KiraStar: The Polybius Problem

So, the RSW Demo is now available.

I'd just like to mention a few things about the demo, so people don't get confused or angry or anything like that.

The Release Something Weekend is just a chance to show off what you're currently working on. It's not intended to be super polished or complete, just a rough idea of what I'm doing with KiraStar at the moment.

The game is perfectly playable, and is in a rather accurate state of what you can expect from either the real demo, or the first episode, depending on how I intend to handle the game.

I did want to have an awful lot more on show, but sadly time restraints prevented me from getting to that point. So, I hope you enjoy this sneak peak of what's to come, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Feel free to leave any feedback or comments. :)

Hey all. Sorry it's been a little quiet around these parts lately. Just thought I'd like to give you all an update on the project, just so you don't think it's dead (again).

Over the past few weeks, I've been working with BurningTyger on some ideas and concepts for the game. He's been providing me with some totally awesome music (with some you can listen to here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/3304/media/936/), and it's been an absolute pleasure working with somebody else.

One of the major problems I have with any project I work on is a lack of focus. I get distracted rather easily, and often get influenced by other things and keep wanting to incorporate that into the game (as well as other things I do in my spare time). Ever since restarting the project (for the third time), it's been a little easier to stay focused, probably because I've had a much more refined image of what the game will be this time around. Working with BurningTyger has really helped me further polish and refine certain elements of the story, and it seems crystal clear in my mind how this little story will unfold, hopefully resulting in a much more enjoyable experience for you guys.

The goal at this moment in time is to try, and I'll try very hard, is to have a demo up for the Release Something Weekend at the beginning of May, as I think that would be pretty cool. However, I have no intention of rushing this project and making it sloppy. The first demo released was rather buggy, and I really did hate myself for that.

There's still a lot to do yet, and I'd just like to thank everybody who's shown support for this project so far. I'm really hoping it turns into something special, and that you guys enjoy it as much as I have making it.

I'll try and keep y'all posted about what's going on it the wonderful world of KiraStar. Again, thanks for the support, I love all of you!

~Dan

Well, it's been about a year or so since I last posted a blog about the current status of this project. It's been on hiatus for a while now, mainly because of my lack of focus.

One of my main problems when it comes to projects (especially video game related), is that I tend to draw inspiration from games I'm playing at that time, which often results in me overhauling everything and starting from scratch.

The last week or so, my fire for this project has been reignited, and it's not going to be changing drastically or anything like that. Just tweaks, improvements, and the like.

One of the things many people enjoyed about the original demo was the "Earthbound/Mother" feel the game had, and I had always took that as a massive compliment.

Which is why I'm pleased to announce that "KiraStar" will resume in that fashion.

I've been working on the improved Brownstone City, and it's looking great so far (in my personal opinion). I'll be posting screenshots once it's finished and fine tuned, but, so far, so good.

I just wanted to let you know (if anybody's still following this), that the game isn't dead. It's back on track and will remain my number one priority until it's finished.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I just wanted to let you lovely folks know that this game still exists. :)

I've been toiling away on KiraStar for the last couple of weeks now, and I think I've finally found the perfect style I want to use for this game.

Before, the game was mainly composed of sprites, with the battles featuring fully drawn artwork by myself. Although I did like the look of the characters and enemies, I found them to clash with the sprited nature of everything else.

So, I started practicing spriting enemies for the battle system. They were idle at first, which I thought made them look okay. But as I continued to tweak the layout and HUD for the battles, I decided it was time to animate them! I'm not exactly an expert at this, but I figured the only way to get better was to just try it out. I'm actually rather pleased with the results.

So, I figured I'd post some examples of what I have done so far. Feel free to leave any feedback, both good and bad!

So, the demo's out, and it's already out of date, and here's the reason why.

After taking a good hard look at both my spriting and the maps for the city, I came to realize that it all looked a little samey, and a little bland. So, I figured since I was still in the early stages of making the game (as well as in game making in general), I'd give the whole city a bit of a make over.

There aren't as many buildings as before, but this is a good thing. Before, it pretty much went brown building, grey building, brown building, grey building (and repeat until done). I thought this looked okay in the early stages, since this is the first time I've made my own tiles from scratch. Here's a rough example:



It's supposed to represent one big apartment building, but it looks a little messy. There are too many doors, for starters, and the different coloured segments, combined with a single roof, just looks a little off. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't really look good either.

I've been taking a good hard look at buildings as I go to and from work, and most apartments have a single (perhaps maybe two or three) entrances, and you get to each actual apartment from the hall. That's quite obvious, but at the time, it didn't really occur to me.

So, the new buildings will hopefully represent that. As shown below:



I personally think it's quite an improvement. It's still very much a work in progress, but I do believe there's quite a big difference between the two screenshots.

The other thing I'm working hard on are interiors. If you've played the demo, you'll have noticed that when you enter a building (mainly shops), you can't walk around of your own accord. A script plays out, and the character just does whatever I tell it to. I liked this idea, as I love River City Ransom and the original Mystical Ninja games and really like the concept. But this is an RPG, and players should be allowed to freely explore an environment and reap any rewards and secrets that they find, whether it's just some random bloke to talk to or a delicious cookie, or maybe something even cooler.

I'm leaning towards the idea of having the city be much larger than it originally was. Well, I say larger. What I mean to say is rather than having the various districts, where you move to the edge of the screen and it warps you to a new area, but have it as one big map. It doesn't take any longer to explore, and it keeps the game flowing nicely. Obviously there will still be districts, such as the shopping area and the residential areas, but it's now more seamless.

Oh, the Town Hall looks nicer too! I took on board what people had to say about it and made it bigger, and hopefully nicer to look at too.

The old:



The new:



Anyways, I think I've rambled on enough about what I've been tinkering with, but just wanted to delve a little more into the process of how I'm (hopefully) improving the game, one little step at a time.

As usual, any thoughts are greatly appreciated, and I thank you all for your continued support. :)