You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear from you, or to know that Izrand is still alive!
I’d have to refresh my memory in regards to how long either Luzaren or WaUTaH were worked on to say if this game’s development is actually taking more time. Is it possible the (hopefully temporary!) loss of RMN has anything to do with the slowed development of this game? I can only really speak for myself on this point, but, loosing my “home” has put such a damper on any desire to develop games.
Okay, you weren’t on the mission I thought you were on, but, a completely different one! That’s my misunderstanding of your situation.
That aside, I’ll be perfectly frank with you. The mission you’re looking to get needs 20000 credits in your account. I, therefore, cannot recommend selling off your equipment just yet. How much of that you’ll actually need to clear the mission is up to you, as per the story mission on Nav 4. However, that’s the bare minimum balance.
As far as the Scouting missions ceasing to be generated are concerned, I ran the game on two separate occasions. The first time, they showed up often enough. The second time, they maybe started showing up again after choosing “Reject”? I’m inclined to believe it’s a weird case of RNG.
On the other note, you can review mission details with the “Recall Current Mission” command, accessible from the Explore->Mission Computer menu on planets.
There isn’t a good spoiler system on this platform, so I dare not speak too much more on this matter. However, if you’re on the mission I think you’re on, there should be a jump-gate in the vicinity of Remata in Nav 14 that you can access.
After I did like 2 Scouting Missions, it seems they dropped out of rotation until I did a combat mission?
That shouldn’t happen. Still, I’ll do some test-runs on my end to see if I can observe this oddity myself.
Also, how many credits do I need for Sector 14?
Unlocking sectors/planets is not a matter of the player’s credit balance. It’s a matter of clearing story missions. I believe the in-game map gives precedence to standard missions in regards to it’s display, though, it’s also true that players don’t “start” with a story mission either. It has to be found among the sectors/planets that are initially available.
This decision of having the player find the game’s story mission arc on their own might be clinging to it’s Wing Commander - Privateer inspiration too closely for it’s own good.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me. However, this should be the last game to be updated this way.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
rpgmaker.net’s server has been having issues of late. While it is my hope they will be resolved in due time, I thought it might not hurt to upload this game (and the others that I’ve posted here) to itch’s servers as a “just in case” scenario.
Yeah, I’m copy-pasting this message across all my games on here when the upload finishes. So sue me.
Thanks for the heads up on JGBR Studios. Looks like they probably stole Adventure Ace and Adventure Academy as well?
Okay! So, the amount of "empty" days has been gutted down, and the result I've got going now is that the game lasts 28 days, rather than 58. There were definitely points in the dialogs I had to correct because of this, and there might still be a few lingering errors/fixes to make. I hope to have those issues fixed by the end of today.
If I want to be honest, I am somewhat worried this game no longer does what it set out to do. However, if everything does check out after another bout of playtesting, I can finally put this game to rest, rainbow-text and all!
Thanks again to Red_Nova, and their commentary about the game.
So, yeah, cutting the "empty" gaps in the game-calendar down to a single day every instance they occur feels about right. Like, I do want players to have breaks in the story. This will mean re-writing a bunch of things, including the re-writes of the re-writes, but, that might be a small sacrifice for the betterment of the game.
The lore-dumping at the fore of the game probably should also scale back. While I'm touched that people are mistaking it for actual history, it is not. Should I put in a disclaimer about that? Darigaaz, I never thought I would need to consider making a disclaimer! Though, one can rightfully argue that the game's lore is largely irrelevant to the player until the field trip. Even then, I probably should lore-dump only the pieces that are necessary to the game. Most of what Terada throws at the player is fluff that would go into a supplemental episode of a podcast about the legend of Uchioniko. If, you know, the legend actually existed.
Regardless of how many days there will be, or other reconfiguration of the game's story, condensing the game down will necessitate that I will have to drop the idea of the player gaining benefits for getting along with the game's cast. While it might be interesting to see where the variables could be, I just don't think that it's worth my time to investigate how to make the benefits happen. Considering how much grief I was having over deciding what, exactly, I should do on this point, finally putting my foot down, and saying "no" lifts such a huge burden from my shoulders. My apologies for being so indecisive for so long.
For what it's worth, I was able to go through Kozue's conversations, revise them, and playtest through them a little bit. So, the possibility that I'll eventually get to Benjiro, Katsumi, and Jin a just little bit higher. Still not sure about what I should do about Shoko.
If you've been holding out for this game, I won't dare to make any promises. However, I want to both thank you for your patience, and apologize for dragging my feet on this project.
*Edit:
I did run across a random error when playing the built-in Arcomage mini-game. The precise error message was something like "property of dungeon not defined", or something along those lines. I thought it had to do with the "Dragon" card, since that was the card I played when it threw the error. However, upon looking at the code when it's played, and forcing the card into my opening hand, and playing it again, the error didn't pop up. So, I dunno if it actually was "Dragon", or a different card that could have been on the stack.
Still, please, let me know if an error like that pops up, for both this game, and my Arcomage plug-in.
So, let me speak of what plan I have going forward. In respect to organization, I'm kinda thinking of setting aside a file for each of the main characters to keep track of what topics they talk about, on what days, when they are missing from class, and what-not. These files may contain cut-scenes specific to said characters later, but, the general goal here is to have their dialogs change every three or four in-game days.
Though, if there is one exception to the general plan so far, it's Shoko. The reason for that should be fairly apparent for those who have played any version of this game or the Heartache 101 - Sour Into Sweet custom content pack.
This post might technically want to be it's own blog/announcement, but, here it is anyway. The game's main-line content up to the game's conclusion is now available!
However, now comes the optional content. For now, I'm gonna take a break from gammak through the rest of the month. Maybe longer. Whenever I pick this up next, I will probably want to organize the calendar of events that I drew up, with the NPCs that I want to respond to it. Also, while I hope no glitches or bugs exist, I would be receptive to reports of such.
So, while I allowed a loop for Day 14 as far as the "Street" map was concerned, I completely forgot to allow players to return to Iwayama High from the dungeon map! I also rearranged a few things on the "Street" map, but, what I did should not alter the end-user experience in the slightest. Or, at least, that is the intent. I'm half-tempted to throw down a fix for that, plus some Chapter 4 content, but, I might want to hold that back for a bit.
I've still a number of story-skits to write for Chapter 4, and I kinda wanna look at the character that explains Arcomage? Like, I think all that character talks about is the set-up, and not actually how to, you know interact with the mini-game. It's pretty straight-forward, but, I'm the bloody dev. Of course I think it's straight-forward. For example, I know it's possible for players to concede the game before it finishes, but, the method to do so is not discussed in-game. At all.
So, what's the timeframe for this next release of story content, and that nasty little bug I mentioned? Yesterday? Well, Futch-and-Bright. In more seriousness, I would like to see something by the end of the month to accommodate Resurrect the Dying. This might actually be possible, but, plans can, and do, go awry. So, should that fail, I could see a November/December release. Perhaps just in time Christmas? You know, now that I've written it, giving the gift of game absolutely sounds like the kind of thing I would like to aim for!
With Swap 3 out of the way (and you should play both Isle of Dread and Summoner's Soul and give both games all the Misao nominations. ALL OF THEM!), I can start to focus on this again.
One of the things I wanna do is put together a calendar of events. This should help me writing up NPC dialog in their reaction to those events, as well as serving as an outline of the game's story progression.
I absolutely want to move events around so that Day 13 is when Jin texts Izumi about going to Iwayama, but doesn't force the player onto Iwayama that self-same day. The game will be stuck on Day 14 until the player decides to attack Daichi, rather than lock them in the dungeon with no hope of survival. Playtesting this "loop", and the Day 28 "loop", will certainly be in order.
As far as the in-game event calendar is concerned, chapter 3's end intends to be on Day 42, and the writing is up to around Day 41. To put it another way, the event that unlocks the boss fight for Day 42, and for Day 42 to "loop" until that boss is fought. I probably haven't made any maps for Chapter 3 yet, so, I've got that to not look forward to!
Before I consider putting it on my to-do list, there have been a few concerns directed to me about...
I think back on what games I have played that have a school. Naturally, my mind wanders first to Matsumori Days Persona 4's...
Saying that, I like the soothing nature of the track used from Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, even if I dislike the game, itself. Though, the track is a left-over from the original Ace version, and might be difficult for me to replace on a conceptual level. I mean, it probably wouldn't be as difficult as, say, trying to replace Tales of Phantasia's "...
..."The Dream Will Never Die", but, that's on a whole other layer.Okay-ku Star Apprentice! I've officially gotten past the scene where Shoko talks, and the girls want to meet up with Michi. I'm considering giving the players a day or two off, as it were, from scripted events. Mostly because I'm thinking that the Fuu arc was rather front-loaded with scripted events with no breaks between them until the section of the dungeon where Fuu resides opens up.
What I'm not sure of is if I should let players have access to Iwayama during that break. If I do allow it in a general sense, should I allow players to delve into Junsuina's section? I dunno. I once had this idea/vision that the player would gradually go up Iwayama's slopes, maybe weaving through cave sequences as part of that travel. I can still convert/restructure the maps to do that, but, the main problem with this idea is that I've a tendency to want to avoid making maps as much as possible. XD
*Edit: This tendency to avoid map-making may be a reason why I'm here, posting what amounts to an inconsequential/minor update on my progress, rather than being in MZ, and, you know, working. XD
In the Ace version of the game, there was only one scene where Shoko has speaking lines. In this game, while I might be in the midst of writing the scene where she has her first speaking lines, I will not discount having future events where she has speaking lines. Though, if she does, they will likely be short sentences, given her personality. Maybe, when the optional skits come together, she will be more comfortable with speaking more if you have a high enough rating with her, but that's definitely an idea on the "later" pile!
Though, if I am to be honest, Shoko is a character that is close to my heart for various reasons. Because of this, I'm inclined to be cautious with her. Like, she's a broken bird to begin with, and I want her path to be one of healing. While the source of her trauma may never be explained/relayed in this iteration as it was in her Heartache iteration, or in the Ace iteration of this game, it is still very much present.
Okay-ku! Healing spells might outclass items now. However, items might still be useful, since they can generally be used outside of combat, whereas skills/techs cannot. I'll note that the math indicates that, as a Technique, Chakra should only need to use 10 TP for a full recovery of HP. So, rather than deplete up to 10 TP, and perform a rite of calcumancing based on how much TP was actually spend, it will just cost 10 TP.
I kinda think it's cool to have an ability that cost a variable amount of MP/TP, and it's effect was based on that variable (some might recall Larue's Lotus Sword from Rainbow Vale, or possibly even The Blue Hood). Maybe that'll be a thing for another game.
The past couple of days have seen me replay a number of my older titles made in Ace. Okiku, Star Apprentice was still a blast to play, but, I could it's age via the lack of Yanfly's Messaging System. Konae's Investigations fared a little better. Uchioniko, however? Man, I totally forgot how much of a grind that game expected on players.
Like, in the back of my head, I knew I wanted to have the "Power Up" ability by the time I face off against Michi in that game. I might not have necessarily recalled when that ability is earned. I had to look that up later. However, I was kinda done with the encounters, and faced off against Michi around Level 35, maybe 36, whereas the boss before her could probably be defeated handily at 30. For reference purposes, though, "Power Up" is earned at level 38. Darigaaz.
Anyway, I've been giving some thinking towards how I want healing to work in this game. As things stand in the current demo, items restore a set percentile of the target's maximum health. Meanwhile, spells that restore HP do so at a pathetic rate that isn't worth spending an action on. "Chakra" might still be worth the action, depending on how much FP the user has available to spend on it.
So far, I've been increasing the cost of healing spells, and also increasing the base amount that they heal, but, I still feel healing spells are vastly underwhelming. You're better off using Chakra, or an item.
One idea in my head is to have healing spells have their base healing value still tied to their FP cost, but, the amount of healing is also expressed as a percent of maximum health. So, for example, something like First Aid could have a base healing value of 25% of the target's health, then apply a multiplier based on the difference of the user's MAT and a portion of the target's MDF as per normal for a healing spell. Full Cure would just strait-up have a 100% restoration of health, with no multiplication necessary, as probably would Divine Intervention.
So, how much would these skills cost, should I go this route? That, I'm not sure of yet! I know I have a handy-dandy spread-sheet that I used to calculate cost versus effect for abilities in a general sense, so, maybe I can run some numbers there.
Even the one who's cheering you on needs to be cheered. That in order to give more of the best of yourself, you need to receive the best of others. Say what you will of these statements, but, it's a major theme of this game. Also a major theme, to never give up (on your dreams).
It's a little ironic that a game with these themes has been on the precipice of abandonment. Perhaps I just had the wrong state of mind. Perhaps I was just in a bad place. Whatever the reason, I'm going to try pushing that aside. I've put this game back on production. Maybe I'm only doing a little bit each day (if that), but, any progress is good progress!
thedarkdreamer has made some edits to the game using RPG Maker 2000 Value. From what they've told me, and by playing/observing it myself, the changes are minimal. However, they include text-fixes in regards to some database entries, and combat log output. They also decided to throw in a logo that matches my Dark Sakura avatar on RPG Maker Net.
I've now included their compilation among the other downloads on this page.
