First release "candidate"

Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 30 Dec 2012, 13:04

Great to see it coming along nicely! :)
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby BioHazardX » 30 Dec 2012, 21:54

Still playing the game but I'm happy for this nice first release!

I've got only a few of suggestions to improve it a little:

1) hey, I see there some animals in this story and....why don't you add a dialogue for them? I mean when I press "F" on the cat of the village, I want it replies me with a meow like "Nyan" or with something else...It'll be funny.

2) create a simply open door transition when a character come in or go out from an house?

3) Language is auto-selected by the game for the very first time, like in "Battle for Wesnoth". Example: you are Italian and you has the OS in Italian, the game will realize it and you start to play in Italian without go to change the language from the menu.


And I'm working to update Italian translation, so wait a few days!
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 30 Dec 2012, 22:01

Hi BioHazardX,

The three suggestions are all valid.

I'll add them on my TODO list. (even if many items are already there :S)

Don't count on it too much for the next release candidate, but I'll work toward that sooner or later.

Regards,
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby charlie » 31 Dec 2012, 21:25

BioHazardX {l Wrote}:Still playing the game but I'm happy for this nice first release!

I've got only a few of suggestions to improve it a little:

1) hey, I see there some animals in this story and....why don't you add a dialogue for them? I mean when I press "F" on the cat of the village, I want it replies me with a meow like "Nyan" or with something else...It'll be funny.

2) create a simply open door transition when a character come in or go out from an house?

3) Language is auto-selected by the game for the very first time, like in "Battle for Wesnoth". Example: you are Italian and you has the OS in Italian, the game will realize it and you start to play in Italian without go to change the language from the menu.


And I'm working to update Italian translation, so wait a few days!


They all sound like "low hanging fruit" perfect for a potential new developer!
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby BioHazardX » 02 Jan 2013, 21:23

Ok guys, other suggestions:

1) if you won a battle with some characters that unfortunately died, you can't cure them with any healing potion (both in field and battle mode, works only if you are standing in the magic source) and then if you start a new battle the dead characters won't fight because they have 0 HP. My idea is: why don't you start next battle with at least 1 HP every time, so you can have the ability to heal them immediately? And surely, healing them by the item menu;

2) you can't realize if a treasure chest was open or not. They appear all equal, we surely need an "open treasure chest" sprite;

3) in Windows, savegames of Valyria Tear are in the folder My Documents/Valyria Tear. A lot of games (like battle for wesnoth, red eclipse, me and my shadow, xonotic as examples) use the following path: My Documents/My Games/ . IMHO, it's better if VT savegames are placed in this folder with these other games;

4) Create a basic and visible projectile for the enemies ranged attacks, like a fireball or something else. But for spiders, better a "web ball";

5) Coloured in red the "MISS" text in the battles? Improve it a little?

6) Split the .po translation files in more parts: one for the GUI and commands, one for Episode 1, an other for Episode 2 etc. because if you focus all the strings in a single file there'll be always too big and a mess for the translators. (see Battle for wesnoth, it's a .po file for every single campaign);

7) adding more decorations in the forest level (like stones, wood signs, flowers etc.). Trees are enough good;

8) make less hard the first battles, against slimes and spiders, even the fenrir. IMHO they're too strong as first enemies you meet. It's only the beginning;

9) grandma house: you can't see where there is the entrance, from behind;

10) when Bronann meet Fenrir at the forest, he exclaims "what is this?" and he is looking at the east...but the fenrir comes out from the north! (just a little incongruity);

11) Finally, I don't like when the characters die, becoming a stone statue. Better a 1-2 frames of a good death animation.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 02 Jan 2013, 23:30

Hi BioHazardX,

1) if you won a battle with some characters that unfortunately died, you can't cure them with any healing potion (both in field and battle mode, works only if you are standing in the magic source) and then if you start a new battle the dead characters won't fight because they have 0 HP. My idea is: why don't you start next battle with at least 1 HP every time, so you can have the ability to heal them immediately? And surely, healing them by the item menu;

The minor elixir will do that. No, I won't set the characters HP to 1 at battle end. Later, you will be able to buy what's necessary.

2) you can't realize if a treasure chest was open or not. They appear all equal, we surely need an "open treasure chest" sprite;

That's wrong, open chests look open.
Here is the file:
https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTea ... chest1.png

3) in Windows, savegames of Valyria Tear are in the folder My Documents/Valyria Tear. A lot of games (like battle for wesnoth, red eclipse, me and my shadow, xonotic as examples) use the following path: My Documents/My Games/ . IMHO, it's better if VT savegames are placed in this folder with these other games;

I'll add that to issue #9, but don't count on it for now, I have other things to do.

4) Create a basic and visible projectile for the enemies ranged attacks, like a fireball or something else. But for spiders, better a "web ball";

Planned for later as for the attacks animation, the way they'll look will be determined also later.

6) Split the .po translation files in more parts: one for the GUI and commands, one for Episode 1, an other for Episode 2 etc. because if you focus all the strings in a single file there'll be always too big and a mess for the translators. (see Battle for wesnoth, it's a .po file for every single campaign);

No, never. Wesnoth is made of several games, this one is one sole game, that doesn't make sense and make things harder for me.

7) adding more decorations in the forest level (like stones, wood signs, flowers etc.). Trees are enough good;

There are stones, there won't be wood signs in lost woods like those, there are flowers. Feel free to propose a patch if you see something to add. Should be easy enough.

8) make less hard the first battles, against slimes and spiders, even the fenrir. IMHO they're too strong as first enemies you meet. It's only the beginning;

The game has already been balanced once and it's working quite fine. We won't do it a second time without proper reason.

9) grandma house: you can't see where there is the entrance, from behind;

Done on purpose.

10) when Bronann meet Fenrir at the forest, he exclaims "what is this?" and he is looking at the east...but the fenrir comes out from the north! (just a little incongruity);

Looks normal since, the fenrir is hidden in the trees. He just stops and wonders. Won't fix, no bug.

11) Finally, I don't like when the characters die, becoming a stone statue. Better a 1-2 frames of a good death animation.

Planned, but it's nothing like easy to do. Feel free to provide some if you can and I'll be happy to wire them in.

Please, no "More sprites" requests without having a clue of what work it is representing.

Regards,
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby qubodup » 03 Jan 2013, 01:10

2) you can't realize if a treasure chest was open or not. They appear all equal, we surely need an "open treasure chest" sprite;

That's wrong, open chests look open.
Here is the file:
https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTea ... chest1.png

I think what is meant is: chests that have been opened before don't stay open.

This means that the player has to keep track of what chests he/she has checked before.
Unfortunately, it could be that the game re-fills chests, but there is no definite way of knowing that it does not, so some players might be in a "I have to check crates repeatedly or give up potential loot" dilemma (which might be desirable, if "not being sure" is supposed to be part of VT's general flair).

4) Create a basic and visible projectile for the enemies ranged attacks, like a fireball or something else. But for spiders, better a "web ball";

Planned for later as for the attacks animation, the way they'll look will be determined also later.

I would gladly offer to write request for small art additions to already existing art (you have a spider but need bullets for it). I would write forum posts on opengameart.org if you tell me what is needed. Examples of my art request threads:
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/lowpo ... ux-windows
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/solve ... lyptic-rpg
http://freesound.org/forum/sample-requests/33115/

6) Split the .po translation files in more parts: one for the GUI and commands, one for Episode 1, an other for Episode 2 etc. because if you focus all the strings in a single file there'll be always too big and a mess for the translators. (see Battle for wesnoth, it's a .po file for every single campaign);

Since you are a translater, can you explain what issues you run into? We might find a way to ease the task for you and other translators, without requiring core developer's time. ;)

7) adding more decorations in the forest level (like stones, wood signs, flowers etc.). Trees are enough good;

What would adding more decoration solve? Do you feel bored when walking in the forest? What do you think the correct feeling should be? Enjoyment of beautiful nature? Fear of being lost and surrounded by aggressive creatures?

8) make less hard the first battles, against slimes and spiders, even the fenrir. IMHO they're too strong as first enemies you meet. It's only the beginning;

I think you have to tell more about your play style in such situations: did you use potions, did you buy items, did you use a way to regain health for free? Did you use any abilities in battle? When a player is not able to win in a situation, it can be a balance problem but it can also be means to tell the player "try another way".

10) when Bronann meet Fenrir at the forest, he exclaims "what is this?" and he is looking at the east...but the fenrir comes out from the north! (just a little incongruity);

Looks normal since, the fenrir is hidden in the trees. He just stops and wonders. Won't fix, no bug.

I don't think I have seen that scene, but from reading the description "walking to the right, then looking to the left and keeping looking to the left" sounds like "being startled by something and looking for it to the left and finding it" to me. If it can't be found, perhaps the player character should look left-right-left, which would indicate that there is nothing to be found?

Please, no "More sprites" requests without having a clue of what work it is representing.

Good-will suggestions can sometimes sound like demands and unfortunately (but IMHO understandably) often the proposing person is not informed of the work involved.

I recently became a moderator at Freesound.org and it became useful to me to use templates to deal with common issues in sound submissions. Here's a suggestion on what VT could use:

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}
Thank you for your suggestion to improve Valyria Tear's visual art.

We love beautiful graphics and would love to add more, but our team has no artists with spare time and we have to heavily prioritize which art gets created.

If you can draw art that matches Valyria Tear's style and have the time to do so for free, please upload your art to [url=http://opengameart.org/]OpenGameArt.org[/url] and let us know about it!

As a style guide, please take a look at the [url=https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/tree/master/img]img/[/url] (in-game art, use "zip" button to get the whole directory) and [url=https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/tree/master/art]art/[/url] directories (layered GIMP source images and more, use "zip" button to get the whole directory) and [url=http://opengameart.org/art-search?keys=valyria+tear]Valyria Tear art on OpenGameArt[/url]. If you have art-making friends who might be able to help, please tell them about Valyria Tear!
Thanks,


It is very commendable that you respond to all requests but please know that this is not a requirement! At OpenGameArt there are many feature requests and many have no answers. And it's fine, since there is only one person who can really do anything (there are not many people offering their drupal skills for free on OGA :) ) and I prefer the admin ignores requests rather than burning out... but actually I am a moderator there too, I should probably write a sticky, explaining exactly this! :)

Also this makes me wonder how other game projects deal with too-many-requests. :)
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 03 Jan 2013, 02:10

Hi qubodup,

I think what is meant is: chests that have been opened before don't stay open.


Huh? Ah must be a bug in that case. Which treasure chest?

I would gladly offer to write request for small art additions to already existing art (you have a spider but need bullets for it).

Thanks for offering help Iwan. Yet, the core dev effort should be done first. And I 'd prefer to finish the current release before introducing new features that might break the current codebase.
Let's speak about that in a month or so.

Did you use any abilities in battle? When a player is not able to win in a situation, it can be a balance problem but it can also be means to tell the player "try another way".

Speaking of that, I do agree. Yet, even when looking at other FF-like, I do not think there is an issue with the balancing. I wondered whether some after death tips should be shown, for instance?
Could be rather easy to add.

I don't think I have seen that scene, but from reading the description "walking to the right, then looking to the left and keeping looking to the left" sounds like "being startled by something and looking for it to the left and finding it" to me. If it can't be found, perhaps the player character should look left-right-left, which would indicate that there is nothing to be found?


It 's the fenrir first encounter scene. Hmm, why not. I'll think about it.

I recently became a moderator at Freesound.org and it became useful to me to use templates to deal with common issues in sound submissions. Here's a suggestion on what VT could use:

Interesting enough :)
I'll add something like that in the sticky Welcome thread. thanks.

It is very commendable that you respond to all requests but please know that this is not a requirement! At OpenGameArt there are many feature requests and many have no answers. And it's fine, since there is only one person who can really do anything (there are not many people offering their drupal skills for free on OGA :) ) and I prefer the admin ignores requests rather than burning out... but actually I am a moderator there too, I should probably write a sticky, explaining exactly this! :)

Also this makes me wonder how other game projects deal with too-many-requests. :)


XD. Well, I still have some margin before the burn out, but I wanted to be clear, especially with BioHazardX, who is somebody that will rather come around from time to time.
I must also say that I didn't answer all the questions asked so far. But thanks a lot for the kind help and the link for technical burn out. I'll keep trying to avoid answering the casual RTFM. ;)

Regards,
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Roots » 03 Jan 2013, 05:56

qubodup {l Wrote}:
Please, no "More sprites" requests without having a clue of what work it is representing.

Good-will suggestions can sometimes sound like demands and unfortunately (but IMHO understandably) often the proposing person is not informed of the work involved.

I recently became a moderator at Freesound.org and it became useful to me to use templates to deal with common issues in sound submissions. Here's a suggestion on what VT could use:

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}
Thank you for your suggestion to improve Valyria Tear's visual art.

We love beautiful graphics and would love to add more, but our team has no artists with spare time and we have to heavily prioritize which art gets created.

If you can draw art that matches Valyria Tear's style and have the time to do so for free, please upload your art to [url=http://opengameart.org/]OpenGameArt.org[/url] and let us know about it!

As a style guide, please take a look at the [url=https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/tree/master/img]img/[/url] (in-game art, use "zip" button to get the whole directory) and [url=https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/tree/master/art]art/[/url] directories (layered GIMP source images and more, use "zip" button to get the whole directory) and [url=http://opengameart.org/art-search?keys=valyria+tear]Valyria Tear art on OpenGameArt[/url]. If you have art-making friends who might be able to help, please tell them about Valyria Tear!
Thanks,


It is very commendable that you respond to all requests but please know that this is not a requirement! At OpenGameArt there are many feature requests and many have no answers. And it's fine, since there is only one person who can really do anything (there are not many people offering their drupal skills for free on OGA :) ) and I prefer the admin ignores requests rather than burning out... but actually I am a moderator there too, I should probably write a sticky, explaining exactly this! :)

Also this makes me wonder how other game projects deal with too-many-requests. :)


FYI, you may wish to point any artists that are interested in helping out to the following pages that I wrote on the Allacrost wiki. There may be some slight differences between our projects in terms of the artwork, but for the most part this should really help out anyone looking into getting into making art (as I wrote these pages with that in mind):

http://www.allacrost.org/wiki/index.php ... _Standards
Technical information about artwork (image file types, sizes, orientation, etc)

http://www.allacrost.org/wiki/index.php/Artwork_Style
A quick demonstration of the two types of artistic styles present.

http://www.allacrost.org/wiki/index.php ... Categories
Listing of all of the different types of artwork such as map tiles, sprites, enemies, portraits, and so on.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 03 Jan 2013, 13:10

Good links, indeed. thanks. I'll point out those ones when I get asked for.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby BioHazardX » 03 Jan 2013, 14:16

1) if you won a battle with some characters that unfortunately died, you can't cure them with any healing potion (both in field and battle mode, works only if you are standing in the magic source) and then if you start a new battle the dead characters won't fight because they have 0 HP. My idea is: why don't you start next battle with at least 1 HP every time, so you can have the ability to heal them immediately? And surely, healing them by the item menu;


The minor elixir will do that. No, I won't set the characters HP to 1 at battle end. Later, you will be able to buy what's necessary.


Okay, but at least add the utility to heal a dead character with a normal healing potion by your inventory, if one of my characters die I can't heal them for a long time and I have to come back at the point where it's placed the source! And then I found no elixirs in the forest!

2) you can't realize if a treasure chest was open or not. They appear all equal, we surely need an "open treasure chest" sprite;


That's wrong, open chests look open.
Here is the file:
https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTea ... chest1.png


I was confusing, at the beginning of the play I didn't realize the difference between open chests and closed chests because their sprites look very similar!

6) Split the .po translation files in more parts: one for the GUI and commands, one for Episode 1, an other for Episode 2 etc. because if you focus all the strings in a single file there'll be always too big and a mess for the translators. (see Battle for wesnoth, it's a .po file for every single campaign);


No, never. Wesnoth is made of several games, this one is one sole game, that doesn't make sense and make things harder for me.

Since you are a translater, can you explain what issues you run into? We might find a way to ease the task for you and other translators, without requiring core developer's time. ;)


I was thinking about the future: if you only focus all the dialogues in a single .po file, with the time it'll become too big and will be hard to find some errors to make corrections. (do you imagine a file with 99999 strings?) My idea was splitting the work in more files: one for episode 1+GUI, an other one for episode 2 when it'll ready etc...

7) adding more decorations in the forest level (like stones, wood signs, flowers etc.). Trees are enough good;


There are stones, there won't be wood signs in lost woods like those, there are flowers. Feel free to propose a patch if you see something to add. Should be easy enough.

What would adding more decoration solve? Do you feel bored when walking in the forest? What do you think the correct feeling should be? Enjoyment of beautiful nature? Fear of being lost and surrounded by aggressive creatures?


I didn't want to say that the game needs a lot of decorations for the forest, just a few, like different types of coloured flowers and different stones, not so much...

8) make less hard the first battles, against slimes and spiders, even the fenrir. IMHO they're too strong as first enemies you meet. It's only the beginning;


I think you have to tell more about your play style in such situations: did you use potions, did you buy items, did you use a way to regain health for free? Did you use any abilities in battle? When a player is not able to win in a situation, it can be a balance problem but it can also be means to tell the player "try another way".


I wanted to said that the game is too hard for a beginning. The characters surely die after 2-3 battles against slimes+spiders if you don't heal them, and you need too many points to reach a lv.2 in the game. You also can't defend (why?), and you can go on with the game only if you go to buy a lot of healing potions.
I'm just happy if you can heal the dead players with a normal minor healing potion.
Last edited by BioHazardX on 03 Jan 2013, 14:30, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby BioHazardX » 03 Jan 2013, 14:29

Then the last suggestion that I forgot to write, I see it miss in the game and I'll think this is necessary: the colored healthstatus.
A lot of games have got this utility for the player, where all the values and the healthbar change color according to how much health remains to a character:

If a character has HP=100% and >60%, then healthstatus is green (your status is ok);

If a character has <60%, then healthstatus is yellow (you have more or less than half health);

If a character has HP<25%, then healthstatus is red (warning: you are almost dead! Heal!)

This is only an example, developers can choose other values to color the healthstatus.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 03 Jan 2013, 16:13

Hi BioHazardX,

You're unstoppable! ;)

Okay, but at least add the utility to heal a dead character with a normal healing potion by your inventory, if one of my characters die I can't heal them for a long time and I have to come back at the point where it's placed the source! And then I found no elixirs in the forest!

I wanted to said that the game is too hard for a beginning. The characters surely die after 2-3 battles against slimes+spiders if you don't heal them, and you need too many points to reach a lv.2 in the game. You also can't defend (why?), and you can go on with the game only if you go to buy a lot of healing potions.
I'm just happy if you can heal the dead players with a normal minor healing potion.


Hmm, I think I'll add minor elixirs to Flora's boutique item's list, so that the problem is solved.

I was thinking about the future: if you only focus all the dialogues in a single .po file, with the time it'll become too big and will be hard to find some errors to make corrections. (do you imagine a file with 99999 strings?) My idea was splitting the work in more files: one for episode 1+GUI, an other one for episode 2 when it'll ready etc...


Arf, don't worry too much about that for now. There is no rush in splitting the files for now.

I was confusing, at the beginning of the play I didn't realize the difference between open chests and closed chests because their sprites look very similar!

Hmm, added to the list of low-hanging-fruits TODO.

I didn't want to say that the game needs a lot of decorations for the forest, just a few, like different types of coloured flowers and different stones, not so much...

This means even more you can do it so that it fits you, IMHO. I'm still in the process of polishing a bit the forest maps a bit, but I guess I won't add more than necessary.

If a character has HP=100% and >60%, then healthstatus is green (your status is ok);
If a character has <60%, then healthstatus is yellow (you have more or less than half health);
If a character has HP<25%, then healthstatus is red (warning: you are almost dead! Heal!)
This is only an example, developers can choose other values to color the healthstatus.

Actually, it was planned (yes, yes), and I even wanted to make the bar pulse a bit when low.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 04 Jan 2013, 03:24

The minor elixirs were just added:
https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTea ... d489a0579c

Thanks to them, you can revive a character, or improve his/her status if alive. Use with care.
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Daphron » 04 Jan 2013, 23:03

Just finished the release and think the game looks pretty nice.

I've got a few suggestions:
1. A mini map type thing that you could place in a corner might be nice.

2. Main character sprites look nice at low resolutions, but at the max resolution the PCs are significantly pixilated whereas the enemies and background aren't. This is rather noticible on the battle screens.

3. Diagonal walking/running annimations would be a nice touch instead of the sideways moving one.

4. When I run I get this odd horizontal line that moves up my screen, slightly distorting the image. Only seems to happen when running.

5. A quicksave option would be nice. A nice one time only save that would allow you to save anywhere if you need to stop but not break the dedicated save spots system.

6. When you win a battle the XP number goes down. Maybe call it XP needed instead of XP on the victory screen to avoid confusion?

7. When you level up it says stuff like HP: 6 STR: 2..... It might be nicer/clearer if you put a + in front of the number.

8. Whenever you die you are presented with restart battle or quit. An option to immediately load the game might be nicer than going through the main menu.

9. You tend to be either trying to avoid the on map monsters or moving to fight them. Perhaps some form of initiative system so if you decide to "attack" the on map monster you start the battle with your characters higher.

10. Way to run away from monsters in battle? Probably not really needed with the battle initiation system though.

11. In the caves, the bats will get stuck at the stop of the staircase if the pursue me there, and force me to fight through them to use the stairs.

12. The respawning of the monsters is a bit sudden. I'll think I'm alone and a few seconds later I'm fighting again. Maybe a more noticible visual effect when a monster respawns? Or just don't let them respawn right next to the player?

13. Descriptions of stats/status effects/special attacks and what they do. You get the general idea but I have no clue how long they last and what affects that.

14. On level ups where a new skill is gained it sometimes cuts off the "New Skill Learned" instead saying "New Skill Lea First Aid" for Kalya level 7 (First Aid below New Skill Lea) and "New Skill Learn stun strike" for Bronnan.

15. I'm wondering how bats that I haven't damaged are absorbing my health already. Typically absorbing creatures don't do that. Are these bats like already starving?

16. On the 2nd Fenir encounter Kalya says "It flew again." The sentence sounds a bit odd (a flying fenir). Maybe something like "It ran away again" would be better.

17. At the crystal Kalya says "what does all of this means?" Probably shouldn't have that last s.

18. Levels? Game seems balanced fine but I know I tend to like my games a bit easier than most people so for me easy/medium/hard would be nice. Focus could be on balancing medium and then just have some automatic reductions to the monsters, slightly lower stats... etc.

19. Little things that could be added for a more immersive experience:
- light fireplace
- talk to animals
- sit in chair
- open the chicken pens! I wanted to set them loose on that stupid kid!
- open boxes
- catch butterflies and squirrels in forest.
- I actually wanted to play with Orlinn before he started being annoying. Maybe he could be nicer if you play with him first?
While none of these are really important, they all would help immersion and I find these sort of things really nice.

And again, I really like the game!
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 05 Jan 2013, 15:16

Hi Daphron,

Thanks for trying it!

I've got a few suggestions:
1. A mini map type thing that you could place in a corner might be nice.

Being worked on by IkarusDowned and discussed here: https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/issues/23

2. Main character sprites look nice at low resolutions, but at the max resolution the PCs are significantly pixilated whereas the enemies and background aren't. This is rather noticble on the battle screens.

While it was first done like this in Allacrost because of low art budget and manpower, I personally love it as is, as I do think it brings a nice retro style in battles. So I'll let it as is.

3. Diagonal walking/running annimations would be a nice touch instead of the sideways moving one.

The art requirement is too high for this to be considered atm. If I ever get the frames done for every pc, npc and monsters I might change my mind though.

4. When I run I get this odd horizontal line that moves up my screen, slightly distorting the image. Only seems to happen when running.

Yep, unfortunately, this is due to the lack of VSync support in the engine. We'll have to add support for this eventually.

5. A quicksave option would be nice. A nice one time only save that would allow you to save anywhere if you need to stop but not break the dedicated save spots system.

Valid point raised, many details are to be discussed yet on how we could do this. I'll add this in the later todo list.

6. When you win a battle the XP number goes down. Maybe call it XP needed instead of XP on the victory screen to avoid confusion?

True, I'll change that immediately.

7. When you level up it says stuff like HP: 6 STR: 2..... It might be nicer/clearer if you put a + in front of the number.

True, I'll change that immediately also.

8. Whenever you die you are presented with restart battle or quit. An option to immediately load the game might be nicer than going through the main menu.

True. I'll open an issue.

9. You tend to be either trying to avoid the on map monsters or moving to fight them. Perhaps some form of initiative system so if you decide to "attack" the on map monster you start the battle with your characters higher.

The idea is good, the how to add this yet is still foggy for me. I do think that we might want to check for the actor directions, and make the monsters and/or the players init higher according to whether the monster attacked you from behind and vice versa? That's what you meant or did you have something else in mind?

10. Way to run away from monsters in battle? Probably not really needed with the battle initiation system though.

I do think it's not necessary, but could be a low-priority addition done by a volunteer: Was discussed here: https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/issues/22

11. In the caves, the bats will get stuck at the stop of the staircase if the pursue me there, and force me to fight through them to use the stairs.

Done on purpose. Yes, I'm a bit cruel.

12. The respawning of the monsters is a bit sudden. I'll think I'm alone and a few seconds later I'm fighting again. Maybe a more noticible visual effect when a monster respawns? Or just don't let them respawn right next to the player?

The respawning time of monsters is played through a sprite fade in of five seconds. I do think you didn't see the slimes respawn because they are green on green. Yet, I must say it's done on purpose in that case, just as the snakes are placed where there is higher grass clumps.

13. Descriptions of stats/status effects/special attacks and what they do. You get the general idea but I have no clue how long they last and what affects that.

Yes, planned for the in-game manual, at least. As for the menu display of stats improvements, I'm open to proposals on it.

14. On level ups where a new skill is gained it sometimes cuts off the "New Skill Learned" instead saying "New Skill Lea First Aid" for Kalya level 7 (First Aid below New Skill Lea) and "New Skill Learn stun strike" for Bronnan.

Part of the issue #98: https://github.com/Bertram25/ValyriaTear/issues/98 I'll add your comment there so we check once it's fixed.

15. I'm wondering how bats that I haven't damaged are absorbing my health already. Typically absorbing creatures don't do that. Are these bats like already starving?

Eh eh, nope. Yet, The drain is shown in any case to make the player aware his allies' HP are being stolen. That doesn't mean the bats are coming in game 'hurt' and their current HP won't go over their max HP. That's a pretty common things in classic RPG, and I won't change it.

16. On the 2nd Fenir encounter Kalya says "It flew again." The sentence sounds a bit odd (a flying fenir). Maybe something like "It ran away again" would be better.

Lol, thanks. I've fixed that.

17. At the crystal Kalya says "what does all of this means?" Probably shouldn't have that last s.

I've fixed that as well.

18. Levels? Game seems balanced fine but I know I tend to like my games a bit easier than most people so for me easy/medium/hard would be nice. Focus could be on balancing medium and then just have some automatic reductions to the monsters, slightly lower stats... etc.

That's an idea, I'll add that in the low-priority todo list.

19. Little things that could be added for a more immersive experience:
- light fireplace
- talk to animals
- sit in chair
- open the chicken pens! I wanted to set them loose on that stupid kid!
- open boxes
- catch butterflies and squirrels in forest.
- I actually wanted to play with Orlinn before he started being annoying. Maybe he could be nicer if you play with him first?
While none of these are really important, they all would help immersion and I find these sort of things really nice.


- light fireplace
-> Why not, I've got some sprites done by Zabin for this. I'll look into it.

- talk to animals
-> So much people are wanting this XD, so yes that will come.

- sit in chair
-> Arg, too much work for almost nothing, sorry, I won't add that.

- open the chicken pens! I wanted to set them loose on that stupid kid!
-> XD I guess several people would do it as well. If you know somebody ready to create a side-quest to gather the chicken back. I'd accept it. ;)

- open boxes
-> I've got no problem with opening boxes, it's what to put inside without breaking the game balance which my current problem. If it's just one or two boxes that are annoying you, point them out, if it's all of them, would sound not possible to me as I would get the counter complain of having empty boxes everywhere.

- catch butterflies and squirrels in forest.
-> butterflies, why not. Squirrels? Sounds a bit more cruel to me. But what for? Got something to propose?

- I actually wanted to play with Orlinn before he started being annoying. Maybe he could be nicer if you play with him first?
-> Very sincerely, I actually thought about adding something but unfortunately did come up with something interesting. Got something in mind?

And again, I really like the game!

Thanks, and thanks for the feedback.

Regards,
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Bertram
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Zabin » 05 Jan 2013, 19:42

- light fireplace
-> Why not, I've got some sprites done by Zabin for this. I'll look into it.

Cool! I'll look into making it better as this was my first try at animating. The light flickering on the ground needs improvement (it's mostly still right now). Maybe I'll do some research on animating and I should have this Camp-fire finished in a couple days from now (I've been busy with life and haven't had much computer time lately). Here's the link to the camp-fire animation http://opengameart.org/content/camp-fire-animation
Zabin
 
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 05 Jan 2013, 20:17

Thanks! I'll look into it at that moment. :)
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Bertram
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Zabin » 10 Jan 2013, 15:46

Ok Bertram I got the camp fire animation done. Phew, I'm a newbie at this kind of art! Here's what it looks like.

Image

I made a new submission on OGA because I felt this needed to be better recognized instead of adding it to the other one. Let me know if you like it! Here's the link.

http://opengameart.org/content/camp-fir ... n-finished
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Re: First release "candidate"

Postby Bertram » 11 Jan 2013, 23:04

Yeah, awesome :D

I answered more on OGA, but I'll definitely use it, thanks!

Best regards,
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