SAUCE'S PROFILE

I didn't know this was going on. Which is pretty strange, since I visit the rmn often.

I would have been interested in making a puzzle, and then I probably would have changed my mind when I saw this is on Ace.

But I honestly didn't notice.

@LockeZ - Yeah, that's an idea, but I feel like that's a lot of work to turn out something I'll probably not be satisfied with anyway.

@Lotus_Games - I'm using the DBS, unfortunately. The CBS encounters in my game don't have this problem, because the characters are not included in the attack animations like they are in the DBS fights.

As for your suggestion, I know that's the ultimate possibility. Retinting each animation wouldn't be too bad. Making sure those animations are correctly assigned for nighttime/dusk/fire/etc situation and making duplicate equipment and skills for each to be quietly replaced before the start of battle is the nightmare. It's possible, but I'd probably be better off making a total CBS.

@NewBlack - That's a pretty genius idea, NB, but I'm not sure if the mechanics work like that exactly.

As I recall, battle animations appear as a higher priority over pictures, which would mean the overlay wouldn't affect the animation. I know I've had a picture explode onscreen using animations, but I don't know if that patch works differently.

Okay, so in 2k3, I do the thing where your battler disappears and the character is included in the battle animation of the weapon for all of my characters.

And the flexibility is great.

I have one problem. Battle animations aren't affected by the in game screen tint. So whenever it's nighttime or anything, I get this:

Standing


Attacking




They're normal tinted despite the nighttime fire lighting. The same happens for any battle pose that I use an animation for, such as victory poses.

What can I do about it?

author=LouisCyphre
Nothing about how to establish a session length? Nothing about how to play around with session length effectively, and how doing so can establish or ease tension in the player?

You're just not getting an answer you want, but they ARE answering. The current consensus is that there is no consensus on preferable playing time for a given segment.

And seeing how you can't accommodate all or even most of your gamers, the only thing you can work with is consistency. Have these relief junctures occur at reasonably similar times.

As for what those relief junctures can be, the most obvious one in RPGs is not save points(because I think you should be able to save very often), but rather healing spots. The end of the previous cycle of attrition.

If you're playing a dungeon crawl, you haven't hit relief until you're back in town selling item drops, repairing/buying equipment, hitting the inn. For action games, there's relief when you complete the level.

You can control it by doing things like limiting inventory. Say you can only hold 10 restorative items. If the gamer is forced to ration, they'll feel the checkpoint relief of seeing the next item shop.

Save points don't offer relief if there's no real threat of failing at the moment or from the section the gamer just survived, or if the gamer has no intention of stopping.

In order to use tension, you must create tension. But I've found in traditional RPGs that this isn't normally used, and that game segments are divided into dungeons and plot progress.

In any case, length of time should be irrelevant(since there's no consensus), and denying the gamer the ability to stop playing doesn't improve the game experience. That's what you can take from the discussion.

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What the hell does length of a task have to do with communicating with the gamer? You must explain if you want the discussion to stay on your topic.

For me, the real discussion is building and releasing of tension. In neither case does this have to do with length of time for RPGs. I can play an RPG for 3 hours without feeling any tension whatsoever, or play a game with near zero gameplay like Heavy Rain for 10 minutes and feel immense pressure.

Generally this is more pertinent in action games, being that the gamer is on edge for the entire time before the next break in the action. So being on edge for longer means something.

In RPGs, you're not normally on the alert constantly like in an action involved game. So increasing the time you spend casually playing before a relief doesn't ratchet up the tension.

In essence, I disagree with your assertion that session spacing serves game design. I believe the game design, the degree of difficulty especially, dictate the reasonable period before you need to grant a relief. This is the case for all games. But in RPGs that's only a factor as to not frustrate the gamer, and not as a tool for building tension.

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I love her.