New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

[Freewheel3]

The greatest challenges are fought not in the field of battle, but in the endless corridors of the mind.


Maret awakens from an overly rambunctious night in the eerie realm of Limbo, where time itself has no meaning. Soon he realizes that what he took to be but a passing dream is neither reality nor fantasy--it is the twisted ruminations of his mind, brought to life before him. As he journeys between the dark and light halves of his brain--Hell and Heaven, connected inescapably--he comes to realize that he is not the only person trapped within his dreamworld, and that the price he pays to free the others may come at a dear cost; the destruction of the very realm that strikes out at them with blood-caked claws and stifling emotion, the endless corridors of feeling and suffocating masses of thought. To free the souls of the innocent, Maret may have to lose himself to the power in his mind.

If only his mind didn't know itself quite so well.



Come journey into the dark and light halves of Maret's mind, killing fierce Demons and shining Angels. Collect the Holy remains of your angelic foes, and then journey into Hell to put those sacred weapons to good use. Even as your blessed blade cuts through demons, you shall gather their Unholy remnants and return to Heaven, using the darkness to fight back the Angelic forces. Trapped in the constant switching between worlds--wielding darkness and destruction one second, light and life the next--Maret will encounter foes from the most diverse parts of his mind. Beings made of pure fear, mages who's very touch instills healing among their ilk, personifications of love and hate--even the insanity lurking deep behind his crystal-clear eyes is given shape in this journey within his own mind.




Okay. So, here I am, just an unsuspecting indie game developer who never quite manages to finish anything. So I really sat down and looked at some things that RPGM3 was capable of doing. And then it hit me; this software was perfect to tell Maret's as of yet unnamed story.

So here it is; the above sales pitch aside, I think that this game has some potential. Although the game has only just begun, I have a decent layout of what it will be.

Features
-Heavily story driven game.
-Combat is completely customizable; you can choose what skills or stats your character receives after completing each of the many sidequests.
-Weapons can be completely customized with items dropped by enemies; increased attack, special strikes, that sort of thing.
-All of the items dropped by demon's are specially effective against angels, and vice versa. I plan to carefully structure combat so that, without this elemental advantage, it is impossible to move very far into either realm.
-Every dungeon will be based around a certain part of Maret's psyche, like fear in Hell and Courage in heaven.
-Although he runs into other characters, each with their own carefully structured stories and complex lives, Maret will fight this one alone. Which isn't to say that other characters will be completely unavailable...but you'll just have to play to find out, now wont you?

[Wavelength]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Well, you're taking yourself a bit seriously here, aren't you?

Even if you're presenting it in a slightly over-dramatic way for a development forum like this one, I will say that I really like what you've got here so far, it sounds like it could be an interesting, unique story... and I like the idea of basing the dungeons around emotions and abstracts.

I'd be very interested to see how you plan to pull of a weapon customization system given the limitations of RPGM3, that could be impressive if you actually make something good there.

At any rate, welcome to the Pavilion; we hope you decide to stick around, jump in, and enjoy yourself here!

[Freewheel3]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Yes...I suppose I do have a flair for the dramatics. I know it's a bit excessive, but I like to attempt to tag a pic of 'epic-ness' onto my stories. Suppose it comes from growing up on Lord of the Rings.

My plan for weapon customization involves treasure drops, a method of 'stacking' items in your inventory, and devoting a massive number of items to just swords. It's going to be a fairly integral part of the game, so I don't ming the memory consumption.

[madcopper]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Welcome to the Pav! It is my job to convince you that you should make your game on RPGM2 since it is a superior game making software! You dungeons would have so much more detail along with more decorations, and the ability to move objects! Furthermore, it would be easier to create a kick ass CBS with RPGM2!

So what do you think! Come on over to the dark side?

[Zeroth]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Welcome to the Pavilion! I really like your story. Also, what madcopper said.

[Wavelength]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

My plan for weapon customization involves treasure drops, a method of 'stacking' items in your inventory, and devoting a massive number of items to just swords. It's going to be a fairly integral part of the game, so I don't ming the memory consumption.

This is what I was hoping to hear The Treasure Drops system is a great way to go about it. I just want to make sure you're aware of the 300-item limit, so if you have "permutation" type of customization, you'll have to keep it small. Anyway, sounds great.

...you should make your game on RPGM2 since it is a superior game making software! You dungeons would have so much more detail along with more decorations, and the ability to move objects! Furthermore, it would be easier to create a kick ass CBS with RPGM2!

I couldn't disagree more. This seems like the perfect kind of game to create on RPGM3--a heavily story-driven RPG with a need for spooky atmospherics, and (I assume) a lot of action that takes place via dialogue and emotion rather than out-and-out action.

[Perversion]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Wave is correct in this situation. RPGM3 excels for story-driven games, and it sounds as if Freewheel already has a workaround in mind for his weapon system.


The way I look at it is, yeah, RPGM2 is WAY more flexible, and capable of a LOT more than RPGM3. But if I have an idea in mind, and can get it to fit within RPGM3's confines, I can make it on RPGM3 and have it done in less than a year. If I go with RPGM2, it'll take me a year just to learn the intricacies of the software, assuming I want to try to do something not so basic.


Oh, and welcome, you of the verbose writing. Your story/idea sounds good, and I will support you in this endeavour.

[Freewheel3]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Heck yes story driven/story moved forward by cutscenes.

I know that RPGM2 is 'better', but honestly, I like having the third dimension. I messed around with some mac software (Unity) that has a 3d engine, but most of my development has been 2d, and I want to try and move up a bit.


Yeah, I already have most of my customization system worked out, although I haven't put a thing in the game...just in the beginning phases, mostly been working on getting the atmosphere in Limbo right and making storytellers. My concept for a system would work like this;

Lets say you're having difficulty with some demonic boss, and want to make a powerful Holy weapon to counter him. So you head into heaven and fight a few hordes of enemies.

The first enemy parts drops a poison based item, which appears in your inventory as "Poison fang 1/3". This tells you that, to customize poison onto your blade, your going to need 3. After a bit more fighting, you get the additional fangs (which change the treasure item in your inventory into "Poison fang 2/3" and finally "Poison fang 3/3") and also garner a rare drop, "Steel of Resolve 1/2". You decide to fight a bit more by doing a sidequest, and, as luck would have it, a miniboss you run into happens to drop not only another Steel of Resolve, but also a "Twofold sword"--in-game terminology for a weapon with two "customization slots".

So you take all of your bounty to the smithing event. Each time an auto event in the world map you were fighting in detected the treasure "Poison fang", it added to a variable. Same goes for the Steel's and the sword itself. The blacksmithing event first detect your weapons--do you have one slot weapons, two slot, or even a much coveted three slot sword? There are different choice branches for each possible combination of the above, so that the smith offers you to customize each type of sword you possess.

You select "Twofold" and the event transitions, pushing through several variable checks after asking you a simple question; are you altering stats, effects, or both. You select both, sending you to a third event. (This sequence and the following are probably going to be the hard parts)

The game then checks several variables, and chooses what options to present to you in a similar fashion to the sword option tree explained above. you are offered "Attack +30" and "Poison" as effects you can add. You click poison, and a variable increases. The screen returns, and you select Attack +30.

The necessary items are then removed, variables are reset, and the new weapon is added to your inventory. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?


Yeah, it's gonna be hard. But really, if I have, say, four different stat boosts, (+10, +20, +30, +50) and five or six effects, it will probably remain manageable...3 items for the actual swords, ~32 items to customize with, ~24 different customized weapons, so maybe 60 total items. One variable for what swords you have, ten for the items to customize with, maybe one to choreograph the smithing event itself...certainty taxing on all fronts, but I don't think its ever really been done before, and I do make up items and memory by only having one party character.

The main problem I can see it how to make it so the game realizes that after you customize one effect onto a weapon, you are still able to add another...I might have to make a (figurative) million of variable and decision branches, so that the game offers you all the possible combinations....So you would see "Attack +10 and Poison", "Attack +10 and Slow", and "Attack +20 and Poison" in one branch, with the last option being "Other combinations"...which would lead to more variable checking...gods...

And hello perv, you of verbosity yourself. Read a few of your text walls. Found them interesting. Might play A Series Aside when I get my max drive...


Thank you all for your feedback and warm welcome, and if you actually read all of the above, then huge dollops of thanks are in store.

Any thoughts to streamline my system?

[madcopper]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Wave is correct in this situation. RPGM3 excels for story-driven games, and it sounds as if Freewheel already has a workaround in mind for his weapon system.


The way I look at it is, yeah, RPGM2 is WAY more flexible, and capable of a LOT more than RPGM3. But if I have an idea in mind, and can get it to fit within RPGM3's confines, I can make it on RPGM3 and have it done in less than a year. If I go with RPGM2, it'll take me a year just to learn the intricacies of the software, assuming I want to try to do something not so basic.

Um I think New Game+ sort of took away this argument from you! Thank you Raithwall!

[Lausen]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

The first enemy parts drops a poison based item, which appears in your inventory as "Poison fang 1/3". This tells you that, to customize poison onto your blade, your going to need 3. After a bit more fighting, you get the additional fangs (which change the treasure item in your inventory into "Poison fang 2/3" and finally "Poison fang 3/3") and also garner a rare drop, "Steel of Resolve 1/2". You decide to fight a bit more by doing a sidequest, and, as luck would have it, a miniboss you run into happens to drop not only another Steel of Resolve, but also a "Twofold sword"--in-game terminology for a weapon with two "customization slots".

So you take all of your bounty to the smithing event. Each time an auto event in the world map you were fighting in detected the treasure "Poison fang", it added to a variable. Same goes for the Steel's and the sword itself. The blacksmithing event first detect your weapons--do you have one slot weapons, two slot, or even a much coveted three slot sword? There are different choice branches for each possible combination of the above, so that the smith offers you to customize each type of sword you possess.

You select "Twofold" and the event transitions, pushing through several variable checks after asking you a simple question; are you altering stats, effects, or both. You select both, sending you to a third event. (This sequence and the following are probably going to be the hard parts)

The game then checks several variables, and chooses what options to present to you in a similar fashion to the sword option tree explained above. you are offered "Attack +30" and "Poison" as effects you can add. You click poison, and a variable increases. The screen returns, and you select Attack +30.

The necessary items are then removed, variables are reset, and the new weapon is added to your inventory. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?


Yeah, it's gonna be hard. But really, if I have, say, four different stat boosts, (+10, +20, +30, +50) and five or six effects, it will probably remain manageable...3 items for the actual swords, ~32 items to customize with, ~24 different customized weapons, so maybe 60 total items. One variable for what swords you have, ten for the items to customize with, maybe one to choreograph the smithing event itself...certainty taxing on all fronts, but I don't think its ever really been done before, and I do make up items and memory by only having one party character.

The main problem I can see it how to make it so the game realizes that after you customize one effect onto a weapon, you are still able to add another...I might have to make a (figurative) million of variable and decision branches, so that the game offers you all the possible combinations....So you would see "Attack +10 and Poison", "Attack +10 and Slow", and "Attack +20 and Poison" in one branch, with the last option being "Other combinations"...which would lead to more variable checking...gods...

Good luck with this. It's doable and really not that hard, but it's going to be tedious as hell! You'll have to do all combinations of everything. It's going to be a huge set of events. I don't even want to hink about how much space it's going to take.

Another thing you might want to think about is the 10 item limit. If it's filled up with all of these "drop materials" you won't have room for anything else, like a POTION! You could make them all key items so they are in a different section of the inventory and won't take any of your 10 item limit.

I like the story idea and hopefully you stick with it. Good luck dude.

[Freewheel3]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Yeah, I was planning on doing that anyway to be able to activate all of the auto-events. Is there a limit on the number of treasure items the player can hold?

Yes, I knew all along that the item limit would be my downfall. I tried to think of multiple ways to make party members that served solely as "Containers" to hold inventory items, but was unsuccessful, since they need to be impossible to target and the game would have to end even if they were alive, once Maret died.

[Lausen]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

There's no limit for treasure items. At least not that I'm aware of.

[Perversion]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

I want my dollop, as I did read your own wall o' text. Not necessarily a huge dollop, but any size dollop would be welcome at this point.


And I for one appreciate, as you indicated both here and in the New Member forum, that you have some familiarity with some of the members here. This tells me that you've probably been lurking for a bit before joining, and generally, that is indicative of someone who will probably stick with it (both your game project and the forum itself), instead of someone joining on a whim, making a thread and 8 total posts, and then never being heard from again.

And so it is that even in the newbies' eyes, I'm already famous for my walls of text.


I actually did something similar to your system above in my first game Series 1. I had random drops from enemies (set to rare, if I remember correctly) that would give you Crystal Shard 1, Shard 2, and Shard 3. A certain peson in one town would give you an okay weapon/item if you turned in one shard, a better item if you turned in two, and the best item if you collected all three. These were dropped on the overworld map.

Then, in the dungeons, I had another three random drops, and you would go to a spellcaster's hut, where each item would give one of the characters in the party an exclusive spell.


I did not do anything as intricate as what you are describing in that particular game, but I can imagine that it is possible to do. One caveat: each mode has only 50 lines that can be used for event code, so you MIGHT have to pare down SOME of those ideas. If I remember correctly, if you have a 4 way val cond branch, you can nest another 4 way inside that (in the fourth choice, probably), and one more 4 way inside THAT one. That'll give you 10 variable choices per event, assuming you want to be able to use at least 2 (maybe 3) lines of code for each branch. In each of those val cond branches, you can go to another mode in the same event (remember, you get a total of 20 per event), where you can make more complex coding, or check other variables if need be. You can also transfer to a different event if you run out of room, but as I just found out working on a project the other day, the event you are transferring to NEEDS to be on the same map.

And if memory serves, in a basic house, you can only have 10 (or is it 20?) events placed. I think what you described above is semi-do-able (running out of variables will not be an issue), but you might have a problem running out of space in your events. And I seem to remember that to go from mode 18 to mode 19, with 40 lines of event code, takes more memory than to go from mode 2 to mode 3 (for example) with the same 40 lines of code.

Then again, at the point I was making those 18-20 mode events, I was already over 90% data usage, and as Obright can probably attest, when you've used over 90% of the available memory, the data usage percentage tends to get a bit twitchy.


After yet another wall of text (), I'd again like to wish you all the best for your game, and your stay here at the Pav.

[Hikari no Kaze]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

correct Grammar!

"who's" should be "whose".


Anyways, this sounds really cool. I'm using a cooking system that is somewhat similar... I have variables that track the number of the same treasure item in your inventory, and as long as you have one, the treasure item will be present (my stacking system). While I cannot tell the player exactly how many items they have, I find it very useful. Perhaps you will too!

[Freewheel3]

Re: New user thread--Now featuring correct Grammar!

Yes...yes, I suppose you're right. I was merely trying to choose an eye-catching title, and after reading through several "OMG RPGM3 is S00000 733t! I am totly gona mke gamerzzzz!" posts, the concept of a thread featuring proper queen's english sounded mighty fine. (To which I must thank all of you, not a single txt speaker yet!)



Also, to perv's points; yea of much faith...I will say that I have completed a game before, but it was nothing impressive; only 36%, and made solely as a visual walkthrough of the Odyssey. Don't ask, I have the weirdest assortment of teachers...

Me completing Maret's story is still up in the air, but I have certainly done a fair deal of testing with the software and read quite a few posts...including your text walls, Perv. Thank you for your invaluable advice, I had stupidly not considered making a separate mode for each customization...