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Inspiration comes from the weirdest places.

  • Marrend
  • 04/12/2015 01:01 PM
  • 1202 views
If one recalls, I was having a hell of a time coming up with abilities for Shizu. I wasn't doing much of anything else with this game, which caused a bit of frustration to mount. I went without doing any kind game-making, playing various games to help release some of the aforementioned frustration.

Weirdly enough, I was playing a bit of Metal Gear Solid 4 last night, and I somehow got to ruminating about quick-attacks. I dunno, maybe I could also attribute the thought-process to knowing that my brother is playing one of the Batman Arkham games. I forget which one at the moment, sorry. Anyway, the basic concept is that it's this attack that is faster to pull off, but has reduced accuracy. Which then gives thoughts to the idea of a slow-attack, which, obviously, is slower to pull off, but accuracy is (almost?) guaranteed.

I started to think that, maybe, I should give Shizu both a quick-attack and a slow-attack. Though, there may be a few game-balance issues that need to be resolved with this idea. For one, they can't do the same damage. If they do, the only situation I can think of that it's worth the risk of missing is if the enemy is close enough to dying that a quick-attack would have the potential to finish the fight.

Another thought-process I had a bit later on is to give Shizu the quick-attack, and also give her a way to reduce enemy evasion. The abilities would work off each other, and would assist with Nanami's attack skills as well. I'm sorta starting to think this might be a bit overpowered, though.

The more astute observer might note that, in the last post in my previous blog, I tried to alleviate my frustrations with this game by making another. I'm not sure if that game is going to go anywhere, or not, to be honest. Even if I do manage to finish this game in decent time (Yeah, riiiiiight!) there's still Oracle of Askigaga, Myriad Cypher, and, of course, the-tactical-science-fiction-game-with-mechs-that-keeps-getting-shelved-and-will-probably-continue-to-be-shelved.

Posts

Pages: 1
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Let's do a short recap of the abilities that I have in mind for the characters in this game.

  • Shizu
Double Tap (Single target, attacks twice)
Armor Break (Single target, debuff DEF)
Quick Shot (Single target, +100 SPD, 90% accuracy)
Snipe (Single target, -100 SPD, 100% accuracy)

  • Nanami
Cheer (Single target, hp healing, int-based)
Taunt (Self, direct attention)
Disarm (Single target, seals techniques)
Stunning Palm (Single target, stun)

  • Masako
Predict (Self, immune to anything and everything for three turns)
Judgement (All targets, MAGIC!)
Medic (Single target, hp healing, MAGIC!)
Concentrate More (Self, mp healing, MAGIC!)


I'm noticing a particular lack of skill for Shizu that needs INT to use. So, what I'm probably going to do is drop Double Tap, and replace it with... well, I'm not quite sure yet! I'm also considering the enemies that would make an appearance in this game, and what skills they would use to whittle down the number of animations the game needs. Yeah, this game's Animations tab is still the default because I'm as lazy as hell.

When the time comes to release a new demo, I will probably reduce the amount of content to Chapter 1, as there will be a bit of sceneage (Is this a word? It is now.) to give context as to why Shizu and Nanami are at Togo Road to begin with. Also, Chapter 2 is a complete mess, and could probably use a good re-working anyway.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
A few ideas have come to my head, so let's get to sharing them.

One is to give Shizu a Flare Gun technique. This techique wouldn't deal damage, but would have a blind effect attached to it. Another is to give her Probing Inquires techique. Again, this ability isn't dealing damage, but, would have a Berserk effect attached to it. Though, now that I think about it a bit more, I'm way more inclined to use Flare Gun.

Still, it would probably be nice for Shizu to use her INT stat. Needing to use a stat for an ability typically means a damage or restorative effect. It might be neat to be able to damage MP for a change, but, I'm not quite sure how to translate that kind of effect to a non-magic ability. Well, I guess there could be a "Demoralize" that saps MP? I dunno.


As a total aside, I know these kinds of blogs don't usually produce external comments, but, they are welcome!
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Okay, I think I have finalized the skill-sets for these characters. Let's go over them one more time, though.

  • Shizu
Flare Gun (All targets, blind)
Demotivate (single target, mp damage, int-based)
Quick Shot (Single target, hp damage, +100 SPD, 90% accuracy)
Armor Break (Single target, hp damage, debuff DEF)

The plan is to have Shizu start the game with Flare Gun. Demotivate seemed like a good second tech to learn, as later enemies would be more likely to actually use MP. I can certainly see Armor Break dealing a good amount of damage, though not-so-much Quick Shot. That ability is more about getting damage out fast than it is about how much damage is actually dealt.

  • Nanami
Taunt (Self, direct attention)
Cheer (Single target, hp healing, int-based)
Disarm (Single target, hp damage, seals techniques)
Stunning Palm (Single target, hp damage, stun)

Taunt seemed like the cheapest tech for Nanami to have, MP-wise, so she starts with that. I figure Cheer would also be an early tech, if not a starting tech, as that's part of her personality. I also envision Disarm and Stunning Palm to kick a lot of ass, and not just from the statuses that they could apply!

  • Masako
Redemption (Single target, hp damage, int-based, MAGIC!)
Medic (Single target, hp healing, int-based, MAGIC!)
Maximum Concentration (Self, mp healing, int-based, MAGIC!)
Predict (Self, immune to anything and everything for three turns)

There is no doubt in my mind that Masako's going to have all of these abilities at level 1. Of course, she's not going to be level 1 when (if?) players have access to her, so, uh, yeah.


I'm thinking of moving the level-cap way the hell down with this game. Looking at my creature notes, 20 would be the minimum I would cap it at. Maybe I should just leave that alone for now, and see what level my team is at in the end-game?


*Edit: Maybe it's just me, but, the pre-battle quotes were kinda tacked on with this project. Will probably remove.

You know what? I haven't done one wit of re-writing yet. Might want to think about that, too.
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