Hi all! Today, I have a quick update for you regarding new guest characters. I'll be going into detail about why they were chosen and what their overall specialties are. Some are simpler than others, but that does not mean they're pushovers in any way. What some lack in combat, they excel in platforming and overall fluidity.

These are some characters I've wanted to see work together in an action platformer for an incredibly long time, so I'm honored to reveal the next four characters being added to the roster. These will be added to the playable cast page afterwards too. Without further ado, let's get going!









Closing Words

That is all I have for you today. I planned on giving about 60+updates along with this, but a majority of them are all secret and should be kept under wraps for now. I do want to add a video soon of a couple things if I can. We'll see what the sands of time will bring us. Until next time!

Here is the page to the updated cast too for "quick jump" purposes. There are some updated descriptions along with it. Enjoy!

Playable Cast

Hi all! It's been quite some time since the last update for this, but I have a number of things to discuss with you all. I'll try to be as brief as I possibly can, so without further ado, let's get started!

Official Page Art Confirmed!

As you may have noticed, the game page has new background art that is being used to represent the game. I was given permission by Japanese artist; stupa13a to officially use it for the project and I am very grateful to have been able to speak with them personally. You can view the image below.



Music Implementation Has Begun

Last week marked the beginning of the process of music implementation in as many areas as possible. There is a lot to explore in the project so far and since I plan on using its resources to their fullest potential, there has to be quite a bit of music to compliment the wide variety of areas the game has to offer. As of now, over 60 tracks are in the game that range from stage themes all the way to a theme when you rest in an inn or campfire.

New Videos

New videos are now out for the game! Both showcase two guest characters. I'm still getting used to recording and messing with video quality and making sure to be consistent, so I apologize if something seems off about them. Music and sound effects all play now, so you'll be able to hear voices now too! You can check them out below. I most likely will add them to the media section as well.

Batgal with Zero


Batgal with Ellie and Chomp



Resource Changes

Due to moving to a new computer, some of the resources that were used in game such as certain fonts no longer display correctly, so I had to switch all of them over to generic, pixel-perfect fonts that should display correctly. The area card for instance was supposed to have been Liberation Serif, and while I do have that installed on my computer, for some odd reason, it turns out blurry. Does anyone know of a place where I can get a clean version of that font to use for the game?

Sound effects are now completely external too due to having issues with them, but it turns out I did it all for nothing, but in the end, it was worth it after all. There aren't many sounds I need now with the exception of the remaining guest characters and whatnot.

The last thing I want to drastically change is manually building save files via .ini so that I can upload and update the game without easily corrupting previous save files. It's annoying when I add a single new sound and my previous file is gone, so I strongly believe this is necessary as opposed to using Game Maker's default save game functions. They work, but I desire complete control over how save files are built.

New Area(s) planned.

As I mentioned before, I want to use the game's resources to their fullest potential, and I feel certain tilesets are underused and could use more love, so I decided to plan two new dungeons with them. It is also important to note that all areas do not have boss fights. This allows me to have more freedom of adding areas that are simply for exploration or gathering a new item for your convenience rather than having to fight something everywhere.

Closing Words

Before I go, I'd like to give a massive thank you to those have supported this project so far, it means the world to me! Since this will most certainly be the last fan game I make, I want to give it my all. Don't get me wrong though, this isn't the last fan game I will finish, but will most likely be the last one I will introduce before doing something original for once.

With that said, I hope you all enjoy the new content here today. It's been an absolute blast so far and It's good to be back. Until next time!

Hello everyone, and happy Easter! I've come today with an update regarding the project's progress. It will be short, but it should give you a general idea of where I am and what's coming up soon. Without further ado, let's get started!

Story

One of the things this project has a bit of emphasis on other than game play is its story. While at first, I was weary of this due to the way they were being made, I believe it's under wraps now. Within the past month, over 60 cut scenes have been made thanks to using RPG Maker as a teacher of what kinds of actions should be available in a cut scene. Examples of such include the following...

• Knowing how to animate and control your characters

• Knowing how to control your camera and where to place it

• Adding in triggers to happen at certain points of an event

• Implementing a wait command so that events can happen before you can move on to the next text
  

• Having characters watch a particular object

While these are the basic actions needed in the scenes that have been made so far, some other neat things can be done in Game Maker such as adding gravity to something. This should give you an idea of how fast things are going with this and I probably would not have gotten this far without messing around with RPG Maker for a while and learning a tiny bit about game design logic. Long story short, other engines can teach you a lot about something you can carry with you and use for other engines.




Monster World 4 25th anniversary+New In-Development Guest

Alright, I've been wanting to say this for a while, but April 1st of this year was the 25th anniversary of the release of Monster World 4. Since this project is a fan-sequel mostly, It would be fantastic if the game were to release this year as my ultimate tribute to the game. But, there's another game that has quite a bit of similarities to Monster World 4, but not in terms of genre. Here is what I've found.

• Monster World 4’s release date was April 1st, 1994

• Final Fantasy 6’s release date was April 2nd, 1994

• Both games have turned 25 this year, each that was one day apart

• Asha and Terra both are strong, innocent female leads with green ponytails

• Asha and Terra both wield a sword

• Both are from great games that were released near the end of a console life cycle

• Both are from worlds that have a cute, floating creature that have a catch phrase

• Both are from games in which the villain wins at one point

It almost seemed like her inclusion was calling for me because the sprites available for her were the only character from the game that were available. Originally, I wanted to include Zack Fair due to this project's theme dealing with dreams among other things, but I think since the project is mostly celebrating 8-16 bit stuff, the final FF protagonist of the pixel era was the best choice.

I've always wanted to mess with the idea of creating a 2D Final Fantasy platformer, but since I don't see that happening any time soon, I figured it would be best to add it to some extent here with Terra. Her battle style is planned to be very different than the others. Unlike others in this game, she cannot attack until her ATB gauge is full. Don't worry though, the bar fills rather quickly.

With that said, that is all I have for you all today. I hope this sheds some light on what's been going on as of late and where the overall project's plot is over all. I am strongly aiming for a release this year and with the way things are going, it is a very strong possibility you may see the final product sooner rather than later. Until next time!

Hello all! I am back with a different kind of update this time. Today, we'll be going in-depth with the battle system of this project. It will focus on its terminology and everything you need to know about what they mean and why they matter.

While most of this is pretty much common knowledge, there are some new twists here and there that you'll need to know about and newcomers will also need to get up to speed on it. With that said, let's get started!

Battle System Inspiration

The battle system itself is an action rpg battle system primarily based on the original Monster World 4. For those who have never played it, the game had a focus on jumping, running, blocking, and a type of critical hit known as a Magical Hit. A Magical Hit is five times more powerful than a normal attack.

As far as equipment goes, depending on what you equip, your defense will increase. Defense however, was handled much differently. Not only would it increase your HP, but it would increase your chances of being protected by a barrier if you took damage. This barrier made you invincible for a short time and was perfect for gaining the advantage in battle.

When colliding with enemies, instead of taking damage, you get knocked back in a controllable state. However, there are certain enemy body types that will make you take damage upon contact.

Battle System Overview

While many things from the original remain, many aspects of it were changed in order to make it so it works for everyone in the game. Several new gimmicks and abilities were added to expand on the original's concept as much as possible. Below is an encyclopedia of every term in the game's battle system.

Status Terminology

Term	Description
Health Points	How much damage you can take before you are unable to battle
Action Points	The amount of points you have for skill usage.
Special Points	The amount of points you have to perform a special move. The max is always 100.
Attack	Your physical attack power. Not all attacks a character has reflects this.
Barrier	Your invincibility period. This is displayed in seconds.
Shield	The percentage chance of a magic shield protecting you from damage completely.
Luck	How much extra damage you can do with each attack
Title	Your character's title
Level	Your current player level
Experience Points	The current number of experience you have in combat
Next	How much experience you need to level up

Battle Mechanic Terminology

Term	Description
Normal Hit	An attack that is normal
Critical Hit	An attack that is two times more powerful than a normal hit
Magical Hit	An attack that is five times more powerful than a normal hit
Lucky Hit	An attack that is seven times more powerful than a normal hit
Perfect Hit	An attack that is ten times more powerful than a normal hit
Block	When an attack is blocked completely
Flash Guard	When an attack is blocked at the right moment a shield is activated.
Reflect	When an attack or projectile is reflected
Barrier Break	When a barrier is lessened by an attack
Damage	The amount of damage taken or given
Knock Back	When you are launched in a direction when colliding with certain enemy or attack types
Combo	The number of attack combos you have without taking damage
Element	Your current element
Weak Point	When an opponent's weak point is struck
Special	When a special attack is released
Attack Name	The name of the last performed attack or skill
Live Message	A real-time message that delivers quick information

Growth and Equipment Terminology

Term	Description
Guest	A third party member that is not Shantae or Asha
Tag In	When a player is defeated, another will tag in
Talisman	A lucky charm that alters your stats and abilities
Bond	The relationship strength of an individual you have met throughout the world
Bond Ability	The ability a particular bond passes on to you when they are in your heart.
Bond Special	When a bond does a special attack in your place.
Upgrade	The act of making your character better or stronger in a multitude of ways.
Synth Crystal	A gem that is used to upgrade an individual

Battle Result Terminology

Term	Description
Enemy EP	Experience points earned from boss(es)
Time Bonus	Score based on how long it took to defeat a boss
Combo Bonus	Score based on how many combos were performed in combat
Revive Bonus	Score based on whether you were automatically revived during battle
Damage Bonus	Score based on how much damage was taken in combat
Special Bonus	Score based on how many special attacks were performed during battle
Total Score	Your total score from the previous installments combined, except enemy EP
Rank	Your battle rank during that particular fight
EP	Experience gained during that fight

Why do certain terms matter?

Within the game, there are a multitude of stats that at first, don't seem like they would matter much, but the higher some of these stats are, the more powerful and safe you'll become in combat. As mentioned before, a lot of them are common knowledge and/or self-explanatory, but it would be wise to take note on some on the newer ones. I'll briefly go into detail on why some of them are crucial.

Barrier Break for instance lessens an enemy barrier so that a combo string can continue. While some attacks have these built in, other equipment or upgrades can also decrease this slightly. The default value for an enemy's invincibility barrier is 15(which is half of a second). Certain attacks you have that are meant to be combo strings have barrier break built in. A great example would be Zero's saber combo or Ellie's melee string.

Hits are also incredibly important because normal hits aren't particularly powerful. They are pretty useful for normal foes, but bosses have much higher HP values and it is crucial you have stronger hits so you can take them out as fast as you possibly can. Not doing so could make you be in a boss fight much longer than you need to and will decrease your score when a battle is complete.

Shield is incredibly important because the higher this stat is, the more often a protective shield will appear. With some bond skills, it is possible to gain new abilities and advantages when these are activated. Luck will also increase the dice roll of extra attack power, so everyone will become stronger artificially.

Closing Words

That is the complete battle system as of now and I doubt I'll expand it any further from this point out. Everything that was needed is now 100% completed and I'm very excited for what is yet to come for the project. This will also be the standard I'll be using for other projects as well.

With that said, I hope this cleared up a lot of confusion about what the battle system is and how every mechanic works. A page for the battle system will be added to the main profile soon with some images or videos showcasing some of these things. Until next time!

Hi all! I am back with new info regarding playable characters and some other updates. There are some things I'll still be keeping under wraps until later, but today's update should give you an idea of where I am with the game's overall progress. With that said, let's get started!

Before I get to the new playable characters, I'd like to go ahead and discuss some of the other updates that have taken place since the last one. These include...

Certain characters now have dodge maneuvers

One thing that I believe has been missing from certain characters in the game is some sort of dodge technique. Cart wheels, back flips, sliding, back dashing, sidestepping, teleporting, dashing, reversals, dodge rolls, you name it. While every character is not planned to have one, many of them do have a technique that allows them to dodge quickly and many of them work differently depending on who you are.




Platform bypass has been changed

Due to certain character's moves conflicting with the bypass code of platforms, it has been changed from holding down and pressing jump to tapping down twice.

New bond abilities have been implemented

As mentioned before, some bonds will give you entirely new abilities. Playable characters also have their own unique bond skills. Some characters that were once planned to be playable also have bond skills to pass on. This is so that you can borrow a character's ability without me having to make them into a fully playable character. Five samples are below.







Certain areas are getting expansions, changes, and slight remakes

Since there are over 90 side stages in the game as well as over 10 main ones, I've begun to realize that some of the side stage maps can be used to expand the main ones and vice versa. The two stage types kind of give and take from one another, so some stages are now bigger and/or better designed than they initially were. This has also led to some original expansions in stages that can only be found on the main world map.

One of the main reasons why there are so many stages in the game was give me a reason to make a lot of different mission types, stage designs, and things to do in the game's world. Not only has this forced me to make lots of maps, but it has helped me understand level design philosophy a bit better.

Story is being heavily simplified

Due to the fact that there are so many characters and game play should always go first, I have decided to extremely simplify the game's plot so that even a child could follow it if they were to pick it up. If a location, character, or dialogue is not needed, I will not put it in the main plot. Storytelling and lore can be told through multiple ways; many of which is optional. But there will be a base plot that has cut scenes you can skip by holding the "start" key for exactly one second.

New Playable Guest Characters

Alright, now those updates are out of the way, it is now time to reveal the next 5 playable guests! Lately I have been playing some games that have been on my "to finish" list for quite some time, but never got around to it, but boy am I glad I did!

Most of the titles were requirements because in order to get a feel for these characters, I actually had to play them thoroughly. Each character was decided based on what they could do differently from the others. Even the smallest ability difference makes them viable as a playable character. With that said, here are the next 5 fully playable guests.







There are very little guests left, but there are a total of 18 playable characters now(3 of those being Shantae forms)! It has been really fun learning how to program them and make them work in the game while also giving them some new touches here and there to avoid being exact clones of one another.

Ties To Monster World Legends

I think it is about time I revealed something. This game has more ties to Monster World Legends than you may think. Since the beginning of this project's development, while tinkering with both games' design documents, a conclusion was made to actually connect the two games together in terms of plot and some mechanics. Technically speaking, you have been playing not only a Monster World 4 sequel and a crossover game, but Monster World Legends' prequel and spiritual successor at the same time. Though the original game is not done yet, they are being designed side by side under wraps in some fashion.

Each playable character so far in Shantae and Asha was chosen for more reasons than just paying tribute to a game or franchise, it was so that I would be forced to learn how to not only make better physics and for characters to be more satisfying to play as, but to make the entirety of Monster World Legends play better too as a result.

Closing Words

I am not sure another blog will be posted this year, so I believe this is the last one for 2018. It has been an absolute blast and an invaluable learning experience making this and I hope you are all enjoying the project so far. That is all I have for you today. Until next time! Happy holidays!

Today's Credits

Special thanks to The-Pyromaniac for allowing me to use the Shovel Knight sprite!