Demo link:
[here]Steam/itch.io pages will be put here when I make them.
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Update 0: A general overviewSo I've been working on a new game for a while, and while making a devlog sometime earlier in the process might have been a better idea, now's better than never.
After finishing up False Skies, I was itching to get out of the restrictions the OHR's default battle system has, both graphically and mechanically, and also wanted to do something that wasn't quite so color-restricted. One thing led to another, and now I'm at this point:
So what special stuff am I doing here? A list:
First, moves are chosen right before a party member or enemy acts, as opposed to being set up at the start of a turn. This allows both for more immediate actions to be made and for enemies to avoid the problem where they have attacks they use when weak that'd realistically never show up.
Second, enemy HP and statuses are shown above their sprite, so as to be a bit better at showing their current status in battle. I'm also showing a bit more stuff in general - the turn order is there in the top-left, and the power/target of a skill shows up in the attack detail box there while being selected.
Third, I can actually have a wide variety of statuses, as well as buffs/debuffs that have a lifespan and don't need checks to make sure they stay within reasonable bounds.
Fourth, party members can move around while in battle. This is done through attacks [most of which move the character forward], or being attacked [most of which move the character backward]. Where a character is in relation to everyone else affects how much damage they can do/take from most attacks, as well as how often they're targeted. The tankier characters generally have attacks that move them a healthily far way right, while the mages and archer of the eventual party don't move much at all, or even move back when using certain skills.
You can see just how far right [or left] a character will move based on the Move value in the top right of the attack detail box.________
In terms of general progression, there's your usual RPG staples of leveling up and equipment:
I'd show the equipment being selected, but there's currently a string used for some other purpose popping up here, thanks to me moving around some stuff a while back and not updating the string here yet. I'll get to talking about that stuff another time....but in addition to that, there's also the ability to learn new ways of modifying skills to make them more capable in various ways:
You'll gain these customization options both through leveling up and through events of various sorts. There's a currency used to upgrade these skills, obtained in chests and through fighting certain types of enemies, but it's all refundable. Some types of customization options aren't going to be compatible with others, and for that and some other reasons locking you into choices you make in the moment isn't something I want to do with this particular system.
As for the out of battle stuff:
Don't worry, the pause here isn't in-game; it's just due to how the gif recorded or something. In fact, this game runs at 60fps, but the OHR records gifs at 30 so that's not showing up here.Enemies appear on the field, and while some wander around aimlessly or follow a set path others path towards the player. I currently don't have mechanics related to how they approach you or you approach them, but maybe I'll throw in preemptive attacks or ambushes based on that. No promises.
As for other mechanical stuff: I've set up a few terrain features. The translucent grass overlay known to anyone who's messed around with RPG Maker is here, and some other map features - short flat ledges you can hop over and icy floors, to name two types I'll probably use more than is healthy.
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And that's the initial overview done. There's a lot of other stuff I've set up, but I'll talk about them and show them off here another time. I'll probably talk about how things are set up behind the scenes at some point as well, but that's a bit much for a first post, you know?
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The current planned structure of the game is that of four large areas you can tackle in any order, plus an intro and conclusion area to set up and wrap things up respectively. I've worked on this for about a year and two months so far, and while I only have the intro dungeon completely done I have a lot of assets for other areas drawn up and general systems scripted out. I feel that further areas will get done a lot faster, seeing how part of the reason why things were going so slow in the first place was how I was running into new things I needed to get done constantly.
Whether I poke away at all four areas at once or focus on one at a time is still up in the air. One lets me focus a bit better, but the other lets me make sure each is at roughly the same level. I'll see how it goes.
I'm also not going to put an ETA on this right now. It won't come out this year, that's for sure, but hopefully it won't be like False Skies where I get to the end and somehow have another year of development to deal with.