Solstice

[salamander]

I don't know if some of you guys remember or not, but I recently was talking about an RPG Maker 2 platformer game in development called Nella's Journey. Well, after much consideration, thought, and examination, I decided to scrap it. It just wasn't fun, and that's what games are supposed to be all about. Having an experience and feeling emotions. Nella's Journey wasn't doing that.

----------

So I have started a new game project for RPG Maker 2.

The title is Solstice.
I am attempting to make it an artistic puzzle/adventure game (think Ico) with a lot of ambient sound, lighting effects, and VFX.

The main character is a native american girl named Kaya. So far, no story details haven't been made at this time, but stay tuned ,as I update frequently.

----------

Today I made a VFX that displays a black circle with a green triangle on it in the upper right hand of the screen constantly. When you approach a block that you can climb onto, the word 'CLIMB' fades in over the green triangle. If you leave the block, the word fades back out, but If you press triangle, you'll climb the block. All of this is in real time, meaning you can open and close menus, and walk around as the button onscreen changes.

Right now, I'm testing and making game mechanics at a custom test map I made, so expect a lot of more things you can do with the button to be available(such as pulling blocks, picking up things, ect. *the triangle button is basically an action button*)

Tomorrow, I'm going to start developing a custom menu, and a real-time health bar at the top left.

Again, this game is very, very early in development, so expect to see a lot more stuff in the future!

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

After staying up all night and programming, I have made considerable progress in Solstice's creation.

I decided the best course of action would be to hammer out and perfect as best I can all the game mechanics and systems, then make the actual adventure you play.

I have made a completely custom HUD. In the top left, your HP and MP gauge. You start with 3 HP and can upgrade all the way to 10. For each HP you have, a thick, green sliver will appear in the HP gauge, and when you get hurt, one disappears. Still working on the MP.

If you lose all your HP, Kaya falls on her back and the screen goes red and zooms out above her, and sad music plays. You can choose to quit or restart in the last map you entered.

Pressing R2 will center the camera behind you.

Pressing start brings up my completely custom menu. You can pick 'status, items, magic, return, or quit game."
1.Status brings up a window showing Kaya, and her HP/Max HP and MP/Max MP
2.Items brings up a screen based on what items you posess. If you don't have any, nothing happens. Say you have a rusty spear; then the words 'rusty spear' will appear, and below it, you can choose to equip it, unequip it, or return to the main menu.
3.Still working on magic
4.Return, of course, exits the menu
5.Quit game, of course, spawns 62 flaming pink sharks...just kidding; it quits the game (man, I need some sleep...)

Once you equip an item and exit the menu, it will appear on Kaya. (usually hanging on her back). Pressing X will attack with it.

Next, I will tackle the seemingly impossible(for me) task of making a ACBS. I really don't have that much knowledge of scripts and variables, so it's going to be very hard, and might not work out...But I'm hoping for the best.

[Lausen]

Re: Solstice

ACBS huh? I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off. I own RPGM2 and can't do most of the stuff you've mentioned above. Good luck, and I can't wait to give this game a playthrough when that time comes. You've really been contributing to the RPG Maker side of the site. It's great to see.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

I have wasted the whole evening trying to make a stupid Custom battle system...My only real problem is figuring out how to have the monster attack you even if you aren't moving or pressing anything. Any tips?

I think it might have to do with the variables dealing with party/y/z and event/y/z but I have never messed with them before and can't figure out how they work. I know there's been guides posted in the past for ACBSs, but most of them just assume you're a variable guru and know all about it, or they give you the scripts to make, but don't tell you how to set up everything once you've made the scripts.

I was also wondering if it was possible to change an event's display from a script unrelated to the event (like if you pressed a switch on the floor, and a door somewhere else permanently opened up)

I really wish I could find my camera upload cord so I could share some videos/screenshots of my games...

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

I added some more things to do with the triangle button (hereafter referred to as the action button):
-If you're on top of a climbable block and approach an edge, 'JUMP' fades over the action button, and pressing it makes you jump off.
-Approach a crate, and 'PUSH' will pop up. Press it, and the crate moves 1 space forward.

The pushable crate is my best accomplishment yet, because it will be used a lot in puzzles. I thank the RPG Maker 2 engine so much, because it does a lot of the work automatically. I'll explain: Push the crate against a climbable block, then,if you get on top of said block, you can walk right onto the crate! I experimented with this a bit today and found out some other neat uses of the pushable crate. It won't push off a level, or through objects. It won't push off ledges that are higher up than 3/4ths to 1 block. It will push up ramps and staircases very easily. I even set up a part of my test area so that you pushed one crate on top of another crate, and voila, it works like a charm. So , in essence, they do pretty much the same thing as any pushable block in Ocarina of Time.

I have made water that you can walk right into and out of with no problem.

In Solstice, there will be pits in some levels (endless pits/ lava/ ect) and if you fall into them, you die. Instead of making a boring ol' bridge across them, I've made some barely visible magic symbols at certain spots over the pits. You have to start walking from the first symbol to the next closest one and in a straight line. (You are really walking on invisible blocks between the symbols)

I've added some pots that can be smashed open by attacking with Kaya's weapon, and an HP orb pops out of them for you to collect (it heals you)
To interact with objects and your weapon(like the abovementioned pot) , you have to first walk up to it, which targets it. Then you can attack or do w.e to it.

Also added shrubs and plants that disentigrate when you attack them.

Kaya's weapon is the Ether Spear. It's made of energy and it's semi transparent. She controls it with telekinetic powers. So when she attacks, she raises her arm and the spear flys forward, then returns to her back.

I hope you guys don't mind me posting so much in this thread, but I do it to keep a record of my progress

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

Created a puzzle which involves black and white beams of energy. They go horizontally across the screen constantly. Touch a beam and it takes off 1 HP. To pass through a beam unharmed, you must walk through a sphere of that color somewhere in the level. (You find a white sphere and walk through it, which turns Kaya pure white. You now can safely walk through any white beam. Same with black) There's also a clear sphere that returns you to default (it also defaults you when exiting any map).

Made the MP system. Kaya's starting MP is 1 and her max is 5. For each MP point she has, a silver star appears below the HP gauge. (starting HP:1; Max HP:10)

Created an icicle-firing spell that you can cast by pressing the square button. Note that you cannot equip a spell if you don't have a weapon equipped, and unequipping your weapon will unequip your current spell.

When you equip your spell, a little 2D icon representing it appears in the top left corner, right beside your HP/MP gauges.

After a lonnng time and a bunch of headaches, I finally programmed for you to be able to push and pull any crate! When you approach a crate, the word 'push' appears over the action button like normal, but 'select' also appears underneath it. Just press select to switch over to pull mode! You can go back and forth anytime, depending on what you need to do.

I have taken a break from constantly making gameplay mechanics and have begun work on the opening scenes. Stay tuned for updates! (that is, if anyone is actually interested in my game so far...)

[Ωbright]

Re: Solstice

MAN I wish my PS2 would load up RM2.

This sounds awesome.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

MAN I wish my PS2 would load up RM2.

This sounds awesome.

Thanks! I guess you have to have a PS2 that's cooperative because I bought my RM2 disc from gamestop scratched to **** and it works fine, even if it's on for 12+ hours at a time. Is it just me, or has interest in making games here at the pavilion died a little?

[Pagerron]

Re: Solstice

This game does really sound pretty cool. I'm reminded of the Nintendo game by the same title. I loved that game so much. I just checked out a website about it and had a nice time reminiscing.

I hope your game-making is very successful. See it through to the end.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

You bet I will! I'm not going to quit on this project. I want to do things people have never seen before on RM2, so my game's gonna have a lot of creative VFX. Maybe too much. I spend more time than normal on each effect to maximize it's appearance and coolness.

Today, I spent about 2 hours making a big Ice lady that is 3 VFX long, and is made entirely of Icicle A and B pieces, and some smoke effects for her hair. She looks like Shiva from Final Fantasy 8, but see-through!. I might have a summoning system where you can summon them and control them for a short time to attack enemies (that is, if my ACBS ever gets up and running).


And I never knew there was already a game called Solstice; that was just a coincidence. I'll have to check it out.

[salamander]

Alright, so I made the opening scene, and I'm not one to brag, but I think I've made the best lightning bolt strike in RM2 history. If you ever play my game, just be sure to play it at night with all the lights off during the opening scene.

In other news...

I FINALLY MADE AN ACBS! It took a long time, and it's not perfect, but it's playable at least.
Basically, certain enemies will stay in place, certain ones will wander around, and certain ones will go towards the player. The distance you need to be away from each one for it to start attacking you will vary from enemy to enemy, but they're usually between 1 and 3 steps away.

You can go up to it and start mashing the X button (that is if you have a weapon equipped) and it will damage the enemy based on your strength.(If you have 4 strength, then each attack takes off 4 damage.) Once you kill it, you get some exp. I haven't made the spells able to damage enemies yet, but it shouldn't be any harder than copy-pasting some scripts and changing a few lines of coding.

I also will have some spells and weapons that are projectile in nature, meaning if you fire/shoot it, and the enemy is in your direct path, it will get hit, no matter how far away it is. Since my basic battle system is set up, it will be easy to make the summoning system too. When you summon a creature/elemental/guardian/whatever I want to call them, all of your MP is taken up, and you control them for a short time, able to damage enemies with moves.

I have also made a 'waiting' system. It is very similar to ones in a lot of MMOs. If you stand still and don't press any button for about 10 seconds, Kaya will stand still and close her eyes, and she starts recovering 1 HP every few seconds. You can also just press any button to stop the recovery, so you don't have to sit there through the whole thing if you don't want to.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

Today I finished a good bit of custom music for my game. Mostly sad themed stuff to deal with flashbacks and the like. But all of the songs have been songs I made on my keyboard in real life and have played them all the time, so it wasn't that hard translating it over to RM2.

I have some semblance of a story floating around in my head for Solstice. (this might be redone, I'll just have to see how it sits with me, and if you guys like it)

As you know, Kaya is a native american girl (aged anywhere from 12 to 20).
Possible storylines:
A.thrown in the castle jail because she is 'different' and has 'powers' (able to control the weapons through telekinesis/ summoning)
B.taken away from her parents for some reason
C.her village was raided and she tried to run away but got captured anyway.

No matter what the backstory is, Kaya knows two things at the start of the game: 1.Her life sucks and, 2. She needs to escape from the castle.

I'll say it once again. The storyline in Solstice isn't the focus; the atmosphere and gameplay are. I want it to be the kind of game you can pick up and play without having to watch a giant movie beforehand(which isn't a bad thing, for those who do this).

I'm aware that it sounds really similar to Ico, but games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Knytt, and Knytt stories all were inspiration for me.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

Well, people, I'm broke. That means I'll have to put the production of both Solstice and Dark Gaia on hold until I get a job. Life sucks sometimes.

[salamander]

Re: Solstice

I did the most idiodic thing today. I accidently deleted my files for Solstice, my RM2 game. I worked hard on that file too. Oh well, since it's been so long since I've edited it, I probably would have been lost in my own scripts anyway. Consider Solstice canceled

[Lausen]

Re: Solstice

That's a bummer, dude. I was really interested in this project. At least you can take some experiance and knowledge from working on it over to a new game idea.