Weekly Spoiler II

Discuss anything about the game itself.
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Danno
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

This week's spoiler is... benches!
2019-10-26 benches.png
2019-10-26 benches.png (222.51 KiB) Viewed 27452 times
I've been meaning to make these for a really long time. The benches allow two players to sit by side on a single piece of furniture instead of awkwardly pulling up two chairs next to each other.
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

This week's spoiler is... a well that I'm working on!
2019-11-02 well.png
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It's not quite finished, but I have decent enough progress to show it off, I hope.
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Mahar »

That wall must be a part of something bigger, right?
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Danno
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

I haven't got much this time, but this week's spoiler is... a new monster I'm working on!
2019-11-09 new monster.png
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This happy little fellow is intended to be a weak monster for the newbs. I haven't had much time this week for Re:Spite, sadly )-:
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Harlan »

Hermit crab? :P
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Errors »

Could make a larger version for other beach areas. Hermit crabs seek out larger shells as they grow, in this case in respite it could grow to the size of a full grown dog, maybe? It's claws could be more visible as it's now bigger.
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

An embiggened version in the future might indeed be a possibility.

This week's spoiler is... a bit miscellaneous!
2019-11-16 books.png
2019-11-16 books.png (73.03 KiB) Viewed 27449 times
I created a flipped version of the bookcase, so now a library type setting could be a little more convincing. Though it doesn't look too impressive, flipping an object like this requires a lot of it to be redrawn/reshaded.

I made some farm tools to lean up against walls or whatever. Makes places look more farmy. The well is complete. I also softened the outline colours of those little flat flowers you see everywhere, so they should be slightly less obnoxious now.
2019-11-16 farm tools.png
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"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Errors »

looks good man
"I found another Glitch" -Errors
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

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This week's spoiler is... That monster from a couple weeks ago!
2019-11-23 monster walk.gif
2019-11-23 monster walk.gif (4.37 KiB) Viewed 27448 times
Here he is walking.
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Harlan »

Danno wrote:
Cevil wrote: Oct 15th, 2019, 9:59 am Looking good Danno. I really like the bird statues. And the potion bottles on the shelves stand out to me as well.
The bird statues are fairly old graphics that weren't meant for indoor use like this, but I feel like they spruced the place up nicely!


This week's spoiler is... more fodder NPCs!

2019-10-19 fodder NPCs II.jpg

Once again, the fodder NPCs are mostly intended just to give towns less of a "ghost town" vibe, to help create some atmosphere or whatever, and to give helpful advice through human characters instead of through boring signposts and text heavy tutorials. They could perhaps be involved in quests in the future, too.
He can't afford some nice jeans and boots but not a new shirt? :P
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Errors »

Danno wrote:
Cevil wrote: Oct 15th, 2019, 9:59 am Looking good Danno. I really like the bird statues. And the potion bottles on the shelves stand out to me as well.
The bird statues are fairly old graphics that weren't meant for indoor use like this, but I feel like they spruced the place up nicely!
I would say, make 1 more statue that's facing the other direction.
"I found another Glitch" -Errors
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

Errors wrote:I would say, make 1 more statue that's facing the other direction.
Interesting proposition.



This week's spoiler is... nothing )-:

I kinda got too busy to work on Re:Spite this week. I'm sure I should be able to put something together next week. I planned out maps/locations for the previously spoiled new monsters today, so hopefully we'll get those added to the game soon, at least. The new robe equipment should also be making an appearance at a shop in the near future.

Oh, and Abi and I had a little dev discussion recently, so we kinda have some plans to work towards. Having short term plans helps keep us on track.
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

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This week's spoiler is... new pants equipment!
2019-12-07 plated leggings.gif
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It's just one of those things I've been meaning to create for a really long time again. Once I finish this, people can finally wear a light plate without awkwardly wearing tights in their desperate search for something that "sorta matches".

One of my vague goals is to make equipment that's sorta suitable for classes in the future. I guess I might as well show off the new robe equipment, which I made with mage classes in mind.
2019-12-07 tattered robe set.png
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The robe equipment is complete and ready to go (it's been in the game since our comeback 2 weeks ago), we just have to add it in some shops.
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Cevil »

Exciting stuff Danno, looking forward to the next update. Will we see some weapons in game soon?
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

Welllll, we have a big list of bug fixes as an earlier priority (damn bugs). We're hoping to add in the 'level up' animation soon, which involves implementing a 'special effects' system. Special effects will be useful for class skills/spells, so at least we're sorta moving in that direction. Weapons are sorta important for defining classes, so I'm hoping it'll be one of our next priorities (oops, I keep saying that and it keeps not happening).

The huge base sprite sheet just makes it tough to plan/work on weapons. I really want weapons, too, but I guess it'll still take some time )-:
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Errors »

Danno wrote: Welllll, we have a big list of bug fixes as an earlier priority (damn bugs). We're hoping to add in the 'level up' animation soon, which involves implementing a 'special effects' system. Special effects will be useful for class skills/spells, so at least we're sorta moving in that direction. Weapons are sorta important for defining classes, so I'm hoping it'll be one of our next priorities (oops, I keep saying that and it keeps not happening).

The huge base sprite sheet just makes it tough to plan/work on weapons. I really want weapons, too, but I guess it'll still take some time )-:
Best thing to do is to set one goal and move towards it, then move to the next thing. Everything is looking pretty good though.

I'd like to see more RPG elements come to the game, leveling is the first step but, at the moment I feel like (to me) it doesn't affect my character much besides being able to kill harder mobs. Since most things mobs drop can't be used yet for crafting there isn't a goal for the player (which is what you guys keep telling everyone about leveling too much at the moment) to move towards besides stacking exp. ( I know there are currently some armors to get, though not a lot, which is not a big problem)

I also want to experience the game with my main character as if I just started instead of being so high of a level that I breeze through all the new content. Though all of this is based on my own style of gameplay and everyone plays differently.

It would also be cool and a bit informative for players to see a physical road map of features and content to look forward to. I know it's based on you and abi's real life schedule but, cool to see what you guys actually have planned monthly or yearly.
(I know weekly spoiler I/II is sort of like this but, seeing the bigger picture is what I mean by road map.)

All in all, you guys are doing great, taking your time is key.
"I found another Glitch" -Errors
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

Post by Danno »

I wholeheartedly agree.
Errors wrote:I'd like to see more RPG elements come to the game, leveling is the first step but, at the moment I feel like (to me) it doesn't affect my character much besides being able to kill harder mobs.
We have some basic RPG aspects in mind, like healing methods (inns, potions) and buying stuff to raise your stats (invisible equipment that doesn't alter your appearance). Of course, those sorts of things don't have much meaning since it just means you'd be doing the exact same thing as right now, just a little more efficiently.

Quests and classes/skills would be the important RPG elements we're after. We're not really ready to tackle either one, but we're kinda moving closer to them as time goes on, at least.
For quests, I've been planning/writing some quests and drawing new NPCs to provide the quests. With our basic combat system in place, players also have means to obtain items or defeat monsters - an important part of quests, though we don't want to just have basic fetch quests, of course.
For classes/skills, there's planning in the works, special effects on the way, more class-suitable equipment (for roleplaying purposes) being made, and also some interface changes to recognize classes better.

I dunno how long we'll take to get to quests and classes, but I feel like we'll at least be pretty prepared for it when we get there, so it should hopefully go smoothly. Although it's not as exciting, I feel like it's more important to improve the monster AI instead of giving the players more killing power. I feel the combat will remain dull until we implement more elaborate attack patterns and skills for monsters. Well, if we're lucky, maybe we can release player and monster skills at the same time.
Errors wrote:I also want to experience the game with my main character as if I just started instead of being so high of a level that I breeze through all the new content.
I'm hoping we can balance things in a way that players who are overleveled right now will basically be on a blank slate when we introduce real content. Well, that's basically my idea behind class changing - a player can keep all their levels in the Newb class, but they'll be level 0 in any new class they change to. Perhaps some early quests would not be available to people of the Newb class, so they'd be forced to get on your level for the real content (or at least at first).
It is still a good idea to avoid leveling as a Newb right now, though, since the very first quests will be made for Newbs, of course.
Errors wrote:It would also be cool and a bit informative for players to see a physical road map of features and content to look forward to.
I'd say we have something like a priority list rather than a road map, so it's not clear what immediate direction we're heading in. Our priorities are probably something like this:
  1. Bug fixes, performance improvements.
  2. New equipment, interface additions/improvements (e.g. typing while in a shop, attacking and typing at the same time, improved drop visibility).
  3. New monsters and map assets, smaller features (e.g. music intro before loop, chat tab shortcuts).
  4. Core features (e.g. party system, trade system, better monster AI, new equipment layers, quest engine, classes/skills).
When we plan new release goals, we usually pick out a couple easy things and maybe 1 or 2 core features, then aim to have it done within 1-3 months.

I suppose a loose roadmap for better gameplay would be something like this:

Players:
> Basic attack
>> Weapons as equipment (your default/skill attack frames change depending on weapon)
>>> Weapons as tools (weapon types have different attributes, such as bows hitting farther)
>>>> Recoil (player flinches when hit)
>>>>> Skills (self-explanatory)
>>>>>> Classes (allows certain skills to be learned/used, each class has its own level progression)
>>>>>>> Borrow skills/class change (use nerfed skills from other classes you've progressed in)

Monsters:
> Basic AI (monsters are dumb like they are now)
>> Pathfinding (monsters don't get stuck at walls or fixated on strategically placed player)
>>> Recoil (monster flinches when hit)
>>>> Skills (used at random)
>>>>> Elaborate AI (use specific skills or attack patterns based on various conditions)

Skills:
> Assign skills (test skill1 uses base sprite frames xyz)
>> Activation with F2/F3/F4 keys
>>> Skill management (learn skill, set equipped skills)
>>>> Parameters (damage output, inflict status ailment, range, MP cost, etc.)
>>>>> Special effects
>>>>>> Assign skill to a class

Quests:
> NPC dialogue tree (also tracks your conversation progress with that NPC)
>> Receive quest with clear objective assigned
>>> Monster AI provides a challenge along the way, possibly including a boss monster with superior AI
>>>> End quest and receive reward, change NPC dialogue, record completed quests in log
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

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This week's spoiler is... new background graphics for signs!
2019-12-14 signposts.png
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The wood background is currently used for all signposts in the game. We could've used a black-ish dialog box with a white border like we did everywhere else, but I thought it'd be more fun/charming if the signpost's text appeared on a wood background (somewhat resembling the signpost itself).

Anyway, there are some places in the game where you can read a paper that's posted to a wall, so I thought it'd look better if it looked like you were reading from paper, not from wood. There'll be some other variations for other situations, like I was thinking of a background that looks like a thought bubble/cloud for narrations (for example, when you try to open a chest or dresser and it gives you a little message about how it's empty or locked).
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

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Whoops, forgot all about Weekly Spoilers with the events going on.

This week's spoiler is... some NPC pixels!
2019-12-22 new NPC pixels.png
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I spoiled the portrait art for this guy previously. This one was a little trickier to pixel due to his pose being so different from other NPCs/player characters. It nearly took 2 hours to make this guy )-:

Anyway, after I make pixels for all the new NPCs I've drawn, I intend to stick them in the game for decorative purposes (until we have stuff like NPC dialogue and quests functioning).
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Re: Weekly Spoiler II

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I don't have much this week, unfortunately. This week's spoiler is... more NPC pixels!
2019-12-28 another NPC pixel.png
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I was also working on planning some future content, though I guess I don't have a whole lot to say about that at the moment. Basically just thinking about features we need to make a real dungeon - one where you have to overcome specific trials, not just navigate your way through to the end. Stuff like solving puzzles using hints from signposts, clearing all the enemies in an area before you can proceed, avoiding traps. We have some areas that are sorta like that (Puzzle Master's maze and dim caves use hints, gauntlet forces you to clear enemies), but I guess I'm thinking of features that would make it feel more natural as a game.
"I'll do the art." ~Danno 2014
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