WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT? (GAME DEVELOPMENT EDITION)

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So I actually just finished playing the original release, the 2008 – 2009 version of Monopolo for the first time in almost two whole years since I started doing the remastered version just to see how far - and how bad - it is compared to the newer version.

Oh my god… I can kind of understand now why some of you guys didn’t think too highly of it back then. Holy hell, where to start…?

  • First off, the controls are so god damn clunky and stiff. Everything feels really slow to navigate and you can’t even go from the top of a menu of something all the way down without going ALLLL the way back down yourself manually, which is a real pain in the ass.

  • Second off, the animations for characters and things are definitely lacking compared to the newer version. Even the dice rolling animation isn’t that great.

  • Not having a mini-map or having all the player’s information displayed on screen at the same time also kind of sucks to tell what’s going on. (Although I’ll cut myself some slack on this because at the time I was only able to use 40 pictures on screen maximum compared to 120 now, so I kind of understand why I did what I did.)

  • There’s no god damn rule adjustments or match settings in the version at all! Nothing! I mean, you can still alter how many players you can have, the board type and time limit but nothing else. (Was I really this lazy?)

  • Notification boxes that come up on screen for things like economy changes keep popping up almost every single turn or so and it takes quite a while for it to finally finish going through before you can finally act out on your turn. That is annoying!!! And although notification boxes still do pop up time to time in the newer version, I can at least continue with my turn uninterrupted regardless.

  • Menu transitions take freakin’ forever to go through. (FFFFFFFFFF’…!!!)

Other than that and a few other things, the game itself is still kind of okay once you get into a little bit and things start to get going, but it pales in comparison to what I’m currently doing right now. Still, it was nice to revisit it if only to see how much has changed and provide me with some helpful additional information of what I still need to do, mostly A.I. and other things.

Oh, and I managed to win the game but it took me almost around 53 minutes to bankrupt this person because the CPU opponent wouldn’t land on any of my houses or hotels and kept on avoiding them all the time until around the end. And I didn’t even get the pleasure of killing the damn thing myself, because the Tax Man did for me. (B*stard)

Oh well, good times. Now it's time to get back to work and finish this beast of a game off. *cracks whip*
Just throwing together a bunch of scripts (primarily MOG and YEA) and hoping they work well enough together that I don't have to do too much tricking them into working together. Also finally starting to take making digital art seriously so I can have at least almost 100% original graphics. Currently at the point where it's not even really a test build of the game proper, just a temporary project meant to figure out exactly what I can do with what and finding work-arounds for things that I'd like to work that don't quite.

Where exactly should it be in progress before I formally announce it, I wonder. Will likely end up actually going somewhere in comparison to other projects I'm "working" on due to a very distinctly different level of vision and interest I find myself having for it.

(... can't figure out how/if I can change a module variable(?) with a script call ^.^; <= ruby noob/scripting novice)
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
oh god i just thought of a bunch of ideas for a game idea i've been putzing around with for years

i don't have time for thiiiiiisssss i gotta finish Bossgame..!
Well in that case you better write them down before you forget!

(I never do, then I always do. I am working on this. I am 100% certain that half my current ideas are just mismashes of old ideas I've had and forgotten
)
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
Hahaha, oh god, yea, I'm writing 'em down. I'll save 'em for when I have a dry patch of ideas.

I guess my biggest motivation for finishing Bossgame now is getting the freedom to work on a new game, hahaha ;^^ but, that's not necessarily a bad motivation!..?
I've been messing around with a program called LabChirp, in my continuous quest for sound effects, and so far I've managed to create a few competent sound effects with it. But it got me thinking. Whenever I create graphics, I don't feel it's necessary to give credit to the programs I'm using. I know what I'm doing, and I could replicate that in any other program, or even any other medium. For example, I can do pixel art just as well in Paint than in Photoshop, so that has never been relevant to me.

But here, I feel like I'm just playing with pulleys and levers. So is any sound that I create really mine, or the program's? Who should take the credit? Should we credit the tools/brands we use for everything ever? =P
Thinking of making a short (~30 minutes) RPG without using dialogue, and RTP assets only, in RPG Maker MV when it comes out. Fast-paced combat with only 4 skills per characters that are varied enough to support different playstyles and tactics, and encounters that will punish spamming auto-attack. There will be a number (hoping to make something between 8-12 at least) of different classes, and you'll get assigned a random one at the start of the game. From there you can recruit two more characters in the first area, probably going to randomise it somehow. Then, depending on your party setup, monsters will use different skills to be a fair challenge to your party. Some monsters might try to counter a strategy available to you, while others might try to force you to react to them using your Skills.
I want there to be enough randomisation to give it some replay value, make it fun enough to play through it maybe 2-3 times to see some of the different things. Might also try to implement some kind of hiscore or rating system that shows a score at the end of your run to show how well you did.
Anyone has experience making a similar kind of game? Any thoughts, tips, ideas, suggestions?
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
I like the idea! I definitely like the idea of good battles that avoid auto-attack spam (you could remove Attack entirely!) as well as a low number of skills that would require careful planning. These are the kinds of RPGs I've worked on as well.

I would definitely recommend doing some pre-planning on paper, with basic numbers, prototype enemies, classes, skills, items, etc. This will save you a lot of time figuring out the basics of what works and what doesn't. You can roll dice for the randomized parts.

Anyway, figuring out how to randomize enemies to work well against the player's party sounds like it might be tricky too. It's a cool idea! I'd definitely focus on getting the core combat and first playthrough feeling really good before worrying about replayability, though.
Thanks for the reply, and yeah, I'm currently working out the basics of combat in VX Ace where I can freely mess around with it before I'll start working seriously on it in MV.
Like you suggested, I've been thinking of removing auto-attack, but on the other hand, I kind of like to keep it open as an option for when a character happens to be low on MP and is close to finishing off an enemy. Auto-attack won't be useless, but at the same time it won't be able to carry you through the game either.

Since you said you have worked on RPGs like that, which one of your games would be most helpful to play for ideas you'd think?
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
Well, typically I replace auto-attack with "free" skills that are different between characters and a little more in-depth than "does damage".

I unfortunately haven't finished working on any of them! They were mostly experiments, although I'll hopefully finish Bossgame in the next couple months and then you can play that :D
thinking about what kind of game my team will decide on for SkillsUSA,,,
we can use any engine other than GameSalad ( :D !!!) and leaning towards RMVX Ace because of scripting capabilities (we have a team of an artist, programmer, and two audio guys).
something simple enough that won't take years (competetion is in Feb. ) but something complex that'll earn a gold award.
oh jeez this will be FUN ehhh
author=slash
Well, typically I replace auto-attack with "free" skills that are different between characters and a little more in-depth than "does damage".

I unfortunately haven't finished working on any of them! They were mostly experiments, although I'll hopefully finish Bossgame in the next couple months and then you can play that :D


Free skills are a good solution, and I do have one of those for each of the characters too, but they're more utility based (for example, Warrior gains 50% damage reduction for 1 turn and restores 20% MP).

And yeah, that sounds good. :)
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
author=PCTRASH
thinking about what kind of game my team will decide on for SkillsUSA,,,
we can use any engine other than GameSalad ( :D !!!) and leaning towards RMVX Ace because of scripting capabilities (we have a team of an artist, programmer, and two audio guys).
something simple enough that won't take years (competetion is in Feb. ) but something complex that'll earn a gold award.
oh jeez this will be FUN ehhh


I would focus on music then. It would be waste to make a cliche fantasy soundtrack. And I would avoid turn-based combat of RPG Maker. Something like brawler mashed with Adventure (Streets of Twin Peaks) could be successful.
BizarreMonkey
I'll never change. "Me" is better than your opinion, dummy!
1625
author=alterego
I've been messing around with a program called LabChirp, in my continuous quest for sound effects, and so far I've managed to create a few competent sound effects with it. But it got me thinking. Whenever I create graphics, I don't feel it's necessary to give credit to the programs I'm using. I know what I'm doing, and I could replicate that in any other program, or even any other medium. For example, I can do pixel art just as well in Paint than in Photoshop, so that has never been relevant to me.

But here, I feel like I'm just playing with pulleys and levers. So is any sound that I create really mine, or the program's? Who should take the credit? Should we credit the tools/brands we use for everything ever? =P
I usually include a section in my credits with "programs used". It's just a healthy practise to do, even if unnecessary. Means that you'd done right by everyone.

I even credit fonts.
Well, fonts I understand, they're no different than any other creative work (I should know, I've made a few fonts). But I mean, if I draw something on a piece of paper, should I credit the company that manufactured the paper? or the pencil I'm holding? Where does the credit-ception stops!??? =P ...But yeah, I guess you're right. It's a good practice, regardless.
BizarreMonkey
I'll never change. "Me" is better than your opinion, dummy!
1625
Well just stating 'i used photoshop, gimp, timelinefx editor, paint tool sai, vegas pro' etc is easy, and serves as a note for your future self.
I'm thinking of a way to spice up the battle system for Solitaire Unravelling because I'm trying not to use magic, or any item that teaches magic. Instead the characters have a set of skills. I was thinking they could either just learn their skills as they gain in levels, or I was thinking each time your character attacks they gain AP, which can then be used to 'learn' the skills when they gain a set amount of AP.

If anyone's got any other ideas I'm all ears.
Isn't learning skills through levelling the most common way of gaining new skills?
I don't see how the AP system would be so much different than using items, it's just that you attack enemies to get AP instead of finding or buying items that let you learn new skills.

To use a basic example:
-It takes 12 attacks to learn a new skill. Encounters are over after attacking 3 times. It takes 4 encounters to learn a new skill.
-It takes 12 gold to buy a new spell. Encounters earn you 3 gold for beating them. It takes 4 encounters to earn the money to buy a new spell.
Also, AP would encourage the player to use auto-attack, not something I can get behind, unless you have a very good reason for it.
Auto attack... I totally forgot about that... Well, I'm a way off working on the combat, so I've got time to look at other possible avenues.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
This is what you skullknockers need to be doing with your map design: