AVEE'S PROFILE

Thanks for sharing. I'm always happy to see when devs find creative ways like this to reach their objectives.

There are a few things I'm curious about:

-Will the parallax map be deleted once you exit the current floor or will they accumulate in the game's folders?

-What would you say are the advantages and disadvantages of such dungeons?

-And will you still rely on a few man-made maps such as entrance rooms and boss rooms, or other areas where important cutscenes might happen?

I just stumbled upon the news that we've lost this great man, one of the most influential Japanese artist ever. Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st 2024.

Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump were the first mangas I ever read.
He was also the main artist behind the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger.
His works have reached peak levels of success worldwide. His artwork is instantly recognizable. And his style of storytelling has influenced other artists for decades.

RIP to another one of the greatest (Kentaro Miura too, a few years ago). I will continue to love his work and draw inspiration from it.

What are your memories of and/or favorite works from Toriyama?

Would it work if you created two Elements? Humans being impervious to the "Repair Kit" element and Gundams being impervious to the "First Aid Kit" element.

But. When being chased, people tend to run... the player is actively avoiding those very encounters

In life, yes, that's a common reaction. In games, I don't think that's the case because the consequences of confrontation and escape are not the same as in reality.
But let's assume it is the case for the sake of this discussion.

In action-based or strategy-based games, tactical retreats are common: You move to a more advantageous location to take on the pursuer or to fight a group of enemies one at a time.
Taking on several enemies that attack from different directions at once can be suicide in many games, but it can be an effective strategy in a party-based game with a heavy tank character while the others remain at a safe distance and use ranged attacks.

It's certainly possible to add action or strategy elements to a turn-based RPG. Most touch encounter games I've played include that tried and true feature of running into the enemy's back or striking at them on the exploration map to gain some advantage in battle. Dragon Quest 11, the Persona and Trails series come to mind, and Valkyrie Profile with its side-scroller action-like exploration.

Some of the Wild Arms games don't feature touch encounters but warn you when a battle is about to start and allow you to avoid the encounter by spending special points. You may refill those points by fighting or by finding gems scattered in dungeons. Psychologically speaking, it's the same as running away from an incoming visible threat.
One could implement a similar idea in a touch encounter system and reverse it: spending points right before the enemy touches you would give you an advantage in battle.

How about giving the player a much greater reward when they do go looking for trouble and take on particularly dangerous encounters? "Rewards" don't have to be limited to the battle system's features like more experience or higher drop rates. A reward could be new story development, a new character to recruit, unlocking a new skill or area, etc.

Many games also simply force players into tutorial fights at the beginning where we learn that we may be strong enough to win despite appearances and will obtain important rewards by doing so... And that fighting is, well, fun!

The new textures on the house and its bigger, realistic size compared to the characters are a big improvement!

You went in the right direction by splitting the trees into different "stories". I think they could be improved further by making the edges of those stories more round and a little jagged, in a way similar to any of those examples:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5e/4a/a3/5e4aa386936187c70ffbcac04dab83df.png

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2B9DRA0/pixel-art-trees-isolated-vector-set-2B9DRA0.jpg

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/472679214/vector/pixel-christmas-trees.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=Hw1SISrkxbzi_E_LUx8HWH646e4RMzC3fwLVuV7uscA=

https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/zxdpgl/what_color_scheme_looks_best_for_this_fir_tree_my/