Festival-Temple
Rookie
I spent two hours making a gigantic post here that was awesome, but the site logged me out so it's gone and now I'm pissed.
Just pretend there's a cool post here.
Just pretend there's a cool post here.
RPG-Maker Project
- Thread starter Festival-Temple
- Start date
UrbanMasque
Everyone Wears a Mask
Festival-Temple said:
I sympathize
Yeah I'm kinda waiting on a follow up too.
Festival-Temple
Rookie
I've been screwing around with an rpg-maker project for a few months (mostly just as a test of willpower) and got the idea from a couple people here to keep up some kind of blog-like thing for thoughts and suggestions. I'll make an impenetrable wall of text about it once I'm through with stuff today.
UghRochester
https://www.twitch.tv/ughrochester
You all can thank me for bringing Festy here 
I suggested to him to make an entry here. While I couldn't hear him that well during his stream, I heard he was making an RPG game and though maybe you guys might be interested. I am.
I suggested to him to make an entry here. While I couldn't hear him that well during his stream, I heard he was making an RPG game and though maybe you guys might be interested. I am.
Festival-Temple
Rookie
StudioTan: the latest is "VX-Ace," which I got on a Steam sale. Missed the 75% off deal, but managed to catch the 50% one. Even knowing I'm probably not going to see a project through to completion, it can still be pretty addictive.
This is gonna be a whole bunch of junk in no particular order, so enter at your own risk. For most of the game, the player's party will have these five characters (temporary names are P.Def/P.Atk/M.Atk/Items/M.Def). Any four can be in battle at a time, with the remaining one playing a special role I'll explain later. Here's a rundown of what equipment they can use, some example skills, and the plot/gameplay so far.
All shields and armors reduce speed by varying degrees. Obviously heavier/larger = slower.
P.Def:
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Axes
          Low damage.
      Hammers
          Medium damage. Can't use large shields.
      Spears
          High damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
      Heavy
P.Atk
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Knives
          Low damage. Allow use of all shields.
      Claws
          Medium damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Swords
          High damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
      Heavy
M.Atk
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Wands
          Low damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Staves
          Low damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
Item-User
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Guns
          Variable damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Novelties
          Low damage. Allow use of small shields.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
M.Def
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Bows
          Medium damage. No shield use.
      Staves
          Low damage. No shield use.
    Armors:
      Light
      Medium
After the player's gotten all five characters, only the first four in the formation will actively be in battle. Whoever is left in the fifth slot will take up a "commander" role while there, giving a passive buff to everyone else. Here's some skill ideas to get across some of what the characters' normal battle roles will be, but it's definitely not a complete list.
Major category options during battle:
Attack/Block - self-explanatory.
Skills/Spells - abilities that usually spend some MP, known in this setting as sol.
Use - makes use of specialty items unavailable to most characters. Item-User is the only character who has this for much of the game, but it can eventually be granted to another of the player's choice.
Limit or Overdrive or some other jrpg term - temporary name for special abilities that draw from a different gauge than sol, known as astra.
Items - self-explanatory.
(I did have an enormous list of all characters' skills here, but I've moved it to a google doc for ease of management.)
Elemental relationships are hard to explain in text, but mine is just an overlapping paper-rock-scissors situation:
There also exist "Follow-up" type of attacks which you're able to trigger by using things in the right order. The player might discover some of these on their own, or locate recipes for more obscure ones. For example, if Item-User has a gun equipped and takes a shot right after an ally does their basic attack, the player can trigger Double-Tap for an extra shot. If Crescent Slash is used right after Enflame, they can trigger Fiery Slash or something. I like this idea of holding off and waiting a little so you can do things in the right order to trigger such special moves, but I haven't come up with many yet and would like some ideas for more if anybody feels like coming up with them. I have Follow-Ups working and functional without any outside scripts, but because of their nature it will be better to hold off programming more in until all other skills are worked out.
I've always found "cure-all negative states" abilities to be extremely overpowered, so I'm breaking mine up into categories. The best the player will regularly be able to manage is one category at a time: "cure all bodily effects," "cleanse all curses," etc. There are some weird extra states I have planned, but the major ones are currently:
Body:
Blind - Accuracy halved.
Poison - Receive damage over time.
Sleep - Can’t take action. Evasion zero. Heal slowly over time. Removed by receiving a physical attack.
Dizzy - Chance to fall when taking action.
Bleed - Receive heavy damage if taking action. No damage if no action is taken.
Sick - Received healing items have reversed effects
Curse:
Pity - Can’t access “Attackâ€
This is gonna be a whole bunch of junk in no particular order, so enter at your own risk. For most of the game, the player's party will have these five characters (temporary names are P.Def/P.Atk/M.Atk/Items/M.Def). Any four can be in battle at a time, with the remaining one playing a special role I'll explain later. Here's a rundown of what equipment they can use, some example skills, and the plot/gameplay so far.
All shields and armors reduce speed by varying degrees. Obviously heavier/larger = slower.
P.Def:
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Axes
          Low damage.
      Hammers
          Medium damage. Can't use large shields.
      Spears
          High damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
      Heavy
P.Atk
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Knives
          Low damage. Allow use of all shields.
      Claws
          Medium damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Swords
          High damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
      Heavy
M.Atk
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Wands
          Low damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Staves
          Low damage. No shield use.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
Item-User
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Guns
          Variable damage. Allow use of small shields.
      Novelties
          Low damage. Allow use of small shields.
    Wearable Armors:
      Light
      Medium
M.Def
    Wieldable Weapons:
      Bows
          Medium damage. No shield use.
      Staves
          Low damage. No shield use.
    Armors:
      Light
      Medium
After the player's gotten all five characters, only the first four in the formation will actively be in battle. Whoever is left in the fifth slot will take up a "commander" role while there, giving a passive buff to everyone else. Here's some skill ideas to get across some of what the characters' normal battle roles will be, but it's definitely not a complete list.
Major category options during battle:
Attack/Block - self-explanatory.
Skills/Spells - abilities that usually spend some MP, known in this setting as sol.
Use - makes use of specialty items unavailable to most characters. Item-User is the only character who has this for much of the game, but it can eventually be granted to another of the player's choice.
Limit or Overdrive or some other jrpg term - temporary name for special abilities that draw from a different gauge than sol, known as astra.
Items - self-explanatory.
(I did have an enormous list of all characters' skills here, but I've moved it to a google doc for ease of management.)
Elemental relationships are hard to explain in text, but mine is just an overlapping paper-rock-scissors situation:
There also exist "Follow-up" type of attacks which you're able to trigger by using things in the right order. The player might discover some of these on their own, or locate recipes for more obscure ones. For example, if Item-User has a gun equipped and takes a shot right after an ally does their basic attack, the player can trigger Double-Tap for an extra shot. If Crescent Slash is used right after Enflame, they can trigger Fiery Slash or something. I like this idea of holding off and waiting a little so you can do things in the right order to trigger such special moves, but I haven't come up with many yet and would like some ideas for more if anybody feels like coming up with them. I have Follow-Ups working and functional without any outside scripts, but because of their nature it will be better to hold off programming more in until all other skills are worked out.
I've always found "cure-all negative states" abilities to be extremely overpowered, so I'm breaking mine up into categories. The best the player will regularly be able to manage is one category at a time: "cure all bodily effects," "cleanse all curses," etc. There are some weird extra states I have planned, but the major ones are currently:
Body:
Blind - Accuracy halved.
Poison - Receive damage over time.
Sleep - Can’t take action. Evasion zero. Heal slowly over time. Removed by receiving a physical attack.
Dizzy - Chance to fall when taking action.
Bleed - Receive heavy damage if taking action. No damage if no action is taken.
Sick - Received healing items have reversed effects
Curse:
Pity - Can’t access “Attackâ€
Festival-Temple
Rookie
Post broke plz halp
Festival-Temple
Rookie
^Â
Festival-Temple
Rookie
It gave me a debug error every time I tried to post so I assumed it wasn't working, but apparently they all went through.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!Festival-Temple said:
UrbanMasque
Everyone Wears a Mask
Festival-Temple said:
Wow... this is beautiful!
but, where's the story?!
PDef. (i get his motivation), but does P.Atk join to help out because they are guilted into it - or in the same sort of situation as PDef? Since P.Atk is a tank of an escort is he tasked with helping young P.Def on this journey and only sees it as a assignment from the elders?
M.Atk is a runaway wizard living in a swamp and has powerful fire magic at his disposal. Sounds like a shady non-trustworthy type character who probably looks something like this:
I really want to know about these characters. Have you given any thought to the gender & races of these characters or maybe a love story arc? Is there a godlike villian that makes themselves known later or will it be someone like a king who wants to manipulate the circumstance to their benefit?
Will you have a lot more of the "protect the VIP type battles" like the first mission?
StudioTan
Regular
Thanks for suggesting 'The Witch's House,' Matt. I downloaded it last night and played quite a bit of it. It's like a house of horrors game. I like it! I'll probably play more tonight.
Festy, with all the work you've sank into this, it would be a shame not to finish it. There are so many unique ideas here: the commander role, the lunar cycle, follow-up combos; this game sounds awesome!
I'm not the brightest bulb in the errrr bulb box, so take my suggestions with a shard of lun:
What if M.Atk has gotten a little overzealous with practicing magic on these lesser monsters of the swamp, and has stumbled too deep into the area and become trapped by an encroaching firestorm he/she has created. Discovering M.Atk's location amidst the fire could perhaps serve as a puzzle for this area. The party could explain to M.Atk why there are monsters suddenly appearing in the swamps, and while escorting him/her back to town, the party could explain their mission to rid the area of these fragments of lun. M.Atk is reluctant at first, and seeks guidance from wise master senpai who urges M.Atk to join the party, as it could be great experience for channeling this unmanageable magic.
The party could head to the next town to in an attempt to warn others of this potential blight, and to keep it from spilling out into the surrounding areas. Once they arrive, they could find the town almost completely destroyed. They meet M.Def who is trying in vain to desperately revive his/her loved ones. This could be sufficient motivation for M.Def to join the party and fight for their cause.
I really like the idea of those shortcuts and hidden areas. When will they meet the Item-user? If later in the game, perhaps the party could revisit previous areas to open hidden paths to surprise optional bosses guarding some rewarding loot items. These paths could be blocked by obstacles requiring a certain crafted item to access.
I wish I could offer some suggestions for the follow-up combos; that sounds really interesting. Hope you finish this game; I would love to play it. I'd even pay money for it. I'm sure the ideas I've suggested sound pretty generic, but ehhh, it's all I've got.
Festy, with all the work you've sank into this, it would be a shame not to finish it. There are so many unique ideas here: the commander role, the lunar cycle, follow-up combos; this game sounds awesome!
I'm not the brightest bulb in the errrr bulb box, so take my suggestions with a shard of lun:
What if M.Atk has gotten a little overzealous with practicing magic on these lesser monsters of the swamp, and has stumbled too deep into the area and become trapped by an encroaching firestorm he/she has created. Discovering M.Atk's location amidst the fire could perhaps serve as a puzzle for this area. The party could explain to M.Atk why there are monsters suddenly appearing in the swamps, and while escorting him/her back to town, the party could explain their mission to rid the area of these fragments of lun. M.Atk is reluctant at first, and seeks guidance from wise master senpai who urges M.Atk to join the party, as it could be great experience for channeling this unmanageable magic.
The party could head to the next town to in an attempt to warn others of this potential blight, and to keep it from spilling out into the surrounding areas. Once they arrive, they could find the town almost completely destroyed. They meet M.Def who is trying in vain to desperately revive his/her loved ones. This could be sufficient motivation for M.Def to join the party and fight for their cause.
I really like the idea of those shortcuts and hidden areas. When will they meet the Item-user? If later in the game, perhaps the party could revisit previous areas to open hidden paths to surprise optional bosses guarding some rewarding loot items. These paths could be blocked by obstacles requiring a certain crafted item to access.
I wish I could offer some suggestions for the follow-up combos; that sounds really interesting. Hope you finish this game; I would love to play it. I'd even pay money for it. I'm sure the ideas I've suggested sound pretty generic, but ehhh, it's all I've got.
^No worries, glad you like it! Look up both endings if you can!
Festy, that sounds awesome! If an RPG is more complex (in a good way), it's more interesting. More stuff can happen to you (all the lunar stuff sounds pretty good), and it will keep me on my toes. Also liking the elemental wheel there. Water having 2 weaknesses and 2 strengths...DO I GAMBLE?!
Regarding your drawing style - love it. Would like to know what a colour drawing would look like. But your "style" is unique enough to warrant a personal image. I can picture people seeing your drawings and go, "OH, that's from that game!"
Festy, that sounds awesome! If an RPG is more complex (in a good way), it's more interesting. More stuff can happen to you (all the lunar stuff sounds pretty good), and it will keep me on my toes. Also liking the elemental wheel there. Water having 2 weaknesses and 2 strengths...DO I GAMBLE?!
Regarding your drawing style - love it. Would like to know what a colour drawing would look like. But your "style" is unique enough to warrant a personal image. I can picture people seeing your drawings and go, "OH, that's from that game!"
Festival-Temple
Rookie
I didn't want to go past that malware thing, so I waited for it to blow over. I haven't done a lot, so here's a small update with lots of random things.
To address some questions and ideas: I literally flipped a coin for genders when I started, and the main cast worked out to F-F-F-M-F. I doubt there will be romantic sub-plots, at least involving any of them. I'd like the general tone to be lighthearted, with only one or two of them serious about dealing with the main plot and the others just kinda tagging along.
P.Def is a miner from the starting town, and will be something like a mix between Gourry Gabriev and Recette Lemongrass in terms of personality--ignorant of the world and socially unaware to act as an audience surrogate by having things explained to them all the time. Hopelessly optimistic. Almost literally been living under a rock.
P.Atk is either a mercenary or an outright assassin. I'm thinking they join for money initially, then practicality (it's useful having strong allies), then only later out of friendship or obligation toward the goal of stopping more lunar-falls. I haven't decided on much of a personality, but I'm thinking intelligent, crafty, tactful, and a talented liar.
I'm leaning on M.Atk being a runaway of the Naota Nandaba variety; "Acting way too old for their age" to counter P.Def's "acting way too young" demeanor. They're seeking to prove their usefulness and maturity, but get in way over their head with problems they can't handle. Probably a know-it-all and easily embarrassed.
With a little thought, I've taken to Item-User as an orphaned foreigner, either a recent refugee or the child of spies. They aren't able to speak much of the common language beyond getting across basic ideas, but having grown up in a region with different technology, they can make use of very creative problem-solving. They've probably been rendered homeless recently, so the personality I want to go with might be called apprehensive innocence--unassuming and respectful, but extremely cautious and easily frightened.
M.Def will be quite secretive (though the secret will be obvious to attentive players), and perhaps the only one seriously dedicated to stopping the catastrophes, and the only one with a hint of knowledge how to do it. Maybe a little two-faced? Nice on the outside, but somewhat vengeful and cruel if things get serious? Not certain yet, but it can wait.
I hadn't considered other "protect the VIP"-type battles, but a couple plot-relevant ones might be interesting.
Incorporating fire into the swamp's puzzles is a good idea. My only plan there so far has been having two floors--a surface and underground. You'd throw sticks in front of you to see which places are safe to step on and which aren't, slowly mapping out an invisible maze. If you step on a place that isn't safe, you get dropped below where the creatures are much harder and have to fight your way back out. Certain underground portions will contain rare treasures, so if you take note of where those are, falling in the right place can be advantageous. Maybe you run out of sticks and have to rely on hints? Mehh.
That was a suggestion from a friend of mine, but it really feels less like a puzzle and more like brute force trial-and-error. Maybe I can use it for the first portion (before finding M.Atk), and incorporate fire into later sections of the swamp somehow.
The mine's puzzles feel kiiinda stupid, but they're almost done so it's too late to turn back now. The only necessary one involves a set of switches where you have to align four tracks so a cart can cross the gap they span, but the problem is the gears are rusty, so moving one track also moves the ones immediately next to it. For example if it's ABCD, and you pull the switch for C, it will move B and D as well, becoming ABCD. All four switches are on different corners of the cave, meant to punish players who don't think the solution through or just hit every switch they come across with no plan.
At the third floor down (no puzzles this time), the mine's enemies start getting weird. The boss will probably be a summoner who's taken refuge deep in the mountain to escape the effects of the crashed lun piece. They'll initially summon some kind of healing creature, casting healing spells on itself and the summoner (whoever's proportionally more injured). A few turns later, they'll summon a physical attacker to start making the party really hurt. I'm thinking this same character will make appearances throughout the game as an improving miniboss. Each time you see him, he's learned to bring out even tougher and trickier creatures to deal with you.
My current plan for this setting is that summoners are genetic freaks with something like ten times as much sol as a normal person, giving them access a much deeper well of magic potential, coming at the cost of making them far more crippled by lunlight. This culminates in the ability to create new life at will. Because of this power, they normally grow up seeing other lives as expendable, developing a sociopathy and detachment from reality. They're probably so rare that only two or three summoners are alive at any given moment. The even rarer one that manages to resist their natural craziness probably becomes a religious figurehead of the age, something like a pope?
I've decided to incorporate elemental traits into armor, making them important more often. An iron breastplate with "fire affinity" would resist ice but be weak to water. Stronger versions could be available through crafting, changing it to "fire infused"--absorbing fire attacks into health, totally nullifying ice, but becoming extremely vulnerable to water. The question if I do that is, what do I do with M.Def's elemental "infusion" spells which mostly do the same thing? Leave them as-is and allow stacking with/against a character's armor, or change them to have some other effect?
Came up with a few more skills, and categorized status effects like some older SMT games did. Also got a Scan skill working for item-user. Having somebody who can hardly talk be the one informing you about strengths and weaknesses will be silly.
I had this weird gimmicky idea for a a set of two beneficial status effects. Haven't decided what they do at all, but if both are on a character at once, they die. My gut instinct was to call them "light" and "darkness," but considering those already play a role in the plot elsewhere it might be confusing. "Yin" and "Yang"? "Angel" and "Demon"? "Coke" and "Mentos"? What would they do individually? They'd probably only come up in a specific boss fight who would inflict them on people. If both states hit the same person, they die the following turn. How could I make that fair? Telegraph which type of attack the boss is about to inflict predictably, so the player has time to prepare for it? Make it a set pattern?
A tiny bit more weirdo minimalist concept art.
Same P.Def image.
M.Atk
Doodles. P.Atk? Gotta change the hair.
To address some questions and ideas: I literally flipped a coin for genders when I started, and the main cast worked out to F-F-F-M-F. I doubt there will be romantic sub-plots, at least involving any of them. I'd like the general tone to be lighthearted, with only one or two of them serious about dealing with the main plot and the others just kinda tagging along.
P.Def is a miner from the starting town, and will be something like a mix between Gourry Gabriev and Recette Lemongrass in terms of personality--ignorant of the world and socially unaware to act as an audience surrogate by having things explained to them all the time. Hopelessly optimistic. Almost literally been living under a rock.
P.Atk is either a mercenary or an outright assassin. I'm thinking they join for money initially, then practicality (it's useful having strong allies), then only later out of friendship or obligation toward the goal of stopping more lunar-falls. I haven't decided on much of a personality, but I'm thinking intelligent, crafty, tactful, and a talented liar.
I'm leaning on M.Atk being a runaway of the Naota Nandaba variety; "Acting way too old for their age" to counter P.Def's "acting way too young" demeanor. They're seeking to prove their usefulness and maturity, but get in way over their head with problems they can't handle. Probably a know-it-all and easily embarrassed.
With a little thought, I've taken to Item-User as an orphaned foreigner, either a recent refugee or the child of spies. They aren't able to speak much of the common language beyond getting across basic ideas, but having grown up in a region with different technology, they can make use of very creative problem-solving. They've probably been rendered homeless recently, so the personality I want to go with might be called apprehensive innocence--unassuming and respectful, but extremely cautious and easily frightened.
M.Def will be quite secretive (though the secret will be obvious to attentive players), and perhaps the only one seriously dedicated to stopping the catastrophes, and the only one with a hint of knowledge how to do it. Maybe a little two-faced? Nice on the outside, but somewhat vengeful and cruel if things get serious? Not certain yet, but it can wait.
I hadn't considered other "protect the VIP"-type battles, but a couple plot-relevant ones might be interesting.
Incorporating fire into the swamp's puzzles is a good idea. My only plan there so far has been having two floors--a surface and underground. You'd throw sticks in front of you to see which places are safe to step on and which aren't, slowly mapping out an invisible maze. If you step on a place that isn't safe, you get dropped below where the creatures are much harder and have to fight your way back out. Certain underground portions will contain rare treasures, so if you take note of where those are, falling in the right place can be advantageous. Maybe you run out of sticks and have to rely on hints? Mehh.
That was a suggestion from a friend of mine, but it really feels less like a puzzle and more like brute force trial-and-error. Maybe I can use it for the first portion (before finding M.Atk), and incorporate fire into later sections of the swamp somehow.
The mine's puzzles feel kiiinda stupid, but they're almost done so it's too late to turn back now. The only necessary one involves a set of switches where you have to align four tracks so a cart can cross the gap they span, but the problem is the gears are rusty, so moving one track also moves the ones immediately next to it. For example if it's ABCD, and you pull the switch for C, it will move B and D as well, becoming ABCD. All four switches are on different corners of the cave, meant to punish players who don't think the solution through or just hit every switch they come across with no plan.
At the third floor down (no puzzles this time), the mine's enemies start getting weird. The boss will probably be a summoner who's taken refuge deep in the mountain to escape the effects of the crashed lun piece. They'll initially summon some kind of healing creature, casting healing spells on itself and the summoner (whoever's proportionally more injured). A few turns later, they'll summon a physical attacker to start making the party really hurt. I'm thinking this same character will make appearances throughout the game as an improving miniboss. Each time you see him, he's learned to bring out even tougher and trickier creatures to deal with you.
My current plan for this setting is that summoners are genetic freaks with something like ten times as much sol as a normal person, giving them access a much deeper well of magic potential, coming at the cost of making them far more crippled by lunlight. This culminates in the ability to create new life at will. Because of this power, they normally grow up seeing other lives as expendable, developing a sociopathy and detachment from reality. They're probably so rare that only two or three summoners are alive at any given moment. The even rarer one that manages to resist their natural craziness probably becomes a religious figurehead of the age, something like a pope?
I've decided to incorporate elemental traits into armor, making them important more often. An iron breastplate with "fire affinity" would resist ice but be weak to water. Stronger versions could be available through crafting, changing it to "fire infused"--absorbing fire attacks into health, totally nullifying ice, but becoming extremely vulnerable to water. The question if I do that is, what do I do with M.Def's elemental "infusion" spells which mostly do the same thing? Leave them as-is and allow stacking with/against a character's armor, or change them to have some other effect?
Came up with a few more skills, and categorized status effects like some older SMT games did. Also got a Scan skill working for item-user. Having somebody who can hardly talk be the one informing you about strengths and weaknesses will be silly.
I had this weird gimmicky idea for a a set of two beneficial status effects. Haven't decided what they do at all, but if both are on a character at once, they die. My gut instinct was to call them "light" and "darkness," but considering those already play a role in the plot elsewhere it might be confusing. "Yin" and "Yang"? "Angel" and "Demon"? "Coke" and "Mentos"? What would they do individually? They'd probably only come up in a specific boss fight who would inflict them on people. If both states hit the same person, they die the following turn. How could I make that fair? Telegraph which type of attack the boss is about to inflict predictably, so the player has time to prepare for it? Make it a set pattern?
A tiny bit more weirdo minimalist concept art.
Same P.Def image.
M.Atk
Doodles. P.Atk? Gotta change the hair.
