The dialog box looks fine for alpha, maybe look at it again during beta. Only thing I see that can be improved is the button text. You should try to open up the top lined polygon so that the text is only on that, not also partially on the metallic grey.
I like the idea of the conversation box commenting on the gamey nature of RPGs. I would offer feedback when I have a feel for the map's humor.
Thank you, Maity, for informing me on how difficult the battles would be. Sounds good, predicting outcomes and choosing what action to take. I'd also assume they are capable of pulling outmatched 'mon from the fight for a type advantage, though only once or so per feint. That could get out of hand.
I also liked the description of the story. I do feel that a recurring zany counter-wanderer is required. The type of person who always carries jelly babies and offers them to you at the least opportune moments. I may have brought it up earlier, but how would you react if someone was sitting in a pool of lava, in a wooden boat that's about to burn and he offers you a slice of devils food cake? Hanging from a cliff and offers you some candy rope?
All I have to say is that the current "series" of Doctor Who had some tasty twists, with river song and the face of boe. I also like Skyward Sword's ending bit. It was a good sad scene, her fall from godhood and that ever present impossible love story.
Just want you two to keep those IPs in mind when writing the story. How hard can that be, they are a part of your identity on this forum.
I don't know what the feel of the map is though, so I can't give sharper feedback until after beta.
I have to say, that bit of terrain you showed us was epic. LoL'd literally. I almost want it to stay. Almost.
So, no limit on money? Fair enough, just thought it was worth considering. I play Hardcore occasionally, so I know what my HC friends deal with.
I would love it if beating the Champion was a challenge, even after making a team specifically to counter his/her team. Seeing as s/he will be the 5th guy with a team full of 100's that we fight.
It's basically the Pokemon on the box, you only catch one of them, only this time your game play determines which one, not what color the box is. maity, do you have any plans to restrict trading OP Starmon to a newbie account? Pokemon made it so that any pokemon above X level would disobey you, based on gym badges. Money and Items are also a possible concern. If my friend beat the game, sending me a large chunk of change could ruin the experience; or just make it different. (The limit may change for a hardcore mode?)
OK, I'm really impressed. The map looks really close to functional alpha with limited bugs. The randomized rival idea is a bit too confusing for me to handle, what happens if I restart the map, or if I'm playing in a party? One rival doesn't exactly make perfect sense in party play, but neither does two. IDK, but I really do like the idea of your rival being your opposite morally, and I think that starmon lineups could change "random"ly but it has to make sense. His Squirtle/Pikachu needs to be ever present.
Also, the back story you mentioned seems really important for world building. I would love if someone produced a cinematic that showed the starmon falling, people finding the usefulness of capture capsules, a civilization building, and friendships forming. Is there any way to do a slideshow thingy in the Galaxy Editor? Maybe just an intro uploaded to youtube is enough though. That would be useful for promotion. Maybe tac some game play footage onto the end.
In the Video, you mentioned that you got lost on your own map. I know that was in jest, but what if someone else gets lost? I think that a minimap would be really nice, or even a map that you bring up from an inventory. The "premade" sc2 minimap doesn't seem to fit well, so a hand drawn map for each area might be really pretty. (Quest rewards? idk, but little things like that make a person feel cuddly with the game) I know these last two points might require additional team members, but it would add a wicked cool aspect to the map. Defiantly can be saved until late Beta.
I think some notification of what starmon belongs to who in team battles would be useful to little brother who glances at the screen, or even me. Also, and indicator of how many starmon remain not-fainted in each party would be lovely.
Lastly, you mentioned that trainers react to average level of party. I think some way of mentioning this to a player, within the map, would be useful.
I hope that this post turns out to be useful, instead of just a daydream. Anyhow, keep up the great work guys!
We have one side-quest chain where this one guy travels around the whole map, and you'll find him in various precarious situations he's gotten himself into. Quests like that will hopefully allow us to reuse old zones.
Squee! Oh god, I love having that guy in a story. "What'd you do this time? Buy snake oil from a mobster, then ask for a refund?"
I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but there is a certain Pokemon fan comic that started a new way to play pokemon. Nuzloc mode is like hardcore mode in Deablo. I think an "official" version of this supported by your map would be awesome. Obviously, this would be a low priority before beta. I suppose, this would mean one would need to restart their journey.
Some features could be a Graveyard (list of dead and unusable starmon),
Requirement to only capture the first encounter in each region (possible no Dupes checkbox),
Ability to abandon Hard Mode mid-run, to capture Starmon again, or use dead ones.
Feinting automatically makes a starmon unusable in battle, and unable to be healed.
Optional requirement to nickname all starmon caught. (This helps create ties with you buddy before he dies, making the death hurt a bit.)
Possibly, option to remove healing items from game, or just make them useless except for money. (for the even harder core)
Option to allow buying resurrection for a LARGE fee of starbucks (? starmon money).
Perhaps some limit to IV re rolls and EV manipulation.
Possibly some TM limit.
But, this is not to important because players can just do it themselves. It would be an achievement to win on Hardcore mode though.
BUT a couple of days ago we finally made some concrete plans regarding the storyline (We had tons of ideas and vague outlines, what I mean is that I wrote up very specifically what should happen, no vagueness, a concrete plan). Its not much, but it's what we want to have in the alpha (We're gonna cut it off at a somewhat interesting point :) )
Yeah? Sounds good. Story is like, the second most important part of world building in an RPG. (Art comes first, including audio, IMO) And you don't have an RPG without a fantastic world. I really hope I get to play with the map soon.
I'm going to be working hard to do the story justice with the quests. As you could probably tell by Maity's devious laughter, we're planning some pretty cool stuff for the story. ^.^
The main storyline quests, at least up to the cutoff point for the alpha, are planned but not yet programmed.
I also know we promised a pair of 2 videos a while back, to show off two new things. The first thing is almost ready to show off, so you should hopefully see a video soon. The second feature ended up taking me longer to program than expected- it's not finished yet, but it's almost ready enough to show off.
So anyways, we're not dead, but we did have to take a break from development. But now we're back on track, and you should start seeing some cool stuff in the future.
Nice! Gimmie all the goodies!
Just a though, would giving the player a jetpack to access late areas be doable? That's one way to "instance" pathing, give the character's cliff walk/hopping abilities. It might be more work than it's worth (cliffs are not enough to block someone in anymore) but using it as a barrier to the legendary's home would be nice (or allow hopping ledges back to pallet town).
The project seems to be progressing. Figured I'd ask you guys if anything important happened in the last 17 days. Any newly mapped areas, or screenshot worthy game-art? Maybe there's some update on how "soonish" alpha is coming? I know that spring is stressful and busy for many (as a Senior in school, I am very busy too) but I would welcome news!
Off topic, Anyone notice how many of the new features in X/Y are exactly the same thing this awesome duo+ is working on, just with Game Freak's finances? Outfits, 3d (though, 3ds is a bit cooler than sc2), but you guys also have a more "open" RPG thing going.
Would it be possible if (when Karma is dark enough) a player could become the leader of team evil? I would honestly LOVE to be Giovanni for one game. Everyone wants to be the Fire Emperor!
I'm excited. Btw, I'm sooo used to lag that I didn't even notice the low frame rate in the earlier version with a million extra actors until I saw the latest one that was corrected and looked so smooth it almost moved too fast. I really need a new computer. :(
Ooh, I like fire fly. Too bad pokemon stopped using them if that's what you meant by that tiny text XD.
No, that was a shout out to the journey of Mal, his ship the Serenity, and it's crew. It's a Space-Western TV series that died short for no real reason (dedicated fan base, fairly good reviews) most of the way through season 1. Mal was a soldier that fought against the power that now is, so he works as a Ranyor-esque pirate/rebel/hired hand using his Firefly class transport ship. (this class was infamously used by smugglers, and is unarmed)
Almaity, I'm almost surprised at how awesome you are. Not only are you "mr.Who" but you are designing a map/mod/gameinagame for Sc2 about pokemon, and make firefly references. Hrm. that needs to be implemented into the mod/map. We need more Firefly in our Pokemon in our Sc2.
I say we find an abandoned Medivac, fix it up, and use it to rob an outpost (or the central) Starcenter of it's expensive medical products. We then sell those to the black market and receive a large bounty n our heads from "team rocket" or whatever organization was dubiously providing that med center with meds (and mind control substances to lace it with??)
Zelda, I was totally unaware that Blizzard allowed you to publish maps with a white-list. Absolutely wonderful if you can.
I love what I'm seeing, wish I had something constructive to say!
Wouldn't even notice that. We don't have a date to compare to. :P
Tools for implementing stuff faster is almost always good.
I think I'll like the story line when it's done.
@Mozared: Go
I look forward to catching Drifloon.
@TheAlmaity: Go
The dialog box looks fine for alpha, maybe look at it again during beta. Only thing I see that can be improved is the button text. You should try to open up the top lined polygon so that the text is only on that, not also partially on the metallic grey.
I like the idea of the conversation box commenting on the gamey nature of RPGs. I would offer feedback when I have a feel for the map's humor.
Thank you, Maity, for informing me on how difficult the battles would be. Sounds good, predicting outcomes and choosing what action to take. I'd also assume they are capable of pulling outmatched 'mon from the fight for a type advantage, though only once or so per feint. That could get out of hand.
I also liked the description of the story. I do feel that a recurring zany counter-wanderer is required. The type of person who always carries jelly babies and offers them to you at the least opportune moments. I may have brought it up earlier, but how would you react if someone was sitting in a pool of lava, in a wooden boat that's about to burn and he offers you a slice of devils food cake? Hanging from a cliff and offers you some candy rope?
All I have to say is that the current "series" of Doctor Who had some tasty twists, with river song and the face of boe. I also like Skyward Sword's ending bit. It was a good sad scene, her fall from godhood and that ever present impossible love story.
Just want you two to keep those IPs in mind when writing the story. How hard can that be, they are a part of your identity on this forum. I don't know what the feel of the map is though, so I can't give sharper feedback until after beta.
I have to say, that bit of terrain you showed us was epic. LoL'd literally. I almost want it to stay. Almost.
So, no limit on money? Fair enough, just thought it was worth considering. I play Hardcore occasionally, so I know what my HC friends deal with.
I would love it if beating the Champion was a challenge, even after making a team specifically to counter his/her team. Seeing as s/he will be the 5th guy with a team full of 100's that we fight.
It's basically the Pokemon on the box, you only catch one of them, only this time your game play determines which one, not what color the box is. maity, do you have any plans to restrict trading OP Starmon to a newbie account? Pokemon made it so that any pokemon above X level would disobey you, based on gym badges. Money and Items are also a possible concern. If my friend beat the game, sending me a large chunk of change could ruin the experience; or just make it different. (The limit may change for a hardcore mode?)
@TheAlmaity: Go
Ok, thanks. I feel like I understand better now.
OK, I'm really impressed. The map looks really close to functional alpha with limited bugs. The randomized rival idea is a bit too confusing for me to handle, what happens if I restart the map, or if I'm playing in a party? One rival doesn't exactly make perfect sense in party play, but neither does two. IDK, but I really do like the idea of your rival being your opposite morally, and I think that starmon lineups could change "random"ly but it has to make sense. His Squirtle/Pikachu needs to be ever present.
Also, the back story you mentioned seems really important for world building. I would love if someone produced a cinematic that showed the starmon falling, people finding the usefulness of capture capsules, a civilization building, and friendships forming. Is there any way to do a slideshow thingy in the Galaxy Editor? Maybe just an intro uploaded to youtube is enough though. That would be useful for promotion. Maybe tac some game play footage onto the end.
In the Video, you mentioned that you got lost on your own map. I know that was in jest, but what if someone else gets lost? I think that a minimap would be really nice, or even a map that you bring up from an inventory. The "premade" sc2 minimap doesn't seem to fit well, so a hand drawn map for each area might be really pretty. (Quest rewards? idk, but little things like that make a person feel cuddly with the game) I know these last two points might require additional team members, but it would add a wicked cool aspect to the map. Defiantly can be saved until late Beta.
I think some notification of what starmon belongs to who in team battles would be useful to little brother who glances at the screen, or even me. Also, and indicator of how many starmon remain not-fainted in each party would be lovely.
Lastly, you mentioned that trainers react to average level of party. I think some way of mentioning this to a player, within the map, would be useful.
I hope that this post turns out to be useful, instead of just a daydream. Anyhow, keep up the great work guys!
Squee! Oh god, I love having that guy in a story. "What'd you do this time? Buy snake oil from a mobster, then ask for a refund?"
@TheAlmaity: Go
Epic! I hope that you can prove the limit is up to a meg before putting in a lot of work that increases the file size.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but there is a certain Pokemon fan comic that started a new way to play pokemon. Nuzloc mode is like hardcore mode in Deablo. I think an "official" version of this supported by your map would be awesome. Obviously, this would be a low priority before beta. I suppose, this would mean one would need to restart their journey.
But, this is not to important because players can just do it themselves. It would be an achievement to win on Hardcore mode though.
Yeah? Sounds good. Story is like, the second most important part of world building in an RPG. (Art comes first, including audio, IMO) And you don't have an RPG without a fantastic world. I really hope I get to play with the map soon.
Nice! Gimmie all the goodies!
Just a though, would giving the player a jetpack to access late areas be doable? That's one way to "instance" pathing, give the character's cliff walk/hopping abilities. It might be more work than it's worth (cliffs are not enough to block someone in anymore) but using it as a barrier to the legendary's home would be nice (or allow hopping ledges back to pallet town).
Hi
The project seems to be progressing. Figured I'd ask you guys if anything important happened in the last 17 days. Any newly mapped areas, or screenshot worthy game-art? Maybe there's some update on how "soonish" alpha is coming? I know that spring is stressful and busy for many (as a Senior in school, I am very busy too) but I would welcome news!
Off topic, Anyone notice how many of the new features in X/Y are exactly the same thing this awesome duo+ is working on, just with Game Freak's finances? Outfits, 3d (though, 3ds is a bit cooler than sc2), but you guys also have a more "open" RPG thing going.
Would it be possible if (when Karma is dark enough) a player could become the leader of team evil? I would honestly LOVE to be Giovanni for one game. Everyone wants to be the Fire Emperor!
I'm excited. Btw, I'm sooo used to lag that I didn't even notice the low frame rate in the earlier version with a million extra actors until I saw the latest one that was corrected and looked so smooth it almost moved too fast. I really need a new computer. :(
Also, yaaay! progress!
No, that was a shout out to the journey of Mal, his ship the Serenity, and it's crew. It's a Space-Western TV series that died short for no real reason (dedicated fan base, fairly good reviews) most of the way through season 1. Mal was a soldier that fought against the power that now is, so he works as a Ranyor-esque pirate/rebel/hired hand using his Firefly class transport ship. (this class was infamously used by smugglers, and is unarmed)
Almaity, I'm almost surprised at how awesome you are. Not only are you "mr.Who" but you are designing a map/mod/gameinagame for Sc2 about pokemon, and make firefly references. Hrm. that needs to be implemented into the mod/map. We need more Firefly in our Pokemon in our Sc2.
I say we find an abandoned Medivac, fix it up, and use it to rob an outpost (or the central) Starcenter of it's expensive medical products. We then sell those to the black market and receive a large bounty n our heads from "team rocket" or whatever organization was dubiously providing that med center with meds (and mind control substances to lace it with??)