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In this game, you control Taylor, a jovial young lady fresh out of the Bardic College. She has come to the island of Delmarva to find the fabled Harp of Harmony, an item that apparently has magical properties. The legends weren't too clear on that one. Still! Our plucky heroine is determined to find it, and hopefully have a great time in the process.
This game is a 30 minute RPG that focuses on characterization and interaction with the world at large. Depending on the player's actions, some things will change- depending on whether or not you follow certain rules of the land, you may get different dialogue, for example. Players will get the most out of the game by checking and looking over everything, and talking to everyone is highly encouraged. Playing with archetypes, breaking down the fourth wall, and subverting tropes are all staples in this short game, and players will certainly have their work cut out for them facing the toughest challenge of all: not stepping on the flowers!
This is the first game that I have ever made, made entirely in RPG Maker VX Ace, and features the default tilesets, some default NPCs, and default music. Please don't let the generic look dissuade you, however; a lot of heart was put into this game, and I eagerly await advice on how to improve.
This game is a 30 minute RPG that focuses on characterization and interaction with the world at large. Depending on the player's actions, some things will change- depending on whether or not you follow certain rules of the land, you may get different dialogue, for example. Players will get the most out of the game by checking and looking over everything, and talking to everyone is highly encouraged. Playing with archetypes, breaking down the fourth wall, and subverting tropes are all staples in this short game, and players will certainly have their work cut out for them facing the toughest challenge of all: not stepping on the flowers!
This is the first game that I have ever made, made entirely in RPG Maker VX Ace, and features the default tilesets, some default NPCs, and default music. Please don't let the generic look dissuade you, however; a lot of heart was put into this game, and I eagerly await advice on how to improve.
Latest Blog
We're done! + Gamedev Decisions
LadyTe-chan
4 post(s)- 01/31/2017 06:53 PM
- 2120 views
Hello, everybody! I'm proud to announce that The Search for the Harp of Harmony version 1.2 is done and released! At this point, I believe that the game is "done" in the sense that I am proud of it being the way it is, and now I'd like to turn my focus elsewhere to future projects and graduating college.
Changes made in this one include: Complete map revamping, bug and text fixes, small glitch fixes, etc. It's hard to believe how much my skills have improved in such a short time, and I would like to give a huge thank you to several people who helped me along the way: SgtMettool for helping me from the start and for introducing me to RPG Maker in the first place, NeverSilent for taking the time to give me so many useful tips, tricks, and bug reports, BlackWolf1992 for all of their help, my playtesters Satsy and TerraChained for taking the time to help me make it awesome, and all of you for being so kind and supportive and giving me fantastic feedback! Thank you!
It's been a long road in a short span of time, honestly. Before I started this project (and I know I mentioned this in my other blog post, so I'll be brief about it here) I never thought that I could make games. I felt that someone from a humanities background with low technical competency like myself could never transform their ideas into playable games. However, I was surprised and really happy to discover that this wasn't true. I could make games, and not only COULD I... but I did. The fact that I did is what matters.
So, people have asked me questions about why I made some of the decisions that I did for the game. Well, here are some answers:
Why is there no combat?
What's with collecting all of those healing items and then never having to use them?
These "puzzles" could use some work; why were they so simple?
I 100% agree that the puzzles could have been better. Absolutely, totally agree. If I could go back, I would have liked to implement one of those slidey tile puzzles like the ones in the evil bases on Pokémon, or even something like the teleporter puzzles (also from Pokémon) but I just decided that I wasn't going to go that far this time. Part of creating one's first game is creating a baseline, so that in future games, you can push the boundaries and come up with new and interesting ideas to go beyond the standard that you set at the beginning. However, I would have definitely liked to create something more challenging, and that's just going to have to be something I incorporate next time.
What's with all the references?
What can I say? I love hiding little easter eggs. The Mayor's office has an Undertale reference, and the Bee and the Ghost outside the CoD are both homages to friends of mine. Dan is too, but I'm sure some of you RMN.net folks already know who he is. ;)
What are your future plans?
Thank you all so much for supporting me; I have had a wonderful time making this game, and it has taught me so much. I hope that you all get a chance to play it, and please, leave me any and all feedback! Feedback makes me want to improve! ;D
See you all next time!
~LadyTe-chan
Changes made in this one include: Complete map revamping, bug and text fixes, small glitch fixes, etc. It's hard to believe how much my skills have improved in such a short time, and I would like to give a huge thank you to several people who helped me along the way: SgtMettool for helping me from the start and for introducing me to RPG Maker in the first place, NeverSilent for taking the time to give me so many useful tips, tricks, and bug reports, BlackWolf1992 for all of their help, my playtesters Satsy and TerraChained for taking the time to help me make it awesome, and all of you for being so kind and supportive and giving me fantastic feedback! Thank you!
It's been a long road in a short span of time, honestly. Before I started this project (and I know I mentioned this in my other blog post, so I'll be brief about it here) I never thought that I could make games. I felt that someone from a humanities background with low technical competency like myself could never transform their ideas into playable games. However, I was surprised and really happy to discover that this wasn't true. I could make games, and not only COULD I... but I did. The fact that I did is what matters.
So, people have asked me questions about why I made some of the decisions that I did for the game. Well, here are some answers:
Why is there no combat?
Since this was my first game, I was very intimidated by the idea of adding combat. The game was already meant to be short, and I didn't want to overdo it by adding in a combat system. I also didn't feel that with my current skills, I would be able to implement it well. However, there was one in the works at one point! Take a look:
Both Taylor and Dan would have custom classes and movesets, based off of the pre-existing defaults in the database. Marietta, the little ghost girl in front of the Cave of Delirium, and Hillary the Bee who gives you Honey were also both going to be playable characters! I think it was for the best I scrapped those ideas, though.
Both Taylor and Dan would have custom classes and movesets, based off of the pre-existing defaults in the database. Marietta, the little ghost girl in front of the Cave of Delirium, and Hillary the Bee who gives you Honey were also both going to be playable characters! I think it was for the best I scrapped those ideas, though.
What's with collecting all of those healing items and then never having to use them?
All of those healing items were remnants from the days of when combat would have been considered for the game. However, because I didn't do combat, I had to rely on other gameplay elements like puzzles and riddles. I was initially going to have damaging terrain, but again, I felt that I was getting a little ahead of myself. After I decided that there would be no combat and no real means of damaging the player, I was considering taking the items out, but one of the main RPG experiences is gathering and hoarding items, and so I decided to play with the idea of hoarding items only to never use them, just like in many other games. It wasn't intentional , but it became part of the game (and led to some great interactions, like stealing the food from the fruit bowl in the Teahouse and the people berating you for it). I agree that this idea wasn't the most well thought out, and I'm not necessarily satisfied with the end result, but that's something that will be fixed in the next game, depending on what the next game is.
These "puzzles" could use some work; why were they so simple?
I 100% agree that the puzzles could have been better. Absolutely, totally agree. If I could go back, I would have liked to implement one of those slidey tile puzzles like the ones in the evil bases on Pokémon, or even something like the teleporter puzzles (also from Pokémon) but I just decided that I wasn't going to go that far this time. Part of creating one's first game is creating a baseline, so that in future games, you can push the boundaries and come up with new and interesting ideas to go beyond the standard that you set at the beginning. However, I would have definitely liked to create something more challenging, and that's just going to have to be something I incorporate next time.
What's with all the references?
What can I say? I love hiding little easter eggs. The Mayor's office has an Undertale reference, and the Bee and the Ghost outside the CoD are both homages to friends of mine. Dan is too, but I'm sure some of you RMN.net folks already know who he is. ;)
What are your future plans?
Current plan is to graduate this May, find a job, go to graduate school in 2018 and keep working on games. While I can't share anything concrete for now, please know that I have been brainstorming ideas, and I hope that you will enjoy my next game, whenever it comes out. <3
Thank you all so much for supporting me; I have had a wonderful time making this game, and it has taught me so much. I hope that you all get a chance to play it, and please, leave me any and all feedback! Feedback makes me want to improve! ;D
See you all next time!
~LadyTe-chan
- Completed
- LadyTe-chan
- NeverSilent
- BlackWolf1992 (Special Assistance)
RPG Maker VX Ace- RPG
- 01/18/2017 06:39 PM
- 11/13/2017 05:54 AM
- 01/17/2017
- 33337
- 10
- 271
Posts 
bicfarmer
3601
View playlists
CloseSimple adventure game. No combat. It was a nice simple experience with unique quirks you dont see in standard games. Would like maybe more dialog between party members and scenes, perhaps. Went both routes, with and without him, and it didn't matter much. A nice simple game.
I had some good, laughing fun with this game.
I will note that in the Find-The-Fairy game, after you find her the second time, the ice pillar she 'conceals' herself(?) in doesn't vanish.
Other than that, the jokes and puns are great, and I laugh at almost every one of them.
At least, you don't 'catch Holy Hell' for stepping on the flowers...but 500\G for a pardon? Ouch!
At least you can get free money from the traveler at the Inn, but still...lol
I will note that in the Find-The-Fairy game, after you find her the second time, the ice pillar she 'conceals' herself(?) in doesn't vanish.
Other than that, the jokes and puns are great, and I laugh at almost every one of them.
At least, you don't 'catch Holy Hell' for stepping on the flowers...but 500\G for a pardon? Ouch!
At least you can get free money from the traveler at the Inn, but still...lol
LadyTe-chan
690
Hey folks - got a note about a bug that popped up, so I patched it and updated the download file. It's still under the same name of 1.2.1, but just so you're aware, that's there. Hope you enjoy!
(To provide some context, it was a bug that was previously reported that I thought I'd fixed regarding entering the hidden room in the Cave of Delirium, but as it turns out, it was still causing issues, so I patched it further. I'm so sorry that it wasn't effective the first time; that is my fault in terms of quality control and I apologize. Please let me know if anything else pops up!)
(To provide some context, it was a bug that was previously reported that I thought I'd fixed regarding entering the hidden room in the Cave of Delirium, but as it turns out, it was still causing issues, so I patched it further. I'm so sorry that it wasn't effective the first time; that is my fault in terms of quality control and I apologize. Please let me know if anything else pops up!)
LadyTe-chan
690
Ok, so when NeverSilent gave me the original bug list for version 1.2, I fixed all of those immediately, but never updated the game because they seemed to all be minor things. However! Now that you've alerted me to what seems to be a major issue, I've gone back, added a fix for that, and will now re-release the game as version 1.2.1. Thank you so much for letting me know of this bug, and I hope that you enjoy the game. :)
LadyTe-chan
690
How strange! I didn't realize that was there; I may have to release another update then. I apologize for the issue.
NTC3
5625
OK, am I the only one who experiences this now (version 1.2)?
The character is just stuck there and can't do anything.
It's a really charming game, but this one thing prevents me from completing it and giving it a review.
The character is just stuck there and can't do anything.
It's a really charming game, but this one thing prevents me from completing it and giving it a review.
I see. Best of luck with that, then! Though I hope in the meantime, you'll still come visit RMN now and then. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with in the future!
LadyTe-chan
690
Current plan is to take a break for a bit and focus on graduating from college and getting my Bachelor's degree, as well as applying for graduate schools. However, I have been brainstorming future projects, and I have some tentative ideas for what I'd like to work on next.
Congratulations, and good job! I'll give the new version a try as soon as I can.
Are you going to take a little break now, or do you already have plans for any possible future projects? Just curious.
Are you going to take a little break now, or do you already have plans for any possible future projects? Just curious.
LadyTe-chan
690
Hello everyone! Great news; version 1.2 of The Search for the Harp of Harmony has been released! I have made fixes and improvements to most, if not all aspects of the game and I am very proud of how it has turned out. It has been a truly wonderful experience for me to work on this, and I hope that all of you have a wonderful time playing it.
Visually marking interactive objects that way would make sense in a game where most things you see can't be interacted with. In the case of this game, however, you'd end up with sparkling lights sitting on top of pretty much everything. Informing the player that they can (and probably should) check almost all objects is probably enough.
Edit: Sorry, I realise I've been going on a tangent here. Don't mind me.
Edit: Sorry, I realise I've been going on a tangent here. Don't mind me.
BlackWolf1992
234
It really does not matter how much or how few objects the player can interact with so long as the player knows what can and cannot be interacted with. This is where the light starlight event in the flame character set (at least I think it is there) comes in handy. When players see it they know right then that the object is interactable.
LadyTe-chan
690
author=NeverSilent
It's still not entirely clear to me what those constructs are supposed to be. If they are pillars that support the walkable platform, then they are too high compared to the distance between platform and water on other spots. And if they are pillars standing on top of the walkable area, they are too high to fit under the ceiling, which is only one tile high. Also, in that case, it might be necessary to put a roof tile of sorts above/on top of them? I'm not sure.
They were meant to be the foil to the pillars on the other side. That side had a pillars/civilized motif, while this side was supposed to feel more natural. I had planned to use those pillars more as a backdrop for the vines and the like, but alas, that doesn't seem to be working. I might just go for a rock motif instead. XD
I really like that you decided to give some of the houses more irregular shapes, that's very pleasant to look at. However, the shop in the last screenshot looks less well-stocked than before. Does this mean you decided to cut out some of the interactive objects? ;_;
I must have cut out at least 20 interactions with various things over the course of the game's development. SgtMettool is correct in that I took his advice for what was too much, so I did trim it down, and when I made my second pass as redesigning interiors, I had to cut out a bunch of stuff there too. However, the things I did cut were lines that just felt too weak, or writing that was sub-par for my standards. You can be assured that despite the cut in quantity, the quality is better!
author=SgtMettool
this might be my bad "don't make every single object in the room have flavor text" influence
You're a bad person and you should feel bad. As far as I'm concerned, the more interactive objects, the better.
(I'm just joking in the first sentence. The second one, though, not so much.)
author=NeverSilent
Does this mean you decided to cut out some of the interactive objects? ;_;
Oh, uh... If that is the case, this might be my bad "don't make every single object in the room have flavor text" influence when she first started making this. But Te-Chan's flavor text is so well thought-out that I think the sky's the limit here. It is very much integral to the game!
It's great to see how much work you've put into this. Congratulations on all the progress!
I only have one more comment on the second screenshot:
It's still not entirely clear to me what those constructs are supposed to be. If they are pillars that support the walkable platform, then they are too high compared to the distance between platform and water on other spots. And if they are pillars standing on top of the walkable area, they are too high to fit under the ceiling, which is only one tile high. Also, in that case, it might be necessary to put a roof tile of sorts above/on top of them? I'm not sure.
I really like that you decided to give some of the houses more irregular shapes, that's very pleasant to look at. However, the shop in the last screenshot looks less well-stocked than before. Does this mean you decided to cut out some of the interactive objects? ;_;
I only have one more comment on the second screenshot:
It's still not entirely clear to me what those constructs are supposed to be. If they are pillars that support the walkable platform, then they are too high compared to the distance between platform and water on other spots. And if they are pillars standing on top of the walkable area, they are too high to fit under the ceiling, which is only one tile high. Also, in that case, it might be necessary to put a roof tile of sorts above/on top of them? I'm not sure.
I really like that you decided to give some of the houses more irregular shapes, that's very pleasant to look at. However, the shop in the last screenshot looks less well-stocked than before. Does this mean you decided to cut out some of the interactive objects? ;_;
LadyTe-chan
690
Alright, so! This will likely be my last update for you all before version 1.2 is formally released! I'm excited to say that I plan to release it sometime next week! All of the reported bug fixes and typos have been changed, almost every single map has been updated in some way (some changes were major, while others were minor) and overall, the game looks a lot more polished! Please let me know what you think, and I'm so excited to release version 1.2. Thank you all for your continued support~!
Pretty good, pretty good.
As BlackWolf already pointed out, the tile you chose for the beach sand in the first image doesn't work so well together with the grass, making the transition between the two tile types look very square. In addition, I again recommend placing some road tile on the edges of the map where they connect to other maps, so the player can more easily see where they can go and where they can't.
On the second image, if you look at the path tiles at the bottom of the screen, you see that they have automatically connected with the edge of the map, making it look as if the path is leading further down somewere. This is caused by the way autotiles work. I'd recommend posting this image in the screenshot topic and asking about some help with Shift-mapping, which is a technique to prevent these issues. (I can't explain it well enough myself, sorry.)
In the last image, you see that the wall that seperates the study room from the rest of the house is only one tile high, while all other walls are two tiles high. You should also probably remove the autoshadow on the tile right above the door that marks the entrance to the house.
I'd also caution against having one tile wide hallways on maps with NPCs that move around randomly. They can move into those hallways and effectively get the player stuck until they move away again, which is very annoying.
Keep up the good work!
As BlackWolf already pointed out, the tile you chose for the beach sand in the first image doesn't work so well together with the grass, making the transition between the two tile types look very square. In addition, I again recommend placing some road tile on the edges of the map where they connect to other maps, so the player can more easily see where they can go and where they can't.
On the second image, if you look at the path tiles at the bottom of the screen, you see that they have automatically connected with the edge of the map, making it look as if the path is leading further down somewere. This is caused by the way autotiles work. I'd recommend posting this image in the screenshot topic and asking about some help with Shift-mapping, which is a technique to prevent these issues. (I can't explain it well enough myself, sorry.)
In the last image, you see that the wall that seperates the study room from the rest of the house is only one tile high, while all other walls are two tiles high. You should also probably remove the autoshadow on the tile right above the door that marks the entrance to the house.
I'd also caution against having one tile wide hallways on maps with NPCs that move around randomly. They can move into those hallways and effectively get the player stuck until they move away again, which is very annoying.
Keep up the good work!
BlackWolf1992
234
Hmm.
The first picture looks like you used the wasteland tile it does not really fit. Try using the sand tile. (the one just above the snow tiles.)
With your house the outside looks long while inside it is small. Try making the outside smaller.
The inside looks a lot nicer! :D
Few things though the study room (the upper right room) you are missing ceiling tiles there. And this is just me personally but the door at the bottom looks off to me. I never put doors on the inside like that, however, it is your RPG so you do what looks good to you! :)
All in all good job! :D You are getting better. ^_^
The first picture looks like you used the wasteland tile it does not really fit. Try using the sand tile. (the one just above the snow tiles.)
With your house the outside looks long while inside it is small. Try making the outside smaller.
The inside looks a lot nicer! :D
Few things though the study room (the upper right room) you are missing ceiling tiles there. And this is just me personally but the door at the bottom looks off to me. I never put doors on the inside like that, however, it is your RPG so you do what looks good to you! :)
All in all good job! :D You are getting better. ^_^
LadyTe-chan
690
More map updates~ Last time, I showed you cliffs! Today, I have for you the forest!
I also have been trying to redo the interiors, and here is the first attempt at a redesign:
I'll be working on the rest of the interiors and whatnot later this week. Hopefully, version 1.2 should be out sometime in February! Thank you all for your support!
I also have been trying to redo the interiors, and here is the first attempt at a redesign:
I'll be working on the rest of the interiors and whatnot later this week. Hopefully, version 1.2 should be out sometime in February! Thank you all for your support!
