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Vacant Sky Vol. 1: Contention
author=Sailerius
I had considered that. I'm still unsure, though. I guess it's finding a balance between story and gameplay.
Well, having played the old version it wasn't a problem for me, but I guess a new player would be "Hall of Heroes? What's that? Why am I here? Why does this guy sell me skills?"...
Also, maybe it would be better even for the gameplay to give the player a glimpse of the battle system before letting him customize Auria (if he didn't fight a single battle yet, how is he supposed to know which skills he wants?)
author=Sailerius
No matter how I go about it, it would require fast forwarding, and adding another brief scene beforehand would just feel more jarring, I think.
Hm, that's true too. Maybe starting the scene during the boat trip with a little talk between Auria, Seri and Zaqris, or something like that? Oh well, I'll let you figure it out.
I also forgot to say that the "skill trees" seem way better now! In the old version I often bought skills just because and never used them (well, except for first aid ones, obiviously); now it was hard to decide which one to get because I wanted them all. (Though their actual usefulness will be seen only in Act2, I guess)
Vacant Sky Vol. 1: Contention
author=SaileriusAct1+ surely does well its work: it's fast paced, flashy and full of foreshadowing.
Yeah, it's quite short. I wanted to just cover the essentials and entice the player to continue playing into Act II.
I hope ActII won't be shortened, though; I think it would be better if some new content were added to it, instead, to make up for the shorter time the player had to get to know the characters and the setting. (I had no problems because I had already played the first version, but I probably would have suffered from "names overload" otherwise)
Oh, another idea: you could restrict the player's access to the Hall of Heroes until after the flashback. He doesn't really need it for the first dungeon, and the scene of Auria's "rebirth" is less powerful if you already happened to go there to buy some skillz.
Another idea again: the transition from the prologue (where you use the Virad guys) to Auria arriving at the town is a bit too sudden. I understand you wanting to remove some of the first areas, but maybe putting a brief cutscene (scenes of Auria waking up to meet Seri&Zaqris, something like that) could help to estabilish the situation the player is in (who he is playing as, what he has to do, who are those two guys with him...)
Vacant Sky Vol. 1: Contention
author=Sailerius
That's a good idea. I'll probably do that.
If you do, remember to lock the "choose two weapons from ponds" thing (I did it during the flashback); I'd actually make the player do it during his first visit to the Hall, before the first dungeon, to avoid making new players who miss that start with an underpowered Auria.
I also finished the game... wow, that was short. °° Still, pretty much everything improved a lot from the old version. But... wasn't the fight in Ciel important to the plot?
Also, is the fight against Weapon unwinnable, or is it like the Darsinger one in ActIII, where if you redo it in a NewGame+ and win you change the story?
Research, Mofo, Do You Do It?
Well, I'd say the amount of "research" is tied to how much your setting is similar to reality.
For example, in a Medieval Europe or in a low-magic-fantasy setting the steelworks thing would be nice to represent; in a high-fantasy setting, where people can probably create forest out of thin air with magic, it would not only be useless, but even look out of place.
(And that is not to say that creating a high-fantasy world is "easier": if you want your setting to be detailed, you'll have to figure out yourself how steelworking would work in such a world)
Also, I quote LockeZ's last post.
For example, in a Medieval Europe or in a low-magic-fantasy setting the steelworks thing would be nice to represent; in a high-fantasy setting, where people can probably create forest out of thin air with magic, it would not only be useless, but even look out of place.
(And that is not to say that creating a high-fantasy world is "easier": if you want your setting to be detailed, you'll have to figure out yourself how steelworking would work in such a world)
Also, I quote LockeZ's last post.
Vacant Sky Vol. 1: Contention
Hi! I'm playing Act1+ and I'm loving it, but I have a little nitpicking.
Starting the game after Auria's "death" and narrating the first part in a flashback is a really good idea, but... why do I get items and money in the flashback, and why do I still have things I'll only get in the future?
It's nothing big, but I thing a little "sinchronizing" of the game interface and the story would add to the atmosphere (it's not like by that point in the game you'll have many items or journal entries anyway, so I guess it wouldn't be a chore to remove them and put them back after the flashback ends).
You could also put a dummy level 1 Auria in the party instead of the normal one.
Also, I'd suggest putting a tutorial about reactions before the first "dungeon": I already played the old version so I had no problems, but thew would probably be the least intuitive feature for a new player.
(Unless the number of tutorials depends on difficulty level; I selected "veteran").
Well, back to playing. I'll keep my eyes open for the "2xdamage" bug and tell you anything.
(Also, I'm finding a lot of passability errors in the interiors of East Naven... I suggest you double-check those tilesets)
Starting the game after Auria's "death" and narrating the first part in a flashback is a really good idea, but... why do I get items and money in the flashback, and why do I still have things I'll only get in the future?
It's nothing big, but I thing a little "sinchronizing" of the game interface and the story would add to the atmosphere (it's not like by that point in the game you'll have many items or journal entries anyway, so I guess it wouldn't be a chore to remove them and put them back after the flashback ends).
You could also put a dummy level 1 Auria in the party instead of the normal one.
Also, I'd suggest putting a tutorial about reactions before the first "dungeon": I already played the old version so I had no problems, but thew would probably be the least intuitive feature for a new player.
(Unless the number of tutorials depends on difficulty level; I selected "veteran").
Well, back to playing. I'll keep my eyes open for the "2xdamage" bug and tell you anything.
(Also, I'm finding a lot of passability errors in the interiors of East Naven... I suggest you double-check those tilesets)
Misaos Nomination Reminder
Boss Battle Design Contest - Knowledge is Power
I'm... sure I tried that (it's always the first thing I do when I open a RM2K3 game), but for some reason I didn't see the option. °°
My apologies.
(But I'm sure there were games where you couldn't change it.)
Anyway, it was a fun contest! I hope there will be others, so I can try partecipating too.
My apologies.
(But I'm sure there were games where you couldn't change it.)
Anyway, it was a fun contest! I hope there will be others, so I can try partecipating too.
Boss Battle Design Contest - Knowledge is Power
I already said so in my comments, but I'll say it again because it has ruined several entries for me: please don't use ATBs for these kind of contests! It's one thing in a whole game, when you get your characters and your skills one by one, and by the time you get to the really hard bosses selecting them is second nature; it's another thing entirely when you get like 30 options and you can't take the time to look at them, think, confront them or anything because the enemies are killing you. :(
Sideview: Turnbased or ATB?
What's your biggest regret?
Having wasted so much time with boring activities just because I didn't want to move my lazy ass. :(
Now that I haven't so much free time and I have many things I'd like to do, I look back at when I was in high school, and at all those afternoons spent playing a boring videogame, or re-reading something for the n-th time...
(I don't mean playing videogames is a waste of time, or I wouldn't be here: I mean that I played videogames that I recognized as boring myself, just because finding something better to do seemed a chore)
And I wish I started playing basketball sooner, so now I'd be somewhat good at it.
Now that I haven't so much free time and I have many things I'd like to do, I look back at when I was in high school, and at all those afternoons spent playing a boring videogame, or re-reading something for the n-th time...
(I don't mean playing videogames is a waste of time, or I wouldn't be here: I mean that I played videogames that I recognized as boring myself, just because finding something better to do seemed a chore)
And I wish I started playing basketball sooner, so now I'd be somewhat good at it.
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