HOUSEKEEPING'S PROFILE

I went ahead and updated the demo. It's in .zip format now (thanks again for the warning, char), and it should be much more robust now. I've also included a new script that appears to have fixed the lag to some degree. However, it's unlikely that your save file will work in this new version, so there's no need to redownload if you've already played it. There's no new content, either--just a bunch of bug fixes.

Also, if you were experiencing lag issues and are willing to test it, let me know and I can send you a save file that will start you at the end of the demo on the world map so that you don't have to go through the opening again.

The green exclamation point issue is fixed in my current build; I'll update the demo to fix that later this week. I want to monitor this thread a bit longer and make sure there aren't any other bugs reported.

-The XP curve is Ace's default curve. It does get kind of high, but the XP for later stages will adjust accordingly; the "acceptable" level range for Slither's cave is 6, and that's the same for the next story level, so I have a feeling you're a bit above that. The imagination xp is some convoluted formula I came up with that tends to be about half of a normal level.

-There is indeed a treasure finder.

-Yep, you can only hold ten of a consumable item. Resource management is something I wanted to be highlighted.

-If you go back to Smile, you'll notice that those prices have also inflated. It's more than just the Ants on a Log; every consumable item has gone up in price (though equipment and furniture is the same). Since consumable items are consistently useful (by being percentage-based instead of fixed), I couldn't leave them that cheap forever.

-For the boss, watching will either lead to a counter or a quake. Counter just lasts a single turn, so I don't think that's being canceled?

-I don't know why you sometimes can't transform at the beginning of battle! I'll look into that.

-Mental Clarity works the same as vitamins; there are only three curable status effects: sick, immunodeficiency, and sleep. I have a fourth one that shows up on the item, but that's something I overlooked.

Edit: Thanks, Sarge! I'm glad you liked it! I hope I can iron out the lag issue this week; I'm sure that was headache-inducing. Also, regarding Buck: the game is mostly the player interacting with the world like in the demo, but I think one of the failures of the demo in expressing the entirety of the game is that Buck and the rest of the family will have more scenes and become central to the plot pretty soon after the events of the demo. They don't constantly interact in the way that, say, would occur in a Tales game, but they do contribute in an essential way. The other failure of the demo is that the imagination system at this point in the game is pretty boring since you just start to unlock the level five skills around the end of the demo, but there's not much I can do about both of those issues.

Yeah; you can also use an emergency exit if you have one.

Yep, Dodgy allows the enemy to avoid everything. He's supposed to be a luck/skill fight. Rad Ghost is my "metal slime," so you shouldn't be guaranteed a victory on him every time, but you can stack the odds in your favor more. Here's the "solution" to the fight:



And, yeah, the nightmarish dungeons are one of the things I'm most excited about. I've got some really cool ones planned!

Edit: @Malandy: Unlike actives, passives need to actually be learned before they can be used (regardless of form). They tend to be very good.

@argh: Hey, for writing everything in the editor (and thus having no spell check), I think two errors (so far...) is pretty good! I'm anal about those kinds of formatting things, too, so I appreciate those kinds of catches.

As Malandy suggested, there's a pretty big database of items, so I wanted to keep it organized. This is especially true because of the clubhouse stuff and music--that's, like, 200+ things right there. So, I wanted to prioritize the items you'll actually use.

As for Buck's ability: trust me, it's good. He'll get equipment to support it later. And, it does work with inner rage.

@Tuckie: I understand that impulse of covering the world with searchable stuff; I think the writer in me likes that kind of thing because it lets me write lots of material. But, the writer in me also thinks it would be self-indulgent if I shoe-horned that kind of thing in. I like to keep everything as "show don't tell" as possible. For the closet, for example, I think that the image builds more intrigue than if I were to have Jimmy and Buck ruminate over what may be inside. I mean, if you're designing the game from the ground up that way, then you can make that kind of searching mean something, so I don't want to say that's bad by definition, but I think leaving that out works for this game--at least I hope it does.