Medina Stories (On Hold Until November 2012)

[Kaimi]

As I know when original poster posts his/her posts in multiple succession they are called "bumps". I don't know how they are handled here, but "bump" is generally a post sent once every 72 hours (3 days) between each other.

Can't wait for a demo, by the way!

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Thank you, but I still have to sort out many important things before I can even think of a demo.

• 1. Movement (this one, particularly, is killing me)
  2. Sprites (I'm on it)
  3. Battle system
  4. Menu system

So I'd say I'm still a few months from releasing anything substantial. I will need beta testers, when the time comes. Maybe you can help me out.

 

[Daxis]

double posting and bumps and stuff aren't that all important and shit that's gonna get you banned, as long as you're actually adding more information, actively contributing, and not BS'ing, especially in others' threads.

that said


the stream of made up words put me off for a moment. In exposition, i'd rather limit those kinds of words to like once/twice a sentence with a mention back to them every three so that the reader isn't overwhelmed and doesn't forget them as another those kinds of things that wasn't needed. also try to give at least a detail about whatever weird words appear, I was paused by Eparchia. also, For some reason, Provincia really put me off. o.0

i like the names. usually in some fantasy story, the names are inconsistent- check out the aerith and bob article at tvtropes. your names are distinctly latin in origin, ending in a/o or is/us,


there's really not much beyond this. It seems like an interesting game, and ambitious, but not too much detail. I see that setting seems to be thoughout, and based on character descriptions, story seems to have the general ideas done. I'm hoping, as a sort of final fantasy tribute, it goes beyond just war, as final fantasies usually have a whole bunch of crap that makes the war seem like a side effect later on. it seems hopeful, and hopefully it wouldn't fall under the weight of its own ambition.

good luck dude.


ps: the ragnarok sprites are a mismatch. 47 years old would doubtfully have such hair and stuff, and a sorcerer princess does not mean wearing bikinii robes. I do very much applaud the chracter ages though.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

the stream of made up words put me off for a moment. In exposition, i'd rather limit those kinds of words to like once/twice a sentence with a mention back to them every three so that the reader isn't overwhelmed and doesn't forget them as another those kinds of things that wasn't needed. also try to give at least a detail about whatever weird words appear, I was paused by Eparchia. also, For some reason, Provincia really put me off. o.0

I'm ashamed. My native language is Spanish and latinized words such as "provincia" make a lot more sense to me. I'll transliterate some of the text. You know, I did sense it was, perhaps, too heavy. By the way, Eparchia is a synonym of Empire.

i like the names. usually in some fantasy story, the names are inconsistent- check out the aerith and bob article at tvtropes. your names are distinctly latin in origin, ending in a/o or is/us,

Thank you. Following the Final Fantasy tradition, I wanted cheesy names with a background.

there's really not much beyond this. It seems like an interesting game, and ambitious, but not too much detail. I see that setting seems to be thoughout, and based on character descriptions, story seems to have the general ideas done.

I appreciate your sincerity. Right now, I'm in an interlude, while I build the framework of the game. Charlie Fleed's battle system has been really helpful. Everything else, I'm pretty much making it myself, including graphics.

I'm hoping, as a sort of final fantasy tribute, it goes beyond just war, as final fantasies usually have a whole bunch of crap that makes the war seem like a side effect later on. it seems hopeful, and hopefully it wouldn't fall under the weight of its own ambition.

Well. I haven't thought so far ahead. The prologue of the story is about why Bella killed the king. It also shows how everyone in the game is connected to each other. The following chapter will deal with the fall of the Nabastaean Empire. Beyond this point, the storyline is a mystery.

ps: the ragnarok sprites are a mismatch. 47 years old would doubtfully have such hair and stuff, and a sorcerer princess does not mean wearing bikinii robes. I do very much applaud the chracter ages though.

Brutal honesty. I enjoy criticism. Personally, I think 47 years old is pissing outside the jar. I think I'll have to lower that about a decade. Also, when I have time I'll edit the sprites. It's basically editing the faces. Now, as to why the princess is wearing robes instead of a dress, Flamma is in exile. The robes are sort of her street outfit. Also, I made Bella's hair color darker, and made his face more amiable. I'll do some more editing later. Currently, I'm undergoing final exams.

You're probably wondering what the setting of the game is going to be like. I'm borrowing all my graphics from Ragnarok Online, including buildings, landscape, objects, etc. Thanks to a software called BrowEdit, I've been able to take three-dimensional objects and give them a two-dimensional perspective. Even though it's a wearisome job, it lets me known the graphic part of the game is pretty much settled. Also, I've been meddling with the Mode 07 script, not as an in-game feature, but for transportation and cut-scenes. Remember the credits roll at the beginning of Final Fantasy VI? I've always wanted to do something like that.

However, I still don't know a rat's ass about mapping, dialogue, scenes or video-game music. Either I eventually make this a group project, or I'll have to watch a shit load of movies during vacations.

Sylvanor, the guy making Aedemphia, had absolutely no experience when he first started. He inspires me. He lets me know a single guy can make a full-fledged video game, even if it takes a decade.

EDIT: Can you give me the link to the article at TV Tropes?

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

By the way, I think there's some confusion with the sprites. You read them from left to right and from top to bottom. I know it's cheap, but each character has a different hair color related to their elemental nature.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention Medina Stories is, in fact, a group project. A real life friend of mine is helping me with the artwork. Here's the link.

http://fafabrizio.deviantart.com/

So, lets see how this goes. This project seems like it might go on for years. : )

 

[Daxis]

as far as i can tell from my brief 2 day stint with RO and RO ds, most Ragnarok sprites look generally the same age, unless it's one of those child sprites or old men sprites. i mean, scroll up there and notice the facial sprite- it;s all the same round face with eyes, which basically sets normal chars at around 18-25. I'm not a spriter myself and have little knowledge of spriting/editing/frankensteining, but editing that to look 37/47 seems a bit hard

well, i understood that provincia mean province, that was sorta simple, but with the string of words before and after it helped in creating that befuddling effect, just a bit. But don't worry, since we're dealing with rpgmaker and thus more fantasy oriented stuff in these communities, people expect a lot of the stuff. I mostly try to think abut how such dialogues would be executed in game, and to a lesser extend, in introduction threads to the game like these. people make up a lot of words too, so you doing that wouldn't be anything new to them. I just like it better when the reader is casually introduced to the terms, but so so that the reader is already expected to know them and the words are just tossed aside.

one of the surprisng things about this project was that the main character was 47 years old. that's really outgoing- it explains, for one, why the main character can fight really well. Maybe after thinking about it a little bit, 47 might be a bit much for an actual fighter chracter. in terms of medieval and fantasy, i'd say that a fighter would end by roughly 40 (medieval times- people died at like 50 and 60), so maybe 37 would be a good fit. maybe 27-30 is good for when you start really being promoted from victories, and 33 is tough man by then- i guess 37 could work as a captainn that still fights.

making custom music is NOT easy. that's right up there with finishing all the maps, a bit easier than all eventing and scripting. it's sorta a thing you really must have a passion for and to have studied. I tried on and off, and it's a hard task. still, test it out, maybe you'll have talent.
Mapping, on the other hand, is surprisingly easy for rpg maker. This is rpgmaker xp, right? well, mapping is simple and takes maybe a month of on/off mapping to really get a style, learn how to do mostly everything, and pretty much get prepared (there are a tutorials out there, but the basics of xp mapping are.... basic. read/watch tutorials to learn how to do some random stuff).
scenes and dialogue are part of the story. first you have to get the basic idea of what you want. then you conform it to your limitations on rpgmaker xp and what you can do on that. Then limit it to the map, sprites, your resources, etc. Takes a while to get used to, i usually try to imagine it as movie-ish with FF influence.

and holy shit aedemphia looks awesome. goddamn i should stop try to learn japanese and get back to the romance languages. >.<

btw: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AerithAndBob
just read a whole bunch of articles on tvtropes. especially if any of it deals with the stuff you're talking about (ie, ff, etc.). you'll waste like 2 hours before you know it.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

There, I transliterated most of it. And, if you're wondering, Nabastea is pronounced [nab-uhs-te-uh] or [nab-uhs-tee-uh]. Personally, I pronounce the first way, since the name is supposed to be latinized.

 

[Daxis]

btw if you're looking for an example on how to do amazing scenes on rmxp,
check out quintessence: the blighted venom (http://www.freebirdgames.com/) and other stuff by that guy, and
dark eternal: dissolution (and DE:2) http://zenosoft.net/. This is honestly one of my favorite games ever despite its flaws, and the most impacting and coolest introes on rmxp i've ever seen (for some reason i didn't like the quintessence intro as much). its development sorta grinded to a halt, but i'm still waiting for the guy to finish.... all these years.
check out the forum of DE to download it.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Thank you, but I get most of my inspiration from movies. Also, I'm definitely not planning on having custom music. There's a lot of good classical music that is not boring and can be made into a soundtrack. And there is also a lot of new talent here in HBGames.org.

By the way, do you find the synopsis more legible?

 

[Daxis]

it's legible, but i think that you should explicitly mention that macedonia is a empire; the second paragraph, "the Empire is a hated enemy who took the life of his wife", seems a bit vague at the moment. the last line, where you list all the characters, also seems like it came out of nowhere, as we are told a variety of characters that weren't even mentioned the least bit before. I would think to either make it like "So bella, flamma, and others" (something to that nature, less crappy), or make the synopsis longer to cover all the listed characters.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Just a random thought: I was watching some Crisis M.E.T.E.O.R. videos on You Tube and I'm thinking I made eventually need voice actors or really good sound effects, not for the game itself, but for the battle system. If you are ever in the need of good sound effects, Age of Empires is the place to look.

By the way, if you read this and you don't know what Crisis M.E.T.E.O.R. is, then you're missing on the Thai RPG Maker Community, which has some crazy shit going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CLHkVbTtfY

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

I finally fixed the annoying dotted line in Bella's walking sprite. Eventually, on vacations, I'll draw the other seven poses of the characters. Anyhow, these are just the main characters. There will be other playable characters: soldiers, historical figures, politicians, etc.

On another note, Juvo is supposed to be a demigod. I could leave her sprite as is, and make her as human as anyone else. This is how Final Fantasy has always done it: Terra in Final Fantasy VI, Aeris and Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII, etc. I could also make Juvo's sprite slightly different, similar to the difference between men and elves in Lord of the Rings, that is, pointy ears.

So many things to sort out.

 

[gRaViJa]

If you are ever in the need of good sound effects, Age of Empires is the place to look.

Hehe. I ripped many sound effects from age of empires and age of mythology for my game too :p
If you still need sound effects: I also ripped a lot of SE's from Final Fantasy VIII, if you want, i might share them.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind when making the Battle System.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

I finally finished a sprite! It's Flamma, the sorceress princess of Nabastea. It's simply the walking movement. I still haven't added the other poses, such as standing, or sitting. It was difficult, since I had to figure out the best way to edit sprites. Currently I'm using Adobe Fireworks. It's aimed at creating webpages, but it's completely set out to edit character sprites. It even lets you animate your sprites.

Spoiler

EDIT: Please let me know what you think of her. It takes about two or three hours to get the sprite sheet ready. I would like to know if my work was worth it.

 

[AzorMachine]

Very good, but a little error in her eyes. They are focusing at her noise by their position, kinda strange.


Best Regards

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Very good, but a little error in her eyes. They are focusing at her noise by their position, kinda strange.


Best Regards

Strange as it may be, that is how the Final Fantasy franchise did it in the past. Take a look at Final Fantasy IV, V and VI. Notice how the eyes are long and towards the center of the face. It's not an error. It's more of a drawing style.

EDIT: I tried drawing the eyes outwards, and it seems as though the character is confused. I also tried ballpoint eyes, and the character looks surprised. How exactly would you draw the eyes? Any suggestions?

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

You people wouldn't imagine how difficult it is to make a custom movement system. I spent the whole day working on it, and I still have many loose ends. My basic idea is to have one huge sprite sheet with all character poses. I've searched the database for a script similar to what I have in mind, but there is none. The closest one is DerVVulfman's script, Eight Directions & More Frames, but it's too messy (over 1,500 lines long) and does not exactly fit my purpose.

So I've decided to make my own custom movement system from scratch. It will take a few days, or weeks, depending on how much time I dedicate to it. It will be particularly aimed at using my character sets, but I will probably release an all-purpose version of the script. It will also have the following functions.

• 1. Eight directions
  2. More frames
  3. Standing frame
  4. Additional poses
  5. Dashing
  6. Waiting

Unlike DerVVulfman's script, this script will not be aimed at battle systems. By saying "additional poses", I do not mean attacking, or casting a spell. The term "additional poses" more likely resembles turning your head clockwise or counterclockwise, or sitting down, which are useful to make pixelated game characters, both players and NPCs, more human.

I had no idea whether to do the menu first, or this script, but I must say, so far, the script has turned out to be very entertaining.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Well, I'm almost done with the movement system. However, I tried combining it with the New Mode 07 script. It didn't exactly work out. I'm thinking I might not actually combine both of these scripts. A tangent to this situation would be having two separate movement systems, one for New Mode 07 and one for regular game play. What is more complicated?

EDIT: Never mind. I got the two scripts working together. Now it seems as if I only have minor details to sort out.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Another amazing game from the Thai RPG Maker XP community. I'm only posting it because I absolutely love the menu, and they stole my idea to make a status hexagon. Also, they abuse the particle engine in a good way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeuoKJtRPvQ

EDIT: The ability grid is also pretty awesome, but not as cool as my license board.