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[Del_Duio]

Ah, this post reminded me of something: When you lose the game is the screen just supposed to hang up like it does? All 3 times I've had to hit ESC and then pick "YES" when it asks if I really want to quit. An option to go back to the main menu from the end would be great if none otherwise exists.

[pulsemeat]

Oddly enough, both of the things you mentioned will be changed in the next version, Del_Duio, although you won't be able to just start a new game with an endgame character. They'll be used for something else.

Ryavis: I THINK that was a bug in the unstable version that's been fixed, but I'll check. Thanks!

[Bluhman]

If you're going to be doing the same style of game for the next version, I think it should take place over the span of a year rather than 4 months.  Feels more thematic that way, and would make for a longer, more interesting game, methinks.

As for new monsters, it could easily be done, even if he's not allowed to add in new graphics; there's still the 'legends' part of the sprite set he's using, which includes 4X4 monster graphics. They would certainly make for some interesting battles.

And come to think of it, it seems pulsemeat is making some custom sprites (at least for sprites facing different directions), so him creating custom monsters probably won't be a huge issue.

EDIT: maybe not. The images he's using for sprites walking around seem to be broken for me.
EDIT2: Yep. Every movement sprite in the game was done by Geeze. Thus, whether custom sprites can be done is inconclusive.

[Geeze]

Also are you going to make new monsters for the game? I don't exactly know if this being in the competition means you can't create any new graphics but if not some new bad guys might be cool additions.

@Pulsemeat: Yeah if you are going for that PM me.  

If you're going to be doing the same style of game for the next version, I think it should take place over the span of a year rather than 4 months.  Feels more thematic that way, and would make for a longer, more interesting game, methinks.

More time would be great. And perhaps you could base some of the happenings on relationships. Like, if you have met someone high-ranked from barracks(or some other military building) in tavern, you could have some odds to have events related to that person or something like that.

[EDIT] And traveling in larger world! (Perhaps your party could get separated to different locations) And Cities!

[photonicwarrior]

I'm doing something that extends the game between play sessions right now, but after that I really want to focus on a new iteration of the game (in another engine) that will be more expandable. Since that will basically mean rebuilding the game from scratch, I'll be able to take ideas into consideration that would otherwise require me to take everything apart and put it back together (pushing other players, for example).

I’ll take that to mean it’s open season on suggestions in here.  I have a few.

Events:  So far, this game includes a lot of events that involve checking a stat, and a lot of events that involve a choice.  But I don’t think I’ve come across any that involve both a stat check and a choice (i.e, you can attempt action A or B, but if it turns out your stats aren’t high enough to perform action B, then C happens instead).  It seems like a pretty natural thing to add, given how many events there are in this game.

Also, events that depend on your class could be be cool (i.e, if you’re a necromancer and you’re robbing graves for money, you might have an event where you study the corpses and increase your intelligence stat).

Rewards:  Almost every successful event in this game results in you gaining either some gold or some stats; if you’re lucky, it might also set up another event in town or in one of the dungeons which in turn gives you more gold or more stats.  These types of events are pretty cool, thanks to the charming story sequences that accompany them, but what’s cooler are the events that actually give you something unique (such as becoming mayor and gaining a more profitable work position at the town hall, not to mention reducing the prices of things in town).  Here are a few things I thought of that could add to the variety of the rewards you receive in-game:

  -As far as I know, the mayor is the only position of its kind in the game.  It would be nice if each of the town buildings offered at least one sub-quest of that nature (though not necessarily of the same magnitude; becoming a “regular” at the tavern would probably be less consequential than gaining a research position at the wizard tower, attaining a high rank amongst the town guard, or marrying the farmer’s daughter).

  -A hidden shop inside the dungeon could be a potentially nice thing.  Suppose you’re in a dungeon and you’ve accumulated some gold or stats that could have gotten you better equipment or a more powerful class, if only you’d had it back in town.  It would be nice if you could make use of those gains within the dungeon that you’re actually in, instead of having to put them off until the next one.  This would be especially useful for the boss encounters.  The shop could price things higher than the one in town, or, if it were guarded by a particularly tough fight, actually offer things more cheaply than the town does.  It could even have different goods and services available.

  -Lastly, it seems like your most valuable resource in this game is actually neither gold nor stats, but training time (since it allows you to make the most optimal choices for your own builds).  Additional training time can be used as an event reward; suppose the party rescued some kind of spirit or creature with power over the passage of time. It could then thank you by slowing down time so that the party has an extra week’s worth of training the next time they're in town.

Also, if you want to buff the Summoner, I think the best way might be simply to lower his stat requirements. The problem is that his strength is never high enough to wear the heavy armors that the other melee characters wear, since he needs a high intelligence for damage, and those ridiculous charm and fortitude requirements eat up all his discretionary training.  I’d lower the charm requirement to 20, and possibly even get rid of the fortitude requirement altogether (maybe replacing it with a strength requirement). This way, someone who wanted to spring for 40 strength in order to wear chain mail would be able to do so.

[Ryavis]

Again, spoilers.

Actually, once you become mayor you can also get married and get benefits from that, I think. It's happened to me once, anyway.

If you do add more stat-based checks in events, I'd recommend making most of them charm-based. It always feels like a waste to get more charm, really. Tiebreaking ability isn't very good unless you are actually getting in a big debate with the people you are playing with, and that can be resolved without the use of an in-game stat.

And alternate summoner idea based on that: make it so that summoners can use INT to equip armor instead of strength.

[J. R. Hill]

And alternate summoner idea based on that: make it so that summoners can use INT to equip armor instead of strength.

I think CHA would be more associated with fashion sense.

[Curseman]

Events:  So far, this game includes a lot of events that involve checking a stat, and a lot of events that involve a choice.  But I don’t think I’ve come across any that involve both a stat check and a choice (i.e, you can attempt action A or B, but if it turns out your stats aren’t high enough to perform action B, then C happens instead).  It seems like a pretty natural thing to add, given how many events there are in this game.

That's a cool idea.  Either have a small benefit with no check vs a big benefit with a stat check, or a choice between two stat checks.

Also, events that depend on your class could be be cool (i.e, if you’re a necromancer and you’re robbing graves for money, you might have an event where you study the corpses and increase your intelligence stat).

Might be cool, but it also may not be a good use of dev time to add a lot of content that only a few players will see, and only rarely.

As far as I know, the mayor is the only position of its kind in the game.  It would be nice if each of the town buildings offered at least one sub-quest of that nature (though not necessarily of the same magnitude; becoming a “regular” at the tavern would probably be less consequential than gaining a research position at the wizard tower, attaining a high rank amongst the town guard, or marrying the farmer’s daughter).

My understanding of it is that the point of the mayor is so that raising charm still helps your character in combat, because becoming the mayor is a great way to get money, and thus equipment for your dude.[/quote]

I agree that the events that alter future events are the coolest ones.  Possible idea for your DoF sequel: make it so certain events direct the course of the main story.  Maybe the players could choose to join or oppose the Bone Lord equivalent, and have an optional Ballos-style superboss.

[pulsemeat]

A lot of the stuff you guys are suggesting (like the stat check with a choice, unique item rewards from events, or different end bosses based on your decisions) is stuff I intended to do but ended up cutting for time. All those things would definitely go into a new iteration of the game. Other ideas like the additional time reward and the dungeon shops are pretty cool so I'll see if I can fit them in as well.

I lowered the requirements on the Summoner, so that'll go out in the next version and hopefully will make him a bit more useful.

[photonicwarrior]

My understanding of it is that the point of the mayor is so that raising charm still helps your character in combat, because becoming the mayor is a great way to get money, and thus equipment for your dude.

Yeah, and that's why I think charm should be a secondary requirement for the other positions as well (alongside the main requirements of intelligence for the wizards, strength for the guards, etc).  Just like in real life, politics is as important as competence.

[Curseman]

Yeah, and that's why I think charm should be a secondary requirement for the other positions as well (alongside the main requirements of intelligence for the wizards, strength for the guards, etc).  Just like in real life, politics is as important as competence.

I would actually prefer leaning towards more relaxed class requirements.  As was said before with summoners, class stat requirements put a lot of limitations on what you can do with your character.  In some cases, limitations may be necessary to prevent things like the super lightning spam wizard pictured on page 7, but for the most part, I think it's more fun to let the player make their guy unique.

[photonicwarrior]

Yeah, and that's why I think charm should be a secondary requirement for the other positions as well (alongside the main requirements of intelligence for the wizards, strength for the guards, etc).  Just like in real life, politics is as important as competence.

I would actually prefer leaning towards more relaxed class requirements.  As was said before with summoners, class stat requirements put a lot of limitations on what you can do with your character.  In some cases, limitations may be necessary to prevent things like the super lightning spam wizard pictured on page 7, but for the most part, I think it's more fun to let the player make their guy unique.

I didn't mean charm as a class requirement when I said that; I was talking about how you can't become mayor unless you have a certain amount of charm.  If there were other positions you could attain in this game similar to becoming mayor, then charm could be a requirement for those as well (even if something like strength or intelligence was the main requirement).

edit:  I should mention that this also ties into what you said about giving the player more options for their builds, in that it gives them the choice of going after the benefits of advancing amongst the town's citizenry, or sticking with a pure stat-oriented character.

[pulsemeat]

Other positions in the town is an interesting idea for making use of charm. I like it!

And yeah, there should definitely be more charm-based stat checks.

[Del_Duio]

Other positions in the town is an interesting idea for making use of charm. I like it!

And yeah, there should definitely be more charm-based stat checks.

Like getting a girl to kiss you, which might heal your HP.

[photonicwarrior]

Other positions in the town is an interesting idea for making use of charm. I like it!

And yeah, there should definitely be more charm-based stat checks.

Like getting a girl to kiss you, which might heal your HP.

Unfortunately, I think she'd have to kiss the entire party due to the way events work in dungeons 

[Ryavis]

She kisses you and then you brag about it to your party members until they heal themselves just to get you to shut up.

[pulsemeat]

Heh, I was thinking that myself. But actually, an extra healing point per dungeon based on a charm requirement is a really interesting idea.

[pulsemeat]

OK, I've put up what should be the final (unstable) version of this edition of the game. There's now a Hall of Legends you can visit after you've finished the game once to see your progress, and it includes an unlockable super-challenge that you can try with heroes you've saved:

http://www.yoyogames.com/games/110894-dof-update

And since a lot of people have played the game a number of times already and probably wouldn't appreciate having to play through with the same characters again, I've made this:

http://www.yoyogames.com/games/120362-dof-cheat

Download the above and drop it into your Dungeons of Fayte folder. With it, you can tell the game what you've already completed. Be honest! Note that while this will let you unlock progress, you won't get any saved characters, so if you want to try the ultimate challenge, you'll have to beat the game again with the classes you want to play.

Naturally, there are other things to unlock, and I've also improved the Buccaneer by giving him a completely different special attack. There have been a few other tweaks and fixes; let me know if you encounter any problems.

Extra thanks to Geeze for his art on two new characters!

[Dom2D]

YAY! A new version!!!!! 

[patata]

My character freezes when I try to "load" a saved hero from the hall of heroes. =(