Stewitus P's Astroman Journalistic Experience

Yes I technically have an Astroman journal allready, but it was last updated in 2009 (seriously. 2009.) so I figured it'd be best if I just started a new one.

In hopes of releasing for the Heat of the OHR contest, I've brushed it off, stared slack jawed at the new features of the stable OHR release (yeah, its been that long.) and realized just how much of the game didn't work. So, I'm reworking the game to be re-released with a completely retooled first dungeon, a second dungeon, and something else probably. And to keep this from being a soon to be abandoned topic, I waited to start a journal until Phase 1: Outline EVERYthing was complete.

Well, Phase 1: Outline EVERYthing is COMPLETE!

I've outlined enemy and battle sprites completely. It really makes them pop, and gives a nice cartoon feel to it. I plan on simplifying some of the graphics too, since I wholly regret taking the advice to "dither it. All of it! Realism!" It doesn't work when the point is to not be realistic.

the next step is Phase 2: Redesign the Sewer of Divine Obligation!

I'm taking it from a simple Point A - Point B dungeon and adding points C, D, and E. I'm adding three new mini bosses, some semblance of a puzzle (get the keys. basic stuff for the first dungeon), and, unfortunately, having to redo the entire map from scratch.

As a visual, the Super Critter 3!, once a rare random enemy, is now a mini boss. He's gone from this:


to this:


future phases include stripping out a lot of scripts and the entire leveling system. I plan on going with a Paper Mario-esque Item based economy and leveling system. Also, since it seems to be all the rage and we can do it now, a crafting system will be implemented to give you plenty of battle items and equipment.

More as it develops.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

I think I may actually prefer the first one better, but that's just me.

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

Personally, I like the head and the dynamic of the second one better, though I prefer the shading of the first one.

I like the wall and how it's not a clean-cut brick wall, it shows wear and tear, it shows ruggedness. The floor though, is a bit too clean, especially when you compare it to the wall. It looks a bit plastic-y, rather than road-y (I don't know if I'm making much sense).

I also like that you've got some random debris on the floor, perhaps a bit more might be good, but not so much that it's cluttered.

Anywho, looking forward to more of your work, cheers!

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

I've been touching it up here and there, I like to think its much nicer now.

As for the distinct lack of filth on the ground, the Sewer is inhabited by a race called Critters who, while being primitive mole like animals, are impeccable hosts and like to keep the place tidy for guests.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

Update time, Ladies(?) and Gents. The reworking of the Sewer of Divine Obligation is going along swimmingly. I've also taken the opportunity to add some new details and remove some stuff that I never quite got to work right. The basic floor plan is complete, and I'm filling in the blanks now.

This is one of the first things you'll see in the sewer, complete with ol' Kilroy waiting to take your hard earned teeth (money is teeth in this game.) there's even a park bench lying around to heal up on.


the first big battle, here you find the Slimehand. The water is green here because the slime is nasty. Why a Slime? Why a hand? Maybe you'll find out, maybe not.

Stay tuned, as I plan on outright stealing emulating BMR's profile format.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

Astroman!



“Psht, I’m not worried. My name’s in the title!”

Real Name:
Prototype EZ-2517

Background:
Built from the finest minds at the AstroLabs Research and Development Department, Prototype EZ-2517, or Astroman as he would later be called, was developed as the ultimate police unit, with enough built in firepower to outgun many third world countries. During a freak and stupid accident involving an MRI machine, a chunk of his programing was changed, and he gained sentience and free will. This ultimately led to the unforeseeable event of him exposing AstroLabs as an evil criminal organization.

Today he runs the Astroman Protection Agency, a group of freelance superheroes that stop supervillains in Hangtown and its surrounding areas. Normally he fills his days with sleep and various odd tasks, but when the city’s supervillains start displaying odd rings, he takes it upon himself to investigate.

Super Powers:
Numerous small arms and ballistic weapons, nano-manufacturers to create ammunition, armored hide, knowledge of the “World Without.”

Personality:
In a word, caustic. He is an unapologetic smartass with a bit of a cynical edge. He is also cocksure, seeing every problem as one he just hasn’t solved yet. Underneath this bitter outer shell, however, is a deeply ideological man with a genuine fondness for the world around him. All his vile and venom is dedicated to making the world a better place, even if he has to rip one bad thing out of it at a time. He’s the kind of guy that’ll make a quip about how hopeless a situation is, laugh, pop his knuckles, and get to work.

Play Style // Equipment:
Astroman’s attacks are all dedicated to direct damage, and his equipment reflects that. His major attack types are Slug and Explosive, with a touch of Fire thrown in for good measure. His weaponry focuses on pistols, scatter guns and assault rifles. While he doesn’t have many tricks against foes with high defense or resistances to these, he is well equipped for a war of attrition. His armors do not give his defense stat a boost, rather they tend to provide resistances against various elements. With his already high Slug and Fire resistance, he could be made completely immune. He will, however, remain very weak against Aqua type attacks, including ice.

Special Perk:
Each hero character has a perk that is active when they are the visible character (i.e. in the Leader position.) In Astroman’s case, it is the ability to sleep on any couch or park bench to fully recover the parties HP and MP. While plentiful at first, they eventually become rarer and rarer.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

question: is Astroman supposed to be some sort of Astroboy?

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

If I understood your question, I can best answer it with a quote from my notes, which itself was from a conversation I had with someone asking my why I changed his name.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

So I got addicted to some Dungeon fighter Online... Then some Lord of the Rings Online... then Dust (its new, you should play it) but now I'm back to work, and the first thing I did was get rid of this:


The three of you that played the old version probably remember this as the sub-boss, the Slime Hand. I always hated how this bugger looked. I don't recall why I made him a hand either. I never intended for a slime foot or slime nose or anything.

So I changed it. and did something I promised myself I wouldn't do. I'm referencing the OHR community.



That's right, Sally. I'm putting all my OHR references in a specific sidequest, that'll play sort of like a tournament. It'll be similar to the Moch-Aid Challenge, which'll have all my beverage-themed professional wrestling puns. Where you can fight Kane-a-Cola, Diet Generation X, and the Moch-Aid Man hisself.

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go learn how slices work.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

ER. MAH. GERD.

lol

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Happy RPG Makin

couple of quick script questions.

I got this script here for saving games:



and it works fine and dandy except for one little thing, I can't get it to not do the screen fade and text box if the player does NOT save. I've tried adding if/or commands, but I only succeeded in making the screen fade BEFORE the save menu comes up. Pretty sure I just did it wrong. How can I get the script to cancel?

And now, slices! How I slice?


This is the slice code as it is now (impressive, eh?) there's more that'll be there, moving heroes, text boxes, npc dances, yadda yadda, but nothing that matters just yet.

Now I can make a sprite appear, but I can't quite get it to go where I want it to go. The idea is for the sprite to replace a walkabout (or at least look like it has,) giving it the appearance of growing in size. Do I need to just figure out the x and y, or is there some way of ptting it directly on the maptile or npc I want it to?

The HOWTO on slices is still missing, by the way <_< I tried learning from the plotscript dictionary but... well, its about as easy as learning English by reading a Funk and Wagnalls

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—- So anyway, how are you?

"save menu" returns the save slot used, or 0 if the player didn't save. So you want



The slices tutorial is here. The Dictionary is definitely a terrible way to learn to use slices. I'll make it easier to find.

Calling "set death script" twice in a row is pointless (only the second call has lasting effect).

To place a slice on a map tile, you first parent it to the map layer you want to:


You might want to set the slice's anchor points so that you can position it on a tile without having to worry about offsetting by its size (playing its bottom edge rather than top left corner).



Now "put slice (critter3, 5 * 20 + 10, 6 * 20)" will make the slice "stand" on tile 5,6 regardelss of its size. The +10 is because we want the bottom center of the slice to line up with the bottom center of the tile.

Anyway, there is a much simpler way to make an NPC bigger: just modify its walkabout sprite slice directly!



If you use a hero battle sprite, then the battle sprite's 8 frames will be used for the 8 walking frames.

Ah-ha! The save point thing was simpler than I thought it would be, thank you.

And the slices read like stereo instructions, but I think I get it. Thank you again for the help, TMC

Incidentally, the two death scripts are because I'm suspending one and using another for a while.

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—- So anyway, how are you?

Usually the easiest thing is to have just one death script that does different things based on if/then/else conditions