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Rincar: My RM 1 project

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    Rincar: My RM 1 project

    This is the game I'm working right now
    Demo release date: Out Now! *Check my sig)
    Full game release date: Sometime in 2009
    Memory cards: Possibly 3

    Bill is a man who would be an average Joe in a normal world. But in a normal world, an average Joe doesn't have one of many possible abilities, like throwing fireballs, teleporting, super vision/speed/strength, morphing, call down lighting, shoot beams of light, talking to animals, summon goblins, talking telephatically, or.. well, you get the idea. He is the only one who can't do any of that.

    But in a seemingly random event, Bill enters the realm of one of the four great Rincars, who grants him his powers. Now Bill must find out more about his task (finding three medallions) if he wants to save part of the world of Koralia

    Inspiration:

    One of my favorite RPGs is Suikoden, and I definitely like how many characters that series have. And I also liked how in Radiata Stories, there was this big town where you could see that each character had their daily routines. And you could also challenge them to a fight and convince them to join you.
    I originally planned to make this game in RM 3, where you would HAVE to fight every citizen to advance the story.
    And the whole, people with super powers might remind some of Heroes. And while I like that series, I didn't even know what Heroes was about when I start developing this game idea.

    Some features:

    Collect books read about (play as) other citizens as they embark on their own crazy adventures, and get access to new areas.

    In order to get stronger, you must get to know your neighbors, as keeping them happy will earn you rewards, like better armor and weapons (which can't be bought)

    Passive/Rush Mode (Temporary name)
    Passive mode is basically your normal dungeon exploring and puzzle solving
    Rush mode is like a mix of a cut scene interrupted by several battles, ending in a boss fight. Usually there's no break to save and heal after you enter rush mode.

    Puzzle solving
    Instead of gaining items that will help you on your puzzle solving, you will have to get help from your neighbors to do so.
    Example, initially, to hit switches from afar, Bill has to throw his wife's cat to hit it, and then find a way to get the cat back. Certain neighbors can break rocks or lift heavy objects, while others can lit torches with their fire abilities.

    The field map:

    It’ll be “Zelda style” to incorporate the use of the citizens abilities to clear paths in the field to get access to more areas.

    The battles:
    There won’t be random battles, to fight, you must touch an enemy
    Character development:
    Every character will have it’s spotlight in the game, either by being an important story character, or as a "tool" to solve puzzles or clear paths.


    Side Quest and Mini games:
    One of the aspects of this game is collecting books, which will allow you to play optional dungeons with other characters. After clearing it, Bill might then gain access to that dungeon, or learn of the location of a special item, or maybe give you the chance of adding that character to your team.
    Mini games will put your neighbors abilities to good use.

    HP, SP, and attacks
    I also wanted to give battles a “Zelda style” but still turned based, so there aren’t level ups in the game.
    Each character has between 30 and 60 HP (think each 10 HP as a heart) and can be raised by finding certain items (No, it won’t be collecting 4 heart pieces)
    Attack and defense stats are also set. Attack will vary among characters but defense will be the same (with exception of one or two characters who can “nullify” some damage)
    Magic will come in two forms, Source and Use HP
    With Source, you’ll be able to use offensive and support magic, at the cost of Source Points. Each magic will cost 1-2 SP and characters will start between 4 and 8 SP
    Offensive magic can be used with the Use HP option. For every SP that the magic use, it will drain 10 HP instead. (For those feeling lucky, desperate, or plainly stingy with the Sp recovering items)

    Intro of the game.
    This was done like, half a year ago. The annoying beep is gone and so are the most obvious typos like grampa, (Is "English is not my native language" a good excuse? Because it's not my native language) But it'll do for now.
    Last edited by Guarionex; 01-10-2009, 03:26 PM. Reason: Added new content

    #2
    Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

    I spent quite a few hours playtesting, and everything is working just fine. While not demo worthy, I'm willing to send my game file via e-mail anyone who is interested in seeing what I have done so far, in hopes of getting some feedback on what could I change or improve. Just PM me if you are interested. (It's only 14 blocks, so only 1 MC is necessary)

    Update
    System wise: The second main dungeon is already built. I need to make the "field map" that will lead to it, tho.
    I need to start thinking on the first optional dungeon (I have the theme for it. I just need to... well built it in an unique way)

    Scenario wise: I have already work on almost everything that will (or can) happen before you go to the second dungeon. I need to start setting up the events that will link the rooms of the second dungeon and make the puzzles work.

    Changes so far:
    Decided against house customization

    Weapons and armor (and accessories) cannot by bought. In order to get stronger weapons, you must meet certain conditions that will allow you to trade (or upgrade) your weapon/armor for a stronger one.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

      Man, you're making me want to get back into RM1 again. I like what you've got so far, especially the use of NPC's to help solve puzzles. That automatically adds interest to solving those puzzles, because you're dealing with people. I like Suikoden too, and that's one of the main reasons why I do.

      I also like the optional dungeon idea.

      Why did you scrap the customizable house thing?

      Oh yeah, and are you making all custom sprites, or some of them, or none?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

        I'm just using regular sprites (well, except for one that's on anime maker)
        But I'm not discarding the possibility of using some more.

        To be honest I scrapped the house customization idea because I was kind bummed out at seeing beds weren't one of the objects that could be set as events.
        Also, the hero's house is kind of small. I'll have to rework on his house, so there could be room for customization. And the poor town has been torn apart and rebuilt so many times that I decided I'll focus on other things (like building other dungeons and fields) before laying my hand of wrath on Porico (the town) again.

        About the optional dungeons, their main purpose is to see the point of view from other characters, so the player will end up playing that dungeon with a character other than the hero. Doing so may allow you to add said character to your own party eventually.
        The thing I'm considering is if I should allow the main party to access these dungeons after clearing it the first time, but taking a different path inside it, to keep it fresh.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

          Progress
          Had a little problem setting up the events for the second dungeon, but all the switches that will make the puzzles work are properly set up (Also did a test run to verify how would they work if I did things in a way I didn't expect someone to do it)
          My "24 switches estimate" for that dungeon was a bit of tho, I ended up using like 55. But I'm happy with the result so far.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

            Progress
            I went back to what I previously had, and decided to add a bit more life to it. Since I want to focus on character interaction, I added more conversation to some dungeon parts, which would also help making clear the objective of the dungeon. Thanks to that I'm already on my tenth block of scenario data.

            I also had a big map with, like 9 houses interiors in it, so I ended up giving each house a separate map and my system data usage dropped a couple of thousand bits Laughing

            Anyway, right now I'm working on Rush mode's battle scene, but I'm not too sure of how to make it and keep it original, since this is the fourth active cut scene in the game. I have an idea of what I want to do, tho.

            On another note, I'd like to use a couple of custom sprites for my game. I figure it'd be better that I take care of that now instead of later (Since I'll have to backtrack quite a bit to change some sprites, if I decide to switch now)
            Last edited by Guarionex; 03-31-2008, 11:14 PM.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

              Progress
              System wise:
              Compared to scenario data, I've fallen behind in this area. I need to start creating monsters I haven't made to many changes. But I did add a mini dungeon (optional)


              Sceneario wise:
              I'm already on my tenth block. The events that lead to the end of the second main dungeon are already in place. I also finished adding the optional mini dungeon.
              I wanted the optional dungeon to be longer initially, but I think that at this point, it might distract too much the player from the main objective. But at the same time I thought it was necessary to add the dungeon so it would explain some things that would set up for some other optional quests

              Things to do so far:
              Set up monsters for the second dungeon
              Add some treasure events and other small details to above dungeon.
              Obviously, test and balance monster encounters for said dungeon.

              First scenario is coming to an en end! I'm hoping I can speed up the storyline a bit, and try to make citizens inter actuation a more vital part.
              Depending on how things go (in my mind) the game may cover 1 or 2 additional scenarios.
              But then again, I thought I wouldn't even had to use a second scenario data when I started making the game, so who knows?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                Progress
                I finally added the monsters for the second dungeon, so I'm almost done with it. I finally understood how is damage calculated, so battle testing was far easier. And I just hit my 11th scenario data block

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                  Progress
                  I'm kind of stuck. There's this big event I want to put, but I'm trying to look for the best way to approach it.
                  I decided to tweak some things while that strike of genius... strikes.
                  Anyway, there were a couple of things I was worried about, and was unsure if I should tweak them a bit to make them easier. The preview was very helpful in that area so...

                  -Did some very necessary balancing in half the battles I've set up so far. Monsters have less HP and hit a bit less harder. This didn't take too long since I finally know how damage is calculated.

                  -I also tweaked some of the the magic attacks. Character's magic deal a bit more damage. And it does a big difference this early in the game.
                  -Now you can't die in the intro dungeon. I realized I made it a bit too hard for an introductory dungeon, so in addition to rebalanced monsters, I took an unnecessary pressure of that particular dungeon

                  -Made the main objectives clearer. I initially wanted the player to have to fully explore the town. Story wise, they won't have too. But they can get weapon/armor upgrades and other items if they do.
                  There's a phone (Or Talking Message Box )on the game that allows you to remove party members. I add the option to hear messages. This might hint to some of the side quests, or tell you where to go next
                  Also, most of the houses have a sign with their residents name. So navigating the town is easier.

                  -Did a few changes to the first main dungeon. The animal I think is easiest to miss is still in the same spot, but I added a mini event that helps not missing it. Also noticed one of the events lead to the wrong room, so I fixed that too.

                  -Redid the currency. Instead of Stones (Don't ask me why Stones. I just wanted Gold out) I switched it to Tokens. Yes, Tokens.
                  Monsters will drop only a few of them, with which you'll be able to buy food (restorative items)

                  Things I want to Do:
                  Expanding the deal with tokens
                  I was thinking of charging the player like 20 tokens to recover to full HP after losing a fight, and 30 to recover HP and SP(MP) to either continue the fight or appear at the beginning of the dungeon with all earned exp.
                  And maybe adding the option to flee before entering a battle (since all of them are event battles, you can't run from them) at the cost of some tokens.

                  Custom Sprites:
                  I'd really like to try some custom sprites for some characters, but I SUCK BADLY at anime maker. I'm still going to give it a try before running back crying for help.
                  I'll possibly just tweak a few of the default ones to get something closer to what I want.


                  Hmm.. this sounds like I did a lot of work today... odd...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                    Progress None
                    I am feeling SO unmotivated to even touch the Playstation right now. But I'll force myself to even touch it. Maybe once I give that first step, everything else will go better.
                    I'll probably end up redoing a bit of latest portion of the story I made. That might help me pick up interest. And working on the "Pay to Flee" system. I don't think it would be hard to code. But the though of readjust all the battle events that have been put already to fit the new system is just "Ugh"

                    On a side note: (and according to wikipedia)
                    Ugh is an onomatopoeiac representation of an aspirated sigh or gasp, used as an interjection to express repugnance, annoyance, aggravation, irritation, disgust, boredom or horror.

                    Other forms of the word include urgh, ungh and ergh.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                      Progress
                      Being away from the game for so long. I took some time to get familiar with what I have done already. Play testing here, fixing error there. It was quite fun, until I got to the part that I haven't play tested before. It really needs some rebalancing.
                      Other than that, I've changed some dialog, so it can reflect the changes I made to the story, created the help center for the first portion of the game.
                      Next on list, create a mini dungeon, and set up the battles for a side quests. After that I'll rebalance the fights for the 3rd dungeon so I can start with the new stuff.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                        A progress is me!
                        I just finished Test Play and I'm happy to say that all the battles are finally rebalanced.
                        Play Time took about 2 hours, and that was me going straight were I had to go, taking only what I needed, so I guess it should be higher for another person who hasn't played it before.
                        Now I'll be able to continue with the new stuff, I think I have enough space to finish my first scenario card with a last dungeon and a very flashy cutscene. At least that's what I'm aiming for.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                          Progress(?)
                          I spent most of the day setting up a cut scene that would lead to the final part of the first scenario card.
                          Hours modifying events, and duplicating the town (I reached the max event limit, so I needed a town with less events) but I'm done with that bit.

                          Now I will take it down since I thought of a better way of doing it without the extra town. There goes my plan of finishing it before Christmas. Yay!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                            i hate when that happens. you wish your brain was working sooner so you wouldnt of spent all that time doing something you wouldnt even end up using.

                            Thank you Ωbright for the sig fix!
                            Card Three is released! You can find it here!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Rincar: My RM 1 project

                              Yeah, it really sucks. What made me discard the idea is that I just ran out of events, and had to limit myself to a toned down "puzzle" and I didn't like that.
                              Even replicating the town so I could removed past events didn't help, as the town has tons of decorating events that I don't want to remove.
                              And I really wanted to finish it before Christmas, so I'm kind of struggling with leaving the toned down puzzle or just thinking of something else, and take a few extra days.

                              Comment

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