bruisehound
Member
Hi, I'm bruisehound. I have been off and on the rpgm scene for several years, but I don't think I've posted on .org before.
I am writing this post because I am looking for some advice on how to do a few things in a user interface for a small, pseudo-strategic RMXP game I'm working on. It is called "Kingdom Lost".
I want to keep the game reasonably simple. I don't have a million hours to spend on it.
The short version is that I am looking for:
1) Advice on a multiple party interface in general.
2) A Menu system for easily switching items between multiple parties, linked into phylomortis's Separate Item Lists for Multiple Parties script.
3) A way to display one variable and a few lines of text in the Status screen of the Default Menu system.
The long version, including a description of the project and details of what I need, is included below.
If anyone has any advice, or any offers of help, on any aspect of the project, I would very much appreciate it.
~bruisehound
I am writing this post because I am looking for some advice on how to do a few things in a user interface for a small, pseudo-strategic RMXP game I'm working on. It is called "Kingdom Lost".
I want to keep the game reasonably simple. I don't have a million hours to spend on it.
The short version is that I am looking for:
1) Advice on a multiple party interface in general.
2) A Menu system for easily switching items between multiple parties, linked into phylomortis's Separate Item Lists for Multiple Parties script.
3) A way to display one variable and a few lines of text in the Status screen of the Default Menu system.
The long version, including a description of the project and details of what I need, is included below.
I will use the DBS and hopefully mostly the DMS.
The game progresses on a world map day by day. You have several parties, each composed of 1-4 heroes, and each day you can move each party a little, or they can rest to recover HP and SP. The player is really just a little pointer icon that selects parties and moves them to locations or changes their equipment or whatever.
When a party arrives at an unconquered area or a quest zone, they will get a chance to fight a battle or two to gain control of the place. If the party loses or retreats they are booted back a few steps (and losing really hurts Hero loyalty). There are no town maps or dungeons in these places. I want this to be a project of manageable size.
Because I do not want to fart around with AI, your enemies do not move and conquer territory much. However, territories can rebel against you.
The main character is an old, washed-up king, Ansard (Fighter 05 in the Charset), whose son has been kidnapped, and whose kingdom is rising in rebellion against him.
The challenge of the game is to avoid or overcome upheavals in your kingdom, in order to get enough money, equipment, and powerful Heroes to accomplish the necessary quests and rescue your son before time runs out and his kidnappers execute him.
Not only your ordinary subjects, but also your Heroes can turn against you.
Each of the up to 20 or so Heroes in the game has a Loyalty rating between 0 and 100, and a unique set of 2 or 3 motivations. If a Hero's Loyalty drops below 30, they may rebel against you and join your enemies.
Depending on how you behave as the king, and what you order that hero to do, you can make them more or less loyal to you. For instance, one hero, Beatrix, is particularly attached to her home town, and if you fail to protect the place, she will lose Loyalty and probably rebel. A different hero, Tyrens, is madly in love with Beatrix, and if you place him and Beatrix together in a party he will be happy and remain loyal to you. However, if Beatrix rebels, Tyrens is likely to join her. I think I can Common Event code that stuff into happening, but I don't know how to display it.
There is a very broad storyline, with say 5 necessary story events, within which there is a lot of room for variety and hopefully a little replayability.
So that's the basic idea for the game.
There are are three major questions that I hope people can help me with.
1) How are the parties are allowed to move? I see two options:
A) The world map allows reasonably free movement, and each party can move a set number of steps each day (like in Heroes of Might and Magic).
B) The world map allows movement along set paths of missions. Parties can move to an adjacent mission each day (like in the mission map screen of FFTactics).
The problem with A) is that I don't see a simple way to help the player to count how far away something is, so that they can judge how many days it will take their party to get to a place.
The problem with B) is that I have to event code every possible move.
Either way, the interface seems a bit clumsy. Does anyone have an idea of how to let the player control the parties?
2) Should the item list be shared between parties separated by distance?
A) No
B) Yes
The problem with A) is that even though I have the Separate Item Lists for Multiple Parties script from phylomortis, I don't have menu system that would allow the player to smoothy exchange items between parties sitting next to one another. The player has to be able to decide to send 6 Potions to one party and the Dragon Spear to the other.
The problem with B) is that it seems a bit ridiculous for the player to be able to be able to pick up the Dragon Spear in the north part of the kingdom with one party, and then be able to equip it to fight a battle in the South part of the kingdom in the same turn. Definitely, if I go with B, I will need a piece of code to disable the Equip screen in the DMS. I want the player to be able to look at the party's status after they have fought a battle, but not to be able to take away their awesome equipment and use it for a different party in the same turn.
3) Can I add a display of the Heroes motivations and loyalty in the Status screen of the CMS?
The game progresses on a world map day by day. You have several parties, each composed of 1-4 heroes, and each day you can move each party a little, or they can rest to recover HP and SP. The player is really just a little pointer icon that selects parties and moves them to locations or changes their equipment or whatever.
When a party arrives at an unconquered area or a quest zone, they will get a chance to fight a battle or two to gain control of the place. If the party loses or retreats they are booted back a few steps (and losing really hurts Hero loyalty). There are no town maps or dungeons in these places. I want this to be a project of manageable size.
Because I do not want to fart around with AI, your enemies do not move and conquer territory much. However, territories can rebel against you.
The main character is an old, washed-up king, Ansard (Fighter 05 in the Charset), whose son has been kidnapped, and whose kingdom is rising in rebellion against him.
The challenge of the game is to avoid or overcome upheavals in your kingdom, in order to get enough money, equipment, and powerful Heroes to accomplish the necessary quests and rescue your son before time runs out and his kidnappers execute him.
Not only your ordinary subjects, but also your Heroes can turn against you.
Each of the up to 20 or so Heroes in the game has a Loyalty rating between 0 and 100, and a unique set of 2 or 3 motivations. If a Hero's Loyalty drops below 30, they may rebel against you and join your enemies.
Depending on how you behave as the king, and what you order that hero to do, you can make them more or less loyal to you. For instance, one hero, Beatrix, is particularly attached to her home town, and if you fail to protect the place, she will lose Loyalty and probably rebel. A different hero, Tyrens, is madly in love with Beatrix, and if you place him and Beatrix together in a party he will be happy and remain loyal to you. However, if Beatrix rebels, Tyrens is likely to join her. I think I can Common Event code that stuff into happening, but I don't know how to display it.
There is a very broad storyline, with say 5 necessary story events, within which there is a lot of room for variety and hopefully a little replayability.
So that's the basic idea for the game.
There are are three major questions that I hope people can help me with.
1) How are the parties are allowed to move? I see two options:
A) The world map allows reasonably free movement, and each party can move a set number of steps each day (like in Heroes of Might and Magic).
B) The world map allows movement along set paths of missions. Parties can move to an adjacent mission each day (like in the mission map screen of FFTactics).
The problem with A) is that I don't see a simple way to help the player to count how far away something is, so that they can judge how many days it will take their party to get to a place.
The problem with B) is that I have to event code every possible move.
Either way, the interface seems a bit clumsy. Does anyone have an idea of how to let the player control the parties?
2) Should the item list be shared between parties separated by distance?
A) No
B) Yes
The problem with A) is that even though I have the Separate Item Lists for Multiple Parties script from phylomortis, I don't have menu system that would allow the player to smoothy exchange items between parties sitting next to one another. The player has to be able to decide to send 6 Potions to one party and the Dragon Spear to the other.
The problem with B) is that it seems a bit ridiculous for the player to be able to be able to pick up the Dragon Spear in the north part of the kingdom with one party, and then be able to equip it to fight a battle in the South part of the kingdom in the same turn. Definitely, if I go with B, I will need a piece of code to disable the Equip screen in the DMS. I want the player to be able to look at the party's status after they have fought a battle, but not to be able to take away their awesome equipment and use it for a different party in the same turn.
3) Can I add a display of the Heroes motivations and loyalty in the Status screen of the CMS?
If anyone has any advice, or any offers of help, on any aspect of the project, I would very much appreciate it.
~bruisehound