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I'm a Canadian PhD student.. My favorite series are Metal Gear and Ace Attorney. Although I haven't played too many RPGs (aside from Final Fantasy and SNES stuff), there are a lot of "classics" I haven't played yet like Suikoden II and Parasite Eve. They're on my backlog!
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[Poll] Character Progression Mechanics
I'm surprised the sphere grid from FFX hasn't been mentioned, it's a really innovative system. Your character has a piece on a grid of upgrades, and as you fight monsters you get "sphere levels" that you can use to move along the grid; each node on the grid represents an upgrade like HP+2, STR+5, a magic spell or technique, etc. You can look around the entire grid right from the get-go, which lets you see how you'll be improving beforehand. So you have goals to work towards while grinding. It makes grinding much more rewarding. I always found myself saying "I'll grind till I move up to that HP+2 sphere, then I'm good."
A similar progression system was done in ... drum roll ... Kingdom Hearts re:Coded on the DS. Believe it or not, re:Coded has one of the greatest progression systems I've seen. It's a chip matrix, and you can get chips like HP+1, DEF+1, etc. from stores or fighting enemies. Here's a video. You place chips to build a path between CPUs, and when you connect two CPUs, all the chips in between them get their effect doubled or tripled. There are also other miletones called "abilities", you can place chips to build a path towards an ability like dodge roll or high jump. Lastly there are "cheats" you can build towards, e.g. you can temporarily sacrifice your max HP for a higher EXP payout. Unlike the sphere grid, you can see abilities and cheats in the chip matrix as big buttons, but you can't see what specific ability you'll get until you activate it --- so there's the added element of surprise to it. I actually like the chip matrix more than the sphere grid, even if there are a few ways to improve it.
But I've always been a fan of progression systems which are not points-based, like Metroid or Zelda --- OK, not RPGs and also not necessarily "character progression systems". But I think JRPGs could learn from this: usually if there's an enemy you can't beat, you grind until your number is higher than their number so you can hit them harder before they hit you. In Metroid, there are shielded enemies you can't defeat unless you have the missiles. Or in Zelda, there are shielded monsters you can defeat by striking them from behind, but when you get the hookshot you can just use it to steal the shield and attack from the front. I think that's far more effective, far more rewarding to the player. You actually feel like YOU'RE progressing instead of just seeing a number go up.
This should be exploited in JRPGs. Often in JRPGs you find a new area to explore, but the monsters are too powerful, which is the game's way of indicating you shouldn't be there now BUT you can come back later when you're a higher level. (Good example: Xenoblade Chronicles.) Instead, what if it's filled with ice enemies that don't take damage from anything but the fire spell? Then once you get the fire spell you're like "hell yeah, now I can go back to that last zone I couldn't explore". Same feeling as in Metroid or Zelda: "hell yeah I got the missiles" or "hell yeah I got the hookshot", etc. This combined with a more traditional XP-based progression would be awesome.
A similar progression system was done in ... drum roll ... Kingdom Hearts re:Coded on the DS. Believe it or not, re:Coded has one of the greatest progression systems I've seen. It's a chip matrix, and you can get chips like HP+1, DEF+1, etc. from stores or fighting enemies. Here's a video. You place chips to build a path between CPUs, and when you connect two CPUs, all the chips in between them get their effect doubled or tripled. There are also other miletones called "abilities", you can place chips to build a path towards an ability like dodge roll or high jump. Lastly there are "cheats" you can build towards, e.g. you can temporarily sacrifice your max HP for a higher EXP payout. Unlike the sphere grid, you can see abilities and cheats in the chip matrix as big buttons, but you can't see what specific ability you'll get until you activate it --- so there's the added element of surprise to it. I actually like the chip matrix more than the sphere grid, even if there are a few ways to improve it.
But I've always been a fan of progression systems which are not points-based, like Metroid or Zelda --- OK, not RPGs and also not necessarily "character progression systems". But I think JRPGs could learn from this: usually if there's an enemy you can't beat, you grind until your number is higher than their number so you can hit them harder before they hit you. In Metroid, there are shielded enemies you can't defeat unless you have the missiles. Or in Zelda, there are shielded monsters you can defeat by striking them from behind, but when you get the hookshot you can just use it to steal the shield and attack from the front. I think that's far more effective, far more rewarding to the player. You actually feel like YOU'RE progressing instead of just seeing a number go up.
This should be exploited in JRPGs. Often in JRPGs you find a new area to explore, but the monsters are too powerful, which is the game's way of indicating you shouldn't be there now BUT you can come back later when you're a higher level. (Good example: Xenoblade Chronicles.) Instead, what if it's filled with ice enemies that don't take damage from anything but the fire spell? Then once you get the fire spell you're like "hell yeah, now I can go back to that last zone I couldn't explore". Same feeling as in Metroid or Zelda: "hell yeah I got the missiles" or "hell yeah I got the hookshot", etc. This combined with a more traditional XP-based progression would be awesome.
Should a game tell you about upcoming 'turning points'?
author=Pizza
when characters involved in the plot make warnings about "we won't be able to turn back after this" I believe them, as it's a conduit for the designer to reach out to the player and warn them.
I guess it's a similar principal to the designers warning the player about boss battles via save points and art design/imposing doors/corridors/keys etc. There are ways to give your player more subtle hints that you recommend something, and to me they're preferable to system messages and the like.
I remember in the first Kingdom Hearts, right before the "point of no return" there's a door that looks very similar the doors at the beginning of the game in Sora's dream, or the one he found in the "secret place". Just seeing that door again is menacing on its own, so you KNOW shit's about to go down. Of course there's a save point in the same room, and when you approach the door Sora asks himself "well, am I ready?" and you're given the option to proceed. But I thought the door itself was enough to tell me that I really should save the game and prepare myself. If they made the door a recurring theme before every major fight in the game --- that way you don't need character dialogue to prompt you, the environment itself indicates that you should be prepared.
Another example is Mega Man --- before the boss, there's always the Wily gateway and a little hallway before the boss fight. There's nothing even in the hallway. But I remember every time I got to that hallway I was like "oh fuck, here comes the boss, better check my weapons or use an E-tank". Well, there's nothing really to check and there's no save points in Mega Man, but you get the idea: I readied myself (mentally) and just being in the hallway ramped up the tension. Imagine if there was no hallway, you just open the door and SURPRISE there's the boss! I think it's a great design decision to have that "boss hallway" before the boss fight, the idea could be adapted to work in a JRPG too.
And of course, Zelda. In every dungeon there's the boss key and boss door, so you always know to fill up your arrow quiver and hearts before you go through the boss door. It functions very similarly to Mega Man. Wouldn't it be awkward if, right before the boss, Navi prompts you and says "hey, there could be danger ahead ... Shouldn't you prepare yourself?" Well the whole dungeon has been dangerous, why haven't you said anything till now? It's immersion-breaking.
I like the door idea more than the idea of having a character say "Hey, we might not be able to turn back". The only problem I can see is that you lose the element of surprise --- every time there's a climax or a boss, you know there's a climax or a boss. On the other hand, you also gain it, because if you really want to surprise the player you could put a boss without a boss hallway ...
[RMXP] First time spriting.
author=Mirak
Black outlines are bad, please do not use pure black outlines in games (#000000 is the devil).
Also selective outlining works better than a simple dark cover around the sprite. With good selective outlining the sprite will stand out in any background without the need to cover the entirety of the sprite.
A dark outline on sprites work wonderfully to give sprites a cartoonish look (something that fits your toaster game to a T), but i think an rpg benefits the most with selective outlining. Just my two cents though.
Btw i like your version of the sprite, though you completely bonked the hairstyle in favor of a more puffy one. Fits though.
Interesting take on it, one series with great graphics is Mother which uses outlines. But you're right that they're going for a cartoon-y look.
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