[WIP]Shooting Star Story

[shadowmimiiru]

This is the first RPG I've decided to release. It's not the first I've made but it is the first to receive any kind of release. Shooting Star Story is a side story of the main game I'm working on, taking place 2 years before that game.

Story:

Two years before the Darklord of Kevex stole the Sha and plunged the Kingdom of BOB into chaos a young man sets out on a journey to save the Kingdom from the Darklord's agents. Alex, a young man from Moonshire, is a dreamer, wishing to live the life of the adventurers in the stories the bards tell. On the night of the Princess of BOB's eighteenth birthday, Alex and his friend Gina witness a shooting star fall from the heavens and crash near Moonshire. What they find at the crash site will set off a series of events that will not only grant Alex's dream but also plunge the young man and his friends into a struggle between two dark powers.

screenshoots:

Spoiler

Demo:

Shooting Star Story Chapter 1


All comments, crits, flames, and help welcomed.

 

[Desecration]

Hey. Your screenshots and story seem pretty solid and I've just downloaded your demo so I'll be able to post a more in-depth analysis of what I think in a short while but I'd just like to point out that you left your demo unencrypted, thought I'd bring it to your attention incase it was a mistake.

 

[shadowmimiiru]

Hey. Your screenshots and story seem pretty solid and I've just downloaded your demo so I'll be able to post a more in-depth analysis of what I think in a short while but I'd just like to point out that you left your demo unencrypted, thought I'd bring it to your attention incase it was a mistake.

Thanks for checking it out ... Um, I didn't actually know it could be encrypted.

 

[Luthur]

When you click Compress Game Data, tick the box that says 'Create Encrypted Archieve'. That way, nobody can steal your maps or resources.

 

[mawk]

learn how to use fogs and screen tints. right now, your screenshots are looking very messy as far as that goes. one problem is oversaturated colours. don't use such a bright blue to convey that it's dark, and don't use PURE GREEN in a forest. unless that's a swamp with a thick overhead canopy (and there actually isn't ANY canopy here,) the light's gonna be pretty close to regular white. there's no situation where the light would be that shade of thick green.

and there's no need to toss that "cloud" fog onto maps arbitrarily. only use fogs where you have reason to; here, they just look messy and out of place.

people seem to think fogs and screen tints are prerequisites for constructing maps, but they're really not.

also you shouldn't save things as .jpg it gives them pixel rot. use .png.

 

[shadowmimiiru]

learn how to use fogs and screen tints. right now, your screenshots are looking very messy as far as that goes. one problem is oversaturated colours. don't use such a bright blue to convey that it's dark, and don't use PURE GREEN in a forest. unless that's a swamp with a thick overhead canopy (and there actually isn't ANY canopy here,) the light's gonna be pretty close to regular white. there's no situation where the light would be that shade of thick green.

and there's no need to toss that "cloud" fog onto maps arbitrarily. only use fogs where you have reason to; here, they just look messy and out of place.

people seem to think fogs and screen tints are prerequisites for constructing maps, but they're really not.

also you shouldn't save things as .jpg it gives them pixel rot. use .png.

Understood, I'll address it. How would you (note I am not trying to sound rude) go about creating the illusion of night?

Yeah, I was worried about using the fog but I've seen others do it to good effect and I was trying to show some sort of depth.

But pngs are so big.

 

[mawk]

pngs aren't unreasonably big unless you're using a really slow and outdated connection. it's worth it at least that they have better image quality -- that's important in things with pixels, you don't want everything weird around the edges.

for night, I'd just use that sort of tone with a lot less blue and maybe more gray (since you can't see colour so well when it's dark.) I'm not 100% on this; just play around with it until you find something that looks dark without messing too much with visibility.

 

[-Takada-]

also you shouldn't save things as .jpg it gives them pixel rot. use .png.

Yes, use .png as they save the picture in perfect condition.

If you are worried about saving space, save the images in .bmp (the higher the better: 25-bitmap... etc) the quality of the picture is not degraded like in .jpg and stays the same, very much like .png pictures.

 

[shadowmimiiru]

Understood, .pngs from now on.

Sorry, I was using space on a friend's server and I wanted to be as thrifty as possible when it came to usage. So I switched back over to my old Photobucket account and am going with that.

 

[piggman77]

I had some time and went through your demo.

As the other's have said, one of the first things that stands out and could use some work are your screen tints & fogs. In general they are just too color saturated, tone them down a bit and they should be looking good.

You have some map errors on the first map, with the trees in the bottom of the screen, and some missing grass tiles at the top as well. On the fourth map, it is possible to go through the trees and completely avoid the encounter. In addition, it can be a bit frustrating if both of your party members get poisoned and you only have one antidote. (namely the flashing red till you reach the shop).

A few other things in no particular order:
1. Your exterior mapping is not bad (not spectacular though). However, it feels a bit weird with most of the maps just being the default size.
2. Your interiors are too large, I would focus your efforts more on here, read a few tutorials ect.
3. There is a bug where if you go back into the hall, and walk onto the event again the old man will start talking again, and you will be unable to continue the game.
4. Unless there is a particular reason, you should add sound effects in. It seemed a bit weird that doors, chests, and dogs didn't make any sound. There should be an appropriate sound available for the meteor crashing as well.
5. Identify your characters in dialogue (ie "Mr. Smith: hello Mary Sue", "Mary Sue: hello!") The way you have it now, you can generally tell who's talking but it still feels strange when the characters talk in turn.

You have a pretty good start, I just think you need to put some more polish into it.

 

[shadowmimiiru]

I had some time and went through your demo.

As the other's have said, one of the first things that stands out and could use some work are your screen tints & fogs. In general they are just too color saturated, tone them down a bit and they should be looking good.

You have some map errors on the first map, with the trees in the bottom of the screen, and some missing grass tiles at the top as well. On the fourth map, it is possible to go through the trees and completely avoid the encounter. In addition, it can be a bit frustrating if both of your party members get poisoned and you only have one antidote. (namely the flashing red till you reach the shop).

A few other things in no particular order:
1. Your exterior mapping is not bad (not spectacular though). However, it feels a bit weird with most of the maps just being the default size.
2. Your interiors are too large, I would focus your efforts more on here, read a few tutorials ect.
3. There is a bug where if you go back into the hall, and walk onto the event again the old man will start talking again, and you will be unable to continue the game.
4. Unless there is a particular reason, you should add sound effects in. It seemed a bit weird that doors, chests, and dogs didn't make any sound. There should be an appropriate sound available for the meteor crashing as well.
5. Identify your characters in dialogue (ie "Mr. Smith: hello Mary Sue", "Mary Sue: hello!") The way you have it now, you can generally tell who's talking but it still feels strange when the characters talk in turn.

You have a pretty good start, I just think you need to put some more polish into it.

1. I use the default to make the making of overlays simpler and more size efficient, It's a lot easier to have on daytime overlay than 70 to 80 ... So it was basically a a small sacrifice in my mind. Towns, and certain other areas, however, will vary in size.

2. Some of the interiors needed to match the look of the exterior, having an "L" shaped building on the outside but not the inside would have been far too strange. I assume you're talking about the weapon/armor shop? If so I have changed that one already to be smaller.

3. Didn't know that, I'll fix it. Thanks.

4. Locked doors, chests and save points now have sound. I've continually run into an error with unlocked doors, however, where the SE would catch and remain on repeat.

5. Also addressed, I've begun using CCOA's universal message system.

Other changes mentioned:

I was hoping no one would notice the trees, I fixed it, but it doesn't look as dense anymore (and I refuse to use the canopy autotile as it looks tacky). I've more or less removed all screen tints in favor of atmospheric overlays, Map 1, 6 and 7 are the only ones where they remain, and I think I've turned them down to look more like the sunset it's supposed to look like. I've removed the default fogs from the areas they where previously in and replaced them with custom ones (an example - although a bad one - can be found in the mapping improvement thread). All Party members now have custom sprites as well as battlers, and while not mentioned here, enemies have been tweaked to be more forgiving.

I'm about a 40% of the way through a full first run copy of chapter 2. I have some custom sprite requests in the works as well as some remixed cutscenes that I'm working on that are going to hold me up a bit on that. So ... a first one demo of chapter 2 should be available by the end of next week if I don't land a job ... stupid recession.

 

[shadowmimiiru]

Due to my power supply dying and my current lack of funds (a such a wonderful economy when even a teacher is let go due to budget concerns) I must put Shooting Star Story on Hiatus until I can afford a new power supply. To anyone who was actually looking forward to the game: I'm sorry.