Selena Eternia: The Angel Did Lie- Chapter 1

[Daxis]

Selena Eternia
The Angel Did Lie
By Daxisheart
Chapter 1: Bound by Fate
Gameplay Time: 2 Hours
My Website:
http://daxisheart.wordpress.com/

Downloads:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NRWCYECE
http://rapidshare.com/files/332410074/S ... ternia.exe

Spoiler: About:

Selena Eternia: The Angel Did Lie is my second game I'd started on RMXP, with emphasis on gameplay and story. My previous game failed; not enough willpower to finish it, and some parts were halfassed, sorta. This game started on a lot of the remains of the last game, such as database names/stats, animations, graphics/musics, etc. Both are hugely influenced by Dark Eternal: Dissolution, which in my opinion is the best RMXP game ever, even though it's not finished. This game originally began with me and a friend of mine, but since his computer messed up(you should hear the stories about the virus attacks), he can't help anymore, and it's completely on me. He'll be a beta tester, though.

Selena Eternia is a classic and cinematic dark fantasy RPG with emphasis in gameplay and story, which will slowly reveal itself through several chapters. It is planned to be finished in 3 to 4 years. Yes, I said 3 to 4 years. I'm making realistic goals for my procrastinating self...

Spoiler: Story:

"On the precipice of reality,
Realize your coil of mortality.
Decadence of ethics and morality,
The loss of all fatality."

Twelve years ago, Zeno washed up on the shores of Tress. Now, however, Selena is gone, and Zeno goes off in search of vengeance. However, as the journey progresses, the angel Veritas appears in Zeno's dreams, and whispers wishes that are locked away...

A group that hides behind in the darkness appears, the whispered name of the Azrealites... Simple border disputes spark war again, but this time, the earth shall be fed a field of human blood... The Phantom Slasher strikes again, and his trail is ever evanescent.... Selena Eternia explores a vast and magical world where nothing is what it seems, and the blade piercing your back could be your best friend's...

Spoiler: characters

Zeno
Age: ~19
Weapon: Sword
Background:
Was found wash up on the shores of the small town Tress 12 years ago by Selena. Grew up with her, and loved her. After she died, leaves off to kill the Phantom Slasher.
Naturally stoic, is somewhat silent and moody about the subject of selena, but those that know him know that he has a good heart. People often let him lead. Uses ellipses a bit too much.

Montague von Ezariel:
Age: 21
Weapon: Lance
Background:
Montague seems to have a very large legacy, courtesy of his family. However, he lives in Tress with Zeno and Selena. When Zeno leaves on his journey, Montague leaves with him.
Montague sleeps through anything, apparently. Although older, he seems to let Zeno lead. He is cynical somewhat, and much of what he says can be taken cynic pessimism or as black humor.

Corine:
Age: 18(?)
Weapon: Daggers
Background:
A thief. She tries to rob Zeno in the forest, but is then caught by a monster. After being rescued by Zeno and Montague(and returning the money), she then adamantly sets off with them, a smile on her face. She seems to be more than she appears to be, particularly since having stolen an extremely large and rare gem...
She is happy and jovial, and tends to purposely act childish, particularly around Zeno. Montague tends to distrust her, since she did try to rob them.

Soren de Garde:
Age: 22
Background:
A childhood friend of Zeno, Montague, and Selena. He travels around the world, looking for riches. Calls himself nothing if not a vagabond. Is a bit of a player around the ladies, although considers Montague more of a lady's man than himself. Is very helpful to Zeno.

Selena:
Age: 18(Deceased)
Background:
Was the person who found Zeno. They grew up together. Selena was very poor, but still helped Zeno. Along her with kind-natured heart, she had a good sense of justice, exemplified by how she helped Zeno. This sense of justice rubbed off on Zeno.
Was killed two weeks prior to the start of the story by the world-wide known killer, the Phantom Slasher.

The Angel:
Age: ??
Background:
A strange being whose intentions are hidden.

The Phantom Slasher:
Age: ??
Background:
A world renowned serial killer of legendary status. A legendary bounty lies on his head, dead or alive. Killed Selena two weeks prior to the start of the story.

More character infos will be added once Chapter 2 is released. That'll probably be the last update on characters.

Spoiler: Setting:

The world is known as Ezalkein. Zen has the most commonly used currency for centuries.

Kathara:
The large south-eastern continent is ruled by a single country, Kathara. The continent, however, is seriously divided by a huge mountain range and desert, so the other side is usually cut off from the rest of the world. The southern edge is covered with snow and ice. The northern peninsula is where Tress and Gamotte are located, but travel from the peninsula to the capital city, is often cut off due to landslides. Supposedly, elves are located on of the forest.

Sangra:
On the southern half of the north-eastern continent is Sangra. Sangra is a very temperate country throughout, with several woods and forests within the valleys of the mountains. The north/eastern edge of the country is filled with mountain ranges, preventing direct sea trade with the Belivier capital or the trading areas of the Lost Continent. The southern tip has a port which deals in trading with the Archipelagos. Is continually in border disputes of Belivier, which occasionally flashes into war.

Belivier:
North of Sangra is Belivier. Half of the country is filled with snow and ice, but still manages to have prosperous trade with the Kathara peninsula, and is not blocked from trade with the areas of the Lost continent. A mountain range prevents direct sea trade with the Sangra countries, but also helps during the war times. Is in continual border disputes with Sangra.

The Archipelagos:
East of Kathara and south east of the country of Sangra are the renowned Archipelagos. The Great Library is located, a legendary collection of knowledge. Also on the continents is the supposed headquarters of the world-wide known Hunter Organization. Because of its location, it deals with trade of the southern lost continent and the Kathara/Sangra relations. Is somewhat isolated. Usually temperate, some mountains, swamps, and even volcanoes exist, usually isolated to certain islands.

The Lost continent:
Located on the farthest east is the vertical stretch of the Lost continent, an almost completely uninhabited continent, at least by humans. A giant mountain range crosses the continent's west shoreline, preventing much of the trade to the western world. On the top half is one of the trading areas, which deals in trade mainly to Belivier, while the southern half has a trading area to the Archipelagos, and subsequently to Kathara and Sangra. Covered by swamps, desolate windy plains, deserts, and ice.

Spoiler: Screenshots:

It's halfway a working title screen. It's the actual command title screen place thingey, and animated.

KGC Active count battle. It's pretty cool.

Some mapping.

Some more mapping

[/URL]

Menu Screen.

Spoiler: Features

KGC Active Count Battle + Addons
Considerably Good Mapping
Full MP3 Soundtrack

Custom...
Menu
Items Selection
Status
Equipment Selection
Skills Screen
Battle Selection

8 Directional movement with Dash
Ccoa's Universal Messaging System
95% Non RTP battlers

To Be Implemented:
Active/Wait Battle Choice
Party Selection Screen

Spoiler: Chapters:

Chapter 1: Bound by Fate
Status: Completed, possibly with bugs
The introductory chapter with the awesome intro cutscene. It's the chapter where the first half of the characters are introduced. The character development is moderate, nothing special, and has a fair amount of plot hints. AN EXTREMELY LINEAR chapter, although I'm proud of the amount of puzzles I've put in, however few they are.

Time: 2 Hours of gameplay

Chapter 2: Way of the Slasher
Status: 3%
I've got most of the story set out, but the minute details are amazingly sketchy. Exactly one map done. :P


Chapter 3: The Azrealites
Status: 0%

Spoiler: Credits:

Game:
Anh Tuan Van/Daxisheart

Story:
Daxisheart
D'ante Jolly

Design:
Daxisheart

Data Manipulation:
Daxisheart
Naramura
Moghunter

Character Sprites:
Naramura
Enterbrain
Studio Pickel
Tokonori
Sithjester
Ccoa
Scriptkitty
Mimeso
Hot Toke
Ruruga

Battle Graphics:
Naramura
Enterbrain
Studio Pickel
Hot Toke
Qutietie

Pre-rendered Graphics:
Daxisheart
Daniel Noll
Enterbrain
Naramura
Ruruga
Ccoa
Sqaure Enix
Moghunter
KGC Software
Mgshellc
http://www.rpg-maker.fr

Scripting:
KGC Software
Ccoa
Enterbrain
Cogwheel
RPG Advocate
Leon Westbrooke
Moghunter
LegacyX
Blizzard
Rune

Music and Sounds:
Ken Nakagawa
Daisuke Achiwa
Nobuo Uematsu
The Black Mages
Tsuyoshi Sekito
Kenichiro Fukuu
Capcom
Enterbrain
Nightwish
Yasao Uragami
George R. Powell
Yoko Shinomura
Konishi Kayo
Sting
Touhou(Alstroemeria Records, Niconico, Masayoshi Minoshima, ZUN)

Beta Testing:
Daxisheart
D'ante Jolly

Special Thanks:
Everlong
Daniel Noll
Santa Samurai

Please report any bugs and glitches. Please give feedback and comments. Thank you!

Ps: The file size is 110 MB. Sorry about that.

 

[MiatheRabbit]

I played through your demo and really liked your intro cut-scene, very cool, I'm quite envious xD

There were three issues I picked up on though.
First, the font you use for 'Selena Eternia' on the menu screen is rather...boring. It looks like Times New Roman though I can't be sure. Maybe use a different font or dress it up a little with a different coloured border like with the New Game, Continue and Exit

Also, the music you use when the scene goes to black is from Elfen Lied. Whilst it is a very nice piece of music and fits the mood it is very recognisable and immediately draws the player out of the game.

And lastly

Spoiler

After the black with white writing bit, a a minute or so into the game

Yeah...that prevented me playing the demo any more >.<
I'm interested in playing more though ^^

 

[Daxis]

DAMMIT! Are you for real!

Okay ,this sucks. I swear I set it to RTP, so how the hell can it be missing?
Anyways, it is times new roman. I was thinking of changing it, but at this point, it would mess up since other fonts would be too large or too small, and mess up the message box.

I'm so sorry for that. Expect a demo in about 2 hours or so.

So sorry about that, :P


EDIT: Downloads are up.

 

[So fist]

Well played through a bit and had a crash when i finally left generic hometown one through the south entrance. The game said a bgm was missing that was called by the map. Anyway here are some candid thoughts on the play through.

The opening is too long. Why am I being introduced to characters not yet relevant? Also the warrior dude who's reciting some poem or whatever is really goofy. It felt extremely contrived and unnatural. I'd change those lines if you really feel that it has/needs to stay. I liked some of your music choices, though. In fact the only music choice I didn't like was the dark brooding metal tune that avenged sevenfold would play that came on when Montague entered his own house. It's not a poor tune but it doesn't mesh with the situation and is dramatically over the top making the piece seem more mock epic than anything else. Really in general you need to deal with your story with a lot more subtlety so let's get into that.

I think you need to start out different with your opening. Obviously Zeno's revenge quest is going to lead him to a broader conflict with things more important than himself, but why attempt to introduce those things when they are farther down the road? You may want to focus on introducing Zeno instead with your beginning. Take us to the moment where he loses his girlfriend, then the funeral, and then as you go through the village you can backtrack through that relationship to establish its importance in his character and motivation. And this is key, keep all of it interactive. This is a game, right? I like the dichotomy you are trying to set up between Montague and Zeno. Its cliche and basic but its better than a generic follower leader relationship. One is rich the other poor, one insensitive the other sensitive, ect. You need to play this with more subtlety though, and use these differences to create conflict which leads to development of character and some good laughs.

Your mapping could use some work. You have too much symmetry and too many open edges. This is a very common problem. Take a look at the snes rpg levels and you'll find that there are almost no maps that have flat open edges that are any larger than three tiles which are your transition points. Your exterior maps should have obvious entry and exit points. And you should work to attempt to close off the all the non transition sections somehow. What may help is to plan out your path's and layout first and then put down the tiles. Also why does Zeno live in a storage shed for a lawnmower and possibly a workbench? That exterior is comically small even by shack standards. It should be larger to be a dwelling for two people, if you want to emphasize poverty make the other houses bigger. The interiors would benefit from some thoughtful planning. You should actually set up houses as you would do your own. As a series of different rooms for different purposes. A kitchen, a bedroom, a study, ect. This will make the setting a bit more engaging. Anyway that's a lot to chew on and I hope to see this improve as you continue development.

 

[Daxis]

I hate the fact that it keeps crashing. I used Blizzard's resource tester to help reduce the size of the thing (the entire folder with all the crap is ~300 MB, although probably only 220 are going to be in the final version). I'll check to see what music file's missing. I'll upload the file somewhere so you can continue the game, while I upload a new version(again, dammit...)

Yeah, the opening was really more of an opening/intro thing. I was going to set it as a thing you can skip before the chapter 1/azreal thing started, before the actual choice selections and whatever, but it would have taken too long to event, and my eventing abilities aren't that good. It would probably be set up like that by the time chapter 2 or 3 comes out.

I set up all/most of the exterior transitions with something to show it transitioning; two boulders, to logs, and the trail would usually lead right between them. I guess the shack could be a bit larger.

Although I did think of making the story dynamic like the way you said, I decided not to, since... well, there's lot to the story, obviously, and there's lots to be revealed that would be sorta ~~~eh if I do it like that. there's a major partially interactive cutscene around chapter 6 or seven that describes exactly that(and much more), so I'm hesitant to do it yet. That and I don't have the skills to do that yet.

Originally, montague and Zeno's relationship and the way it plays out was supposed to be much more subtle, exactly like you said... but when I actually started typing it it became like that :P, and I felt like I could do something. There's still lots of dynamic growth in the upcoming chapters.

 

[So fist]

Well your opening thing seemed more like one of those title intro sequences you commonly see if you wait around long enough on a title screen. If you want to keep it you might want to stick it there with some refinement. I know there is a script out there for an evented title screen. Also quick note i downloaded from the rapidshare account.

Also throwing a few boulders isn't enough for the player to notice an exit when the entire side of the screen is open. Take a look at the later snes game maps from like FFVI ect. You'll see that there is no open edge that is not a transition and very often the open edges are focused at narrow points. Find ways to enclose your maps. Trust me they will look better and it'll be a lot easier for your player to figure out where they want to go.

 

[coyotecraft]

Wow, this was a great game. I played through it in one sitting. I'm pretty sure I got all the hidden treasures. I wish every rmxp game was like this. The mapping, battle system, and 3-realmed fantasy world reminds me of this other rmxp game. But I forgot what it's name was and part 1 was the only part completely finished.

Here's My Notes that I took while playing:

Spoiler: notes

Start of game, there no prompt that I was in control of the character. I waited a while for
something to happen. And there's a cutscene right after you walk out of the cave anyways.

The battles were really freash to me. At least the way the damage was displayed. The default victory music killed it for me. And get a new gameover screen, everyone uses the default.

Seems to be a bit of lag when opening chests.

I found the easiest way to collect eggs was just to re-enter/exit and wait for an egg to be in that first tree.

The music during the camp fire scene didn't seem appropriate. Since they were talking about countries and wars.

It seems weird that they assume the girl screaming was the one robbing them since theydidn't see who did it.

It took three tries to beat the forest boss. The battle moves really fast, and I end
up fumbling around the menus trying to select a specific attack or an item all while
the enemy is attacking me. It would be simpler if all the skills were under the same window in not separated by categories.

Sometimes I think it's best to stop the bgm at parts during certain scenes. Like when Soren asks about Selena, the cheery town music ruins it.

Why are the people walking in-place at the port unlike the other npc? Is that some reference to old school jrpgs?

On my way to see the Oracle I got an error. Unable to find Place Holy BGM. I just added a music file with the name "Place Holy" into the audio file so I could continue playing.

There were a few map oddities. through out the game like a piece of shadow, a random shirt, a weathervain on a tree.

If you talk to Yusa from the side, she'll stay turned and not face the characters during the cutscene.

On the Pirate Ship, after you defeat the captain, if you re-enter the room the captain is still there. But you can't talk to him.

The fight with the statue was over so fast I didn't even see what happend. Was that suppose to happen? Critical hit with my Cross slash maybe?

My final save was 2hr 38mins.

 

[Daxis]

Damn, I guess I still got one or two bugs in there. I'm quite surprised I still have so many bugs; I played through it and it was fine. I'm pretty sure I know what happened with the statue boss- when I can fix it, you'll see that the boss is quite a bitch, probably worse than the forest boss.

There are a lot of oddities in mapping; the shadow parts don't really matter to me, but I'll fix them eventually. The shirt was put there and it was meant for something else, but never got implemented(probably never will).
The robbing/girl part- thanks for pointing that out, never would have though(damn, that's another hour of eventing...)
Eventually, a easy/hard mode will be implemented that will really help out on fast moving bosses... as long as you play it on easy mode.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try to fix the bugs as soon as possible and upload a slightly better version.

PS: the what's its name- what did you forget?

 

[coyotecraft]

I think it's a sign of a good game when you die a couple times. My only beef was with the skill arrangement. There's the "all" category but its all the way to the right and not practical to get too.

I remember now. Your game reminds me a lot of Dark Eternal. It was a rmxp game that used a similar battle system and Naramura's battlers and sprites. The main character in that game also washed up on shore with amnesia and had this sleeping persona. He had something to do with these other plains of existence but can't remember if it was ever explained. Part 1 was a pretty long game, Part 2 was suppose to be released in chapters but only chapter 1 was made.

 

[Daxis]

Heh heh, I'm so taking that as a compliment. In the about spoilers, I had stated that it has had huge influence from dark eternal(best RMxp game ever). You'll see a bunch of similarities, but in the end it'll be its own thing. I mean, I like RTP, the directional dash is just a fun plug and play, naramura rocks, etc. I just incorperated it into my game with my own tastes and lots of DE:D influence.

The reason I did the skills thing was because in the end, there were going to be a lot of skills- the magic user archtype character was going to have a crap load of skills, but I guess the normal way works too.

 

[Sailerius]

Just started chapter 1. I just finished the rock moving puzzle. Thought I'd share my initial thoughts.

* My compliments for choosing to go with a custom soundtrack, but you might want to make sure that your tracks are obscure enough that the player can't recognize them; it really breaks immersion. The one that's really stuck out so far was your use of Lilium in the beginning. You should really switch that one out. However, the rest haven't been bad and I particularly like the battle theme.

* You move way too slowly, even when dashing. It's rather annoying.

* The "wop!" sound effect that plays when someone's turn comes up is also rather annoying.

* Speaking of battles, the encounter in the rate is too high and for random encounters, the battles take too long. Lower enemy HP or increase the amount of damage done on average. If there are going to be random encounters that are easy to win, then they shouldn't take too long.

* The characters speak with too many ellipses. Your dialogue in general sounds pretty forced, especially in the intro, which was otherwise cool. Someone mentioned the soldier reciting a poem as being really awkward. I echo that sentiment.

* Aside from the poor font choice, the title screen is actually pretty cool. Aside from the poorly-written dialogue, the intro was also pretty cool. The intro poem about the schism also seemed really contrived and forced. If it's integral to the game, work it in in a more fluid manner. Maybe have it written somewhere on the menu or the title screen or something.

* The windowskin is cool.

* This is something you have less control of due to using Naramura battlers, but you really shouldn't use vanilla RTP for your main cast. At the VERY least, you should recolor their hair and clothing. Preferably you should frankensprite them to have different clothing, but you have less control over that due to battler limitations. If at all possible, find an artist to do custom battlers. The Naramura ones are all over and really stick out.

That's all for now. I'll add more as I get further.

 

[Daxis]

* My compliments for choosing to go with a custom soundtrack, but you might want to make sure that your tracks are obscure enough that the player can't recognize them; it really breaks immersion. The one that's really stuck out so far was your use of Lilium in the beginning. You should really switch that one out. However, the rest haven't been bad and I particularly like the battle theme.

I might change the lilium track eventually, when I can find something that gives off the same feeling and is less annoyingly obscure.

* You move way too slowly, even when dashing. It's rather annoying.

Yeah, I'd messed with it for quite a while. It's one of the easier things to adjust.

* The "wop!" sound effect that plays when someone's turn comes up is also rather annoying.

Meh. I figured it a simple enough thing. I'm thinking of either lowering the volume, or just taking it out altogether if it's that annoying.

* Speaking of battles, the encounter in the rate is too high and for random encounters, the battles take too long. Lower enemy HP or increase the amount of damage done on average. If there are going to be random encounters that are easy to win, then they shouldn't take too long.

Really? It's roughly about 3 hits per enemy, and the enemies's parameters increase at a set rate so that it's generally kept the same, unless some special area appears. I'd made it so that by the time you're finished with the "dungeon", you can finish them off in normally 1 hit less. Good point, though, I'll think about how to go about this.

* The characters speak with too many ellipses. Your dialogue in general sounds pretty forced, especially in the intro, which was otherwise cool. Someone mentioned the soldier reciting a poem as being really awkward. I echo that sentiment.

* Aside from the poor font choice, the title screen is actually pretty cool. Aside from the poorly-written dialogue, the intro was also pretty cool. The intro poem about the schism also seemed really contrived and forced. If it's integral to the game, work it in in a more fluid manner. Maybe have it written somewhere on the menu or the title screen or something.

Yeah, the poem thing was a bit ~~~eh, and I know I use to many ellipses- there are lots of places where I want to foreshadow things, and so that when the player goes back they can see exactly how the plot has always been hinted. I'll check how to rewrite it, although not anytime soon(working on releasing chapters 1st over redoing previous ones)

* The windowskin is cool.

thx

* This is something you have less control of due to using Naramura battlers, but you really shouldn't use vanilla RTP for your main cast. At the VERY least, you should recolor their hair and clothing. Preferably you should frankensprite them to have different clothing, but you have less control over that due to battler limitations. If at all possible, find an artist to do custom battlers. The Naramura ones are all over and really stick out.

One of the reasons I didn't do this was because I've never had a problem with how the rtp look(well, MOST of the rtp)- rather, I like many of the designs(not rtp battlers though. UGH). Although I understand where you're coming from, and why people dislike rtp, something like this is a low priority for me, if at all. Some things I can change, but for the most part they'll stay the same until I reach a point where feel like I should do something about it.

Anyways, thanks for the reply. I've played an hour or two of act 1 before quitting, and although some things I can still remember, I'll hold out on replaying. I'll play it for a while and should be able to reply by midnight... probably.

 

[Sailerius]

Okay, I'm seriously done with the game now. I really tried to finish it, but after what just happened, I just can't go back. I'm really frustrated.

The fact that you have to pay to be fully healed is pretty annoying, but the fact that you have to go back to town to do it makes it unbearable. There were several times when I got trapped in the oracle's dungeon at low health and out of items and couldn't make it back to town because on the way there, I'd be assaulted by a random encounter and wipe. After five or six reloads, I finally managed to make it to town without running into any enemies. At this point, Montague was dead. So I went to the inn to get healed and Montague only gets healed to 1 HP, so I then have to use the inn again to get him up to full HP. As a result, I didn't have enough money left to buy new items.

The boss fights are much too hard. The fact that you can't escape from random encounters means that you have to just pray that you make it to the boss without running into a random enemy, otherwise you'll go in without being at max HP/SP, which is death. It took me five or six times to beat the first boss, and that was out of pure luck that I got a couple criticals. Only Corine barely survived it.

The second boss took me at least two hours to finally beat, and once again only Corine barely survived. After the cutscene, I went back to the town to heal, but I got attacked by a random encounter on the way there and she was destroyed instantly. Game over. There's no way I'm going to try to beat that boss again. I'm sorry, but after all the time I wasted trying it over and over, I'm not going to do it again.

Anyways, here are the other notes I took:
* The music in the first town is bizarrely happy in spite of the mood of the game at this point.

* Maybe I'm misjudging Zeno's character, but would he really steal money from Selena's bed?

* The fact that you can't skip text gets kind of annoying.

* The cameo in the forest was completely unnecessary.

* Why can't you get healing at save points? Aaaaargh!

* "So, we're really doing it, aren't we?" sounds like a line from an eroge.

* "Oh shit, I sense a boss fight coming up." The random breaking of the fourth wall seems really... odd. It really breaks immersion.

* Cure costs far too much SP considering how it is the single most important ability in the game due to the scarcity of healing.

 

[Daxis]

It's really that hard? You're making it sound worse than Everlong. I played through, and until a place later on, it wasn't too hard for me. Granted, I knew some of the secret areas so I always got those, and finished up the small measly quests I had, so that might be part of it.
I think I know what was messing up at the inn; I'm not using the just full party recover event thing, I'm doing something else.
On a side note to add, I have a couple of ideas that would later be implemented that will seriously help out on this frontier, if it's as annoying and impossible as you make it sound.

You can't escape from random encounters? In a random encounter, when a character has to act, press the cancel button and a fight/escape thing would come up(a remnant of the rtp scripting). I'll have to add that in the notes or NPC somewhere unless it really doesn't work.
EDIT: also forgot to mention, defending restores hp and sp, so it also helps out during battle when you're running out of hp. kill most of the enemies, leave one alive, and just heal yourself.


For the forest boss fight, I gave it random encounters on the fact that if I didn't, the player might be underleveled. The fairy was also there to heal the character.

The bed thing was just some secret random crap to give the player extra money. Besides, she's dead anyways, and it was technically their money.

Yeah, I added a whole bunch of things and lines that were unnecessary, I did it for the lulz. I know, not really a good reason.

Anyways, I'll check what I can do, maybe give myself another playthough and intentionally make it difficult for myself. Thanks for the indepth criticism. Meanwhile, I've finished act 1, and after a little bit more into act 2, I'll post something about it.


EDIT: I'll see if I can mess around with some of the things you'd adressed in the project, and get another demo up sometime.

 

[Sailerius]

It's really that hard? You're making it sound worse than Everlong. I played through, and until a place later on, it wasn't too hard for me. Granted, I knew some of the secret areas so I always got those, and finished up the small measly quests I had, so that might be part of it.
I think I know what was messing up at the inn; I'm not using the just full party recover event thing, I'm doing something else.
On a side note to add, I have a couple of ideas that would later be implemented that will seriously help out on this frontier, if it's as annoying and impossible as you make it sound.

I would say it's not hard so much as it depends very heavily upon getting lucky. Unless you're extremely well-prepared, it all comes down to luck in what attacks the boss uses and who it targets.

You can't escape from random encounters? In a random encounter, when a character has to act, press the cancel button and a fight/escape thing would come up(a remnant of the rtp scripting). I'll have to add that in the notes or NPC somewhere unless it really doesn't work.
EDIT: also forgot to mention, defending restores hp and sp, so it also helps out during battle when you're running out of hp. kill most of the enemies, leave one alive, and just heal yourself.

I never knew about either of those.

The bed thing was just some secret random crap to give the player extra money. Besides, she's dead anyways, and it was technically their money.

Yeah, but it still seems...irreverent, especially considering how attached to her he was. Speaking of which, what happened to Selena's family? Why are they never mentioned?

 

[Daxis]

I never knew about either of those.


Yeah, but it still seems...irreverent, especially considering how attached to her he was. Speaking of which, what happened to Selena's family? Why are they never mentioned?

I was thinking of letting the player explore these things on their own. Although the escape thing I can understand missing, I figured that I should reward a player that would try some else besides attacking(although.... there isn't that much else, yeah.). For the player, I try to make it so that if you try to be a bit explorative, especially in the right areas, you'll get rewarded(ie, those first beach screens- moving all the way up , fighting enemies along the way, to get some zen). Things like this are scattered throughout the game, although not as plentiful or intricate as I would like(I would like to grant the player more treasures besides money or restoratives, but I don't have any good ideas/systems for this to work yet)

Selena's background and her history with Zeno are to be explored a lot deeper in the story.