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Happy 2016! Come see what I've done.

I’m still working on this! I’ve kept quiet but I’ve been fairly productive and I want to share with you progress on Starless Umbra, specifically the engine and editor.

Engine Updates

The engine can render maps and execute little scripts attached to entities. With this, simple "events" like visible encounters, pathfinding, and treasure chests are possible.

Since map data is stored at the altitude-level instead of the tile-level, creating maps doesn’t take very long. At the expense of some of the clever perspective hacks we used to make truly beautiful 2D maps in RM I’m able to present "3D" worlds on a 2D plane. No tile passability weirdness to worry about.


Making a little mesa in the editor...


...and how it looks in the engine.

I can even do some stuff with terrain and water levels:


In the editor it looks like someone barfed up confetti


But the engine... Miyazaki-level aesthetics yet??

With what I learned from spriting for Heroes of Umbra, I decided to redo all of the game’s assets. I can’t really afford an artist at this time so tiles will trickle their way into the game slowly.

Character/Story Updates

In regards to the story, I’m pretty happy with where things are headed. In general not a lot is getting redone. I never wanted to make an RPG with an earth-shattering plot, but I am trimming some of the fat and adjusting the game’s pacing. In general it should feel very similar to what I’ve established up to this point (for better or for worse): you’re still finding your way back home playing fun minigames and battles in the process.



With the asset swap and lack of character template restrictions, I did decide to tweak many of the characters’ appearances. I hope to give more characters some uniqueness. For instance, Andoru’s best buddy Clydan is about 10-15 years older, darker, bigger, and buffer than RM2k3 Clydan will ever hope to be. Additionally, allies that help you on your journey might take the role of interesting new races. I feel this physical complementarity will help me take the game’s characterization to new heights while challenging myself as a pixel artist.

I had more things I wanted to delve into but I’ll save those for another time. As things stand I’m happy with the progress I’ve made on my own so far. Building a full-length RPG/engine seems strangely more feasible than bumbling around in RM2k3. (*Shh* don't crush my dreams.)

Posts

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I just wanted to say wow. Wow. Ok bye.

...But I was wondering. Your maps then have water level or something like that. Is it feasible to make the water level change smoothly? Like on a water puzzle, you push a lever, the water ups. Then maybe it slowly drains while you can rush to whatever you need to get.

If I had money I would buy you. Dragon hearts are so valuable these days...
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
Yeah, that's the plan. There are still some weird rendering issues where tiles appear to overlap the player inconsistently but I should definitely be able to do things like that down the road. Additionally I could have floating entities (like a log or something) get the water level and adjust its altitude to match.

Yum, dragon hearts.
This is exciting news~ My heart melted a little. XD

author=DHM
Building a full-length RPG/engine seems strangely more feasible than bumbling around in RM2k3. (*Shh* don't crush my dreams.)
More accurate words have never been said tbh

But yeah, you've come up with a pretty promising interface. SU never pulled any punches with it's mechanics - so it has a lot to gain from the freedom of the new engine. Glad you're still at it, buddy.
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
author=Blindmind
SU never pulled any punches with it's mechanics - so it has a lot to gain from the freedom of the new engine. Glad you're still at it, buddy.
Thank you! BR's screenshots have always inspired me but I'm sure I've told you that plenty of times. If I can eventually make the engine produce maps that look half as good as yours I'll consider it a success.
Zeigfried_McBacon
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
3820
This is interesting. Hats off to you DHM.
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
author=Zeigfried_McBacon
This is interesting. Hats off to you DHM.
Cheers! My end-end goal is to make the editor usable for people without any programming knowledge and support a variety of 2.5D action/rpg games. It's a long way from that point though.
author=dragonheartman
author=Zeigfried_McBacon
This is interesting. Hats off to you DHM.
Cheers! My end-end goal is to make the editor usable for people without any programming knowledge and support a variety of 2.5D action/rpg games. It's a long way from that point though.

Oh man, I'd pay for that type of functionality. You'd have a pretty big following, considering how rudimentary and generally awkward they continue to make RPGMaker lol.

author=dragonheartman
author=Blindmind
SU never pulled any punches with it's mechanics - so it has a lot to gain from the freedom of the new engine. Glad you're still at it, buddy.
Thank you! BR's screenshots have always inspired me but I'm sure I've told you that plenty of times. If I can eventually make the engine produce maps that look half as good as yours I'll consider it a success.

..Perhaps we'll collaborate some day in 200 years.. when our projects are finished..
DHM, I must say, after following your progression through the years, (way back in 2006 I believe, I have to say I am beyond elated and excited on the amazing progress you have made and how ridiculously awesome this project has been and what it is shaping up to. I am waiting with bated breath for a release. Good luck man!
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
author=zaeran
DHM, I must say, after following your progression through the years, (way back in 2006 I believe, I have to say I am beyond elated and excited on the amazing progress you have made and how ridiculously awesome this project has been and what it is shaping up to. I am waiting with bated breath for a release. Good luck man!
Thanks for your comments! It has been such a wonderful learning experience for me. I just wish I could deliver faster, haha.
NAH, DHM, it's a hobby. Deliver at your pace.

I think this one was one the first RM games I downloaded and played way back when I first discovered there were people other than me and my sister who used this software! I remember being totally wow'd by it, so yeah it is super neat to see you still chugging along and making progress on this game. It's very inspiring! So thanks for bein' around and bein' cool~

I look forward to one day playing the finished product, whether that be in 1 or 30 years <W<
Looks lovely! So nice to see this still being worked on - brilliant work, DHM.
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
author=emmych
NAH, DHM, it's a hobby. Deliver at your pace.

I think this one was one the first RM games I downloaded and played way back when I first discovered there were people other than me and my sister who used this software! I remember being totally wow'd by it, so yeah it is super neat to see you still chugging along and making progress on this game. It's very inspiring! So thanks for bein' around and bein' cool~

I look forward to one day playing the finished product, whether that be in 1 or 30 years <W<
I started this using 2k in late 2002 aahh it's embarrassing how many times I've had to redo things. Every now and then someone will contact me and let me know that they found SU enjoyable or even got them into RPG Maker and it's always a joy to hear. Thank you!

author=deboo
Looks lovely! So nice to see this still being worked on - brilliant work, DHM.
Cheers! I hope your endeavors are also going well.
I know I'm really late at replying to this, but when you first described how your levels of elevation would work in game I wasn't too impressed. Yes, it was easier, but it came at the cost of a lot of customization and uniqueness in the maps. But when you described it as the game understanding the levels, a whole new world of possibility opened up. I'm excited!
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