RPG-Maker Project
- Thread starter Festival-Temple
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Festival-Temple
Rookie
I'll do more image work once I have my tablet back.
Found a cool trick for squeezing way more into the damage formula than I thought was possible, so it looks like I'll be able to handle using it for a lot of the things I was instead using common events for. I'm going to mess around with it some more before I spend a couple days making the full transition over.
Realized I missed out on a cool puzzle possibility now that the mine's almost finished. I could have a binary switch puzzle in the form of raising/lowering a maze of columns, with the reason you can't lower all of them being that the ceiling would collapse if you did. Options now are to squeeze it in right before the boss, put it after the boss, or save it for another dungeon where the context of an unstable ceiling makes sense.
As it stands the first dungeon takes only seven minutes if you already know exactly what you're doing, get into zero fights, and skip collecting treasures and opening shortcuts. Absolutely no idea if that's long or short, or how long it will take to someone who's getting into fights and exploring. I don't want the player either getting too bored with how long it's taking or suddenly facing the boss when they expected more, so I'm not sure if adding another puzzle will make it a more "expected" length than it is now.
Can't get this item crafting script to function and nobody's willing to fix it for me for free.
Ideally the player selects ingredients (Dragon Quest 8, Monster Hunter Tri, etc.), but most of the systems people create are where the player instead selects which outcome they want from a recipe list. The "select outcome" method is crummy for a few reasons:
1: Only one way to skin a cat. If you want to include multiple ways of making the same thing (e.g. potion = green herb + blue mushroom OR blue slime), then both possibilities must be listed as separate choices, meaning the player sees "potion" twice because there's two ways to make it.
2: Ridiculously long lists. If I have fifty basic pieces of armor that could each be infused with one of five elements, that's potentially over 250 options you have to scroll through before actually hitting the thing you want to make.
3: No experimentation. You can't just mix together stuff you have in hopes of discovering something new.
If I cave and choose to go the "select outcome" route, then 1 and 3 I'm stuck with, but maybe 2 could be dealt with if there's some way to only show results you have the proper ingredients to make.
I don't know how to introduce this problem so here goes:
These words need to apply to both damage and healing effects.
1. Null = target is immune to whatever tried to cause the HP change
2. Resist = target has a smaller change in HP than the cause intended
3. (nothing) = target's HP is changed normally
4. ???? = target takes a larger change in HP than the cause intended
5. ???? = target's HP change is the reverse of the intention
What fills 4 and 5?
For 4, "Weakness" makes sense if I'm talking about damage (the enemy was weak to lightning -> you used lightning on it -> the word "Weakness" pops up with the damage to indicate it was stronger than usual). The problem is if somebody has an effect that causes potions or healing spells to have a greater effect on them, the "weakness" popup wouldn't make any sense. You're not "weak" to potions or heals! What fills in 4 as something that works for both damage and healing? "Extra"? "Plus"? "More"? "Sensitive"? "Susceptible"? "Bonus"?
5 is an even harder problem. For damage, "absorb" works well (enemy absorbs water attacks -> you used water on it -> enemy took that as health with the word "Absorb" popping up). For things intended to heal, that's crazytalk. If I have on a zombie state that reverses healing effects, and somebody tries to heal me so instead I take that as damage "absorb" is a really dumb thing to be next to the number. "Reverse" is a neutral popup between damage and healing, but sounds weird. I could leave it without any popup at all and let the player tell by the color/sound that an effect did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. Any ideas for either of these?
I wasn't using the Luck stat for much of anything. What it naturally does is a handful of dumb things I want reserved for skills/equipment, so I altered it to affect crit rates because I just had no other ideas for it. I decided to replace it with a stat called Tech. This could be short for "technology," "technique," or "technical knowledge," but it will basically be used to determine how effective that character is with using items. Atk/Def/Mag/Res/Tec: now each of the five characters has a corresponding stat. Cool!
I'm thinking certain potions will have very "fixed" effects, while others are more heavily influenced by your Tech stat, meaning different characters will have comparative advantages with different items at different points in the game. Economics!
I also have it affecting state-removal, but I'm not certain if I'm sticking to that, or if I do, how. For example, a character with Tech 20 might have a 50% chance of eyedrops they use curing blindness. The chance could change linearly as their Tech levels up (30 means 75% chance) to Tech 40+ giving a probability greater than 1, making the blindness cure guaranteed beyond that point. Do I do it gradually like that, or are harder lines better? Like an "<40 always 2/3 chance, 40+ always guaranteed" kind of thing with clear breaks at certain numbers?
Found a cool trick for squeezing way more into the damage formula than I thought was possible, so it looks like I'll be able to handle using it for a lot of the things I was instead using common events for. I'm going to mess around with it some more before I spend a couple days making the full transition over.
Realized I missed out on a cool puzzle possibility now that the mine's almost finished. I could have a binary switch puzzle in the form of raising/lowering a maze of columns, with the reason you can't lower all of them being that the ceiling would collapse if you did. Options now are to squeeze it in right before the boss, put it after the boss, or save it for another dungeon where the context of an unstable ceiling makes sense.
As it stands the first dungeon takes only seven minutes if you already know exactly what you're doing, get into zero fights, and skip collecting treasures and opening shortcuts. Absolutely no idea if that's long or short, or how long it will take to someone who's getting into fights and exploring. I don't want the player either getting too bored with how long it's taking or suddenly facing the boss when they expected more, so I'm not sure if adding another puzzle will make it a more "expected" length than it is now.
Can't get this item crafting script to function and nobody's willing to fix it for me for free.
Ideally the player selects ingredients (Dragon Quest 8, Monster Hunter Tri, etc.), but most of the systems people create are where the player instead selects which outcome they want from a recipe list. The "select outcome" method is crummy for a few reasons:
1: Only one way to skin a cat. If you want to include multiple ways of making the same thing (e.g. potion = green herb + blue mushroom OR blue slime), then both possibilities must be listed as separate choices, meaning the player sees "potion" twice because there's two ways to make it.
2: Ridiculously long lists. If I have fifty basic pieces of armor that could each be infused with one of five elements, that's potentially over 250 options you have to scroll through before actually hitting the thing you want to make.
3: No experimentation. You can't just mix together stuff you have in hopes of discovering something new.
If I cave and choose to go the "select outcome" route, then 1 and 3 I'm stuck with, but maybe 2 could be dealt with if there's some way to only show results you have the proper ingredients to make.
I don't know how to introduce this problem so here goes:
These words need to apply to both damage and healing effects.
1. Null = target is immune to whatever tried to cause the HP change
2. Resist = target has a smaller change in HP than the cause intended
3. (nothing) = target's HP is changed normally
4. ???? = target takes a larger change in HP than the cause intended
5. ???? = target's HP change is the reverse of the intention
What fills 4 and 5?
For 4, "Weakness" makes sense if I'm talking about damage (the enemy was weak to lightning -> you used lightning on it -> the word "Weakness" pops up with the damage to indicate it was stronger than usual). The problem is if somebody has an effect that causes potions or healing spells to have a greater effect on them, the "weakness" popup wouldn't make any sense. You're not "weak" to potions or heals! What fills in 4 as something that works for both damage and healing? "Extra"? "Plus"? "More"? "Sensitive"? "Susceptible"? "Bonus"?
5 is an even harder problem. For damage, "absorb" works well (enemy absorbs water attacks -> you used water on it -> enemy took that as health with the word "Absorb" popping up). For things intended to heal, that's crazytalk. If I have on a zombie state that reverses healing effects, and somebody tries to heal me so instead I take that as damage "absorb" is a really dumb thing to be next to the number. "Reverse" is a neutral popup between damage and healing, but sounds weird. I could leave it without any popup at all and let the player tell by the color/sound that an effect did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. Any ideas for either of these?
I wasn't using the Luck stat for much of anything. What it naturally does is a handful of dumb things I want reserved for skills/equipment, so I altered it to affect crit rates because I just had no other ideas for it. I decided to replace it with a stat called Tech. This could be short for "technology," "technique," or "technical knowledge," but it will basically be used to determine how effective that character is with using items. Atk/Def/Mag/Res/Tec: now each of the five characters has a corresponding stat. Cool!
I'm thinking certain potions will have very "fixed" effects, while others are more heavily influenced by your Tech stat, meaning different characters will have comparative advantages with different items at different points in the game. Economics!
I also have it affecting state-removal, but I'm not certain if I'm sticking to that, or if I do, how. For example, a character with Tech 20 might have a 50% chance of eyedrops they use curing blindness. The chance could change linearly as their Tech levels up (30 means 75% chance) to Tech 40+ giving a probability greater than 1, making the blindness cure guaranteed beyond that point. Do I do it gradually like that, or are harder lines better? Like an "<40 always 2/3 chance, 40+ always guaranteed" kind of thing with clear breaks at certain numbers?
UrbanMasque
Everyone Wears a Mask
Thanks for the update!
The puzzle sounds cool, and usually result in some reward or mystical plot-line reveal like a boss. So I'd suggest making the "reward" a boss fight. Can you add onto the game's lore in the puzzle, like inscriptions on the cavern wall or something? Also, 7 minutes for an initial dungeon seems about right.
Are the players still going to be learning about the game's mechanics by then or will they have all the tools that they'll need during the rest of the game?
This seems like the perfect opportunity to learn a programming language. Most people I talk to tell me they got started in their careers programming a hobby that eventually became their career. I'm surprised you don't already know one/it having got this far.
For forging items, I like the long lists and options on #2. Scrolling is fine, and if you're housing that many items, you'd better be good at managing them. It makes the game more open and people can do what they want - but there should be some way to "gray out" compatible items once you select the first one.
------
These words need to apply to both damage and healing effects.
1. Null = target is immune to whatever tried to cause the HP change
2. Resist = target has a smaller change in HP than the cause intended
3. (nothing) = target's HP is changed normally
4. ???? = target takes a larger change in HP than the cause intended
5. ???? = target's HP change is the reverse of the intention
--------
For 4, I would use something related to the story. However people talk about health, life, and death in that world would work, but I think most people would recognize "Vitality" as having some +/- health effect. For 5, its cool that you're placing in the "Reverse" effect for these potions. That is indeed tricky. The problem is that "reverse" and "counter" could something different to people used to playing RPGs - but could "Alter" work?
Basically, whatever you decide - the player will need to get used to the verbiage the game creator used for different things. I wouldn't let it trip you up too much, because about an hour playing the game - people will see whatever word you chose and know what its intended effect will be for the character its used on.
I like the Tech idea, but I also like Luck as a stand alone attribute even if it only relates to misses/Dexterity/item drops/ or crit hits. I;m curious now as to how I can build out each Character with the tech stat. If I wanted to could I turn MDef into an Attack Def tank too?
I like luck to be actually random. Not something that can be skilled or stacked. So I'm a bit biased when I say - don't make it linear.
Either way, This is supremely cool dude/dudette. Thanks for sharing. Just my opinion, take it with a salt lick.
The puzzle sounds cool, and usually result in some reward or mystical plot-line reveal like a boss. So I'd suggest making the "reward" a boss fight. Can you add onto the game's lore in the puzzle, like inscriptions on the cavern wall or something? Also, 7 minutes for an initial dungeon seems about right.
Are the players still going to be learning about the game's mechanics by then or will they have all the tools that they'll need during the rest of the game?
This seems like the perfect opportunity to learn a programming language. Most people I talk to tell me they got started in their careers programming a hobby that eventually became their career. I'm surprised you don't already know one/it having got this far.
For forging items, I like the long lists and options on #2. Scrolling is fine, and if you're housing that many items, you'd better be good at managing them. It makes the game more open and people can do what they want - but there should be some way to "gray out" compatible items once you select the first one.
------
These words need to apply to both damage and healing effects.
1. Null = target is immune to whatever tried to cause the HP change
2. Resist = target has a smaller change in HP than the cause intended
3. (nothing) = target's HP is changed normally
4. ???? = target takes a larger change in HP than the cause intended
5. ???? = target's HP change is the reverse of the intention
--------
For 4, I would use something related to the story. However people talk about health, life, and death in that world would work, but I think most people would recognize "Vitality" as having some +/- health effect. For 5, its cool that you're placing in the "Reverse" effect for these potions. That is indeed tricky. The problem is that "reverse" and "counter" could something different to people used to playing RPGs - but could "Alter" work?
Basically, whatever you decide - the player will need to get used to the verbiage the game creator used for different things. I wouldn't let it trip you up too much, because about an hour playing the game - people will see whatever word you chose and know what its intended effect will be for the character its used on.
I like the Tech idea, but I also like Luck as a stand alone attribute even if it only relates to misses/Dexterity/item drops/ or crit hits. I;m curious now as to how I can build out each Character with the tech stat. If I wanted to could I turn MDef into an Attack Def tank too?
I like luck to be actually random. Not something that can be skilled or stacked. So I'm a bit biased when I say - don't make it linear.
Either way, This is supremely cool dude/dudette. Thanks for sharing. Just my opinion, take it with a salt lick.
UrbanMasque
Everyone Wears a Mask
STATUS UPDATE: STAT!
Festival-Temple
Rookie
I haven't forgotten youuu! I've just been busy for a few months with unexpected life stuff.
>Are the players still going to be learning about the game's mechanics by then or will they have all the tools that they'll need during the rest of the game?
Definitely still learning, as they only have two of the five characters. The plan right now is to introduce each new one before a dungeon. P.Def for the tutorial. Joined by P.Atk for Dungeon 1. They're then joined by M.Atk for 2, Item-user for 3, then M.Def for the remainder of the game.
Each one of them introduces something new into the mix. M.Atk brings elemental resistances/weaknesses to the forefront. Item-user brings rare / limited things by crafting, and acts are your temporary healer until M.Def joins. Also for clarity: there's no "luck" stat at all anymore. I've completely replaced it with the "tech" one that determines item effectiveness, which will obviously be Item-user's forte.
Some notable update stuff:
    Visible encounters: You can now spot monsters in the overworld and get ready for battles ahead of time instead of having them start randomly as you walk. I haven't yet decided on whether to let them respawn in the same night, or leave dead encounters dead until in-game time has passed.
    First strike: You can now throw knives when outside of battle. These are limited, but a few restock with time passage, and more are easy to buy. You can use them initiate battle from a distance and get the jump on enemies, getting your party's first turns in sooner.
    Battle avoidance: If you're not in the mood to battle something and can't mislead the enemy to get around them, holding the dash button for a second will put you into a "fleeing" mode, allowing you to move through them (receiving damage in doing so). Harder encounters will hurt the party more to pass through.
    Lighting: Exists now. Dungeon 3 will likely be much too dark to traverse normally, so the player will be introduced to the crafting system here since the party has to rely on candles made through it. Maybe they can light independent lamps around the dungeon to keep enemies at bay?
    Resting without inns: You can now pitch a tent, with a simple but neat-looking animation, to pass time and recover without visiting an inn. The party can carry only 1 tent at a time, and it's consumed upon use. One development problem with this is that it would potentially allow the player to pass time into day in what are supposed to be night-only dungeons. I guess I can wave that away by saying you can't sleep where it's "too dangerous" or something--you can still recover by using one in such regions, but not pass time while doing so. They'll also need to be either expensive or risky to use somehow, such that they aren't used exclusively over inns.
    Dizzy/Bleed more functional: The "dizzy" state applies a chance to fall after taking actions (adjusted by a few things), and "bleed" deals heavy damage to the user after taking actions. Normally, counterattacks aren't considered for these things, but I got them working.
    Time indicator: There's now a regularly changing picture symbolizing which day/night it is, so the player has a more visual and spacial understanding of where they are in the lunar cycle.
    Guns now require ammunition, different types of which will fall under the "use" category. Merely selecting "attack" with a gun equipped will have the wielder just bash the target with the gun itself, not shoot them.
    I want to get rid of the "corrupt" state under the "trance" category for a couple reasons. It seems like its interaction with "sick" and "sorrow" might confuse players. For example, if you have a corrupt party member apply a potion to somebody, its effect will be reversed (hurting instead of healing), but if that ally is sick, the effects of items are already reversed, so it heals like normal. It might also be tempting for the player to intentionally leave Item-user or M.Def in the corrupt state so they'll throw potions/healing spells at enemies as a damage source.
    Removing it would mean breaking the symmetry of the 18 states I have now, so I'd like to replace it with something. You can check back to the first post to see how they're currently categorized.
    I'm now debating, maybe as a replacement, the inclusion of a kind of petrification state, where any physical attack that hits an affected character instantly kills them. Maybe something to mirror how the "sleep" state is removed by physical attacks, but not magic?
    Lots of other small things over the past month I didn't want to go to the trouble of finding to list.
I'll be ready to have a demo soon after I make/get some art assets... assuming that will ever happen.
>Are the players still going to be learning about the game's mechanics by then or will they have all the tools that they'll need during the rest of the game?
Definitely still learning, as they only have two of the five characters. The plan right now is to introduce each new one before a dungeon. P.Def for the tutorial. Joined by P.Atk for Dungeon 1. They're then joined by M.Atk for 2, Item-user for 3, then M.Def for the remainder of the game.
Each one of them introduces something new into the mix. M.Atk brings elemental resistances/weaknesses to the forefront. Item-user brings rare / limited things by crafting, and acts are your temporary healer until M.Def joins. Also for clarity: there's no "luck" stat at all anymore. I've completely replaced it with the "tech" one that determines item effectiveness, which will obviously be Item-user's forte.
Some notable update stuff:
    Visible encounters: You can now spot monsters in the overworld and get ready for battles ahead of time instead of having them start randomly as you walk. I haven't yet decided on whether to let them respawn in the same night, or leave dead encounters dead until in-game time has passed.
    First strike: You can now throw knives when outside of battle. These are limited, but a few restock with time passage, and more are easy to buy. You can use them initiate battle from a distance and get the jump on enemies, getting your party's first turns in sooner.
    Battle avoidance: If you're not in the mood to battle something and can't mislead the enemy to get around them, holding the dash button for a second will put you into a "fleeing" mode, allowing you to move through them (receiving damage in doing so). Harder encounters will hurt the party more to pass through.
    Lighting: Exists now. Dungeon 3 will likely be much too dark to traverse normally, so the player will be introduced to the crafting system here since the party has to rely on candles made through it. Maybe they can light independent lamps around the dungeon to keep enemies at bay?
    Resting without inns: You can now pitch a tent, with a simple but neat-looking animation, to pass time and recover without visiting an inn. The party can carry only 1 tent at a time, and it's consumed upon use. One development problem with this is that it would potentially allow the player to pass time into day in what are supposed to be night-only dungeons. I guess I can wave that away by saying you can't sleep where it's "too dangerous" or something--you can still recover by using one in such regions, but not pass time while doing so. They'll also need to be either expensive or risky to use somehow, such that they aren't used exclusively over inns.
    Dizzy/Bleed more functional: The "dizzy" state applies a chance to fall after taking actions (adjusted by a few things), and "bleed" deals heavy damage to the user after taking actions. Normally, counterattacks aren't considered for these things, but I got them working.
    Time indicator: There's now a regularly changing picture symbolizing which day/night it is, so the player has a more visual and spacial understanding of where they are in the lunar cycle.
    Guns now require ammunition, different types of which will fall under the "use" category. Merely selecting "attack" with a gun equipped will have the wielder just bash the target with the gun itself, not shoot them.
    I want to get rid of the "corrupt" state under the "trance" category for a couple reasons. It seems like its interaction with "sick" and "sorrow" might confuse players. For example, if you have a corrupt party member apply a potion to somebody, its effect will be reversed (hurting instead of healing), but if that ally is sick, the effects of items are already reversed, so it heals like normal. It might also be tempting for the player to intentionally leave Item-user or M.Def in the corrupt state so they'll throw potions/healing spells at enemies as a damage source.
    Removing it would mean breaking the symmetry of the 18 states I have now, so I'd like to replace it with something. You can check back to the first post to see how they're currently categorized.
    I'm now debating, maybe as a replacement, the inclusion of a kind of petrification state, where any physical attack that hits an affected character instantly kills them. Maybe something to mirror how the "sleep" state is removed by physical attacks, but not magic?
    Lots of other small things over the past month I didn't want to go to the trouble of finding to list.
I'll be ready to have a demo soon after I make/get some art assets... assuming that will ever happen.
Festival-Temple
Rookie
In case anyone wants to follow it, I'm in the process of messing with a more proper-looking blog, though I don't know what kinds of updates people are looking for, or how often they'll be expected. Weekly? Monthly? I also made a kind of showcase/tutorial regarding a useful script, and might do a couple more in the coming days.
UghRochester
https://www.twitch.tv/ughrochester
Glad you're still working on it. Sorry I couldn't post earlier. Have you ever consider broadcasting it to Twitch or YouTube Festy? I know people like watching DIY projects.
