Motrya Development Journal

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:56 am

Hey guys I am making a game. It's about a boy named Murlor who is fixing to graduate from a magical academy. The trouble is, he's made it to his senior year without ever using any magic at all.

Murlor discovers a secret about himself, and is thrust into an adventure when the academy is attacked by a hoarde of monsters.

The game is an RPG in the tradition of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and the like. Yes, I'm making an RPG again! It will be released in four distinct Chapters.

Right now everything is in placeholder mode, so the screenshots I can show are sketchy at best. I started the production journal because I just finished the first major hurdle to my progress (the final script), and hope to overcome more of them soon.

Completion %s:

Script - 100%
Heroes, Enemies, Attacks, Battles - 100%
Maps - 100%
Text Box fun - 100%
Graphics - 60%
Scripted Scenes - 100%
Battle Testing - 95%
Music - 5%
Sound Effects - 95%
Manual - 0%

I'll try and keep some progress updates here.

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:04 pm

I've acquired a new staff member: Newbie Power, on the graphics post!
Things are still chugging along on this game, and I hope to get the demo done within a few months. Mostly done. Yeah.

I have finished mapping, and text box fun is almost finished. Soon I might have some REAL screens of this game. I'm excited!

Completion %s:

Script - 100%
Heroes, Enemies, Attacks, Battles - 100%
Maps - 100%
Text Box fun - 90%
Graphics - Questionable (Newbie Power's working on 'em!)
Scripted Scenes - 5%
Battle Testing - 5%
Music - 6% (Being composed by SDHawk)
Sound Effects - 10ish%
Manual - 0%

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:24 pm

I think right now I would pin graphics around 20% for the first chapter, 1% for the entire game.

EDIT: Actually bump the percentage down to 17% for the demo, I forgot to take account attack graphics.

Momoka · Post by **Momoka** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:53 pm

Thread of Slime Salad....RISE.

But how IS this game coming along? It's a simple premise, but sometimes those are the best.

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:05 pm

JSH is on a trip, so I'll speak for him. He's writing the next chapter while I work on graphics and SD Hawk works on music. My production of graphics has gotten a bit faster now, though, so hopefully that helps.

Momoka · Post by **Momoka** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:18 pm

Newbie Newtype wrote:JSH is on a trip, so I'll speak for him. He's writing the next chapter while I work on graphics and SD Hawk works on music. My production of graphics has gotten a bit faster now, though, so hopefully that helps.

Oh! I didn't realize you two were making this game together.

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:22 pm

I'm more accurately working for him when it comes to graphics, and there's still SD Hawk making music.

Momoka · Post by **Momoka** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:32 pm

Newbie Newtype wrote:I'm more accurately working for him when it comes to graphics, and there's still SD Hawk making music.

Now, how does that work? I'm a little interested in how these kind of collaborations happen. Is it tit-for-tat? You think he's awesome? Is he paying you off in slimebucks, real bucks, or favors of an us time nature?

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:25 pm

Hi Momoka,
The game is coming along pretty well. I have mostly been planning things that will happen after the first demo, as I have finished everything that needs to be done before graphics are necessary. When Newbie Power finishes the graphics, I would estimate a good 50% of the first demo will be ready, and overall around 15%.

SDHawk's music is taking a while because he's fairly new to composing (his music is pretty good though, if I say so myself). If I finish the demo aside from the music, I will just continue working on the rest of the game until he's finished, so even if it's late I'll have something done.

If you have played my game Thanksgiving Quest, I set the game up in a similar manner; you don't have to worry about managing resources so much, and much of the gameplay is battles, setting up equipment properly, and winning battles without using up the few healing items you get. Most of the battles in the game are forced, but there are a few optional ones. My plan is to have two difficulty levels; the harder one will reward keeping characters alive before battles end. Sadly, this will require a certain plotscripting command to be added to the engine that does not exist yet, so it may be a late feature.

SDHawk agreed to do the music because he wants to get better at composing, and this was a good opportunity for him. We know each other from talking in IRC, and I have helped him on another project that never came to fruition. (Hawk figured out FFX did the same thing and basically lost interest)

Newbie Power is also a bud, but I am paying him because he has tons of work to do and no other real motive for helping me out. I believe in the people working for me getting something out of it. :)

Again, I hope to have screenshots ready soon. This game should be pretty cool, and in all likelihood my best game.

Post by **Mogri** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:52 pm

JSH357 wrote:Sadly, this will require a certain plotscripting command to be added to the engine that does not exist yet, so it may be a late feature.

This is only true if there's a way of reviving dudes and you don't want to give out the reward if dudes died and got revived.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 5:26 pm

JSH357 wrote:Sadly, this will require a certain plotscripting command to be added to the engine that does not exist yet, so it may be a late feature.

Can you describe the command you want?

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 7:05 pm

I discussed it with TMC once, I believe. Not sure if it's on his "to-do" list or not. At first I had requested the "dead heroes get share of exp" bitset, which he kindly added to the nightly. But we also need a command to toggle this bitset ON or OFF (I know there are commands that toggle other General Bitsets already).

There would probably be a tricky way of pulling what I want to do off (I know how to do it) without the command, but I figured I would wait since I haven't started messing with battles much yet anyway.

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 7:09 pm

Mogri wrote:
JSH357 wrote:Sadly, this will require a certain plotscripting command to be added to the engine that does not exist yet, so it may be a late feature.
This is only true if there's a way of reviving dudes and you don't want to give out the reward if dudes died and got revived.

Everyone gets healed fully after battles. In Hard Mode they don't get EXP when they die in battle. My original concept was to have every battle in the game potentially killing/criticaling characters, which would mean getting restored would prevent you from having to worry about resource management, which is my least favorite aspect of RPGs. The game design isn't as extreme as when I started, but I'm still basing the battles off of it.

Post by **Mogri** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:55 pm

If you can't revive them in-battle (or don't care if they died and revived), then you can just check if they're dead after battle.

JSH357 · Post by **JSH357** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:16 pm

Yes, that is the method I would have used. There is a late-game Revive spell, though that has little to do with anything.