After my last post on the subject about HP and MP being packed too tightly at the bottom of the UI, I went ahead and increased the height of the actor status window by 20 pixels and separated them HP and MP into two separate rows. I don't think there was another fix that made sense practically, tbh. Curious what you all think about the change.
I want players to be able to select skills they don't currently have the mana for so they can use them as long as they have the mana before their turn in battle but for the skill to fail if they don't have the mana at the time of casting. Is this possible?
I'd like to create a revive spell that can target living and dead party members.
So far, the only solution I've been able to think up is that the revive targets the user and then the skill itself runs a common event that shows a list of the names of all the in battle party members.
You can choose one to revive and then the common event forces the battler to cast the revive spell on theat party member but that seems like a janky solution to the problem.
Maybe on target select the skill could store the actor ID of the party member targeted and a plugin could force the user to use the revival spell on the party member with that actor ID?
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated on how I could structure this.
After my last post, I've gone ahead and reworked the battle UI once again. I've moved the name up as close to the border of the battle window as I could, moved up the selected attack box, moved the HP and MP text down as close as the engine would allow and the states box.
I had to fight for every single pixel (the margin for everything is 0-2 pixels), but I think I've managed to fit everything in a way looks clean. Looking for any feedback before I continue working on something else.
Screen capture - 362149dc958632b750b0309758ecc782 - Gyazo
Screenshot - 7433c1f59e9a695874ddc0880223c409 - Gyazo
The video is how the old Battle Scene UI used to look and the screenshot is how the new Battle Scene UI looks. I'm wondering what you all think of the changes? I might re-add the Max HP and Max MP, but I think the new version uses all of the space better and is a lot less cluttered. What all do you guys think?
I would like to change the Y of the player party's names so that their higher in the battle interface. Does anyone know which bit of code specifically is responsible for the positioning of the names so I can change the Y and move them up above the character's faces? The yellow dot is roughly where I'd like to move them to.
My team and I are approaching the point where we'd like to create a Steam page with a demo.
But this is my first time creating a Steam page for a game. If people more experienced in this could offer some advice, it would be greatly appreciated!
What all art do we need? What priority should we place on creating that art? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Like the title says, I'd like for BGM to continue playing during random encounters to make them feel less like interruptions: bosses will have unique themes that play for them. What are my options for having the map's BGM continue to play without interruption during random encounters?
Agreed to swap playtests with a game dev (won't aay who): they claimed they recorded a playtest, then asked how far I was in their game.
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I told them the truth: I was knee-deep in UI work and it slipped my mind, but I got to playing their game 5 minutes later.
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1 hour recorded playtest, several thousand character feedback in text because I don't have a mic, a dozen screenshots, etc. found multiple bugs and design flaws, then afterwards they ghost.
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It's really pathetic people will scam like this and I just don't want to deal with it anymore. Is there a way of swapping playtests where both parties can be held accountable for breaking their end of the bargain?
Is difficulty something that matters to you in a JRPG? Do you care if a game is too easy? At what point would a game be too hard for you to continue?
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I've always enjoyed doing challenge runs like No Sphere Grid in FFX, nuzlockes in pokemon, etc. but I'm starting to think I'm in the minority on this.
Hello! I'm the Game Designer, Lead Programmer, and Lead Writer for a classic-inspired, turn-based RPG called Queen of the Dead!
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Our project is built around an in-depth gathering and crafting system, as well as challenging, tactical combat!
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We're seeking a generalist 2D digital artist that could help us with enemy design, title screen, and/or Steam promotional material.
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The game is heavily inspired by Old School RuneScape, Final Fantasy 4-10, and Pokemon. If you have any questions or this sounds like a project you'd like to be a part of, please post below or DM me for additional details.
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This is the link to our itch.io page https://italia2022.itch.io/queen-of-the-dead
Crafting is an essential part of my game: not knowing how to craft items will hard gatekeep you on clearing a lot of content, as that content is balanced around 1. the existence of those crafted items and 2. using those crafted items in battle. This might set a lot of players up for failure.
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There's also some character building that's baked into the tutorial that a lot of people have responded favorably to.
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That being said, removing the crafting tutorial would cut the length of the tutorial in half and get people actually playing the game faster and the crafting tutorial, theoretically, could be nested inside the crafting UI which is easily accessible from the menu.
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I'm genuinely not sure what I should do about this: I'm curious what other people think on the matter.
I would like to upload a playable web version, but my project is well over the file limit. What are some good places for me to upload the game to that people will trust as opposed to a random .exe on itch?
So, many playtesters have described my game's strongest element as the boss battles and the strategy required to overcome them. The enemy design and music have also been highlighted as strengths of the game.
But it's a turn based RPG with a limited budget, so I'm inclined to think that actual players discussing their thought process as they're strategizing what they're going to do for the next turn while a good-looking boss with a banger soundtrack is playing might be my game's best way of emphasizing its' strong point is my best trailer.
I'm somewhat worried that a lot of people will just scroll past, though. There's, as we all know, a lot of garbage mobile games who use a similar strategy to this.: so I'm conflicted.
Is this a viable format for the trailer of an actual game or am I cooked because I would be borrowing a trailer format that many gamers have become accustomed to disregarding off the bat?
Is there a way to globally center all the text in text boxes? Some section of the YEP_MessageCore or something? The more I work with it, the less I like left aligned text.
Is there a way to prevent the engine from drawing the Luck parameter? I have no intention of using Luck anywhere in my project, so I'd like to hide this if I can.
I'm thinking about adding a short quest to the starting area that will give the player access to a crafted consumable item that will temporarily disable random encounters. I'm not sure how long the effect should last, though.
My current thinking is this effect should last 2-5 minutes, but I'm not sure where in that range is optimal. What do you think?
Hello! We've got a lot of updates to the game that make the game a lot more intuitive, fun, and easy to play! You can find the newest version of the game at Queen of the Dead by italia2022
Alpha Slime Combat Tasks Completed!
We've got the core Combat Tasks added into the game! Though we might add one or two in the future, the core of the Combat Tasks are completed! The requirements for completing them are as follows:
Party Pooper: Defeat the Alpha Slime without using Life of the Party.
Life of the Party is the skill the whole game's combat system is balanced around, so of course there's a challenge to defeating the Alpha Slime without using it! It's a tough one, but my personal favorite and I think it will be your favorite, too!
There's Poison On Your Face: Defeat the Alpha Slime without cleansing poison (including Knockout).
The Alpha Slime's area-of-effect doubles its' Magic Attack calculation against poisoned enemies, so completing this Combat Task will challenge your ability to survive under overwhelming pressure from the enemy and come out on top!
Tick Perfect: Defeat the Alpha Slime without taking damage from poison.
Naturally, we also have a Combat Task for not taking damage from poison when the majority of its' attacks inflict poison. Can you find a line that prevents taking poison damage when you'll be getting poisoned more often than not?!
You Must Not Bounce On It: Defeat the Alpha Slime without taking damage from Bounce.
The Alpha Slime's other signature attack, Bounce, will see it jump up into the air and slam one member of your party very hard. But you don't want that, do you?! See if you can find a line that prevents the Alpha Slime from bouncing on you crazy style.
Crafted Item and Buff Changes
We've overhauled the majority of crafted items to remove bugs and make them more intuitive. The changes are as follows:
Attack, Defense, Magic Attack, Magic Defense, and Agility Potions will now grant +2 to their respective stats and expire at the end of the turn. This helps us get around how janky RPGMV's default "Remove After X Steps" can be and brings them more in line with the other crafted items in the game that expire either at the end of turn or end of battle. It also makes them potentially better than they were before, as you can start the battle with more stats, which can be incredibly useful: especially for defenses and Agility and use them in soups for Life of the Party to give you bigger rewards.
Elemental Foods Now Give 25% Chance to Hit Twice
Another feature that proved very difficult to implement was flat elemental damage. These foods now give a % chance to hit twice with attacks of the corresponding element instead of flat damage, which makes them a little risky but a risk worth taking! These foods will also scale better than flat elemental damage, so the farther into the game you get the better they'll be!
Alcoholic Beverages Now Clear With A Bottle of Water
Another feature that tried to lean into RPGMV's "Remove After X Steps" removal condition that simply wasn't working as intended. As such, we've taken a new approach: drinking some water to sober up, just like we do in real life! The Brawler's Brew, Mage's Martini, Licquer Latte, Steelman's Stout, and Citrus Wine are now permanent buffs that are removed by drinking a Bottle of Water that can be purchased from the Bartender in Phurston for only 1 gold.
Quality of Life Updates
The campfires outside Phurston and the Slime Subterrain now will recover your party to full when you initiate a repeat Hunt with these campsites, speeding up the kills/minute of spawning in both normal enemies and bosses.
The spice cabinet and the dish drawer now automatically give you 999 salt/spices and pots/vials when you interact with them instead of asking you how many you'd like to take, because why wouldn't you want a maximum stack of both?!
Bug Fixes
Rose's Slime no longer poisons your party by default at level 1: instead, it now poisons your party at level 6 when it learns Poison Heal Aura as it was intended to.
Fixed a bug with the Slimy Sword and Lily's Syringe where they could not be equipped.
Fixed a bug that caused the background music of bosses other than the Alpha Slime to not play.
Fixed performance issues in the Party Apartment that caused some players to lag.
Added a notification at the beginning of the game that alerts the player that the game in its' current state is intended to be played on controller (keyboard support is still in development).
That's all for today! Follow us on Itch if you'd like more updates about the game: the game is being updated on a regular basis, so you don't want to miss it! Thanks!
- Italia 2022
I agreed to exchange playests with someone who wants me to playtest their game on Telegram. We agreed 30 minutes.
The player in question never even made it past the first part of the tutorial, claiming they were "softlocked" because they spent their gold on a recipe and thus couldn't buy the salt to cook the food.
Now, I know this is bullshit. The game gives you the salt for free, you don't need to spend a single gold to complete the tutorial and there's no video of their playthrough. If they had opened the crafting menu ONCE, they would have seen this.
The only feedback I got was they liked the visuals and sound and I should add instructions on how to open the menu.
I really hate the idea of not exchanging a playtest after I've agreed to, but my intuition tells me this person didn't actually try and play the game.
I'm thinking they opened the game for a couple minutes, did the bare minimum to prove they ran it once, gave a bullshit reason they couldn't continue, and try to get a real playtest from me.
What are your thoughts?
I agreed to exchange playests with someone who wants me to playtest their game on Telegram. We agreed 30 minutes.
The player in question never even made it past the first part of the tutorial, claiming they were "softlocked" because they spent their gold on a recipe and thus couldn't buy the salt to cook the food.
Now, I know this is bullshit. The game gives you the salt for free, you don't need to spend a single gold to complete the tutorial and there's no video of their playthrough. If they had opened the crafting menu ONCE, they would have seen this.
The only feedback I got was they liked the visuals and sound and I should add instructions on how to open the menu.
I really hate the idea of not exchanging a playtest after I've agreed to, but my intuition tells me this person didn't actually try and play the game.
I'm thinking they opened the game for a couple minutes, did the bare minimum to prove they ran it once, gave a bullshit reason they couldn't continue, and try to get a real playtest from me.
What are your thoughts?