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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingMelolune (video added)
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JackNeil
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« Reply #40 on: November 13, 2009, 09:11:02 AM »

Thank you for the tips, Laura. Smiley I think the one with reading the dialogs loud is a very good one. Smiley

What is your story about so far? 
The plot of the story is very generic right now, not very interesting. I've to invest a lot more time in this.
I've started writing down strong emotional scenes with the side-kick and will probably build everything around this.

With the next Grappling Hook update, there will be a lot more story and text. Smiley
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Christian Teister | Game Developer
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« Reply #41 on: November 13, 2009, 09:44:44 AM »

Finished the demo. I liked it a lot.
And Hawk is awesome. Really cool character you've created.
Some points, though:

-Andy looks like a girl. Really.
-When you meet the scientist guy in his hideout he mispells Achaius name once. I think I just mispelled it now too haha.
-I hate you forever for making that yellow melon on the Mola bossfight. Ok, I don't hate you. But that was unforgiving.  Angry
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supershigi
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« Reply #42 on: November 15, 2009, 04:20:48 PM »

Hi everyone... just wanted to let you know that I spent the weekend putting together a video with some gameplay footage of Melolune:





Yes, that's me talking at the beginning (although I don't normally sound that young... I was trying to talk like a kid because the voice is supposed to be Achaius as a child) Tongue
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Laura Shigihara | Composer and Game Designer
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supershigi
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« Reply #43 on: November 18, 2009, 02:01:45 AM »

If it's not too much trouble... for those who have finished the demo, do you think you might be able to post a little information for me about your party members' status at the end of the demo?  I'm trying to balance the equipment and monster levels for the next parts in the game because right now I think they might be off.  If you could post things like: what level your party members were at at the end of the demo, what equipment they were wearing, and how much gold you had... I'd really appreciate it... thank-you very much! 
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Laura Shigihara | Composer and Game Designer
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« Reply #44 on: November 18, 2009, 04:40:07 AM »

I'd say the game is fairly easy to the end of the demo. If you want a silly joke, as easy as CT Tongue

I didn't need to GRIND at all. The only boss who gave me a headache was Mola. At that point I almost went grinding but after a few tries he went down.
Stats below:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4563/merorune.png
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supershigi
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« Reply #45 on: November 18, 2009, 02:38:36 PM »

@R.D. Ein: Thank-you!  Cool, yeah I think based on some of those stats, I think I'm going to need to do some major balancing in the next areas.  Hehe, yeah sorry about Mola and the melons Tongue  I wanted to have a good hard battle, so I spent a while trying to set that one up.  For a while you could kill the healer-melon in one turn, which made the rest of the battle a lot easier... so I had to set its life above the average damage dealt in one turn so as to make it more challenging... but it also made it harder to deal with the yellow-melon's AOE poison stuff (sorry, hehe) Tongue  Did it at least feel satisfying after you won? 

I'm so big on those kinds of battles where you feel really good at the end.  I remember fighting Tropicalo(?), that plant boss in Secret of Mana that you have to fight when you go to the dwarf home... We didn't know how well we were doing, and we were getting low in life, but when it started flashing and exploding my friends and I were cheering and giving each other high-5s, haha.  I also felt like this after fighting Giga Gaia in Kingdom of Zeal (man that boss was hard!!)

Do you guys have favorite boss-fights?

Oh, and if anyone else still has their stats from the end of the demo (levels, equipment, gold, etc.), I'd really love to get that feedback from you Smiley
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 02:46:39 PM by supershigi » Logged

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« Reply #46 on: November 18, 2009, 02:44:36 PM »

Yes, it was satisfying. Although It'd have been more if I had taken the time to grind and DESTROY Mola completely.

Recently I started playing Mother 3 and the difficulty is quite high (but not impossible), so it really feels good after defeating a boss. I think having tougher enemies is a necessity, but giving the player the option to at least train in that area for a bit really makes it an enjoyable experience. You feel the effort.
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Zaphos
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« Reply #47 on: November 18, 2009, 10:11:01 PM »

Stats: http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x60/ExplodedBrain_bucket/melo_stats.png

Mola was the only remotely hard battle for me too, IIRC ... I wasn't really making progress with it for a few turns, because they'd heal all the damage I did, although then I used an orb which instantly won it for me.
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supershigi
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« Reply #48 on: November 24, 2009, 10:22:14 AM »

Cool, thanks guys, that was really helpful ^_^  I'm working on some map-backtracking stuff now, like trying to find more places to put hidden areas that you can only access after getting abilities from certain dungeons.  That was one of my favorite things about Legend of Zelda (Link to the Past in particular)... it kept me exploring the world for hours on end rather than just heading to the next dungeon, haha.   

@R.D. Ein: Is Mother 3 the same as Earthbound?  Or is that like the sequel?  I loved Earthbound, I played it with my friend back on the SNES several years ago.  I thought it was so cute and funny.  I don't know why, but I really liked those walking grass-hill-guys.

@Zaphos: Ah, the orbs... I had totally forgotten that I gave players orbs that could do enough damage to kill the helpers in one shot.   I figured people would just focus fire on the healer with their strongest spells, and then go to work on the rest of the party, but I didn't even think of the orbs!  Thanks for reminding me... I think I'm gonna nerf those so it doesn't make the Mola battle end so quickly Tongue 
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« Reply #49 on: November 24, 2009, 11:40:29 AM »

Mother 3 is the sequel to Earthbound. It's an amazing RPG, probably my second favorite RPG of all time. I'm really into the Mother series now, getting to play Earthbound as fast as possible.

Backtracking can be good if used correctly. Nobody wants to go through a dungeon again just to get a simple item or something like that. Make sure it's not disappointing or tiring Smiley
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supershigi
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« Reply #50 on: November 25, 2009, 05:06:58 PM »

Is Mother 3 out for DS or any of those systems, or do you have to play it via an emulator?  I really hope that Earthbound comes to Virtual Console on the Wii... I really want to play it again, it's been such a long time.  And yes, I'll try my best to make sure it's worth it to backtrack ^_^ 

So this week I finally got around to starting on a tileset for the next to last area in my game.  This place is called the Saphine Kingdom (and you can tell it was largely inspired by places like the Kingdom of Zeal, Tenku no Shiro Laputa, etc... I guess we Japanese have a fascination with floating islands or something, haha).  Anyways, I love this area because you meet your 8th party member here, Liele... who has a very touching story in my opinion.

This is Liele's theme song. 

And here's a rather large screenshot of the palace there (you can see the full picture by clicking on it).  So many hours for such a small amount of work... my wrist hurts now, but at least I'm feeling productive today ^_^

« Last Edit: November 25, 2009, 05:13:59 PM by supershigi » Logged

Laura Shigihara | Composer and Game Designer
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« Reply #51 on: November 25, 2009, 05:27:23 PM »

Do you think it's worth making a devlog of Melolune? Rather than simply posting updates here.
MOTHER 3 is japanese-only for GBA. You can play it on emulador in english, though. I'm REALLY planning on buying it japanese because I'll feel bad for not paying after playing this gem.

The amout of detail you put in the maps is incredible. And yeah, it's very reminiscent of Zeal, my favorite place in CT <3. Far right tree reminds me of Majora's Mask, inside the Moon.

Btw, is the game close to release? Care to share some % done? Or maybe i'm asking a stupid question, since it may be hard to measure how much is done...

Also... Liele's theme is pretty beautiful, although melancholic. Can't wait to see how it works in the game... If it will be instrumental or not, haha.

EDIT: Can you pleeeeease make a mp3 of upperlands?
« Last Edit: November 26, 2009, 08:02:59 AM by R. D. Ein » Logged
supershigi
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« Reply #52 on: November 27, 2009, 02:18:26 PM »

Thank-you, I'm always happy when people notice little details about my maps!  And I'm really glad that you liked Liele's theme.  To answer your question, I'm about 80-90% finished with the linear gameplay... but there are a lot of extra things beyond that which I hope to add.  Here's a rough idea of what I still need to do: 

-This most recent map is the 2nd to last location in the game.  I still have to put together a tileset and build all the maps for its interiors and caves, and I need to make a tileset and maps for the final area.
-I need to populate all the new areas with NPCs and write their dialogue.
-Gotta finish all the cutscenes, quests, enemies, items, equipment, etc. for these new areas.
-Got to add sidequests and backtracking areas throughout the world.
-Thinking about recoloring all the facesets, and need to make 2 more facesets with expressions for Sophie and Liele.  Also thinking about putting together a new world map.
-Need to add mouse support and a journal system.
-Have to write a script to support the airship movement over the world map.
-I'd like to add a few mini-games and a section in the menu where you can replay any mini-game you've encountered throughout the game.
-I still have to compose a lot more of the music for these new areas.
-Gotta balance everything.

There's more, but I think I'll stop there so I don't totally overwhelm myself >_<  Sometimes it helps to look at all the things I've finished, because then it gives me confidence that I'll be able to get through the rest.  I've been going for over 2 years now... so this is the final stretch.  I'd estimate about 3 more months if I keep working at this pace (and provided I don't screw up my wrists again, hehe). 

And sure, here's the mp3 for the Upplerlands!  Let me know if this is the one you're talking about.  I actually made a post a while back explaining how the song gets broken down, this is the post if you're interested.   

I've thought about making a dev log, but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to have a thread going in both feedback and the dev log section.  If it's okay though, perhaps I'll start one.

To anyone out there who has finished their game... what kept you going through that final 10%?  I've been told that it's the toughest part, and I'm definitely feeling less motivated than I was during the more interesting sections. 
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rekcah
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« Reply #53 on: November 28, 2009, 08:27:27 PM »

Hey do you still need stats?



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supershigi
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« Reply #54 on: November 30, 2009, 03:11:33 PM »

Yay, more stats, thank-you rek!  Yes, I definitely still need those ^_^ 

I have a quick question about file size... So my final game will probably be around 120mg.  The compressed demo file actually contains the majority of the game's data, even though it's not accessible to players in its current state... so the final size won't change much.  I was doing some research on PC downloadables, and it seems as though quite a number of the search & find games are between 100-300mgs.  I figured since my game will be a 30-40 hour rpg with a lot of music, it should hopefully be okay.  But what do you guys think? 
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Laura Shigihara | Composer and Game Designer
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Craig Stern
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« Reply #55 on: November 30, 2009, 04:45:22 PM »

So, I finally got around to checking out your music here, and I'm going to give you feedback on it.

I really like what I've heard so far, first of all. You've really got that whole "pretty song" thing down pat, don't you? Wink "Traces" is a very sweet song--part of it reminds me of the main motif in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 in C Minor, second movement. (You wouldn't be the first to borrow from it.) "Melolune" is also quite pretty--I particularly like the instrumental accompaniment. The acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies in "Carya de Mio" are great. "Eclipse and Starlight" reminds me a lot of the

in Secret of Mana, but I'm not complaining: it's gorgeous.

Really, none of what you've posted merits any complaints except for "Ultimate Battle." It's a good track, mind you, but I don't think it works particularly well as battle music. Here's why: it should really start to build tension at around the one minute mark, blowing out into something really spectacular, but instead it sort of winds down into something that sounds like high energy town music. The first minute is kind of understated to begin with--I might try making another version where the song goes in another direction from there.

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to play your actual game yet, but there's my music feedback. Smiley

(BTW, I really wouldn't be turned off by a file size like 120 MB for a full-length game.)
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supershigi
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« Reply #56 on: November 30, 2009, 06:23:30 PM »

Hi Craig, thanks for stopping by ^_^  I'm glad you enjoyed the music.  That's so funny that you mentioned the Secret of Mana snow music because I was just thinking the other day that I should listen to it for inspiration!  I have a snow area in Melolune (the Nocto-Oculant settlement) and I would like for it to have a similar feel... I can't say that it influenced Eclipse and Starlight though (unless it was subconscious, which is possible because I love Secret of Mana!).  My inspiration for that piece came when my friend drew this picture for me to match a Carl Sagan quote:

"The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. Recently we've waded a little way out..."


So I replied with this:

"Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return...

and we can..."

I love creative exchanges like that Smiley  About "Ultimate Battle," it's actually only for the boss battles.  I think it's one of those things where you might have to see it in game, but it actually works really well.  I had been using the normal battle music (which is this funky 13/16 piece) as a placeholder for the boss battles until I was able to write specific boss music, and once I was able to replace it, the feel of the boss battles changed completely!  It made them feel really exciting, even though I'd already playtested them several times. 

The only issue I have with this piece is that while I was composing it, I was also working on the soundtrack for Plants vs. Zombies; and George (the designer) overheard the music and asked if he could use it for the final levels in each area.  I said it was fine so long as I could still use it for my boss fights, so I made sure that got worked into the contract... but I'm afraid someone might think I stole the music if they don't know I made it specifically for my rpg Tongue  Besides that though, it seems to be really effective in-game.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2009, 06:30:06 PM by supershigi » Logged

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« Reply #57 on: November 30, 2009, 06:27:11 PM »

Yay, more stats, thank-you rek!  Yes, I definitely still need those ^_^ 

I have a quick question about file size... So my final game will probably be around 120mg.  The compressed demo file actually contains the majority of the game's data, even though it's not accessible to players in its current state... so the final size won't change much.  I was doing some research on PC downloadables, and it seems as though quite a number of the search & find games are between 100-300mgs.  I figured since my game will be a 30-40 hour rpg with a lot of music, it should hopefully be okay.  But what do you guys think? 
I would definitely not be turned off by a 100 meg download for a full game. However, I probably would for the demo; as usually I just want to be playing within a few minutes. (Also, why leave stuff in the demo when the player can't access it? It's just wasting your bandwidth Wink)
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rekcah
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« Reply #58 on: November 30, 2009, 06:32:58 PM »

I think as long as you're under 300 megs you should be fine. My first game ever was 100 megs and its short as hell, but people didn't complain too much.  Smiley
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supershigi
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« Reply #59 on: November 30, 2009, 06:42:57 PM »

Quote from: Eraser
Also, why leave stuff in the demo when the player can't access it? It's just wasting your bandwidth
Ah, good question.  The reason is because I was originally intending to release a longer version of the game for the IGF that contained about 80-90% of the gameplay... but I wasn't able to finish all the details and get the longer version completely bug-tested in time.  So I ended up cutting the demo off early in terms of where the player could go, but all of my assets are still in the compressed file... it would be really tough for me to remove them at this point because they're pretty integrated (all the tilesets, maps, panoramas, backgrounds, music, etc.)  And a lot of stuff gets reused later in some form.  So yeah, basically the demo and full version will be very similar in terms of size (if all goes as planned, hehe ^_^).

@rekcah: Ah, thank-you, that's a relief to hear Smiley 
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