You Are Not The Hero [now on Early Access]

[Winterfate]

So I played the game. It is pretty fun. I got four out of five stars (got caught twice, sadly). The game is extremely well-done and I hope you keep working on it. It's definitely an interesting change of pace from the average RPG (the self-aware humor and fourth wall breaking is awesome as well).

Awesome work seita!

 

[seita]

Thanks Jay and Winterfate for the votes of confidence! The game has come a long way since the demo that's up there. I'll post an updated screenie of the escape event for reference. The next release should be a completely finished Chapter 1 with 75-80% of Chapter 2, which is much longer.

 ​

 

[seita]

You Are Not The Hero version 2.0, for Release Something Weekend has been uploaded! Please try it out to your hearts content, because our hearts will never be content without Petula!

 

[Jarrad]

Just reviewed the game! Here's the blog post.

http://jarradrm.blogspot.com/2013/05/jarrads-reviews-you-are-not-hero-demo.html

 

[JacobM]

Uhhh... Just started your game... and I'm hooked!

 

[omen613]

Just finished the Demo, and I very much enjoyed it. You have a talent at making mini games entertaining. Keep up the good work!

(the ghost mini game was my fav)

 

[seita]

Sorry for the late reply guys, I'm very glad that you liked YANTH so far!


On a side note, I just posted a 'blog' post for YANTH on the main topic, at the very bottom. I'll post it here as well:


Choices, Choices. Edited 5/19/13


Hey guys! First off I just wanted to thank everyone who's tried, commented on, supported, believed, reviewed, and interacted with You Are Not The Hero! It's all of your support, whether big or small that really keep me going.


I'm at a point of development where I can take some creative liberties, and I've decided this time to consider everyone's opinions directly by asking exactly what you want. Now that more people have tried the demo and it has gotten relatively wide exposure, this is a good time to get some creative insight into how everyone plays the game.


I have questions regarding various points of development on the game, and I'd like it if you chose between my choices, or suggest your own if you really believe in something else. If you have time, explain your choice a little bit.


Story:


As you know, YANTH isn't exactly about story, it's more about gameplay and 4th wall humor. However there have been some people who wish to know more about the story and the world, taking an interest in the game at a deeper level than what I had originally planned.


The question is, should I flesh out the story and the world more to give YANTH more depth? Would this add to your experience so far with the game, or create an unnecessary tangent that detracts from it?

• Add more backstory and world history. Most likely through npc interaction, cutscenes, spy sequences, etc.
  Don't add anything more regarding story.
  

Characters:
The same question goes for the characters as the previous.


Do you want to learn more about the backstory of the characters, their motivations and feelings?

• Yes.
  No.
  

Gameplay:
YANTH was originally only about the gameplay. Minigames upon minigames, something similar to warioware with an RPG story tacked on. However, as time passed I began to craft a world where said minigames would make sense to play. World building to me is very fun.


Would it detract from your experience if Petula, the main character were to begin wielding weapons to fight monsters?

• Yes. She isn't the hero, it doesn't make sense to give her a weapon.
  No. Non-heroes can fight, they'd just be like soldiers for a town or other wandering travelers.
  

If Petula were to gain weapons and begin fighting, would you still play anyway if it was good?

• Yes. I don't see why not.
  No. This isn't why I play YANTH.
  

If the above were to be implemented, this would give YANTH another depth that it doesn't currently have, a battle system which would open up more hours of gameplay, albeit at the cost of some minigames. How do you feel about this?
Keep in mind that there will always be minigames and events like the first two chapters, just that the 'battle system' would be strewn about as well.

• Please elaborate on this response.

Graphics:
What are your feelings on the graphics for the game thus far? Do you think it could stand for some improvement or does it not factor in much to your enjoyment of the game?

• Please elaborate on this response.

 

[Dark Horseman]

Regarding your request for input:

Backstory: This is unnecessary because the player makes the conclusion that this is a fun game set in a cliche RPG world - they will fill in the rest with their imagination easily. Adding more backstory to the game will detract from other aspects such as comedy, gameplay, and game flow. You should keep the tone of the game with concerns only for the present (no flashbacks or long expositions), and just think: "would they honestly be giving each other a history lesson right now?" In short, less is more.

Weapons: Being able to wield a sword at all times would eliminate her novelty as a character. She becomes another "farmer turned hero" you see in every RPG. However, being able to wield a shovel for certain minigames to whack oblivious guards or drop pots on enemies would add to her character - think Dead Rising. Let her have comical weapons for certain parts of the game. A battle system would ruin the atmosphere you set unless the battle system was also part of a small minigame. Do not empower this character... her biggest draw is how disempowered and endearing she is.

Graphics: Better graphics are always nice but they come at the cost of time or real money. I think the character portraits and sprites are fine - you don't have to remake anything. However, if you want to add more mini-games with the graphic detail of the Kamehame Ha, they would really stand out. The feeling you get when you see an art piece as part of a random minigame is: "Whoa, lol, that is really awesome." Vibrant displays of awesomeness >>>> more graphics in maps and characters.

Something to address regarding people's demand for more, more, more, more is that being completely gratuitous to them will make the game worse. There are a few people who would say "I'd really like to explore your world!" or "When do we get to hear the love story between the female hero and male hero?", but honestly, the only reason they have this interest is because you left it to open to interpretation. In short, dangle parts of the game as bait, but don't just GIVE it to the player - they'll end up not caring anymore.

P.S. I was randomly disappointed when they pulled out the pizza, and after Petula's rant, the merchant didn't go, "What the hell is a pizza?"

 

[Simplestchaos]

Backstory: While I find myself interested in the backstory of the world in general, I do agree with Dark Horseman in the "Less is more" department. You can probably give minor details, similar to what you've been doing (Giving out names of the Big Bad, mentioning the evil army and what they're doing) and maybe do some "spy" scenes that inform the player on little bits of things. BUT, not too much. I feel that a deep story would probably over-complicate things when the game hasn't taken itself seriously so far. Honestly if you did start having things get taken seriously, it'd be mildly awkward in the setting you have. Though if you show the Big Bad at some point that'd probably be a good thing. lol

Character Backstory: I actually would love to see more information about the characters and their backstories, but I would be cautious of letting this overtake the gameplay. I don't really play this game for "Plot" so much, but for the comedy and minigames. So as long as you don't go too far with it I'd enjoy seeing more about the characters. 

Weapons and combat system: I can't actually add anything to what Dark Horseman said on this one, just assume I copy pasted his bit here.

Graphics: The graphics in a game have never been important to me personally (I think I've mentioned this to you once before), but that Kamehameha minigame was pretty amazing. If you can provide 'wowing' images like that for future minigames, that'd make me very happy. Flashy graphics are always fun. 

Would I play the game if it had a combat system, and gave backstory and everything else? Yeah, probably, since I'm pretty sure you'll still keep the core mechanics anyway. Getting more backstory wouldn't hurt the experience too much for me personally, but I still think you should hold off a bit and leave things to peoples' imaginations. And considering how you've handled the gameplay so far, I wouldn't be surprised if a combat system turned out to be really fun, but I still prefer the idea of doing minigames and doing sneak attacks or something.

Final analysis: Basically, continuing to make it the way you've been making it, and giving us new content is what I'd prefer, personally. But I won't be disappointed if you decided to give more information on the characters and backstory.

 

[seita]

Thanks for your inputs guys. I greatly appreciate it.

There will be no battle 'systems' however there will still be mechanics that add more depth to the game, hopefully in a way that won't hinder the gameplay as it is now.

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been slowly getting the player used to the movement system in the game. From sprinting and jumping over pitfalls, platforms and getting them to a shallow understanding of how to deal with enemies in the graveyard.

The following is probably the most "battle-like" scene the game will have. Although you won't be wielding a sword, you'll still be jumping, sprinting, avoiding and using a flashlight.

 

[Simplestchaos]

That's an awesome scene, I like it~ If that's the kind of battle scene you have planned then I approve. :3

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Seems cool... gonna download when I have time...

btw, how did you make it not need the RTP?  coz when I don't include the RTP in the compression of my projects, when I try it out on comps that don't have the RTP, it says "this requires the RPGMaker VXAce RTP" something...

I'm assuming yours doesn't check for the rtp or something since you said no RTP needed...

 

[seita]

hey adikt~ hope you'll get the time to try it out!

I believe you can open the Game.ini file with a basic text editor and remove the 'RPGVXAce' from the line 'RTP=RPGVXAce'.

I don't remember exactly if there were more steps to this, there's multiple threads on the forum about it or you can start a new one for yourself if this doesn't work.

Just remember that once you do this, while you're working on your project you won't see those RTP files in the resource manager. You have to add them yourself one at a time from the RTP directory on your computer into your personal project folder.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Oh... I see... yeah, I figured out that I'd add them one by one, but I didn't know how to remove the check...

I guess I'd just add them all at once then I'll just delete what I don't need or what I haven't used when its time to pack up the game...

Thanks a lot! and good luck on this project! It was a really nice idea... I hope my internet don't get buggy so that I'd get to finish downloading this b4 I go out...

 

[seita]

Instead of going backwards and deleting things you aren't using, it's usually a lot easier and less messy to delete everything at the start, and add things you will be using. This saves a lot of buggy playthroughs at the end. Thanks, hopefully your connection will get you through it!

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

well yeah... specially on the music part... but for animations,battlebacks and tilesets, it would be easier for me to just import them all... XD

btw, imported graphics are included in the encrypted archive right? (coz I don't see the graphics folder upon extraction)

 

[seita]

That's right, it's hidden via encryption so the player can't use your resources.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Yay, downloaded it... Though I won't probably be able to comment in around 5 days... XD...

 

[seita]

Take your time   I'll be here when you finish it.

 

[Lunarea]

Volrath has done an official review of You Are Not The Hero. You can read the blog article here.

(just figured I'd give a heads up in case anyone missed it. )