Post by: Raen Ryong on March 09, 2006, 11:40:54 PM
Well, the game is entitled Bearers of Unity for a reason that becomes clear when at a certain point in the game. The plot is fairly complex so I'm going to have to explain it as best I can... without spoiling anything. Here goes...
One Thousand Years Before Present Day
The War of Avulsion
The world of Seidgaea (meaning 'United World' in the ancient Kirinthian language) housed the power of all eight elements (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Earth, Wind, Light and Darkness). Four nations existed named Reesa, Jeuda, Ferneza and Cyras. Despite the low level of civilisation, life was fairly prosperous during this era. That was until an avaricious knight named Darclysm formed an army, the Abyss Knights which consisted entirely of monsters. His motives were unclear, but he began using the primal force of Chaos (there are four primal forces - Light (not the same as the elemental, which is far weaker), Dark (not the same as the elemental, which is far weaker), Order and Chaos), which he solely had dominion over. He was a ruthless and tactical leader and, with his faithful knight Prysm by his side, soon the entire Cosmos was threatened by his gathering of darkness.
However, to Darclysm's misfortune, four warriors had found the mysterious Seeress Myst. Their names were Sirus, Rebane, Minara and Kreon. Veterans of many campaigns against the aggressive nation of Cyras, the allied nations of Reesa, Jeuda and Ferneza held them in high regard. Myst entrusted Sirus with the Dragon Tear and Dark Matter, two substances which held within them the dormant power of primal Light and primal Dark.
She then told them to seek a mystical blade which they would find in an equally mystical cave, and to fuse it with the essences of primal Light and Dark, to create a weapon powerful enough to contest Darclysm's primal power.
Meanwhile, the three allied nations formed a coalition force, named the United Nations Army, and attacked Darclysm's hordes. Although the Abyss Knights numbered only in the 25,000s, they were still able to meet in battle a force of 325,000 United Nations Army soldiers... it was a bloody battle and the Abyss Knights won with approximately 115 monsters left. A ragged 750 troops from the United Nations Army managed to retreat from the slaughter. One thing was clear: without Sirus, they stood no chance whatsoever.
Sirus succeeded. The legendary blade, freed of the barrier of mist which held it in the cave, was then fused with the Dragon Tear and Dark Matter to become a spiritual weapon of immense power. The real question was; would it stand up to Darclysm's manipulation of the Abyss and Void (The Abyss is pure primal Chaos and the Void is pure primal Dark... Darclysm had some aptitude with primal Dark also)?
Sirus marched towards the homeland of the Abyss Knights, the Dry'has Ne Refus (Darkness No Refuge in the Kirinthian language, which is ironic). In the Gloom Forest which overlooked the place that was to be the decisive battle of the war, the warriors devised a plan with their remaining troops. Eventually it was decided that Sirus would lead a platoon of troops initially and thin out the enemy lines, and the other warriors would come and assist shortly after the battle began. It was a risky strategy, but fortunately a well-executed one. The Abyss Knights all perished in that battle, along with all of the United Nations Army soldiers... but one question remained. Where was Darclysm, the self-proclaimed 'King of Chaos', and his knight, Prysm? As the warriors were contemplating this, Darclysm himself appeared before them.
He began the battle by using a technique known as the "Dark Flare", which was known only by him and Prysm. The battle that would decide the fate of billions began to sway in Darclysm's direction as Sirus realised that his team was beginning to lose, slowly but surely. Even though it was suicidal, Sirus and his team combined their powers with that of the Valiat and released all of the primal energy at once... resulting in a massive cataclysmic explosion that rent the fabric of space and time. As the smoke cleared, neither the warriors nor Darclysm was seen... Prysm must have died in the conflict earlier.
The massive elemental conflux caused the world of Seidgaea to violently change, as the elemental parts of the land were separated from the mainland to form other worlds, repelled by the anti-matter released from the explosion. Seidgaea then began to be known as Tirgaea, or "Torn World".
Founding of the Abyss Empire
The beginning of the royal Nightflare bloodline
The monsters retreated to the deepest recesses of the world. The Dry'has Ne Refus was once again not a refuge for darkness. Dulahan Nightflare, the leader of a group of about 2,000 warriors took advantage of this uncertainty. Somehow, he discovered a portal the Abyss Knights used and constructed a castle in the icy world it led to, naming it Nightflare Castle. As the other nations, excluding Cyras were weak, it was a simple matter to create the Abyss Empire, and to make it a dominant power. Quite why he named it after the Abyss Knights is unknown. This was the beginning of the royal Nightflare bloodline, and the current king of the Abyss Empire, Remas Nightflare, is a direct descendant of Dulahan.
Present Day
Tirgaea
Tirgaea now has ten recognised nations. Reesa, Jeuda, Haceon, Umbris, Ferneza, Magissa, Velis and Transa make up eight of ten and are collectively known as the Allied States. They are in a state of alliance and often meet within Reesa to make decisions. The Abyss Empire is a powerful, dominant power and the strongest of all of the nations. King Remas Nightflare rules the empire with his son, the prince Rath Nightflare, the six imperial generals, and his shady advisor who is known only as "The Seer".
The Republic of Cyras is the tenth nation and it maintains a state of hostility towards both the Allied Nations and the Abyss Empire. It is a fairly powerful nation.
Earth
The story of the heroes starts on Earth (yes, the same world we are in now :P). The main characters; Raen, Drake, Amber and Heather lead an idyllic life in their small village. Magic is largely forsaken on Earth and it is a completely different world to most. However, the Abyss Empire turns its attentions to Earth and the four children suddenly find their realities twisted and their quest begins...
That's a very basic overview of the story, avoiding spoilers...
Features
Many characters which (hopefully) have some depth
Many, many characters. They have differing stats (obviously) and it's up to you to devise a perfect team... or maybe just team with your favourites? I'm trying very hard to put a lot of character development in there...
Class Upgrade System
Expansive Class Upgrade system which currently encompasses 72 classes. Yes, that's right - 72 :)... 56 of which are available to normal characters. That's a lot of character customisation, I hope, but it doesn't stop there...
"Rune Fusion" System
Tired of learning attacks by Level? Me too. That's why there are many different skillsets, which learn skills using different stats (eg Fire uses Mind, Warrior uses Attack, etc)... you can use Runes to give characters other skillsets and completely customise them. Want a mage using three elements? Go ahead. But how about making an archer that can use archery as well as another element or two? I hope this allows more party customisation. There are different types of armour focussing on augmenting different stats so this adds to the strategic element of party-raising too...
CBS - Duel System
Ever played Suikoden? The duel system is quite cool, is it not? And no, I'm not going to do a "Legion Saga" and copy the system exactly. I've redesigned it so you have many many different attacks and skills. A hell of a lot of coding, but worth it. BTW, the DBS is still in use.
CMS
I'll make this at the end of the game, but it basically displays character information, class information, help and your current playing statistics (eg number of battles). It can be accessed from any save point making it convenient. Yes, the default menu system is also in use.
Nice Facesets!
I'll upload this one here since it is small enough... basically, the faceset shows the character and their elemental affinities next to them. Nice looking, in my opinion.
Overview of Project
Yes, to finish, this is entirely my work. I do not have a team, nor would I want one. I do the reams of coding, a lot of graphic/midi editing... everything myself. Hence fairly slow rate of progress... but damn satisfying.
I've made a website on it, though I don't update that often... (http://www.bearersofunity.8k.com)... if you want screenies, visit there. I've heard that many people find the colour scheme quite disgusting though lol... I'll change if it is THAT bad. I just like bright colours :)
I've probably forgotten to say some stuff, but hey -- leave a comment or whatever. Feel free to ask me about anything. Laters...
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 10, 2006, 12:19:24 AM
The screens aren't too great. The inside dungeon type maps are very open and empty, the forest ones are good, but instead of showing the same map 3 times there, you may want show differant ones. Then the last inside one is kinda meh.
And having the 'alex' for the char is not a very good idea.
So yeah, this game could turn out good, but it has a very cliche background and the maps are nothing outstanding. You're gonna have to work extra hard to make this project good.
Good luck though.
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 10, 2006, 12:23:32 AM
Oh and btw, none of those are actually dungeons lol and looking at it, I have taken the barest areas. I'll have to make you reconsider with some more recent screenshots when I get time :)
Using "Alex" was a decision I decided to stick to, as I always used him to represent myself in my earlier RPGs and the main character is a persona of myself.
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 10, 2006, 12:34:40 AM
I still don't agree with the alex head, but its your game and its your decision, so I'll just leave it at that.
Post by: Muraiko on March 10, 2006, 12:42:39 AM
Post by: Meiscool-2 on March 10, 2006, 12:47:47 AM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 10, 2006, 01:05:08 AM
Don't worry, I assure you that the elements etc is the only thing that I have "copied" from other games. The storyline is entirely original, unless I've subconsciously copied something which could happen. And yes, "Alex" it shall remain!
Glad you like the system... it's the result of three combined systems and then edited some more...
Well, I've taken some more recent screenshots showing more... populated areas as well as some coding screenshots etc.
A duel where I've edited my stats to give me a *slightly* unfair advantage. Hey, I'm the designer :)
I'm aware none of those screenshots show off TOO much, but they should at least convince you that this game isn't an entire waste of time lol... hopefully?
EDIT: Hmm... where'd my pictures go? I'm such a newbie here... just use this link; http://photobucket.com/albums/e56/RaenRyong/
to get to my photobucket thingy.
Post by: Meiscool-2 on March 10, 2006, 01:46:33 AM
You're on the right track as to maps, but you're lacking detail in emence proportions.
Post by: Muraiko on March 10, 2006, 10:37:42 PM
Post by: Meiscool-2 on March 10, 2006, 10:42:07 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Muraiko
So that means that your game doesn't have a battle simulation, like a link type thing or somthing? Hmmm... I wonder though, if it is like a link thing, then how can your other party members help out? I mean, the game link IS a one playable character thing.
Zelda, not link, and 4swords ring any bells? How about computer AI like in secert of mana?
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 10, 2006, 10:56:33 PM
Post by: Muraiko on March 11, 2006, 03:44:47 PM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 11, 2006, 08:21:47 PM
I'll mention all of the features I can think of at the moment, as the previous list was a bit incomplete (well, I was writing all of that at about 1am lol);
Special Facesets
I'm not using facesets as such anywhere in the project. Even the menu ones have now been replaced. Why? Because I do not feel they look very good... instead, they have been replaced by images of the character with their elemental affinity. I like it, anyway.
Boss Information
Before each boss encounter, you will be given a choice to view the boss's stats (I'm pretty sure there is a screenshot of that), their techniques and then general hints on defeating them. You do get the choice, so if you lose on a boss and have to reload to face it again, you don't have to be annoyed by the pictures (they don't take very long, but you never know.)
On a side node, I've endeavoured to make sure bosses aren't immune to status effects. Ever got annoyed at a game because your party constantly succumbs to status effects, and the very same ones don't work against the only enemies you'd want to use them against? Even bosses aren't immune to some... though they mostly will against instant-death type statuses (most... not all. Try different strategies)
Timer System
I've hijacked one of the game's timers and forced it to count upwards :D
Time affects when people stay up, events that happen only at a certain time of day, screen tone, monster encounter rates and the music.
One minute (in game) is equivalent to one second of real time, and "a day" in game is split into five different time periods:
Day --> 10:01 - 18:00
This is the 'normal' time of day. The screen tone is normal, monster encounter rates tend to average at this time, and most people are awake. The music is even in terms of volume and tempo.
Evening --> 18:01 - 22:00
Twilight... certain monster species prefer this time of day, whereas some others detest it... monster encounter rates may drop or increase. The screen tone goes fairly fiery-coloured (orangy), and the music gets slightly quieter and a bit slower. Most people are awake during this time.
Night --> 22:01 - 00:00
Nighttime in all of its glory (I like it at this time :))... Expect not many encounters in a wilderness area, but many in a cave. The screen tone gets fairly blue and dark at this time, and it becomes slightly difficult to see in caves. Adventuring in caves is not recommended at this time. The music gets a lot slower and quieter, and most people are asleep at this time... normally only the Inn is open.
Early Morning --> 00:01 - 06:00
This is very similar to night, only darker. It is very difficult to navigate through caves and the encounter rate in them peaks at this time. The screen tone is darker still and the music quieter... most people are slumbering at this time and you won't find many shops open, although Inns tend to run a 24-hour service.
Morning --> 06:01 - 10:00
This is slightly darker than day. Monster encounter rates begin to reflect those in day, and many people wake up about this time. The music is a slightly quieter and slower version of the day, and the screen tone is also marginally darker than in day.
Resting in inns puts forward the timer by 9 hours (= 9 minutes), and fighting a battle puts it forward by 5 minutes (= 5 seconds).
Random Weather System
This is pretty self-explanatory. This will change once every six hours, and no -- it won't happen indoors :p
Certain events may happen at a certain time of day, and wildlife may or may not appear as well. Adventuring in the Early Morning with a thick fog is not recommended at all... for ease of playing, you can simply enter a building to disable the current weather, but if you're caught out in a wilderness...
Level Up Message
This doesn't really affect gameplay, but is just a small addition that tells you your stat gains upon a level up. That's... about all there is to say about this feature.
Duel System
A duel is a battle between the main character and a single opponent that is fought with more finesse than a normal melee battle. You select your moves from a possible 21 before the battle (except in the tutorial), and each has strengths and weaknesses. There are also approximately 18 special skills, so far, to boost your attacks or hamper your enemy's.
Rune Fusion System
There are 26 skillsets in the game, of which 22 are available to any character. These are:
Fire
Ice
Lightning
Water
Earth
Wind
Light
Darkness
Swordplay
Warrior
Archery
Spellsword
Lightsword
Chivalry
Chakra
Shaman
Dragoon
Shadow
Spirit
Steal
Song
Wild
Each character has three 'slots' in which you can decide which skillsets they should learn. The first slot is always occupied by their class's skillset (except for mage-classes, which have none), but the other two can be freely changed. Each skillset is different in terms of power, MP cost, accuracy, field of effect (IE, Single or All), and the stat required to learn skills. For example, Fire Magic tends to hit all enemies, with low-ish power, moderate MP cost, moderate accuracy and it requires Mind to learn skills at a moderate rate. Darkness on the other hand tends to hit a single enemy, is very very powerful, high MP-cost, moderate accuracy and it requires Mind to learn skills at a slow rate. The more physical skillsets, like Warrior, require Attack and some skillsets, like Lightsword, require two stats (Attack and Agility). This means that you can customise your characters a lot more, and you can outfit them in different armours to raise different stats more.
Armour Classes
"Casual" Armour --> Raises all stats moderately. Can be used by most classes.
Robes --> Raises defence minutely, and Mind massively. Cannot be used by many classes, but works well with the eight elemental skillsets, Spirit and Song.
Heavy Armour --> Raises defence massively at the cost of agility. Can be worn by a fair amount of classes, but only helps Chivalry directly (Attack and Defence)
"Wing" Armours (IE, some light armour with some wings attached) --> Raises defence minutely, Attack slightly and Agility significantly. Ideal for Lightsword-users.
"Wild" Armours --> Raises defence slightly, Attack by a lot, but lowers Mind. A very niche armour, suitable for most physical skillsets.
Class Upgrade System
There are 72 classes in the game, 56 of which are available to most characters. When you upgrade classes, you get a choice between different "career paths"... each class upgrade raises all stats slightly but 2 go up by a whole grade (eg, from Average to Excellent in the database)... this means that you can plan ahead how you would like the character's stats to develop. Each class also has an in-built skillset.
Before class upgrade
* Max Level 25
* To Upgrade, must be level 20 or higher
First class upgrade
* Max Level 50
* To Upgrade, must be level 20 or higher
* More EXP needed than before upgrading.
Second class upgrade
* Max Level 75
* To Upgrade, must be level 60 or higher
* A lot more EXP needed than before upgrading.
Final Form (Third class upgrade)
* Max Level 99
* Significantly more EXP needed than before upgrading.
This means that it is beneficial to raise your characters to Level 25 before upgrading, as it takes more EXP to level up after Class Upgrading, and the same for level 50 instead of 40 etc. This also means that a party of level 50's can take a weaker level 10 member, for instance, to a training area suitable for their level and because they need more EXP the amount they will receive will be incredible since the level 10 has yet to upgrade for even the first time... if that makes sense. Suffice to say, you can train a lower level character in a higher level training area. I may post a class list later...
Bank System
Ever wondered what the point is in storing your money in a bank? You normally get Game Over from the random enemies, so it's not as if you would lose more money than usual, and you're unlikely to get/need more than 999999 in currency...
This is why my Bank system (which can be accessed a little bit into the game) has an interest system! Depending on what "Bank Card" you have, you receive different rates of interest. You receive that interest after every successful battle... meaning there is some sense in storing some money to let it collect interest. The initial rate is only 5% per battle, so it's not as if you're going to get filthy rich after a few battles... needless to say, this is one of the parts of the project that require the most moderation!
Other Stuff
Oh and regarding criticism, could you please make it constructive rather than... condemning? I would like to improve if you say there is something wrong, but instead of being told "there is an immense lack of detail", I would like something along the lines of "there is an immense lack of detail. You should space out the trees more", for instance. And yes, I know most of the criticism so far has been constructive.
I'll be playtesting my game again soon... so I'll take many screenshots at that time. Laters!
Post by: Muraiko on March 11, 2006, 08:49:59 PM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 11, 2006, 10:32:57 PM
The duel system involves you against a single enemy. It's a one-on-one battle. The enemy's actions are controlled by a random variable which gives a percentage chance for each action, depending on the enemy's personality. The tougher opponents will also adapt their attacks depending on other factors, such as your HP.
The duel system is not used that often, it's used mainly for a big battle between your protagonist and a fairly major enemy. It is turn-based, not real time, which is why the text boxes don't slow it down any. I'm still using the DBS for most of the battles.
Hope this clears things up...
BTW, thank you for... well, being interested in my game! You're the only person so far who hasn't criticised it lol
Post by: Muraiko on March 12, 2006, 09:05:38 PM
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 12, 2006, 09:35:00 PM
For your duel system. I like the basic idea, but a one on one battle that is turn based could get very boring very quickly, especially if its a longer battle. I suggest spicing things up in it and making it a semi-fast pace battle. It can still be turn based, but try not to make it a 'slow' moving thing. Also it would be best to add lots of 'eye candy' like pictures for the damage and such. It takes some work, but not much at all, I've had to display 25 differant numbers in my cbs via pictures (hp, mp, damage), one value with 4 digits won't take that long or that much work, but it would sure enhance how the battle sytem looks. An HP indicator bar for the hero (and possibly the enemy) would also be a cool feature to add to the battle system.
Post by: shadus on March 12, 2006, 10:02:09 PM
words are law!
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 12, 2006, 10:19:31 PM
In order to separate the HP into four different numbers (IE, so I'll only need 10 different numbers rather than 9999), I'll have to "mod" them, won't I? I'll probably experiment with that a bit... I've never had to use "mod"ded variables before!
And yes, I know that I'm not perfect on the mapping front. Well, it depends on the chipset really... I'm better with some than others. That said, I generally always improve on the graphics when I can see a way to... so keep suggesting!
I'm hoping to release a demo fairly soon... and it's VERY long for a demo... as in about 9 hours of playing or so, judging from previous playthroughs from testers. I'm not setting a date, though, because I don't rush things as a policy :)
Muraiko, thank you for the compliment! Feel free to ask me anything at all, preferably via PM so this topic doesn't become too cluttered lol... and DragonBlaze (and possibly others) I hope I can win you over when I release the demo! On that topic, does anyone know somewhere I can *actually* store it for download?
My pitiful freeservers website can only have 15.0MB with a maximum of 150KB per file... no chance _sweat_
1. Check the post about features... I'm about to update it with details of my Bank system (with interest! Woohoo!)
2. I've mentioned this before, but with the demo coming up (maybe in next month or so), I'm going to have to playtest the thing first. I'll take a lot of screenshots!
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 12, 2006, 11:06:10 PM
Quote
Now remember young one,when it comes to games,DragonBlaze's
words are law!
:p
Quote
In order to separate the HP into four different numbers (IE, so I'll only need 10 different numbers rather than 9999), I'll have to "mod" them, won't I? I'll probably experiment with that a bit... I've never had to use "mod"ded variables before!
Actually you'll need 40 :p, 10 for each digit. Though its still a TON better than the 10000 you would need otherwise. Yeah you'll have to use the MOD feature, I used to really hate it, but then I had to use it a lot in my computer programming classes so its not as bad now, I still don't like it though. Anyway, heres the script you'll need to mod a 4 digit number.
variable [ones] set equal to heroHP
[tens] set equal to heroHP
[hundreds] set equal to heroHP
[thousands] set equal to heroHP
[hundreds] MOD 1000
[tens] MOD 100
[ones] MOD 10
[thousands] minus [hundreds]
[hundreds] minus [tens]
[tens] minus [ones]
[thousands] divide by 1000
[hundreds] divide by 100
[tens] divide by 10
[ones] will now be equal to the hp ones digit, [tens] to the tens digit, and so forth.
I hope that helps :)
You can store your game at savefile.com ;)
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and DragonBlaze (and possibly others) I hope I can win you over when I release the demo!
Don't worry about what I think. I have a very high expectation for games, and basically no matter how good your game is or will be, I'll find things to critique on it. Most of the time, I list much more negitive things about a game than the good things I find, simply because listing all the things I liked about the game won't make a differance compared to listing the negative things. So if it sounds like I think your game is bad, thats not the case :) I think your game has potential, its how you use that potential that will determain if this game will be good or not.
So yeah, I'll be looking forward to your demo when you finish it.
Post by: Muraiko on March 13, 2006, 01:33:07 AM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 13, 2006, 09:09:39 PM
I'll have the graphical overhaul done before I release the demo, so you'll see the more... eye-friendly version.
Here's something which I'm sure someone must know... ever played a Laxius Power game? How does he stop people opening his game in RPG Maker? I really want to know how to do that, don't want anyone taking the easy way out and looking through my database and changing things lol
What needs to be done before demo release...
Mapping: ~75% Complete Estimated time = 3hrs
Coding: ~70% Complete Estimated time = 9hrs
"Graphicking-Up" Duel System 0% Complete Estimated Time = 3hrs
Encoding Game -- SEE QUESTION! 0% Complete Estimated Time = Not very long, I'd imagine...
And after that...
Firstly, I'll have to thoroughly test the game... shouldn't take too long...
Next,
I have four confirmed primary testers, possibly five. They then need to test the game, and there is... a wide variety of 'RPG-Playing' skill levels within them, so it should provide a good range of experiences. This will take longer than just me, but not too long, hopefully...
Finally, I'll have to tweak it and then I'll host it on www.savefile.com or something similar (cheers DB)... look forward to it :p
Look at this post for details on the demo release, I'll update whenever I do something significant in terms of % progress...
Post by: Muraiko on March 13, 2006, 09:26:49 PM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 13, 2006, 09:48:16 PM
Personally, I only like a CBS if it's executed well or adds variety to the game. If it is going to be the only battle system in use, it had better be good... I see nothing wrong with the DBS (Default Battle System) and I still have fun in battles using it, so I don't think there is anything wrong with using it. That's just my opinion :D
Post by: Muraiko on March 13, 2006, 10:06:37 PM
First off... I want to use CBS, because it to me, it is more funner, and... well... it's more funner.
The reason why I want to use DBS is because there are some characters that have abilities that are only useful in battle. like my one guy that copies enemy's abilities. How the heck are you gonna copy someone's ability on the normal map field. And that brings up another good question... How the heck are you even going to use abilities? And also... wouldn't it take ALOT of hard work to make CBS stuff for all ten of my characters. I can see how hard it was for one... but for all ten?
Maybe I can solve some of these problems... like, maybe I should have less characters. But... if I have less characters, then it will greatly effect my story line. Then maybe I should trash my whole game and get a new story line... But then it will so much hard work!!!
Darnit! I still have no idea!!!! Owww... my brain hurts again. I'm thinking too much...
Post by: Meiscool-2 on March 13, 2006, 10:37:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by shadus
Now remember young one,when it comes to games,DragonBlaze's
words are law!
*ahem*
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 13, 2006, 10:40:27 PM
In a CBS, the "Steal Ability" system may actually work better... but if the amount of work puts you off, don't do it. I'm slightly masochistic as far as coding goes and I do A LOT of the stuff, but others simply may not enjoy it.
Reducing characters is a bad idea, in my opinion. Part of the stuff I like most about RPGs, both professional and... less so, is the CHOICE of characters you have to make. You want to give the player that choice over their characters -- allows them to adapt the game to their battle strategies a bit. See what I mean? Give the players a lot of strategic decisions to make :D
Put it this way, as my reply probably leaves you with some confusion (as always lol) -- Is it absolutely necessary for the game to have a CBS? You may find that developing one will actually make the game less fun to play. You can always change later, anyway.
And on a purely grammatical and insignificant point, nothing can be "more funner"... it's either "more fun" or "funner" :p
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 13, 2006, 11:13:10 PM
My suggestion is to make a CBS and use it for mini games and such, it doesn't have to be great, and it doesn't have to be better than the DBS since its just an add-on. Once you get really good at making CBSs, then you're ready to replace the DBS.
And really, unless you plan to make some unique features that would be very hard to do with the DBS, a CBS isn't worth making. In the end, it'll probably turn out to be just a 'crappy' copy of the DBS.
Plus any type of CBS's are a LOT of work, my first one took two weeks to make. My first standard battle system took a week to make, and that was just 1 v 1 fighting, is wasn't nearly complete either. Then I made anothe 1 v 1 action type CBS that took a week, my last CBS took two weeks and it was very limited, the one I'm working on now has taken me over a month, and I'm still not done.
But you know, if you want to try a CBS, go for it :) Your first ones won't be good, but over time you'll be able to make battle systems that are much cooler than the DBS. Just be prepared to do some work ;)
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And also... wouldn't it take ALOT of hard work to make CBS stuff for all ten of my characters. I can see how hard it was for one... but for all ten?
Not really, at least not if all 10 of them are on the field at a time. In a CBS, you would use variables for h1stats, h2stats, h3stats. You just make an event to check which character is in the first posistion, and set all the h1stats to the character thats in that possition, so if hero1 is in the first possition, all of the h1stats would be set equal to the hero1 stats. Err that probably didn't make any sence, but is very easy to add more characters to a system, its adding more characters on the field at a time that would be a problem.
Post by: Muraiko on March 14, 2006, 08:57:11 PM
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 14, 2006, 09:11:29 PM
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Anyway, what were you saying about that whole have more characters in the field at once thing?
Basically the more heros and monsters you have on the field at a time, the more complex the system. So a cbs with 1 hero and 1 monster will be much simpler to make than a cbs with 3 heros and 3 monsters on the field at a time.
However, most likely you'll have more heros in your game than heros in a battle at a time. For example, you have 5 heros, and you have a cbs that allows 3 of them to be fighting at a time. It isn't any harder to make a cbs that supports these 5 heros than it would be to make a cbs that would support a maximum character size of 10.
So don't limit the number of characters in your game because you use a cbs.
Post by: Meiscool-2 on March 14, 2006, 09:31:53 PM
Post by: Muraiko on March 14, 2006, 11:04:05 PM
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Originally posted by Meiscool
I like ABS games with multi heros, making AI that travels with you and sh!t is cool.
Sorry, But I really don't know how to do that AI stuff. It does sound like somthing cool that I'd like, but of course I'm still learning things. If you could tell me, I'll be very thankful.
Dragonblaze, what you were talking about does sound alot like DBS and stuff. What I want my game to be is that you'll be able to walk around and when you meet an enemy, you have to like fight him, like, you have to press space bar to attack, so you just have to attack him like that. I dunno if it seems too easy just to press space bar all day whenever you fight someone, but, Those link games are like that. And they tough sometimes.
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 14, 2006, 11:22:05 PM
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Dragonblaze, what you were talking about does sound alot like DBS and stuff. What I want my game to be is that you'll be able to walk around and when you meet an enemy, you have to like fight him, like, you have to press space bar to attack, so you just have to attack him like that. I dunno if it seems too easy just to press space bar all day whenever you fight someone, but, Those link games are like that. And they tough sometimes.
Ah, I see. The same princable still applies to an ABS (legend of zelda style battle system). It'll be harder to add more characters fighting at a time, but it won't be much harder to add more characters to the game (as long as they're not all fighting at the same time).
So yeah, listen to meiscool says about them, he uses a battle system like that in his game PACT, and thus he's probably better than me and definately more experianced then me at making action style battle systems.
Post by: shadus on March 14, 2006, 11:36:23 PM
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Originally posted by Meiscool
quote: Originally posted by shadus
Now remember young one,when it comes to games,DragonBlaze's
words are law!
*ahem*
Also remember that when it comes to scripting meiscool's word is law.And if you brake it you'll be thrown into prison and whiped every day till you fix it.
Post by: Muraiko on March 15, 2006, 08:55:39 PM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 16, 2006, 12:45:52 PM
Set your character's HP stat to a variable
Set your character's MP stat to a variable
Set your character's Attack stat to a variable
Set your character's Defence stat to a variable
Set the enemy's HP stat to a variable
Set the enemy's MP stat to a variable
Set the enemy's Attack stat to a variable
Set the enemy's Defence stat to a variable
The basic function for calculating damage is then;
(((2x character's attack) - (enemy defence + enemy defence booster)) * (hero attack booster)) *(damage multiplier)
Or in algebra;
((2a - b + c) + d) * e
a = character's attack
b = enemy defence
c = enemy defence booster
d = hero attack booster
e = damage multiplier
The enemy defence booster is a random value from 0% to another percentage depending on character.
The hero attack booster is a random value from 0% - 50%. These two add variation to the battle, and when the hero is defending he has a defence booster and the enemy an attack booster.
If the hero's chosen attack is either super-effective or not very effective, the damage multiplier will change accordingly.
Set this value to a variable.
Then, the fork conditions that ensure that the damage is moderated...
Fork Optn VAR [0001:Damage Dealt (result of the damage calculation)] LESS THAN 0
<> Set variable [0001], 0
Fork Optn VAR [0001:Damage Dealt] MORE THAN 9999
<> Set variable [0001], 9999
This prevents the damage going negative and healing the opponent.
Looks complicated, I know... however, it's actually fairly simple when you get the hang of things. You'll be using labels quite a lot I'd imagine, so make sure you know how to use this very useful function... but don't misuse them. It causes lag like nothing else
... Umm, ask some more if that made no sense...
Post by: Muraiko on March 17, 2006, 11:33:31 AM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 19, 2006, 11:06:15 PM
((2a - b + c) + d) * e
a = character's attack
b = enemy defence
c = enemy defence booster
d = hero attack booster
e = damage multiplier
It may help to look back at that every now and again... a lot of what I'm going to say is the same as in my last post. Ah well.
Before Battle
Set your character's HP stat to a variable
Set your character's MP stat to a variable
Set your character's Attack stat to a variable
Set your character's Defence stat to a variable
Set the enemy's HP stat to a variable
Set the enemy's MP stat to a variable
Set the enemy's Attack stat to a variable
Set the enemy's Defence stat to a variable
If you're going to use Mind and Agility as well, go ahead and set that to a variable as well. My system doesn't use either, however, so I'm not going to go into them... Mind would be used similarly to Attack anyway, and Agility would be simple to use too, so don't worry!
I'm only doing this for one...
You can adapt this for many different attacks. I'm just going to cover a simple "Attack" command.
And so it begins...
This bit of coding is VERY important...
Fork Optn: Varbl [0001:Hero HP]-0 less than
<>Change variable [0001:Hero HP], set 0
:END Case
Fork Optn: Varbl [0002:Enemy HP]-0 less than
<>Change variable [0002:Enemy HP], set 0
:END Case
Fork Optn: Varbl [0001:Hero HP]-0
<> Game Over (or whatever)
:END Case
Fork Optn: Varbl [0002:Enemy HP]-0
<> Win Battle (or whatever)
Those forks are essential so that HP does not drop below 0 and the system does not read it. Of course, you can simply remove those two forks and make the 3rd and 4th fork read "0 less than", but this makes it tidier and more flexible (for example if you wanted a battle to end when the enemy had 300HP left, for instance).
The attack and defence mods...
These add variance to the battle system. They should be inserted before you attack.
Change Variable [0003 Attack Mod Hero], Set random 0-100
Change Variable [0004 Attack Mod Enemy], Set random 0-100
Change Variable [0005 Defence Mod Hero], Set random 0-100
Change Variable [0006 Defence Mod Enemy], Set random 0-100
These will be referred to later on.
This is where it might get a bit hard to understand...
This bit looks painful. I hope you know your variables...
Change Variable [0007 Attack Strength Hero], Set Var [0008:Hero Attack Stat]
Change Variable [0007 Attack Strength Hero], + [0008:Hero Attack Stat]
Thereby fulfilling the 2a part of the expression at the top.
Change Variable [0009 Attack Strength Enemy], Set Var [0010 Enemy Attack Stat]
Change Variable [0009 Attack Strength Enemy], + [0010 Enemy Attack Stat]
This is so the enemy also gets their attack power.
Here come the mods we did earlier...
Change Variable [0011 Hero Modding], Set Var [0007 Attack Strength Hero]
Change Variable [0011 Hero Modding], * [0003 Attack Mod Hero]
Change Variable [0011 Hero Modding], / 100
Change Variable [0007 Attack Strength Hero] + [0011 Hero Modding]
Do you see what's going on?
The "Modding" Variable is used as an external variable to perform calculations on an existing one.
Basically, this is what happens mathematically;
ab/100
a = attack strength
b = attack mod for the hero
Or if this is still making little sense...
a * b/100
b is somewhere between the values 0 - 100 (101 possibilities).
Upper Bound: if b is 100, = a * 100 / 100 = a * 1
Lower Bound: if b is 0, = a * 0 / 100 = 0
Remember this variable is then added to the main attack strength variable... think about it. If you get the upper bound, it is like having your attack strength doubled (an extra x1 added to it), but if you get lower bound, it is just your attack strength (0 added to it)... make sense? Read this bit until it does... it is essential to know...
This fulfills the + d part of the expression at the top.
Well, do it for your enemy as well...
Change Variable [0012 Enemy Modding], Set Var [0009 Attack Strength Enemy]
Change Variable [0012 Enemy Modding], * [0004 Attack Mod Enemy]
Change Variable [0012 Enemy Modding], / 100
Change Variable [0009 Attack Strength Enemy] + [0012 Enemy Modding]
Okay then, near the final bit now -- calculating defence! This is very similar to attack. Just repeat the previous steps, substituting;
"Attack Strengths"
for
"Defence Strengths"
and
"Attack Mods"
for
"Defence Mods"
Okay? Now... the final step;
Change Variable [0007 Attack Strength Hero] - [0014 Defence Strength Enemy]
Change Variable [0009 Attack Strength Enemy] - [0013 Defence Strength Hero]
Fork Optn: Varbl [0007 Attack Strength Hero] 0 less than
<>Change Variable [0007 Attack Strength Hero], set 0
:END Case
Fork Optn: Varbl [0009 Attack Strength Enemy] 0 less than
<>Change Variable [0009 Attack Strength Enemy], set 0
:END Case
Those two forks are simply used so the damage does not go negative, thereby healing the opponent. Leave them out if you want that effect to occur.
The last bit... I promise.
Now, all you need to do is include a message/picture or whatever displaying damage dealt. I'm currently using a message, so;
Show Message: V[0007] Damage Dealt! V[0009] Damage Dealt!
Customise the message to your will. Last step:
Change Variable [0015: Hero HP] - [0009: Enemy Attack Strength]
Change Variable [0016: Enemy HP] - [0007: Hero Attack Strength]
Then loop that. That's a VERY basic bit of my coding, done mainly from memory so there may be a few... loopholes. Meh, this took far too long... hope it helps though! Remember: maths is really useful in Rm2k3. No, really. For instance, if you want a damage multiplier of 1.5, how do you get that? You can't multiply a variable by 1.5... instead, multiply by 3 then divide by 2 (3/2 = 1.5)... anyways, good luck!
Post by: Muraiko on March 21, 2006, 11:44:12 AM
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 21, 2006, 10:13:45 PM
Now here's something... has anyone played the Laxius Power series? You can't open the game in RPG Maker... any idea how he does that? I could do with that :hi:
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 21, 2006, 10:28:21 PM
Post by: Ruler of the Dark on March 21, 2006, 11:28:26 PM
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Originally posted by Raen Ryong
No probs :D
Now here's something... has anyone played the Laxius Power series? You can't open the game in RPG Maker... any idea how he does that? I could do with that :hi:
Why?
Why close off the workings of the game to your players?
Post by: Raen Ryong on March 22, 2006, 12:05:55 PM
Besides, I want secrets to be far more secret among other things... it's far more challenging finding a subquest or whatever if you don't look in the game's coding for the relevant switch, then F9 it :p
It's also to disable the Test Play...
DB, where'd you get that program? I could experiment with it... it could work. I mean, the RPG_RT functions very similarly between Rm2k and Rm2k3, and I'm assuming that is the file that would control it.
Post by: shadus on March 23, 2006, 01:27:21 AM
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And besides, maybe some people might be amazed on a certain event or somthing, and might want to check it out to learn how to do it. Like for instance, I might be amazed when if play sombody's demo that has ABS (But I never found one strangly) And I might want to check the coding, so I can learn how to advance my starter off ABS. It would be much better than annoying you guys with questions about it, right?
Now I have to do this to my or all my custom stuff will be stolen.
Post by: DragonBlaze on March 23, 2006, 01:30:12 AM
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Originally posted by Raen Ryong
DB, where'd you get that program? I could experiment with it... it could work. I mean, the RPG_RT functions very similarly between Rm2k and Rm2k3, and I'm assuming that is the file that would control it.
I don't remember exactly, search for rm2k utilities in google and something should pop up.
Theres nothing wrong with locking your projects. The thing about making a game is that you make the game, its your idea, its your story, and you make the game how its meant to be made. If people are playing through your game and cheat or whatnot, the player isn't seeing the game how you meant it to be seen. Locking the project ensures that it'll only be seen how its meant to be seen.
Plus there are people who dig through projects and pull out the resources they like and use them in their own game without giving any credit, locking a project will also prevent that.