The 95% Blues - question

[Firsfron]

After just under six months of designing and re-designing (and re-re-designing), I'm at last at 95% complete. The only problem is: I'm not done, and 5% more won't allow me to finish! Ugh... I still need to finish off a few more towns, create 11 more characters (I'm only at 89!), set up enemies in the fields and dungeons, add a few more events, add a couple of side-quests, modify character stats, and set item prices. Seems like a lot left to do with only 5% space remaining.

Question: does anyone know what types of files take up the most memory? In other words, will deleting one field or one town clear up a significant amount of memory? I'm reluctant to delete *anything*, but if I can scrape by, I'll do it.

[Dark Sentry]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Fields/towns/dungeons seem to use about 4% or so. Characters with multiple modes and large events within the modes take 2% or more. Storytellers, monsters, items, monster parties and decorative items take up little space (usually less than 1%)

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Thanks, Dark Sentry. That's exactly what I needed to know.

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Well, that didn't work so well. I deleted 5 towers, two events, and one town, and it only saved me .3%

[Valkysas]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

there was a topic here recently where someone was having the same problem, and a link to a way to use multiple saves was posted.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Well, storytellers take very little room. So, just try to make the ending as cinema based as you can. Modifying characters stats doesn't take any memory, and youdon't really need more NPCs: While there aren't that many to use, I'm sure you have some sort of in-game explanation.

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Thanks, guys. Glad to know modifying character stats takes up little to no extra space. That helps. About the multiple file trick: I don't want to use it, unless absolutely necessary. I'm building this game mostly for the amusement of myself and my friends, and I just want them to be able to play on one file. Any more than that will probably confuse them ("why do we have to play multiple files?" etc). The simpler, the better.

I guess that just means I have to wrap up earlier than I expected: the last few characters, I guess, won't say very much, will have very few modes, etc, and I'll just try to streamline everything as best as I can. I was hoping if fields took up a huge amount of space, I could delete one, and still keep the other 10, or that if towns took up a large amount of space, I could just delete one, and keep the other 30.

I feel I *do* need every available character I can build. With 31 towns, they're all going to be sparsely populated unless I use all 100 available characters. I feel I cannot jettison even a single character, and even then, the northern lands will be sparsely populated anyway (aside from a few shopkeepers). I'm just going to have to jettison whatever else I can.

Thanks for the advice.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

I suggest looking through your game, seeing what is necessary and what isn't. For example...
How in the world does your game need 31 towns?!

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

I suggest looking through your game, seeing what is necessary and what isn't. For example...
How in the world does your game need 31 towns?!

Heh. Well... My game is based on Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" trilogy. There are dozens of towns in the series, and I wanted to do a halfway accurate rendition of what the world looks like. I did omit a few villages that weren't very major, or that didn't play an integral part in the plot, but I didn't want to cut out too much, either. So there are four towns in the kingdom of Hernystir, seven in Rimmersgard, eleven in Erkynland, one each in Perdruin and Nabban, and the Wran gets two. The remaining "towns" consist of a forest house off by itself (#27), an "inner city" that is actually inside another city in Perdruin (#28), a town of elves which cannot be reached except by a special spell (#29), and a town that can only be accessed though a dungeon (#30). The remaining town is a bit problematic. It's actually supposed to be underground, but I'm having some difficulties making it look realistic. I might end up deleting it, due to memory limitations, and the fact that I'm really disapointed at how it's turning out so far. But the dungeons just don't have enough options to pull it off successfully, either. So, we'll see what happens.

OK, that's more information than you needed, but that's why I need 31 towns.

[Dark Sentry]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Well, that didn't work so well. I deleted 5 towers, two events, and one town, and it only saved me .3%

Well, perhaps it varies depending on unknown factors... I went to a blank database and added/deleted stuff and a field was about 2% and a dungeon was about .5%. I didn't modify anything, just used the defaults. Odd thing was when I deleted the dungeon, it initially freed up .4% of the memory. I've had things I created take more space than that.

[Crimson Knight]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

You'll have to work around the limitations here. Focus on what's really necessary for your game.

The best RPG ever(for garbage contest) had quite a bit of stuff in it, and I think it took less than 40%(am I right Valk?)?

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

Well, perhaps it varies depending on unknown factors... I went to a blank database and added/deleted stuff and a field was about 2% and a dungeon was about .5%. I didn't modify anything, just used the defaults. Odd thing was when I deleted the dungeon, it initially freed up .4% of the memory. I've had things I created take more space than that.

Yeah, I noticed sometimes the space things takes up seems to vary greatly. I can understand why adding a character with a lot of modes would take up quite a bit of space, but sometimes things which appear to have a lot of code don't seem to take up much space at all. And I would have expected the fields to take up more space, given how large they are. Well, whatever. Thanks for your replies anyway. I think I've found a few workarounds.

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

You'll have to work around the limitations here. Focus on what's really necessary for your game.

The best RPG ever(for garbage contest) had quite a bit of stuff in it, and I think it took less than 40%(am I right Valk?)?

Well, my original plans six months ago called for around 50-60 towns, so I did pare it down considerably. Last night I added two street vendors, and the resulting code was big enough that I'm now at 96.6%. I've decided to delete my "inner city" and just go with a slightly smaller city (using just the outer city), which eliminates 1 town, four events, and 20 buildings. I'm hoping that will free up enough space to create the 9 remaining characters, name a few buildings, do the char stats, weapons stats, finish up the monsters and monster parties, finish off a dungeon, and finish up the quests. I think I'll just scrape by. Thanks for the advice.

[Perversion]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

When I was making Series 1, for a good month, I was hovering in the 90-95% range of memory used. I still had many things I wanted to do, so I began to judiciously eliminate things I could. First, if characters only say one thing, without needing any sort of branch or anything, I advise you not to use the event code. Use the box above it (mode, or whatever it's called...the box where you can change how the character walks, their expressions, etc) as it takes less memory. Also, many modes (over 9 or 10 or so) begin to take up massive amounts of memory, as do modes that consistently use 50 lines of code. If possible, have these only during the day (or night, depending on your preference), as that will save you some memory. Having duplicate information for both day and night tend to take up a decent amount, especially if it includes many modes or many lines of code. Trust me, I had the same "blues" for a good month or so, but I found a workaround eventually. Good luck.

[Firsfron]

Re: The 95% Blues - question

When I was making Series 1, for a good month, I was hovering in the 90-95% range of memory used. I still had many things I wanted to do, so I began to judiciously eliminate things I could. First, if characters only say one thing, without needing any sort of branch or anything, I advise you not to use the event code. Use the box above it (mode, or whatever it's called...the box where you can change how the character walks, their expressions, etc) as it takes less memory. Also, many modes (over 9 or 10 or so) begin to take up massive amounts of memory, as do modes that consistently use 50 lines of code. If possible, have these only during the day (or night, depending on your preference), as that will save you some memory. Having duplicate information for both day and night tend to take up a decent amount, especially if it includes many modes or many lines of code. Trust me, I had the same "blues" for a good month or so, but I found a workaround eventually. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice, Perversion. Question: How am I going to not use event codes if I'm using modes? I've been using the event code to add a mode once the NPC says what s/he says.

For example, Townsman 1 says "blah blah blah"
then a mode is added
then he says "hum dee dum"
then a mode is added
then he says "blah dee blah"

I do have one character with 8 modes, but that was really required (he gives most of the instructions at the beginning, and sort of sets up the plot). The rest typically have between 2-4. I don't have any with just one mode, as that seems boring.