ZEELLO'S PROFILE

I just got the battle script from here:
https://yanflychannel.wordpress.com/rmvxa/battle-scripts/ace-battle-engine/

There are a few issues with it imo such as the fact the bars cover the faces, here is an example of what I mean and how I went about fixing it:

So that's one problem solved. All I would have to do is do the same thing for each party member. xD
HOWEVER, I'd like to get rid of the gray icons on the top left. Icons for status ailments/buffs are fine, but I don't need a gray button telling me nothing is happening, or a dumb looking fist to show they are about to attack.
In fact, I just checked my previous RPG to see if the fist icons were always there, but they aren't. They are part of the script.

Another thing I'd like to adjust is the font used for the names of the characters. I'd like the font to be bolder/sharper if possible. The names need to stand out more. Something more like this: http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20051101170510/finalfantasy/images/c/c9/Final_Fantasy_VI_Final_Kefka.png

Okay I just bought the full version of VX Ace from Steam, downloaded it, and started it up and... damn. I think I will need to buy grid paper or something. :/

Maybe I should tinker around in my Ring of Udrai based game in the meantime and get a feel for the full version features, and see if I can get my combat system idea working.

edit: I just realized something, in the tutorial he always tells you what size to make the maps, but now I'm forced to decide. I should practice cutting/pasting moving pieces of the map so I never get stuck with the wrong map size.

Maybe the next version of RPG Maker should make map sizes infinite and simply have you pare down the map size once you finish designing the whole area.

edit: Yea, I can't figure out how to cut and paste pieces of the map. Right clicking and dragging an area simply causes you to paint that area over the rest of the map, there's no way to pick up the selection and move it elsewhere.

author=CashmereCat
I love when games prompt you to save before strong fights. I hate when they don't. Nothing's worse than losing 15 minutes of progress because you didn't realize a huge boss fight was coming up. "Something powerful lurks in this room. Are you sure you want to continue? Yes/No" is what I'd like to see before encountering a tough boss room because then I can just press No, save, and re-enter. Having a save crystal outside this door is also recommended.

In my version of Ring of Udrai, the last boss literally asks you if you want to save (and saying yes brings up the save screen) and then asks if you want to fight him. xD (He even refuses to fight you unless Eric is at least level 5)
After all there's not much sense in not letting let the player save at that very moment if that was what the warning was trying to tell the player to do. If you really had intended for the player backtrack to a save point, you might as well place an autosave there instead.

I remember the Castlevania games for GBA/DS, Order of Ecclesia had a save point before every single boss, it is the first game to do that while the previous 4-5 games just had save points wherever and boss doors wherever. Weird that it took them until OoE to put save points right next to the boss doors.

However I don't think the game had a retry option for bosses which is another things game usually ought to have. Unless you want to change equipment/spells before the battle, in which case retry is terrible design since it forces the player to keep using whatever they happened to have equipped when they entered. Most of the time the player is equipped full of stuff to deal with normal enemies while being helpless against bosses, UNTIL a boss is coming up. Which is another design element that I hate.

It leads us full circle to another dilemma. "Something powerful lurks in this room. Are you sure you want to continue? Yes/No" to let the player know to change their equipment to serious mode. *facepalm*
Maybe games should be designed so that a) most skills are actually effective against bosses for a change, if not ALL skills, b) the game chooses your loadout for you, or c) the game lets you change loadout between retries, or better yet lets you change IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE.

I despise it when I walk into a boss and all my stuff is useless against it because the whole time I had equipped kiddie pretend spells, apparently, such as status effects which bosses are immune to (*cough* Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep) or attacks with too much windup time and therefore impossible to hit the boss with. (*cough* Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep) You'd think the game would let you know that "a boss is in the next room. Un-equip all skills and replace them with eight instances of Curaga? > Yes > No" Also, if something has no effect on bosses then it shouldn't be in the game. -___-

author=Sooz

author=zeello
So we should be looking at the fundamental distinctions:

- visible vs invisible
- exhaustible vs inexhaustible
- random vs fixed
- avoidable vs mandatory

The random encounters we're thinking of are invisible, inexhaustible, random, and mandatory.

That's not factoring in the "Run" mechanic.

Yes the player can run, they can also hit the enemy until it dies. So the player is offered two ways of making the the encounter go away after it starts. But that's aside the point.

You also seem to be assuming a scripted or particular area-based encounter setup, which is OK for a single playthrough, but offers no replay value, since players would then know exactly what to expect.

But this means that if Bob plays your game and Sam plays your game, their experience will be different. What is the point of that? The experience needn't differ until the second playthrough.

There's another problem too, which is that many players will never start a second playthrough, and dare I say most players will judge your game on the first playthrough.

Re: Craze

I considered it too. On paper it makes more sense not to have leveling in any game, ever, or have fixed leveling. Easier to balance the game this way and ensures the player is having the experience you intended.

But I decided to have leveling for my current game idea. What I'm planning to do is to have leveling, but after every boss, everyone in the party goes back to level 1. So it would feel like one of those tower games where you're level 1 each time you start playing. However, if you die, you just respawn at the beginning with your level intact. The player keeps dying until the party is strong enough to beat the boss. Its a nice middle ground and will make balancing and playtesting the game easier than if the level is retained throughout.

Though I just realized given the themes of my game (a character that grows and matures over the course of the story) I should probably not do it this way. Hmmm... Only just realized this.

My my, what a dilemma.