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Artist Blog 02 - Status Update

Hey folks!

I realize its been a while since our last blog post (2 months) so I figured I'd make a small update letting you guys what's been in the works. Real life usually gets kind of busy for many of us around this time of year so naturally there haven't been as many updates. Hopefully that will change soon!

I've decided to be a bit more transparent with my FFD artist related work news. Obviously I won't be spoiling much of anything concerning the story, characters, etc...

As some of you may have gleaned from past posts, William and I are making some additions to our new travel system and enhancing it a bit further. If successful, it will dramatically change how location based traveling will be conducted. We're quite excited about this change as it hasn't been seen in very many RPGs. We'll come back to this once we have a visual mockup that we can show you... hopefully soon!

Recently, my focus has been primarily on... Battlers! Those of you who have played through our last demo know that the battler sprites used for the playable characters were taken from Final Fantasy 4: The Complete Collection from the PSP. In an effort to further enhance FFD's visuals, I've decided to create new ones to replace the aforementioned sprites currently being used. It is my hope that, with these new battlers, the visual action in battles will become much more dynamic as character sprites will no longer share the same uniform pose or animation set. Individual choreography will be assigned to each character to further differentiate their fighting styles on the battlefield and my ultimate goal is to provide graphics that invoke both a sense of kinetic energy and a FF7-AC / FF13 feel. Having custom battlers also allows some freedom with the sprinkling of familiar guest characters that you'll undoubtedly come across during your playthrough of FFD. Its a daunting task... so wish me luck.

Some other tidbits include:

-Limit Break cut ins are now also on the table. Expect to see some in the near future.

-Game Menus are being visually overhauled (as some of you may have seen in our image gallery). More on that whenever William deems it appropriate.

-Changes are being made to some of the original locations. The Palamecian Research Facility... the Magick City of Mysidia... etc. Don't expect them to look the same in the next game build!

-For those of you who read my first blog post... character portrait creation is ongoing. There's a lot of freaking characters (literally hundreds) and portrait work has been slow but steady. Expect some teasers next month.

~ ~ ~

For those of you who don't know, William and I are potentially scouting for a talented spriter to do some FFD work. There is always work to be done. Additional info can be provided in pm's to William or I from appropriate and interested parties.

~ ~ ~

Finally... out of curiosity (maybe), if there was ONE Final Fantasy franchise character you could choose to be a playable guest... who would it be? (Again... this is just out of uh... curiosity...)

The rules are thus:
1. The character cannot have been a playable main character in any Final Fantasy game.
2. The character can be from any FF franchise game. Non-flagship titles like FF Tactics, Type-0, Dirge of Cerberus, etc are fine.
3. The character needs to have been somewhat combat capable or at least not obviously combat incapable.

~ ~ ~

Until next time!

Posts

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The guest character I'd like to see who meets the requirements...? Gippal.
I really like his design (this spiky blond hair, pinkish/purplish outfit) and personality (a bit flirty, but can be serious when need arises) is seriously a plus for me. Yeah, I know he's from Final Fantasy X-2, possibly the most disliked Final Fantasy game because it went with different director approach. And I bet he'd have good relationship with Cid TBH.

Also, I sprite a little; might try applicating.

Wait. If I understand correctly the battlers on both sides, enemy and ally, will have animated sprites? And enemy sprites won't be just taken straight from Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection? Well, even if only allies get animated ones, it's still a great way to distuinguish the game.
I always enjoyed Gilgamesh throughout the series and I would love to see a playable version of gilgamesh. Also, Seifer from final fantasy 8 was pretty cool and he was only in the party as a guest character anyway.
janussenpre
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1274
@Noel

At this point, there aren't any plans to animate the enemies. The animated sprites will solely be within the domain of playable party members. However, there will be plenty of custom enemy battlers for all of the enemies who have never made it into a FF1-FF6 style game. :)

Also... I loved FFX-2. Costumes, girl power, great ATB and simulation Blitzball management... enjoyed it all.

@Noel & rhb84

Thanks for the input! We appreciate the support.

*cough* KEFKA! *cough*

Excuse me, I must have something in my throat.
Uee Hee Hee
author=nemojbatkastle
*cough* KEFKA! *cough*

Excuse me, I must have something in my throat.
Uee Hee Hee


Never gonna happen. :P
janussenpre
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1274
He will always and forever be a villain.

Uee Hee Hee
The great Lord Zhuyu!

No other people quite as BA as him come to mind, and I have to say, I'd be quite interested to see what you'd be able to do with him. I mean, he flies across the sky on fire like a meteor for transportation, so I guess I'd be interested to see what anyone could do with him...

If I had to pin down anyone else, hmm... That's a tough one, when you disqualify villains from the list. Definitely Mi'ihen, but as I recall, you have the Mi'ihen Highroad in the game, correct? That might disqualify him. Also from X would be Belgemine, but it seems like kind of a waste to use her for a potential guest or something, considering you have a Summoner. :3 *nudgenudge*

And to keep my choices an even 2-2, I'll toss up another female by the name of...well, she doesn't have a name. The Dancing Girl. Yeah, sure, generic and all, but I've always held a soft spot for that gossip-loving loiterer.
Finally... out of curiosity (maybe), if there was ONE Final Fantasy franchise character you could choose to be a playable guest... who would it be? (Again... this is just out of uh... curiosity...) ]

This guy: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lone_Wolf_the_Pickpocket
Since I suggested a male character, I'll also suggest a female character.

Lani from Final Fantasy IX.
Why she should appear:
  • Two large, beauteous "assets".
  • Axe of her size.
  • Tier 2 black magic spells.
  • Good physical attacker.
author=Noel_Kreiss
Since I suggested a male character, I'll also suggest a female character.

Lani from Final Fantasy IX.
Why she should appear:
  • Two large, beauteous "assets".
  • Axe of her size.
  • Tier 2 black magic spells.
  • Good physical attacker.

She was going to be my pick, too.

EDIT: My male choice would be Captain Mac from Mystic Quest. =)
janussenpre
愛・おぼえていますか
1274
Thanks for all of the input guys!

Some of these characters may already be in the game in some form... or another (hundreds of chars remember?), so look forward to that. All of these suggestions are starting to stir up a cool idea in my head...

@DaFossa
Great suggestions! I especially like Belgemine!

@UPRC
What an interesting sight that would be, hehe.

@Noel
That's a good suggestion. Although... there's already someone who currently fits that role in the game... hmm.

@William
If Captain Mac were ever in a fight, I'd totally give him Kunkka's Ghost Ship attack from Dota 2 (look it up if you don't know it).
I'm happy to see that development is still going.

As of a playable guest character I'll go with Gilgamesh(as I can't think of another character right now, not any that aren't antagonists or jokes).

Edit:If he counts General Leo from FFVI(he was playable only in one hopeless boss battle, so I think he isn't excluded).
janussenpre
愛・おぼえていますか
1274
author=metalmariolord
I'm happy to see that development is still going.

As of a playable guest character I'll go with Gilgamesh(as I can't think of another character right now, not any that aren't antagonists or jokes).

Edit:If he counts General Leo from FFVI(he was playable only in one hopeless boss battle, so I think he isn't excluded).


Yep, development has always been ongoing.

It's picking up its pace at the moment because William and I are aiming for a new build release in the coming months... We're going to try to get a lot done (because a lot needs to be done) and then reassess afterwards.

There's going to be such a humongous difference between the current 2013 RSW demo and our new slated build.
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