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Gaming and game design are my hobbies. I've spent the most time with VX Ace and 2k3 (prior to Steam release), but the only thing I've ever finished anything with is 2k.
Psychology was my first degree, but being responsible for depressed kids was too stressful. So I got a Masters in Healthcare Management and now I'm responsible for depressed adults!
Psychology was my first degree, but being responsible for depressed kids was too stressful. So I got a Masters in Healthcare Management and now I'm responsible for depressed adults!
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RMN Christmas Pixel Quilt 2013
author=kentona
I have no idea what I am doing. But I fixed the blue sky in A3 and B4.
I don't know if it's just me or what, but I think the tail still has some blue issues.
Not saving giving a better reward?
I think it really depends on the mission length, and what you might lose by dying in the middle of the third consecutive save-less mission. Pulling up Fire Emblem again, many people always suggested (in the older games) not saving before a certain mission, because certain conditions had to be met prior to it in order to get the better of two possible characters, who would lead to yet another character. If you failed to achieve the conditions, you just reloaded back to before you started the mission, and grinded the hell out of your heroes to meet the necessary conditions. Of course, you could avoid that by keeping track of the requirements and your levels, but prior to everybody having internet, you didn't always know the secret requirements. This sucked because it was incredibly difficult to grind if you were too far away from the requirement, and sometimes the previous chapter could take a while to complete.
On the other hand, allowing non-stop saving puts you into Pokemon territory. Saving before every gym and elite four battle always seemed like cheating. Sure you could always NOT do it, but then what did you really get from depriving yourself of it? It made it possible to just restart until you got the critical hit or landed the hydro pump that would win you the battle. You need to be careful how often you allow the player to save, and what, if anything, they get out of not doing so.
On the other hand, allowing non-stop saving puts you into Pokemon territory. Saving before every gym and elite four battle always seemed like cheating. Sure you could always NOT do it, but then what did you really get from depriving yourself of it? It made it possible to just restart until you got the critical hit or landed the hydro pump that would win you the battle. You need to be careful how often you allow the player to save, and what, if anything, they get out of not doing so.
Is RNG good or bad?
author=RyaReisender
Well if you put it that way Fire Emblem is simply too hard. But I always felt RNG is the main cause of it. They could just remove critical hits and double attacks completely (for the enemy AND you) and I would have found it a lot more enjoyable (and easier).
The biggest RNG problem in Fire Emblem was the stat-gain issue. Occasionally referred to as the "RNG Curse", there was a chance that your character would gain ZERO stats when leveling up, or only gaining stats that didn't help you, or ending up with 40 HP and 7 Defense. It was solved in Awakening with the ability to re-class as often as you want, and the option to play without perma-death.
Anyways, here's my opinion:
Good RNG:
- Random gold or loot from chests. (Not as in Rusty Sword/Excalibur random, but Steel Axe/Silver Sword random.)
- Skills or equipment that gives you a random chance to survive a fatal blow, reflect attacks, counter, etc.
- Random encounters.
- Random non-fatal events, unless you know going into said event that death is a possibility.
- Random chance of a skill inflicting a status effect.
- Weather!
Bad RNG
- Poor balance of critical-hit ratio.
- Chance to lose the game, unless game is based on luck. (Blackjack, slots, etc.)
- Possibility of never encountering a necessary or important event or character. If you have to keep going to a tavern everyday hoping to meet the one NPC you need to meet, but their attendance at the tavern is random, you might never finish the game.
- Extremely low chance of encountering an important monster. As in Star Ocean IV achievement requirement low.
- Chance of missing out on a legendary weapon. See: Final Fantasy XII
Learning to Use Damage Formulas in VX Ace
I always completely wipe out the preset skills whenever I start a new project, since I feel the ones that are there weren't done as well as they could have been. I like to have defense-ignoring skills, skills that gain power if you have high speed, skills that utilize both attack and magic, etc. The formulas are a little hard to understand at first, but just holding the cursor over the box displays how to use them. It's a lot better than XP when it comes to balancing, since each individual skill can have its own formula.
When it comes to magic, a lot of the skills seem more poorly scaled than physical ones because by default, there are multiple levels of each elemental magic. Physical skills don't usually get additional tiers, so they need to be usable for the entire game. Fire only has to be usable until you get Fire 2, so to avoid having a super great spell that will last you through the entire game, it's scaled to be less useful when you get to the point where Fire 2 is your main spell.
Of course, that's just if you keep the default spells and progression in the game. The hard part is figuring out a formula that won't overkill bosses while still being useful. You don't want a magic user to be able to kill a boss in just two or three spells, but you also want them to be better than just spamming the Attack option every turn.
When it comes to magic, a lot of the skills seem more poorly scaled than physical ones because by default, there are multiple levels of each elemental magic. Physical skills don't usually get additional tiers, so they need to be usable for the entire game. Fire only has to be usable until you get Fire 2, so to avoid having a super great spell that will last you through the entire game, it's scaled to be less useful when you get to the point where Fire 2 is your main spell.
Of course, that's just if you keep the default spells and progression in the game. The hard part is figuring out a formula that won't overkill bosses while still being useful. You don't want a magic user to be able to kill a boss in just two or three spells, but you also want them to be better than just spamming the Attack option every turn.
Thoughts on Fast Travel.
After your demo is released and if feedback indicates that it's too easy to gain money, you might want to think about reducing the amount you get from jobs and switching to valuable item drops from enemies. I remember in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, I would make all my money off of Ebony equipment drops as opposed to quests. I'd walk out into the woods, some bandits spawn, and if I survive, I make several thousand gold. It isn't the easiest thing in the world, but compared to the reward, it's still pretty easy, plus I get some powerful equipment if I want to keep it. It's a little tougher, since you have to be strong enough to overcome those enemies, but it makes the game a little more challenging than just being able to grind for money. It was also somewhat restricted by carrying weight, so it wasn't the most game-breaking thing.
Modern Resource Help.
author=Liberty
There is a modern tileset you can purchase in the shop. It's decently priced, comes with what you're looking for and is made for Ace.
That one is pretty good, but it's a little empty in my opinion. There's also a sci-fi set available for purchase that's a little more filled out, and it isn't really so much sci-fi as it is high-tech. It includes some cars and objects as well.
There is also a RPG Maker DS+ pack that has modern and sci-fi tiles, as well as characters, faces, objects, and bust shots, but they aren't in the RTP style.
As for the music, there is a modern music pack available for purchase from RPG Maker Web. I don't know if it's in the shop here yet or not.
Also, in the VX Ace character generator, there are a few modern school uniforms, suits, clothes, and what appears to be a hooded sweatshirt for some of the outfits. Almost as if they foresaw the need when they made the generator.
Cracked windows and any minor aesthetic changes like that are as simple as opening up the tileset in GIMP, and drawing some cracks or changing some shading around. Just make sure not to overwrite the original tileset. Weather effects and screen tints can make a gloomy atmosphere as well, and are both simple things that you can do through events without any scripting.
How Far Along In Production to Make a Game Page?
I don't think you should put off making a general gamepage as long as you have some maps or special graphics or features to showcase. Especially for a contest, getting one up early on is important to build hype (coming from the guy who had to cancel his Halloween game within the first two weeks). As for uploading a demo or beta, I'd hold off until you have a decent sized area for the player to wander around in, or have some features up and running.
Pokemon RMN Version Gym Leader & E4 Discussion/Poll
If the gyms end up being based around single or dual type, it might be a good idea to give the leader a Pokemon or two that is the opposite of that type, yet knows a move of that type. It will counter any strategy that is based purely around countering the leader's type, and could throw the player off, even resulting in their defeat if they go into an Ice-type gym with some strong fighting Pokemon only to encounter a ghost type with Ice Beam. Same goes for walking into a Steel-type gym only to encounter a Fairy or Psychic type with Flash Cannon.
Feelings About Dungeon Crawlers?
author=RyaReisender
- they offer a high variety of puzzles where the solution is completely different from the previous puzzles
- they keep introducing new mechanics that surprise the player (new field types, traps, ...)
Could you give some examples of puzzles or traps? That's probably my weakest point when it comes to dungeon design. I know the usual spikes, pitfalls/boost ups, and rock pushing puzzles, but I haven't really thought of a unique one yet.
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