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Progress Report
The original character brigade
Notably, there is only one actually character in Sleeping Lion Heart that did not have dialogue or presence in the original game. Nicolau and Tobias, Squall's crew for the duration or Disk 1 (and essentially the tutorial party) were both NPCs in the original game, albeit Tobias originally having long brown hair tied in a ponytail.
Sometimes I'm productive.
Their personalities are pretty much the same as what was given in the game, as well- Tobias brash, arrogant and cocky, while Nicolau is modest and reluctant, contrasting each other.
Old old old old old old
Did I mention this is old?
This, however, is the only actual original character in the game. Originally planned for inclusion in the update version of LOTSL, Lukas Cadara is actually one of my own OC's. However, his personality is altered for the purpose of use in Sleeping Lion Heart, as is his costume and occupation. Lukas is Estharian, and from a young age has found the stories of the Guardian Force fascinating. At twenty-three, he is the second oldest playable character, second to Laguna. Being Estharian, Lukas has had very little exposure to the world outside of the city and thus finds it incredibly fascinating. In fact, after the events of Final Fantasy VIII, Lukas became particularly obsessed with the concept of SeeD and most notably their Commander, our very own Squall Leonhart. He, however, finds the concept of leaving the safety of Esthar unthinkable at first and continues his studies as a scientist, apprenticed under Dr. Odine and specializing in the study of Guardian Force, his knowledge and dedication compared to his mentor's knowledge of Sorceresses.
When Garden requests the aid of Esthar regarding (DATA EXPUNGED), he is personally recommended and dispatched to Fisherman's Horizon to be greeted by the Garden entourage. However, Lukas, seeing this as possibly his only opportunity, specifically requests that he be greeted by Squall, unaware that he has been (DATA EXPUNGED)
Lukas begins as a very cheerful, but quite naive young man. However, meeting and learning about Squall's past and his group of friends allows him to develop and learn about the world as a whole as well as begin to gain some confidence. All Estharian youths are required to have minor battle experience in the event of a second Sorceress War, though most quickly forget about their training, Lukas was one of the few who did not. His weapon, the Pulse Blade, was developed by him and a friend and relies on the same energy that gives Pulse Ammuntion its power and results in the blue glow, similar to the Lionheart. However, he still has very little battle experience, and most of the group think him incapable of fighting, which Rinoa sympathises with. However, at the 'encouragement' of Squall (learn how to fight your own battles, jeez!) Lukas uses his spare time to train in the Training Centre while the others are on missions. At the end of Disk 2, Lukas is the first to realize what is happening and the first to take charge.
Lukas remains quite naive, but eventually begins to doubt people's integrity the longer he is influenced by Squall's cynicism. He finds it impossible to talk to girls or to act his age, often believed to be younger than the rest rather than their elder. He tends to refer to concepts that no one else understands so most people find him confusing. However, his development of (DATA EXPUNGED) and knowledge of Guardian Forces makes him an essential character. Lukas, despite eventually becoming friends with Squall, he finds him awe-inspiring and tends to get incredibly flustered and nervous in his presence and tends to sometimes blurt out random, diehard fan-knowledge that makes any situation awkward.
Lukas eventually admits that his outfit was partially inspired by Squall, but he wanted to throw in his own flair.
(DATA EXPUNGED)
The above text is a continuation of my reposting of things from the original Sleeping Lion Heart blog. (DATA EXPUNGED) pretty much means...I've removed parts that are major plot spoilers.
Anyway I've been toiling away at various game aspects. I've been trying to flesh out the skill lists and make sure I'm 100% certain on how to set up Passive effects. I'm kinda worrying a little over them, but I'm going to try to keep things flexible so if balancing is off I can change things.
Thankfully, the original game provides a decent stat reference due to Final Fantasy VIII and VXAce featuring the same stat set-up (excluding MP, which is brought back in this game). Both have 255 as the maximum for basic stats, though the original FF8 cast rarely passed anything over 50 at level 100 (naturally, of course, and excluding Rinoa's STR and MAG, which were both a good 20pts higher than the rest of the cast. Yes, including Squall. Damn Sorceresses.ohwait)
I've also downloaded several strategy guides for references. If anyone else reading this is producing fangames, anything even remotely related to Final Fantasy is obscenely helpful. Currently I'm using VIII's, X-2's, XIII's and KH2's guides for referencing, mainly in terms of passive abilities and class set-ups. Classes are hard!
Speaking of which, Quistis is incredibly frustrating in that regard. I don't know why I kept her around all the time; she had the worst stats in the original game, her limit break mostly sucks against bosses unless you use White Wind or Mighty Guard, or if by some miracle they're weak to status effects and you have Bad Breath (AND YOU COULD JUST USE DOOMTRAIN FOR THAT). Additionally, while other characters limit breaks sketchily illuminate their classes (Warrior, Gunner, Black Mage, Fighter, Gambler) Quistis doesn't really fit the role of Blue Mage since the method in which she learnt abilities was outside of battle. Kimahri's Lancet absorbed them, Gun Mages require being struck by them (as did the Materia for it), and Quina ate his foes.
Despite this I'm probably going to mostly reference X-2's Gun Mage for her ability and stat set, and make her Blue Magic learnable by strike. I can write this off as 'she has a higher knowledge of enemy types and knows their weak points', due to being an Instructor/a SeeD for a longer period of time than the rest of the cast.
While I'm on the topic of classes, yes, Selphie's class is Gambler/Lady Luck. Selphie was always a bit of an odd one out to begin with, and her original limit, Slot, was always a gamble to use in the first place. More or less, I intend on making her one of those characters that, while difficult to master at first, can be one of the most valuable assets in a character party. 'Course lazy players might not want to bother, but that's true of all Final Fantasy's, am I right?
Continuing on...
I've started laying out concepts for a short sequence where you navigate the Winhill Bluffs.
(This map is completely but I don't have a .PNG of it and LAZY)
Thankfully, the Official Strategy Guide has the names of all the locations in Final Fantasy VIII, and I don't mean Winhill, Timber, I mean things like the Lallapalooza Canyon and Serrengeti Plains.
Yes those are both real places.
Yes I intend on throwing you into Lallapalooza Canyon and some point and making fun of the name.
whoevencomesupwithanamelikethatjesuschristimeancapeofgoodhopeyeahthat'sasensicalnamewellthenagainourworldhastownscalled'dick'so
Along with those maps I'm still working on Deling City, which is still consistently giving me a headache. I have to paint a good chunk of the detailing, as well as adjust furniture sizes. I really dislike mapping towns and indoors, ok? Most VX outdoor stuff fits the sprite size, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THE CHAIRS?
Sometimes I'm productive.
Their personalities are pretty much the same as what was given in the game, as well- Tobias brash, arrogant and cocky, while Nicolau is modest and reluctant, contrasting each other.
Old old old old old old
Did I mention this is old?
This, however, is the only actual original character in the game. Originally planned for inclusion in the update version of LOTSL, Lukas Cadara is actually one of my own OC's. However, his personality is altered for the purpose of use in Sleeping Lion Heart, as is his costume and occupation. Lukas is Estharian, and from a young age has found the stories of the Guardian Force fascinating. At twenty-three, he is the second oldest playable character, second to Laguna. Being Estharian, Lukas has had very little exposure to the world outside of the city and thus finds it incredibly fascinating. In fact, after the events of Final Fantasy VIII, Lukas became particularly obsessed with the concept of SeeD and most notably their Commander, our very own Squall Leonhart. He, however, finds the concept of leaving the safety of Esthar unthinkable at first and continues his studies as a scientist, apprenticed under Dr. Odine and specializing in the study of Guardian Force, his knowledge and dedication compared to his mentor's knowledge of Sorceresses.
When Garden requests the aid of Esthar regarding (DATA EXPUNGED), he is personally recommended and dispatched to Fisherman's Horizon to be greeted by the Garden entourage. However, Lukas, seeing this as possibly his only opportunity, specifically requests that he be greeted by Squall, unaware that he has been (DATA EXPUNGED)
Lukas begins as a very cheerful, but quite naive young man. However, meeting and learning about Squall's past and his group of friends allows him to develop and learn about the world as a whole as well as begin to gain some confidence. All Estharian youths are required to have minor battle experience in the event of a second Sorceress War, though most quickly forget about their training, Lukas was one of the few who did not. His weapon, the Pulse Blade, was developed by him and a friend and relies on the same energy that gives Pulse Ammuntion its power and results in the blue glow, similar to the Lionheart. However, he still has very little battle experience, and most of the group think him incapable of fighting, which Rinoa sympathises with. However, at the 'encouragement' of Squall (learn how to fight your own battles, jeez!) Lukas uses his spare time to train in the Training Centre while the others are on missions. At the end of Disk 2, Lukas is the first to realize what is happening and the first to take charge.
Lukas remains quite naive, but eventually begins to doubt people's integrity the longer he is influenced by Squall's cynicism. He finds it impossible to talk to girls or to act his age, often believed to be younger than the rest rather than their elder. He tends to refer to concepts that no one else understands so most people find him confusing. However, his development of (DATA EXPUNGED) and knowledge of Guardian Forces makes him an essential character. Lukas, despite eventually becoming friends with Squall, he finds him awe-inspiring and tends to get incredibly flustered and nervous in his presence and tends to sometimes blurt out random, diehard fan-knowledge that makes any situation awkward.
Lukas eventually admits that his outfit was partially inspired by Squall, but he wanted to throw in his own flair.
(DATA EXPUNGED)
===========================================================
The above text is a continuation of my reposting of things from the original Sleeping Lion Heart blog. (DATA EXPUNGED) pretty much means...I've removed parts that are major plot spoilers.
Anyway I've been toiling away at various game aspects. I've been trying to flesh out the skill lists and make sure I'm 100% certain on how to set up Passive effects. I'm kinda worrying a little over them, but I'm going to try to keep things flexible so if balancing is off I can change things.
Thankfully, the original game provides a decent stat reference due to Final Fantasy VIII and VXAce featuring the same stat set-up (excluding MP, which is brought back in this game). Both have 255 as the maximum for basic stats, though the original FF8 cast rarely passed anything over 50 at level 100 (naturally, of course, and excluding Rinoa's STR and MAG, which were both a good 20pts higher than the rest of the cast. Yes, including Squall. Damn Sorceresses.
I've also downloaded several strategy guides for references. If anyone else reading this is producing fangames, anything even remotely related to Final Fantasy is obscenely helpful. Currently I'm using VIII's, X-2's, XIII's and KH2's guides for referencing, mainly in terms of passive abilities and class set-ups. Classes are hard!
Speaking of which, Quistis is incredibly frustrating in that regard. I don't know why I kept her around all the time; she had the worst stats in the original game, her limit break mostly sucks against bosses unless you use White Wind or Mighty Guard, or if by some miracle they're weak to status effects and you have Bad Breath (AND YOU COULD JUST USE DOOMTRAIN FOR THAT). Additionally, while other characters limit breaks sketchily illuminate their classes (Warrior, Gunner, Black Mage, Fighter, Gambler) Quistis doesn't really fit the role of Blue Mage since the method in which she learnt abilities was outside of battle. Kimahri's Lancet absorbed them, Gun Mages require being struck by them (as did the Materia for it), and Quina ate his foes.
Despite this I'm probably going to mostly reference X-2's Gun Mage for her ability and stat set, and make her Blue Magic learnable by strike. I can write this off as 'she has a higher knowledge of enemy types and knows their weak points', due to being an Instructor/a SeeD for a longer period of time than the rest of the cast.
While I'm on the topic of classes, yes, Selphie's class is Gambler/Lady Luck. Selphie was always a bit of an odd one out to begin with, and her original limit, Slot, was always a gamble to use in the first place. More or less, I intend on making her one of those characters that, while difficult to master at first, can be one of the most valuable assets in a character party. 'Course lazy players might not want to bother, but that's true of all Final Fantasy's, am I right?
Continuing on...
I've started laying out concepts for a short sequence where you navigate the Winhill Bluffs.
(This map is completely but I don't have a .PNG of it and LAZY)
Thankfully, the Official Strategy Guide has the names of all the locations in Final Fantasy VIII, and I don't mean Winhill, Timber, I mean things like the Lallapalooza Canyon and Serrengeti Plains.
Yes those are both real places.
Yes I intend on throwing you into Lallapalooza Canyon and some point and making fun of the name.
whoevencomesupwithanamelikethatjesuschristimeancapeofgoodhopeyeahthat'sasensicalnamewellthenagainourworldhastownscalled'dick'so
Along with those maps I'm still working on Deling City, which is still consistently giving me a headache. I have to paint a good chunk of the detailing, as well as adjust furniture sizes. I really dislike mapping towns and indoors, ok? Most VX outdoor stuff fits the sprite size, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THE CHAIRS?
Game Design
My hiatus, musings on war and ideas
I can officially say I am off hiatus as of about Monday last week. I am not sure what happened but in short I experienced a close to six-month long burn out where I found working on games impossible at best. Though I thought about them quite often, it impacted not only on my hobbyist games but what I was doing at college, too. I'm deeply apologetic for it, but it couldn't be helped, and forcing myself didn't help either. I'm back in the groove now and enjoying myself, so it's time to move past this and carry on working.
During my hiatus I did happen to create a great way of procrastinating from everything. Rather than doing my work, I would draw. Procrastinating through drawing!?!? I'd never thought it possible, but it is, apparently, and I have improved greatly over that time period.
June vs. November
During my hiatus I made the decision that I was going to develop a Prototype. So, basically what we here call a demo, except quite short and showcasing a large chunk of gameplay and overall feel and mood. The intention is to make something where I can get a lot of criticism and feedback, so I can improve and use it to continue the game's development.
I'm also planning to start posting development ideas from the original SLH blog from when it was still 'secret gam'. I did quite a few long blogs on a number of ideas, and I don't think they should go to waste. You'll notice briefly mentioned plot points here; I'm not going to elaborate, think of them as teasers.
So without further adieu...
War
Unlike the original, which held the on going conflict between Galbadia and the rest of the world as simply a device for Ultimecia to get her hands on Ellone, the war that is taking place in Sleeping Lion Heart is the same as what would happen in our world. The oppressed rising up against oppressors, land, power. It is a full-scale war that properly drags in everyone and massive conflicts occur. For the majority of Disk 2, your party is being deployed into various war zones on the Galbadian mainland to fight for Dollet, who has hired Balamb SeeD indefinitely, with the SeeD from the reestablished Galbadia Garden fighting for Galbadia.
The reason the conflict begins? Shortly after the end of FF8, Dollet began to reinforce and gather its troops. Galbadia had been greatly weakened due to Ultimecia's careless expenditure of human lives and with the Galbadia Missile Base destroyed, it was time to move. Barely four months after Ultimecia's defeat, the world is at war again.
The war in SLH, what you see of it, will be brutal. I don't hold back in my games- and though pixel blood really has no effect, apparently, I can still comment on the futility of war. This very same war was fought only a few decades ago, and Dollet lost- what if they lose again? Will all those lives be for nothing?
This is a question that not only the player is forced to try and answer but it is something that plagues Squall relentlessly. It's the same with the player. Will the wars ever end? Sometimes, it really seems like there will always be fighting somewhere.
I'd also like to comment on the Vietnam War. Although Balamb Garden has far from the motivations held by America in the 1960's, the fighting itself is considered unpopular by many of the students, and in reality they are only in the war because of the money they are being paid. This also comments on the young, inexperienced cadets being sent into the battle field and becoming cannon fodder- this example creates one of the major motivations behind Squall's actions throughout Part 1 of the game, and is intended to be addressed as thoroughly and without hesitation as possible.
Many major conflicts between Squall's group and other people are motivated by death and fighting- and, of course, grief. A person will either sit down and mourn the deaths of loved ones- or they will go out and seek vengeance.
In order to reflect the ideas behind war, supplies become incredibly expensive in war zones. Though they can be purchased from war mongers it is up to 5x the price. Any prices you saw in the original game will be doubled. The economy is flailing- everyone who could be generating money of supplies is fighting in the war and everyone else is left starving.
Sorry Zell. No hotdogs this time.
During my hiatus I did happen to create a great way of procrastinating from everything. Rather than doing my work, I would draw. Procrastinating through drawing!?!? I'd never thought it possible, but it is, apparently, and I have improved greatly over that time period.
June vs. November
During my hiatus I made the decision that I was going to develop a Prototype. So, basically what we here call a demo, except quite short and showcasing a large chunk of gameplay and overall feel and mood. The intention is to make something where I can get a lot of criticism and feedback, so I can improve and use it to continue the game's development.
I'm also planning to start posting development ideas from the original SLH blog from when it was still 'secret gam'. I did quite a few long blogs on a number of ideas, and I don't think they should go to waste. You'll notice briefly mentioned plot points here; I'm not going to elaborate, think of them as teasers.
So without further adieu...
War
Unlike the original, which held the on going conflict between Galbadia and the rest of the world as simply a device for Ultimecia to get her hands on Ellone, the war that is taking place in Sleeping Lion Heart is the same as what would happen in our world. The oppressed rising up against oppressors, land, power. It is a full-scale war that properly drags in everyone and massive conflicts occur. For the majority of Disk 2, your party is being deployed into various war zones on the Galbadian mainland to fight for Dollet, who has hired Balamb SeeD indefinitely, with the SeeD from the reestablished Galbadia Garden fighting for Galbadia.
The reason the conflict begins? Shortly after the end of FF8, Dollet began to reinforce and gather its troops. Galbadia had been greatly weakened due to Ultimecia's careless expenditure of human lives and with the Galbadia Missile Base destroyed, it was time to move. Barely four months after Ultimecia's defeat, the world is at war again.
The war in SLH, what you see of it, will be brutal. I don't hold back in my games- and though pixel blood really has no effect, apparently, I can still comment on the futility of war. This very same war was fought only a few decades ago, and Dollet lost- what if they lose again? Will all those lives be for nothing?
This is a question that not only the player is forced to try and answer but it is something that plagues Squall relentlessly. It's the same with the player. Will the wars ever end? Sometimes, it really seems like there will always be fighting somewhere.
I'd also like to comment on the Vietnam War. Although Balamb Garden has far from the motivations held by America in the 1960's, the fighting itself is considered unpopular by many of the students, and in reality they are only in the war because of the money they are being paid. This also comments on the young, inexperienced cadets being sent into the battle field and becoming cannon fodder- this example creates one of the major motivations behind Squall's actions throughout Part 1 of the game, and is intended to be addressed as thoroughly and without hesitation as possible.
Many major conflicts between Squall's group and other people are motivated by death and fighting- and, of course, grief. A person will either sit down and mourn the deaths of loved ones- or they will go out and seek vengeance.
In order to reflect the ideas behind war, supplies become incredibly expensive in war zones. Though they can be purchased from war mongers it is up to 5x the price. Any prices you saw in the original game will be doubled. The economy is flailing- everyone who could be generating money of supplies is fighting in the war and everyone else is left starving.
Sorry Zell. No hotdogs this time.
Progress Report
It's a pretty blog!
Puddor
13 post(s) 
- 05/30/2012 12:11 PM
- 3803 views
aka what this is
Hello! Thought I might...drop in. I've decided to organize Progress Reports nice and neatly! That way if you're interested in specifics you can just scroll down (aka graphics...though some of you might be interested in the story! haha).
Let's get to it, shall we? :D
my existence generally culminates to this single term.
Graphics, graphics, graphics! That's what it's all about, right? Not necessarily, but the eternal dilemma with doing custom assets is the lack of the ability to truly test without them. Placeholders can only get you so far, after all, and this is especially true for maps!
So, let's look at the lineup for this up date.
I started conceptualizing Quistis. This isn't final (I'm not satisfied) but designing the girls comes so much harder to me than the boys, which is why they're getting done first. Eat your broccoli first, I always say~*
*If you eat the yucky stuff first, you get to save the best for last.
Design-wise, I want to create a mesh of three different aspects with most of the characters. Firstly, their original designs from Final Fantasy VIII, secondly, the SeeD or Cadet uniforms (you can see an example of this with Selphie) and thirdly, military designs. There are two exceptions: Squall, even once he loses the orange hoodie, dons an outfit nearly identical to his Final Fantasy VIII garb, but there will be slight modifications, and Rinoa, who also mostly retains her original outfit. There are reasons for both, but I'll leave that up in the air for now.
This is Tobias and Nicolau's first concepts! (respectively). I'm not too sure about Nicolau at this point, but I kinda like how sallow Tobias looks.
ZE CAROUSEL. I jumped into NewBlack's folder for some collaboratin' and found teenage bedroom hijinks. Being thewaifu team leader, I decided to help him out and clean it up, as well as beginning some detailing. All in all, going well, I think!
Of things I can't show, I have finished Squall's Idle, Item, Attack, Defend and Battle Entrance. A number of others are started, and I've also started the animations for the side on and down run cycles. Not bad for a college student at the end of the semester! (you can almost hear my ribs cracking, can't you? *crunch*)
So, let's look at the lineup for this up date.
I started conceptualizing Quistis. This isn't final (I'm not satisfied) but designing the girls comes so much harder to me than the boys, which is why they're getting done first. Eat your broccoli first, I always say~*
*If you eat the yucky stuff first, you get to save the best for last.
Design-wise, I want to create a mesh of three different aspects with most of the characters. Firstly, their original designs from Final Fantasy VIII, secondly, the SeeD or Cadet uniforms (you can see an example of this with Selphie) and thirdly, military designs. There are two exceptions: Squall, even once he loses the orange hoodie, dons an outfit nearly identical to his Final Fantasy VIII garb, but there will be slight modifications, and Rinoa, who also mostly retains her original outfit. There are reasons for both, but I'll leave that up in the air for now.
This is Tobias and Nicolau's first concepts! (respectively). I'm not too sure about Nicolau at this point, but I kinda like how sallow Tobias looks.
ZE CAROUSEL. I jumped into NewBlack's folder for some collaboratin' and found teenage bedroom hijinks. Being the
Of things I can't show, I have finished Squall's Idle, Item, Attack, Defend and Battle Entrance. A number of others are started, and I've also started the animations for the side on and down run cycles. Not bad for a college student at the end of the semester! (you can almost hear my ribs cracking, can't you? *crunch*)
"THE ORPHANAGE PLOT TWIST WAS THE WORST PLOT TWIST EVA!!!1!- People who don't read teenage fiction
Not too much on the story front, except for a big shout out to Archeia_Nessiah for reading over the script! It prompted some... interesting reactions, and there will be some minor revisions (that were already planned, but this solidified it) but so far, everything seems to be going smoothly! Thanks again Nessiah! :D
I HAVE NEVER FELT SUCH VEHEMENT HATRED FOR A FORUM MEMBER- example that will never reach public consumption
It's super hard to get into college homework habits coming out of high school, and to be honest I've been working myself to the bone (4/5am some nights) both on this project and on homework. SO YOU HAD BETTER DAMN APPRECIATE IT.
Just kidding! :D
appreciate me or I will eat your face
Just kidding! :D
appreciate me or I will eat your face
See you all next time! *SeeD Salute*
Progress Report
Request
Everything seems to be in order, sir! [Except code]
Because quoting FF8 is fun~
MY REQUEST IS BELOWW
Ok! To the nine new subscribers, welcome aboard!
I'm curious as to what anyone's wondering about with the game. I have a fairly extensive blog (to myself, since no one else read it) lingering around that has some lengthy discussions on vapourware, war, original characters, and various other interesting subjects! I could also talking about spriting. If you really want me too.
I want to hear from you guys! It's lovely to get so many positive comments, and they usually leave me beaming. But critique is great, too! I just want to extend my sincerest and deepest thanks to everyone for refraining on the "seriously, a fangame?" and "ew FF8". I suppose those who dislike FF8 have avoided the page, but one of my biggest frets about posting the game was the vehement hatred of FF8 that tends to linger. Lately I've noticed a sympathetic side to FF8 in the forums and in IRC, so that's why I decided to post.
Anyway what have I been doing? Not much to really show. I've started another map and did an experiment with the VXA tiles:
(orz)
I also made two frames of Squall's attack.
(bottom right)
As well as other database and code and boring stuff! Though I enjoy databasing sometimes. I'm a bit of a masochist I guess.
Well, WHILE I AM HERE and while I decide to label this blog as a request, HERE'S THE REQUEST STUFF:
YUP RIGHT HERE
I'm looking for a general go-to coder who'd be willing to work for free/trade for sprites or art in order to do the menus and battle aesthetics.
I'll be using Victor Sant's sideview most likely. I have a mockup kicking around of the battle layout:
And a couple of menus. It's nothing 100% urgent (though battle layout would be nice, I don't have enough battle sprites done yet) BUT THAT BEING SAID, the sooner all the code is finalized the easier I'll sleep at night.
I cannot offer monetary resources at this point because I'm a poor college student :x
THAT ABOUT WRAPS IT UP
To finish off this blogpost, have some art.
MY REQUEST IS BELOWW
Ok! To the nine new subscribers, welcome aboard!
I'm curious as to what anyone's wondering about with the game. I have a fairly extensive blog (to myself, since no one else read it) lingering around that has some lengthy discussions on vapourware, war, original characters, and various other interesting subjects! I could also talking about spriting. If you really want me too.
I want to hear from you guys! It's lovely to get so many positive comments, and they usually leave me beaming. But critique is great, too! I just want to extend my sincerest and deepest thanks to everyone for refraining on the "seriously, a fangame?" and "ew FF8". I suppose those who dislike FF8 have avoided the page, but one of my biggest frets about posting the game was the vehement hatred of FF8 that tends to linger. Lately I've noticed a sympathetic side to FF8 in the forums and in IRC, so that's why I decided to post.
Anyway what have I been doing? Not much to really show. I've started another map and did an experiment with the VXA tiles:
(orz)
I also made two frames of Squall's attack.
(bottom right)
As well as other database and code and boring stuff! Though I enjoy databasing sometimes. I'm a bit of a masochist I guess.
Well, WHILE I AM HERE and while I decide to label this blog as a request, HERE'S THE REQUEST STUFF:
YUP RIGHT HERE
I'm looking for a general go-to coder who'd be willing to work for free/trade for sprites or art in order to do the menus and battle aesthetics.
I'll be using Victor Sant's sideview most likely. I have a mockup kicking around of the battle layout:
And a couple of menus. It's nothing 100% urgent (though battle layout would be nice, I don't have enough battle sprites done yet) BUT THAT BEING SAID, the sooner all the code is finalized the easier I'll sleep at night.
I cannot offer monetary resources at this point because I'm a poor college student :x
THAT ABOUT WRAPS IT UP
To finish off this blogpost, have some art.
Progress Report
Reporting in!
I've been working diligently on filling out the database but there was a map I wanted to get done today. I'll post that in the images tab :D
Since this is just an update on the colours, here's the first floor of the Inn again:
I might be the only one, but has anyone else noticed the dire lack of larger tiles for RMVX/A style? It's mind bending. Everything is so tiny and my sprites are...normal sized :V
Since I'm nice I'm going to start sharing my edits.
But uh...don't use the beds until I find the original author orz.
the table's free game :D
I hope I can live up to your expectations :) I've gotten thirty-one subscribers in less than a week, so I must be doing something right @A@
Since this is just an update on the colours, here's the first floor of the Inn again:
I might be the only one, but has anyone else noticed the dire lack of larger tiles for RMVX/A style? It's mind bending. Everything is so tiny and my sprites are...normal sized :V
Since I'm nice I'm going to start sharing my edits.
But uh...don't use the beds until I find the original author orz.
the table's free game :D
I hope I can live up to your expectations :) I've gotten thirty-one subscribers in less than a week, so I must be doing something right @A@
Game Design
In all seriousness...
...let me formally say thanks to the support this game has gotten right off the bat! 17 subscribers in 13 hours is a pretty big deal @A@
For those who know me well, "secret gam" has been around for a long time. And for those who knew me as a noob, they'll know this has been around as an idea and less-often worked on project for the better part of six years.
God forbid if I'd actually been working that entire time and only had this to show :/
I ended up going public because at current the active members are myself, NewBlack and Happy (Deckiller is onboard, but he's been busy with Porcupine Princess). I've already recieved fantastic constructive criticism from people like alterego, so thank you! I'm glad my terror for posting this upfront was misplaced after all.
The general attitude toward Final Fantasy VIII has been critical at best, but lately the mood towards it has warmed up. It was an odd change of pace for me, and in the end I caved to the desire to post.
As of right now I am the sole pixel artist, artist, writer and a multitude of other tasks, whilst NewBlack has been designated to painting environment items (he's currently working on a fantastic Carousel for Deling City) and Happy is our composer.
Ripped text window, obviously.
Getting the vibe and graphical mood right has been pretty tough, and initially I was using a base, but I ended up switching and deciding to do a custom built sprite set that followed Final Fantasy VIII's proportions and serious style.
You should see the battle animation sheet.
I'm glad people are excited, because I am, too. Working on Final Fantasy VIII is my passion and joy, and as I said to Dudesoft when pitching this project, this is not about replicating Final Fantasy VIII- this is about extending the experience, elaborating on what was there, no matter how minuscule. It's about bringing nostalgic joy as well as a brand-new experience. That's why I make fangames, and at least in that concept and idea, I think I was successful with Cosplay Crisis, so hopefully I'll be successful here, too!
FUNGUAR IS NOT A FUN GUY
I added the Systems tab so you guys can check out what we have planned for gameplay. About 95% of this is implemented already, or is being looked into (I like to wait for scripts until the scripter has gotten it 90% working, and then break it in anyway possible and report all the bugs. I've been doing this with Skill Select and managed to track down a few fairly critical bugs).
One of the biggest hurdles is graphics just because of the sheer amount of them, but early into development I decided to not go full custom and parallax using VX tiles. I'm not the best tile artist, characters are my forte, and I believe with the painted tiles contrasted with the pixellized sprites will create a similar feeling to the panorama/3D Model dynamic of the original.
For anyone who's interested, my active games are
Night Howl is a BR prequel, and thus they motivate me in turn. The copious (and this means I have nothing but Final Fantasy music on my iPhone) amounts of related music I listen to often motivate me.
I look forward to the journey ahead! o7
For those who know me well, "secret gam" has been around for a long time. And for those who knew me as a noob, they'll know this has been around as an idea and less-often worked on project for the better part of six years.
God forbid if I'd actually been working that entire time and only had this to show :/
I ended up going public because at current the active members are myself, NewBlack and Happy (Deckiller is onboard, but he's been busy with Porcupine Princess). I've already recieved fantastic constructive criticism from people like alterego, so thank you! I'm glad my terror for posting this upfront was misplaced after all.
The general attitude toward Final Fantasy VIII has been critical at best, but lately the mood towards it has warmed up. It was an odd change of pace for me, and in the end I caved to the desire to post.
As of right now I am the sole pixel artist, artist, writer and a multitude of other tasks, whilst NewBlack has been designated to painting environment items (he's currently working on a fantastic Carousel for Deling City) and Happy is our composer.
Ripped text window, obviously.
Getting the vibe and graphical mood right has been pretty tough, and initially I was using a base, but I ended up switching and deciding to do a custom built sprite set that followed Final Fantasy VIII's proportions and serious style.
You should see the battle animation sheet.
I'm glad people are excited, because I am, too. Working on Final Fantasy VIII is my passion and joy, and as I said to Dudesoft when pitching this project, this is not about replicating Final Fantasy VIII- this is about extending the experience, elaborating on what was there, no matter how minuscule. It's about bringing nostalgic joy as well as a brand-new experience. That's why I make fangames, and at least in that concept and idea, I think I was successful with Cosplay Crisis, so hopefully I'll be successful here, too!
FUNGUAR IS NOT A FUN GUY
I added the Systems tab so you guys can check out what we have planned for gameplay. About 95% of this is implemented already, or is being looked into (I like to wait for scripts until the scripter has gotten it 90% working, and then break it in anyway possible and report all the bugs. I've been doing this with Skill Select and managed to track down a few fairly critical bugs).
One of the biggest hurdles is graphics just because of the sheer amount of them, but early into development I decided to not go full custom and parallax using VX tiles. I'm not the best tile artist, characters are my forte, and I believe with the painted tiles contrasted with the pixellized sprites will create a similar feeling to the panorama/3D Model dynamic of the original.
For anyone who's interested, my active games are
- Final Fantasy VIII: SLH
Night Howl (not posted here)
Blood Rose (on a whim)
Night Howl is a BR prequel, and thus they motivate me in turn. The copious (and this means I have nothing but Final Fantasy music on my iPhone) amounts of related music I listen to often motivate me.
I look forward to the journey ahead! o7
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