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Closing the Content Gap

One tester got stuck at level 15. The content available was slightly too difficult, and all the content that could gain them experience and equipment was already completed. The simple solution is to make some of that content easier. But that's boring, so let's do the exciting thing and add two new dungeons instead.

The tester was stuck on four bosses: Rotting Guard, Chronomancer, Prophet, and a plant boss that wasn't in the demo. Each of these bosses feature a strong mechanic that forces the player to approach the battle in a different way. Now that's not a bad thing, but the player never gets a chance to feel powerful and fall into a groove steamrolling enemies with an overpowered skill rotation they just discovered.

This means the new dungeons have two goals:
  • Content for around level 13 that gives enough exp to gain about 3 levels
  • Simpler enemy mechanics so the player can focus on getting a deeper understanding of the party's skills


Stalactite Cave



The gimmick here is falling stalactites, both in and out of battle. While exploring, you'll encounter dark shadows on the floor. When Kyme steps on one, a rock will fall from the cave's ceiling. You'll have a split second to jump away before the party takes 100 damage. The puzzles build off ones seen in other areas, but add an extra layer by avoiding the rocks.

Some battles will feature fragile stalactites that, when attacked, will fall on the enemy below them dealing several thousand damage. The boss battle has three stalactites and a boss that moves to a new position each turn. To be most effective, you'll have to control your targeting to avoid knocking down a stalactite that the boss isn't currently standing under.

Waterhop Caverns



The Waterhop Caverns have Frogger style moving platforms built into the dungeon. You'll have to plan and time jumps carefully to navigate across.

Battles feature a trio of enemies that are weak on their own, but double a particular stat of their allies while alive. The strategy revolves around which order to target enemies.

Posts

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Nice! I'm digging the stalactite idea in particular!
I stole the stalactite idea from one of my unreleased RM games ;p

Actually, now that I think about, I stole the moving platform idea too. And I have plans to steal pretty much every other combat/dungeon/minigame mechanic from that game. Could have saved myself the time by releasing that game instead.
author=Ramshackin
I stole the stalactite idea from one of my unreleased RM games ;p

Actually, now that I think about, I stole the moving platform idea too. And I have plans to steal pretty much every other combat/dungeon/minigame mechanic from that game. Could have saved myself the time by releasing that game instead.


Bah! At this point pretty much everything is stolen. Whatever ideas you come up with, there's a good chance someone else out there came up with it first. I just say go with what's fun. Wait a second...you can't steal from yourself! You made me go on a rant for nothing!

Also, this game seems to become more awesome every time I look away for more than 3 seconds.
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