Remake of a game I made in 2002 [DEMO added!]!

[figment68]

NEW UPDATE 1/27/2010!
I just want to tell my tales.

I have had these small stories and outlandish tales rolling around in my head since 1968. One in particular concerns the rise and fall of the great Alfar kingdom. It is a huge and epic tale spanning generations. I have written of it, I have painted images relating to it, I have sculpted in clay images from the tale over the years in hopes of sharing the tale and the adventures therein with the world. That land is real for me. The characters in those stories are all as living as any flesh and blood entity. This tale and others are constantly beating at the walls of my mind to give them release. Then in 2000 I was struck with the idea of using digital media as a way to tell these tales. I started considering a computer role playing game. I mean, many of these tales grew in size and depth back in my old school D&D days so it only made sense. I was intrigued by the whole prospect. Thus began my game making adventures. I tried a number of "game making engines" like "RPG studio", "adventure maker" and yes Mark's "Game Maker". I messed around with RM2k and started a couple of projects based on these tales. Unfortunately, my life was in shambles at the time and I never finished the projects. Again in 2002 I approached the idea of telling my tales using computer games. I looked to RM2k once again but found it to be too limited for my oh so grand plans, so I used another well known engine to make my first RPG. It was a prequel of sorts to introduce some characters that would play important roles throughout the tales of Alfar. The game went as far as a beta version before life distracted me once again.

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX5dImRGFWY

Well my life is in much better order now, I have a few more years coding experience, and found the joy and power of RMXP and Ruby scripting. So I have decided remake that old dusty RPG from back in 2002. It is called "Dungeon Dwellers". I have made a lot of progress and am enjoying myself immensely. The storyline is simple enough in this small game.

Spoiler

Dungeon Dwellers RPG.

Once upon a time
in the far away future,
on a non-existing world,
lived a less than extraordinary
bloke known by the name…
Fen Pogo.

He was to become the first
in a long line
of great and mythical heroes that
would come to be known as…
Dungeon Dwellerz.

That is yet to happen
in the past.
When we first meet up with good Fen
he is little more than the town hoodlum,
spending most of his time in the local pub
soaking up the ale and the rest of his time
trying to seduce the town wives and daughters.


But all of that is about to change!


Dungeon Dwellers.
Mine of the Minotaur.

I love the power and flexibility provided by RMXP and scripting, it has opened up all kinds of possibilities. And the greater range in graphics size and resolution offers the potential for an artist such as myself to show off a bit. Speaking of which...

Spoiler

Here are a couple of screen shots showing two different versions of a sprite for a large brutish character.
This first one shows the larger of the two. Although I like the detail that can be shown with this large fella',
I think that this one is just too big.

In the above version, the large ogreish fella' is still huge but fits the game much better don't you agree?

So, I just wanted to share and maybe get some feed back as I go along. I am thinking of using mostly RTP tiles and chars for NPCs with heavy editing for the most part in this first game. Although the main characters and supporting NPCs will all be original graphics, I think for the sake of time and efficiency it would be best for me to rely on pre-existing graphics. I enjoy pixel art any ways...

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxEPhgRz848

Like I said, I am very impressed with the added capabilities provided by using scripting. Here are a few features of the game so far...

Spoiler

Day and Night.
In game battles on the playing field as well as first person boss battles.
Ability for char to get drunk.
Ability to pick pocket and break into houses.
A bunch of mini-games; poker, 3 card monty, chicken chase, and more.
A number of side quest

Thanks for taking the time to read this somewhat lengthy post. Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything that you would like to see. In the meantime, here is a lil' glimpse.

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R14WR2nS_g

NEW ALPHA DEMO!
A small alpha demo to show some basic game play and test for lag etc. In theory you should NOT need RMXP installed to play this Demo (let me know). Please leave comments and criticism.

Spoiler

http://www.mediafire.com/?twnmujz3itm

 

[Daxis]

Well for one, you've got to sorta improve the mapping. Everything's a bit too symmetrical, square, and there's way too much open space. Like for the bar thing, you could at least put cups and beer on the table(3rd layer or event layer). For outside, you could add a whole lot more weeds. and maybe make the roads or whatever not so perfectly straight- If I did stuff like that, add some weeds on the outside since it's less used and wears away and stuff. the way I map(and i honestly like the way I map) is that a bit randomness is better.

The sword swing animation is a bit too small and fast. Maybe you should code and sprite in one or two more frames, and make the blade more seeable, or add some swing animation like in the XAS action battle system.

The speech system seems weird. Sorry, but that's just the way I feel. the game feels like an epic fantasy rpg thing, so the font and message background is just off to me.

Otherwise, the custom whatevers you'd put in seemed fun, and considerably proper for what type of game that you're trying to make. That's really all the feedback I can give, considering the info you've put out.

Good luck, then.

 

[figment68]

I agree, as far as the mapping needing improvement. The maps are pretty bare at the moment because I am focusing on laying out the game play before working much on the maps themselves. Right now the maps contain a bare minimum of content, just enough to lay out the game play. It's just the order in which I do things. The look of the game will be changed extensively as far as tile sets and so forth go. I have started modifying some of the RTP tile sets to break up some of that symmetrical look. Things like adding uneven or jagged look to buildings and combining elements as well as making some totally new tiles. I plan on filling every board with a ton of interactive elements, like say being able to look at portraits, drink and eat items, and search other items etc., etc. So yes, your criticisms concerning the mapping are duly noted and agreed with.

The sword swinging animation is for the first and smallest sword that the player can acquire and thus is supposed to be small. There are two other sword animations with larger swords as well. I do like the idea of adding a motion effect to the swing however. I'll take that into consideration.

As for the message and text windows, I agree that the message windows need a major overhaul. I plan on using more than one window skin depending on what type of message or menu is being called. Like a skin for the in game gold window and a different one for the actual menu and yet a different one during battles. Maybe even depending on where the player is. Like I stated before, the graphics will be getting a lot of attention. When it comes to the text window or speech window... Well frankly I like it the way it is. I see your point, but I think it gives the game a slightly whimsical feel to balance the often waaaay too serious and broody feel of many RPGs. Not only that but it cuts down on the confusion of who is talking without having to add actor names or face pics and the likes. With this message system I can show what actor is talking without confusion, I can visually interrupt conversations between players, and I can show what the actor is thinking (thought bubbles) even while talking or being talked to in a straightforward manner without confusing the player.

So for now, I think that I will keep the speech bubbles and such. I just,... well I like the way it looks.

Thanks for the criticism and suggestions. Any and all input is appreciated and will be seriously considered.

 

[figment68]

Well I have been kicking around with a few ideas for the title screen today. This is what the current title screen looks like...

Don't hold back, give me some constructive criticism. All input will be taken into serious consideration.

 

[Daxis]

the monster's a bit hard to see. It's probably made like that, but even the eyes are hard to see; they're like little spots of white light, which, upon closer inspection, is apparently a monster. There's really no background, just two characters on a black screen.

I'm pretty sure the main protaganist is male, but the character on the screen looks way too androgynous: the sharp cheekbones and chin, the anime eyes, the bright red rendering of the hair. Of course, this is probably only because of the 3-D rendering, but still...

the dungeon dwellers and the mines of the minotaur are a bit too light and not sharp enough. You should make them stand out a bit more, brighter perhaps. At least the dungeon dwellers part; you can barely read it, maybe because of the glow. it looks pretty fine on your signature.

that's only the criticisms part thoug :grin:. All in all, it's pretty much okay. I just like going into meaningless minute details. It's all just fine for the type of game you're making. Minute adjustments, and it'll be fine.

 

[Jason]

I must say this is looking interesting, the big guy looks great, although myself I can't decide which is better, I mean, the bigger one has more detail, but looks TOO big, while the other fits in fine, but doesn't have as much room for details...

The speech bubbles look really nice to be honest, like being in a comic, I definitely wouldn't change them, as I love the effect.

I'm with Daxis about the titlescreen, well, just the person in it, I mean, it looks female, while your character ingame looks male, unless it's meant to be someone else ? But the monster in the back looks fine to me.

Oh and one last thing, your mapping is too... big, everything is wide and empty, especially buildings, you should either make them smaller, or work on filling them up more.

 

[MCsephiroth13]

Gotta say. I'm really diggin' the title screen.

 

[figment68]

Daxisheart, I am in agreement on much of what you said about the title screen. It is supposed to be dark and hard to see the Minotaur in the background, I want it to be lurking in the shadows right behind the character. The title screen is merely a temporay one to give me an idea of where I want to take it, your critiques will be taken into account however. I will tweak the 3D model to give it a slightly more masculine look. As for the anime like appearance, well yeah, I am going for an anime-ish look with the character so...

I agree jъГìsт, but I settled on the smaller of the two. The char is a half-ogre and is supposed to big a big fella' but the largest was just too large and out of proportion.
As for the speech bubbles, I too like them and am going to keep them.
I have already began tweaking the 3D model to give a slightly more masculine look, but not too much as I want to keep a youthful anime-ish look to the character.
Yes, the mapping is nowhere near finished. I will be revamping the tile set and adding much more content in the future. The maps only contain a bare minimal at this point just to lay the frame work for the actual game play.

Thank you MCsephiroth13, the current title screen is only a temporary one just to get a general idea of what I am aiming at.

Thanks to every one for taking the time to look at what little I have posted thus far and for your input.

I have been fiddling around with the main character sprite some more using the 3D model I made as a reference.

Spoiler

I think this version resembles the 3D character more closely. Again thank you for your comments and critique, it is this kind of input that is very helpful when it comes to the look and feel of the game. I will eventually post a demo so that people can get a better idea of actual game play but I want to get a lot more done before I do so.

 

[figment68]

I uploaded a small preview demo. The game play is VERY limited as far as boards, quests, mini-games. All that is there but you cannot access everything in the demo. I just wanted to test certain aspects of the game and test for lags and/or errors. There is a link in the first post.

 

[figment68]

Just updated Demo to the Alpha-Demo. Over two hours of game play in the Demo. Please tell me what you think.