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[Hempuli‽]

o nvm about the tikki one but now i got another question where r the slaves cuz there iusnt really anywhere south of the docks with ppl there except the one guy who likes to kill ppl bcuz of buisness but thats it so plz respond and help me

Looking at this makes me cry.

Looks very polished, I'll check it out later, when I get home.

[Craig Stern]

Cool--I'll appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

[Craig Stern]

Resurrecting this thread because the game is still in development, and I still want feedback!

Right now I'm gearing up for the release of TSoG's first downloadable demo. For the occasion, I've rewritten the sound engine, improved enemy AI, and commissioned an artist to make the characters portraits awesome. Have a looksie.

[Jonathan]

Thanks dude! The game is made in Flash, which means I coded it in Actionscript. I actually modeled the combat more on Shining Force (I hadn't ever played FF Tactics before when I designed the combat engine). As for the graphics, while I did most of it myself, I can't take credit for the cape animation--that was made by a volunteer.

I'm impressed that you were able to make a game like this in Flash, it must have taken you forever.  I'll give it a go this weekend.

[Craig Stern]

I'm impressed that you were able to make a game like this in Flash, it must have taken you forever.  I'll give it a go this weekend.

Thanks! I started working on this game in winter 2007, so it's been quite a long time in development. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

[Craig Stern]

Tomorrow is going to be the release of TSoG's first downloadable demo! More details here:

http://sinisterdesign.net/?p=474

[Craig Stern]

The downloadable demo is out! Feedback would be appreciated.

[Craig Stern]

I've updated the browser demo based on a swell of bug reports and other feedback I received after I released the downloadable demo. Some of the highlights:

--a Hold button for combat, so characters can wait for everyone else to go before taking their turns
--better enemy AI
--more hidden goodies scattered around Ravinale
--better visual indicators of what areas in the city are not walkable
--a TON of bug fixes

Also, while it's not in either demo as of yet, I've begun recording voice acting for the game.

[Craig Stern]

I've updated both demos (online and downloadable) with everything mentioned above, as well as the ability to click-select characters in combat rather than waiting for them to progress through a predefined turn cycle.

[fraxcell]

Playing through the online demo right now. I really like it; only bug I think I might have seen is that after playing cards with that Ali guy in the bar and winning, I ended up just outside of the bar when I clicked done, instead of being where I was when I talked to him.

Also, when I enter the area to the right of the area with the bar and the docks, a dialog box pops up, but without anything in it. However, I can still move around normally. It goes away when I leave the area, but comes back if I go back.

[tsameti]

Oh, wow. Telepath is still around? Man, I think the last time I saw this was 2008. It's looking great, and that artist you brought on has helped hugely to make your characters visually interesting.

I really like the direction you are going with, addressing religious conflict. But I'm not being pulled in for some reason. I wonder what could be done to better establish the conflict right at the beginning? It's possible the player need some time with Hero's parents to understand what their religious beliefs are before they suddenly get deposed.

Still, it's a welcome throwback to the RPGs of old. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Craig Stern]

I haven't updated this thread for a while--I've been working on making improvements to the game and getting voice acting finished. Here are some interviews with voice actors portraying some of the game's main characters:

Malis
Arman
Rahel

Some recent improvements to the game:
--three new playable characters have been added (though you can't currently access them in the demo)
--new side quests and incidental character dialog have been added to Ravinale and Somnus
--there is now a menu option to "always run" by default so you don't have to keep shift held down while exploring
--the capability to type in your responses during certain conversations (e.g. when answering a riddle, you type in the answer; or when asking Griffin about other characters, you type in the name of the character you want him to offer his opinion about)

Development continues. I've committed to releasing this game in Spring/Summer of next year, so I'm doing my best to pack in as much awesome as I can before then.

[Craig Stern]

I really like the direction you are going with, addressing religious conflict. But I'm not being pulled in for some reason. I wonder what could be done to better establish the conflict right at the beginning? It's possible the player need some time with Hero's parents to understand what their religious beliefs are before they suddenly get deposed.

Oh, never responded to this. First, thanks! Second, that's actually not the first time I've gotten that criticism about TSoG. I've added a short sequence to the front end of the game to help establish some small connection to the parents before the arrest takes place. Hopefully that helps.

I don't want the intro to end up too bloated, though. I've never been overly fond of the RPG convention of having the player wander around his home town for the first hour running errands. I like the FF6 approach much better, with its use of in medias res.

[Craig Stern]

My! It certainly has been a while since I last updated this, hasn't it? Well, I'm just posting here to let everyone know that TSoG is finally close to being complete. I'm releasing the game in a little more than 2 weeks (February 14, 2012). For more info, head here.