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Character portraits

Not too much to report for progress, as usual. Still working on getting the battle data import set up right. It tends to get slightly derailed as I run into aspects where I wonder if the system could be improved. For example, I initially had monsters set up to hold data about their basic attacks, like what percentage of their attack stat goes into it, what damage type it deals, which attack animation is used, etc. Then it occurred to me that maybe I should simply put all that info into the weapons themselves (even if the "weapon" in some cases is just stuff like claws or the concept of dealing a blunt blow). That would reduce data storage needs and make it easier to do sweeping balance changes...but it would also mean less freedom to customize the monsters. e.ea In the end I decided to try the standardized weapons approach and deal with the consequences as they come. I sometimes spend more time trying to decide the best approach than I would by trying the wrong one and then switching over to the right one. X)

I did also do a bit of graphics work this month. The Triforce MUCK player who is graciously providing artwork that's beyond my poor skills sent me a few new character portraits a while ago, and I recently decided it was time to work on getting them into the game (mainly so that I could feature them in character spotlight blogs like the one I'm going to post right after this). Unfortunately she's been having to do her drawings on her phone, so they don't come in the correct size or color palette. X) That means I have to copy the image, paste it into the type of file that RM2K3 actually uses in iDraw, shrink it down to the correct size, and then trace the blurry result as best I can to create a coherent in-game version of the artwork. The final product isn't nearly as nice as the original, but it's a good sight better than I could've managed on my own.