DETHMETAL'S PROFILE

She seems so bright compared to everything else.

Downloaded. Looks interesting. I'll let you know my thoughts.

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions, everybody. Here are a few in-game screenshots so you can see what it'll look like in 240p with the "daytime" screen tint:







(The last one is a composite of two screenshots which is why there are two heroes and the panorama doesn't loop correctly.)

The map is 178 x 184. Vertically, at least, this actually isn't the biggest but it's certainly the most detailed (two of maps are 200 tiles tall on the y coordinate, but contain a lot of empty space the player doesn't see). I was inspired to make such large maps by the game Dragon Destiny by Rast. That game features four different sections of the world and each is extremely large and detailed. These maps contain everything: mountains, deserts, towns, castles, etc. On one seamless map! When you travel in that game, it really feels like you're traveling a huge world and not just making your way through small screen-sized sections. As well, games like Super Metroid,Pokemon, and many western RPGs all take place on one giant, seamless overworld and this helps make the feeling of exploration even greater.

Obviously my game doesn't take place on one giant overworld (I would need a tileset with specifications way beyond what the maker allows), but my dungeons are often contained on huge maps even though I could just as easily segment it into smaller maps. This way, the players feels a greater sense of exploration, openness, and non-linearity. I feel that this, combined with an extremely large number of treasures to find if you go off the main path, makes for very rewarding gameplay.

When playing a lot of RPG Maker games that feature mountains, I never really get the feeling that I'm actually climbing a huge, threatening, dangerous mountain. I wanted to try and rectify this. This is why this map doesn't feature healing save points even though all of my other dungeons do: this is to make this an endurance challenge, much like climbing a real mountain. If you don't have enough potions and such, you have to leave and come back another time. You have a party member with an Escape skill that teleports you out of dungeons at no cost, and my game is very much open-ended so you'll always be able to try again another time when you're more well-prepared.

As for the colors, I did indeed combine a large number of different resources from various games to make this tileset. I fooled around with the colors in Photoshop for a long time to try and make it all blend together a bit better. I thought that I did a good job, but that may be because I've been looking at this tileset for so long that I've long become accustomed to it, or it may be my monitor. Take a look at how the tileset looks in the in-game screenshots, and I'll definitely fool around with the colors a bit more if you guys still think I should.

The map will feel very much alive when I'm done, I hope. Most of my maps contain birds and other such wildlife, and there will be plenty of enemies to fight (visible on screen; there are no random encounters). I plan on having a cloud overlay that becomes more prominent as you climb higher (to simulate the feeling of climbing so high that you're actually among the clouds). I don't think the player getting lost will be a problem; at least, I've taken precautions to prevent this. If you follow the darkest paths, they will eventually lead you to the highest peak. However, players who go off the path will be rewarded. As I mentioned in the first post, I don't believe in pointless dead ends. No matter what, you'll at least find a treasure chest. I might allow the player to also buy a map of the mountain.

Every single one of my dungeons contain puzzles, but I don't think this one will include any, as this is basically an optional endurance challenge.

I agree with you that the large number of flowers is unrealistic, Craze. I did think about that. As well, I know that it's extremely unrealistic that the plantlife would be so healthy and vibrant on a mountain that supposed to be very tall. I decided that I'm going to forsake realism in exchange for graphics. I may explain this in-game: this is a mountain that dragons dwell on, and dragons are very magical creatures, so perhaps this mountain actually contains magical properties that allow for this kind of thing?

Sorry for the extremely long post. I didn't intend for that. Thanks, though! You guys have given me a lot to think about as I finish this map.

author=turkeyDawg

author=dethmetal
they added yet another Fire Emblem character over someone from a different franchise

But seriously, this guy has a chainsaw sword and he turns into a Pokemon? Has Fire Emblem always been this weird?

I actually thought he was from Xenoblade at first. I haven't played the Fire Emblem games, though I plan to someday.

I downloaded him today. He's really fun, especially as a huge FF7 fan. The Midgar level is sweet too. I personally wish it came with more than two music tracks, but overall I can't complain. I'm really glad they used so many of the original sound effects from the game. I'm very happy with his inclusion and with his character.

I haven't used him online yet (I actually suck with him so far), but I did a bunch of matches with CPUs and had a blast.

Did anyone catch the final stream today? I watched it. I'm a little confused that they added yet another Fire Emblem character over someone from a different franchise (no Inkling?) but Bayonetta is definitely a surprising and welcome newcomer. She likes like a lot of fun. I haven't played her games yet, though.