Diablocide

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one dies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkwRbHnohRY
Valkyrie Profile 2. Truly epic theme.

So, today's problem was Protector III. It's a big update to one of my favorite games. Protector III is a really awesome take on the tower defense genre, featuring one of the best character advancement systems in any RPG... except this isn't even an RPG! You can make a poison mage that excels in speed and inflicting max HP degens. Sweet.

According to WIP, the Arian Wild battle system is almost ready for me to start working my magic, especially if a few YERD scripts fit into it well (otherwise WIP will have to spend more time getting instants and cooldowns - vital parts of the Krazuman gameplan - to work). AW is of a higher priority than Diablocide, but the latter is what you're here for, right? Let's talk Essence.

Essence replaces equipment in Diablocide, much like Accessories are the only equippable items in Final Fantasy X-2. Essence is convenient for both the player and myself for a multitude of reasons. Most importantly for me, it allows for the creation of a bunch of nifty items that can all be equipped at once believably; while I haven't really explained this in-game yet, Essence is just the metaphysical form of artifacts that can be "attached" to your Soul. As such, you can have three "helms" on at once! For the player of a game that requires you to micromanage fourteen individuals all at the same time, having the normal weapon/armor/head/body/accessory/orb/book/ring/statue/etc. slots becomes a daunting task. Being able to equip items in any slot you so choose (as long as you have the Soul) greatly decreases the amount of thought that needs to be put into "I WANT TO SHIELD PRINCESS FROM ICE!"

Essence provides not only for slot-based sanity, but due to the way it works with your Soul it functions as a balancing and then a game/story integration piece. The system is balanced because your Soul only has the capacity for so much stuff to be on it at a time, so you can't load up Princess with four Greycaps (SP +50) when you start getting them around level 6-11. I want the player to use all of their characters, not a set super-four - Vanguard EXP and rebattling is there if you want to make an elite troupe. Essence also works to incorporate the fourteen Souls into the gameplay (albeit incorporeally... oh, I slay myself). It's a subtle tool that shows that I'm not just randomly capitalizing words and then forgetting them.

Essence is fun to make, fun to get, and fun to feel the effects of. Each piece is powerful (at least when you get it), so it makes a real difference on whoever gets it. It's a beautiful system, one which is taken most unceremoniously for Arian Wild.

Gotta catch einherjar~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LK01R-sCNg

Anyway, progress is going fairly well! I'll be wrapping up the third tier tomorrow, then testing the game from the bottom (I'm so clever) so that I can set up the third Demon fight. This weekend I hope to gather up the courage to start the daring fourth tier, which may or may not be too unique for its own good. We'll see.

I might not get to it this weekend because 1) I'm obsessed (for a second time) with The World Ends With You - once I pick it up I just can't stop - and 2) who knows when WIP will finish the CBS for Arian Wild!? Diablocide is only a side-project while I wait for that script to have its mechanical functionality finished so that I can put in the skills Karsu and I cooked up for AW.

Finally, I mentioned this in a comment on my last post, but I'll say it again for clarity: the second (and final) demo(n) will go up through the fifth Demon, making it five floors longer than the current release. It will also feature some minor balance tweaks (especially early on) and the addition of the Defend hotkey (<SHIFT>) that makes the use of Tanks a little (re: a lot) easier. Parentheses.

The full version of the game will add a four final tiers of play to the game. The current version is 2/9 of the game; the second demo(n) will be 5/9. THE MORE YOU KNOW

Vanquish the mighty demons DESTATI and EQUIS APNEES with the might of an entire army. The demo(n)'s waiting.

You need to think about your game.

When you think about your project, you can relate to the characters better and indentify inconsistencies in their relationships. You'll also be able to ponder your gameplay - maybe flesh out an idea you based your game around, or figure out a skillset for the monk character. This thinking can't just be "oh well think think think." It has to be focused, even if you're doing something else at the time. Wistful dreaming isn't going to get you anywhere in this regard. Choose a topic to paw over and focus on it.

But when do you do this thinking? Anytime you have a moment to yourself, really. I like to think about Demon Tower when I'm mowing the lawn. It gives me a good hour or two to play out interactions between characters in my mind or argue whether or not Goldurn should be in my party. Some other good times to think would be on the bus, before going to bed, while walking the dog, while eating breakfast. If you want to be serious about your project, pick a time to think and do it. Part of the design process is design, after all.

After you finish a thinking session, write stuff down. If you can write during that time, that's even better - jotting down a few skill ideas over a cup a coffee is great. When I'm mowing the lawn, however, I can't exactly take notes. If you focused your thought process, however, you should be able to recall the highlights of the mental planning.

Focus your thinking, find a time to think, and record the results. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much that one dungeon's puzzle evolves when you think about the pros and cons of making it more complex.