DJC'S PROFILE

author=Sana
Hey DJC, where can I get those battler graphics, like the one used for Laverna? I Checked Everlong's website, but the links for the GGZ ones are dead. :o

(Also, I love this game; it's neither too difficult, nor too easy. I've died on several occasions, but I always had fun whenever I play it. Plus, it's "long" enough to keep me entertained for hours on end~ :3)

It's not surprising Gaming Ground Zero is no longer hosting all those old sprites, but I don't know where else you could find the originals. I acquired them years ago like most of the other resources used in Everlong. You can always use the music and graphics files from my game in other projects, but I'm not sure what the best source for RM2K3 resources is now. Maybe Charas Project, but that website hasn't necessarily preserved these kind of original works.

Glad to hear you enjoy the game, I'm always looking for little ways to improve it since I don't have much time anymore.

author=ZarethKnyght
Crappy font type. I don't like playing an RPG that I have to struggle to read the story for.

This is a common problem with RM2K3 games, you'll want to install the font patch.

It's available on rpgmaker.net here.

Thanks for writing the review! Since you were so thoughtful and thorough, I thought I'd try to respond to your main points. I agree with pretty much all of your criticism, and would like to give an explanation behind many of the shortcomings.

Story: Everlong definitely has an unoriginal plot, since that wasn't the creative focus and was haphazardly rewritten over time to improve the story slightly. When you don't plan, things become generic and you rely on cliches. I've made some changes over the years and had more in mind, but the plot will never be the game's driving point. As for predictable characters, I had much more on the drawing table in terms of development for each hero. Almost all of that was cut, however, so their individual story-lines are very weak and unsophisticated. I wanted to make them more personally engrossing to compensate for the lack of surprises.

Aesthetics: Many of the sprites and facesets don't match styles as you say, and the monsters are often towering over the hero battlers. Every designer would like consistentcy, but I went for variety which necessiatated mixing and matching. The animations for Keen's skills are different since his abilities are supposed to be illusion magic, but I agree some of them are a little too out there and are more the result of using what was available resource wise. I did limit all the animations to 99 frames or less, however, so they should all execute in a couple seconds. I am aware that for some players their hardware processes the animations at reduced speeds, which would be a pain.

Gameplay: The bosses in the beginning of the game are designed to be simplistic to try and introduce players to basic concepts like elemental weaknesses. If you're a experienced RPG player, however, it won't be challenging or stimulating until later. I've adjusted the early bosses several times because players either find them too easy or too difficult. Status ailments are too devastating to allow against bosses, though I'd like to work around that and just give them reduced durations or effectiveness. I'm still undecided on the counterattack triggers. I don't want to punish players for using smart tactics and exploiting weaknesses, but it's too easy to defeat powerful enemies otherwise. I need more control over the damage algorithms to address this.

Issues concerning the speed and defense attributes, as well as regular attacks versus skill usage fall under the same category. I totally agree that physical attacks are overpowered. I tried to address this with enemy skills that strip the enchanment Might, lower attack power, or increase physical resistance, but it's a fundamental alogrithm problem. RM2K3 uses an attrocious method to calculate battle speed too, and I absolutely understand every player's frustration with the speed attribute and pace of battles. This is the number one thing I'd like to substitute a different algorithm for. Another engine limitation prevents the Magic attribute from having much effect on skills given the damage range. Likewise, Defense is rather unimportant except versus certain enemy skills with custom formulas like Overpower, or the enemies at the end of the game that have high enough attack values to actually influence the default algorithm significantly.

I wanted to introduce more skills for each hero, both for active use and passive benefits, along with chained combos, but this was unrealistic given engine limitations. A "Scan" skill was also beyond reasonable implementation, despite the need to determine which status ailments effect monsters. Each foe has a number of specific conditions that always work along with immunities. These usually follow a pattern depending on the enemy type (reptile, mammal, aquatic), but only the recruitable tactics NPC reveals these. I planned to include an information section in the custom menu like the Codex from Dragon Age or Mass Effect, but that feature was scratched.

I'm glad you did not experience any sense of grind playing Everlong. That was one of my major goals, since I don't think that's a fun way to spend your time as a player, and constitutes a poor design technique to infalte game length. I've actually had criticism about the lack of sidequests, particularly early in the game, and would like to have included more to make NPCs and locations more interesting and engaging.

In short, all your points are legitimate and something prospective players should keep in mind. Unfortunately many of these problems arise from engine limitations beyond my control. In other cases, they are the result of poor planning or cut material, neither of which I can remedy at this time. If you do manage to complete Everlong, I would be interested in hearing your toughts on the later battle and equipment dynamics, since they're vastly different. Thanks again for the feedback.

World map graphics definitely need higher resolution than RM2K3 supports since you're scaling things down.

Where you referring specifically to the mini-map graphic?

That is indeed an edited FF8 Seifer charset graphic. Good eye!

author=chana
one of the things I liked best was choosing your party, and you had some serious battlers in the lot. What I thought was a pity was the definite loss of the blackguard, which was the most interesting character, imo.

I originally planned for the player to be able to get both the Blackguard and Cirus The Paladin back in the party, but this was cut from the last major revision. They both have the full array of battle animations and Brad has a skills shard page already, but I'd have to alter many other game systems and design new quests, which there wasn't time for.