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Entry to the RPG Maker VX Ace Lite cookoff

Dusk Garden's dungeon now open to everyone!
Something is stirring deep underground, and you have been called to aid the city in investigating this phenomenon.
---

we present to you: Subterranean Starfield!

Guide 4 party-members around exploring the depths under the city, and reveal it's secrets! There are many dangers ahead, but fame and riches await you at the end! Defeat powerful foes and conquer the harsh environment! Just be careful, don't die in the process!

Subterranean Starfield is a:
~kawaii style dungeon crawler~
with emphasis on dungeon crawling and cute monsters and character attachment!

Latest Blog

2.4!

Fixed a bit of stuff from recent comments!
Devourer of All will not pierce Moon Shard's reflect - but it will no longer get one-shot by it.

Skills
  • Crawler's First Strike is given a higher activation rate.
  • First Strike's damage is slightly increased.
  • Natalie's Thunderstorm has increased damage.
  • Felicie's Passive effect has been changed: Brave Strider lets her recover HP whenever she attacks an enemy with higher HP rate than her.
  • Cirine's Assassinate's damage is increased.
  • Overdrive Bomb now inflicts a state that reduces the Flare resistance of all targets.
  • Timeless Blaze no longer one-hit kills the Devourer of All (oops ahaha)


Items
  • Changes to a few of the enemies' drop rates.
  • New equipment may occasionally drop from enemies!
  • More equipment can grant skills to the owner!!
  • A few equipment's stats are altered.
  • Anger Fang and Tiger Fang's Counter chance is reduced.
  • Star Shard and Moon Shard's Reflect chance is reduced.


Enemies
  • Malevolent Flame's Flame Shells have more HP
  • Devourer of All resists Timeless Blaze


General
  • Increased the speed of all UI animations.
  • Uploaded the file directly to rpgmaker.net because my internet is good now :3c


2.4 Data folder
* this file is for developers who wish to see how the project looks like within the editor. it does NOT include any graphical assets. you will NOT be able to modify and test play it! please make sure!

it also contains the entire database so you can poke in and see exactly what the numbers are if you really wanted to



All save files should be compatible!
  • Completed
  • Rhyme
    Archeia_Nessiah
  • marimo (Art Critic and Guide Mastah)
    Caz (Assistant Spriter)
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • RPG
  • 02/14/2013 10:04 AM
  • 09/10/2018 11:36 AM
  • 03/08/2015
  • 196839
  • 56
  • 3901

Posts

author=Archeia_Nessiah
How is that possible? I made the character sets first, drew the portraits and used the very same colors from the same DS palette @_@

I'm thinking now that Lady Thes...Tres...Tahari's sprite does actually have green hair like her portrait, but with the highlights combined with her crown, it looked like the sprite was blond.



Natalie though, was my first main character, so her dark-haired portrait, light-haired sprite really stuck out. Now that I've had a little more experience to see this isn't common, it's almost cute how her hair doesn't match up.



BTW, I'm sorry about nitpicking it, but this and the waterfall were literally the only flaws I found. Beautiful game overall. :D
That's because the first one is a default DS portrait. I ran out of time to draw custom portraits for that <_<
Oh, no wonder I couldn't find this game, it was listed under Rhyme!

Downloading at the speed of light! Will make an attempt to play sometime in 2017!
There is simply no justification or good reason to force the player to press enter 5 times just to see a single text box. Pressing enter to see the NEXT textbox makes sense because when you press it the previous text disappears, so you might have missed it.
Pressing enter to reveal the next 5 words on the current textbox is just horrific busywork that gives you carpal tunnel.
Woah! This looks AND sounds super cool!

Gonna try it out!
author=taltamir
There is simply no justification or good reason to force the player to press enter 5 times just to see a single text box. Pressing enter to see the NEXT textbox makes sense because when you press it the previous text disappears, so you might have missed it.
Pressing enter to reveal the next 5 words on the current textbox is just horrific busywork that gives you carpal tunnel.


Hey there, after a while, I understand your problems now and currently redoing the pauses in text (idk why I didn't use \.)

@Nivlacart, thank you! But I recommend waiting for the new version :D
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
o cool. will try this version ~
I started to get the hang of this and then the tree kicked my butt a couple of times and that was enough for me for one night xD (it's always going good and then he starts the regen spamming lol )

I'm curious if there's any sort of indicator towards what is a 'harvestable' item in the dungeon versus not? I didn't even realize I could pick stuff up on the field until I accidentally walked on a flower, but then the blue flowers you can't so--maybe I'm missing something there?
i'm having a ton of fun with this!! i even managed to beat great old wisdom at level 5!!

oh, but, i noticed the spirit robe, which is supposed to give you +10% MP, actually sets your mp to 10% of its normal value...
edit: the leafy hat states that it gives +10% HP, but it does not. at least it doesn't reduce hp to 10%.
Rhyme
Tear Harvester Rhyme
7582
Whoops, caught the Spirit Robe one, thank you! The download has been updated~
Hey there
I encountered a bug when I step on lava fields. The message is:

Script 'Game Interpreter' line 1411. NoMethodError occurred.
undefined method 'refresh' for nil:NilClass

It didnt happen the first time I encountered those fields. I got to rhyme and accepted the quest to bring this person down to him and now I cant progress further.

Otherwise a great game! I really like how it is very challenging.
Rhyme
Tear Harvester Rhyme
7582
Have you tried this update?
The initial download uploaded at the end of October had quite a few game-crash causing bugs which i unfortunately didn't catch ;w;
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
okay so in honor of the upcoming gamejam i am playing this because i'm awful and haven't played the new version yet?

when great old wisdom used Attack Up, I queued up Burst and Void on Randell/Sordis. both are dispel 100%. the buff wasn't dispelled. randell died. i quit in order to complain.

i had permadeath off (but on otherwise "normal" difficulty) but. like. c'mon. :<
Rhyme
Tear Harvester Rhyme
7582
Attack/Defense/Agility Boost/Downs aren't considered buffs but stat bonuses/penalties in game terms. The only way to remove it is to inflict the opposing penalty on a bonus, and vice versa, or using the Dis-Bonus and Dis-Penalize spells!
(edit: buffs are stuff like Critical Boost, Eagle Eye, Magia Burst, Vanguard, Regeneration, and so on)
which is my bad in terminology oops .w.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
oh. welp, that makes sense i guess... makes my spell selection look a lot more terrible, though haha
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
Random thoughts no spoilers (not that you really could in DC o.o)

choosable difficulty's! 100 hugs!

the tutorial is really good it flows naturally like its part of a story :D

nice menus! a beastiry is all that's missing!

some of Natalies skills start with +1 don't say +2 after learning which would be confusing to someone not experienced in rpgs

gotta love the descriptions of things :3

legendary weapons are one of the must haves in a dungeon crawler! :3

lvl cap 200!?


overall no spoilers

well its a dungeon crawler. if you don't like and or are not in the mood for rpg battles this is not for you.
theres very little of what you could call story the D.C aspect of the game is pretty much the story more or less.
for the main game gameplay is like...4+hours long (easiest mode,may be possible to finish b4 that its just a measuring bar)

but you will learn the meaning of grind here or suffer deaths until you do.
lots of rpg battles,lvling,epic gear is what this games about. nothing more or less.
is it good? well that like pretty much anything else depends on how much you like what it does.
for what it is its a great game. with difficulty to make it balanced or extremely broken for the poor soul that dares to pick sadistic(realistic :3)


what i would of liked spoilers

1.the objective where you bring nessa to rhyme is not worth it lol...youd think you could just use the teleport but you manually have to go. but the special reward is only a immune which makes you unable to get sickness. for a crazy objective like that i would almost expect a ribbon (immune to all status)
but that's probably hidden someone in the void if it exists)

2.to have got special gear from the optional boss :3 if purple would be epic we need 1 legendary item! :D even tho you would not need it anymore after doing that :3


Dislikes

mostly the difficulty of finding the next staircase a few of them really were just guessing in which i could not hope to remember or replicate the path


?

i swear at the start of the game it said something about shift to change difficulty's. did i misunderstand that it doesn't seem to do anything.


closing
recommended for grinders those players that love seeing that experience screen and whose life is fulfilled when they receive a level up! and believe me theres plenty o that in this!
I can't believe I leveled up all of my characters to lvl 200... This game is too addictive! I finished it once then restarted (more like clicked on the continue-something option) and defeated all the bosses exceeept the very last one. Is that battle even winnable? Maybe with the help of some item, it is... but that was IT for me. Great game tho, very fun. Loved the lvl 200 thing the most haha.

And my party developed to be the best of the bros by the end- in my head of-course. Can't see them with anyone else anymore so not gonna replay, sorry :p
Rhyme
Tear Harvester Rhyme
7582
author=ahmed_great2005
I can't believe I leveled up all of my characters to lvl 200... This game is too addictive! I finished it once then restarted (more like clicked on the continue-something option) and defeated all the bosses exceeept the very last one. Is that battle even winnable?


Wow! How long did it take you to reach 200? I got tired of it myself after 118ish ahaha

With an extremely well geared party at level 200, it is winnable, but admittedly requires both a bit of luck and a lot of pre-planning!
I've spent two days so far on Standard mode and am in the 4th zone. I have to say I really hate those black clouds with their Absolute-element divine lightning (not that those elemental fairies aren't nasty themselves). It's enough to OHKO me unless I got defense buffs/vanguard/or am guarding. Can your characters get equipment to resist it or is it like the Almighty-element in SMT games and only a few monsters resist it and none are weak to it? I know Natalie has Absolute spells but is there any equipment in the game that lets you use an Absolute spell while equipped? 'Cause Thunderstorm sounds like it'd be fun to use.


I'm on floor 17 where it's barely lit and a torch does nothing to fix that. So what does the time & space distortion do? Shift to a different map every time I hit a crossroads? If so, that'd be a worse nightmare than the dark maze in zone 2. The teleportation tiles in zone 4 are a pretty nice gimmick, the broken tiles in zone 3 made me fall so many times. I saved often in that zone so I could reload my game if I fell.


When it comes to treasure chests in games, I have a desire to explore entire floors to make sure I've found them all (which means floor 17 is gonna be a nightmare since it's permanently dark, a maze, and shifts every time I hit a crossroads). Especially the ones with "legendary" equipment. Could you maybe post a list of all the available treasures on each floor? And maybe any rare monster equipment drops? I've gotten Spiritwear from Sorrows, Ogre Logs from Ogres, Turtle Shells from Turtles, I'm wondering if there's any other useful loot I can get from monsters. Maybe include a bestiary with drops and weakness/resistance/immunity next time? And also some function that shows you how many chests are left to open on a floor.


In terms of boss difficulty, I have to say the 1st one wasn't too hard. ExCleared it and killed it before it used Garden of Razors on the 5th turn. The 2nd one was more troublesome 'cause it has passive Regeneration. I kept trying to debuff/dispel both that and its Rage buff (what does that do anyway?). I played around a little and reset Sordis and gave him Poison Gas + Acid Spit + Pestilence to see if the boss had a weakness to poison and it did! Or maybe that was Sickness' doing? I think that's what Sickness does; gives you a weakness to ailment (poison/Pestilence) damage and maybe doubles the duration of status effects? I dunno. You should probably include in-game descriptions of what each status does.


Personally, I feel that poison and Pestilence cost more MP to use but deal the same damage as elemental attacks which are cheaper. Also, how much damage does Abyss Cage gain for each status? It sounds awesome in theory but in practice you'll only ever use it against a boss and even then you'd need lots of MP, and Sordis would need another character to inflict stuff he doesn't have (like Panic). It would take a lot of setting up but is the payout worth it for one attack? It'd certainly help if Sordis/Crawler class had more status-inflicting passives or weapons with higher status-inflicting % rates.

On the topic of the unique character passives (not the subclass ones), I have to say most of them are either too situational or just not worth the investment. Felicie's Fighting Spirit healing her if she takes a critical, Pastelle healing MP if struck by ice damage, Randell healing the entire party if he kills an enemy. Though on flipside, Natalie regenerates MP if she kills an enemy (and unlike Randell, she's very likely to with her powerful spells and the passive basically pays for itself) and Gerhard makes for an impressive tank with passive Cover. Tyrund getting an attack boost on a critical is okay, though it would have been better as some other buff since it overlaps with party attack buff. Sordis drains HP from status-ed enemies yes but a cleric will make sure you're in good health anyway.


One thing I noticed is no sub-class has a skill that lets you equip Light-weight armor. Which made me sad because I couldn't put Cat Ears on Tyrund. I also didn't like how there were no magic atk-boosting weapons in the store besides the Strike-type which, of all the mage-leaning characters, only Pastelle can wield. And sub-classing a mage as a Berserker, which boosts your strength, would be silly just to be able to wield a magic atk-boosting Strike weapon.


I definitely like the Azure Blade since it gives me access to the High Flow spell while equipped even if my character hasn't learned it. Hopefully I'll find another skill/spell weapon in a chest in zone 4 somewhere. Though armor without any special effects has higher defenses, I prefer the ones that do have effects over taking less damage. Likewise, a plain weapon with no frills isn't very appealing. I like the Duodent weapon, though only for its double-hit effect. Maybe I'll find a legendary weapon with that effect. The status weapons have low-inflict rates though I understand for stun at least since it's a powerful effect. Something I found strange though is how there are a lot more spells/gun/sword skills than hammer/spear techs.


Does Provoke+/Aggravate+ get initiative? It'd be nice if your tank could aggro the faster monsters before they wail on your teammates. Randell's Bloodline Magia seems kind of pointless. He sets his HP to 1 just to give everyone +7 MP.

Is there any difference between Power Burst and Power Burst +1? PB cuts your health to 50% and gives you 100% Power Boost while PB+1 cuts it down further to 25%. So, PB+1 should give a bigger Boost or something, right? I mean, Focus Magia is the same thing except it doubles magic damage instead. FM's drawback is your spells cost +125% more for the turn and FM+1, the upgraded version, drops that cost to +80% to make it efficient. So it makes sense for PB+1 to be better than PB. Or maybe it wasn't coded correctly and is supposed to reduce your health to 75% rather than take 75% of your health? 'Cause otherwise, unless PB+1 gives more than 100% Power Boost, you're spending AP and more health for a downgrade.


I don't like how boss drops are single-use items. It's perfectly understandable for the full HP/MP healing one to be single-use at least. I suppose while it would be convenient to cancel wild encounters and have infinite torch/regeneration whenever you want, that would make the game too easy. Still, I don't like 'Too Awesome to Use' items. I guess I'm just used to bosses dropping a legendary piece of equipment like those you'd find in a gold/green treasure chest.


I love the art of the characters, though I wish there were more so I could play with an even bigger variety of classes. I'd have to say Tyrund and Sordis are my favorites; made them into Sniper and Caster respectively (though Sniper Tyrund is redundant since he doesn't get any skills he doesn't already have besides the passive that increases crit rate. Not sure if a different class gives the same stat bonuses). I like Ty's eye-patch and grin, and Sordis looks like he could be a vampire noble and also an alchemist with those potions strapped to his belts. Come to think of it, an alchemy function where you can mix herbs and other ingredients you find in the dungeon to make potions would be nice; like how Homework Salesman did it. I also thought it was neat that looking at the status screen of a character gave you a little snippet of info about them like how Randall dreams of saving a damsel in distress. That guard NPC who gives you a little background info on your party members was a nice touch too, though I didn't like that it was randomized. For me, he said Sordis and Tyrund's waaaaaaayyyyyy more than he mentioned Randell and Felicie's.


Besides the story missions that involve defeating the bosses, there weren't many side-quests in the game. There's the one where an Alchemist asks you for Rainleaf Flowers and gives you a much appreciated AP Potion and also the one where you have to find Rhyme and escort Nessiah to her. Though you get it right at the start of zone 1, you can't complete it until muuuuuucccch later. The game definitely did well in its large maps and mazes if it managed to get the creator lost all the way in the 4th zone (according to the images; haven't found her yet).

So yeah, more side-quests would be nice. That's part of what made the Etrian Odyssey series so great. Their side-quests that expand on the lore of the world and also give insight into the kind of people who live in the town/city.


Denzel, that little kid, sure is rude, disrespectful, and doesn't care how many bosses I kill. And quite arrogant too since he boasts how the dungeon and its inhabitants are weak--if it's so easy, why doesn't he clear it then? Gosh, I wish I could put that brat in his place.

All the NPCs besides Lady Tahari suffer from 'same dialogue forever syndrome'. The Alchemist guy gets a notable mention for still being surprised that I beat the 1st boss...even after I defeated the 2nd and 3rd bosses. Still, the great gameplay more than makes up for all this.


At first, I didn't notice the cemetery. I think it's neat that if any of your party members die, they'll be buried there and serve as a reminder so that you'll never forget. Though I don't think getting their replacement from level 1 to your other teammate's levels is fun which is why I reload the game whenever someone dies.

Seeing snippets of the other buildings/houses made me wish the rest of the town could be explored. Curse you insurmountable waist-high fences, cliffs, and walls!

Anyway, this game is quite fun, has a nice soundtrack, and wonderful art. I enjoyed thinking of what skills to spend my limited AP on to create the most effective build. I look forward to your future projects!
Rhyme
Tear Harvester Rhyme
7582

It always makes my day when someone comments on my game! Thank you very much!

Absolute is more or less equivalent to Almighty, yes!

Floor 17 is a bit special in that way since it's supposed to teleport you to fixed coordinates but make it look like you didn't teleport (I couldn't figure out how to not make it fade ahaha)

The second boss actually DOES have an innate weakness to ailments. That, in addition to Sickness doubling any and all ailment damage, makes ailments a really good way to down the boss. Good to know you used it! (And yes I should ahaha)
Poison does more than damage per turn - if I recall, it reduces healing and attack as well. Abyss Cage can deal a lot of damage depending on the amount of ailments the enemy is inflicted with, it can be a lot!
All of the passives can also be upgraded to +1 - Pastelle's in particular makes it so that she regens MP whenever getting hit by any MAGIC attack at +1.

On the topic of weapon and armor variety, I definitely did want to add a lot more variety!

Power Burst was scaled up due to the way Criticals work in substar - they do damage based on the actor's Critical Damage stat; meaning that Power Burst is potentially far stronger than Magia Burst.

Boss drops are infinite use, but they can only be used once per dungeon visit - you have to return to town and visit the dungeon again to use it.

Side quests and NPC dialogue are definitely a thing I really want to improve on - given more time I'd love to make a game with a much more varied sidequest and miscellaneous things to do sort of place!