Caesar's Folly

[iceshiva]

Finally, someone who finished the demo! Was it really that difficult? I'm not sure about making it easier, I think making it a bit of a challenge makes the part where you finally get to the meat of the story more rewarding.

Spoiler: SPOILER! After Avila...

You're going to be coming back to Rosario and you'll enter what is called Arland's Trials.

 

[iceshiva]

Updated the first post with an explanation of the Hate System.

And a screenshot from Arland's Trials:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... forest.jpg[/IMG]

This part of the game is rippedinspired by those overly flashy tournaments/exam from a lot of animes (YuYu Hakushu, Naruto, Hunter X Hunter etc). Arland's Trials is a three-part test. This is the second part where you compete in groups. There are four puzzles within that map and the first few groups that completes all four moves on to the third and last part of the trials.

I'm still thinking of ways to add that feeling that the player is actually competing with other groups. There will be random cutscenes where you'll encounter other groups (friendly and not so friendly teams) and you will be solving some of the puzzles alongside other teams as well (expect sabotage!).

 

[Calibre]

I'd have to agree it's too hard in the opening forest where there are the bees on the map. You only get three potions, no healing magic and the enemies can kill you in three hits, as well as the escape rope never working. I died in my second fight. I could have avoided the bees I suppose but I wanted to see what the battles were like like I assume most first time players would. It's a shame because then I didnt feel inspired to play through to that stage again because I knew I would most likely just die again.

 

[iceshiva]

Really? I suppose I can make the monsters a bit easier for demo purposes. I'd hate it if nobody completes the demo because of the battles!

Anyway, the idea behind the difficult battles is to make it so that normal battles are longer and more tactical but at the same time, reduce the number of battles you need to fight in order to level up.

New demo uploaded, link on the first post!

This demo is a bit easier but you will still probably die a few times. Do not forget to use your status and talent points to increase your attributes and talents, you'll get your ass kicked if you dont!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... atTree.jpg[/img]

 

[Clest]

I really like what you have goingfor this project, will download the demo and have a go when I get home

I love the battle system layout and the growth concept for characters, the backstory seems interesting as well

 

[kaidus]

You're systems look absolutley fantastic, but the story and mapping are pretty average. Don't get me wrong, they are by no means bad - they just come off as a bit of a let down when they are put next to the beauty of the various menu screens etc.

 

[FzGhouL]

Hey,

I played your first demo on .Net. I really liked it. Now I think this game looks evolved and better. The only reason why I delayed response is because I'm busy. I'm DL'ing it now. I'll tell you if I find any glaring errors.

edit:
Got my ass kicked yeah.
Why do Bees show in battle as blobs?
Also, I get a really annoying scrambled sound in menus.

To be honest, your usage of music/SEs could stand to be improved a bit.

But its pretty darn awesome! :D

 

[iceshiva]

FzGhoul, the bees are just representation of monster encounters but the actual monsters will be different. It needs a little suspension of disbelief at first but the reason for this is that I dont have resources yet to create RTP sprites of my monsters. I'll look into that scrambled sound you mentioned, I don't think I've encountered that yet.

Dorito, I do agree that while I did improve on mapping (I was supremely horrible before), my current maps still wont make anyone say 'WOW'. But it can only get better as I go along.

I would have to disagree about the plot though. How far were you in the game? If anything, this will be the strongest point of Caesar's Folly. I've been working on the plot for years, way longer than the battle system and other custom stuff in the game. It may not show at first (I mean, election...politics...ignorant David...boring..). That's primarily because the story unfortunately do not have a good early hook, but the plot in Avila shows a glimmer of what's to come. The entirety of Episode 1 is basically just a setup for the real plot which kicks in on Episode 3 (Episode 2 is another setup but has a much more interesting progression so you wouldn't realize that its just setting up conflict).

Thanks for playing the demo though, I hope you manage to finish it. A lot of people already noted that its been pretty tough. Just grind it out a bit, there's a good payoff once you reach Avila.

Clest, looking forward to working with you! I'll send you the descriptions soon.

 

[iceshiva]

Here's one of the most screwed up character I've created for the game:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... cter_1.png[/IMG]

I am oddly fascinated with this guy. I want to make him the character you love to hate. I hope it works out.

I can't wait to see this in full color! The artwork was made by Clest. He's also a member here. Wait till you see his game, I expect it'll be a really good one!

 

[Clest]

Glad you liked and posted the lineart for him already, I've been having problems with my home PC, so progress on the other two was slow, but may just reformat the dreaded machine today so I can progress more through the weekend

Also when I reformat I may be able to play XP games again, so may finally play your demo.