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Edifice Players: I Need Your Thoughts

To put you in the mood:



Two questions.

1) If I started a Tumblr blog for the more menial Edifice updates, would anybody be interested? I guess it'd be silly running my RGSS3 Wordpress, personal Tumblr, game dev Tumblr, and this game profile, but I feel like posting frivolous updates on the profile and WP wouldn't be worthwhile.

2) What did you love, like, dislike and hate about the released version of Edifice? Edifice's Ace remake is a very different, but still similar, game, and is also a very serious project in terms of "I am going to make a release a polished, quality indie game." So, I need your thoughts, as harsh as possible. There were lots of good and bad things in Edifice, and I need your help sorting them out.

Announcement

Edifice Ace: Oh Hey Thar



Still a work in progress. I <3 Ace. (Yes, this is an announcement.)



oh wow

Game Design

Thoughts of a Deceased Crawler

So, guys: if a similar game to Edifice were to be made, what would make it shine? I don't care if you played this version or not (don't, it's buggy as all hell), although you can certain base your opinions on it.

Is the bosses, the general enemies, the loot, the characters, the ____ that makes you want to play? What drives you away from games like this?

I am the curious.

Miscellaneous

Bugfixes? I hope?

For more information on the game, check this blog: http://rpgmaker.net/games/3135/blog/5110/

Things that the currently-uploading download addresses:

-Crashing on quitting/quicksaving/returning to title fixed (I hope)
-Rapid Essence gain... adjusted? (...I really hope, I cannot replicate it myself)
-More abilities/items cure Confuse
-Nerfed Ruins enemies
-Blessing now restores 8HP/4EN (instead of 5/2) - still minor, but hopefully the Energy gain is worth it
-A few typos, cut-off lines, etc.

Please continue trying to break it, guys. I'll keep supporting this until I head out for the summer at the end of next week. Reviews, bug reports, feelings, stick figure comics about fighting Godstopper, etc. are all welcome.

Thanks for being so quick and enjoying the game so far!

Download EDIFICE DEMO V2 when it's uploaded.

Miscellaneous

'Tis Released: Edifice Download and Known Issues



<tardis> 'sup, Edifice

The download is out. You should probably get it.

Well, this is it! The Edifice "demo." It's really a full game, in a sense - you can do quite a few runs, buy some stuff, talk to Demons, get your posterior Oblivion Fisted. At the same time, it's only a taste of the features, enemies and dungeon types that will be in the full release sometime this autumn.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy it.

Remember that I'll be leaving shortly after the 17th, so if you want me to hear your opinions, play it now! Review it! To get two runs done should take about seven hours, although there's easily ~15+ hours of gameplay in this demo (!!!).



Known Issues:
-The hub (Shrine of Equinox) is pretty hideous. Sorry!
-Demons only have one thing to chat about
-Score, and the special runs you can purchase with it, are not implemented
-When an ally is replaced upon death/Czarina, there is an odd graphical glitch with pop-ups; it will not hurt the game in any way
-Shop interface is kind of nasty, but very functional/understandable
-The Essence interface works just fine, but needs some tweaking/prettifying
-Souls are not in. That slot in the equip menu does nothing! You'll earn them in the full release as achievements, and they will be associated with specific characters

Nothing major, really! Have fun dying a lot, mmkay?


Miscellaneous

Czarina Boss Video: I SHALL PUNCH YOU INTO OBLIVION



Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIHaAYc5njM

Known issues:
-Overlay on the battle background is gross
-Czarina is waaaaay too easy
-Operatic Solo affects "all foes"
-Map is titled "Czarina' Fortress"

BAM. Czarina punches out your party members, replacing them with characters in the reserve. Oooooooh boy.

Miscellaneous

Filling the Bar: Checklist for RMN Release

First off, I'd like to stress that the RMN release later this week is a demo, despite the game having plenty of content. There are features that I am holding back on until the post-summer release.

Secondly, I leave around the 17th. So, basically, you guys have a week to tell me how you feel about the game. Testers seem to be enjoying it while tearing it apart for me to fix (<3), but I want more opinions! I like making things that are really good, so I need your harshest criticisms. Quickly.

Remaining Stuff to Do
-Ruins enemy set
-Three midbosses for ruins/ice cave/cave areas
-Three bosses: Aracharlotina, Quetzalcoatl, Czarina
-New final boss: Mesmeratil
-More maps (~10)
-More banter (low priority; there's already quite a bit)
-Finish Advice on new area types
-Minor graphical errors
-Scoring
-Touch up base world a bit, including more chatter with Deep Ones


The goal is Thursday!

Miscellaneous

Let Us Die Together: Testing Begins Whole-Heartedly

The second alpha of Edifice has been sent out to a variety of people. Hopefully, I'll start getting a trickle of information I can use to build up the game to a releasable state before the 10th.

I'm leaving for summer camp around the 17th, and will be gone for the next two months. It's a long commitment, and is without laptop and internet, but I am actually an outdoorsy person! I also love working with children. What this means is that I'll need you guys to play the game before I leave if you want to get my immediate reactions/assistance! Feel free to continue breaking and criticizing the game after I leave, but know that any responses will be incredibly rare until mid-August.

The release next week will be a "demo;" the game will still be never-ending, but the content will start to run dry after ~25-30 floors (~12-15 hours of gameplay). I realize that this is actually quite long for an RM* game, but well, when your game makes itself...! (The full game will have enough content for ~30 hours of gaming with no frills, but will also feature bonus content, special runs, et cetera.)

So, testers are making sure the game runs now. In about a week, you guys will get to tell me if it's fun or not, but you'll only have a week to do so! How does that sound?

Miscellaneous

A Brief Treatise on Losing: Getting a Game Over in Edifice

so no healing when the character dies the game will be over


Indeed.

Let me speak in mathematical terms: you have sixteen characters, each with 2,500 Health (henceforth, "HP"). The average run is of six floors, with five of those floors housing a forced 2-4 normal encounters, a midboss, and a boss. The sixth floor houses no forced encounters and a terrifying final boss. Normal enemies attack in groups of roughly five, and deal ~40 damage each per turn (averaging propensities to heal, to support, to hex, to nuke, et cetera in with typical strikes).

Of special note is that within a turn of a character's death, they will be replaced by a random living reserve member. In order to lose Edifice, all sixteen characters must have perished.

Total party HP: 40,000
Normal encounter damage (assuming one enemy dead/turn): 600
Per-floor normal encounter damage (assuming three encounters): 1,800
Midboss encounter damage (assuming average parameters): 1,000
Boss encounter damage (assuming average parameters): 3,000+
Per-floor total damage: 5,800
Per-run total damage, pre-finale (five floors): 29,000
Final boss damage (assuming incredible nastiness): 7,000+
Per-run total damage, post-finale: 36,000+

Running six floors under the most pleasant of conditions (note: these "most pleasant of conditions are surely not going to occur), you should not die, but rather remain with a handful of survivors clinging to 4,000 or less HP.

So, correct, my esteemed colleague (I am referring to the one who produced the line which has been reproduced at the top of this post); when all sixteen characters die, which is not destined to happen on the average run despite nail-biting and horrific foul-ups, the game is over. There is no healing, there is only mitigation.

Higher difficulties will demand expertise in creating characters with the ability to take and mitigate damage, to deal concentrated bursts of damage, to quickly and efficiently support the party. You must practice utilizing and upgrading all sixteen of your elite force, for without stat boosts and Essence they shall fall as hard as Bioware and as ferociously as Square-Enix.

The underlying message to this brief treatise on how the game is not geared to make you lose (but make you feel like you are going to lose) is this, fellow game designers and developers:

Be a dear, do the math.

Miscellaneous

How Long 'Til Death: Difficulty Options in Edifice

There are three main ways to change the difficulty of Edifice's dungeon runs.

The most important is run length, which is the amount of randomized floors you actually traverse before returning to the hub world. Six is recommended, three is easy, and nine/twelve are hard and very hard, respectively. You have the same amount of HP and Energy in these runs, and the longer the run, the more the difficulty ramps up.

Your second option is whether or not to play Insane mode. On Insane mode, enemies have a slight stat boost, but that's probably the most minor change. Dimmer lights mean that it's harder to judge the risk/reward to fighting enemies to find the staircase/treasure chests. More (nasty) skills on enemies and bosses coupled with improved AI mean that fights are deadlier. Finally, chests appear less often.

Your third option relates to Hardcore mode. All this does is turn off saving at checkpoints - you'll still get stat booster items from Medusa, but you won't be able to do a clear save. You will still be able to quicksave.

All three options affect your score, which is a mix of remaining HP, score multipliers, and your Kill Kount. I'll cover score in another blog.

You will also be able to partake in special runs - such as locked six-person party, or double HP and twenty-floor run - but these will not affect your current floor (your progression through the game's "story"). Only normal runs, affected by the three above settings, allow you to truly progress through the dungeon and unlock new features and tiers of Essence.
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