Topic: [DEVLOG] Runic Cipher (Read 1144 times)

  • Avatar of Allen Hunter
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I'm not nagging, I just don't want my hard work to be all for nothing. Atleast some more honest C&C's, I'm fine with that.

Also, released version 0.32, just some tweaks from the first demo, but about 15-20 minutes lengthier in gameplay. Click here to download.

\m/NWOBHM lives on\m/


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Why don't you go to www.rpgmaker.net and create a game page.  That way it'll be easier for people to submit reviews for your game.
  • Avatar of Allen Hunter
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I did that already. Currently waiting pending status.

\m/NWOBHM lives on\m/


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  • Avatar of Ocean's Dream
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Try getting a new song for the intro. It's not good or fitting. I would get a better picture too, a color reduced painting doesn't work very well for it. In fact I still don't know what it is supposed to be. The scrolling is fairly fast. I guess reading rates would factor in here. I can read it and wait for new text to appear but it might seem fast to some. You can probably do something else with that part of the intro instead, or have parts of that come up in later dialogues among the characters.

The pause between the guy going tell you that there's a small ship following you is a bit awkward. "Lemme wait a bit and stare at him before alerting him of something that is rather urgent". Too much waits in this cutscene when they dock. There seems to be a bunch of waits in cutscenes in general even when they're not always needed.

You use FF graphics which is fine by me, but FF music as well seems a bit overkill. I didn't mind the overworld music since I like that theme, but the fork forest theme is really unfitting as it's meant for a slums. It's also amusing hearing these FF7 songs for a castle and stuff. I did like the Costa del Sol song for the bar, but mostly that's just because I like the song itself.

Steal takes a while for the message to come up and I always get "couldn't steal". Only once out of the many tries I used it, I got a potion. Really bad risk/reward ratio here. I'm never using it again unless there's an accessory for 100% steal rate.

The skills you get seem pretty useless. I think Poach said that you were supposed to get a relic from the enemy if they're low on HP, but I just used it as an alternative form of attack. Did more damage. Even against weak enemies Snipe doesn't seem to work much, steal didn't work for when I tried it. Maybe a new enemy dying sound that doesn't sound like a monster was killed too.

Beginning enemies hit really hard. You have about 100 HP per character and they do 30+ per hit, even the weakest enemies can hit for over 50 damage.

In the overworld near Sassoon, I got owned by a backattack of 3 poison creatures who used a multi-target poison breath. This is way too hard for the level of the characters.

"This minigame will start after you press confirm" --> You press confirm to pass the text --> You laugh and you lose!
The game seems a bit too hard anyway. It seems like it'd be a fair minigame if you had to just copy the moves, but having to remember to mirror it makes it seem more confusing.

Check the passabilities of the clock tiles. The maps aren't bad, I didn't have much complaints about them. Some maps mimic FF5 very well. I liked looting places. A lot of the barrels and crates have items, some which are pretty good. I question having 200G in an Inn that costs 20G to rest, but I'm not complaining. If there's something I like most about this game, it's treasure seeking.

Might just be entirely random but the damage you do seems like the range is really high if it goes from 40 damage to 130+. I'm almost tempted to think it's just a high critical hit rate, but if not, check your formulas or something.

Actually after you leave the forest and get your 4th party member, it seems enemies are too easy. 1 or 3 Goblins or like 2 eagles, and they'll be killed before they get the chance to attack. The only trouble I had after was when they kept missing and in the boss battle when the boss decided to pull a 200+ damage and blind attack to all.

The thief seems far too strong. While I did equip a power up relic for +5 attack, he does more damage than the knight and attacks twice.

I thought Escape was for letting me run with better chance, not for having the only chance to run in the first place! Not only that, I used it twice in a row and both times failed.

Their attacks miss really often.

Thrust isn't all that great, doing 90+ damage. While it's better than the 40 damage she usually does, the thief has been doing about 230 by normal attacks (combination of the 2 hits).


The relic system as it applies in the game so far:

In the first areas, you can buy elemental inflicts and protects, but nothing right now uses it or is weak/strong against it. That could be left until later, status effect inflicts/protects would be more useful for the early game. You find Poison/Stop protects, but the only enemy that used it in the demo that I saw was one that I would not have those protects available for at that time. Since elemental inflicts/protects are fairly costly (though I did get a few), there's no way of knowing which ones you may need first or what would be the better initial purchase. From what I played, it's so far "none".

There are few commands in the early game which is fine for that point, but my main complaint is that they're nearly all useless except for poach, which I only use for higher damage. Nothing else works reliably to be worth it. I sold Steal command for 125 G and that's more use than I got from the innate steal ability. Until you get magic or commands that are reliable/useful, then this one isn't worth it.

Only 2 supports gained so far so not much here to play with. Not that you even have magic or anything so any support you gain would only really be useful if it's power up or evade, which are the only 2 I got.

Not sure how much of a variety you'd get from the Field command but Sprint shoes are definitely needed.

I read from the post that the characters were supposed to be distinct, but I never felt that from reading the game. They seemed really similar or just didn't say much. From reading the other characters, it seems like you can get rid of the 4 and do something like having Geomancy as an acquireable command, The Mystic Knight can be replaced by the existing inflicts/protects and a command, the Archer and Sniper can be combined as they have the same basic function anyway, and then have the wizard one in there. A Monk (2x hit but low defense and a meditate command), a Knight (Good attack and very high defense with limited powerful sword strikes or possibly healing), a Wizard (Multi-target caster), and an Archer (Long range attack + status effect inflicts(+damage) and highest speed) might provide a bit more of a variation between them and help balance them a little bit more although that'd force them into roles (although it's like that currently anyway). It seems like the commands and stuff are there to provide a little bit more experimentation for the already defined characters rather than to really custom create your characters. I'm mostly just writing up whatever random thing comes to mind though since I'm sleepy.

I actually didn't beat the demo, I rescued the king and it's too late for me to keep playing so I'm leaving it as is. I think it's fairly close to end of demo anyway though I may be wrong.
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  • Avatar of Allen Hunter
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So far, you're the first person to write a long-winded C&C on my game. Because I feel it deserves my attention so much, I'll get back to you later on today. You are making really good points I haven't observed too well, and I will see to it that you'll like the next release much, much more than this current one.

\m/NWOBHM lives on\m/


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That sounds good to me! I forgot to post the other suggestion I had for the minigame: Once you exit the text for it, you can put like a 3 second timer and don't let the character act until the timer goes to 0 which then they start. That way you can avoid any other accidental *whoops I pressed confirm an extra time*.
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  • Avatar of Allen Hunter
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As I promised...
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The scrolling is fairly fast. I guess reading rates would factor in here. I can read it and wait for new text to appear but it might seem fast to some.
I'm a pretty fast reader, I guess that's why it's so sped up. I may just remove that feature for now, and just have it start by skipping to the world map ship moving scene instead.

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The pause between the guy going tell you that there's a small ship following you is a bit awkward. "Lemme wait a bit and stare at him before alerting him of something that is rather urgent". Too much waits in this cutscene when they dock. There seems to be a bunch of waits in cutscenes in general even when they're not always needed.
Yeah, I was in the habit of adding so many Waits there. But I did fix the part where Rick runs down to notify Talon, and their movements are more natural.

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You use FF graphics which is fine by me, but FF music as well seems a bit overkill. I didn't mind the overworld music since I like that theme, but the fork forest theme is really unfitting as it's meant for a slums. It's also amusing hearing these FF7 songs for a castle and stuff. I did like the Costa del Sol song for the bar, but mostly that's just because I like the song itself.
Interesting. I'll probably replace that song on the forest anyway, but this time with songs from other RPG series, not just Final Fantasy.

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Steal takes a while for the message to come up and I always get "couldn't steal". Only once out of the many tries I used it, I got a potion. Really bad risk/reward ratio here. I'm never using it again unless there's an accessory for 100% steal rate.
Actually, I'm making it so you can equip a Support Relic that increases steal success ratio, just like the Thief Gloves accessory in Final Fantasy 5. Regardless, I'm going to change the ratios up so people can easily steal more.

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The skills you get seem pretty useless. I think Poach said that you were supposed to get a relic from the enemy if they're low on HP, but I just used it as an alternative form of attack. Did more damage.
Actually, Poach IS capable of turning enemies into Relics, and I've even tested that. The problem is that I don't know how to make it so even when the character attacks an enemy, they won't be dead by the time they get morphed. What do you think if I have it so when they have 10% HP or less remaining, I quickly restore their health to full and then they automatically become Relics? Battle Triggers are a pain.

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Even against weak enemies Snipe doesn't seem to work much
Snipe doesn't actually do damage. Instead, Knee Shot just has a chance of paralyzing enemies, and Tranquilizer has a chance of putting enemies to sleep. Think Mustadio from Final Fantasy Tactics, and you'll understand.

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Beginning enemies hit really hard. You have about 100 HP per character and they do 30+ per hit, even the weakest enemies can hit for over 50 damage.
Some people found that forest to be pretty hard, some found it laughably easy. But I dunno, I guess I'll strengthen Veronica's HPs. I usually keep her in the back row for backup.

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In the overworld near Sassoon, I got owned by a backattack of 3 poison creatures who used a multi-target poison breath. This is way too hard for the level of the characters.
I'll have Poison Breath cause less damage, then.

Quote
"This minigame will start after you press confirm" --> You press confirm to pass the text --> You laugh and you lose!
The game seems a bit too hard anyway. It seems like it'd be a fair minigame if you had to just copy the moves, but having to remember to mirror it makes it seem more confusing.
The mirror thing only applies to if the model faces up or down, you face the opposite of that. And I will give time before you prepare to start playing.

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Check the passabilities of the clock tiles.
FF5 did the same thing.

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The maps aren't bad, I didn't have much complaints about them. Some maps mimic FF5 very well. I liked looting places. A lot of the barrels and crates have items, some which are pretty good. I question having 200G in an Inn that costs 20G to rest, but I'm not complaining. If there's something I like most about this game, it's treasure seeking.
Hehe, thanks! Mapping is pretty much my best talent with RPG Maker, and it shows. And I like to put plenty of treasures for gamers to search around, instead of just collecting treasure chests.

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Might just be entirely random but the damage you do seems like the range is really high if it goes from 40 damage to 130+. I'm almost tempted to think it's just a high critical hit rate, but if not, check your formulas or something.
That's just how it is. But I have reduced the (hero) critical attack ratios.

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Actually after you leave the forest and get your 4th party member, it seems enemies are too easy. 1 or 3 Goblins or like 2 eagles, and they'll be killed before they get the chance to attack. The only trouble I had after was when they kept missing and in the boss battle when the boss decided to pull a 200+ damage and blind attack to all.
I'll make it more challenging on that part, then. I too have noticed how ridiculously easy the demo gets once you have Isabella and Talon attacking like mad. Also, there is a way to avoid that special 200+ damage + blind + poison multi-target attack from ever being used in that battle while Zalgo is still there.

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The thief seems far too strong. While I did equip a power up relic for +5 attack, he does more damage than the knight and attacks twice.
That'll change. :)

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I thought Escape was for letting me run with better chance, not for having the only chance to run in the first place! Not only that, I used it twice in a row and both times failed.
While I liked Gauge for the faceset displays, the reason why I did not choose it was because I didn't like seeing the character command menu raised up, completely covering the enemies. I always liked seeing the windows on the bottom. And the reason why I didn't choose Alternative was because the ATB gauge was transparent, with the MP ##/## covering it.

Anyways, Escape does give you a chance to either go or not go.You can always de-equip that Relic off of Talon and strap it on Veronica, since Talon is a great physical attacker instead.

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Their attacks miss really often. Thrust isn't all that great, doing 90+ damage. While it's better than the 40 damage she usually does, the thief has been doing about 230 by normal attacks (combination of the 2 hits).
Fixed, and fixed. Her swordskills will become even more useful this time around.

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In the first areas, you can buy elemental inflicts and protects, but nothing right now uses it or is weak/strong against it. That could be left until later, status effect inflicts/protects would be more useful for the early game. You find Poison/Stop protects, but the only enemy that used it in the demo that I saw was one that I would not have those protects available for at that time. Since elemental inflicts/protects are fairly costly (though I did get a few), there's no way of knowing which ones you may need first or what would be the better initial purchase. From what I played, it's so far "none".
I'll be sure to add more enemies related to those Relics.

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There are few commands in the early game which is fine for that point, but my main complaint is that they're nearly all useless except for poach, which I only use for higher damage.
I've used Poach, but never realized that it was actually much stronger. Poach is basically attacking, but you can receive Relics with them. I'm certain I can weaken that command so Rick and others wouldn't forget about the precious Attack command.

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Only 2 supports gained so far so not much here to play with. Not that you even have magic or anything so any support you gain would only really be useful if it's power up or evade, which are the only 2 I got.
There is a third one in the demo. By mistake, I had Double Cut Relic as a Command equip, not Support. It's been changed eversince, though. Don't worry.

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Not sure how much of a variety you'd get from the Field command but Sprint shoes are definitely needed.
I am still working on the code for Sprint Shoes. And not to worry, you'll start to receive some Field Relics soon.

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From reading the other characters, it seems like you can get rid of the 4 and do something like having Geomancy as an acquireable command, The Mystic Knight can be replaced by the existing inflicts/protects and a command, the Archer and Sniper can be combined as they have the same basic function anyway, and then have the wizard one in there. A Monk (2x hit but low defense and a meditate command), a Knight (Good attack and very high defense with limited powerful sword strikes or possibly healing), a Wizard (Multi-target caster), and an Archer (Long range attack + status effect inflicts(+damage) and highest speed) might provide a bit more of a variation between them and help balance them a little bit more although that'd force them into roles (although it's like that currently anyway).
That may be something I can pull off. I'll re-read this paragraph again some other time whenever I work with the character setup. The Mystic Knight isn't like the one from FF5, you'll have to use the skill every time, regardless if the same skill or not. And I'll have it so both Isabella and Zafar can equip each others' own Command Relics, so they can both become mighty warriors alike.

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It seems like the commands and stuff are there to provide a little bit more experimentation for the already defined characters rather than to really custom create your characters.
That's pretty much it. I just kinda wanted to pre-select some things for the players, but then it's their choice to add any more to the characters. Atleast, if you wanted an initial equipment challenge, you could just do without Relics. You'll have all of their special commands intact.

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I'm mostly just writing up whatever random thing comes to mind though since I'm sleepy.
Lol, your grammar/spelling was not bad for someone who's sleepy. I'm about the same, but I don't usually type that much with correct grammar/spelling when I'm nearly asleep.

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I actually didn't beat the demo, I rescued the king and it's too late for me to keep playing so I'm leaving it as is. I think it's fairly close to end of demo anyway though I may be wrong.
You're close to beating the demo.

Anyways, that's all I gotta say in my response to your C&C. Once again, I appreciate what your concerns may be, and this will definitely help improve my game. I will be releasing the demo again sometime later this month, or around November, and you'll get to notice any such changes that I have promised I would.
Last Edit: October 17, 2009, 08:53:22 pm by Allen Hunter

\m/NWOBHM lives on\m/


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