Godsent

[Prpl_Mage]

****.

This is so goddamn impressive. And motivational. And it only make things better that you focus on all sides of the games, mapping, graphics, animations, programming and all that stuff.

I will give you my firstborn when you release this.

[Moosetroop11]

I can't believe it's rm2k3 XD Amazing, of course.

Have you put much thought into balancing the gameplay once you don't have access to all the abilities? And will the demo be sandbox-y as you show in the videos or will it be more like the game, where you get abilities gradually?

[Meiscool]

Prpl: Thanks

MT: Given abilities will be like the true game. It will be gradual addition of abilities. You'll have excess to two elements early on in the game, with a third (and possibly more) coming later in the game.
Focus will be more on upgrading the abilities you have rather than getting new ones. For example, early on the dash/dodge system might seem useless due to its huge expenditure of stamina, but later in the game with upgraded boots it won't cost much at all to use the function.
You also won't be able to switch elements/effects mid combat like I did in the video, but instead will have to pray at shrines to change your 'blessing'. If there is a puzzle that requires a certain element, a save point will be near by that way you don't have far to go to change your set up to solve the puzzle. There will be a small puzzle before most boss fights to kind of force the player into having certain elements equipped for the boss as well.

Balance will come when I get something out that more people can play-test. Right now I'm leaning towards making the beginning very easy, with an abrupt change in difficulty whenever new enemies are introduced until the players learn tactics to combat them effectively. I hope to make this game about player intelligence advantages rather than statistical advantages, gradually punishing players for not utilizing the commands at their disposal.
So far while watching my friends play, none of them use the dodge command or magic spells. They just aren't necessary during most skirmishes with enemies. However, a well placed sword art/magic spell can kill enemies before they even get near you, allowing you to take no damage while easily dishing it out. Dodge allows you to play hit and run very easily. It requires a little more skill than Lunge -> Sprint away, but allows you to throw weapons while 'running away' and take less damage if something should hit you. It also takes less stamina overall (as sprinting takes a lot of stamina in itself).
Thus my main balance goal is to create a learning curve that punishes players over time (rather than instantly) for not learning.

-End rant that probably went far off topic from what you were actually asking.

[Moosetroop11]

Sounds good, although punishing gradually can create players who have become stuck in their ways and find it hard to change if they've been getting away with the same simple moves and sheer perseverence!

I look forward to the demo with much anticipation *places fingertips together*

[drenrin2120]

Im glad youre avoiding standard rpg grinding. Too many games fall back on this and pass it off as legitimate gameplay. Video was freakin awesome. Fluid animations, what looked like responsive controls and ai. Very excited for a demo!

[DragonBlaze]

I can't even imagine how much work was involved getting something like that working with rm2k3's event system.

The game looks great! It's been a while since I played any rpg maker games, but I may have to make an exception to play this one.

[Meiscool]

Wow, that's quite the compliment. Thank you!

[Archem]

DB just made it a competition. Here's my entry.

It looks like Jesus took a dump in the Pope's hat.

In other words: Holy shit.

[Moosetroop11]

That'd be enough to make anyone resign, amirite?

[Archem]

ZING!

[Meiscool]

Just a small update/bump:

Haven't really done much in the game. Been very busy with school, which sucks ***.
So, highlights of what I've done in the past ~month or so: finalize plot elements, create own character graphics, planned implementation of second playable character, and had people playtest what i've got and bug test. No major bugs, but I noticed some people have issues moving through one-tile-wide doorways. In light of this, I decreased the player collision box for hitting walls. This means there might be some graphical issues with the character (such as times when a foot might have a pixel in the wall or something) but allows easier movement all around.

[Momeka]

This looks fantastic. If I'd just seen the video of it I'd never guessed it was rpg maker 2003. Keep it up.

[Meiscool]

So, today I have had time to work on this. What I completed today:

Reaching Zero stamina while sprinting and using a second effect will end your sprint. This is done in the spirit of preventing you from running from everything and to limit the mobility of your character while using special boomerang effects.
For example, the effect where a fireball circles your character endlessly drains your stamina. You can no longer sprint once the stamina drain gets you to zero.
Ice/stasis element now has a boomerang special too. It creates a shield around your character. Enemies that move to the center of the shield will be repelled. Taking damage ends the shield, at which point the damage that would've been taken is reduced or negated. This results in the ice element being a very defensive element, able to do no damage itself, but able to control which enemies you fight and which you can ignore.
I plan to add a 'stamina deficit' to the game at some point. What this will be, is certain actions will allow your stamina to go below zero but still be able to be preformed. However, it will cause negative stamina. Your main abilities (such as higher level sword attacks and dodging/throwing) will not be able to be used until your stamina has recovered past zero. Reaching the max deficit may cause your character to stop where they are and take a few breathes (haven't decided if this would be a good thing to add or not).
The stamina deficit will mostly be for sprinting, allowing you to continue running for more than a few seconds. However, exiting the run when your stamina is below zero will cause you to be less effective in combat till the deficit is paid. This is the only way I could think of to prevent people from running through/past everything, while not changing the speed at which they can explore areas/retrace their steps.

[Moosetroop11]

Sounds good to me.

On the subject of ice, what is stopping the 'freeze enemy' spell from being uber overpowered? Is it temporary, or limited use, or something?

[Meiscool]

Thank you for asking that! Only certain enemies are able to be frozen. Enemies unable to be frozen will not take damage, so ice is very situational.

I think I have a good balance on the elements. If any are overpowered it is pierce (whose boomerang effect I finished just now). Pierce is good in general, and excels in indoor areas it can bounce a lot in. I will probably have to tone down its damage a bit eventually. Wide open plains and such will limit its usefulness however, practically forcing a switch. Fire packs a good punch, so it is another good general element to choose, especially for areas that pierce isn't that effective. Ice deals no damage, and you get no exp from enemies that are frozen. Freezing everything you can will ultimately cause you to be weaker than you should be. The main reason for the element is puzzles. In fact, that is the main reason I made the elements in the first place. You will be required to switch between them frequently enough to balance any broken mechanics between them; if one element ends up becoming too powerful in my game, it may not matter because that element will not always be one that is usable.

Pierce boomerang effect: Acts like a normal boomerang throw (circles character out then returns), but it can bounce. If it hits an enemy, it will reverse direction and continue circling your character a bit longer, with the time to return to the character reset every time it hits an enemy. In addition, hitting an enemy will release a bouncing dagger. In indoor areas with tightly packed enemies, just throwing this elemental boomerang can cause a lot of damage.
TBH, this sounds powerful, but it really isn't. It is probably the weakest of the 3 boomerang elemental moves. How much use you get out of it is entirely luck based and relies on good positioning, both of which you may not have at times. Still, it is extremely entertaining to throw a single boomerang and watch it kill everything while I don't do a single other thing, but in all my play-testing this has not happened very often. Fire boomerang is much more abuse-able and ice boomerang has greater utility.

EDIT - If you were talking about the magic spell that freezes, it is meant to be very powerful and it has a limited use of once every 30-120 seconds, depending on how leveled your spell recharge is. Also, if you are hit while charging the spell, it cancels and you must wait again.