WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT? (GAME DEVELOPMENT EDITION)

author=LockeZ
Reinstalling the RTP should work.

The RM2K3 installer contains the RTP. I only found some shoddy RTP that had differently named files and didn't even work.

author=Nightowl
I'm so dumb. I renamed the folder which contains RM2K3, obviously fucking up the RTP. Now I can't use the RTP anymore without copypasting the files to each project.
Reinstalling and screwing around with registry doesn't help as well.

Did you try renaming the folder back to its default title?

I change the name of my RTP folder all the time, just to keep 2k3 from detecting it so I can test if I have copied all the resources I need into my project folder. I've never had a problem changing it back.

Is it more important to meet a deadline, or to wait until you actually have a bare-bones vision for the next part of your game. The latter is the correct answer.

author=Darken

author=LockeZ
This garbage of spending six hours in photoshop for every hour in rpg maker has to stop... I am getting nowhere at this rate.

That's probably why the screenshot topic is shit.

Pffyeah, hahaha, probably. I dunno, I like the screenshot topic, but I also get what you're saying. I understand the importance of making the game look as nice as possible, I just don't enjoy it. I'd rather be working on a MUD. (Which, you know, is why I actually do work on a MUD. I get fed up with graphics and so I go work in pure text for a few days. Or weeks, depending on how fed up I am.)

My issue I have in RPG Maker is that a sane person's design process goes like this:
"Hmm, this RTP rope tile doesn't really match my photorealistic tileset. I should probably not use it unless I have to."

Buy my design process goes like this:
"Hmm, this RTP rope tile doesn't really match my photorealistic tileset. I should search on GIS for a picture of a straight horizontal or vertical rope without any glare that I can crop and resize, and recolor to match my tileset's overall coloration, and then use photoshop's distort tool to curve it into a sort of coiled pile of rope shape. It looks like I can curve it by about 45 degrees before it looks distorted, so making a nice pile of rope should take about 20 to 30 times... But it would be awkward if every pile of rope in the game were in an identically shaped pile, especially with several on screen at a time, so I should make five or six different ones." And then an hour later, I'll have six rope tiles, which I'll use for two dungeons before deciding I've overused them and need more.

I'm starting playing Balmung Cycle and while it's got many positives (some of the best presentation I've ever seen in an RM game, for example), I'm annoyed by how often Blitz seems to miss the enemy. I've been on the brink of death way too many times simply due to missing strings of attacks. Note to RM developers: please avoid using anything other than 100% accuracy (perhaps allowing for enemies to avoid certain types of attacks/use accuracy lowering attacks when there is more than one party member). Thanks!

author=SladeJT
I'm trying to work on the plot, enemy list / design, and general map concepts for what was originally a joke fake screenshot that I am contemplating working into a full fledged fangame.

This is an image of what would be part of the climax. Robotnik has captured the party and they have to find a way to escape to stop him from taking over the world. The idea I had was to have a Big Damn Heroes moment where some people that they helped along the way to this point come and help them, but another possible idea was for a Big Damn Deus Ex Machina where one of Robotnik's more powerful creations goes berserk, breaks the wall of the prison, and sparks a spontaneous boss fight.

It would probably resemble this guy and be fought as a three part boss, Main Body, Left Arm, Right Arm. It would be possible to kill it without destroying the arms, but it would be a lot easier with less Heals involved.

What engine are you doing this on? And when I'm done with my games, and you're done with this, would you like to work on a project together?
BTW, that Red Metal Sonic looks a whole lot like what Metal Pyro would look like.

author=Craze
cyberdagger: start at 50 mp

That was one of the two compromises I thought about. It seems like yet another case of the golden mean fallacy at first, but after thinking about it, it does have some value and is worth exploring.

The reason why I am reluctant to implement it that way is because it adds a new dimension to skill design. When I design a skill, I have to think about if I want it to be able to be used at the start of a battle or not. It adds a sort of border between skills.

And yeah, my prediction came true. The reason why I took so long to get back to this? Guild Wars 2 happened.

As for what I'm thinking about right now? A title! I need a title for my game! Then I can make a page for it, and start posting stuff!

This is p. cool (not mine)

author=OmegaHunter
You could have MP start between 30-70, or 40-60. Or have certain equips influence where it starts at. So maybe you have powerhouse equipment on that will heavily increase damage output, but makes it likely to start with lower MP. Or you have high capacity gear that is "weaker" but gives you a high chance of starting with a lot more MP. Just a random thought. Could probably done with a bunch of variables.

I'd like to keep it simple for my first game (My ideas for games tend to be mechanics from other games adapted to a different genre. In this case I was inspired by super bars from fighting games, where usually they follow the same rules for every character.), and I am thinking of having equipment determine something else, but that is certainly an idea worth exploring in the future. High capacity geared characters are capable of a large initial burst but then burn out, while the powerhouses don't have the same burst potential but have a more sustained output.

It actually reminds me of the generator mechanics in Armored Core. Equipping your mech with a high capacity generator means that it has a lot of energy to waste at any single moment, which means you can do things like shredding your foe with a barrage of energy weapon shots, but after that you have to wait a while while you get your energy back. High output generators have a low energy capacity, but regenerate it fast. Mechs with high output generators aren't really suited for energy weapons because of that, so they tend to have solid ammunition weapons equipped, but the fast energy regeneration means they can use the boosters more consistently, which makes them overall more mobile, some of them even reaching the point of being able to hover permanently as long as no other energy draining actions are taken.

Heh. After this, some of you may correctly guess that I have a mecha RPG concept in the back of my head.

author=OmegaHunter
As for my own game, I randomly thought of an idea and now I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm not sure if I should make my mage learn new spells as the game goes on, or attach spells to each staff she can use. You would start with a basic fireball staff, then later find staffs with more powerful spells and such attached to them. The way the current system works, adding more than 6 or so spells will make it things too complicated, but with the staff idea I could add an infinite number of them. Then again, more spells doesn't make a better mage. The current system might be better since each spell has a specific purpose. Any thoughts on this?

author=LockeZ
The staff idea seems good as long as she also has those six basic spells she can always use. I think if you're worried about being too complex and overwhelming, making every ability she has depend on her equipment is going to be worse than having twenty spells at once. Basing all her spells on her equipment means the player would have to re-learn the entire character every time he gets a new staff. That might be what you want, to keep things changing as the game goes on, but it might not. If you give her some basic key spells that she never loses access to, and then also have one or two spells that are equipment-dependant, you've created a semi-customizable character in a fairly simple manner. Lufia 2 did this to great success, for example (though it also linked the skills to a limit break system).

And I was also thinking of having the skills be determined by equipment. The core of the skill set would be determined by the accessories, specific to each character. The armor would give passive properties. And the weapons would be the most interesting part. Four characters, four types of weapons, each type of weapon equippable by two characters. That means there are some skills that can be used by more than one character, and allows for some leaning into the other characters' roles.

But yeah, I was wondering if the characters should have a core of skills that they have regardless of equipment. Perhaps it is better if I do. Anyway, I shall check out Lufia 2 then, to see how it worked there.

Man, that's one big wall of text...