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Strak
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Just an indie game developer out of Alberta, Canada, building games for fun, never for profit, and always giving full effort to every project.
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it's kinda weird this site still exists right?
As far RPG Maker developer communities go, this is the one I feel most at home with. So, nah. Not weird at all IMO.
Countering the Psychology of Touch Encounters
Hmm. I'm seeing some differing perspectives, and I guess I'm using my own experience and thinking that other players feel the same. I know that in games like Villnoire, I would quite often try to sneak past enemies since I didn't feel I really needed much experience to level up, so I could always grind later in areas where I'd get more exp per kill. Loved that game, but that was where the main psychology surfaced for me. But, thinking about things from an alternate perspective, I never shyed away from trainer battles in Pokemon, mandatory or not. I would seek out every single one, whether I happened to accidentally wander across their path, or if there was a clear detour. Granted, there were limited numbers of trainers on each route, and they wouldn't "respawn" so to speak, plus they were the best source of exp. So the psychology was a bit different. They also weren't particularly challenging in any of the games I played.
But, thinking about games like the mystery dungeon series, I would also avoid battles where I could, but would inevitably be forced to deal with encounters as a natural course of the game. I didn't need to seek them out, but avoiding them only went so far.
Either way, you've given me lots to consider. I'll think on this more.
But, thinking about games like the mystery dungeon series, I would also avoid battles where I could, but would inevitably be forced to deal with encounters as a natural course of the game. I didn't need to seek them out, but avoiding them only went so far.
Either way, you've given me lots to consider. I'll think on this more.
Countering the Psychology of Touch Encounters
Alright, so your game doesn't use random encounters. Enemies are on the map, you can see them, you can avoid them if you want. If you get too close, they chase you. If they touch you or vice versa, a battle ensues.
But. When being chased, people tend to run. Not because they can't handle the enemy, but because of human psychology. Something runs at you and you want to see if you can outrun it and avoid danger. Now there's a dilemma. You need to get into battles to get exp and level up and maybe get some good enemy drops, but the player is actively avoiding those very encounters. You don't necessarily want the player to go LOOKING for trouble, but you also don't want them to run from it at all costs.
So, my question is, how do you combat that psychology? In games like Diablo, they implemented methods such as enemies dropping health globes so that players who need healing would seek out weak enemies. Doom eternal did something kind of similar. But neither of those games are turn based, and so it's easier to play things cautiously if you need to.
I'm thinking something like, if you deliberately trigger the encounter you'll have a chance of a pre-emptive attack, but that doesn't feel quite right. Anyone else have any ideas? How do you encourage your players to engage in your battle systems?
But. When being chased, people tend to run. Not because they can't handle the enemy, but because of human psychology. Something runs at you and you want to see if you can outrun it and avoid danger. Now there's a dilemma. You need to get into battles to get exp and level up and maybe get some good enemy drops, but the player is actively avoiding those very encounters. You don't necessarily want the player to go LOOKING for trouble, but you also don't want them to run from it at all costs.
So, my question is, how do you combat that psychology? In games like Diablo, they implemented methods such as enemies dropping health globes so that players who need healing would seek out weak enemies. Doom eternal did something kind of similar. But neither of those games are turn based, and so it's easier to play things cautiously if you need to.
I'm thinking something like, if you deliberately trigger the encounter you'll have a chance of a pre-emptive attack, but that doesn't feel quite right. Anyone else have any ideas? How do you encourage your players to engage in your battle systems?
Developing Systems
I made a couple more videos. One is scheduled for release this Sunday, so I'll update this post on that day when the video comes out. First one is about implementing 8 Directional Movement in this game, which will be available in the updated demo (which could be coming soon). This video was also in a recent blog post, so nothing really new.
The second video is about how the random loot in this game is generated. It's pretty technical and kind of boring, but I don't care, I wanted to talk about it. Hopefully someone finds it entertaining.
The third video, available this Sunday, is about Experience and Leveling, and how I had to rewrite the way the engine handles the allocation of EXP in a game where enemies scale to the player level and stats are not increased on level up.
The second video is about how the random loot in this game is generated. It's pretty technical and kind of boring, but I don't care, I wanted to talk about it. Hopefully someone finds it entertaining.
The third video, available this Sunday, is about Experience and Leveling, and how I had to rewrite the way the engine handles the allocation of EXP in a game where enemies scale to the player level and stats are not increased on level up.
Balancing HP Regen
Great advice, all of that! I'm using most of your initial suggestions already, all instant healing spells have cooldowns, items are limited, etc, but there are some suggestions here that I really hadn't thought of that are very good!
Stat healing items giving a very small HP restoration effect is actually brilliant. You find tons of those, and they're already quite limited in their usefulness, so having a slight health gain would kill two birds with one stone. Make them more useful and give the player more early game healing items.
That said, I also just double checked my stat allocations for enemies based on the levels I described, and realized that the stat progression is way too slow. Enemies aren't gaining ATK stats per level nearly as much as players are gaining DEF stats, so that goes quite a ways towards explaining the reverse difficulty curve. Either way, I still need to work on balancing, and I do think the Regen is a bit OP, so the more feedback the better.
Stat healing items giving a very small HP restoration effect is actually brilliant. You find tons of those, and they're already quite limited in their usefulness, so having a slight health gain would kill two birds with one stone. Make them more useful and give the player more early game healing items.
That said, I also just double checked my stat allocations for enemies based on the levels I described, and realized that the stat progression is way too slow. Enemies aren't gaining ATK stats per level nearly as much as players are gaining DEF stats, so that goes quite a ways towards explaining the reverse difficulty curve. Either way, I still need to work on balancing, and I do think the Regen is a bit OP, so the more feedback the better.
Balancing HP Regen
Okay, so I've got a bit of a problem, and I'm looking for perspective. In Thrall, healing items are limited, and healing skills are almost non-existent, with some minor exceptions, and even those exceptions cannot be spammed every turn. Reason for this is that in every turn based RPG I've ever played, having a heal spell that targets all allies and restores tons of HP is super broken, and having heal spells that restore hardly anything are not worth spending a turn on. See the "I hate white mages thread" for more details on why I don't like spammable healing spells.
So my solution? Stackable passive HP Regen. You can find armors that restore 1% of your max HP every turn, and equip up to 4 at a time on each party member. There are also passive skills you can unlock that provide additional brief HP Regen or minor instant healing when fulfilling certain conditions such as killing an enemy or evading an attack.
Now here's the main problem: enemy attacks are balanced to deal damage equal to around 10% of your max HP per hit. Get hit 10 times, you die, basically. But since HP Regen triggers every time someone takes an action, it gets way too powerful very quickly. I'm trying to find a balance, but I'm having trouble.
First solution I came up with, increase the damage enemies deal. That works. If you're heavily geared into Regen. But in the early game, you won't have a ton of that equipment, and you don't have many skills unlocked yet, so the balance is way off. And if you're focused on a different build, even later game balance is off.
Second solution, nerf the HP Regen. But then the question becomes, where does most of your healing come from? Since there aren't many skills that restore HP and restorative items can be hard to come by since items are randomized, you could end up in a desperate situation with no options to bail you out.
I think I need to reduce the HP Regen a bit, but I'm not sure how much. I'm noticing that the game is way too hard at early levels, but way too easy past about level 12. Does anyone have any tips on balancing games resource management?
I'm thinking I may be able to add a risk-reward element where HP Regen comes with heavily reduced defense, or something like that, but I don't really know if punishing the player is a good method of balancing a mechanic. Anyway, I'm a bit stuck. Would love some perspective, if you've got some to add.
So my solution? Stackable passive HP Regen. You can find armors that restore 1% of your max HP every turn, and equip up to 4 at a time on each party member. There are also passive skills you can unlock that provide additional brief HP Regen or minor instant healing when fulfilling certain conditions such as killing an enemy or evading an attack.
Now here's the main problem: enemy attacks are balanced to deal damage equal to around 10% of your max HP per hit. Get hit 10 times, you die, basically. But since HP Regen triggers every time someone takes an action, it gets way too powerful very quickly. I'm trying to find a balance, but I'm having trouble.
First solution I came up with, increase the damage enemies deal. That works. If you're heavily geared into Regen. But in the early game, you won't have a ton of that equipment, and you don't have many skills unlocked yet, so the balance is way off. And if you're focused on a different build, even later game balance is off.
Second solution, nerf the HP Regen. But then the question becomes, where does most of your healing come from? Since there aren't many skills that restore HP and restorative items can be hard to come by since items are randomized, you could end up in a desperate situation with no options to bail you out.
I think I need to reduce the HP Regen a bit, but I'm not sure how much. I'm noticing that the game is way too hard at early levels, but way too easy past about level 12. Does anyone have any tips on balancing games resource management?
I'm thinking I may be able to add a risk-reward element where HP Regen comes with heavily reduced defense, or something like that, but I don't really know if punishing the player is a good method of balancing a mechanic. Anyway, I'm a bit stuck. Would love some perspective, if you've got some to add.
RPG Maker Collaborations
I think the responses here are a bit harsh, but then again I haven't had to deal with multiple instances of attempted team projects that end up getting cancelled, and if I was in that situation I'd be much more skeptical and critical.
Having said that, I also don't see anywhere that you've actually asked someone to collaborate, and from your initial post it sounds like you're just wondering what the process is like, rather than outright asking someone to work with you. So I might be viewing this post from s different lens.
However, whether you're looking for perspective on how to go about collaborating with someone, or actually petitioning for that help here and now, I will say this: Build a portfolio first. Have a few completed games under your belt. No one will take anyone asking for a collaborative project seriously if they haven't shown a) that they can follow through on a project and b) that they actually have valuable skills to bring to the table. Solo projects don't have to be amazingly complex and beautiful. They don't even have to be good. But they're absolutely necessary for polishing your skills and your REPUTATION, which is what most people look at before they agree to invest their time and resources into you.
I'll say it again, before collaborating, build a portfolio. Half a dozen 1/2 hour long games are miles better than 100 cancelled projects. And if you're wondering about whether or not games can be completed and high quality while solo, look at my games profile. All my games are solo projects, and I (with a bias) will say that they bring good quality to the table. Or for that matter, almost anyone in this thread.
Anyway. Not mad here, hope this helps give some perspective.
Having said that, I also don't see anywhere that you've actually asked someone to collaborate, and from your initial post it sounds like you're just wondering what the process is like, rather than outright asking someone to work with you. So I might be viewing this post from s different lens.
However, whether you're looking for perspective on how to go about collaborating with someone, or actually petitioning for that help here and now, I will say this: Build a portfolio first. Have a few completed games under your belt. No one will take anyone asking for a collaborative project seriously if they haven't shown a) that they can follow through on a project and b) that they actually have valuable skills to bring to the table. Solo projects don't have to be amazingly complex and beautiful. They don't even have to be good. But they're absolutely necessary for polishing your skills and your REPUTATION, which is what most people look at before they agree to invest their time and resources into you.
I'll say it again, before collaborating, build a portfolio. Half a dozen 1/2 hour long games are miles better than 100 cancelled projects. And if you're wondering about whether or not games can be completed and high quality while solo, look at my games profile. All my games are solo projects, and I (with a bias) will say that they bring good quality to the table. Or for that matter, almost anyone in this thread.
Anyway. Not mad here, hope this helps give some perspective.
Screenshot Survival 20XX
Awesome! Keep it up! You've got some good influences, and a good eye for design. There's a nice balance of color and contrast, gives a very distinct feel to the artwork. This is coming from someone with no formal art education, mind you, but still. I think it's a nice approach.
Screenshot Survival 20XX
Hey, that's great, when is Linus: The Forgotten Days coming out?
Lol I'm kidding. Kind of. I actually really like that hand drawn style! Kind of reminds me of Sunset Over Imdahl (might be getting the spelling wrong). If that's your start, I'd love to see where you take that style!
Lol I'm kidding. Kind of. I actually really like that hand drawn style! Kind of reminds me of Sunset Over Imdahl (might be getting the spelling wrong). If that's your start, I'd love to see where you take that style!
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