MV Alpha
Added 2021-08-28 06:26:50 +0000 UTCIn a turn of events that should surprise no one, I've got a few more things to do. So, I'm releasing a short teaser of the mines. You can see some of the higher resolution standing portraits, how things are looking in MV, and a few of the updated CGs. I will update this to what should be the full MV 0.10 release Tuesday (See, it'll still be this month!).
EDIT 8/28/21: I missed changing a text code for the butter knife that caused a crash. The new text skip fully skips things, so it's sadly easy to miss errors like this during testing. I uploaded a fixed version. Also, in exporting last night, files got duplicated. Fixed that, so the file is actually only 280mb. Download the new version from the link below.
Here is the link to the teaser (Please manually copy and paste the link):
PC Version:
https://mega.nz/file/VosAQZZL#20MKBMLQ8nk0c5QN4WDw1ue6qIgwCohAuruT6HdTOMQ
Mac Version:
https://mega.nz/file/pk02HbJA#Ra3vki972eMm1FpvxOddfhDQMeQi5aj7mnSL3mu-XhQ
Couple additional comments:
1. The download is about 280mb, so if it is going slow, you might choose to just wait a few more days for the more complete version.
2. This is an actual, playable release. I know it's just a short teaser, but damn it, it's a start and I'm not planning on slowing down again.
3. Aylia's Story does look pretty in MV :-)
Oh, and if nothing else, this does give everyone a few days to test things out and report back so I can fix any system issues. I'll be working every day, so you should see me on Discord.
Thanks!
YT
Comments
I'm inclined to agree with you. His height reaches Aylia's nose, and I'd always seen him more as about neck/chin height. He was never meant to be super tiny, but he should be noticeably shorter than Aylia. I'm thinking I might have brought him up a bit to make him more visible above the text window in MV. I'll do some re-scaling once the next release is ready and it should be included.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-09-01 05:18:13 +0000 UTCI understand that Bogwort is supposed to be chubby, and he is definitively smaller than she is. However, he is not as small as goblins usually are and not small enough for Aylia to be able to slap him away. The thing is, the proportion of his body suggests he has one size but next to Aylia he looks like he has another size. It feels weird, like a toddler being as tall as an adult is. Well, it is obviously not as pronounced, but enough to feel like something is slightly off. Everything works better if he’s scaled down by 15% so I thought it was his original size but you needed him to be taller for whatever reason.
Darian
2021-09-01 02:18:26 +0000 UTCIf you don’t want to remove things altogether (which is understandable) maybe scatter them a little? For instance, the exposition about the war can be a cut-scene for when she‘s being told what happened. For the tutorial, you can wait for the first titillating image to explain it’s possible to hide text. The prophecy and the citation from Aylia fulfill the same purpose, arousing the curiosity of the player with a cryptic message, therefore they don’t really work back-to-back. Maybe let the prophecy at the start of the game then add a citation to introduce each chapter after the prologue?
Darian
2021-09-01 02:17:25 +0000 UTCAylia is no longer a placeholder, at least at the beginning. Her peasant dress is still a placeholder if the release tonight gets to that point.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-09-01 01:42:34 +0000 UTCJust fixed now. Thank you.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-09-01 01:40:19 +0000 UTCA minor tidy-up to text: * in the intro, just after Bogwart releases Aylia, he says "This...can be real. I must have...slipped and hit my head." I'm guessing you were going for "...can't be real..." there.
Sync
2021-09-01 01:34:34 +0000 UTCI have a chart with character heights, I'll look into Bogwort's. It is possible in upping resolution I might have made him too big. He is "chunky" though, so his belly will always be bigger than Aylia's. That said, I didn't intend for him to be almost as tall as her, he is definitely meant to be shorter. I appreciate the detailed feedback.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-31 15:18:09 +0000 UTCI'll look into trimming the intro. I really like the text/battlefield portion, so I'm reluctant to drop it. It can drag on though. I do usually trim off stuff during every edit.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-31 15:16:55 +0000 UTCMy second nitpicking suggestion concerns Bogwort’s height. When his portrait is next to Aylia’s (I’m calling portraits the images being displayed when characters are talking), the top of his head reaches her nose, meaning he is only about 15 cm/6 inches smaller than her. That’s some huge goblin! I don’t know what your intend is, maybe you want it that way or maybe the portraits are just misleading but in my humble opinion he should be smaller. More precisely, he should be scaled down by about 15%. First, because his head is a lot bigger than Aylia’s is. It feels weird because usually all humanoids have a head of roughly the same size. It’s like he is a lot closer than her or something. But the main reason is that the dynamic of their relationship relies on Aylia being unquestionably physically stronger. She doesn’t consider him like a threat despite his inability to behave because if he goes too far she can always bitch-slap him to the other side of the room. It’s how she sets boundaries and it’s so central to their relationship that slapping him is almost the first thing she does. It also establishes that when she refrains from being violent then she’s granting him her tacit consent, which I guess will be useful later. However, for those boundaries to hold back such horn-dog she has to be undoubtedly stronger than him and right now she’s not taller enough to make her slaps look like a credible deterrent, especially considering how easily he shrugs them off. He even looks heavier than her. Yet, making him smaller would affect the way they can physically interact with each other, i.e. many classic sex positions would have to be rethought. Aylia would often have to go down on all fours, a very submissive pose while he stays up, a more dominant stance. That would make them switch up their normal roles since usually she’s the dominant one. I like both the originality it would bring to the intercourses and the extra layer of humiliation for her but maybe it’s not the way you want to do it, plus it might contradict some existing arts.
Darian
2021-08-31 09:14:39 +0000 UTCI also had the crash just before the fight, I was pressing random keys trying to find a way to make the text appear faster. I haven’t tested it since the bug fix. I have a couple of nitpicking suggestions. I’m sure that after delivering something you must be in a catatonic state, desperately seeking an excuse to change everything again and I’m happy to help. I’ll split them in two posts in case anybody wants to reply to any of them as they are not related. First suggestion, the intro is too long. There are the thanks, the disclaimers, the small tutorial, the slooooowly appearing prophecy, the exposition about the war, the citation from Aylia and titles here and there. Most people testing your game just want to see if it deserves their valuable time and you start by bludgeoning them with texts. Hook people first, thank them later. The worst is probably the exposition about the war. Remove it and go directly to the goddess telling Aylia her chance of redemption has come. That plus Bogwort being surprised by the discovery of a mythical elf, plus Aylia being surprised by his surprise are enough clues for the player to deduce that: - Before being trapped, Aylia lived in a world familiar with elves - Something wiped them out - It happened so long ago they became a myth - It’s probably related to something that upset some gods - Aylia needs to make amends for it It’s the classic “show, don’t tell” advice. Sure it’s not exactly as clear, but does it need to be? Just let the story unfold itself without spoon-feeding information to the player. Besides, you can always fill the blanks when she talks to the priest. It can also be Easter eggs, like books in a library.
Darian
2021-08-31 09:12:14 +0000 UTCDid you read the post? It is less than what was there a few years ago. It's an alpha and if you download it, you are doing so to test the new MV setup. What was the fatal error so I can fix it? Was it when Aylia gets the butter knife? That error has been resolved, but I've not had anyone else report a fatal error. It would be helpful so I can get it fixed before the release on Tuesday.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-29 23:43:01 +0000 UTCdidn't even get out of the mine before a fatal error. seems to be even less than the original demo 5+ years ago.
Bunny
2021-08-29 23:02:58 +0000 UTCYou can't. You just get to see Aylia bending over once :-)
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-29 19:50:58 +0000 UTCI don't remember properly, just curious if we can get the gem in this version within only mine.
Curly
2021-08-29 17:21:03 +0000 UTCI didn't really change him much since the last VX Ace release. Upped his size and fixed the shading, but he should be about the same. I did redo his hands and staff at one point, but I feel like that was before the last VX Ace release. He's definitely changed from way back though, not as cartoony I guess.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-29 17:05:31 +0000 UTCI think we used to get the tool to get the gems in the mine admin area, that is, after the mine, but before Zalran proper. I think....
Darthjake
2021-08-29 15:49:02 +0000 UTCNot bad, but previous was a lil bit... cozier? Anyway, noticed some strange moments. 1) there's Aylia's placeholder before putting on a sack; 2) if you move to the second map through the higher part of corridor you get back to the first map; 3) can't find a way to get instrument to get the second gem; 4) thought that prologue would include Zalran but there's only mine.
Curly
2021-08-29 08:03:34 +0000 UTCSo happy to see this out! Keep up the great work, stay focused and motivated!
Sybsidian
2021-08-29 03:38:10 +0000 UTCNo problem. You were right, though. Aylia does look nice in MV. Unfortunately, Bogwart is also in higher definition, and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.
KaiserKei
2021-08-29 03:11:54 +0000 UTCAfter saving you get a Menu Placeholder, apart from that it worked fine and looked great
DwDuck
2021-08-28 21:31:39 +0000 UTC.... and done. Yep, it was short-- but it was sweet. I haven't played this game since 2017, and it was great to see the characters and the humor again. Keep it up!
Dubsington
2021-08-28 21:13:59 +0000 UTCSome initial reactions-- had chmod+x permissions, and am still getting some random segfault crashes. There's something that MV doesn't like, not sure if it's just the engine or something in the game. That being said, with some patience and some fiddling it does run. I'm still in the intro and I am already thrilled by the move to MV. Yes, the graphics are much better resolution and that is fantastic, but just the general less-suckiness of MV is great. I can resize the window! I can use the mouse!
Dubsington
2021-08-28 20:45:11 +0000 UTCShe has a big family. I see that name everywhere.
PaddyOFurniture
2021-08-28 20:05:10 +0000 UTCLink for Mac version posted.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-28 19:08:43 +0000 UTCYes, until I'm happy with the shading on that portrait it is.
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-28 19:04:20 +0000 UTCAylia's last name is Placeholder?
PaddyOFurniture
2021-08-28 18:45:00 +0000 UTCCan you post a Mac version please?
Dubsington
2021-08-28 17:58:44 +0000 UTCFixed it, redownload from the new link. Funny enough, using the text skip should have bypassed it. That's why I missed it during testing in the first place. Sorry about that :(
YummyTiger Gaming
2021-08-28 13:48:13 +0000 UTCRan into a bug. When Bogwart is giving Aylia a knife when he hears the cave rats, the game runs into a game breaking bug. I was holding down the left click in order to get through the text faster, so that might have done something. TypeError: Cannot read property 'iconIndex' of undefined at Window_Message.Window_Base.escapeIconItem (YEO_MessageCore.js:825:35)
KaiserKei
2021-08-28 12:01:58 +0000 UTCAn.... Alpha? https://c.tenor.com/-LcVNMgtU9kAAAAd/shock-disbelief.gif
PaddyOFurniture
2021-08-28 07:32:13 +0000 UTCyay
Dorago
2021-08-28 07:04:49 +0000 UTC
