. It's tough to balance battles and I can understand it not being perfect since there was a deadline, but if you do come back to this one I hope you can give the battles more love and polish. Good luck with your projects!

 

[Joker101]

Thank you for playing through my entry and sharing your experience! The "Chg" was a leftover from my initial resource name, "Charge"; forgot to change that. The animations not properly lining up with where Bailey was is something I've yet to figure out, I think it has something to do with how the sprites are anchored but it is something I'm aware of. After some feedback with others, I will remove the pauses in the textboxes; initially I liked the tone it could give but it creates a weird pause for people trying to either load the entire message or progress through it. I thought I had fixed the cure skill in the 1.0.1 version but I guess that might've slipped through again. It seems Megumi has been a fan favorite and I have TrueCynder to thank for that; they brought the idea up. Thank you again for the great feedback!