[RM2K3] Runic Cipher, Project/demo thread of the game Options

[Allen Hunter]

No information here for now, but check out my game's latest updates at RMN.

[Allen Hunter]

Sure, you can review it and then revise it when a newer release it out.

[Materia]

Sure, you can review it and then revise it when a newer release it out.

In that case, it will just be a preview of your game.

[Allen Hunter]

Whatever floats yer boat lol.

[Allen Hunter]

Sorry to all the women and children, but this project will once again be on hiatus. However, don't get the wrong feeling that something happened, and it's affecting me in any "bad" way, I just wanna invest more of my time on the site MegaGaming, which will soon be launched this weekend. Just not in the mood to work on RPG Maker.

I plan on releasing the second demo sometime this coming January, or on December. I will guarantee you all that. Only a few people have actually tried out my first public demo, but I don't consider it a "ready" release;it'll be much better this time.

[Materia]

D
Okay, then fine.
xP

Guess I'll wait.

[Allen Hunter]

Yes, you shall.

Anyways, how's that preview coming?

[Dyhalto]

wtf, YOU'RE SNES Player?
I thought it was NES Player, moving up through the times.

I at this news.

[Allen Hunter]

wtf, YOU'RE SNES Player?
I thought it was NES Player, moving up through the times.

I at this news.

Yeah, how I just WISH he would move on, huh?

[Dyhalto]

To clarify, I at the Runic Cipher news. NES has my vote for mayor of 8bit city.
I rule 16bit city though.

[Obsession]

To clarify, I at the Runic Cipher news. NES has my vote for mayor of 8bit city.
I rule 16bit city though.

I'll put my hands up for the 16 million colours thanks.

Anyway, sad news this on hiatus, I'm kinda hoping it will be kicked off again sometime in the future.

[Allen Hunter]

Actually, Dyhalto, I own 16-bit city.

After the successful launch of MegaGaming, I may be able to invest more time with RPG Maker. After all, I do plan on releasing a private demo to friends around November, then hopefully it'll have a second public release by December or January (the 1st year anniversary of this thread!).

[Allen Hunter]

I'll just go ahead and release a small tweak from the first demo. Click here to download Version 0.32.

Tell me what you think, you people.

[Obsession]

Doing now. I'll be sure to give some C & C if i get the chance ._.

[Dyhalto]

Finally. A public demo.
Now I can try this $hit out, yeah dawg.

[Allen Hunter]

Doing now. I'll be sure to give some C & C if i get the chance ._.

Finally. A public demo.
Now I can try this $hit out, yeah dawg.

Have fun!

[Dyhalto]

Well, I made it through the demo

Your gameplay system is great. The Rune idea is leaps and bounds better than the usual weapon and armor fluff. The characters are interesting in concept as well. You'll have to do some quality script writing to flesh out their characteristics though. The town map was excellent too.

It's Con time
-The storyline so far is riddled with cliches and fallacies. Kings don't get kidnapped by bandits. A kingdom that can't muster 5 million gold when the local wildlife drops 50 dollar potions is a sad thing to see. Soldiers that know what cave the bandits are in, but still don't go rescue the king, display the usual Idiotic Soldier Syndrome seen in lots of RPGs. The Queen seems to have no plan besides "Can I be neutral please?" for when the mighty empire comes knocking on her door. The famous EDGE is made up of 3 warriors and four schmuck NPCs. I also don't know what EDGE stands for, if anything. Maybe it's just capitalized for oomph.

-World map needs work. The use of mountain to force guide the player is overkill. Vary it up with some rivers, bridges, cliffs, chasms, thick forest (impassable), etc. Bonus points if you can make it a topographically correct world map.

-Couldn't get the Continent Map to work. I assume this is because your overworld is still in conceptual stages though.
-'Steal' command was a pain in the ass. I had a hard time stealing Potions from goblins. What's the success rate? 15%? Also, it halts gameplay. If you can shorten the message, or even somehow enable player interaction during the message display, it'd be a great help.
-The LAST place I expected Rick and Veronica to go was that forest. Maybe drop a better hint like "I feel like a walk in the woods" or "I dropped my ___ in the woods. Help me find it".
-Move the enemies forward a little bit. When backattacked, you can't see the cursor pointing to the back row enemies.
-Midnight Assassin?

I think that's it, at the moment Lots of potential, but take some time to come up with a solid story to tell.

[Allen Hunter]

Your gameplay system is great. The Rune idea is leaps and bounds better than the usual weapon and armor fluff. The characters are interesting in concept as well.

Thank you.

The storyline so far is riddled with cliches and fallacies. Kings don't get kidnapped by bandits. A kingdom that can't muster 5 million gold when the local wildlife drops 50 dollar potions is a sad thing to see. Soldiers that know what cave the bandits are in, but still don't go rescue the king, display the usual Idiotic Soldier Syndrome seen in lots of RPGs. The Queen seems to have no plan besides "Can I be neutral please?" for when the mighty empire comes knocking on her door.

This:

Bear with me on this: I'm not a that great with originality when it comes to plot. So I just stuck out a cliched concept

I also don't know what EDGE stands for, if anything. Maybe it's just capitalized for oomph.

It can be either a cheesy acronym or capitalized for "oomph," indeed.

World map needs work. The use of mountain to force guide the player is overkill. Vary it up with some rivers, bridges, cliffs, chasms, thick forest (impassable), etc. Bonus points if you can make it a topographically correct world map.

Actually, I've wanted the world map to be more simplistic and nothing too big. And, I'm using chipsets ripped straight out of Final Fantasy 4/5, so it'd be impossible to pull that off with just those. I may make an underwater world map or something, but you never know.

Couldn't get the Continent Map to work.

It worked for me. Just push Shift while in the world map. You can't directly access it straight from the menu. The only thing that I haven't yet implemented is a compass system, because it's a bitch for me to do it.

The LAST place I expected Rick and Veronica to go was that forest. Maybe drop a better hint like "I feel like a walk in the woods" or "I dropped my ___ in the woods. Help me find it".

The best part about the earlier Final Fantasy games on the NES and (sometimes) SNES was that you'd have those moments where the player had to figure out what to do next, by checking around location A, then location B, and going all the way until they find their destination.

Move the enemies forward a little bit. When backattacked, you can't see the cursor pointing to the back row enemies.

I always have them Auto-alligned, but I'll change this manually.

Midnight Assassin?

Thanks for your opinions.

EDIT: I've realized I've screwed up on some things in the game that you haven't mentioned, and I'm planning on releasing the demo again either this month or next month. You'll be able to play further into the story.

[Dyhalto]

Regarding story, an item is only as strong as it's weakest element. You probably don't want to cite excuses when it holds you back from the Mr. Burns' Award in the Field of General Excellence. Consider asking someone to come up with a solid spine for your story, while you handle the character-driven specifics.

Actually, I've wanted the world map to be more simplistic and nothing too big. And, I'm using chipsets ripped straight out of Final Fantasy 4/5, so it'd be impossible to pull that off with just those.

Nonsense. Look at the first area in FF4 around Baron castle. It's very simple and visually appealing. That's what you should strive for.

Just push Shift while in the world map.

Oops, there we go. Maybe add "Access with [Shift] on the World Map" to the item description so people like me figure it out.
I don't think you need a compass when Up will always be North

The best part about the earlier Final Fantasy games on the NES and (sometimes) SNES was that you'd have those moments where the player had to figure out what to do next, by checking around location A, then location B, and going all the way until they find their destination.

But the player had a general idea of what he was set out to do. Even the SaGa series, which drops you into the middle of a huge world after the brief intro, gave an idea of what was expected. Climb that tower! Go close the Abyss Gates! Collect all the magicks and kill your brother!
"Let's wander..." is too vague.


Anyway, looking forward to the next release

[Allen Hunter]

3,000 views! Thanks, people.

As of today, I'm getting off my rear-end to begin work on the demo. What the next release will contain are features like finally being able to use the Field Relics, fixed Steal and Poach commands in battle, more new places to travel in the story, plus some new characters are introduced to EDGE!

[Materia]

Good stuff. Keep it coming.

BTW. I'm working on a review for the Demo you released on MegaGaming.
Really liking everything I've seen so far.
I'll be writing a Preview for the game soon. It'll be on ProNet first, of course.