Ghost Shards, Death does not always mean the end... Options

[Strawberry]

Oh dear - I better not disappoint you. D=

Now I must try harder. ^^

[amerk]

This sounds like a pretty heavy project, one that will take a lot of time and thought. The story sounds interesting enough, and the mapping looks well planned. The one area that may need to be fixed is in the first screenshot with the small upper bedroom. The chest looks awkward, as if it should be further up against the wall, and it doesn't seem right that it sits in front of the window like that. My suggestion would be to extend the bedroom to the right a little ways so that the chest can sit against the wall next to the window.

You have some interesting features planned. The day/night cycle seems a bit more refreshed with weather related events. Being that there is a focus emphasized on the seasons, will the seasons gradually change, thus impacting the weather, is it just one season that the game will take place in, or perhaps the seasons are out of wack? Is the weather on a semi-random cycle in rhythm with the day and night? And will the weather impact areas in the game like the day/night cycle probably will? It seems quite interesting, but at the same time seems like a lot for anybody to pay attention to or keep up with.

The sleep bar sounds similar the fatigue system some games are using, but again I'm curious to how this will impact the game. When they fall into this deep sleep, are they in danger of enemies? Is there a way to snap them out of this, or is it just a manner of waiting it out? And is health restored while in deep sleep like it generally is when staying at an inn?

If not already done, you might consider adding some sort of item similar to a caffeine pill that will restore some of the person's ability. That way, for long dungeons where a person may threaten to fall asleep, the player could stock up on these items to help them get through the dungeon with less risk.

[StarGGundam2]

This sounds like a pretty heavy project, one that will take a lot of time and thought. The story sounds interesting enough, and the mapping looks well planned. The one area that may need to be fixed is in the first screenshot with the small upper bedroom. The chest looks awkward, as if it should be further up against the wall, and it doesn't seem right that it sits in front of the window like that. My suggestion would be to extend the bedroom to the right a little ways so that the chest can sit against the wall next to the window.

Strawberry said she fixed it, I thought it looked silly too.

You have some interesting features planned. The day/night cycle seems a bit more refreshed with weather related events. Being that there is a focus emphasized on the seasons, will the seasons gradually change, thus impacting the weather, is it just one season that the game will take place in, or perhaps the seasons are out of wack? Is the weather on a semi-random cycle in rhythm with the day and night? And will the weather impact areas in the game like the day/night cycle probably will? It seems quite interesting, but at the same time seems like a lot for anybody to pay attention to or keep up with.

Well. Weather does affect the story greatly and impacts everything and also will have an impact on the strengths of abilities associated with those elements, but as far as having actual seasons, they don't. This planet doesn't have a tilt, therefore seasons don't occur. But various areas need different environment changes to have crop seasons and such, that's why they awaken divinities. Day/Night cycle has a planned feature where NPCs are doing different things at different times of the day. And certain shops close.

The sleep bar sounds similar the fatigue system some games are using, but again I'm curious to how this will impact the game. When they fall into this deep sleep, are they in danger of enemies? Is there a way to snap them out of this, or is it just a manner of waiting it out? And is health restored while in deep sleep like it generally is when staying at an inn?

Sleep bar is a pending idea, not certain if I wanna keep it. Especially since it can be rather annoying to people who don't prefer it. Maybe a hardcore mode like Fallout New Vegas could be included, or otherwise this might be scraped due to the impracticability

If not already done, you might consider adding some sort of item similar to a caffeine pill that will restore some of the person's ability. That way, for long dungeons where a person may threaten to fall asleep, the player could stock up on these items to help them get through the dungeon with less risk.

If it's feature we'll keep, we'll definitely create items like that to prolong your sleep deprivation.

The "rule" stating that you need the same number of males and females is really arbitrary and way too trivial to worry about it. Do what makes the more sense in relation to your story.
Also, don't listen to Star, a charismatic male lead can certainly bring the girls to the barn. He just wants you to design a lot of heroines so he can draw hentai of them later.

Ack you caught me.

Strawberry Flower eh.. Can't believe I gave up on that game.

This post has been edited by StarGGundam2: Jul 20 2011, 03:08 PM

[amerk]

Thanks, Star. I actually think the sleep idea would add a sort of challenge that could make the game insteresting if implemented right. For example, if the battles are random, falling asleep on the map would be useless and offer no immediate danger other than to annoy the player for having to wait for them to wake up. But if the it's an active battle system (rather than random and/or turn-based) a sleeping character would create a tense situation if enemies are around.

Another idea is rather than having a person fall asleep, a tired person would just slowly lose stanima for strength, defense, intelligence, and agility. To make it easier, these areas of stamina would drop or raise the same amounts at the same time.

So basically when the sleep bar is full, then strength, defense, intelligence, and agility are 100% of the total character stats. When the bar is 3/4 full they are 90%. At 1/2 full they are 75%. At 1/4 full 60%. And when empty, then strength, defense, intelligence, and agility would be 50% of the characters total stats (the maximum it can drop to).

[Strawberry]

We are still considering the sleep bar, but if it becomes implemented, it probably won't appear in the demo. XD

It's a simple, small update, but here are some portraits/pixel art of Aelina for speaking scenes.

[Zinx10]

We are still considering the sleep bar, but if it becomes implemented, it probably won't appear in the demo. XD

It's a simple, small update, but here are some portraits/pixel art of Aelina for speaking scenes.

Nice art.
So wait, does star do the art?

[Strawberry]

Yes he does - he's much, MUCH better at art than I am. Haha.

I forgot to show what it looks like, in-game. o.o

[Kazuma35]

It looks very nice and charming overall. I'm looking forward to this game.

[Strawberry]

Hehe, thanks.

Another small update to show we're still kicking.

Full body art of Narie - the second character to join the party:
(My fiance wants to know what everyone thinks of the feathers)


Lastly a userbar to post in your signature!

CODE

[url="http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51536"][img]http://bb.xieke.com/files/GhostShardsUserbar.png[/img][/url]

[Sunflower]

My gosh I love pixel art so much.
She looks fine(the feathers seem like they have a couple unecessary pixels but they're fine) and... correct me If I'm wrong but is she wearing glasses? Because if she is then <3

[Strawberry]

Hehe. XD My fiance might take out the feathers, I don't know. O_oa

Yes, she is wearing glasses. ^^ He wanted a girl in glasses and BAM we got one. XD

[Strawberry]

This isn't really an update, but more for opinions. o.o

1. My fiance wants the player to climb Ashe's Core (which is a frozen, inactive volcano), and descend lower towards the base of the mountain to reach the shrine. Does this make sense to you?

2. I was thinking of slightly altering the default RTP sprites - mainly their eyes. Just to spice things up a bit, because it would take us AGES to do any custom graphics. >< So using the image below, which edit to the sprite is your favorite? Any other suggestions are welcomed!



Feedback is still appreciated!

This post has been edited by Strawberry: Aug 10 2011, 10:18 AM

[Axerax]

I would say a mix of the top right and bottom left would be a good combo.

[Adrien.]

Yes he does - he's much, MUCH better at art than I am. Haha.

I forgot to show what it looks like, in-game. o.o

For one line text you should find a way to make the boxes smaller - the text box box is too large and covers people, events and objets. Even though its see through it just looks bad

[Strawberry]

I could fit the text to each word if I wanted to, but I kind of wanted a consistent text box, rather one that goes goes above every person's head. Let me try keeping it in the same area or shrinking it at least. I'll toy around with it and post the results here and see which one works better. ^^

Also, I've decided not to change the eyes, since I've got too many differing opinions. So just, yeah.

Give me feedback on other things, too. *coughstorycharacterscough*

EDIT:

Are these any better?





This post has been edited by Strawberry: Aug 11 2011, 10:05 AM

[Adrien.]

Keep it down by the character face.

This post has been edited by Adrien.: Aug 11 2011, 10:08 AM

[Strawberry]

Okies, I'll be keeping the first one. It's smaller and not as distracting. ^^ Thanks!

Here is a map of the only dungeon playable in demo - Ashe's Core:

[Adrien.]

the bottom of the "tunnel" or "entrance" near the top. - the bottom corners are far to rounded and thus make it looks like it doesn't belong. You should flatten them out and make them square. - Good map though

[Kread-EX]

No, no they're not. The only problem there is with those "corners", as you call them, is that the one to the right of the statue has a bad transition with the wall. Other than that, they aren't "too rounded".

[Adrien.]

it doesnt look like it belongs it looks like it was just "put there" or "out on top the wall" it doesnt look natural at all