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[Erichermit]

The Setting
This game takes place in a world where the sun has suddenly failed to rise for six days. The situation is urgent and the world is in panic, four brave heroes travel to the mystical Tower of the Moon in the hopes of solving this disaster. To do this, one must travel through a moonlit, enchanted forest, scale a mountain, and then ascend the interior of the tower itself.
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Game Goal
It will play as an extremely streamlined turn-based RPG. The idea is to make a jrpg that can be played in under two hours, but usually result's in the player getting a Game Over. So basically it's a JRPG roguelike.
I was feeling upset that so many turn based rpgs seem to rely on grinding to play. While many do allow for strategy, the general solution to a problem is just to go earn more money to buy better equipment or to level up. Furthermore, the actual act of leveling up seldom requires much build-thought, are is usually just an improvement to all your character's stats. Most of the game is spent in minor battles which mostly act as nothing more than a distraction, causing most of the real thought to occur only in boss fights.
I want to make a game that has scarce resources, no grinding, and requires thought and strategy even in minor battles while also being artistically beautiful. I believe that Tower of the Moon can achieve this.
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Gameplay
Your party will be taken through progressively more difficult areas. Each area will consist of at least three minor battles and a single boss fight. Effects from previous battles will carry over, so if a minor battle caused you to take wounds, become inflicted with a status effect, or use a limited resource, you might regret not being more careful when the boss fight comes. It is probably unlikely that you will wipe to minor fights, but in this way they still will demand to be taken seriously. Finally, magic users will have limited casts on each of their spells, their uses of which carry over between fights. Any characters who die stay dead essentially forever, save the use of rare and expensive resurrection magic.
Upon defeating the boss, the party receives an amount of currency and is refreshed from the chance for a respite. Characters will gain a level, in which the most important decision will be a new ability to learn. Spells and health are restored, and the party visits a shop. Decisions on what to buy will be difficult but crucial, as the party will never have enough money to buy everything that they want.

Game progress can be tracked from the tumblr devlog (http://towerofthemoon.tumblr.com/) and feel free to come say hi at my Twitter: https://twitter.com/Erichermit.

[NinthPower]

This looks super pretty. Excited for more

[Erichermit]

Ah, thank you NinthPower! I do have a bit more to show! I've been working on setting up the UI for the battle system a lot lately.









I've spent a lot of time lately obsessing about how I want the UI to work / look. I think I finally feel comfortable! A lot of this is still very much placeholder stuff (such as the healthbar.) If you want to read a long stream of my thoughts on the matter, I've written them here: http://towerofthemoon.tumblr.com/post/96496897881/devlog-2-ui-scramble But I figure most people will be more interested in just seeing a few progress gifs!

[bombjack]

very original art! I like it very much! 

[Erichermit]

Healing items in Tower of the Moon will be Glowflies. When crushed, the flies release a magic liquid that can close wounds.

[Erichermit]

Hello! Today I have some progress gifs as I slowly implement more crucial mechanics

[rj™]

alright i'm following this i like the art and it sounds like it'd be a Fun Time

[Ziz]

I really like the game art idea, to put everything in a triangle grid. I have to admit, my first thought was to copy the concept. 

Also the story, the animations and the game goal (2h for complete game) sounds very promising! I see myself playing different RPGs and at a certain point I spend hours searching THIS ONE perfect fitting green arm guard to complete my armour and I use the same spells since I reached Level 20, because they are the best™ and I all do is to upgrade them (or some attributes, which makes them better). It would be cool to test some different strategies just for the lulz. Some spells, which may appear useless, but even if I fail with them, I loose only 30 minutes play time.

So I am REALLY looking forward to a playable game!
What are you using to make it?
Will you make a Linux release?
What is your target resolution, do you think, it could run at 800x480?

Greetings,
Ziz

[Erichermit]

Thank you Rj! I'm trying very hard to make "pretty and a fun time" everything that this game is about.

I really like the game art idea, to put everything in a triangle grid. I have to admit, my first thought was to copy the concept. 

Also the story, the animations and the game goal (2h for complete game) sounds very promising! I see myself playing different RPGs and at a certain point I spend hours searching THIS ONE perfect fitting green arm guard to complete my armour and I use the same spells since I reached Level 20, because they are the best™ and I all do is to upgrade them (or some attributes, which makes them better). It would be cool to test some different strategies just for the lulz. Some spells, which may appear useless, but even if I fail with them, I loose only 30 minutes play time.

So I am REALLY looking forward to a playable game!
What are you using to make it?
Will you make a Linux release?
What is your target resolution, do you think, it could run at 800x480?

Greetings,
Ziz

I certainly don't have a monopoly on Trixel Art! If you want to get started, I recommend the Hexels editor. It's what I use.

Yes! Having attempts based entirely on experimentation is definitely something I want to be a big thing in the game for sure, which I hope to accommodate this by having many skills net together in interesting ways (Such as using a Mage's "prediction" or "misdirection" spell to funnel or correctly estimate an attack for the Warrior to block.) The last thing I want is for Tower of the Moon to be a game where you grind or constantly repeat the same methods. I am warmed that you are looking so forward to it!

To answer your questions: I am using Unity to make it (and Hexels Pro to make most of the sprites).
I don't use Linux personally, but I will certainly make a Linux release a goal of mine.
It will be fine to run at 800 x 480, though I will be mostly designing it for larger resolutions. I shouldn't have a problem accommodating smaller ones as well, however.

----

In other news,



The skills are placeholders (a lot of stuff still is!) but here is a working skill system!
It reuses a lot of the code for Attacking / using an Item except that targeting is dynamic. Skills also keep track of their uses, have a cost in gold to use, that sort of thing.
Looking forward to when the stuff I show off here doesn’t reuse the exact same Monster - Character Sprite - Background, but I’m still getting basic functionality down!

[Erichermit]

Today I have a progress update!



Things continue moving along! Today marks the day that Tower of the Moon actually has the first semblance of playability. I can now take turns with an enemy, who will attack me during its turn, and can even be defeated!

I plan on giving monsters the ability to use skills (involve some AI tricks which I’ll start off as pretty simple) and extending this functionality to actually allow a full party (and multiple monsters!)

Eventually I’m going to add in animations and such so it isn’t just random numbers popping up from seemingly no source, but I have that at a lower priority than other, more integral, functionalities.


Also for your enjoyment: This Glitch

[Erichermit]

I now have my first animated background for Tower of the Moon! I still might prune a few things (so feedback is appreciated!) but I'm quite happy with this as it. Next step is to code up a shader that adds an outline to all enemies.

[Erichermit]

Oh hey! Check it out! An actual full party turn! Now to add some character variety.

[Erichermit]

Wow! I haven't posted here in a while, but I have been saving up lots of NEAT STUFF! Let me show you!


I ended up having a sudden decision to make positioning somewhat important. There are now three positions for your characters to occupy, one of which is a front line space and the other two are backline.
I haven’t yet completely decided the meaning behind this but it probably involves stuff like “Some moves can only target the front line space.”
I’m going to be very careful to make sure “Stick a warrior-type in the front line always only” isn’t the only decision to make. I’m okay with the idea that *most* of the time the front line will be occupied with a warrior, though. You’ll be able to switch positions throughout the battle.
I had to split the inventory/skill menu in two to stop this new change from causing the menu to occupy too much vertical space. I think this is fine.
Oh also, that little thing you see down at the bottom there is a Star Tear. It’s money.


Sprite variety based on class is now functional. Although all the classes are still the exact same on the inside, it's now ready to be set up.


I just started work on the character creation screen. Like everything else, I really want this to be pretty.


How do you want your hair to look?

[Chris MacAdam]

Wow I have to say that this game looks pretty awesome.
I really like the direction you are taking with the art. Very unique.
As a JRPG i'm assuming that it will be a linear game?
Looking forward to seeing any development on this! 

[sidbarnhoorn]

Looks very interesting!