Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
Profile
Locker
Play ListsSLASH'S PROFILE
Close
I make video games that'll make you cry.
Search
Filter
All
Game Pages
User Statuses
Five Strategies for Better Game-Making
Shinra made for a way more badass villain than Sephiroth ever did.
You've summed up a lot of points I've realized very recently, Solitayre, especially the remark about not killing god (heh). Number 3 is something I'll have to take a look at soon and hopefully not trash too much of my own work.
You've summed up a lot of points I've realized very recently, Solitayre, especially the remark about not killing god (heh). Number 3 is something I'll have to take a look at soon and hopefully not trash too much of my own work.
Why DQIX is more progressive than you
HP Recovery... after every battle? MADNESS! (Resource Management)
That could make for a crazy battle. A giant tank monster that does steady low damage while you have to fight off hi-damage/low-hp guys already has strategy (take out the fast guys to avoid damage, then finish off the low one).
Now if the tank's gonna explode, you have to finish him off quickly (which is hard because of his HP) but you also have to worry about the hi-damage guys, forcing you to find a good combination of damage-all and high-damage-single-target spells to take them ALL down quickly. Or you heal through the hi-damage guys to take out the tank first. Or you take out the fast guys and try and shield and eat the explosion damage. Or you run away.
The dynamics!!
Now if the tank's gonna explode, you have to finish him off quickly (which is hard because of his HP) but you also have to worry about the hi-damage guys, forcing you to find a good combination of damage-all and high-damage-single-target spells to take them ALL down quickly. Or you heal through the hi-damage guys to take out the tank first. Or you take out the fast guys and try and shield and eat the explosion damage. Or you run away.
The dynamics!!
HP Recovery... after every battle? MADNESS! (Resource Management)
THAT was one of the places I remember hearing about difficulty curves. Yea, those articles are amazing and people should read them or be burned at the stake. Not that I agree with everything kentona says, but they'll get you thinking and give you ideas.
As far as my game goes, I'm going through and revamping all of the battles as it is, and I'll have to add a little more strategy to the first dungeon's fights. I've got wolves and bees right now - the bees die fast but deal a lot of damage, and the wolves do good damage and have good hp. I should probably add another type and mix it up a bit... hmm. I like the full-heal after fighting mechanic, and as long as the battles don't get too repetitive I think it'll work out.
As far as my game goes, I'm going through and revamping all of the battles as it is, and I'll have to add a little more strategy to the first dungeon's fights. I've got wolves and bees right now - the bees die fast but deal a lot of damage, and the wolves do good damage and have good hp. I should probably add another type and mix it up a bit... hmm. I like the full-heal after fighting mechanic, and as long as the battles don't get too repetitive I think it'll work out.
HP Recovery... after every battle? MADNESS! (Resource Management)
Craze's idea is pretty good, and I've heard similar ideas in other threads. Once you hit age 5 you realize that instead of randomly attacking enemies, you should focus on them one at a time (as to reduce the total threat of the enemy party quickly) but it's even more interesting to make them learn what is a threat and what can be ignored. It makes for a much more dynamic and intense battle.
As for the EVERY BOSS BATTLE thing, I think I made a post earlier about difficulty curves. A good game has a difficulty curve that is ever-so-slightly unpredictable:
-If the curve is flat, every battle is the same difficulty. If they're too easy, the player gets bored. If they're too hard, the player gets exhausted and stressed, and you remove that feeling of "holy shit I kicked that guy's ASS" because the next battle will be just as hard.
-If the curve scales linearly, as most games do, every battle gets a little harder (for example, the deeper in a dungeon you go, the monsters get tougher, until you reach the very hard boss). This is a better design, but is still predictable because a player knows that when he goes down the stairs, there will be either harder monsters or a boss.
-If the curve is random, each battle could be really hard or stupidly easy. This is bad because the player can't use what he's learned to survive because he never knows what's next, and it feels extremely schizophrenic.
The best way to build a curve (in my humble, humble opinion) would be to have it scale linearly with spikes here and there to keep the player on his toes. Throw a miniboss in halfway through the dungeon. Have a floor where imprisoned monsters have just broken out and the battles become much harder. Don't try and kill your player out of left field, but throw something hard so he doesn't always know what to expect and although he's confident he can handle it, there's just that little niggling doubt in the back of his mind...
As for the EVERY BOSS BATTLE thing, I think I made a post earlier about difficulty curves. A good game has a difficulty curve that is ever-so-slightly unpredictable:
-If the curve is flat, every battle is the same difficulty. If they're too easy, the player gets bored. If they're too hard, the player gets exhausted and stressed, and you remove that feeling of "holy shit I kicked that guy's ASS" because the next battle will be just as hard.
-If the curve scales linearly, as most games do, every battle gets a little harder (for example, the deeper in a dungeon you go, the monsters get tougher, until you reach the very hard boss). This is a better design, but is still predictable because a player knows that when he goes down the stairs, there will be either harder monsters or a boss.
-If the curve is random, each battle could be really hard or stupidly easy. This is bad because the player can't use what he's learned to survive because he never knows what's next, and it feels extremely schizophrenic.
The best way to build a curve (in my humble, humble opinion) would be to have it scale linearly with spikes here and there to keep the player on his toes. Throw a miniboss in halfway through the dungeon. Have a floor where imprisoned monsters have just broken out and the battles become much harder. Don't try and kill your player out of left field, but throw something hard so he doesn't always know what to expect and although he's confident he can handle it, there's just that little niggling doubt in the back of his mind...
HP Recovery... after every battle? MADNESS! (Resource Management)
post=156678
In my game, my solution is more direct. I'm just never going to present the player with the same battle twice.
That's a pretty good plan. You can make fights that are different but still about the same level of difficulty pretty easily.
You could also work in what DFalcon said about challenging fights into a JRPG by guarding powerful (obvious) but optional treasure chests with fights that are harder.
Chronology of the Last Era
You Have Two Hundred Words
post=155771
Chronology of the Last Erahttp://rpgmaker.net/games/555/
Chronology of the Last Era is my earnest attempt to not only have you play and enjoy an RPG, but to get engrossed in its world. Two of my favorite RPGs are FFVI and Xenogears, and the main reason why I love those titles is because of the presentation of the setting and the world they offer. Those games and games like them never fail to leave me enraptured and enthralled in what's going on with the people and places in them, and I want to convey that same feeling with players here. I go for how the player ultimately feels.
I offer a dark, smooth world for my players to explore, and I want them to have a vested, sincere interest in what goes on as they progress through the game. Gameplay wise, I offer a lot of ways to reward creativity, customization, and character building. I understand the idiosyncracies of RM2K3 and I work hard to make my game have a professional polish and presentation.
In essence, I want developers to forget they're playing an RPG Maker game, and players to remember they're playing an indie game that was ultimately a labor of love from a fellow gamer.
This sounds like an awesome goal, but you do make your game sound less like a game and more like delicious dark chocolate.
HP Recovery... after every battle? MADNESS! (Resource Management)
Good god, Craze. Those systems do seem fun. If you keep the battles fast-paced and threatening, I'm sure you could make combat fun even if you always started out full.
My game is currently using an "Energy-like" MP system, where you start each battle with full MP (everyone has 100) and it regenerates fairly quickly over time, but most moves use at least half (if not over half) of it, so you: Use a skill, use a couple attacks or items, cast a heal, attack, defend, poison a monster, attack, poison another monster, and prioritize your team's energy usage.
It keeps the battle fun by encouraging you to use skills often but wisely, use a skill too early and maybe you don't have energy for a First Aid skill, but use a skill too late and you're wasting potential damage moves. This also came from my hatred of saving MP and only using magic spells on bosses or things that would definitely kill me.
My game is currently using an "Energy-like" MP system, where you start each battle with full MP (everyone has 100) and it regenerates fairly quickly over time, but most moves use at least half (if not over half) of it, so you: Use a skill, use a couple attacks or items, cast a heal, attack, defend, poison a monster, attack, poison another monster, and prioritize your team's energy usage.
It keeps the battle fun by encouraging you to use skills often but wisely, use a skill too early and maybe you don't have energy for a First Aid skill, but use a skill too late and you're wasting potential damage moves. This also came from my hatred of saving MP and only using magic spells on bosses or things that would definitely kill me.
Games - Tester
Games - Other
