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The Future for A Traitor's Hold

  • Cernus
  • 05/31/2015 12:26 AM
  • 2929 views
I really enjoyed the Golden Week of 2k3 event. It was a lot of fun to interact with different members of this site in a creative way and I felt I learned a lot. Thanks to everyone who gave their time to play A Traitor's Hold and for their useful feedback. I also enjoyed playing all your games!

I always considered my submission as a "first draft" and it is my intention to release a post-event version where I can address all the problems that the event version has as well as implement all the ideas that I never had time for. However, when I signed up for this event I was midway through the 2nd chapter of The Difficult Second Quest and I really want to get that finished so for now I am going to leave A Traitor's Hold as it is and pick it up once I've finished Chapter 2 of DSQ. I think leaving it for a while will allow me to approach the project with "fresh eyes". At least I hope.

For the time being I just thought I'd make a brief summary of the issues that I will be focusing on when I pick this project up again. I'll probably stay with RTP for the remake but will bend a few of the rules that the contest had :P.

  • Balancing- This was definitely the weakest part of the project in my opinion. The abilities learned from Class Orbs need reworking as well as the encounters, which was something I rushed the most with. The first dungeon is quite a mess and the scene outside the cave is very unclear in giving player direction. I'll probably redo the entire first area.

  • Story- The dialogue is all first draft and some of it is a bit baggy and poorly worded. I wasn't that happy with how Henriet turned out as a character so I intend to go back to the drawing board and completely rethink her personality.

  • Revise Orb System- I think I never fully realised the potential of this system. I've got a few ideas of how I can improve it to allow the player to add further customisation to the party but I don't want to ruin it by over-complicating it.

  • Mapping- My mapping abilities have never been better than average but I really wasn't happy with how some of the towns turned out or with Kois Swamp so I will probably rework those.

  • Loot- There isn't much motivation to explore the dungeons at present as the loot is so mundane. Something I may do is have "Trading Posts" in the game, which is something I have in The Difficult Second Quest.

  • Extra Side Quests- I had quite a few ideas that I had to cut out and I would really like to add these to the game. There are a few locations and quests that I would want to add.

  • Progression- At present the Class Orb system gives a few "perks" and the world is completely open right after the first dungeon so there isn't really a feeling or progression in the game. This is something I want to address.


I imagine things will slow down somewhat now that the contest is over. Thanks again to everyone who played.

Posts

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iddalai
RPG Maker 2k/2k3 for life, baby!!
1194
That's a lot of stuff to work on :P

I actually liked the first dungeon's design but the treasure wasn't worth it and the game really only picked up for me after the first town.

I agree that Henriet was the least developed character.

Since you're thinking on expanding the game, one thing I forgot to mention is that it'd be fun to see what the real Tybalt and Henriet were like outside the story and what happened to them in Northill.

Good luck! :)
Thank you!

Showing the origins of the characters was something I was considering. However, it's difficult to think about where that could fit within A Traitor's Hold.

All of the character's appear in The Difficult Second Quest where the player can see what they are really like (and thirty years on). I'm actually writing a scene with Henriet at the moment and I'm quite pleased with what I've got planned for her story arc.
iddalai
RPG Maker 2k/2k3 for life, baby!!
1194
If the real characters appear in the The Difficult Second Quest then there's no need for them to appear in A Traitor's Hold.

I still haven't tried The Difficult Second Quest, I'm trying to play all the contest games first :)
Yeah. That was very much what I was thinking too.

I'm still working my way through the contest games also. I'm currently getting my arse handed to me by the boss of the second dungeon in Sellsword :P.
so far i like what you've done with A Traitor's Hold, the whole Class Orb system is very interesting overall and i am enjoying the combat, if DSQ will be anything like this, i will be looking forward to it's completion.
Thanks very much! I'm still working on The Difficult Second Quest, although I admit I have been procrastinating recently. The Class Orb system is essentially a simplified version of DSQ's Support Class system so they are quite similar.
iddalai
RPG Maker 2k/2k3 for life, baby!!
1194
I still need to play "The Difficult Second Quest", haven't got the time lately, I'll get to it :P
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