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Oracle of Tao Review
Yea, fixed it.
Partway through trying to puzzle out levels for monsters (if you're overlevel, this will make exp go down to a lower tier, so high exp becomes medium). This might still look all over the place due to being multiplied by enemies though, so I might take that out and broaden the range (nah, a mob of 8 monsters is generally harder than a single monster).
I'm gonna major update in a bit (after fixing the exp and the steal system especially).
Currently I've done at least a preliminary version of the experience system (I'm trying to make it match the general level of the monster party, although monsters don't match each other), but the steal system is a bit more tedious.
I'm not remapping (i.e. changing tilesets), unless something looks very off (e.g. bright sunshiny map while everyone is gloomy). But I might add more stuff to the opening town (and other equally wide maps), to remove the sense of wide emptiness.
Partway through trying to puzzle out levels for monsters (if you're overlevel, this will make exp go down to a lower tier, so high exp becomes medium). This might still look all over the place due to being multiplied by enemies though, so I might take that out and broaden the range (nah, a mob of 8 monsters is generally harder than a single monster).
I'm gonna major update in a bit (after fixing the exp and the steal system especially).
Currently I've done at least a preliminary version of the experience system (I'm trying to make it match the general level of the monster party, although monsters don't match each other), but the steal system is a bit more tedious.
I'm not remapping (i.e. changing tilesets), unless something looks very off (e.g. bright sunshiny map while everyone is gloomy). But I might add more stuff to the opening town (and other equally wide maps), to remove the sense of wide emptiness.
Oracle of Tao Review
Okay, so far, the graveyard...
(Everyone talks about the graveyard, what sane person would willingly go visit a graveyard?)
I made a little old lady who "before you go" sells Jars of Human Tears, which do this...
They don't kill the enemy (no experience) but, assuming it sets off before you get ripped apart by the enemy, forces them to flee.
You like fairies?
Hey, listen!
Where does it show the pin number? I only see the part where you input it, so it doesn't seem to matter. I entered 0001 and it opened. Ohhhh, "I forgot my pin." (Done.)
Aside from the default, which I could bring back, but it would be redundant since I have my own one (I use level up message with a picture, to add a few variables on secretly) the only thing I can think of is a rather long group of common events having them say, "Wow, I learned something new!" But since you sometimes skip two levels in training (up against some enormous monster, that gives massive exp), I'm not sure it'd always display.
Okay, I think the problem killing the party is usually wood elves. I'm moving them to island two (which you'd normally get to once training a bit). I assume most people can handle the centaurs, and the mantis/hornet combo is a bit tough, so I might move that to a deep woods section.
Currently working on rating enemies by level.
(Everyone talks about the graveyard, what sane person would willingly go visit a graveyard?)
I made a little old lady who "before you go" sells Jars of Human Tears, which do this...
They don't kill the enemy (no experience) but, assuming it sets off before you get ripped apart by the enemy, forces them to flee.
I don't think there are insta-death spells that early? I could be wrong, but I don't recall them either. I think he's just referring to things that just one-shot you whatever you do. Also, that fairy was the most annoying enemy IIRC because you could hammer away at something, and BOOP! 1500 HP restored by that damn fairy. Damn you fairies!! I like fairies and all but damn you! >_<
You like fairies?
Hey, listen!
Where does it show the pin number? I only see the part where you input it, so it doesn't seem to matter. I entered 0001 and it opened. Ohhhh, "I forgot my pin." (Done.)
Aside from the default, which I could bring back, but it would be redundant since I have my own one (I use level up message with a picture, to add a few variables on secretly) the only thing I can think of is a rather long group of common events having them say, "Wow, I learned something new!" But since you sometimes skip two levels in training (up against some enormous monster, that gives massive exp), I'm not sure it'd always display.
Okay, I think the problem killing the party is usually wood elves. I'm moving them to island two (which you'd normally get to once training a bit). I assume most people can handle the centaurs, and the mantis/hornet combo is a bit tough, so I might move that to a deep woods section.
Currently working on rating enemies by level.
Oracle of Tao Review
I mean you.
Hey bigtime, where ya' been?
I think I brought encounter up from 30 to 50 on the WM (I'm not sure , and it's 25 in towns and dungeons and the like. I do not want Elias to be this strong. Even if dungeons are a nightmare, having one character breeze by battles and another use no MP is way off balance. You can get away with one, provided there's at least something stopping spam spells, but not both.
1. That's kinda the problem of the year. I'd like some sorta plugin that allows a second music file to "play_once" over the music. Then I could have the music at like half volume, and it would play once. It'd be even better if it would not halt everything until sound is done. Yay, for needing the loop to do this. I have done it where it goes to music OFF. You can change personal preference at CommonEvent 279 (change it from memorized music to OFF).
2. Choose the last one of the text types. Black and White is usually the most clear. I think the next most is green, followed by blue, with translucent text only if you're weird and wanna look at grey on grey.
3. I don't remember insta-death spells in early parts. But yea, I remember ice spell and arrow being particularly brutal. I'll check and see if I can't make weaked down spells for first island enemies.
4. No. I's basically a noob town, and basks in its noobishness. You'd better run! There are a few characters in the middle-upper area (a sign salesman, a girl who sends you on a fruitless sidequest, and some houses). The tent you get populates (and you can but upgrades from the bank, all the way up to a portable town tent). But the Opening town is just that, an enormous, soldier-run fascist state that you can't wait to leave.
5. Or just trying to explain and getting interrupted. I might do that
6. Ohhhh, because it's reading 0964 as 964. I suppose I could do variables for each number, but this would be highly inefficient. I could also specify that it must be >= 1000.
7. Yea, there's that one. I offered the choice to leave at that spot. That's basically all I could do without taking away people's free will. I suppose I could think of some item, that could be effective (I now have that Battle ID thing, which basically lets you do item ids). Time to write in some Phoenix Down (sorry, Phoenix Meat, you're eating the actual bird, not using its feather) death conditions.
Hey bigtime, where ya' been?
I think I brought encounter up from 30 to 50 on the WM (I'm not sure , and it's 25 in towns and dungeons and the like. I do not want Elias to be this strong. Even if dungeons are a nightmare, having one character breeze by battles and another use no MP is way off balance. You can get away with one, provided there's at least something stopping spam spells, but not both.
1. That's kinda the problem of the year. I'd like some sorta plugin that allows a second music file to "play_once" over the music. Then I could have the music at like half volume, and it would play once. It'd be even better if it would not halt everything until sound is done. Yay, for needing the loop to do this. I have done it where it goes to music OFF. You can change personal preference at CommonEvent 279 (change it from memorized music to OFF).
2. Choose the last one of the text types. Black and White is usually the most clear. I think the next most is green, followed by blue, with translucent text only if you're weird and wanna look at grey on grey.
3. I don't remember insta-death spells in early parts. But yea, I remember ice spell and arrow being particularly brutal. I'll check and see if I can't make weaked down spells for first island enemies.
4. No. I's basically a noob town, and basks in its noobishness. You'd better run! There are a few characters in the middle-upper area (a sign salesman, a girl who sends you on a fruitless sidequest, and some houses). The tent you get populates (and you can but upgrades from the bank, all the way up to a portable town tent). But the Opening town is just that, an enormous, soldier-run fascist state that you can't wait to leave.
5. Or just trying to explain and getting interrupted. I might do that
6. Ohhhh, because it's reading 0964 as 964. I suppose I could do variables for each number, but this would be highly inefficient. I could also specify that it must be >= 1000.
7. Yea, there's that one. I offered the choice to leave at that spot. That's basically all I could do without taking away people's free will. I suppose I could think of some item, that could be effective (I now have that Battle ID thing, which basically lets you do item ids). Time to write in some Phoenix Down (sorry, Phoenix Meat, you're eating the actual bird, not using its feather) death conditions.
Oracle of Tao Review
Well, that might be to do with something weird going on (I have literally hundreds of events in battle). You might've been wearing a MP restoring accessory (noticeable now that there's a mp display system) or there might be some bug with the turn system doing a bunch of turns at once or something. I'd have to investigate. Holdon... 20, you say? Whoa, gosh, you're right.
That's a bug. That's definitely a bug. Elias should only restore 27 MP if he's got just over 200 MP. Found it. There was leftover code elsewhere that was all screwed up, basing it on intellect or something. It should be fixed on the next patch, along with trying to make a new experience system, and limiting steals. If anyone wanna fix it on their version right now, goto Common Event 428 (Elias Build UP) and look near the bottom (there's a screwed up thing that bases it on Nevras Intellect to heal Elias's MP). No wonder you found Elias overpowered. I mean, he does have the top two elemental powers (living hates dark, dead hates light), but that crazy MP restore pretty much.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I want monsters to be challenging. But I have this peculiar 2/3 rule. I mentioned it in a discussion about Soul Shepherd.
"An enemy should not deal more than 2/3 of total life. And ideally, it should be closer to 1/3 to allow time to heal and time to attack." (Not only does this not result in one-hit KOs, which I see as pretty much the ultimate in bad balance, and you should point out anywhere i do have them, but if you have only enough time to heal or attack, the battle is not gonna be much fun). I do want to raise boss damage gradually, but common monsters (until later in the game), can settle for wearing the party down, softening them up for the boss.
At the other end of the spectrum...
"An enemy should not deal less than one damage to the party, barring elemental immunity, or a miss" (I hate this. Especially for magic, which is why I think most of my magic is actually ignore defense. It's good to have defense items massively reduce physical damage, but if a monster stops being able to deal damage, they're worthless. All too often, I end up leveling too high, and nothing can hurt me)
Hmmm, if I can, I'm gonna actually make the branch work inside the common event entirely, so all I have to do is just call the variable number.
Should work now, once I add the formula below. All I'll need is the Steal Monster number on the battle event and it'll look at everything internally.
Hurp derp. Yea, I found that too. I did the mouse thing and I guess since it's automated movement (move Hero event, instead of you personally moving the hero), it doesn't count. I'm not 100% certain I like the mouse, though, since you tend to wander about due to its finicky nature. Probably why I didn't add it everywhere.
That's a bug. That's definitely a bug. Elias should only restore 27 MP if he's got just over 200 MP. Found it. There was leftover code elsewhere that was all screwed up, basing it on intellect or something. It should be fixed on the next patch, along with trying to make a new experience system, and limiting steals. If anyone wanna fix it on their version right now, goto Common Event 428 (Elias Build UP) and look near the bottom (there's a screwed up thing that bases it on Nevras Intellect to heal Elias's MP). No wonder you found Elias overpowered. I mean, he does have the top two elemental powers (living hates dark, dead hates light), but that crazy MP restore pretty much.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I want monsters to be challenging. But I have this peculiar 2/3 rule. I mentioned it in a discussion about Soul Shepherd.
"An enemy should not deal more than 2/3 of total life. And ideally, it should be closer to 1/3 to allow time to heal and time to attack." (Not only does this not result in one-hit KOs, which I see as pretty much the ultimate in bad balance, and you should point out anywhere i do have them, but if you have only enough time to heal or attack, the battle is not gonna be much fun). I do want to raise boss damage gradually, but common monsters (until later in the game), can settle for wearing the party down, softening them up for the boss.
At the other end of the spectrum...
"An enemy should not deal less than one damage to the party, barring elemental immunity, or a miss" (I hate this. Especially for magic, which is why I think most of my magic is actually ignore defense. It's good to have defense items massively reduce physical damage, but if a monster stops being able to deal damage, they're worthless. All too often, I end up leveling too high, and nothing can hurt me)
Hmmm, if I can, I'm gonna actually make the branch work inside the common event entirely, so all I have to do is just call the variable number.
Should work now, once I add the formula below. All I'll need is the Steal Monster number on the battle event and it'll look at everything internally.
Hurp derp. Yea, I found that too. I did the mouse thing and I guess since it's automated movement (move Hero event, instead of you personally moving the hero), it doesn't count. I'm not 100% certain I like the mouse, though, since you tend to wander about due to its finicky nature. Probably why I didn't add it everywhere.
Oracle of Tao Review
In reverse order... since I'm reading posts backwards.
There is a darkness weather effect. When you go inside caves or some dungeons, the whole low-light thing.
Mp regen is really that simple. If you're afflicted with something that can drain MP, you can't recover by attacking.
She was telling the truth. It didn't do anything to the door. The pit on the other hand...
Alchemy has two very useful formulas, the philosopher's stone which is
Emerald Elixir, Jade Elixir, and Level Root (it also levels Elias down 5 levels). This allows him to use more complicated Alchemy, and learn Alchemy spells.
and gold which very valuable and is
Cinnabar, Sulfur, and Charcoal. You can buy cinnabar for quite a bit, or you can make it very cheaply, with mercury and sulfur (I did my homework, that one actually does add up).
You ever figure this stuff out, you're pretty much in the money permanently (of course, it's hard to get the roots to make a Philosopher's Stone.
Yes, but everyone's theory of rpgs is different. I grew up with Earthbound, which by the end was pretty close to level 90, and final fantasy, which has a couple Islands Closest to Hell because the last boss is freakish hard. I always felt pleased after having gotten through all those battles, and giving that last boss crazy damage as payback. By contrast, I've played a bunch of modern rpgs that I was like "Yawn, final boss only needs level 30?" My ideal of a game then is something that I could CRUSH the final boss, and have trouble with bonus bosses at a high level, but if I wanted to do a low level challenge that was viable too (I'm not 100% it is, though).
It's stupid from a programming standpoint. Unless I had some easy way of doing it in a common event (well, I suppose I could do a MonsterTargetted variable, and turn ON a Monster 1-8) which would then be like "it has nothing left") it means basically making myself crazy repeating switch branches 8 x 300 or so monster groups. It's generally good from a player standpoint, but this makes a real chore unless I can figure out how to do it easily.
Shift key is used in my game for jumping (I assume you're talking about the menu call bug). That might be even worse, having auto-jumping whenever you cancel. I wanted it to be something normally associated for menu some people wouldn't be "how do I open the menu"
Basically, my rationale is after the main event, where God tells you go and get crests, you're trying to leave town, only corrupt guards want you to pay, and act like thugs when you don't. The ummm (lost my train of thought) party joining in battle thing has been done (it used to be a mainstay of the SNES Final Fantasy games, where someone would pop in to rescue you).
The first map is kinda noob. But it's a noob town. Everything from the rtp guards to the ugly landscape. I decided it was weird enough to be visually interesting, and kept it. I could partition it into several screens/or break it up with walls but ultimately I had mixed feelings about doing that.
Complete, to me means works from one end to another. No law saying it has to be pretty or liked by the general public (my game is a tad artsy-fartsy), just it's my duty to continue to make sure it's enjoyable and bug-free. The balance thing sounding like a failing on both, I'm gonna get on it. Any help is appreciated, as figuring out this is a bit of a nuisance. I generally, think of a demo as "complete" if it's in one piece, which is why I ragequit the game.
If you pull the (rather obvious, as you pass it not once but twice) lever, a platform moves down below, and that leads to the basement. If you don't, the plaform is retracted/lowered, and you're falling until *splat*.
It's there so you can use it. Do you automatically go on every bounty hunt? Not but, it's around as another fun thing to do. I just can't see anyone arriving to the conclusion that you'd do that to make money because even I, the game's creator, can't remember the formulas)
Look, what ticks me off is not the actual review. I do in fact, know I need to work on the experience balance (but we'll get to that later) It's this.
(Okay kentona. Anyway, the long and short of it is that if I had reviewed his game, kennie can probably tell you it would be a 0.5. There were glaring unfinished sections, and stuff)
So I'm like "seriously, I don't wanna give you a review, it'd be bad." (It's pretty terrible) Then he was talking "I think your game deserves a 1.5," which was a point higher than his game which wasn't even done, was a mess, and generally annoyed the heck out of me.
So this email exchange took place:
Bleh, not either of our finest hours, but especially not mine. Anyway, he did not leave me alone despite my assertion that Review Exchange is a bargain situation, and the other person backing out means the one reviewing is basically doing it just for sadism or something.
==========================
...Whatever. It isn't like now there's much I can do except try to fix my game. Which is why, anyone who hasn't played my game, who is just "Xenomic, great review, you crushed another person's self-worth and it was like so totally awesome" I'd really appreciate them clearing out.
I'm here to listen to direct criticism on various bugs, errors, etc. That's fine. I'd like to work on testing the game, and I can fix that. What I can't fix is public opinion, and I tend to react poorly to it (poor social skills IRL), especially if it's "your game is bad, and you should feel bad" rather than "this is what you could do to fix your game."
Let's start with Game Balance (since if Xenomic played long enough there were character side-stories, and backstory).
Since I think in terms of glitches, let's look at this whole big thing as one big glitch.
Okay, first off, I started with the random experience, because there was no sane way I could work out experience otherwise. Lemme put it this way. There were several battles that could kill me at level 99, that I could also defeat at level 13. Enemies with poison, for instance, are basically a flat challenge throughout the game, even if yea, you can beat them in one hit. There's also the fact that I had to keep testing monsters for experience, and due to certain factors (ignored def spells, or special attacks), there wasn't any consistent way to do this.
Another issue I had to deal with was stuff like this.
So, these monsters individually are some such experience, and easy or hard on their own. But, Carbuncle has reflect (meaning you can't just blast everyone with magic), and the Jack O' Lanterns have evasion (meaning you can't just attack everything either) You need a targetted approach. It was teamwork battles like these, plus the fact that I was doing leaked experience (there is no variable Monster exp), and the fact that I sort had to guess, since monsters would sometimes run off, led me to the conclusion, "I want a sort of experience range" rather than an exact value. This way, I could basically come up with a range for low level monsters:
Low experience: 100-450
Medium exp: 500-950
High exp: 1200-3500
(And the below usually for difficult, or fast grind enemies)
Massive exp: 4000-10000 (usually dragons)
Tremendous exp: 10k-50k (usually monsters that are pretty much a guaranteed level to 99 or near it)
Freakish exp: 50k-100k (these sort of monsters are strange, as you have to be almost maxed out to defeat them, making the rewards they give more bragging rights than anything).
I then multiplied the value by the number of monsters (figuring a battle is more difficult if you have multiple attackers rather than just one). I also made a Boss exp, which basically multiplies monster number by zero (there were many reasons, but the chief ones being that I could see experience not getting blocked out, and deciding to work during a cutscene).
Of course, this has a ton of problems:
There's a few possible solutions, I'm willing to take whichever one you guys think works.
1. I could make a monster threshold for all monsters, making sure you can't get much if you're overlevel. The problem with this is certain monster groups that are always challenging, no matter the level, and then there's having awesome gear that makes you really OP despite enemies being very strong.
2. I could flatten all enemies to low or medium experience, except the strong ones. Which might make battle suck. Also, I think I did that. And the problem is, people see thematic dragons together, but the exp is all over the place.
3. I could ummmm... do something else (I really need suggestions/help with this one). Monsters aren't scaled by level, but by region and type. So yea, some sort of idea concerning this...
Okay, let's see... steal redo, exp redo (I want random, but maybe the threshold is best)
There is a darkness weather effect. When you go inside caves or some dungeons, the whole low-light thing.
Mp regen is really that simple. If you're afflicted with something that can drain MP, you can't recover by attacking.
She was telling the truth. It didn't do anything to the door. The pit on the other hand...
Alchemy has two very useful formulas, the philosopher's stone which is
Emerald Elixir, Jade Elixir, and Level Root (it also levels Elias down 5 levels). This allows him to use more complicated Alchemy, and learn Alchemy spells.
and gold which very valuable and is
Cinnabar, Sulfur, and Charcoal. You can buy cinnabar for quite a bit, or you can make it very cheaply, with mercury and sulfur (I did my homework, that one actually does add up).
You ever figure this stuff out, you're pretty much in the money permanently (of course, it's hard to get the roots to make a Philosopher's Stone.
Yes, but everyone's theory of rpgs is different. I grew up with Earthbound, which by the end was pretty close to level 90, and final fantasy, which has a couple Islands Closest to Hell because the last boss is freakish hard. I always felt pleased after having gotten through all those battles, and giving that last boss crazy damage as payback. By contrast, I've played a bunch of modern rpgs that I was like "Yawn, final boss only needs level 30?" My ideal of a game then is something that I could CRUSH the final boss, and have trouble with bonus bosses at a high level, but if I wanted to do a low level challenge that was viable too (I'm not 100% it is, though).
It's stupid from a programming standpoint. Unless I had some easy way of doing it in a common event (well, I suppose I could do a MonsterTargetted variable, and turn ON a Monster 1-8) which would then be like "it has nothing left") it means basically making myself crazy repeating switch branches 8 x 300 or so monster groups. It's generally good from a player standpoint, but this makes a real chore unless I can figure out how to do it easily.
Shift key is used in my game for jumping (I assume you're talking about the menu call bug). That might be even worse, having auto-jumping whenever you cancel. I wanted it to be something normally associated for menu some people wouldn't be "how do I open the menu"
Basically, my rationale is after the main event, where God tells you go and get crests, you're trying to leave town, only corrupt guards want you to pay, and act like thugs when you don't. The ummm (lost my train of thought) party joining in battle thing has been done (it used to be a mainstay of the SNES Final Fantasy games, where someone would pop in to rescue you).
The first map is kinda noob. But it's a noob town. Everything from the rtp guards to the ugly landscape. I decided it was weird enough to be visually interesting, and kept it. I could partition it into several screens/or break it up with walls but ultimately I had mixed feelings about doing that.
Complete, to me means works from one end to another. No law saying it has to be pretty or liked by the general public (my game is a tad artsy-fartsy), just it's my duty to continue to make sure it's enjoyable and bug-free. The balance thing sounding like a failing on both, I'm gonna get on it. Any help is appreciated, as figuring out this is a bit of a nuisance. I generally, think of a demo as "complete" if it's in one piece, which is why I ragequit the game.
author
But why is jumping in that pit an option, when it could easily just have been an impassible obstacle?
If you pull the (rather obvious, as you pass it not once but twice) lever, a platform moves down below, and that leads to the basement. If you don't, the plaform is retracted/lowered, and you're falling until *splat*.
author=Trihan
Passive-aggressive doesn't look good on you, bulmabriefs. You're not very subtle. :P
Anyway, that's not the point I came here to make. You say you have no idea why he chose alchemy as a profession in YOUR GAME. If it's your game, and you decided what was in it, you obviously created an alchemy profession for a reason. If you don't know why someone playing the game would use it, then it either doesn't need to be there or you need to make it more useful.
It's there so you can use it. Do you automatically go on every bounty hunt? Not but, it's around as another fun thing to do. I just can't see anyone arriving to the conclusion that you'd do that to make money because even I, the game's creator, can't remember the formulas)
Look, what ticks me off is not the actual review. I do in fact, know I need to work on the experience balance (but we'll get to that later) It's this.
(Okay kentona. Anyway, the long and short of it is that if I had reviewed his game, kennie can probably tell you it would be a 0.5. There were glaring unfinished sections, and stuff)
So I'm like "seriously, I don't wanna give you a review, it'd be bad." (It's pretty terrible) Then he was talking "I think your game deserves a 1.5," which was a point higher than his game which wasn't even done, was a mess, and generally annoyed the heck out of me.
So this email exchange took place:
author=Email
06/10/2013 04:52 AM
Like I said, it's not terrible but it's not average either. That's why I bumped it up. It might be 2.5, but I'm not changing it BECAUSE you're telling me it should be 2.5 or 3.
Yea right. People who "were gonna" do something but pull away from it, because you tell them, were never gonna. That's bull and you know it.
You asked for a review, and I'm giving my honest thoughts on it. It feels to me you don't understand what a "review" is meant for. I'm not going to sugercoat things when someone asks for a review. That is NOT how reviewing works at all.
I don't want you be dishonest or "sugarcoat", just "these are the criticisms, these are the strengths." An honest review. Balance the strengths and weaknesses, and there is no possible way I can believe it rates a 1.5.
There's plenty wrong with Final Fantasy XII IN MY OPINION. I know of plenty of people that like it, but also know plenty of people that don't. Yes, I did do everything in that game (aside from Yiazmat, because fudge him), but it still wasn't that great of a game TO ME. The sidequests weren't exactly the most rivesting of sidequests out there (hurray! I love going back and forth killing enemies between 2 screens just to make this Mark appear! HURRAY FOR GREAT CRYSTAL WHICH YOU WON'T FIGURE OUT WITHOUT A GODDAMN MAP!!! Hurray for...standing around for 5 minutes? What??), and the plot wasn't....really that complex to be honest. It...kinda was bland as far as I can throw stories.
Waaaahhh, poor baby. I couldn't find the Zodiac Spear, and Zodiark was a tad annoying, but most of the Esper sidequests were actually fun. I liked the Bounty Hunts, and anything I couldn't figure out I skipped. That's what optional means.
Um...what vendetta? Also, Marrend played an older version of the game (a much older version) which was far worse than it is right now, AFTER doing a review drive thing, so admittedly (as he told me) he was tired from all of that and wasn't in the best shape for doing a full review. Granted, as I stated already, the game wasn't that great back then due to many bugs and well...it wasn't as polished as it is now. Plain and simple. Now, I honestly don't know where you think I'm trolling? I've already told you that the music is something that's being slowly worked on, and you didn't even say anything about the other things like the debug room or character lines). Some things WILL be taken care of (recently, I realized after an event during my recent vid LP that I didn't really specify something, or rather, it was specified in such a strange manner that it didn't make sense). I'm pretty sure I've been chillaxing and calm on my end...you seem to be the one blowing up at me over the whole thing.
Oh yes, it's easy to seem calm when it's not your game being reviewed, and someone isn't being a hardass about it. Equivalency in conduct is everything. If I went around being like "oh, I'm gonna give you a sucky review..." how would you feel? I very much said, I decided not to review yours, but you didn't let it go. Which begs the question, why? I heard all the criticisms. None of them said 1.5, just "this is my taste, and I don't like it" or "it's a little weak in these areas and could improve." 1.5 is generally a bad, buggy game, with no strong good points. I know otherwise. So, yes, that sounds like a vendetta, going after someone when the situation doesn't warrant it. Especially, when you won't stop even when they ask you not to, and when the only thing directly before it was your review.
Let's see...the start of the game states to go to Misty Lake. I'm pretty sure it's made clear there (if you skipped the opening, then it's told by talking to the NPC after getting the item). There's nothing unclear about that at all (yes, I know about the areas that people shouldn't access, and I've already closed those off now so they're only accessible when people need to go there, aside from one area). And it also states that you should check out the village, which is also not unclear at all, before going to the lake (it's a bit unclear if you skip the intro, yes, I know). On top of that, you have a character that goes to the place you're supposed to be going to anyways (even if you did skip the intro or not talk to Suika, that much SHOULD be clear I would imagine...). So yeah...if you skipped the intro (or if it froze on you which I apologize for because someone did bad coding in that intro), there's still a couple hints as to where to go at the start of the game at the very least.
The world map does NOT lead one to any conclusion besides that the road from the temple leads to the first area. Which is wrong, that road leads to an incomplete area. What hints? I see no hints.
I was taught "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Then I learned of people who used politeness as an excuse to give people the shaft and justify it to themselves (saying "no thank you, I feel we don't need you for this job" when you're homeless and broke is not very polite at all). So, then I learned about boundaries, as a result of them being abused. The key one, is that when someone asks you to do something, you have the right to do it the way you want so long as it doesn't directly affect them (which it does). But they also have the right to tell them to get lost, because they set the terms.
I'm currently playing your "Fixed" version.
Issue 1: The game load is heavy. It lags before I try to play it.
Issue 2: Include your own damn RPG_RT.exe file. I had to make one for it. Again.
Issue 3: You've got some enormous map here, and it's somehow supposed to be clear where the hell Misty Lake is from all the others (I've never in my life played a Touhou game). Half of which (including *cough* the one the road is directly leading to) are unfinished (and rather than dummying them out by erasing the graphics until you're ready to use, they are CONSPICUOUSLY missing, as in you can go right up to them and they say "Sorry this map is missing."
Issue 4: All I remember from the opening was the guy with the box. I paid attention to what appeared to be the main plot, and then someone said "We should go to ..." and I was like "Why? What does she need to go there?" It was a total non sequitor, as nothing led me to this conclusion. (So, I forgot it) Worse, I have no idea what hints you mean. The first person I talked to in the temple gave me an item, and when I left town, a nice hint would be "Remember, we should visit the ..." (Nope, I forgot the opening, and wandered the land wondering what the hell to do)
Issue 5: Many of the places you decided to finish appear to be completely irrelevant to the plot (some old temple to the south, bamboo forest where you can't enter, and a human village where people just talked about some flowers that a demon grew.
Issue 6: You have Touhou characters in that village, sorta realistic looking ones most of the areas, then suddenly I see straight RTP characters. I don't mean to be hypocritical, but there's no consistency in the sprites.
Issue 7: Many of the problems with the game are before you even download the game. I am not going to download all that music, so it's alot of wasted space, and your biggest selling point (I assume you got that music there for a reason) is gone.
Issue 8: From what I'm seeing of the newest version, many of the points are still valid.
Sorry, besides cute characters, which I didn't know and thus could not identify with, I didn't find much positive.
High encounter rate is not a killer glitch, it's just grind. "Not implemented" is a killer glitch, which I fixed, and which you never experienced. Having massive unfinished areas of the game is also a glitch (oh I'm sorry, that's your game). So what are you griping about?
This is me giving an honest review. You know what I'd give you for your "much improved" game if I reviewed? It'd have to be a 0 to 1. Is this because I can't stand the style of your game, because it's too much like Final Fantasy XII which I obviously hate? No, it's because your game is an incomplete mess which is further complicated by its enormous and confusing map. You are not being honest here, not with comparing your game to others, and not with your analysis of pro games. Yes, I know from the rpgmaker script that there is alot there, but it's poorly organized and implemented, forcing you to wander the map.
I know the strengths and weaknesses of my own game. I've fucking tested it to death.
-It's too long. WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY too long. (It's actually two games)
-I can't seem to get the challenge of monsters right. They're either too hard or too easy.
-The puzzles are really weird, and some are hard to solve.
-The grind... yea, there are a ton of battles. (You can flee them, you know, at 100% chance too)
-It's big so it's hard to test for.
+The grind actually helps. Stats increase greatly, you can buy random stat seeds from a merchant for each level up, and you gain skills spaced out over levels.
+There's a ton of good code features. Even if it weren't much of a game, it's still a good tutorial.
+The characters aren't bad. The plot's really about the characters, screw the backstory. I got that too, over the course of the game.
+There are plenty of sidequests and character quests, and interesting things to do.
+The game is self-contained and complete on arrival, and the person running the game is ready and willing to add stuff on demand and fix any bugs pointed out without making excuses like "that was the old version" or "I'm in the process of fixing my music" (it took me ONE NIGHT to fix my music)
+It has its own battle system. Seriously, how can you not like that? It's freaking awesome.
Starting from average, that's...
-5
+6(5 if you don't care about the last one)
That makes it a 3 (or a 4).
Oh, yea one more.
+Story events telling you where to go are common, and if you ever start after a long pause, there's an actual journal telling you what you've done, and also a help system telling you what to do.
I'd prefer not to have a review, then, thank you. Not even if you gave me a four or five. Just... leave me alone.
Bleh, not either of our finest hours, but especially not mine. Anyway, he did not leave me alone despite my assertion that Review Exchange is a bargain situation, and the other person backing out means the one reviewing is basically doing it just for sadism or something.
==========================
...Whatever. It isn't like now there's much I can do except try to fix my game. Which is why, anyone who hasn't played my game, who is just "Xenomic, great review, you crushed another person's self-worth and it was like so totally awesome" I'd really appreciate them clearing out.
I'm here to listen to direct criticism on various bugs, errors, etc. That's fine. I'd like to work on testing the game, and I can fix that. What I can't fix is public opinion, and I tend to react poorly to it (poor social skills IRL), especially if it's "your game is bad, and you should feel bad" rather than "this is what you could do to fix your game."
Let's start with Game Balance (since if Xenomic played long enough there were character side-stories, and backstory).
Since I think in terms of glitches, let's look at this whole big thing as one big glitch.
Okay, first off, I started with the random experience, because there was no sane way I could work out experience otherwise. Lemme put it this way. There were several battles that could kill me at level 99, that I could also defeat at level 13. Enemies with poison, for instance, are basically a flat challenge throughout the game, even if yea, you can beat them in one hit. There's also the fact that I had to keep testing monsters for experience, and due to certain factors (ignored def spells, or special attacks), there wasn't any consistent way to do this.
Another issue I had to deal with was stuff like this.
So, these monsters individually are some such experience, and easy or hard on their own. But, Carbuncle has reflect (meaning you can't just blast everyone with magic), and the Jack O' Lanterns have evasion (meaning you can't just attack everything either) You need a targetted approach. It was teamwork battles like these, plus the fact that I was doing leaked experience (there is no variable Monster exp), and the fact that I sort had to guess, since monsters would sometimes run off, led me to the conclusion, "I want a sort of experience range" rather than an exact value. This way, I could basically come up with a range for low level monsters:
Low experience: 100-450
Medium exp: 500-950
High exp: 1200-3500
(And the below usually for difficult, or fast grind enemies)
Massive exp: 4000-10000 (usually dragons)
Tremendous exp: 10k-50k (usually monsters that are pretty much a guaranteed level to 99 or near it)
Freakish exp: 50k-100k (these sort of monsters are strange, as you have to be almost maxed out to defeat them, making the rewards they give more bragging rights than anything).
I then multiplied the value by the number of monsters (figuring a battle is more difficult if you have multiple attackers rather than just one). I also made a Boss exp, which basically multiplies monster number by zero (there were many reasons, but the chief ones being that I could see experience not getting blocked out, and deciding to work during a cutscene).
Of course, this has a ton of problems:
- Monsters are regional, that is, I have ice drakes at snow areas. And I have some areas with loads of elves of all levels. If later areas have them I include them, but they count as an easy filler monster. With consistent experience, this is fine, they have the same puny damage as before, but it is jarring to see an 800 exp drake wandering through the area, and then a big tank of a full-grown dragon the next battle.
- I believe color swap clones are extremely boring. I have a few of them, and I hate 'em. So as much as possible, I tried to include status effects that were trouble at any level, like Poison or Freeze to increase the lifespan and versatility of monsters. I also tried pairing them with monsters that might help create trouble on their own. It sometimes worked, but gave weak monsters inflated exp
- Because monster battles are based on weird things like perceived challenge, experience is literally all over the place. In a given map or landmass, you might have: one mook monster, basically there to make you use up resources (which fails somewhat due to the fact that you can restore mp by attacking, urrrgh); a few avarage monsters for the expected challenge; one big monster that you have to run from, etc.
There's a few possible solutions, I'm willing to take whichever one you guys think works.
1. I could make a monster threshold for all monsters, making sure you can't get much if you're overlevel. The problem with this is certain monster groups that are always challenging, no matter the level, and then there's having awesome gear that makes you really OP despite enemies being very strong.
2. I could flatten all enemies to low or medium experience, except the strong ones. Which might make battle suck. Also, I think I did that. And the problem is, people see thematic dragons together, but the exp is all over the place.
3. I could ummmm... do something else (I really need suggestions/help with this one). Monsters aren't scaled by level, but by region and type. So yea, some sort of idea concerning this...
Okay, let's see... steal redo, exp redo (I want random, but maybe the threshold is best)
Oracle of Tao Review
author=Clareain_Christopher
I can see why you would want to make your game hard at the start, but keep in mind that doing so could make a lot of players rage quit.
I suggest creating the illusion of difficulty by making the battles hard, but giving the player spells or items that allow them to easily heal up and fight back. E.G, a powerful spell that restores a lot of HP and MP, but isn't useful midgame/endgame. It's also not a bad idea to start the player off with a lot of gold.
Always remember that people play games differently. Also, your game is always 3 times harder for people who haven't played it whatsoever.
author=bulmabriefs144
But we burn trolls with fire.
Umm...
There are actually several early game exploits to take advantage of. There's an interesting... way to make early seed money (blackmail). There's several very effective grind sites (one right in that cold mountain area, and one where , and one crazy old lady who actually hands out levels if you find her.
There is the illusion of difficulty. But seriously, the amount of items handed out are meant to be sold. I have no idea why he chose Alchemy as a profession (it pays off big in the end (you can make gold using cheap materials), but it's ridiculously complicated to figure out some of the formulas). You could make life really difficult for yourself by setting the course of straight grind, like so many other games do, but this isn't how this game is designed. I made it open ended, so there is that option. But as the game emphasizes Taoism, here's one.
"True straightness seems crooked."
The game has several hidden incentives to "cheat." (Not sure you can call it cheating if the game basically provides the means) In my own playtest (all the way to the end), I was at level 30 for the longest time just from killing every single monster than came along. Then I started grinding on an island that has Golden Slimes (100000 exp each, and you can kill three of them if you preempt their running away). Suddenly, I was level 60.
The most honest way to level, is to take all the bounty hunt quests, and turn them in. This also gains you more money than you can stand. But these bosses about midway through actually do become hard, some much more so than the main game's bosses. And the last boss... well, anyway, that's not the best option, unless you're looking for a challenge.
I understand my game is far from perfect. I was gonna rate it a 2.5 myself, which is not much better. I also understand that if someone plays a game like an idiot (say a puzzle game, where they don't read the hints, expect to have the puzzle be like an easy version of Zelda), and then expects it to conform to their expectations, they are effectively being a jerk reviewer.
This is the puzzle in question that killed Xenomic.
You came from that left room with a lever right in it. Usually, natural curiosity dictates one tries out a lever (which would solve the puzzle whether you understood it or not), and the added hint basically was telling you to go back the way you came. Or not, I think I'll jump in that large pit over there.
Yes, at least one of my other puzzles could've been handled better (there was one that involved throwing away keys you'd collected). But when you go through a game expecting it to conform to your wishes (Soul Shepherd for me, would be a prime example of a game I wish was more like I want, but it isn't), and you get rudely awakened then you can blame others, I suppose. It doesn't mean they have to lie still and take it though.
Oracle of Tao Review
This is pretty good. I will explain my thinking on this game, before I bash yours with an equally brutal review.
Night system is part of balance. You have to put up with the fact that even if your party members are level 99, a few hits from especially bad monsters can mess them up.
MP gains depending on the level. While there could've be a more balanced means (maybe every 1/2 level after 1), I didn't wanna slow battles down with unnecessary formula crap. And yes, in about 5 turns you can recover most of what you spent, but this is 5 turns you have to put up with subpar damage, since attack generally sucks until you get decent gear. Mana potions are useful at the beginning of the game, and later, you use the refined potions if enemies start hitting you harder and faster than you can defend (that's the theory anyway).
You walked into a hole, Xeno. You die. Get over it. There was a lever right by you, you could've pulled it but you decided, "hey let's walk into a hole."
Experience is random (dealt outside battle), based on tiers. Enemy encounters that I thought were difficult get something like 800 to 2500 exp for a low encounter (you can luck out big on weak encounters), and for something like Golden Slime, you get huge experience (though I may have to non-randomize these since they have the ability to run). In addition, certain encounters were challenge rated, as in, I know this is easy for a level 25, so if you can beat at least 15, you'll get easy exp. It's a weird system (especially, since I was sometimes wrong about perceived difficulty). Gold is handed out, but only by certain creatures. This is usually, humans/elves/things or two legs that can carry money, dragons, mimics, some half-humans. Many other creatures leave body parts behind, which can be sold. You can make money by selling weapons and other gear that's excess too. I made close to 700k in one game, and I think I had some in the bank.
I designed the game so that at any level, you have a fighting chance, that is, short of being 30 levels too low (won't happen because of a mandated training ground) you are unlikely to be one hit killed. There are monsters that deal over 300. Trust me. One of the bounty hunts deals two hits of 4500. It was just my decision to make it challenging at the beginning, easy in the middle, and then back to challenging at the end. I did this for the very reason my first game had brutal one hit kills.
Hmmm, you're pretty lucky. I've yet to encounter the Ultima Weapon guy. Yes, that interrupt is part of 2k3. It's worse for characters with advance rahter than stationary moves for their battle animations.
Yeah, the Steal system is a bit abusive. I suppose I could code for one item per monster. But that's stupid.
*Part of the menu system opens as a result of key press. But 2k3 is stupid and sees a key press and decides "well okay, you can press nearly anytime." Yea, it kinda sucks. I wanted to have a menu that included common options and it was really buggy as a result of being tied to keypress.
* My game is actually slow on such parts. I can't predict what kind of system you have so short of making everything button press (which is tedious for non-essential lines), I've gotta use my hunches
* No.
* The importance of a puzzle is not to create a clone of zelda boulder pushing, but to force you to think. If you don't think, and just jump into holes, you die.
*There are people guarding the gate. The are people at the shops. At the start of the game, my first impulse is to talk to someone, and my second is to try to leave town. You should NOT be talking about not obvious wanderings. There was a limited amount of area for you to get lost in, and there were signs.
* The map is extremely big. So is yours. Mine is broken into islands that get a big of the story at a time. without being able to wander aimlessly through large areas. And all of my maps were complete.
Night system is part of balance. You have to put up with the fact that even if your party members are level 99, a few hits from especially bad monsters can mess them up.
MP gains depending on the level. While there could've be a more balanced means (maybe every 1/2 level after 1), I didn't wanna slow battles down with unnecessary formula crap. And yes, in about 5 turns you can recover most of what you spent, but this is 5 turns you have to put up with subpar damage, since attack generally sucks until you get decent gear. Mana potions are useful at the beginning of the game, and later, you use the refined potions if enemies start hitting you harder and faster than you can defend (that's the theory anyway).
You walked into a hole, Xeno. You die. Get over it. There was a lever right by you, you could've pulled it but you decided, "hey let's walk into a hole."
Experience is random (dealt outside battle), based on tiers. Enemy encounters that I thought were difficult get something like 800 to 2500 exp for a low encounter (you can luck out big on weak encounters), and for something like Golden Slime, you get huge experience (though I may have to non-randomize these since they have the ability to run). In addition, certain encounters were challenge rated, as in, I know this is easy for a level 25, so if you can beat at least 15, you'll get easy exp. It's a weird system (especially, since I was sometimes wrong about perceived difficulty). Gold is handed out, but only by certain creatures. This is usually, humans/elves/things or two legs that can carry money, dragons, mimics, some half-humans. Many other creatures leave body parts behind, which can be sold. You can make money by selling weapons and other gear that's excess too. I made close to 700k in one game, and I think I had some in the bank.
I designed the game so that at any level, you have a fighting chance, that is, short of being 30 levels too low (won't happen because of a mandated training ground) you are unlikely to be one hit killed. There are monsters that deal over 300. Trust me. One of the bounty hunts deals two hits of 4500. It was just my decision to make it challenging at the beginning, easy in the middle, and then back to challenging at the end. I did this for the very reason my first game had brutal one hit kills.
Hmmm, you're pretty lucky. I've yet to encounter the Ultima Weapon guy. Yes, that interrupt is part of 2k3. It's worse for characters with advance rahter than stationary moves for their battle animations.
Yeah, the Steal system is a bit abusive. I suppose I could code for one item per monster. But that's stupid.
*Part of the menu system opens as a result of key press. But 2k3 is stupid and sees a key press and decides "well okay, you can press nearly anytime." Yea, it kinda sucks. I wanted to have a menu that included common options and it was really buggy as a result of being tied to keypress.
* My game is actually slow on such parts. I can't predict what kind of system you have so short of making everything button press (which is tedious for non-essential lines), I've gotta use my hunches
* No.
* The importance of a puzzle is not to create a clone of zelda boulder pushing, but to force you to think. If you don't think, and just jump into holes, you die.
*There are people guarding the gate. The are people at the shops. At the start of the game, my first impulse is to talk to someone, and my second is to try to leave town. You should NOT be talking about not obvious wanderings. There was a limited amount of area for you to get lost in, and there were signs.
* The map is extremely big. So is yours. Mine is broken into islands that get a big of the story at a time. without being able to wander aimlessly through large areas. And all of my maps were complete.
Oracle of Tao Review
I asked some of the other people who looked at my game what they thought of it, and what they said? Exactly the same as I assessed. 2.5 or 3.
Yes, there are glitches, but I work on them as I spot them. My game is not to your taste, that's fine. But I asked you repeatedly NOT to review my game. Doing it anyway, makes you a troll. Now, I will study your critiques, and try to improve what I can, because that's how you make a better game.
But we burn trolls with fire.
Yes, there are glitches, but I work on them as I spot them. My game is not to your taste, that's fine. But I asked you repeatedly NOT to review my game. Doing it anyway, makes you a troll. Now, I will study your critiques, and try to improve what I can, because that's how you make a better game.
But we burn trolls with fire.
Touhou Fantasy Review
Yo, Xenomic. We're giving you criticism.
Learn to take it constructively, and improve.
As of the latest test, the "Sorry! This area is not available in this demo!" seemed to still be there. Now, it's possible I played the same version as him (I dunno, an awful lot seemed similar).
Nope.
The game is very bare bones, overdoes the music factor, and let's be real here. Having that much music and none of it at reasonable size and having all these spammed crap files on the download site (seriously, it's like you don't know about the Delete Function) makes people... ummmm, not want to play your game.
Learn to take it constructively, and improve.
As of the latest test, the "Sorry! This area is not available in this demo!" seemed to still be there. Now, it's possible I played the same version as him (I dunno, an awful lot seemed similar).
Nope.
The game is very bare bones, overdoes the music factor, and let's be real here. Having that much music and none of it at reasonable size and having all these spammed crap files on the download site (seriously, it's like you don't know about the Delete Function) makes people... ummmm, not want to play your game.
Pocket Quest! Review
Games - Tester
Games - Other
