Okay, so i played the whole demo, couldn't beat that boss on the first try (i need to watch all skills).

Nevertheless, the game is fun per se, BUT the combat is really franctic, you need to be seeing the bottom screen all the time (at least with the bonus boss), and you can't afford to look at the top one to see if the enemy is readying an attack .

I was somehow reminded of a lot of final fantasies with the charging action bars, i would suggest to change the implementation of the bars to somewhere else (like above the ponies), and if you cant, make them a little more noticeable, the same for AP, when i faced the bonus boss i was conjuring skills like crazy, and i didn't know where they came from. Also, if you press attack really fast, you can end up making twilight hit herself, which i found hilarious when she knocked herself out, but it's a problem.

Well, just listen at me rambling, at last i wanted to add that this seem promising, i would be delighted to help where i CAN.

I'm no super artist, and im no animator, but i can make backgrounds, and vectors (not animated of course), just tell me what kind of file, size and theme you would like me to make, to see if you're interested (i use illutrator Cs5), i can always give ideas, you can never run out of those.

Thanks for your time by the way

>30890
>Tired of the final fantasy and dragon warrior ripoffs?

But your "innovative" game system is practically a ripoff of Final Fantasy's ATB System...
And you skipped so many steps that just as >30906 said, you can't afford taking your eyes out of the bars even for a second, which is irritating and no fun at all.

I gave this game a try, but the irritating game mechanics and the overused placeholder stuff made it unbearable, at least to me.

Sorry.

I also suggest you to read what was discussed in >30780 since lots of it can be applied to this project as well.

Well, it's a good sign that you're coding it yourself.

It would be better if you made fights slower, or gave an option to change the speed. Especially for new players.

I don't think its very similar to final fantasy except for the ATB-like system.

Do you have any other project members yet?

>"I was somehow reminded of a lot of final fantasies with the charging action bars, i would suggest to change the implementation of the bars to somewhere else (like above the ponies), and if you cant, make them a little more noticeable, the same for AP, when i faced the bonus boss i was conjuring skills like crazy, and i didn't know where they came from."
>"And you skipped so many steps that just as 30906 said, you can't afford taking your eyes out of the bars even for a second, which is irritating and no fun at all."

Worthy criticisms!

Not looking at the center of the screen has been a problem, obviously. I moved HP/AP/speed to the center of the menu to try and help alleviate that, but yes, you do spend too much time looking at bars. I like the idea of moving AP next to the ponies; a friend of mine suggested giving them a visual effect for it. AP is definitely something that needs to be easier to see.

Health is something I want you to care about too, and that's less easy to fix. With some actual animations though, you'll be able to see if a pony is below 1/4 hp just by looking at them. Mini health bars I don't think will work, as ponies will be hopping around the screen a lot, and I don't want you to be chasing them with your eyes just to get their current health.

A new menu system rather than a final fantasy ripoff might be in order.


As for how frantic it is, I feel that's largely due to there being no real difficulty curve right now. Ideally muscle memory will take over for ability selection, so you don't have to stare at that menu to see what you're doing. So for the demo I wanted to show the easy stuff along with the more complex stuff; Luna's a rather complex boss, and allowing you to ignore the mechanics means you probably won't even notice them. With a longer game, I'll be able to ease you into the mechanics much better.


>"Also, if you press attack really fast, you can end up making twilight hit herself, which i found hilarious when she knocked herself out, but it's a problem."

Ah yes, that. Right now that only affects the atma->Luna transition (or should; if you're hitting yourself elsewhere, tell me). There's no good fix barring just not letting you use the normal attack without any enemy targets. I need you to be able to target yourself as that's how you remove the stone status effect (does fixed damage rather than full, so you won't be killing yourself to remove it), plus whatever wacky boss I might think up that requires it.


>"I'm no super artist, and im no animator, but i can make backgrounds, and vectors (not animated of course), just tell me what kind of file, size and theme you would like me to make, to see if you're interested (i use illutrator Cs5)"
Watch the thread. Player sprites are #1 priority right now to get made, but maps are second. I'll have some stuff set up for those on my forum soon.

As for format, my game uses PNGs. Making it as a vector first is fine, heck maybe preferred as it should be easy to modify if needed. Again I'll hand out specifics for those soon.

>"But your "innovative" game system is practically a ripoff of Final Fantasy's ATB System..."
By "ripoff" I meant complete ripoff. I see a lot of RPGs out there with big menus and traditional turn based combat and it bores me by just looking at them. I mean, I love Earthbound and games like that, but those games are not fun because of their battle systems. Spamming the attack button and occasionally healing is bleh.

Absolutely I based it off the old ATB battle system. This is my take on it though and I feel it a significant evolution from that. 'Course, what I feel it is doesn't mean that's what you feel it is, so yeah, not gonna argue with ya if you feel it's not much different.

>I also suggest you to read what was discussed in >30780 since lots of it can be applied to this project as well.
I read that thread and only a couple things really apply to my project.

First off, I'm not incredibly confident in my main story, so that particular criticism applies. It's flopped between various things in my mind since day one. I may even have a spot for a writer open up later if I can't nail something good down for it. At the same time I'm rather confident in several of my side stories. As such, expect a plot that flows similarly to Disgaea 1's... there's a main plot but it's just in the background until the very end.


The big difference between my project and that one is I have more than just ideas. I have an entire game engine. The only thing I cannot do myself is graphic assets. I'm not asking for somepony to code the game for me; I've done that. I'm not asking for composers (though that would be nice), since I can repurpose music already made by the fandom in a pinch. I'm not asking for writers. I'm confident in my ability to lead a project, too.

The placeholder graphics simply will not do, though. That's why I'm here :)

>It would be better if you made fights slower, or gave an option to change the speed. Especially for new players.

Current plan is making it slow and easy at the start. Difficulty like see in Atma Weapon and Luna won't be seen in the game proper until a few hours in; those are just there to show off the mechanics.

If zecroa/parasprites are too fast for you though, I'll keep that in mind. They ARE supposed to be beginner difficulty.


>Do you have any other project members yet?
I have a fellow coder already (though he's a bit busy in europe atm), and a composer on the sidelines if needed. Past that, I've got some friends that can help with organization, though not so much asset creation.

I'm hoping for a team of half a dozen people or so. More is better (many hooves make light work), but a dedicated sprite artist or two will help make things consistent. Definitely in the market for one of those.

>>30913

I'll see if i give a try to spriting, don't get your hopes high on that one tough, sometimes i get sad i can't animate anything, curse you majoring in geology!!!

Why no Mac version?

Simply because I don't have a mac to build the game on. It's possible to make a mac distribution, since all my libraries are cross platform.

If I get a boatload of demand for it, then it's definitely a possibility.

>>30922

Finish the game first, and just then you can daydream about future events.

Right now you have absolutely nothing except by the bare code, so creating the graphics and music (because nothing says you will get them from the community) should be your first and most important priority.

>>30949
Err, dude, if I had finished the game first I wouldn't be on this board xD

And yes, graphics is the current focus. Currently I'm making game content rather than busting out my tablet, but with help I can do both at once.

>>30950

Trying to be a smug parasprite will not help you much on this community, take this from a person who has lurked around for months and has seen many people coming here only to get chewed to bits as soon they try to play the smug card to justify themselves.

Or don't, it's up to you.

>>30952

He doesn't sound smug to me. On the other hand, it sounds like you're not a programmer and don't realize how much work is required for "bare code" for an engine like this.

>custome built engine made by me. Not game maker. Not RPG maker
dude... AWESOME. (now stop putting the rest of us to shame! XDD)
*cough* anyway. I see ABXY in the button thingy; what's the keyboard equivalent of that?
also how much memory will the demo take?

>>30954
The game should pop up with a key settings menu so you set up what ABXY are on your keyboard. If you're not sure what you set stuff to, go to the saves folder and delete keysettings.sav. Then reload the game, and you can set your keybindings again.

As for how much memory... uh, I'm honestly not sure. Shouldn't be too much. *goes and does a stress test* Looks like it's hovering around 100 mb of RAM during normal gameplay. Might shoot up a bit during graphic heavy stuff.

Will an autofight option be available so players only need to worry about the characters they want to control?

Unlikely! I could whip it up in about 15 minutes repurposing my confusion code, but it wouldn't be smart at all and would probably lose to the first boss.


Not a fan of auto battle because IMO, if you're using it, the game isn't fun. I'd rather fix whatever's not making it fun.

Oh wait, you're suggesting controlling less ponies at a time?

I was actually considering that for an "easy" difficulty setting, but that sort of thing won't happen for a long time yet. That'd be a final game polishing thing.

Same I suppose for an auto battle for individual ponies. I'm out of buttons for that too (the two blank abilities on the main menu are taken, heh.)

>>30953

But nopony plays a game just because "the code"
A game is made of visuals, sounds and game mechanics (aka the code) without the first two, the code alone means nothing.
I mean, just try to think of any good commercial game that had nothing but "the code".

Hey I'm new to this whole Pony-Chan thing and I was just wondering how I could contact you later when you start to look for composers and all that? I don't wanna miss the opportunity to audition. You see, Nobuo Uematsu is one of my influences (me and everypony else lol). So I can do what he does no prob.

>>30961
I'll absolutely agree with you.

Please see that if I'm willing to make 1 of the holy trinity of media that makes up what a game is, that I'm willing to work until this reaches completion.

>>30962
Holy crap bagpipe brony!

Believe me, I will contact you the moment I'm open for composers. The sole reason I'm not really accepting compositions right now is without more visual artists than just me, it's gonna take some time between demos, and I don't want people sitting on their hands wondering what to do. When some content is made, or I'm certain I'm on the path to making content, I'll get in touch.

Also a fan of Nobuo Uematsu :) Dancing Mad has been on my playlist since, forever.

30963
Okie dokie, I'll just see what else is going on for the time being. I do hope you'll use those pre-rendered background that FF7 and FF8 used, I really like those 2 rpgs. I don't know anything about the older games.

haven't downloaded it, but judging from the screenshot. It looks a bit like the Valkyrie Profile series.

>>30981
I effin' love you.

Valkyrie Profile is probably the second biggest inspiration for the battle system, next to FF6. Unfortunately there's no comboing or juggling, but the idea for simultaneous attacks rather than taking turns came from that game, as did the various controller buttons corresponding to different attacks.
Valkyrie profile proved to me traditional turn based battle systems aren't a complete dead end; prior to playing it I thought every RPG was going to go the action route (kingdom hearts, skyrim, etc) or tactical (final fantasy tactics, etc). Too bad the sequels sucked.


Progress report: Work has started on actual game content, with the new prologue/tutorial about half done... using a ton of placeholder art of course. I've got a couple people working on graphics now, but more is definitely better, especially anypony wanting to make animated sprites or backgrounds.