Cast Aside (Episode 1&2)

[Anaryu]

RTP WARNING!
This project very heavily uses the default RTP graphics.

Anamei Productions


Feedback
The main goal of this project is to practice telling stories and developing characters. While playing and giving feedback, please be sure to think of things that stand out as unnatural or bland and I won't shrug off any tips on how to improve my writing either!


Story
Welcome to the world of Cast Aside.

You'll play the role of a young girl with a dull future ahead of her. A kitchen assistant and foster-daughter to the island's most powerful Luminary, you wonder if your life is really worth living... How will her life unfold? You'll need to play to find out!

Cast Aside is an episodic game where your Save File will transfer from one episode to the next. Released long ago, Cast Aside has seen a lot of work since then.


Characters

Rayne: The main character, Rayne struggles in her everyday life. Living with the legacy of parents who bailed out of debt and left her behind, she feels she needs to make up for their sins and her foster-parents kindness by being what they want.

Kael: A childhood friend of Rayne, Kael is a spirited youth with a seeming gift for the spear and combat training.


Gameplay
Cast Aside is a story heavy game with a lot of puzzles. Combat is based on an Active Tactical System, so it can be hectic and will sometimes integrate puzzle elements.


Releases
Note: Before playing please install the FORTE font from the game folder! (Right click and select "Install")
Each episode contains the one before it, so there's no need to download early episodes!

Episode 1 and 2: http://anamei.net/files/CA-EP2.zip
(New release on 9/14/2008 at 12:14PM EST with most suggestions and all bug fixes listed up to that time.)



Screenshots

Spoiler: Who needs a recipe?

Message system example and custom face set.

Spoiler: Looks safe to me!

I don't think I'd have the guts to step on those...

Spoiler: A Kinda Sucky (but I was lazy!) Battle Screenshot

Spoiler: Demo Battle Screenshot (Example of menus)

An example of the skill system's power increase functions.

Spoiler: Repeat Attack Mode

Attacking something with the "Repeat Hit" feature.

Credits

Message script: ccoa
Menu system and cursor: Raziel and Selwyn
Icons: Whitecat

 

[Skyla Doragono]

Holy...!

Anaryu, you come back and dangle something pretty in our face.   I'm going to try it out later. <3

 

[SorcerGamble2]

hate puzzles

love tactical combat

i'm deffinitely interested in trying this ... will post Edit later

(EDIT)

Wow.  I'm very impressed.  Ur puzzles were actually pretty entertaining.. very original.  And i really like the combat.  in the puzzle glass tile room after you get the item the reds drifted to the left off screen (minor bug) and after i left that room i got wasted by the bats/scorpions... so an auto-save or something might be usefull... or better yet don't make that fight so difficult....  that's where i stopped... cuz i didn't have a recent save and didn't want to repeat the puzzle.  so auto-saves after puzzles would probably be good.

Keep up the good work.  love the title screen.  the first cut where ur in the 'counting room' is a little dry... but once you get to the next cut with the baby its very good cut... then on the first mini Challenge game.. i'd reduce it to like a two minutes or less... so the challenge doesn't get old.  i'll prolly try the fight again later just to see more of the game... but nice work.

i started on a tactics type game but didn't have the stomach to finish it once i realized how much work would be involved... yours looks very thorough.

 

[ellenor]

This game look so pretty!
The first thing that catched my eye was the artwork are they orginal? Cause I have never seen them before ^^
Well I will try it and say what I think about it^^

 

[Zekallinos]

Well, this is a nice piece of work.

The very title screen, to begin with, is nicely done and does good to catch the player's attention.

I would first suggest that you get the letter by letter scrolling a little faster (at the start), it's somewhat annoying. And compensate with a bigger break at some points (Am I...break...Dead?)

It's sometimes hard to see the area effect of skills since the highlight is almost the same as the other one.

While the cave dialogue is nice, it beings to be long and clubersome after a while...

The crystal puzzle is original, but perhaps you should add something more, like having to walk on tiles of color by sequence or something. Else it's a little repetive.

I might finish the mine cave later on. Nice job with the effects (particles, I guess?). By the way, is the TBS evented or scripted?

 

[Luthur]

Oh my god. This is by far the best RTP only game I have ever seen. Your mapping is supurb, and your battle system is amazing. I've downloaded it and tried it out, and here's what I thought:

Your titlescreen is really good, lots of detail and it looks nice. Well done.

Like Zekallinos has already said, the text scrolls a little to slowly, but that's not a big deal. The scene that plays out next (the one with the parents in the counting house) is set out well, but the music doesn't really suit it. I know it's ment to be a dreamy sort of thing, but after 'Is this what it's like to be dead' the tinkly fairy music doesn't match.

I like the mini game in the kitchen, that was a good idea. Works well, too.

The first beach map is a bit bare, but the other maps look great.

The battle system reminds me of games like LotR Tactics and likewise, and that's a good thing. It's very well spaced out and designed. Just I'd make those move/attack etc sybols a bit bigger, cause they're hard to read.

Then I got to the second boulder puzzle outside the cave and got stuck. I'll try again later. But that's one truly awsome game you've got yourself there. Well done.

Oh, note: I'd delete the big red 'RTP WARNING! This project very heavily uses the default RTP graphics. Even edits are rare!' at the top of the thread if I were you, because that will put some people off, and you really don't want that with such a good game. :thumb:

 

[Despain]

Oh fantastic! Is this an updated release?

I might just have to play it. I liked the old one when I played it for a little bit.

 

[Anaryu]

Thanks for the replies all!

The artwork IS original, Anamei productions is a team of me (ANAryu) and my wife (YaouMEI), she does all the sprite edits, tileset edits, character artwork, borders, and makes most of the particles. She also designed the titlescreen (which we spent a lot of time on, glad to see people like it!)

Regarding the colored-tile puzzle: As the game progresses I'm using new puzzles with each section, so I'm trying to not reuse the same mechanic much, if there is another glass-tile type puzzle expect it to be quite different and a little less annoying with the constant switching. Maybe I could help by making the character switch button alternate back and forth between the last used character if you just tap it? I could add in a little text so they mention that.

Regarding the fight after the puzzle: Now that you mention it I can see where people might not realize they should save their file at that point... although you can save at any time, maybe some crystal or a save icon to let them know it'd "be a good idea" would help alleviate the potential "Oh crap I didn't save!" options and help reduce the work for people who save every few steps for fear of something like that. I've had one other mention that fight is a bit hard (I initially did the terrible sin and had the scorpions poison you but removed that since it added no value other than pissing people off) I can probably tweak that a little bit, what was it that did you in? Did you just barely lose at the end or get overwhelmed?

The cave scene can get a bit lengthy (try play testing that 100 times!), I'll focus on less length and more meat on future conversations like that, I'm still learning how to write and I think you're right that it does drag a bit long.

I like the points that the early dialog can speed up and use longer breaks, that'd probably be more dramatic and less annoying. I also like the idea of spicing up or cutting down that counting house scene, looking at it again it does seem to take a bit longer than it should.

The system itself is completely Scripted, and the attacks and map effects are all using a scripted particle engine too (I released a VX particle engine that was the cleaned up version of an XP engine I developed in World Outside, which I then took from VX and then cleanly ported back to XP for this game! Whew!)

I'll see if I can make the attack squares more obvious when aiming skills and such, I didn't notice, but that's because I know exactly what those skills are meant to hit!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I'll work on some tweaks and release a revised version once done.

(New content for post made while I was typing up this...!)

Yep, this is an updated release and it has the next episode included. You'll notice the same basic story from a long time ago, although I eliminated some of the unnecessary combat (the running away scene) and have tried to streamline things a bit. I also fixed that map where it ended at the top and put in a cliff instead so it looks nicer like you suggested long ago.

 

[ChronoStopPosting]

omg.... omg.... I can't even fully replie to this... <3...

 

[Reives]

About time we see that TBS in action. :p Great work as always; will try it soon.

 

[ChronoStopPosting]

love this game! I stayed up for like 6 hours last night playing it.... Tired as hell for school today...

 

[Anaryu]

love this game! I stayed up for like 6 hours last night playing it.... Tired as hell for school today...

Normally I wouldn't ask but... how did you play it for 6 hours!? It's like a 1 to 1.5 hour game tops. :O Hopefully that was just exaggeration.

 

[OrigamiRose]

Well, what can I say? The artwork is amazing, the mapping is wonderfull, and the story is exiting. This project looks very interesting. And it has a TBS, which I love^^

Great work!=)

 

[Zekallinos]

Just open the save window before the battle. It should be clear and simple. No need to even prompt it.

Allright, playing the rest of the game...

While your concept for the mine thing is really nice and original, is there any way to make it a little simpler? There are like 50 instructions to memorize. Or maybe have them in a 1, 2, 3, ... list with a paper picture on the background, it would be a little less of a pain to reread.

By the way, syntax mistake for the chute 3 instruction? "If the switch it turn off". Should it be "If the switch is turned off," or something?

It's not the X button, it's the A button, press F1 while playing to see what button in the editor equals to what!

Very nice job incorporating terrain into the battle (aside pasability) with the plugging thing, that's how real battles work  :thumb:

So I guess the black screen after that means it's over? Well, sorry I can't really help on the writing part, that isn't my speciality, although compared to other projects I've saw, it's pretty good. The characters, while seemely full of backstory, do not quite catch my attention. I guess that would not be a problem if we get further into the game.

Well, good luck for this, your going in the right way  :straightthumb:

 

[Anaryu]

You just got Reviewed!

Thanks for the review actually.

I'd never even thought to try some of the custom buttons during the intro sequence, I'll ensure that's taken care of. Shortening the intro is also on the list as I've had a couple people mention that it's a bit too dull, especially the very first scene. This includes speeding up the initial boring text.

Spoiler: Spoiler Replies!

The "pre" credits are actually THE credits, was something to put right at the intro to waste less black space. With any luck I won't even need to do any ending credits.

The "cheerful" Music on rice-ball completion can go though, it does seem unnecessary. I like the idea of playing a quick sound if they get the right/wrong button, I hadn't even considered it to be honest.

Forcing the player to talk to the same NPC twice to know what to do SEEMED like a good idea at the time, but I guess there's no real need for that, should just have her mention it the first time.

Glad you liked the XP bonus for the challenges, the challenges will always grant XP, and the amount should always be worthwhile.

My apologies about the music, I haven't been able to find a musician to make the music that doesn't include me paying a lot for it! I also really feel guilty if I use music that I don't have license to use... any suggestions on where to find some good music that I'm technically not using illegally and there's enough so that I'm not dancing the "music roulette" dance would be greatly appreciated.

The F12 error appears anytime I make a script, I believe there's a fix somewhere for it, it's far from just the particle engine that affects it. I also have never used the F12 key in an RM game, so I was surprised the first time someone told me it crashed the game. Perhaps I can find the fix for this and take care of it.

See, here I thought I was being somewhat original by starting with a dream for gameplay! I knew the asleep on the beach bit was overplayed a bit, but  Well, hopefully I can deliver more with the rest of the story.

Thanks for taking the time to give it a 15 minute go, and the extra time for putting your thoughts together!

EDIT: Eh? There was a 15 minute review there... where'd it go!
EDIT v2: Ah, okay. Linked to it in the thread.

@Zekallinos: The "A" button is the keyboard equivalent of the "X" button in the F1 editor by default, I use the "button name" (ACB, XYZ, LR) because I'm not sure what someone's keyboard set up will be, and some people (myself included!) play with a gamepad sometimes. I'll see if I can add a note about it somehow though. Or did I say "X" somewhere where I meant to say A? (by default A is the Z key)

Yep, that's a grammar mistake, not for long though!

I didn't think the instructions were too much... maybe there's a way to put that paper in more locations and cut down on the amount in one spot.

 

[Untra]

ehh, 'temu yelled at me for posting it twice. Heres a link to the original: clicky

 

[Zekallinos]

Yeah, at that zombie battle you said the X button, if I recall correctly.

As for the instructions, it's just the message box that makes it painful. Maybe it's just me though. And my paper I really meant and image, a parchement scroll or something that pops-up with all the text on it instead of 50 messages. Would be easier.

 

[SorcerGamble2]

okay.... so i tried that fight again, and apparently other people have gotten past it and its possible to win it... but im not seeing how.

they each have one special skill at this point, no items... and i'm killing maybe half of the baddies after the crystal glass tile cave puzzle.  any suggestions?

 

[Anaryu]

okay.... so i tried that fight again, and apparently other people have gotten past it and its possible to win it... but im not seeing how.

they each have one special skill at this point, no items... and i'm killing maybe half of the baddies after the crystal glass tile cave puzzle.  any suggestions?

Spoiler: Strategy

First, don't rush into their midst.

Second, have Kael hit the bats and Rayne the scorpions (using Pillar!)

Make sure you're using the multi-hit ability; when you're choosing your target: Character, Self, Cancel, you can use left and right to increase/decrease how many times they hit. 3 shots from Kael should be a sure-kill for a bat, 2 from Rayne on a Scorpion using Pillar is a sure-kill as well.

If you want to avoid any damage at all, equip the Bone Staff to Rayne OR learn the 'Pure' skill from her list. Use the pure skill +2 to get a strength of 5 on a square for Kael and then again for Rayne. While on these their range will be increased a lot, so you can shoot stuff down before it even gets close.

You could also use that same square strategy using the Harmony skill for Kael to lay down green squares so they regen health much faster.

Keep your face to the enemy! They hit for a lot of extra damage, have a higher chance to hit, and have a higher chance to get a critical if the enemy is behind or to your side (behind is worse!). The same goes for them though, so if an enemy is concentrate on one person, have the other get behind/side of them and beat the crap out of them.

Use your items, you have either 5 or 15 Root Gels at this point, you can use those on a person to heal them.

If you're having trouble keeping up use the X button (the A key on the keyboard by default) to "pause" combat and then make your moves, then press the X button (A key) again to "unpause."

 

[Juno]

My apologies about the music, I haven't been able to find a musician to make the music that doesn't include me paying a lot for it! I also really feel guilty if I use music that I don't have license to use... any suggestions on where to find some good music that I'm technically not using illegally and there's enough so that I'm not dancing the "music roulette" dance would be greatly appreciated.

If you just want some improved RTP music, DJ and SnowWolf have both re-orchestrated some of the RTP tracks into higher quality mp3s.  Their stuff is available in the resources section, and they don't mind if anyone uses it, as long as they are credited.