Astroman development journal

[Stewitus P.]

It seems to be the cool thing to do these days, so I'm gonna hop on the bandwagon. The following are my thoughts, plans, and questions concerning The Adventures of Astroman: The Unknown Saga.

I'm somewhat pleased to say, at this point in development I could whip up a script, slap the word "demo" on it, and send it out into the world. The designated "noob" area and first dungeon are, for lack of a better word, done, and is a good 45-55 minutes worth of content, depending on how often the Bandito pops up. But the Sewer of Divine Obligation is extremely simple, and I fear most playing it will disregard it as a newbiegame. I don't want to release an actual demo until at least the second dungeon and most of Hangtown is finished. But I will be looking for play testers soon. I have a few friends who have toyed with it, but I need an unbiased opinion.

I got a little ahead of myself working on the second dungeon, I already have the top floor laid out before I remembered there was very little in Hangtown. I keep looking at the park and the city, and thinking "more...MOAR!" The Park is essentially complete, but there's something missing, some cherry that needs to go on top of the sunday. Maybe ducks.

I also need to test the second hero, Happyman, to see if he still holds up to the changes I've made. Its been a while since I last tested him.

[Stewitus P.]

Calling all play testers! I put the finishing touches on what I graciously refer to as Chapter 1. I'm mostly concerned with balancing and pacing, since I have an OCD habit of testing and retesting virtually everything I put in. Are the bosses too weak, are they too strong, do you grind too much, too little, are healing items enough, not enough, that sort of thing. I want things to be tweeked just right before moving on.

I've started using a nightly build at the time of this writing (technically July 3rd), for the soul purpose of one of my friends being able to hear the Midis without the game crashing. It seems to work just fine the way it is. Last time he played it, Vista kept freaking out on him.

Now that I'm introducing other characters, I'm going to see about giving each character a special ability for the player to use when said character is in the lead. Quick Poll! Which would you prefer, if the character's ability was written somewhere, or made obvious, or if the player had to discover it by themselves.

Some of course will be more obvious than others.

Known bugs:
The save game script tells you the game has been saved, even if it hasn't (bug on my part)

To Do list:
Have the Mobster tell the player what he needs more than once. I've gotten a few complaints about this.
Place some chests in the Sewer. Kind of embarassing that I've forgotten this.
Various indoor noise.

[Stewitus P.]

I was feeling a little lethargic today, so I went back and played an old copy of Astroboy in: Armageddon, or something like that... for a little inspiration. It's always good to revisit past accomplishments, and I couldn't help but notice a few differences.

Like, f'rinstance, the battle with Candyman




The first Dungeon




Hangtown




And the Great Indoors





I think I'm starting to get good at this whole "graphics" thing. My backdrops still stink, tho. Anyone know offhand what issue the tutorial for that was in?

Things I've done since last post:
added chests to the Sewer.
Drew graphics for, and began work on, a Room o' Muzak.

Things to do:
Address Park Mob quest issues.
fix save script.
Pretty much everything else.

[Pepsi Ranger]

Wait a second...

Are Stewie and Psyco2000...

The same person?

[Stewitus P.]

Yes indeedy!

[Stewitus P.]

The first chapter is now live, right here on these very shores! There's not as much in it as I would like, but it's fine enough to test the waters and see what people think. Besides, I keep seeing more and more parallels with releases these days, so I may as well get it out there now :P

I've addressed virtually every issue I've discussed here, save for the "everything else" part. So long as you don't save after it tells you not to, future releases should not have any problems.

Enjoy it mates! I'll be away the next three nights, so I'll see your scathing hatred/cold indifference then.

[Meatballsub]

I don't have time to check this out right now, but I just wanted to say congrats on making the graphical changes that you have done. It is definitely an improvement.

[Meatballsub]

Quick question from Hamster Wheel's sake; is this a remake of Astroboy or an entirely different game?

[Stewitus P.]

Its an entirely different game, made from scratch. Although one thing I'd love to (figure out how to) do is include the original Astroboy game as a sidequest. It's only due to the gamelists that I even HAVE the original game.

[Stewitus P.]

Yes, I'm doing this too. I liked the idea of a sort of "tutorial" for new players, so I'm shamelessly ripping off an idea from Village People. I'm doing it a little differently, however, having it linked to the "Radio" function from the main menu.

The Radio function is something I'm really interested in. From the main menu the player can access "Radio" at any time, bringing them to a sub menu with the aforementioned tutorial, a "Police Scanner" which will give the player clues and hints, leading them back on the main quest road should they get lost or confused, and a "Local News" station, which will give them information on their current area, and some hints towards side quests and hidden items.

For those programmers out there QUESTION I can't find a "get map" plotscript command on the list. Is there anyway to make a script recognize what map the hero is on, or am I going to have to get creative with tags?

[Mogri]

The current map function returns the current map number.

[Stewitus P.]

The current map function returns the current map number.

I have the sneaking suspicion I really should have guessed that...




I apologize in advance for your eyes. As you may be wondering, this particular area (dubbed in game a s a "battlefield") is a homage/ rip off of the Sleazy Back Alley of Kingdom of Loathing fame. In it you fight Spiders, Different Spiders, Drunken Half-Orcs and Rushing Bums. As well as this sweetheart.



That's right, the Crazy Bastard. the CB represents the full extent of a random enemy that's far and beyond what you could actually handle the first time you go through. As a rule of thumb, if a battle has only one enemy, you should probably run until you're sure you're ready. I've already used this idea with the Bandito and the Super Critter 3, to a much lesser extent. Of course, the difficulty is duly rewarded.

This area also shows my motto of "Pointless but profitable." In terms of levels, there is no real reason to stay and fight in this area, since the creatures in the dungeon are just as strong. In fact, if the player did not have to go through it to get to the second dungeon, they could conceivably go the entire game without need or want of going in.

Of course, those who DO decided to play in the Alley a little are rewarded with Teeth, items that can be traded in for armor, a spell for Happyman, and items and ammo usable for future characters.

Places like this will pop up thought the entire game. My catchphrase for the game is "More! MOAR!!!" As a result, I want to build a world for the player to explore, where nothing is pointless, and a power gamer is driven mad.

[Stewitus P.]

progress has come slowly lately. Breakups'll do that too ya.

I've been drawing a lot of flavor maptiles lately. And to think, every time I make a dungeon, I get to paint a whole knew set! A lot of ground has been broken for things I may or may not do. I also can't help but think, should I work on the next dungeon first, or Hangtown? I'm working on both at once, and progress is very... very slow.

I don't have much to show, so I'm going to share a little from my notebook:

Cecil Cing:

A rather brilliant technician, Cecil Cing was responsible for the MRI that gave Astroman self awareness. While that was not the plan, he foresaw the hostile uses Project #316 would be put to, and “accidentally” sabotaged the project. Nothing made him happier than to see the righteous path Astroman would set himself upon. He currently resides in the basement of Fat Astro’s Apartments, upgrading and repairing Astroman to aid him in his battles.

Sgt. Headwind:

The Commissioner Gordon to Astroman’s Batman. Sgt. Headwind was Astroman’s commanding officer in the sleepy town of Edgewood. He joined the police force long ago with dreams of upholding law and order, and halting the criminal scum of the world, and coming home a hero to his children. In Edgewood, however, the most violent crime recorded was a drunkard falling off a bridge. The police grew fat and lazy, and in time, Headwind did as well. When Astroman left Edgewood to handle the “real problems” of Hangtown and its super powered evil doers, Headwind heard his own dreams repeated to him. He and his family followed, and he now resides in Fat Astro’s Apartments, and acts as Astro’s middle man, alerting him when criminals too powerful for the police are on the move.

Just so ya know :P

[Stewitus P.]

Dr. Ngoc Do-Bizzell

Head doctor at the Hangtown Medical Center, his mastery of anatomy has propelled him to the highest regards. When the hero’s party is conked out mid-battle, nomadic EMTs carry them directly to him. While he doesn’t accept teeth in payment, rumor has it our heroes have one hefty tab. Oh, and Astroman? Cecil fixes him. Yeah.

Author’s note: Dr. NDB is actually named after the doctor of Optometry at the Wal-Mart vision center in La Grange, Kentucky. I didn’t meet them to get a reference for what race, or even gender they are. I think they may be an orc.

I swear, I find inspiration in the strangest places...

[Stewitus P.]

Allright, its high time I started updating this regularly, now that production's back in full swing. I recently had a brilliant idea that's undoubtably not as awesome or innovative as I think it is, but what the hell, it's a party? But before I get to that, I need to introduce one of the Heroes, the one you'll spend most of the game with, Astroman.

Astroman stands at 5'7", and is the prototype of an all purpose assault android from the brains at AstroLabs. He gained self awareness a year ago, and has since taken up the mantle of superhero to the people of Hangtown.

Personality: Violence is not the answer. Violence is the question, yes is the answer. To Astroman Plan B is simply twice as much gunpowder as Plan A. In spite of his destructive approach to conflict, he possesses sharp eyes and a cunning mind, hidden behind an endless supply of sarcasm and wise cracks. He has a caring, deeply loyal side to him, but only children or those who can put up with his browbeating ever see it.

Strengths: Attack, Defense.

Weaknesses: Speed, Max MP

Astroman is the resident heavy hitter. There may be one or two characters than can hit harder than him, but no one does it better. His special attacks all calculate from his attack power; adding bonus damage, ignoring defense, attacking multiple targets multiple times. All his attacks are physical, so there are only a small handful of enemies he is ineffective against. He is also one of the few characters who can self-heal, but only with certain armors or accessories equipped.

Okay, here is where I think it gets interesting, as it starts to really open doors.

Weapon proficiencies:

Small Arms. Symbol: Pistol

Pistols accentuate speed over power. They are for the player who's willing to forgo massive damage to make sure things get done right. Turns come more often, opening special attacks when you need them, and the occasional heal. Weapon damage goes up just enough to keep things consistent, but it never really takes the spotlight.

Heavy Weapons. Symbol: Bazooka

Heavy Weapons take the attack bonus and the speed bonus of pistols, adds them together, and throws in a few more points for good measure. Rarely adding anything but Attack, these are for those players who want to kill with reckless abandon, and leave other characters for support.

The weapon you chose to take into battle affects how you use a character. Each character has at least two proficiencies. Astroman here, for example, has quite a few ways he can be played. Do you go with pistols, adding a few other speed related pieces, making him a proverbial armored wasp? Do you want to make him a fast caster? Sure speed helps, but he eats through his MP so quickly, perhaps something that raises max MP, or one of the much rarer MP% reducing trinkets? Or would you rather pour everything into attack, and grab a heavy weapon? Sure he's slow as molasses, but every time he attacks, something dies.

Sure its probably been done this way before many many times in the OHR, but I'm trying to go with more of a choice that "which one's newer?" than most commercial RPGs.

As always, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.