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

[Strawberry]

It came with the map, and since then I changed it to a single doorway like the rest the dungeon will have.

[amerk]

I have to say it looks a lot better now. Previously, it looked like the right end was breaking into a separate path, but you couldn't see it. Now this looks a lot more even. The only thing may be it looks too even, so not sure if you can win either way. Maybe if, while the left side dips to the right and the right side to the left, like you have, but the left side seems a bit jagged, like part of the wall became ubalanced, but the right is a bit more smooth, that may look better.

However, in the end it's a map to a game that people will (hopefully) play and enjoy. It looks far more superior than a lot of maps I've seen, so I wouldn't worry too much about the entrance.

[Strawberry]

Randomness. ^^



This is a fuller version of Gylwen's body - an important NPC. Keep in mind, we probably won't be fixing any of the artwork until after the demo is done, because we could be spending a lot of time on the portraits/scene_status pics when that time could be used for something else.

Whatever you tell me now, though - I will tell my fiance for later.

Also, this marks the end of the demo portraits (unless we decide to add the prologue) - which means we can continue on with mapping, eventing, the menu, and the battle system.

I would like it if someone would read over or watch the scenes we do for the demo and give us feedback. I'm afraid of having cheesy dialogue. :|

Thanks for reading!

[Strawberry]

Thanks for the advice, Cait!

Hello!

This project is still kicking. XD

We are recruiting Female Voice Actresses specifically for battles.

The following roles are available:

NARIE TEARWYN:
Voice type:Definately like Rita Mordio from Tales of Vesperia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uomWFdckE7I [0:47]

Audition line 1: "If I were a Deity, I'd be the Goddess of Strength and Beauty!"
Audition line 2: "I can't heal stupidity, there's just no cure for it."

SARIE TEARWYN:
Voice type: The same voice as Narie, but more gentle and higher pitched. You can either attempt to do both, or we'll just have you record in Narie's voice and up the pitch in a program. ^^

Audition line 1: "Please, I mean you no harm."
Audition line 2:"Why, why must we keep fighting?"

RECORDING AND CONTACT INFORMATION:
-Save the lines as "charactername_yourname_linenumber.mp3" (ex: narie_strawberry_01.mp3)
-Send your auditions to cherri-blossom@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading! :3

This post has been edited by Strawberry: Nov 22 2011, 11:41 AM

[Strawberry]

Hello all! I have a simple question to ask of you. Maybe it isn't simple. XD I dunno. Hehe.

Which is better?:

1) Aelina's father is a fearful and powerful Frostsidhe Necromancer inflicted with Vamprism. He treats her horribly and abandoned her as a child in order to continue with his studies of the dead. He lives in the forbidden Northlands with his female assistants, away from civilians and hates to be bothered. He has undead "pets" guarding his laboratory from adventurers. He's scary.

2) Aelina's father is a goofy and comic relief Frostsidhe Necromancer inflicted Vamprism. He merely ignored her as a child and had his current mistress take care of her instead. When she left at the age 16 to travel, something came up and they left for the forbidden Northlands. He talks like a cliche vampire (Count Chocula anyone?).

[Strawberry]

I've decided to use number 2, but NOT making him talk like Count Chocula. That's just... too silly for my tastes.

Now I have -another- question.... Gah...

How would you prefer to upgrade your equipment?

1. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG.

2. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG OR you can synthesis a piece of an equipment with a special effect (like a weapon that inflicts Poison or a piece of armor that guards against Poison).

3. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG OR you can further upgrade that gear into +1 equipment and give it special effects exclusive to that piece of gear (like a +1 Trident inflicts Water damage now, as oppose to a normal Trident).

[Strawberry]

Hello, all!

We have an update to show we are alive.

First a quick sketch of one of the playable characters that will show up right after the demo: Demi Carinae.

[Show/Hide] Demi

Now we have several videos showing what we've done so far.

The WIP of the battle system:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r870led0wls

Beginning scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt2e1P5bdI4

This post has been edited by Strawberry: Jan 7 2012, 06:30 PM

[slimmmeiske2]

The artwork is amazing. Kudos to your fiancé ^^ The mapping and sprites are great too. I'm really looking forward to playing the demo of this. :3

[StarGGundam2]

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".

Noted and fixed. I should check up on these topics more often, I generally let her do all the social work since I barely got time to check this stuff. I would like to clarify though that if I did that map, I would have never made that transition She's still working at it, but she might be able to map like me someday.

What do you guys think of the video? The video program I used made it seem a bit laggy, but I promise the actual game itself runs fast for all the stuff I've put into it.

The artwork is amazing. Kudos to your fiancé ^^ The mapping and sprites are great too. I'm really looking forward to playing the demo of this. :3

Thanks friend. Though I've since improved on a lot of the stuff, the more comments like this I get the more it makes me wanna release some kind of demo soon.

This post has been edited by StarGGundam2: Jan 8 2012, 06:40 PM

[Strawberry]

Hello!

Some minor, but fun updates!

First a side-view portrait of Aelina, which will be used in menus and such; only.



Such as this wordless mockup of our main menu! Hehe.



Then we added a mini-map to battles, so you can tell where your allies are and where the monsters are:



And finally a question. YAY! Anyhoo. I want to change the way dialogue is played out in scenes and when talking to NPC's. The way we have it now is sort of bad, because it looks silly when an non-important character is talking.

So I found some examples on the internet on how we might be able to remedy this. If you have your own idea, please share! ^^

Example 1:


Example 2:


Thanks for reading!

[Shaddow]

Hello!

Some minor, but fun updates!

First a side-view portrait of Aelina, which will be used in menus and such; only.



Such as this wordless mockup of our main menu! Hehe.



Then we added a mini-map to battles, so you can tell where your allies are and where the monsters are:



And finally a question. YAY! Anyhoo. I want to change the way dialogue is played out in scenes and when talking to NPC's. The way we have it now is sort of bad, because it looks silly when an non-important character is talking.

So I found some examples on the internet on how we might be able to remedy this. If you have your own idea, please share! ^^

Example 1:


Example 2:


Thanks for reading!

I've always been a fan of the Lunar games, the way the character dialogue looks is really nice, so that's my recommendation is example 1.

As far as you game goes, it's probably one of the best looking games I've seen in a while. It really inspires me to push the makers to the limits and make a great game too! I have to say that I love Aelina's personality and voice! 'Your body looks so adorable lying there!' that made me giggle for minutes!

The battle system seems really nice too, my only question regarding it, is how do you balance out the attacks? In games like tales or star ocean you have a limited number of times you can attack or a combo that ends giving a slight delay. Is there something like this in your game or is the system itself just built for that?

The maps look amazing, I had forgotten how well a map can look on this maker. Your mapping skills are really good and I can only hope they get better. I agree with everyone above me, the sprites and art are fantastic, it really adds depth to the character that pure dialogue just can't get across.

I really hope you keep up the good work and look forward to a demo!

[StarGGundam2]

Thanks man! I've been around in the RM community for a while now. I don't fault people for having games with side view battle systems and other things that people make, but I just wanna stand out from the rest and not take the easy way out if you know what I mean. There's resources out there that help you make a better game, which is why I'm gonna take this game by the reins and not give up on it.

As for the combo thing, This is gonna be in the game I just haven't gotten around to implement it. It's really quite easy to do in my stand point so there's no chance of it not making it to the demo. Infact, other cool things like overlimit and stuff like that while also play a key role in my battle system, but it might not make it to the demo as the demo will only support up to level 10 anyway.

[Shaddow]

That's always good to hear, a demo is only a partial game anyways so even if it doesn't include everything, it's only there to get a feel for the actual game. You will definitely stand out from the rest, I'm surprised there hasn't been more comments honestly. This game is probably the one I'm looking forward to being finished at the moment, so keep up the good work!

[X-M-O]

I've looked over this topic a few times in the past, but never really had a chance to comment.
I would like to say that the artwork is very clean and refined, and the theme appears to be meticulously planned out. =]

I noticed a few questions that seemingly went unanswered, but hopefully I can put some opinion in here that might be of some use to your game's development.
In relation to the dialogue box location for primary characters versus others, I really liked the idea you guys had to place the primary character's dialogue box at the bottom (as shown here) and the other characters' dialogue box at the top (as shown here).
Brilliant idea, and hopefully it works as well in reality as it does in theory. =]

There was also this question:

[Show/Hide] Equipment Upgrades

How would you prefer to upgrade your equipment?

1. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG.

2. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG OR you can synthesis a piece of an equipment with a special effect (like a weapon that inflicts Poison or a piece of armor that guards against Poison).

3. You go from one town to the other and buy new gear for each party member like any old J-RPG OR you can further upgrade that gear into +1 equipment and give it special effects exclusive to that piece of gear (like a +1 Trident inflicts Water damage now, as oppose to a normal Trident).

I like #3 as an option, and if done correctly it should be practical in the game.
I've seen this feature done incorrectly though, where it was more costly to upgrade things than it was to buy better weapons from the shops.
Just be wary of that.
Also you could make it so that you could find little ingredients and then synthesise these ingredients to make parts that can be upgraded onto your weaponry/armour. But just be sure that it is balanced if you attempt this feature (not too easy to get the ingredients, but not so difficult that buying a new weapon is easier/better).

Also, I like the idea you had for the comic relief vampire father character, lol.
Count Chocula. XD
Is Star going to do the voice for him?

[StarGGundam2]

Thanks for posting! All the more reason why we gotta release a demo soon so you guys can play too I wanna play too as well. It may sound weird but I'm making this game so I can play my own game as well. I kinda put things into the thought process of; "If I wouldn't want to play it, they sure wouldn't either. So if I really wanna play it, they will."

I'm glad you like my comic relief Dad that sounds like Count Chocula, Strawberry's the only one that's doubting this cause she has no sense of humor. But I think it's awesome. Yes, I will be doing the voice, I'm pretty good at altering it and I've been practicing like it's been a part of my balanced breakfast.

Though, I must ask, do I know you from some other site? It seems like you know me. o.o

[X-M-O]

It's possible that you might know me, I've been around the internet since I was very young and I'm going on 22 soon. >:3
(Of course, I've almost always used this username but I also use: Ricochet, Darchangel, and quite a few others; if one of them sounds familiar then it could possibly be me, lol.)

That's great. I do a vampire voice as well, and it freaks my students out when I do it during lecture.
Strawberry has a sense of humour, but perhaps not as pointless/silly as yours or mine.
We tend to laugh at anything, like the word "chuff". Strawberry appears to appreciate more intellectually developed humour.
(I don't mind either way, as I tend to have a weird outlook on life and comparing me to others is equivalent to comparing me to a rock that can't laugh anyway.) XD

[StarGGundam2]

Ahahh! That's how you know so much about me, cause we're alike or maybe Strawberry's been spilling the beans. >.> <.< Chuff.. HAHAHAHA It's like Cuff but with a Huff CHUUU FFFFF. What the heck, that's funny xD.

When rocks laugh, they cause earthquakes!

I'd imagine my Midlyn Rowan and Aelina conversation would go something like this:

Midlyn: Vywhy don't vyuu be a good lilttle girl and leave Daddy to his vwork?
Aelina: Aww, but watching you is so much fun! <3
Midlyn: FFFFFF Get out of here before you're grounded.
Aelina: Fine, I'll leave you alone.
Midlyn: Vwhere did ur SISter Reina go?
Midlyn: Huh?
Aelina: I didn't say anything.

Anyway, back on topic. I think XMO's idea is good. Characters which face portraits get still text box, characters without get it above their head. So there's no confusion.

[X-M-O]

I don't think Strawberry has spilled the beans, lol.

Nice conversation. I can hear myself acting that one out. XD

It was your idea, or Strawberry's, but I liked it so there you go. >:3

[Adrien.]

I do really like how this game is turning out and i do follow its progress. its an inspiration for my game in terms of character development, story and more. I like this game

[Strawberry]

Hey all, it feels like I haven't updated this in forever. D=

We've decided to use number 1 for dialogue with portraits, and number 2 for non-portrait NPCs.

How is progress going?

To be honest - slow. Maybe we're just worn out working on this thing, but we do aim to at least put out a demo to see what everyone thinks. I keep changing the equipment for the characters. Now, they have a chance to wear something heavy, or something light. o.o Of course, boys and girls get separate equipment - because the equipment may give augments that only benefit a certain gender. Sadly, I've been procrastinating getting the females heavy gear done. ;_; I'm a horrible hobbyist. XD

We did do a lot planning for the story, however. Most of it holds spoilers, so I won't discuss them here.

It's not much, but at least you know how Ghost Shards has been coming along. o.o

Here's a picture of the heroine, Aelina with her scythe - drawn by my fiance. <3