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Switching to midis and increasing the walk speed.

  • UPRC
  • 04/28/2011 02:17 AM
I think I will pick this game up (again) and change two things that seemed to piss off EVERYONE last time I put up a download.

1. Increased Walk Speed
I understand that, even though I use the same walk speed as the old games, my maps are sometimes too large and such for the slower speed to keep anything even remotely enjoyable. I'm even playing FF4 The Complete Collection on my PSP and I decided to have dash on at all times. I don't know, maybe the slower walk speed really was just a a nostalgic "gimmick" all this time. Definitely increasing the speed by a notch.

2. Music Change: MP3 -> MIDI
While the mp3s sound so much better overall, my overall file size was really getting out of control, and the mp3s are exclusively to blame for this. Maybe I'll still offer an mp3 download later, but the main download will be midi next time.

3. Other Things
Should I keep the storyline really vague at the start? While playing FF4 again, I found myself getting a little pissed off at one point because the game didn't tell me where to go and I had forgotten where to go since I hadn't played the game for years. Blackmoon Prophecy does this a lot, especially at the start where you can't cross a river until you literally read a book about chocobos in the upstairs Branch Castle library. I'm thinking that there should always be a figurative arrow saying "go this way" for the player so that they don't get lost or confused.

4. Remapping Branch Castle
I can make "proper" castles now. Back when I mapped Branch Castle, I was bad at this. After watching YDS playing through Blackmoon Prophecy and seemingly getting lost and confused in the castle, I decided that it should probably be redone. What I have in mind is a layout a lot like Fabul in FF4. The castle needs to be fairly straight forward. The interesting bits shouldn't be hard to find, nor should it be a hassle locating NPCs that need to be spoken with.

I don't know, I could easily just scrap this project but since I started it so long ago (2004 I think), it would be a bit hard too I guess. I used to spend a lot of time with it and I still have a big soft spot for it. I just really want to improve the aspects of it that aren't so good anymore so that people will actually like it again, which hasn't been the case since '08 or '09.

If anyone is reading this and tried the latest download (it was in December or January), what else needed fixing aside from the things mentioned above?

Posts

Pages: 1
calunio
Come home with me.
5573
04/28/2011 01:59 AM
1 - awesome!
2 - awesome (thought mp3 does sound better).
3 - no. I hate storylines that start too vague. Even if it changes completely, it has to start from somewhere. I don't like the feeling of having no idea where I'm going or why I'm doing things.
UPRC
BACK ON TOP
3657
04/28/2011 02:18 AM
author=calunio
1 - awesome!
2 - awesome (thought mp3 does sound better).
3 - no. I hate storylines that start too vague. Even if it changes completely, it has to start from somewhere. I don't like the feeling of having no idea where I'm going or why I'm doing things.


Thanks for the input! I just added a fourth point as well.
Link_2112
4098
04/28/2011 03:09 PM
4. You can leave the layout's the same, just use NPC's/events/objects to block off parts of the map that serve no purpose at the start of the game and direct the player to the places that progress the story. Then later when the player has to return to the castle you can leave it open for the player to explore, just put chests or NPC's with valuable information so that it's not a bunch of useless dead ends.
Nightblade
1589
04/28/2011 03:39 PM
Converting MP3s properly, they don't take up much room. Learn how to use audacity, it isn't hard.
Zadok83
85
04/28/2011 07:55 PM
I'm glad to see this project is moving forward again.

1. Thanks for increasing the walking speed.

2. Like Nightblade said, if you use Audacity, you can keep those high quality mp3s and still make the download size smaller.

3. It'd be a good idea to keep the player informed on what they are supposed to be doing. Holler at NicoB of Forever's End for more info on how.

4. Trust me, I still like the game a lot. These improvements will only make it even better and much more polished. As long as we don't have one endless hallway (FF XIII) I'll be satisfied.
UPRC
BACK ON TOP
3657
04/28/2011 07:59 PM
author=Zadok83
I'm glad to see this project is moving forward again.

1. Thanks for increasing the walking speed.

2. Like Nightblade said, if you use Audacity, you can keep those high quality mp3s and still make the download size smaller.

3. It'd be a good idea to keep the player informed on what they are supposed to be doing. Holler at NicoB of Forever's End for more info on how.

4. Trust me, I still like the game a lot. These improvements will only make it even better and much more polished. As long as we don't have one endless hallway (FF XIII) I'll be satisfied.

1. Seems like this was more universally desired than I imagined. Currently playing through the entire game again (urgh) to make sure the new walk speed doesn't affect anything. The pacing of dungeons and towns definitely feels much better now.

2. Would GoldWave be able to do this as well? It is my mp3 editing program of choice. I assume all that would be required is to change the quality of the mp3?

3. Definitely. This is already working out pretty well from the improvements I've been making. There are now GPS pads (see screenshots) on the world map that can point you in the direction you need to go in, and NPCs aren't as vague about where you need to go or what you need to do.

4. No endless hallway, haha. It only worked for FF XIII because it was a very pretty game that was nice to look at.
UPRC
BACK ON TOP
3657
05/02/2011 07:09 PM
author=Nightblade
Converting MP3s properly, they don't take up much room. Learn how to use audacity, it isn't hard.

Alright, I really have to thank you for this. I wasn't aware that I could shrink the size of my music folder so much!

I used GoldWave and trimmed the music folder down significantly. It was about 140mb but is now down to 36mb.

So, thanks for the tip!
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