Feature Preview: Chapter 2+
Added 2016-01-09 08:43:53 +0000 UTCIt's time for another feature preview, AND another random selection of $20+ patrons for game ideas! But first, a little update on the game itself.
The holidays are past, and as I said in a post a few days back, I'm working on the game again. I've been quite busy this last week, but I got some good development time in yesterday and have time squirreled away this weekend. We'll see where it gets me... I'll post a more in depth update Sunday night (with a link to the teaser).
In the meantime, I REALLY need to get this Patreon active again. Get some Dev Journals, some feature posts, etc. It is getting a bit lethargic around here! This time around, you can see my little doodles above on how I'm planning on setting up the world Aylia's Story will take place in. Yes, there will be a nice, nifty colored map in the game (I think I'm going to give a detailed, digital high res map to Patrons).
In Aylia's Story, Aylia and Bogwort will need to travel outside of Zalran eventually. I've never been a big fan of the RPG Maker world map, even though I did like some of the old school JRPGs. As such, I wanted to simulate that it takes time to travel around the world, but I wanted to do it in a way that was not boring. What I came up with is a system similar to some of the old school CRPGs.
How it works is that areas of interest in Talyron consists of a series of standard maps (what you typically see in RPG Maker games). For instance, Zalran has the town itself, the surrounding plains area, a lake, hills, etc. Yet, when you start moving toward Escala (or Trellion), after a few maps you'll come to a travel icon (Remember the blue arrows? It'll be like that but different). When you try to leave that area, you'll initiate long distance travel. At that point, the game will pull up the world map and you will be given a selection of destinations along that route. When you select your destination, Aylia and Bogwort will begin traveling. As they make their way across the world map, there will be a chance for a variety of random encounters, as well as discovering new areas to travel to. Additionally, long distance traveling will require "provisions" so you don't want to be wasteful and travel around willy-nilly (pretty much just wanted to say "willy-nilly"!) If you have played Vitamin Quest, it is kind of like that, but much more detailed. This travel method is going to allow me to do all kinds of cool things. Also, it will eliminate the boringness of walking across a bajillion maps. Remember Sangeki of Gear... my God I hated walking through ALL those road maps...
This also allows me to get you guys involved! So, I decided, why wait? Might as well give those selected some time to consider what they'd like to suggest. I pooled all the $20+ patrons into a list and assigned numbers. The following people were selected:
- #6 - Crazywarlock
- #52 - Solarpants (also the winner of best avatar picture)
- #16 - Shawn A
- #39 - Ratquently
- #32 - Vernal B
I'll send you 5 messages this weekend, but essentially, you get to create a random encounter. Maybe they run into group of bandits posing as broke down merchants? Perhaps, Bogwort decides he wants to cook up a tasty meal? Maybe they run into slavers leading a group of topless nuns? Who knows what shenanigans we'll see. As always, I have the final say, but I can work most ideas to fit into the game's setting. One caveat is these encounters should be relatively minor. Meaning, I'd rather not design an entire tree village, or draw 20 CGs to fit some elaborate scene. That is not to say there cannot be hentai involved, but if there is, it should be limited.
Well, time for me to sleep. I'll try and keep the updates coming more regularly, and you can expect another poll and probably another patron idea raffle later this month or early February. The milestone goals will not begin in full until after chapter 2, but I want to start easing back into them so I'm organized when they do start!
YT
Comments
...Just to make sure, you haven't sent out the messages for this yet right?
Solar Pants
2016-01-16 07:09:31 +0000 UTCI need to give rance a try, that is for sure. I will at some point in the next few months. As for the fast travel, there is no "fast travel" per se. What I'm referring to here is that when you leave an area (say Zalran), instead of creating 10 maps for you to walk across, you'll travel on the world map. Unlike other RPG Maker games though, it won't be a world map that you control moving around. It will be a preset world map where you select your destination and pay the "provisions" necessary to travel. Then, as you travel, each day there is a chance a random event will occur. It could be anything from a battle, to a h-scene event, to a merchant, etc. Also, traveling will be one of the ways that Aylia and Bogwort build their relationship. They will have a camp fire discussion at least once per journey.
YummyTiger Gaming
2016-01-11 07:38:57 +0000 UTCI can't wait! I love the focus on scope this preview has, and can't wait to explore. Looking forward to my special patron-map. :3
fryfry
2016-01-10 21:53:24 +0000 UTCOBJECTION! The best avatar is clearly the Rance.confused.jpg . Now if I remember correctly you haven't played the Rance games so I guess I can forgive you that mistake at this point in time. As a point of opinion, I also hope you don't have there be TOO much fast travel. It gets kinda annoying in some modern games (Skyrim, Far Cry) where you can just fast travel over and over again and don't actually have to experience that much of the world the developer has created. I thought Witcher 3 struck a good balance on finding signposts and then being able to fast travel between the signposts you have already found. What I dislike more are gated-areas that stop you from walking from point A to B. Like a border crossing where you have to go through some repetitive conversation every time you want to go through. That gets extremely tedious.
thswherizat
2016-01-09 22:33:04 +0000 UTCNope, it just gets you a stalker. I tend to read all Solar Pants posts now, even if I don't ever remember what they say, hehehe :-)
YummyTiger Gaming
2016-01-09 20:32:11 +0000 UTCI look forward to setting it all up. I think it will be a nice change from the typical RPG Maker fare.
YummyTiger Gaming
2016-01-09 20:31:29 +0000 UTCIt's coming along. I know people are anxious, but one of the reasons I tend to disappear with updates is because I feel like every update needs to have Aylia's Story progress. When things bog down and don't progress, I refrain from updating. Yet, I want to break that habit and start filling in the gaps with updates like this. Things like Feature explanations or Lore posts. They won't give you much information on the game's progress, but they should elicit discussion. Those discussions can then help me tailor an idea into something even better.
YummyTiger Gaming
2016-01-09 20:31:00 +0000 UTCIt'll be more like 2-3 maps between the town border and initiating travel, but the maps are not terribly long. I just want enough room to allow for branches into other areas (lake, hills, bandit camp, etc.). Glad you know EXACTLY what I'm referring to in Sangeki of Gear though :-)
YummyTiger Gaming
2016-01-09 20:29:13 +0000 UTCBut my favorite part of any H-game is indulging in long-distance travel over and over and over again, especially with a loading screen! Now I'll have to grind for cash to do that, like what a giant trip would take in reality?!? Outrageous! And yes, SoG definitely had way too many maps of literally nothing but "here's more road!", and not enough signs to teleport past them. If the Zalran from the prologue is any indication, where it's only one map from the town border to initiate travel to Trellion or Escala, that's perfect.
2016-01-09 17:19:29 +0000 UTCWhats the status on chapter 1?
2016-01-09 12:19:59 +0000 UTCThe map feature sounds neat. I look forward to trying it out.
Mizu
2016-01-09 12:06:35 +0000 UTC"(also the winner of best avatar picture)" Does this get me a special prize? :P
Solar Pants
2016-01-09 10:07:49 +0000 UTC
