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[Tumetsu]

Day 73 - 12.8.2011
Today wasn't as productive as yesterday, pretty much because 3d Dot Game Heroes arrived which I had ordered and I played it a bit. Also spent time reading etc.

Despite all that, I managed to make some progress. I added one new enemy card, though it doesn't have animation. Most of the developing time today I have spent thinking about elements and how they react with each other. So far I have built this scheme:

At first glance it looks like rather good scheme but I'm debating with myself if this is too complex to remember easily, and if I should instead of cyclical RPS system use western opposite system like I intended from the beginning. Timmy Gilbert posted some interesting links in the topic dedicated to issue which I should read tomorrow with more focus.
Do you think the table looks too complex?

Another thing I have been thinking is how to enable player to guess beforehand what weaknesses/resistances enemy will have. So far best I have came up is little window before battle, where the picture of the enemy is shown along with Pokedex like description of the creature. From this text one could then deduce something of the creature's attacks, elements etc.

I'm also starting to think I might need to create simple scaling & coloring effect engine to my game by which I could produce effects familiar from Pokemon games where characters squeeze and bounce as a part of their attack animation. Could ease animating of the more trivial attacks and save resources. Not sure though how I would implement it yet, though ideal basic idea I have is some kind of state-machine, which one could first feed flags for different actions like: squeeze up - squeeze down - jump - ...

What's next?
I'll probably keep working with element table and analyze it a bit and ask opinions and make decision between it and opposite elements system. I should also work on adding some more sounds and start crafting stat-growth curves.

[Nonsuch Games]

At first glance your element table I thought the pattern would look great if given proper graphics. The interations are questionable, but nonetheless balanced and not too complex. Based solely upon the enemy's appearance, depending on the game of course, I find it's often possible to deduce its element and there for its weaknesses. Descriptions of the creatures would be a good touch though, personally I find those sorts of things interesting.

This art style is awesome.

edit: I also must comment that your deck refining alternative to level grinding sounds promising.

[Tumetsu]

I explained the logic between interactions in this topic:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=21074.0 Light includes electricity and void can be considered as space too which water and darkness can fill, while fire and light are absorbed by it.

I too have found that it is often possible to guess some of the types etc. about the enemies from their look. For example in Pokemon. I think though that adding that description thing is rather interesting and it could provide good place to cram the elemental table above so that players can see it regularly and learn it easily.

Day 74 - 13.8.2011
Another day of lesser productivity. This time I was almost whole day out of home and couldn't develope much. However, I did some though work and drew first sketch of a new enemy design. Also consulted some of my friends and sister about the element table and got mostly positive feedback

What's next?
I think that I'll try to do some more work tomorrow and day after it. I should embed this new system to my battle-engine and think about possible changes in my current enemies derived from that change. I think though that overall my next big thing is polishing existing elements a bit, mostly improving some UI graphics, add sounds etc. Along with these there is of course things like new enemy designs and some planning work related to them.

[Tumetsu]

Day 75 - 14-8-2011
Today I had rather busy day since I had to drive my family to shopping and look some new clothes etc. that I lost of the day and didn't manage to do too much for the game. However I managed to embed new elemental system into game and created default special effects for new elements Void and Nature. I also drew line-arts for elemental symbols which I intend to color tomorrow. I also did another sketch of the new enemy, which should be mist like creature. However I'm not really satisfied to it's design and will likely draw another one soon.

What's next?
I think I'll try to dedicate tomorrow for developing since these last days have been so unproductive (though reasons beyond my control). I think that tomorrow I color those elements, maybe draw the mist enemy, maybe fix some old graphics etc. I also could start making some kind battle preparations window where player can view short description of the creature before fight and some other stuff. Should also finally add those sounds for couple of effects... Right I seem to be in situation where it is not completely clear what to do next, except polish and add countless of small things. Well, with some proper organization I think I can handle it

[Tumetsu]

Day 76 - 15.8.2011
Writing this bit before early since I expect not being able to develop this evening. Despite this today has been very productive day. I colored elemental symbols and made element table which will be shown in game. I also made mockup of the "battle preparations" screen where player can see enemy, short description of it and element table. After beating enemy table will also show enemy's weaknesses and resistances with green and red circles around element symbols. In addition this I finally got myself to fix numerous small graphical things. For example now battle screen's black boxes are made of similar matter as other dialog boxes and menus in the game. I also think I finally found interesting enough enemy design for mist creature.

Here is the new graphics for element table:

I'll probably edit it a bit later. For example nature element's tree IMO isn't enough visible and there is some minor things I'll probably perfect later. Edges also look nicer in game. I accidentally saved this in png-8 format with black matte. I'll save it in same format for game but darker background "smoothes" edges.

What's next?
Tomorrow I can move into programming battle preparations screen. I have most of the needed code already so it shouldn't be a big deal. I also could finalize mist creature's design and start drawing frames for it. And those sounds... I really suck doing RPG spell like sounds :S Screams, growls etc. is another thing but I have no idea how to make "kazing" sound for light spell :S

EDIT: plans changed a bit so I managed to design mist creature and even draw all it's frame linearts! Tomorrow I can perhaps colour it

[Tumetsu]

Day 77 - 16.8.2011
Not much done today since I had little hangover after little drinking yesterday night and also got back home in afternoon However, I did some coloring work for new enemy design and also messed with Flex to see if I could make .ipa file to test with my Ipod Touch without actually getting Apple's license (just for testing purposes to see if it would run on iOS). Didn't get it working :S

What's next?
I think tomorrow or maybe this evening even, I probably replace textbox graphics with new ones which fit better for rest of the graphics. I'll also try to add some sounds and start programming battle preparations screen.

EDIT: Just added couple of sounds for one attack and in a one menu

[Tumetsu]

Day 78 - 17.8.2011
Today I finally finished pile of small tasks I have had to do sometime now. Most notably textbox graphics. I colored some frames for new mist monster. Most of the time went to coding of the battle preparations screen. I have some serious problems with how place enemy pictures in menu, since I want use their fight sprites, but many of them have empty areas in first frame (since they are strip) which leads to weirdly placed images in menu. I don't have idea how I could detect where the actual image starts and so place the sprite to correct position.

What's next?
Tomorrow I have some moving tasks but I think I can continue battle preparations screen and try to find a way to place enemy graphics correctly. I just hope I don't need to make special cropped images for them though since it would require bigger file size 
 

[Tumetsu]

Day 79 - 18.8.2011
Today I spent most of my time programming battle preparations screen. Now it shows enemy's picture, description of it and on other page the element table with random description of one of the elements. I also did some graphic optimization by reducing color amount and therefore lessening file size. I did this to characters only though, and I have to apply it later to other graphics as well.

What's next?
Tomorrow I'll add buttons to preparations screen to allow player to start fight and edit their deck. I should also color the mist monster. My musician is getting some good tracks done and I think I'll incorporate them into game soon. After that game will be almost ready for it's first test release

[Tumetsu]

Day 80 - 19.8.2011
Today I finished the battle preparations screen. It was surprising easy, there were one thing in my system which I had feared might cause some problems but things turned out great
I also colored mist monster, added it to game (stats and deck still unbalanced) and named it "Hedgefog" from my sister's suggestion.

What's next?
Tomorrow I'll dedicate time to design basic deck and stats for Hedgefog. I have some ideas, but I may have to create some new cards. I might also revisit some of the stats from earlier enemies. I'll probably embed music into game too. After that I'll probably need to think about the current enemies and see if I should design some more different cards before test release. I should also finally get into crafting those damn EXP and stat curves.

If things go well, I may be able to release first half public (meaning in FGL) playtest build

[Inanimate]

Somehow my brain kept skipping over this thread. Just wanted to say: your element system is quite interesting. I love the multiple 'cycles' it has.

[Tumetsu]

Hmm, maybe it is the name which doesn't attract attention...? 
Yeah, I think that multiple cycles could add some more interest for mechanics. I'm still a bit nervous how easily players can remember them, though Pokemon has even more complex system and I have provided the element table before every battle so it should be easily enough visible but time will show.

Day 81 - 20.8.2010
Let's see, today was a rather productive day even though I had much of other things to do too and was little on lost what to do.

I designed the basics of Hedgefog's stats and deck. It isn't yet completely ready and rewards are not thought out. I also did some minor changes to other enemies. I also noticed that I probably have to weight armors bit more. Right now they give rather minimal defense. I should somehow balance things so that armors are vital for survival, but one turn without them isn't game over either. I just have to design it so that player can't make the deck from healing potions and attacking items but also use armors. I either have to limit healing items somehow or scale armors up. Probably both. Another thing related to this observation is relatively short battles. You either die fast or win fast. This is mostly because player can deal rather high damage overall per turn. I suppose I need to make some modifications in to system which enemies use to defend themselves. Right now their only defense against elemental attacks is their possible resistance.

I also added music to the world map and battle screen They work very well IMO, though my musician needs to do some adjustments to them.

Just before this post I also added new status condition, Regeneration which heals certain percent of character's HP every turn certain amount of turns. I was delighted how easy it was to add new conditions since I had programmed the system very easy to add new conditions. I'm so good heh

What's next?
Today I did little list of things I need to do before first release. It isn't comprehensive and will grow before release. Right now it holds at least some more sounds, exp curves, few new cards, editing tutorial a bit and thinking and experimenting with things affecting to problems mentioned above. Battlesystem also needs some polishing since there is few things which really aren't that great solutions right now.

[Nonsuch Games]

Enemy defense... Dodging comes to mind as another way to defend against elemental attacks. Good luck on the rest of the combat balancing.

Looking good. I read what you wrote about a playtest...

[Inanimate]

Yeah, I'd say dodging, and maybe higher defense totals if the player is going to be so strong.

Also, the name is nice, it just doesn't explain what the game is like - maybe add a descriptor after, like: "- Card based RPG!".

[Tumetsu]

Hmm, I'm not sure how well dodging could be integrated into rest of the system, though cards which provide certain dodging percent may be interesting idea...

Yeah, I'd say dodging, and maybe higher defense totals if the player is going to be so strong

Yes, I think I'll scale HP of the enemies bit upwards and make their defensing identical to player meaning that they have certain defense cards which they can play in their defensive turn. Right now they have those, but only against physical damage.

However, player is powerful because long chains. Enemies for now do rather short chains but with more attack power. One of the reasons for current easiness of enemies is due player's stat growth which is REALLY fast. Attack doubles after some levels as well as CP which allows rather long combos. This is because the current stat growth system was just thrown in place randomly. I think I should design proper one first and see how it affects to battles and from that base start to tweak enemy stats. However, I still need to look into armors' usability.

Also, the name is nice, it just doesn't explain what the game is like - maybe add a descriptor after, like: "- Card based RPG!".

True, added the description in the topic name

[Tumetsu]

Day 82 - 21.8.2011
I managed to shrink my to do list a bit today First, I figured finally how to export XML-files from Excel 2010. What this means is that instead of using functions determining player stats, I can insert them manually into XML-file where stats are retrieved when player gains new level. Though this requires bit more work, it should be more flexible since I can custom design stats for each level meaning that I can basically determine what stats player has when encountering certain enemies if s/he hasn't grinded much. I might also rework some of my other XML-files to use Excel as an input method since it is rather clumsy to find certain enemy's information from long text file. It's not top priority right now and has some serious drawbacks too.

I did first experiment regarding armors. I boosted them significantly and now they do more difference in battle. However, I couldn't do very sophisticated experiments yet due rather few armor cards and enemies. Actually I was supposed to add new armor today but didn't have time for that 

Battles also suddenly got bit longer after more sensible stat-growth and for example Lanternking fight I had was rather long as well as other battles. It is now certainly better direction though there is still some tweaking to be done but before that I have to introduce some new cards to get grasp of how things will work in practice.

I also spent some time renewing graphics of icons which show if player has some status effect going on and now it also shows icon for Regen too

What's next?
Tomorrow I intend to enhance enemy AI. Right now they may heal themselves with full hp, or not use stat boosting cards even if they have one in hand and stuff like that. I'll also draw and add nature element armor and perhaps light armor. Some other fixes I should do are to show healed HP amount better than right now (it is almost impossible to see) and fix one rather annoying bug in card editor where hovering mouse over card may show another card's information.

Finally, here is one new screenshot from battle preparations screen