Description

Several years ago, we had a recurring event on this website where the community would come together to make a puzzle game. The event series, hosted by kentona, was called Befuddle Quest.

After a hiatus from 2012 to 2015, all seemed well again when the long awaited Befuddle Quest VII: Advent Children event was hosted. Unfortunately, the full game was never completed, (A moment of silence, please) and no 8th event was ever hosted. What followed were two dark years for the puzzle fanatics on this website, craving another puzzle event but not getting one.

Until now.

This is Stupefaction Search, a spiritual successor to/reboot of kentona's Befuddle Quest series. Depending on popularity, it may become a recurring event. The theme is Law Enforcement.

The Assignment ::..
Police Academy cadets will make a single-map puzzle in RMVX Ace using RTP OR your own supplied graphics (that mesh with RTP). The puzzles are preferred but not required to have a law enforcement theme. After the event deadline, chief Jeroen_Sol will combine the maps into a single project.

For new recruits unfamiliar with kentona's Befuddle Quest series, the games can be found here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/1101/

Important dates ::..
Start Date: 11-Nov-2017
Submission Deadline: 03-Dec-2017
Projected Release Date: 03-June-2018

Story ::..
Zeke is a cadet at the police academy. He's been partnered with the cutest girl in class, Bramelda, for a practical exam, but he's a bit clumsy and shy, especially when Bramelda's around. Can he overcome the challenges, pass the year and get the girl? Or at least two out of three? Probably not, but that won't stop him from trying.

Rules (courtesy of kentona) ::..
You must use RMVX Ace
You can submit as many puzzles as you like
Each submission must use only 1 map. If you want your puzzle to have multiple stages that's fine, but they must all be on the same map. If you submit multiple puzzles, it's preferable of they are all different submissions, because of the community voting.
No Direct designation Transfer Player events - use Designation with variables*
No battles or common events or items or pretty much most of the Database
No instant Game Overs (restart the puzzle instead)
If you aren't using the standard RTP, INCLUDE YOUR RESOURCES


*The default teleport events use the map ID of the project you create the event in, however, since I will be combining various maps from various projects, you will not know beforehand what your map ID will be, and teleport events will break. To get around this, in an autostart event, record the current Map ID in a variable, and then reference that variable when using Transfer Player. It is a little more tedious, but it ensures that your teleport events will work properly.


Notes ::..
The hero's name is Zeke. The sprite used will be the first sprite of the spritesheet below, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb:



The hero's partner's name is Bramelda. The sprite used will be the fifth sprite of the spritesheet above, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb.

The other cadets at the police academy, sprites 2 through 4 and 6 through 8 on the spritesheet above, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb, are called Bob, Tom, Max, Jenny, Tammy and Sam respectively.

We will use enlarged versions of the sprites for the faces:



Feel free to invent a story for your puzzle. I will work it into the storyline.
You can use Zeke or Bramelda for puzzles (or both - if that's what you want). If you want to include any of the other cadets as non-playable characters, (or even playable characters if you need more than two) that's also fine.

Do not use variable 1. It is reserved for keeping track of exam credits. Since all puzzles need to be standalone, the other variables and switches can be used by multiple participants. To make sure nothing messes up, please set all your variables back to 0 and switches back to OFF when the puzzle is completed.

Please name the tileset you use the same as your puzzle. I'll copy it along with the puzzle into the master project.

Submissions ::..
Before the submission deadline, zip or rar up your project, and submit it to the event using the commands in the upper right. Make as many puzzles as you like. Multiple submissions are allowed.

Please include with your submission:
  • The RMVXAce project

  • All non-RTP resources used

  • The coordinates of the ENTRANCE and EXIT points on the map, so that I can link it properly

  • Puzzle name

  • A brief description of the puzzle

  • A detailed walkthrough (in a PM, or a text file in the submission folder. I'll try not to look at it at first, but I do still need to be able to solve the puzzle even if it stumps me.)

  • Puzzle difficulty (out of 5)

  • Any explicit instructions, special notes or issues you think I need to know to link the map into the game.


Set up the characters in the database as follows:



This makes it easier for me when I import your map.

I will be copying the map from your project to the "master" project. If there is anything else that needs to be copied over, like resources or scripts or terrains or whatnot, please let me know.

Rewards ::..

The following badges can be won:


Police Academy Cadet: Submit 1 or more puzzles.


Police Academy Alumnus: Submit 3 or more puzzles.


Somewhat Stupefied: Submit the third best puzzle, determined by community voting.


Stupefied Silent: Submit the second best puzzle, determined by community voting.


Stupefaction Surpreme: Submit the best puzzle, determined by community voting.

The winner of Stupefaction Surpreme will also win download keys to djolnir's Time Fantasy pack!

Let's puzzle!

Credits:
  • Befuddle Quest event series by kentona

  • Police spritesheet by hiddenone

Details

  • 11/11/2017 12:00 AM
  • 12/03/2017 11:59 PM
  • 12/10/2017 11:59 PM

Achievements

Registration

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Posts

Pages: first 1234 next last
Vaccaria
You'd think MZ would use a dictionary for switches/variables by now?
4936
So, it's that time to b a m b o o z l e again?
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Bamboozle, baffle and befuddle quest.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
what a fake BQ!
I love that you used police academy as a theme.
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

Beffudle Quest 7... I seem to remember something about that.

Do we need to import those sprites? or can we just make maps / events.
That's pretty easy to do.

I think we should try to get as much RTP as possible.
Remember that there's an award for best use of RTP.
I wonder if there's an agenda to this event...

Can we mix the tiles / edit passibility? Those things can give you a more freedom with the RTP.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
You can import those police sprites, yes. The playable characters should all be police academy cadets. You may definitely use non-default tilesets and/or edit the passability of any tiles, but please tell me if you do. I'll have to make a separate tileset for your puzzle when I add it into the main game.
Oh, sure. Right smack in the middle of Revive the Dead 2.
But I'm sure I can find some time to pump out a puzzle or two. If we make 3 (or more), do we also get the 1-2 puzzle badge?
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

Submitted a level.
Not sure if it matches criteria or not, but there it is.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Huh, the event's not supposed to start until the 11th, so submitting a puzzle shouldn't be possible yet. Guess I messed up the page somehow.

The 1-2 and 3+ badges were supposed to be mutually exclusive, but since Libby hasn't put the MS on it yet, I guess they can be cumulative as well.

This event has been planned for November for a while now, so I don't know why it's overlapping Revive the Dead. I guess I can extend it a week so people have some time to participate after RtD.
Revive the Dead was supposed to end on Halloween, but THAT conflicted with the whole IGMC 2017 thing, so it was extended.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
Yay! A collaborative puzzle game! (RIP Befuddle)

After hearing that kentona won't be collating it, I was wondering who would. Jeroen_Sol is a fantastic choice. Love their puzzle games. Very good stuff.

...now I actually have to put my thinking brain on again -_-
I mean, since I have VX Ace now, I technically could. No idea what I'd do or how I'd do it (I haven't touched RM in years), but I guess I'll think about it if I feel I need a break from my current project.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
dude i made an entire rpg for the final befuddle quest :<

kentona finish it pls i want people to hate me
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

My bad, didn't expect to have an event page up so early to the actual start date.
I removed game and will resubmit it later.

I might make some changes or add some more maps to the project in the meantime.

(I already found some exploitable bugs with the timer and I forgot to reset the parallel process variables to 0 after the puzzle was completed.)


Any chance of facesets for that sprite sheet? Maybe just add police hats on the rtp chars if there isnt one.
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

author=bicfarmer
Any chance of facesets for that sprite sheet? Maybe just add police hats on the rtp chars if there isnt one.


You could use the sprites as the face set.
Just cut out the middle one and place it inside a faceset.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
author=kory_toombs
I might make some changes or add some more maps to the project in the meantime.

As long as each map is its own puzzle, and no puzzle spans multiple maps!

author=bicfarmer
Any chance of facesets for that sprite sheet? Maybe just add police hats on the rtp chars if there isnt one.

I'll try to whip up something like that. I was originally not going to since I didn't make the spritesheet and the person who did made no faces for it, but I guess it should be fine.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Update:

author=kory_toombs
You could use the sprites as the face set.
Just cut out the middle one and place it inside a faceset.

Decided to go with this idea.

Also, it was rightly pointed out to me that Liz with her blue hair should actually be called Jenny instead. Since we already had a Jerry, I've changed his name to Tom instead.

I also thought some more about this:

author=kory_toombs
I might make some changes or add some more maps to the project in the meantime.

and please don't do that, even if they are different puzzles. Since we'll be voting on the best puzzle, it's best if all puzzles are distinct submissions. So each puzzle should be its own RMVXAce project with one puzzle map in it.
Mirak
Stand back. Artist at work. I paint with enthusiasm if not with talent.
9300
Man. There really is very little in ways of puzzle tutorials online.
I've no idea what to do. D:
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Have you played the Befuddle Quest games? It's a great way to get some inspiration as to what you can do with just eventing.

As for designing puzzles in general, I have a few steps I try to follow.

1: Come up with an interesting concept. This can be anything from pushing boulders to a 3D maze to a certain type of riddle.
2: Identify the rules by which puzzles with the concept would work.
3: Lay down the eventing groundwork according to those rules so you can then start designing puzzles.
4: Start playing with the idea. Make a few test puzzles. See what is possible and what isn't, and more importantly, why. Before you can teach the players the rules of your puzzle, you must first understand how they interact yourself.

Only then do you start actually designing puzzle(s) you want to use. Having a series of mini puzzles on the same map that all share the same concept but increase in difficulty to get the player comfortable with the logic behind the puzzles is a great idea. Then afterwards, you can test the player with a big final puzzle that tests whether they indeed understood the logic of the puzzle.
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

author=Mirak
Man. There really is very little in ways of puzzle tutorials online.
I've no idea what to do. D:

A tutorial on making puzzles is a pretty broad concept.
You need to know what you want to do?
What do you know how to do?
I have a tutorial on tracking variables using X/Y.
You can make some puzzles with boulders and switches using this.

https://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/1035/

And if you want to be really overwhelmed by puzzle greatness you can play this:

https://rpgmaker.net/games/6280/

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