VIS_MAGE'S PROFILE

author=Zeuzio
An update for this was just the pick-me-up I needed today <3

I'm lovin' these overworld sprites!!

Thank you! And haha, glad I was able to brighten your day!

Just a heads up, I've laid out and started writing up a series of updates that I'll be posting over the coming days. The current plan is to release updates regarding new battle sprites, expanded world lore, a deeper look into how I'm planning on develop the story/gameplay, the new look of the overworld, and a more detailed look into what I've been doing to separate from the Pokemon brand, while keeping the spirit/gameplay of the game intact. After catching everyone up to speed, I'll gather some feedback and decide where to go from there.

No worries, the project isn't going anywhere. :) Even if progress comes at a crawl, I fully intend to see the project through it's completion.

I'm planning on making a few update posts through the next week or so, going over the current state of the project, what's planned going forward, going over some of the progress of what has and hasn't been done, and a sneak peek at some of the new stuff I have planned.

Ended up taking a little longer than expected to get everything put together, sorry to keep you hanging (again...). Anyway, here's an updated version of the old synopsis. While the boss monster itself is similar, many of the game's mechanics have been changed or tweaked since then.

The Boss:


The boss I'm planning is Lucidrake (big guy). He's a magical creature that can send people into deep sleep, and feeds on their dreams. The little guy is Dreamon, and is pretty much the "pre-evolution" of Lucidrake, and would likely act as minions in the battle. One other note, the battle itself is actually taking place in another character's nightmare.

Game Info:
At this point in the game, you’ll have access to 5 characters. Only 4 characters can enter battle though, so one of the following will have to set out. As a quick note, even though Merric is the "main" character, he can indeed be swapped out of the party, if so desired.

Characters:
Merric: The main character. He’s a well-rounded mage that utilizes Destruction and Illusion magic. Additionally, he has a couple self buffs. His main selling point is that he can conjure one of several AI controlled ally monsters, but only one at a time (they can be dispelled, though). Besides that, he has skills to bolster his summoned ally, and can either be build as a pure mage, or spellblade style character (ATK and MAT are roughly similar, and some of his basic attack skills become physical if equipped with a sword).

Maria: She’s your main healer, and has several support options. She can cast direct healing spells, or grant regeneration over time (more effective, but takes a while), and can cure basic status effects. She also has access to party wide buffs in the form of hymns. Hymns only last 1 turn, but are apply to the full party, and are cheap to cast. She also has a gimmick passive ability called Echo, which grants her 1 Echo charge after using a song-based skill (all the hymns, plus one or two others at this point in the game). These are used as a casting cost for some of her later skills, but for now mostly act as a passive buff to her healing output.

True: She’s a rogue/assassin. She’s easily the fastest of the main party, but also extremely frail. Her main attribute is stance changing, an action that does not consume her turn or MP, and changes some attributes on her skills. She has plenty of ways to increase her critical hit chance, and most of her attacks add additional effects if they crit. Most of her attacking skills have chances to inflict a negative status, depending on her stance.

Matthew: He’s the team’s archer, and can act as a secondary support option. He has a range of skills to add elements/effects to his basic attack, and can combo these with a double/triple shot. He also has access to some status inflictions. He has a few other support options as well, such as having a taunt.

Nalah: She's an alchemist, and acts as the team's main buffer/debuffer. She has access to several multi-target buffs/debuffs, and status inflictions, but has very little in terms of damage.

Mechanics:
CTB: We now use an CTB battle system, meaning actions happen immediately as they are chosen, with the turn order being determined by agility. The turn order is visible on the side of the screen, so players can prepare for an enemy's turn.

Elements: Elements work simularly to Pokemon, where every monster has either 1 or 2 types. Weaknesses deal x2 damage, while resistances deal x0.5 damage (or x4/0.25 for double weakness/resistance). I could provide a type chart if you're interested. There are 18 elements, in which the player will have access to roughly half of them by this point in the game.

Wisps (Out of Battle): These fellas are the new central mechanic. They are these little spirit fellas hat can be found hidden throughout the overworld, 5 for each of the 18 elements. In addition to those you find, most characters start with a few. Out of battle, you can equip up to 3 wisps to each character. Each wisp gives a small boost to one or two stats (intended to allow players to create customized classes, as there isn't a traditional class system), but more importantly grants a small subset of skills, that are unlocked depending on the level of the equipped character.

Wisps(In Battle): In battle are where wisps really shine. For each element of wisp a character has equipped, they gain access to a Call command (having at least 1 fire wisp equipped gives access to the "Call Toasty" command). Call skills are free of cost.
What does calling wisps actually do? It's actually pretty simple. Each summoned wisp of a given element adds to a multiplier, that is activated the next time a skill of that element is used, be it friend or foe. Up to 4 wisps of a single element can be active at once. 1 wisp gives a x2 bonus, 2 is x4, 3 is x8, while 4 is a whopping x16 damage multiplier! Scary stuff!
Additionally, characters have access to a Call All command, that while costing 20% of their max MP, allows them to call up to 3 wisps, corresponding to those they have equipped.
A big thing to note though, is that enemies are just as capable of calling wisps, and setting off wisp combos. Most enemies have AI checks that will act accordingly if you start to get greedy, and pile up a bunch of wisps. They can even have skills that convert active wisps into another element, if you'd like to go that direction.

Battle Pouch: players can place up to eat items into the battle pouch from the menu. These are the items the player will have access to during battle. Being more limited on items places more importance on healers burn longer boss battles.

Hopefully that gives you a good idea of how everything it set up, but certainly let me know if there's anything else that you'd like to to explain in more detail. I tried to keep things brief, to prevent this from being an even longer wall of text. I'd be more than happy to have a deeper discussion about any of these mechanics, though. In general, I'm pretty comfortable with complex eventing and using scripts, so go all out! :D

Thank you :)

Looking back, I probably sounded more doom and gloom in the original post than I really intended to. Feedback as overall very positive, with several people taking quite a bit of interest in seeing the game though. I'll have to dig up all my old notes, but if anyone has a specific 'mon they want to hear everyone's feedback on, just let me know.

author=matthewac95
About the main post...

Stuff like items/graphics/UI/etc taken directly from Pokemon will definitely have to be changed, but I'm pretty sure we're safe gameplay-wise. With that said, I am open to making some changes to the gameplay structure. An idea I've mulled over in the past involved the player joining an adventure guild. Instead of typical gym battles, you would go on quests, each with their own smaller story to tell within the grander scheme of things, with your goal being to ascend the ranks of the guild, and enter a big tournament at the end. Food for thought.

Likewise, with the shift to a more fantasy-esque world, it likely won't take place in the "World of Pokemon" anymore. So far, I've kinda been adopting it into a fantasy world I've been constructing over the past 6 or so years. This shouldn't drastically affect gameplay, but does mean that some familiar faces could make a appearance in future adventures. *wink*

As for the wiki, I really ought to make a few updates to it. A lot of what's there is still fairly accurate, mostly just additions to be made.

As a side note, even though I have the bad habit of not posting all too often, I do check in pretty often. If anyone ever has something they'd like to know, just shoot me a message.

Fair enough points.

Having not been around during the original submission phase, I wasn't actually sure how names were decided, although from the sounds of it, they were decided by the original creators. In that case, I suppose I'll leave the final say with names to the creators, assuming they're still around.

Reneglaicer sounds pretty good, if you're alright with it.

I kinda figured balance changes wouldn't be of much issue, but thought I'd ask either way. I didn't include small suggestions such as new moves. I've been keeping a changelog though, so that I can get the wiki up to date prior to the next release.

With us stepping away from Pokemon, it does open some interesting new opportunities too, such as adding/changing new moves into the game. Same could be said for abilities, but those are quite a bit more difficult to get working. I'll probably start by introducing some signature moves, the starters will get them for sure, but I'm open to suggestions.